A Son of the Gods, and A Horseman in the Sky

Brilliant and magnetic as are these two studies by Ambrose Bierce, and

especially significant as coming from one who was a boy soldier in the

Civil War, they merely reflect one side of his original and many-faceted

genius. Poet, critic, satirist, fun-maker, incomparable writer of fables

and masterly prose sketches, a seer of startling insight, a reasoner

mercilessly logical, with the delicate wit and keenness of an Irving or

an Addison, the dramatic quality of a Hugo,--all of these, and still in

the prime of his powers; yet so restricted has been his output and so

little exploited that only the judicious few have been impressed.