David Copperfield
Chapter 52: I Assist at an Explosion
by Charles Dickens
Uriah Heep's dealings come to light.
Uriah Heep's dealings come to light.
Holgrave tells Phoebe the story of the Pyncheon curse involving Matthew Maule, Gervayse Pyncheon and his daughter Alice.
Quasimodo, still feeling uneasy from the previous weeks events, witnesses a gathering crowd approaching Notre Dame, and resolves to protect Esmeralda. Quasimodo defends the cathedral, killing many of the Truands in the process. Jehan, having climbed to the top of the gallery, encounters Quasimodo.
With certain defeat looming over the Greeks, Agamemnon presents an offer to Achilles.
Jane has heard that it is a bad omen to dream of children, and now she has dreams on seven consecutive nights involving babies. She learns that her cousin John Reed has committed suicide, and that her aunt, Mrs. Reed, has suffered a stroke and is nearing death. Jane goes to Gateshead, where she is reunited with Bessie. She also sees her cousins Eliza and Georgiana. Eliza is plain and plans to enter a convent, while Georgiana is as beautiful as ever. Ever since Eliza ruined Georgiana’s hopes of eloping with a young man, the two sisters have not gotten along. Jane tries to patch things up with Mrs. Reed, but the old woman is still full of hostility toward her late husband’s favorite. One day, Mrs. Reed gives Jane a letter from her father’s brother, John Eyre. He declares that he wishes to adopt Jane and bequeath her his fortune. The letter is three years old; out of malice, Mrs. Reed did not forward it to Jane when she received it. In spite of her aunt’s behavior, Jane tries once more to smooth relations with the dying woman. But Mrs. Reed refuses, and, at midnight, she dies.
The following is an account written by Emily Holder describing her memories of Fort Jefferson. They tell the poignant and often fascinating story of the hardships, isolation and drama of daily life at the Dry Tortugas in the nineteenth century.
The narrator tells of the circumstances that led to his dramatic change of temperament.
The Camel's Back, a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is the tale of a man in love, Perry Parkhurst, who presents his girlfriend with an ultimatum: get married or end the relationship forever. After ending the relationship, a heartbroken Parkhurst attends the Citrus Ball in a camel costume, determined to win her back.
Mulford and Rose talk. He reveals his jealousy over her relationship with Jack Tier, but she reveals that Jack is married. Wallace questions the captain. Spike gives Jack Tier orders.
Higgins and Pickering attempt to make amends with Eliza.
The central character, John Melmoth, is a scholar who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for 150 extra years of life and spends that time searching for someone who will take over the pact for him; the novel actually takes place in the present, but this backstory is revealed through several nested stories-within-a-story that work backwards through time (usually through the Gothic trope of old books).