Ambrose Bierce
An Imperfect Conflagration
One June morning in 1872, I murdered my father after dividing the proceeds of a burglary. The music-box brought disaster and disgrace upon our family, and caused my father to commit the only...
An Unfinished Race
James Burne Worson, a shoemaker who lived in Leamington, Warwickshire, England, undertook a run all the way to Coventry and back for a stake of one sovereign. He went on very well, at an easy gait,...
A Son of the Gods
In the edge of this wood, long lines of troops are halted. Detached groups of horsemen are intently regarding the crest of a hill. A young officer on a snow-white horse salutes the corps commander...
At Old Man Eckert's
Philip Eckert lived in an old, weather-stained wooden house about three miles from the little town of Marion, in Vermont. "Old Man Eckert", as he was always called, was not of a sociable...
A Vine on a House
Three miles from Norton, Missouri, stands an old house that was last occupied by a family named Harding. It is now a picturesque ruin, partly concealed by a large vine. Robert Harding, his wife...
A Watcher by the Dead
In an unoccupied dwelling in San Francisco, a man was found dead under a sheet. A man entered the room, examined the other window, seated himself in the arm-chair, took some matches off the...
A Wireless Message
Mr. William Holt, a wealthy manufacturer of Chicago, had "trouble with his wife" in the summer of 1896, and has related the incident to at least one person without exacting a pledge of secrecy. A...
Charles Ashmore's Trail
Christian Ashmore, his wife, his mother, two grown daughters, and a son of sixteen years, lived in Troy, New York. The Ashmores moved from Troy to Richmond, Indiana, and then to Quincy, Illinois,...
Chickamauga
A child strayed away from home and entered a forest, where he was confronted with a rabbit. The child fled and lay down in a narrow space between two rocks. The little sleeper rose to his feet,...
Four Days in Dixie
Lieutenant Cobb, an aide-de-camp, and I mounted and set out to "seek our fortunes" along the Coosa River, but were forced to turn back when we encountered two horsemen in gray. We climbed across...
George Thurston
George Thurston was a first lieutenant and aide-de-camp on the staff of Colonel Brough, commanding a Federal brigade. He worked like a beaver and risked his life while defining roads and sketching...
Jo. Dunfer. Done for.
I turned away from the tablet and brushed away the leaves from the gravestone. I asked the little wretches if they were jealous of me and they swelled out like turkeycocks and made a pretense of...