Can Moriarty thwart Sherlock Holmes' plans in his last desperate attempt? Who or what is the mysterious woman who emerges from a snowstorm to suck the life out of a Japanese woodcutter and his nephew? And will Federico give his beloved falcon to the noble Monna Giovanna, whom he adores? This collection of 25 stories captures the brilliance of the short story as it develops across the ages: From Boccaccio's Falcon and the Brothers Grimm's Hansel and Gretel to the modern classics of Dickens, Chekhov, Maupassant, Hearn, O. Henry, Kate Chopin, Katherine Mansfield, Rabindranath Tagore and many more.