young fitzooth had been commanded to his mother's chamber so soon as he had come out from his converse with the squire


there befell an anxious interview mistress fitzooth arguing for and against the squire's project in a breath


most of all robin thought of his father what would he counsel


if for a whim you beggar yourself i cannot stay you


but take it whilst i live and wear montfichet's shield in the days when my eyes can be rejoiced by so brave a sight for you will ne'er disgrace our scutcheon i warrant me


the lad had checked him then


never that sir he had said


he was in deep converse with the clerk and entered the hall holding him by the arm


now to bed boy


tis late and i go myself within a short space


dismiss your squire robin and bid me good e e n


as any in england i would say said gamewell proudly that is in his day


yet he will teach you a few tricks when morning is come


there was no chance to alter his sleeping room to one nearer to gamewell's chamber


presently he crossed the floor of his room with decided step


will cried he softly and stuteley who had chosen his couch across the door of his young master's chamber sprang up at once in answer


we will go out together to the bower there is a way down to the court from my window


rest and be still until i warn you


the hours passed wearily by and movement could yet be heard about the hall


at last all was quiet and black in the courtyard of gamewell


will whispered robin opening his door as he spoke are you ready


they then renewed their journey and under the better light made a safe crossing of the stable roofs


robin entered the hut dragging the unwilling esquire after him


be not so foolish friend said fitzooth crossly


they moved thereafter cautiously about the hut groping before and about them to find something to show that warrenton had fulfilled his mission


they were upon the verge of an open trap in the far corner of the hut and stuteley had tripped over the edge of the reversed flap mouth of this pit


fitzooth's hand rested at last upon the top rung of a ladder and slowly the truth came to him


robin carefully descended the ladder and found himself soon upon firm rocky ground


stuteley was by his side in a flash and then they both began feeling about them to ascertain the shape and character of this vault


from the blackness behind the light they heard a voice warrenton's


save me masters but you startled me rarely


cried he waving the lanthorn before him to make sure that these were no ghosts in front of him


enquired robin with his suspicions still upon him


truly such a horse should be worth much in nottingham fair


nay nay lording answered warrenton with a half laugh


warrenton spoke thus with significance to show robin that he was not to think geoffrey's claims to the estate would be passed by


robin fitzooth saw that his doubts of warrenton had been unfair and he became ashamed of himself for harboring them


his tones rang pleasantly on warrenton's ears and forthwith a good fellowship was heralded between them


the old servant told him quietly as they crept back to gamewell that this passage way led from the hut in the pleasance to sherwood and that geoffrey for the time was hiding with the outlaws in the forest


he implores us to be discreet as the grave in this matter for in sooth his life is in the hollow of our hands


they regained their apartment apparently without disturbing the household of gamewell


he began a confused complaint against the wizard who had vanished behind the curtain on the left


give not so earnest a mind to these mummeries child


a golden fortune and a happy life


he was like unto my father in a way and yet was not my father


also there was a stripling page who turned into a maid


this was so sweet a lady sir and in some manner i do think she died


but then the picture was gone as quickly as it came


sister nell do you hear these marvels


take your place and let us see what the crystal can show to you


like as not young master though i am an old man


forthwith all ran to the opening of the tent to see what might be amiss but master will who peeped out first needed no more than one glance


he gave way to the others very readily and retreated unperceived by the squire and mistress fitzooth to the rear of the tent


cries of a nottingham a nottingham


before them fled the stroller and his three sons capless and terrified


what is the tumult and rioting cried out the squire authoritatively and he blew twice on a silver whistle which hung at his belt


nay we refused their request most politely most noble said the little stroller


and then they became vexed and would have snatched your purse from us


i could not see my boy injured excellence for but doing his duty as one of cumberland's sons


so i did push this fellow


it is enough said george gamewell sharply and he turned upon the crowd


shame on you citizens cried he i blush for my fellows of nottingham


surely we can submit with good grace


tis fine for you to talk old man answered the lean sullen apprentice


but i wrestled with this fellow and do know that he played unfairly in the second bout


spoke the squire losing all patience and it was to you that i gave another purse in consolation


come to me men here here he raised his voice still louder


the strollers took their part in it with hearty zest now that they had some chance of beating off their foes


