Chapter One. The warm sun of a bright spring day, in the year of grace 1574, shone down on the beautiful city of Leyden, on its spacious squares and streets and its elegant mansions, its imposing churches, and on the smooth canals which meandered among them, fed by the waters of the sluggish Rhine. The busy citizens were engaged in their various occupations, active and industrious as ever; barges and boats lay at the quays loading or unloading, some having come from Rotterdam, Delft, Amsterdam, and other places on the Zuyder Zee, with which her watery roads gave her easy communication. The streets were thronged with citizens of all ranks, some in gay, most in sombre attire, moving hurriedly along, bent rather on business than on pleasure, while scattered here and there were a few soldiers—freebooters as they were called, though steady and reliable—and men of the Burgher Guard, forming part of the garrison of the town. Conspicuous among them might have been seen their dignified and brave burgomaster, Adrian Van der Werf, as he walked with stately pace, his daughter Jaqueline, appropriately called the Lily of Leyden, leaning on his arm. She was fair and graceful as the flower from which she derived her name, her features chiselled in the most delicate mould, her countenance intelligent and animated, though at present graver than usual. After leaving their house in the Broedestrat, the principal street of Leyden, they proceeded towards an elevation in the centre of the city, on the summit of which rose the ancient tower of Hengist, generally so called from the belief that the Anglo-Saxon conquerors of Britain crossed over from Holland. Mynheer Van der Werf and Jaqueline reaching the foot of the mound, slowly ascended by a flight of winding steps, till they gained the battlements on the top of the ancient tower, the highest spot for many miles around. Here they stood for some minutes gazing over the level country, of which they commanded a perfect panoramic view. Below them lay the city, surrounded by a moat of considerable width and stout walls, which had already been proved capable of resisting the attack of foes eager to gain an entrance. Here and there bridges led over the moat, protected by forts of no mean strength. In all directions were silvery threads glittering in the sun, marking the course of the canals which led to Haarlem and Amsterdam on the north, and Delft, Rotterdam, Gouda, and many other towns on the banks of the Yessel and the Meuse on the south, while occasionally wide shining expanses showed the existence of meers or lakes of more or less extent, while westward the blue ocean could be seen, and to the south-west Gravenhague, or The Hague, as the place is more generally called. On every side were smiling villages, blooming gardens, corn-fields, and orchards, betokening the industry and consequent prosperity of the inhabitants. The city at this time bore but few traces of the protracted siege it had endured for a whole year, and which had been raised only three months before, when the Spanish force under Valdez, a lieutenant of the ferocious Alva, had been summoned to the frontier, in consequence of the rumoured approach of a patriot army under Prince Louis of Nassau.... Views: 347
The home of the Birkenholt family was not one of the least delightful. It stood at the foot of a rising ground on which grew a grove of magnificent beeches their large silvery boles rising majestically like columns into a lofty vaulting of branches covered above with tender green foliage.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Views: 347
The Last Place on Earth is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Jim Harmon is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of Jim Harmon then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. Views: 346
In Sebastian, national bestselling and award-winning author Anne Bishop introduced a stunning new realm, a world of strange and magical landscapes connected only by bridges - bridges that may transport you where you truly belong, rather than where you wished to go. But only the magic of the Landscapers can protect this world from the entity determined to enshroud it in darkness....
One by one, the landscapes of Ephemera are falling into shadow. The Eater of the World is spreading its influence, tainting people's souls with doubts and fears, and feasting on their emotions. With each victory, the Eater comes closer to extinguishing Ephemera's Light.
Only Glorianna Belladonna possesses the ability to thwart the Eater's plans. But she has been branded a rogue, her talents and vast power feared and misunderstood. Determined to protect the lands under her care, Glorianna will stand alone against the Eater if she must - regardless of the cost to her body and soul.
But she is not alone. In dreams, a call has traveled throughout Ephemera: "Heart's hope lies within Belldonna." That call has traveled far from the landscapes Glorianna claims and reached Michael, a man with mysterious powers of his own. It awakens a fierce hunger within him to find the dark-haired sorceress he's dreamed of over and over again - a beautiful woman named Belladonna.
