Humorous Short Stories
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Alexander Jessup
THE LITTLE FRENCHMAN AND HIS WATER LOTS (1839)
George Pope Morris
THE ANGEL OF THE ODD (1844)
Edgar Allan Poe
THE SCHOOLMASTER’S PROGRESS (1844)
Caroline M.S. Kirkland
THE WATKINSON EVENING (1846)
Eliza Leslie
TITBOTTOM’S SPECTACLES (1854)
George William Curtis
MY DOUBLE; AND HOW HE UNDID ME (1859)
Edward Everett Hale
A VISIT TO THE ASYLUM FOR AGED AND DECAYED PUNSTERS (1861)
Oliver Wendell Holmes
THE CELEBRATED JUMPING FROG OF CALAVERAS COUNTY (1865)
Mark Twain
ELDER BROWN’S BACKSLIDE (1885)
Harry Stillwell Edwards
THE HOTEL EXPERIENCE OF MR. PINK FLUKER (1886)
Richard Malcolm Johnston
THE NICE PEOPLE (1890)
Henry Cuyler Bunner
THE BULLER-PODINGTON COMPACT (1897)
Frank Richard Stockton
COLONEL STARBOTTLE FOR THE PLAINTIFF (1901)
Bret Harte
THE DUPLICITY OF HARGRAVES (1902)
O. Henry
BARGAIN DAY AT TUTT HOUSE (1905)
George Randolph Chester
A CALL (1906)
Grace MacGowan Cooke
HOW THE WIDOW WON THE DEACON (1911)
William James Lampton
GIDEON (1914)
Wells Hastings
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Nice People, by Henry Cuyler Bunner, is republished from his volume, Short Sixes, by permission of its publishers, Charles Scribner’s Sons. The Buller-Podington Compact, by Frank Richard Stockton, is from his volume, Afield and Afloat, and is republished by permission of Charles Scribner’s Sons. _Colonel Starbottle for the Plaintiff_, by Bret Harte, is from the collection of his stories entitled Openings in the Old Trail, and is republished by permission of the Houghton Mifflin Company, the authorized publishers of Bret Harte’s complete works. The Duplicity of Hargraves, by O. Henry, is from his volume, Sixes and Sevens, and is republished by permission of its publishers, Doubleday, Page & Co. These stories are fully protected by copyright, and should not be republished except by permission of the publishers mentioned. Thanks are due
INTRODUCTION
Alexander Jessup
THE LITTLE FRENCHMAN AND HIS WATER LOTS (1839)
George Pope Morris
THE ANGEL OF THE ODD (1844)
Edgar Allan Poe
THE SCHOOLMASTER’S PROGRESS (1844)
Caroline M.S. Kirkland
THE WATKINSON EVENING (1846)
Eliza Leslie
TITBOTTOM’S SPECTACLES (1854)
George William Curtis
MY DOUBLE; AND HOW HE UNDID ME (1859)
Edward Everett Hale
A VISIT TO THE ASYLUM FOR AGED AND DECAYED PUNSTERS (1861)
Oliver Wendell Holmes
THE CELEBRATED JUMPING FROG OF CALAVERAS COUNTY (1865)
Mark Twain
ELDER BROWN’S BACKSLIDE (1885)
Harry Stillwell Edwards
THE HOTEL EXPERIENCE OF MR. PINK FLUKER (1886)
Richard Malcolm Johnston
THE NICE PEOPLE (1890)
Henry Cuyler Bunner
THE BULLER-PODINGTON COMPACT (1897)
Frank Richard Stockton
COLONEL STARBOTTLE FOR THE PLAINTIFF (1901)
Bret Harte
THE DUPLICITY OF HARGRAVES (1902)
O. Henry
BARGAIN DAY AT TUTT HOUSE (1905)
George Randolph Chester
A CALL (1906)
Grace MacGowan Cooke
HOW THE WIDOW WON THE DEACON (1911)
William James Lampton
GIDEON (1914)
Wells Hastings
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Nice People, by Henry Cuyler Bunner, is republished from his volume, Short Sixes, by permission of its publishers, Charles Scribner’s Sons. The Buller-Podington Compact, by Frank Richard Stockton, is from his volume, Afield and Afloat, and is republished by permission of Charles Scribner’s Sons. _Colonel Starbottle for the Plaintiff_, by Bret Harte, is from the collection of his stories entitled Openings in the Old Trail, and is republished by permission of the Houghton Mifflin Company, the authorized publishers of Bret Harte’s complete works. The Duplicity of Hargraves, by O. Henry, is from his volume, Sixes and Sevens, and is republished by permission of its publishers, Doubleday, Page & Co. These stories are fully protected by copyright, and should not be republished except by permission of the publishers mentioned. Thanks are due