robin and the little tumbler between them tried to force the squire to stand back and very valiantly did these two comport themselves


the head and chief of the riot the nottingham apprentice with clenched fists threatened montfichet


the squire helped to thrust them all in and entered swiftly himself


now be silent on your lives he began but the captured apprentice set up an instant shout


silence you knave cried montfichet


he felt for and found the wizard's black cloth the squire was quite out of breath


thrusting open the proper entrance of the tent robin suddenly rushed forth with his burden with a great shout


a montfichet a montfichet gamewell to the rescue


taking advantage of this the squire's few men redoubled their efforts and encouraged by robin's and the little stroller's cries fought their way to him


george montfichet will never forget this day


what is your name lording asked the little stroller presently


robin fitzooth


and mine is will stuteley shall we be comrades


right willingly for between us we have won the battle answered robin


i like you will you are the second will that i have met and liked within two days is there a sign in that


montfichet called out for robin to give him an arm


friends said montfichet faintly to the wrestlers bear us escort so far as the sheriff's house


it will not be safe for you to stay here now


pray follow us with mine and my lord sheriff's men


nottingham castle was reached and admittance was demanded


master monceux the sheriff of nottingham was mightily put about when told of the rioting


and henry might return to england at any moment


have your will child if the boy also wills it montfichet answered feeling too ill to oppose anything very strongly just then


he made an effort to hide his condition from them all and robin felt his fingers tighten upon his arm


beg me a room of the sheriff child quickly


but who is this fellow plucking at your sleeve


he is my esquire excellency returned robin with dignity


mistress fitzooth had been carried off by the sheriff's daughter and her maids as soon as they had entered the house so that robin alone had the care of montfichet


robin was glad when at length they were left to their own devices


the wine did certainly bring back the color to the squire's cheeks


these escapades are not for old gamewell lad his day has come to twilight


will you forgive me now


it will be no disappointment to me


no thanks i am glad to give you such easy happiness


you are a worthy leech will presently whispered robin the wine has worked a marvel


ay and show you some pretty tricks


eleven o'clock had struck it was a fine clear night they were the only persons on the road and they sauntered leisurely along to avoid paying the price of fatigue for the recreation provided for the toledans in their valley or on the banks of their river


secure as he thought in the careful administration of justice in that city and the character of its well disposed inhabitants the good hidalgo was far from thinking that any disaster could befal his family


rodolfo and his companions with their faces muffled in their cloaks stared rudely and insolently at the mother the daughter and the servant maid


in a moment he communicated his thoughts to his companions and in the next moment they resolved to turn back and carry her off to please rodolfo for the rich who are open handed always find parasites ready to encourage their bad propensities and thus to conceive this wicked design to communicate it approve it resolve on ravishing leocadia and to carry that design into effect was the work of a moment


they drew their swords hid their faces in the flaps of their cloaks turned back and soon came in front of the little party who had not yet done giving thanks to god for their escape from those audacious men


finally the one party went off exulting and the other was left in desolation and woe


rodolfo arrived at his own house without any impediment and leocadia's parents reached theirs heart broken and despairing


meanwhile rodolfo had leocadia safe in his custody and in his own apartment


who touches me am i in bed


mother dear father do you hear me


it is the only amends i ask of you for the wrong you have done me


she found the door but it was locked outside


she succeeded in opening the window and the moonlight shone in so brightly that she could distinguish the colour of some damask hangings in the room


she saw that the bed was gilded and so rich that it seemed that of a prince rather than of a private gentleman


among other things on which she cast her eyes was a small crucifix of solid silver standing on a cabinet near the window


this person was rodolfo who though he had gone to look for his friends had changed his mind in that respect not thinking it advisable to acquaint them with what had passed between him and the girl


on the contrary he resolved to tell them that repenting of his violence and moved by her tears he had only carried her half way towards his house and then let her go


choking with emotion leocadi made a sign to her parents that she wished to be alone with them


that would be very well my child replied her father if your plan were not liable to be frustrated by ordinary cunning but no doubt this image has been already missed by its owner and he will have set it down for certain that it was taken out of the room by the person he locked up there


