The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, volume 10, The Misadventures of John Nicholson, Kidnapped

This volume includes the classic historical novel "Kidnapped" and the short story "The Misadventures of John Nicholson". "John Nicholson" begins: "John Varey Nicholson was stupid; yet stupider men than he are now sprawling in Parliament, and lauding themselves as the authors of their own distinction. He was of a fat habit, even from boyhood, and inclined to a cheerful and cursory reading of the face of life; and possibly this attitude of mind was the original cause of his misfortunes. Beyond this hint philosophy is silent on his career, and superstition steps in with the more ready explanation that he was detested of the gods."