A Collection of Short-Stories EDITED BY L.A. PITTENGER, A.M., CRITIC IN ENGLISH, INDIANA UNIVERSITY New York: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 1914 Set up and electrotyped. Published November, 1913. Reprinted January, 1914. Norwood Press, J.S. Cushing Co.—Berwick & Smith Co., Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. Contents A PREFATORY NOTE INTRODUCTION: History of the Short-story Qualities of the Short-story Composition of the Short-story Books for Reference Collections of Short-stories THE FATHER. 1860. Björnstjerne Björnson. THE GRIFFIN AND THE MINOR CANON. 1887. Frank R. Stockton. THE PIECE OF STRING. 1884. Guy de Maupassant. THE MAN WHO WAS. 1889. Rudyard Kipling. THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER. 1839. Edgar Allan Poe. THE GOLD-BUG. 1843. Edgar Allan Poe. THE BIRTHMARK. 1843. Nathaniel Hawthorne. ETHAN BRAND. 1848. Nathaniel Hawthorne. THE SIRE DE MALÉTROIT'S DOOR. 1878. Robert Louis Stevenson. MARKHEIM. 1884. Robert Louis Stevenson. A PREFATORY NOTE This collection of short-stories does not illustrate the history of short-story writing, nor does it pretend that these are the ten best stories ever written, but it does attempt to present selections from a list of the greatest short-stories that have proved, in actual use, most beneficial to high school students. The introduction presents a concise statement of the essentials of the history, qualities, and composition of the short-story. A brief biography of each author and a criticism covering the main characteristics of his writings serve as starting points for the recitation. The references following both the biography and criticism are given in order that the study of the short-story may be amplified, and that high school teachers may build a systematic and serviceable library about their class work in the teaching of the story. The collateral readings, listed after each story, will aid in the creation of a suitable atmosphere for the story studied, and explain many questions developed in the recitation. Only such definitions as are not easily found in school dictionaries are included in the notes. INTRODUCTION HISTORY OF THE SHORT-STORY Just when, where, and by whom story-telling was begun no one can say. From the first use of speech, no doubt, our ancestors have told stories of war, love, mysteries, and the miraculous performances of lower animals and inanimate objects. The ultimate source of all stories lies in a thorough democracy, unhampered by the restrictions of a higher civilization. Many tales spring from a loathsome filth that is extremely obnoxious to our present day tastes. The remarkable and gratifying truth is, however, that the short-story, beginning in the crude and brutal stages of man's development, has gradually unfolded to greater and more useful possibilities, until in our own time it is a most flexible and moral literary form.