Books by Bret Harte

Maruja er en halvt spansk, halvt amerikansk pige, som bor sammen med sin moder og nogle yngre søstre på familiens ranch et sted i Californien - et Californien, der for ikke så længe siden var mexicansk og en gammel spansk koloni, og hvis kultur og befolkning i vid udstrækning stadig er spansk. Hun er arving til ejendommen og dermed en større formue, hun er smuk og flirter med adskillige tilbedere af passende herkomst, ikke mindst den amerikanske kaptajn Carroll. Men det er familiens vilje, som bunder i en gammel forbandelse, at arvingen til La Mision Perdida skal ægte en mand af spansk afstamning, ellers vil ejendommen gå i opløsning og komme på fremmede hænder. Man har allerede set tegn på, at det ville ske, dengang moderen giftede sig med yankee'en Joseph Saltonstall, og traditionen holdes i hævd af husets halvgale hovmester Pereo, som har været på ranchen i umindelige tider, og har en finger med i alt og bestemmer over alt.Illustreret med helsides tegninger af Richard Caton Woodville jr. fra den engelske førsteudgave af Maruja i Illustrated London News juni 1885.

I vinteren 1779 er det, der senere blev til USA i fuld gang med at smide den engelske kolonimagt på porten. En af frihedshærens store førere, George Washington, ligger i vinterlejr i Morristown, New Jersey, og en af hans kaptajner er kæreste med en lokal ung pige, Thankful Blossom. De to er enige om, at der ikke er meget ved generalen, og at gode gamle kong George nok ikke er så slem endda. Thankfuls fader har også ofte besøg af et par suspekte typer, "grev Ferdinand" og "baron Pomposo". Kort sagt, det ligner en køn lille forræder- og spionrede, og det ender da også med, at Thankfuls fader såvel som hendes kæreste bliver anholdt og anklaget. Men den lille jomfru Thankful vil ikke finde sig i, hvad hun opfatter som forkert og uretfærdigt, og går derfor direkte til general Washington … som viser sig at være en helt anderledes personlighed, end hun havde forestillet sig.

This book has been considered by academicians and scholars of great significance and value to literature. This forms a part of the knowledge base for future generations. So that the book is never forgotten we have represented this book in a print format as the same form as it was originally first published. Hence any marks or annotations seen are left intentionally to preserve its true nature.

When three partners find a fortune in the Gold Rush it invites a lot of unwanted attention, deceit and death! Excerpt: "The sun was going down on the Black Spur Range. The red light it had kindled there was still eating its way along the serried crest, showing through gaps in the ranks of pines, etching out the interstices of broken boughs, fading away and then flashing suddenly out again like sparks in burnt-up paper. Then the night wind swept down the whole mountain side, and began its usual struggle with the shadows upclimbing from the valley, only to lose itself in the end and be absorbed in the all-conquering darkness..." Bret Harte was an American short story writer 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 adapted and admired.

Excerpt: "It was very dark, and the wind was increasing. The last gust had been preceded by an ominous roaring down the whole mountain-side, which continued for some time after the trees in the little valley had lapsed into silence. The air was filled with a faint, cool, sodden odor, as of stirred forest depths. In those intervals of silence the darkness seemed to increase in proportion and grow almost palpable. Yet out of this sightless and soundless void now came the tinkle of a spur's rowels, the dry crackling of saddle leathers, and the muffled plunge of a hoof in the thick carpet of dust and desiccated leaves..." Bret Harte was an American short story writer 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.