Ambrose Bierce

summary

An inquest investigates Hugh Morgan’s violent death after witness William Harker recounts an encounter in which an unseen, forceful agency struck and bafflingly obscured the victim amid abnormal movements of vegetation.
Postmortem shows extensive contusions, lacerations and hemorrhage consistent with severe blunt-force trauma.
Morgan’s diary hypothesizes an entity rendered invisible by colors outside human vision; the jury nevertheless attributes the death to a mountain lion or to fits.

summary

Satirical, dictionary-style entries for Y and Z (Yankee, Year, Yesterday, Yoke, Youth; Zany, Zanzibari, Zeal, Zenith, Zeus, Zigzag, Zoology), offering sardonic definitions, short poems and comic anecdotes.
Public-domain text provided via Project Gutenberg.