Showing results by narrator "John Rayburn" in All Categories

We begin with a story published in McClure’s magazine, December 1899. This was the first story published under the pseudonym O. Henry. Let’s listen.

This book marks an epoch in my literary career. It is written in blood. It is the outpouring of a soul as deeply seared by Fate’s unkindness as the fairway on the dog-leg hole of the second nine was ever seared by my iron. It is the work of a very nearly desperate man, an 18-handicap man who has got to look extremely slippy if he doesn’t want to find himself in the 20s again.

The words of Kahlil Gibran give his book The Prophet a broad range of inspiration and philosophy. They provide exceptional insight into human desires and understanding. The vivid observations are vibrant with feeling and acceptance of life’s many questions and hopes. One review saluted the story as being untouched by the harshness of life. Gibran’s other two books, The Forerunner and The Madman, are of deep assistance in the same manner.

The author’s birth name was Alan Alexander Milne, but his pen name used only the initials A. A. Milne. He eventually won worldwide acclaim for his renowned youth-oriented stories about Winnie-the-Pooh. However, he tried something different a few years before that, a story based on parental devotion.

This is the start of an exciting series of tales featuring detective Fleming Stone. It was first published in 1909 by American mystery writer Carolyn Wells, who wrote a total of 170 books on diverse subjects, this being the first in her Fleming Stone mysteries. Stone is called on to find who murdered a bride-to-be in her home the night before her wedding. There are several suspects in a well-to-do household, plus incoming guests for the planned wedding. It all whets your appetite for more such scintillating mysteries to follow, so look ahead with excitement.

This is the third in a series about the Saddle Boys in western-themed stories. You learned first about the adventures of two inquisitive youths of by-gone days. They are Frank Haywood, only son of rich miner/ranch owner Leonidas Haywood, and Frank’s friend Bob Archer, who hails from Kentucky. They became known far and wide after being seen riding and dashing over the prairies at top-notch speed. They were often confronted by a spoiled young Peg, (nickname for Percy Egbert Grant), whose wealthy father let him get by with more than he should.

The Saddle Boys in this western-themed series are Frank Haywood, only son of rich miner/ranch owner Leonidas Haywood, and Frank’s friend Bob Archer, who hails from Kentucky. They became known far and wide after being seen riding and dashing over the prairies at top-notch speed. They were often confronted by a spoiled young Peg, (nickname for Percy Egbert Grant, whose wealthy father let him get by with more than he should).

A myth-like feeling is engendered by dining in Le Jules Verne restaurant in the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It helps stir an appetite for sensational adventures. In this book, Verne used first person narration by top-notch fictional scholar, Professor Aronnax, who is aided by his servant Conseil. They voyage on the Nautilus submarine of Captain Nemo, a man with feelings of omnipotence and obsession for power.

Hathelsborough marketplace lies in the middle of the town—a long, somewhat narrow parallelogram, enclosed on its longer side by old gabled houses; shut in on its western end by the massive bulk of the great parish church of St. Hathelswide, Virgin and Martyr, and at its eastern by the ancient walls and high roofs of its medieval Moot Hall. The inner surface of this space is paved with cobble-stones, worn smooth by centuries of usage.

On the southern edge of the populous parish of Paddington, England, in a parallelogram bounded by Oxford and Cambridge Terrace on the south, Praed Street on the north, and by Edgware Road on the east and Spring Street on the west, lies an assemblage of mean streets, the drab dullness of which forms a remarkable contrast to the pretentious architectural grandeurs of Sussex Square and Lancaster Gate, close by. In these streets the observant will always find all those evidences of depressing semi-poverty which are more evident in London than in any other English city.

One January day, many years ago, the little town of Hanover, anchored on a windy Nebraska tableland, was trying not to be blown away. A mist of fine snowflakes was curling and eddying about the cluster of low drab buildings huddled on the gray prairie, under a gray sky. The dwelling-houses were set about haphazard on the tough prairie sod; some of them looked as if they had been moved in overnight, and others as if they were straying off by themselves, headed straight for the open plain. None of them had any appearance of permanence, and the howling wind blew under them as well as over them.

Shore Road has a bunch of auto thefts outside Bayport, home territory of the Hardy Boys, Frank and Joe. They find out that one of their friends, Jack Dodd and his father, have been accused of the thefts. This bothers the lads because they feel certain there has been a big mistake and they intend to do something about it. As a result of their intentions and investigation the Hardy Boys wind up helping in capture of the actual car thieves who had framed and kidnapped their friends. It’s exciting listening as they work hard to aid the Dodds, father and son.

Frank, age sixteen, and Joe, age fifteen, are confronted with one of their most baffling cases. It becomes truly exciting to follow them as they seek a solution. Will they get it? If so, how? It becomes very exciting to follow them in their efforts as they try to live up to the exceptional detecting abilities of their professional detective father.

The Hardy boys looked at one another regretfully. They had just received a letter from their father, Fenton Hardy, an internationally famous detective, who had been called West but a fortnight previous on a mysterious mission. The letter gave the boys their first inkling of the nature of the case that had summoned their father from Bayport, on the Atlantic coast, to the mining country of Montana.

Part of a mystery series featuring renowned detective Fleming Stone. He is called on to decide whether it was suicide or murder in the case of a future college president. Stone has remarkable ingenuity for unraveling cases. Can he do it again? A young girl student is suspected. Was she guilty or was it just rumor? Several clues point both ways. Small footprints in the snow lead to a boarding house where the mystery girl is lodging and love letters between the two point to her guilt. Listening to the unusual tale will have you thinking both ways.

Once upon a time there were four men—all bad. That is, they were each bad, but none was entirely bad. Nobody is. The four were closely associated in their interests and were of varying types and varying degrees of badness. Basically, one was the Cat’s-paw; one was the Brutal Ruffian; one was the Arch Villain behind it all; and one was the Judas Iscariot, who carried the bag, and who betrayed the whole bunch. A millionaire is battered to death on an ocean liner by a bronze hand modeled from Rodin’s original.

The author once worked as a dairy farmer in Canada, but returned to his home in Kent, near London, and became a broadcaster, journalist, novelist, and short story writer. He specialized in tales of the supernatural and was described as “Unquestioned master of weird atmosphere,” as he told of incredible adventures. He often used first person narrations, as you will hear … and, very likely feel an abnormal phantom presence. Come along … If you dare!

This captures the spirit of the American west: It is a classic tale of heroism and romance, with a struggle to survive in a harsh and unforgiving environment. It has the breezy charm of “Cattleland,” as a young cowboy has a major task of saving his ranch from ruthless cattle rustlers. He has a romance as the fast-moving action makes its way through stampedes, shooting and bronc riding in the midst of the rugged and wild landscape of Wyoming.

Victoria Van Allen was the name she signed to her letters and to her cheques, but Vicky Van, as her friends called her, was signed all over her captivating personality, from the top of her dainty, tossing head to the tips of her dainty, dancing feet. Young lawyer Chester Calhoun liked her from the first, and if her “small and earlies” were said to be so called because they were timed by the small and early numerals on the clock dial, and if her “little” bridge games kept in active circulation a goodly share of our country’s legal tender, those things are not crimes.

A most unusual request for insurance was made to Lloyds of London. It was outre enough to bring on what can best be described as something of “improbable dimensions.” The request was made by a young Brirtish Lord. He was engaged to an American heiress and was worried she might back out. An added part of the story is a guarantee there would be a sizeable payout if the ceremony stalls. The story of same can easily be called a delightful romantic comedy and it wouldn’t be surprising if you laugh out loud, or at least chuckle frequently.