what you had best do my child is to keep it and pray to it that since it was a witness to your undoing it will deign to vindicate your cause by its righteous judgment


thus did this humane and right minded father comfort his unhappy daughter and her mother embracing her again did all she could to soothe her feelings


she meanwhile passed her life with her parents in the strictest retirement never letting herself be seen but shunning every eye lest it should read her misfortune in her face


time rolled on the hour of her delivery arrived it took place in the utmost secrecy her mother taking upon her the office of midwife and she gave birth to a son one of the most beautiful ever seen


when the boy walked through the streets blessings were showered upon him by all who saw him blessings upon his beauty upon the mother that bore him upon the father that begot him upon those who brought him up so well


one day when the boy was sent by his grandfather with a message to a relation he passed along a street in which there was a great concourse of horsemen


the bed she too well remembered was there and above all the cabinet on which had stood the image she had taken away was still on the same spot


luis was out of danger in a fortnight in a month he rose from his bed and during all that time he was visited daily by his mother and grandmother and treated by the master and mistress of the house as if he was their own child


thus saying and pressing the crucifix to her breast she fell fainting into the arms of dona estafania who as a gentlewoman to whose sex pity is as natural as cruelty is to man instantly pressed her lips to those of the fainting girl shedding over her so many tears that there needed no other sprinkling of water to recover leocadia from her swoon


i have great things to tell you senor said dona estafania to her husband the cream and substance of which is this the fainting girl before you is your daughter and that boy is your grandson


this truth which i have learned from her lips is confirmed by his face in which we have both beheld that of our son


just then leocadia came to herself and embracing the cross seemed changed into a sea of tears and the gentleman remained in utter bewilderment until his wife had repeated to him from beginning to end leocadia's whole story and he believed it through the blessed dispensation of heaven which had confirmed it by so many convincing testimonies


so persuasive were her entreaties and so strong her assurances that no harm whatever could result to them from the information she sought they were induced to confess that one summer's night the same she had mentioned themselves and another friend being out on a stroll with rodolfo they had been concerned in the abduction of a girl whom rodolfo carried off whilst the rest of them detained her family who made a great outcry and would have defended her if they could


for god's sake my lady mother give me a wife who would be an agreeable companion not one who will disgust me so that we may both bear evenly and with mutual good will the yoke imposed on us by heaven instead of pulling this way and that way and fretting each other to death


her bearing was graceful and animated she led her son by the hand and before her walked two maids with wax lights and silver candlesticks


all rose to do her reverence as if something from heaven had miraculously appeared before them but gazing on her entranced with admiration not one of them was able to address a single word to her


she reflected how near she stood to the crisis which was to determine whether she was to be blessed or unhappy for ever and racked by the intensity of her emotions she suddenly changed colour her head dropped and she fell forward in a swoon into the arms of the dismayed estafania


his mother had left her to him as being her destined protector but when she saw that he too was insensible she was near making a third and would have done so had he not come to himself


know then son of my heart that this fainting lady is your real bride i say real because she is the one whom your father and i have chosen for you and the portrait was a pretence


just at the moment when the tears of the pitying beholders flowed fastest and their ejaculations were most expressive of despair leocadia gave signs of recovery and brought back gladness to the hearts of all


when she came to her senses and blushing to find herself in rodolfo's arms would have disengaged herself no senora he said that must not be strive not to withdraw from the arms of him who holds you in his soul


this was done for the event took place at a time when the consent of the parties was sufficient for the celebration of a marriage without any of the preliminary formalities which are now so properly required


nor was rodolfo less surprised than they and the better to assure himself of so wonderful a fact he begged leocadia to give him some token which should make perfectly clear to him that which indeed he did not doubt since it was authenticated by his parents


kenneth and beth refrained from telling the other girls or uncle john of old will rogers's visit but they got mister watson in the library and questioned him closely about the penalty for forging a check


it was a serious crime indeed mister watson told them and tom gates bade fair to serve a lengthy term in state's prison as a consequence of his rash act


i can't see it in that light said the old lawyer


it was a deliberate theft from his employers to protect a girl he loved


but they could not have proven a case against lucy if she was innocent and all their threats of arresting her were probably mere bluff


