12-09-2014, 06:35 AM | #1 |
eBook FANatic
Posts: 18,301
Karma: 16071131
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Alabama, USA
Device: HP ipac RX5915 Wife's Kindle
|
Harte, Bret: Snow-Bound at Eagle's. v1. 9 Dec 2014
Francis Bret Harte (August 25, 1836 – May 5, 1902) was an American author and poet, best remembered for his short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush. In a career spanning more than four decades, he wrote poetry, fiction, plays, lectures, book reviews, editorials, and magazine sketches in addition to fiction. As he moved from California to the eastern U.S. to Europe, he incorporated new subjects and characters into his stories, but his Gold Rush tales have been most often reprinted, adapted, and admired.
Excerpt For some moments profound silence and darkness had accompanied a Sierran stage-coach towards the summit. The huge, dim bulk of the vehicle, swaying noiselessly on its straps, glided onward and upward as if obeying some myste-rious impulse from behind, so faint and indefinite appeared its relation to the viewless and silent horses ahead. The shadowy trunks of tall trees that seemed to approach the coach windows, look in, and then move hurriedly away, were the only distinguishable objects. Yet even these were so vague and unreal that they might have been the mere phantoms of some dream of the half-sleeping passengers; for the thickly-strewn needles of the pine, that choked the way and deadened all sound, yielded under the silently-crushing wheels a faint soporific odor that seemed to benumb their senses, already slipping back into unconsciousness during the long ascent. Suddenly the stage stopped. Three of the four passengers inside struggled at once into upright wakefulness. The fourth passenger, John Hale, had not been sleeping, and turned impatiently towards the window. It seemed to him that two of the moving trees had suddenly become motionless outside. One of them moved again, and the door opened quickly but quietly, as of itself. This work is assumed to be in the Life+70 public domain OR the copyright holder has given specific permission for distribution. Copyright laws differ throughout the world, and it may still be under copyright in some countries. Before downloading, please check your country's copyright laws. If the book is under copyright in your country, do not download or redistribute this work.
To report a copyright violation you can contact us here. |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Other Fiction Harte, Bret: Snow-Bound at Eagle's. v1. 9 Dec 2014 | crutledge | ePub Books | 0 | 12-09-2014 06:33 AM |
Other Fiction Harte, Bret: Snow-Bound at Eagle's. v1. 9 Dec 2014 | crutledge | BBeB/LRF Books | 0 | 12-09-2014 06:30 AM |
Other Fiction Harte, Bret: Maruja. v1. 5 Dec 2014 | crutledge | ePub Books | 0 | 12-05-2014 07:27 AM |
Other Fiction Harte, Bret: Maruja. v1. 5 Dec 2014 | crutledge | BBeB/LRF Books | 0 | 12-05-2014 07:25 AM |
Short Fiction Harte, Bret: Flip. v1. 1 Dec 2014 | crutledge | BBeB/LRF Books | 0 | 12-01-2014 06:45 AM |