Widely considered to be the best English novelist of the 19th century, Charles Dickens also wrote many acclaimed short stories. Retellings in this collection include "The Signalman," "Births: To Mrs. Meek, a Son," "Please, Sir, I Want Some More," "Hunted Down," and "To Be Read at Dusk." Hi-Lo: RL 3.2; IL 4–9.

Tales of Charles Dickens is available in paperback (PB) and reinforced library binding (RLB) editions. Perfection Learning, 2005; 84 pages; PB ISBN 0-7891-6416-7; RLB ISBN 0-7569-3177-0.

To order the book, please call 1-800-831-4190, fax 1-800-543-2745, or click here.

Note: The publisher also offers Accelerated Reader® software and a Teacher Resource for this title.

Excerpt from Tale 5: "To Be Read at Dusk"

The couriers captured my attention as their talk turned to ghosts.

“Oh my!” said the Swiss courier. “If you talk of ghosts—”

“But I don’t talk of ghosts,” said the German.

“Of what then?” asked the Swiss.

“If I knew,” said the German, “I should probably know a great deal more.”

This made me curious. So I moved to the corner of my bench that was nearest to them. I leaned my back against the convent wall. I heard perfectly without appearing to listen.

Said the German, “Think about when a man is coming to see you, unexpectedly, and, without his own knowledge. And somehow, he sends an invisible messenger to put the idea of him into your head all day. What do you call that?

“When you walk along a crowded street—at Frankfort, Milan, London, or Paris—and think that a passing stranger looks like your friend Heinrich. Then you think another passing stranger looks like your friend Heinrich. You begin to have a strange feeling that you’ll soon come across your friend Heinrich. And you do, even though you thought he was at Trieste. What do you call THAT?”

“It’s not uncommon,” murmured the Swiss. The other three agreed.

“Uncommon?” said the German. “It’s as common as cherries in the Black Forest.”

“It’s as common as macaroni at Naples,” said the Neapolitan.

The German smoked and laughed. They all smoked and laughed.

“Bah!” said the German. “I speak of things that really do happen. Ghosts! Giovanni Baptista, tell your story of the English bride. There’s no ghost in that, but something just as strange.”

“The story of the English bride?” said he. “Listen to me well, gentlemen. That which glitters is not always gold. But what I am going to tell you is true.”

He repeated this a few times. Then he told his story . . .

Excerpt © 2005 Perfection Learning.

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