he was soft hearted and impetuous said beth and being in love he didn't stop to count the cost


if the prosecution were withdrawn and the case settled with the victim of the forged check then the young man would be allowed his freedom


but under the circumstances i doubt if such an arrangement could be made


fairview was twelve miles away but by ten o'clock they drew up at the county jail


they were received in the little office by a man named markham who was the jailer


we wish to talk with him answered kenneth talk


i'm running for representative on the republican ticket said kenneth quietly


oh say that's different observed markham altering his demeanor


may we see gates at once asked kenneth


they followed the jailer along a succession of passages


sometimes i'm that yearning for a smoke i'm nearly crazy an i dunno which is worst dyin one way or another


he unlocked the door and called here's visitors tom


worse tom worse n ever replied the jailer gloomily


miss de graf said kenneth noticing the boy's face critically as he stood where the light from the passage fell upon it


sorry we haven't any reception room in the jail


sit down please said gates in a cheerful and pleasant voice there's a bench here


a fresh wholesome looking boy was tom gates with steady gray eyes an intelligent forehead but a sensitive rather weak mouth


we have heard something of your story said kenneth and are interested in it


i didn't stop to think whether it was foolish or not i did it and i'm glad i did


old will is a fine fellow but poor and helpless since missus rogers had her accident


then rogers wouldn't do anything but lead her around and wait upon her and the place went to rack and ruin


he spoke simply but paced up and down the narrow cell in front of them


whose name did you sign to the check asked kenneth


he is supposed to sign all the checks of the concern


it's a stock company and rich


i was bookkeeper so it was easy to get a blank check and forge the signature


as regards my robbing the company i'll say that i saved them a heavy loss one day


i discovered and put out a fire that would have destroyed the whole plant but marshall never even thanked me


it was better for him to think the girl unfeeling than to know the truth


i'm going to see mister marshall said kenneth and discover what i can do to assist you thank you sir


it won't be much but i'm grateful to find a friend


they left him then for the jailer arrived to unlock the door and escort them to the office


i've seen lots of that kind in my day


and it ruins a man's disposition


he looked up rather ungraciously but motioned them to be seated


some girl has been here twice to interview my men and i have refused to admit her


i'm not electioneering just now


oh well sir what about him


and he deserves a term in state's prison


it has cost me twice sixty dollars in annoyance


i'll pay all the costs besides


you're foolish why should you do all this


i have my own reasons mister marshall


give me a check for a hundred and fifty and i'll turn over to you the forged check and quash further proceedings


he detested the grasping disposition that would endeavor to take advantage of his evident desire to help young gates


beth uneasy at his silence nudged him


there was a grim smile of amusement on his shrewd face


he might have had that forged check for the face of it if he'd been sharp


and to think we can save all that misery and despair by the payment of a hundred and fifty dollars


so to the surprise of the democratic committee and all his friends mister hopkins announced that he would oppose forbes's aggressive campaign with an equal aggressiveness and spend as many dollars in doing so as might be necessary


one of mister hopkins's first tasks after calling his faithful henchmen around him was to make a careful canvass of the voters of his district to see what was still to be accomplished


the weak kneed contingency must be strengthened and fortified and a couple of hundred votes in one way or another secured from the opposition


the democratic committee figured out a way to do this


under ordinary conditions reynolds was sure to be elected but the committee proposed to sacrifice him in order to elect hopkins


the only thing necessary was to fix seth reynolds and this hopkins arranged personally


and this was why kenneth and beth discovered him conversing with the young woman in the buggy


the description she gave of the coming reception to the woman's political league was so humorous and diverting that they were both laughing heartily over the thing when the young people passed them and thus mister hopkins failed to notice who the occupants of the other vehicle were


these women were flattered by the attention of the young lady and had promised to assist in electing mister forbes


louise hoped for excellent results from this organization and wished the entertainment to be so effective in winning their good will that they would work earnestly for the cause in which they were enlisted


the fairview band was engaged to discourse as much harmony as it could produce and the resources of the great house were taxed to entertain the guests


tables were spread on the lawn and a dainty but substantial repast was to be served


this was the first occasion within a generation when such an entertainment had been given at elmhurst and the only one within the memory of man where the neighbors and country people had been invited guests


