consider the possibility of inventing some sort of
shipwreck which had never yet been made the subject of a story. His
efforts in this line resulted in "The Remarkable Wreck of the
'Thomas Hyke.'"

"A Piece of Red Calico" is a description, with exaggerated points,
of an actual experience.

CONTENTS

A TALE OF NEGATIVE GRAVITY
From "The Christmas Wreck"

ASAPH
From "The Watchmaker's Wife"

"HIS WIFE'S DECEASED SISTER"
From "The Lady, or the Tiger?"

THE LADY, OR THE TIGER?

THE REMARKABLE WRECK OF THE "THOMAS HYKE"
From "The Christmas Wreck"

OLD PIPES AND THE DRYAD
From "The Bee-man of Orn"

THE TRANSFERRED GHOST
From "The Lady, or the Tiger?"

"THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELATIVE EXISTENCES"
From "The Watchmaker's Wife"

A PIECE OF RED CALICO
From "The Lady, or the Tiger?"

A TALE OF NEGATIVE GRAVITY

My wife and I were staying at a small town in northern Italy; and on
a certain pleasant afternoon in spring we had taken a walk of six or
seven miles to see the sun set behind some low mountains to the west
of the town. Most of our walk had been along a hard, smooth highway,
and then we turned into a series of narrower roads, sometimes
bordered by walls, and sometimes by light fences of reed or cane.
Nearing the mountain, to a low spur of which we intended to ascend,
we easily scaled a wall about four feet high, and found ourselves
upon pasture-land, which led, sometimes by gradual ascents, and
sometimes by bits of rough climbing, to the spot we wished to reach.
We were afraid we were a little late, and therefore hurried on,
running up the grassy hills, and bounding briskly over the rough and
rocky places. I carried a knapsack strapped firmly to my shoulders,
and under my wife's arm was a large, soft basket of a kind much used
by tourists. Her arm was passed through the handles and around the
bottom of the basket, which she pressed closely to her side. This
was the way she always carried it. The basket contained two bottles
of wine, one sweet for my wife, and another a little acid for
myself. Sweet wines give me a headache.

When we reached the grassy bluff, well known thereabouts to lovers
of sunset views, I stepped immediately to the edge to gaze upon the
scene, but my wife sat down to take a sip of wine, for she was very
thirsty; and then, leaving her basket, she came to my side. The
scene was indeed one of great beauty. Beneath us stret