In this allegorical short story, Nathaniel Hawthorne parodies John Bunyan’s famous book, The Pilgrim’s Progress. Rather than take the long and arduous road to the Celestial City, Hawthorne’s narrator hops on the express train to paradise. As he gets closer to his destination, however, he realizes that the clever-talking Mr. Smooth-It-Away may not be who he claims. While a caricature of Bunyan’s original tale, “The Celestial Railroad” ultimately drives home a similar point: there is no easy road to Heaven, so tough it out on the straight and narrow.

Madame Mathilde Loisel is sure she was meant to be an aristocrat, but she was born into a middle-class family and married off to a middle-class clerk. When her husband procures them invitations to a high-society party, Loisel goes all out to impress. She borrows a diamond necklace from a wealthy acquaintance and has the time of her life - until the necklace goes missing. In “The Necklace”, de Maupassant showcases his signature twists of fate and social commentary in a story that will leave you speechless.

Dr. Watson's introduction to this Holmes case among the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, entitled "The Adventure of Silver Blaze" ( Strand magazine, December 1892) is succinct and impossible to improve upon: "There was but one problem before the public which could challenge his powers of analysis, and that was the singular disappearance of the favourite for the Wessex Cup, and the tragic murder of its trainer."

This is a story from the The Happy Prince and Other Stories collection.

Beatrice Harraden (1864-1936) was a British writer and suffragette. 'A Bird on Its Journey' is the story of a mysterious young Englishwoman hiking alone through Switzerland. When she arrives at a mountain hotel, she discovers that the piano is badly out of tune. The young woman, although she is travelling with only a small knapsack, has brought with her a tuning hammer, and she proceeds to tune the piano.