the attendance was unexpectedly large and the girls were delighted foreseeing great success for their fete


we ought to have more attendants beth said louise approaching her cousin


won't you run into the house and see if martha can't spare one or two more maids


she was very fond of the young ladies whom she had known when aunt jane was the mistress here and beth was her especial favorite


the housekeeper led the way and beth followed


for a moment beth stood staring while the new maid regarded her with composure and a slight smile upon her beautiful face


she was dressed in the regulation costume of the maids at elmhurst a plain black gown with white apron and cap


then she gave a little laugh and replied no miss beth i'm elizabeth parsons


but it can't be protested the girl


i attend to the household mending you know and care for the linen


you speak like an educated person said beth wonderingly where is your home


for the first time the maid seemed a little confused and her gaze wandered from the face of her visitor


she sat down in a rocking chair and clasping her hands in her lap rocked slowly back and forth i'm sorry said beth


eliza parsons shook her head


they they excite me in some way and i i can't bear them you must excuse me


she even seemed mildly amused at the attention she attracted


beth was a beautiful girl the handsomest of the three cousins by far yet eliza surpassed her in natural charm and seemed well aware of the fact


her manner was neither independent nor assertive but rather one of well bred composure and calm reliance


her eyes wandered to the maid's hands


however her features and form might repress any evidence of nervousness these hands told a different story


she rose quickly to her feet with an impetuous gesture that made her visitor catch her breath


i wish i knew myself she cried fiercely


will you leave me alone in my own room or must i go away to escape you


eliza closed the door behind her with a decided slam and a key clicked in the lock


to fade away like morning beauty from her mortal day down by the river of adona her soft voice is heard and thus her gentle lamentation falls like morning dew


o life of this our spring


why fades the lotus of the water


why fade these children of the spring


thel is like a watry bow and like a parting cloud like a reflection in a glass like shadows in the water like dreams of infants like a smile upon an infants face


like the doves voice like transient day like music in the air ah


and gentle sleep the sleep of death and gently hear the voice of him that walketh in the garden in the evening time


the lilly of the valley breathing in the humble grass answerd the lovely maid and said i am a watry weed and i am very small and love to dwell in lowly vales so weak the gilded butterfly scarce perches on my head yet i am visited from heaven and he that smiles on all walks in the valley and each morn over me spreads his hand saying rejoice thou humble grass thou new born lily flower


thou gentle maid of silent valleys and of modest brooks for thou shall be clothed in light and fed with morning manna till summers heat melts thee beside the fountains and the springs to flourish in eternal vales they why should thel complain


why should the mistress of the vales of har utter a sigh


she ceasd and smild in tears then sat down in her silver shrine


which thou dost scatter on every little blade of grass that springs revives the milked cow and tames the fire breathing steed


but thel is like a faint cloud kindled at the rising sun i vanish from my pearly throne and who shall find my place


and why it scatters its bright beauty thro the humid air


descend o little cloud and hover before the eyes of thel


o little cloud the virgin said i charge thee to tell me why thou complainest now when in one hour thou fade away then we shall seek thee but not find ah thel is like to thee


i pass away yet i complain and no one hears my voice


the cloud then shewd his golden head and his bright form emerg'd


and fearest thou because i vanish and am seen no more


it is to tenfold life to love to peace and raptures holy unseen descending weigh my light wings upon balmy flowers and court the fair eyed dew to take me to her shining tent the weeping virgin trembling kneels before the risen sun


till we arise link'd in a golden band and never part but walk united bearing food to all our tender flowers


lives not alone nor or itself fear not and i will call the weak worm from its lowly bed and thou shalt hear its voice


come forth worm and the silent valley to thy pensive queen


the helpless worm arose and sat upon the lillys leaf and the bright cloud saild on to find his partner in the vale


image of weakness art thou but a worm


i see they lay helpless and naked weeping and none to answer none to cherish thee with mothers smiles


and says thou mother of my children i have loved thee and i have given thee a crown that none can take away


and lay me down in thy cold bed and leave my shining lot


or an eye of gifts and graces showring fruits and coined gold


why a tongue impress'd with honey from every wind


why an ear a whirlpool fierce to draw creations in


all is said without a word


i sit beneath thy looks as children do in the noon sun with souls that tremble through their happy eyelids from an unaverred yet prodigal inward joy


