THE GREATEST WORKS OF AMBROSE BIERCE
[Authoritative and Unabridged Special Nook Edition]

THE WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER
Over 300 Works by AMBROSE BIERCE
Including AN OCCURENCE AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE and THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY

(Over 5000 Pages) by AMBROSE BIERCE


EXCERPT

"All that day he traveled, laying his course by the rounding sun. The forest seemed interminable; nowhere did he discover a break in it, not even a woodman’s road. He had not known that he lived in so wild a region. There was something uncanny in the revelation.

By nightfall he was fatigued, footsore, famishing. The thought of his wife and children urged him on. At last he found a road which led him in what he knew to be the right direction. It was as wide and straight as a city street, yet it seemed untraveled. No fields bordered it, no dwelling anywhere. Not so much as the barking of a dog suggested human habitation. The black bodies of the trees formed a straight wall on both sides, terminating on the horizon in a point, like a diagram in a lesson in perspective. Over-head, as he looked up through this rift in the wood, shone great golden stars looking unfamiliar and grouped in strange constellations. He was sure they were arranged in some order which had a secret and malign significance. The wood on either side was full of singular noises, among which — once, twice, and again — he distinctly heard whispers in an unknown tongue.

His neck was in pain and lifting his hand to it he found it horribly swollen. He knew that it had a circle of black where the rope had bruised it. His eyes felt congested; he could no longer close them. His tongue was swollen with thirst; he relieved its fever by thrusting it forward from between his teeth into the cold air. How softly the turf had carpeted the untraveled avenue — he could no longer feel the roadway beneath his feet!

Doubtless, despite his suffering, he had fallen asleep while walking, for now he sees another scene — perhaps he has merely recovered from a delirium. He stands at the gate of his own home. All is as he left it, and all bright and beautiful in the morning sunshine. He must have traveled the entire night. As he pushes open the gate and passes up the wide white walk, he sees a flutter of female garments; his wife, looking fresh and cool and sweet, steps down from the veranda to meet him. At the bottom of the steps she stands waiting, with a smile of ineffable joy, an attitude of matchless grace and dignity. Ah, how beautiful she is! He springs forward with extended arms ..."


PARTIAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE FIEND'S DELIGHT
THE LAND BEYOND THE BLOW
COBWEBS FROM AN EMPTY SKULL
CAN SUCH THINGS BE?
IN THE MIDST OF LIFE: TALES OF SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS
FANTASTIC FABLES
PRESENT AT A HANGING AND OTHER GHOST STORIES
NEGLIGIBLE TALES
THE PARENTICIDE CLUB
THE FOURTH ESTATE
THE OCEAN WAVE
“ON WITH THE DANCE!” A REVIEW
EPIGRAMS
ASHES OF THE BEACON AN HISTORICAL MONOGRAPH WRITTEN IN 4930
BLACK BEETLES IN AMBER
SHAPES OF CLAY
THE SHADOW ON THE DIAL AND OTHER ESSAYS
THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY
WRITE IT RIGHT
THE LETTERS OF AMBROSE BIERCE
A CYNIC LOOKS AT LIFE