As Michael's and Glorianna's hearts call out to each other across the landscaped, together they may offer Ephemera the very hope it needs.... Views: 346
R.M. Ballantyne was a Scottish author who wrote over 100 books and was best known for children’s fiction. Ballantyne was also a famous artist. Views: 344
A GOAT, FOUR GIRLS, AND A PIG When Sam Pinkney brought Billy Bumps over to the old Corner House, and tied him by the corner of the woodshed, there was at once a family conclave called. Sam was never known to be into anything but mischief; therefore when he gravely presented the wise looking old goat to Tess, suspicion was instantly aroused in the Kenway household that there was something beside good will behind Master Sam\'s gift. "Beware of the Greeks when they come bearing gifts," Agnes freely translated. "But you know very well, Aggie, Sammy Pinkney is not a Greek. He\'s Yankee—like us. That\'s a Greek man that sells flowers down on Main Street," said Tess, with gravity. "What I said is allegorical," pronounced Agnes, loftily. "We know Allie Neuman—Tess and me," ventured Dot, the youngest of the Corner House girls. "She lives on Willow Street beyond Mrs. Adams\' house, and she is going to be in my grade at school." "Oh, fine, Ruth!" cried Agnes, the twelve-year-old, suddenly seizing the eldest sister and dancing her about the big dining-room. "Won\'t it be just fine to get to school again?" "Fine for me," admitted Ruth, who had missed nearly two years of school attendance, and was now going to begin again in her proper grade at the Milton High School. "Eva Larry says we\'ll have the very nicest teacher there is—Miss Shipman. This is Eva\'s last year in grammar school, too, you know. We\'ll graduate together," said Agnes. Interested as Tess and Dot were in the prospect of attending school in Milton for the first time, just now they had run in to announce the arrival of Mr. Billy Bumps. "And a very suggestive name, I must say," said Ruth, reflectively. "I don\'t know about that Pinkney boy. Do you suppose he is playing a joke on you, Tess?" "Why, no!" cried the smaller girl. "How could he? For the goat\'s there." "Maybe that\'s the joke," suggested Agnes. "Well, we\'ll go and see him," said Ruth. "But there must be some reason beside good-will that prompted that boy to give you such a present." "I know," Dot said, solemnly. "What is it, Chicken-little?" demanded the oldest sister, pinching the little girl\'s cheek. "Their new minister," proclaimed Dot. "Their what?" gasped Agnes. "Who, dear?" asked Ruth. "Mrs. Pinkney\'s new minister. She goes to the Kaplan Chapel," said Dot, gravely, "and they got a new minister there. He came to call at Mrs. Pinkney\'s and the goat wasn\'t acquainted with him." "Oh-ho!" giggled Agnes. "Light on a dark subject." "Who told you, child?" asked Tess, rather doubtfully. "Holly Pease. And she said that Billy Bumps butted the new minister right through the cellar window—the coal window." "My goodness!" ejaculated Ruth. "Did it hurt him?" "They\'d just put in their winter\'s coal, and he went head first into that," said Dot. "So he didn\'t fall far. But he didn\'t dare go out of the house again until Sam came home after school and shut Billy up. Holly says Billy Bumps camped right outside the front door and kept the minister a prisoner." The older girls were convulsed with laughter at this tale, but Ruth repeated: "We might as well go and see him.... Views: 343
This shockingly frank and irreverent memoir of a young woman's life with a heart transplant "will inspire and choke you up with tears and laughter" (Larry King). At twenty-four, Amy Silverstein was your typical type-A law student: smart, driven, and highly competitive. With a full course load and a budding romance, it seemed nothing could slow her down. Until her heart began to fail. With a grace and force reminiscent of Lucy Grealy's Autobiography of a Face or Susanna Kaysen's Girl, Interrupted, Amy chronicles her medical saga from the first misdiagnosis to her astonishing and ongoing recovery. Her memoir is made all the more dramatic by the deliriously romantic bedside courtship with her future husband, and her uncompromising desire to become a mother. Distrustful of her doctors and insistent in her refusal to be the "grateful heart patient" she is expected to be, Amy presents a patient's perspective that is truly eye-opening and... Views: 343
A spate of seemingly unconnected murders in southern England prompt a high-profile taskforce to be formed and led by DCI Jack Hawksworth, one of the Force's new rising stars who combines modern methods with old-school instincts. The victims appear as disparate as their style of death; the only link that Hawk and his team can pull together is that the murdered are all men of an identical age. The taskforce has nothing but cold cases of decades past to comb through in the hope that they might find a clue to who is behind the savagery.A heart-stopping tale of brutal revenge with a chilling twist by a powerhouse Australian author. Views: 342
In Planet of the Damned, Brion Brandd, the winner of "The Twenties," a kind of planet-wide Olympics of both mind and body, barely has time to savor his victory when he is called away by a previous winner to help save Dis, a planet that seems intent on its own destruction and the destruction of it\'s neighbor. When Brion and his friend Lea arrive on Dis, they are confronted by baffling questions. What planetary evolution has caused such a difference in the inhabitants? Why are one set of people deeply connected with the planet and one totally unconnected to anything but dominance and destruction? He must find the answers to these questions and find the link essential to saving both worlds while racing against a doomsday clock. It will take all their skill, courage, and empathy to do this. Views: 341
The Nabob, Volume 1 is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Alphonse Daudet is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of Alphonse Daudet then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. Views: 341
A near-death experience and a meeting with an angel challenges a troubled man to live each day as if it were his last. Views: 341
A lost treasure, a Nazi war criminal, and a lifelong quest to find a missing heirloom are the starting points for this new novel from the author of God's Spy. Father Anthony Fowler, CIA operative and member of the Vatican's secret service, the Holy Alliance, pays a visit to a war criminal living under a pseudonym because of the terrible experiments he performed on Jewish children. Fowler offers him a deal - he will not reveal the man's true identity in exchange for a huge candle covered in fine filigree gold. But it isn't the gold Fowler is after - it is the metallic object preserved within the wax, a missing fragment of an ancient map. Soon Fowler is involved in an expedition to Jordan set up by the enigmatic head of Kayn industries, a reclusive billionaire who has links to the highest levels of the Catholic Church. But there is a traitor in the group who has links to terrorist organisations back in the US, and who is patiently awaiting the moment to strike. From wartime Vienna to terrorist cells in New York and a lost valley in Jordan, Contract with God is a thrilling read about a quest for power and the secrets of an ancient world. Views: 341
