The complete online text of The Story of Bessie Costrell by Mary Augusta Ward.

Mrs. Humphry Ward, born Mary Augusta Arnold, won worldwide recognition with the publication of Robert Elsmere (1888), which dramatized for countless readers the loss of faith in orthodox Christianity that resulted from the development of evolutionary sci...

"Poor Bessie," said Justin to his grandma one day. "Why doesn't Bessie have feathers? All the other chickens do." "She never grew any," answered "Cold weather is coming. Bessie will freeze without any feathers," said Justin. "Well, Justin, I'll have...

A THERE is a cow as ordinary as her name: Bessie. Only one thing distinguishes Bessie from the rest of the herd: She is about to give birth to a gaur instead of a calf. No one knows what this Midwestern mother will...