A classic collection of short stories by Cyril McNeile. He was a British soldier and author who, drawing on his experiences in the ditches during the First World War, started writing short stories and publishing them. He frequently published under the pseudonym "Sapper". This is a collection of powerful, clever, and compelling tales that would be of great interest to all enthusiasts of the short story form. Content: The Man in Ratcatcher An Arrow at a Venture The House by the Headland The Man Who Would Not Play Cards A Question of Personality The Unbroken Line The Real Test Good Hunting, Old Chap The Man with His Hands in His Pocket A Matter of Routine A Payment on Account

A groom, chewing the inevitable straw, gave a final polish to the saddle, and then stood at the animal's head, waiting for the tall, spare man with the bronzed, weather-beaten face, who was slowly drawing on his gloves in the yard, to mount. Idly the groom wondered if the would-be sportsman knew which side of a horse it was customary to get into the saddle from; in fact one Nimrod recently—a gentleman clothed in spotless pink—had so far excelled himself as to come to rest facing his horse's tail. But what could you expect these times, reflected the groom, when most of the men who could ride in days gone by would ride no more; and a crowd of galloping tinkers, with rank cigars and ranker manners, had taken their places? When he thought of the men who came now—and the women, too—to Boddington's Livery Stable, renowned for fifty years and with a reputation second to none, and contrasted them with their predecessors, he was wont to spit, mentally and literally. And the quods—Strewth! It was a fair disgrace to turn out such 'orses from Boddington's. Only the crowd wot rode 'em didn't know no better: the 'orses was quite good enough—aye! too good—for the likes o' them.

'The Man in Ratcatcher and Other Stories' is a collection of short stories written by H. C. McNeile. Tales of various genres can be found inside, with eleven stories featuring titles such as 'A Payment on Account', 'A Question of Personality', and 'The Real Test'.

What could be more terrifying than a city crawling with rats? In “The Ratcatcher,” a story eerily similar to the legend of the Piped Piper, readers are taken to an old German town where that’s exactly the problem. However, by the end of the tale, it’s not just the rats that have disappeared—it’s all the town’s children! This and other terrible tales are accompanied by full-color images and illustrations that add some beauty to otherwise dark literary worlds. The fire of readers’ imaginations will be lit as they encounter unforgettable storytelling in "Gold-tree and Silver-tree," "The Devil and his Grandmother," and "The King Who Would See Paradise."

Fandango and Other Stories presents a selection of essential short fiction by Alexander Grin, Russia's counterpart to Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Allan Poe, and Alexandre Dumas. Grin's ingenious plots explore conflicts of the individual and society in a romantic world populated by a cast of eccentric, cosmopolitan characters.

Volumes for 1898-1968 include a directory of publishers.