i did not wrong myself so but i placed a wrong on thee


when called before i told how hastily i dropped my flowers or brake off from a game


shall i never miss home talk and blessing and the common kiss that comes to each in turn nor count it strange when i look up to drop on a new range of walls and floors another home than this


alas i have grieved so i am hard to love


open thy heart wide and fold within the wet wings of thy dove


could it mean to last a love set pendulous between sorrow and sorrow


nay i rather thrilled distrusting every light that seemed to gild the onward path and feared to overlean a finger even


and though i have grown serene and strong since then i think that god has willed a still renewable fear


o love o troth


and love be false


if he to keep one oath must lose one joy by his life's star foretold


slow to world greetings quick with its o list when the angels speak


a ring of amethyst i could not wear here plainer to my sight than that first kiss


that was the chrism of love which love's own crown with sanctifying sweetness did precede the third upon my lips was folded down in perfect purple state since when indeed i have been proud and said my love my own


dearest teach me so to pour out gratitude as thou dost good


mussulmans and giaours throw kerchiefs at a smile and have no ruth for any weeping


but thou art not such a lover my beloved


thou canst wait through sorrow and sickness to bring souls to touch and think it soon when others cry too late


i thank all who have loved me in their hearts with thanks and love from mine


oh to shoot my soul's full meaning into future years that they should lend it utterance and salute love that endures from life that disappears


then i long tried by natural ills received the comfort fast while budding at thy sight my pilgrim's staff gave out green leaves with morning dews impearled


i love thee freely as men strive for right i love thee purely as they turn from praise


i love thee with the passion put to use in my old griefs and with my childhood's faith


i love thee with a love i seemed to lose with my lost saints i love thee with the breath smiles tears of all my life and if god choose i shall but love thee better after death


out in the woods stood a nice little fir tree


the place he had was a very good one the sun shone on him as to fresh air there was enough of that and round him grew many large sized comrades pines as well as firs


he did not think of the warm sun and of the fresh air he did not care for the little cottage children that ran about and prattled when they were in the woods looking for wild strawberries


but this was what the tree could not bear to hear


in winter when the snow lay glittering on the ground a hare would often come leaping along and jump right over the little tree


oh that made him so angry


to grow and grow to get older and be tall thought the tree that after all is the most delightful thing in the world


in autumn the wood cutters always came and felled some of the largest trees


this happened every year and the young fir tree that had now grown to a very comely size trembled at the sight for the magnificent great trees fell to the earth with noise and cracking the branches were lopped off and the trees looked long and bare they were hardly to be recognised and then they were laid in carts and the horses dragged them out of the wood


have you not met them anywhere


rejoice in thy growth said the sunbeams


and then what happens then


i would fain know if i am destined for so glorious a career cried the tree rejoicing


i am now tall and my branches spread like the others that were carried off last year oh


were i but already on the cart


were i in the warm room with all the splendor and magnificence


yes then something better something still grander will surely follow or wherefore should they thus ornament me


something better something still grander must follow but what


rejoice in our presence said the air and the sunlight


rejoice in thy own fresh youth


but the tree did not rejoice at all he grew and grew and was green both winter and summer


and towards christmas he was one of the first that was cut down


the axe struck deep into the very pith the tree fell to the earth with a sigh he felt a pang it was like a swoon he could not think of happiness for he was sorrowful at being separated from his home from the place where he had sprung up


he well knew that he should never see his dear old comrades the little bushes and flowers around him anymore perhaps not even the birds


the departure was not at all agreeable


the tree only came to himself when he was unloaded in a court yard with the other trees and heard a man say that one is splendid we don't want the others


there too were large easy chairs silken sofas large tables full of picture books and full of toys worth hundreds and hundreds of crowns at least the children said so


the servants as well as the young ladies decorated it


this evening they all said


how it will shine this evening


perhaps the other trees from the forest will come to look at me


it blazed up famously help help


cried the young ladies and they quickly put out the fire


a story


a story cried the children drawing a little fat man towards the tree


but i shall tell only one story


humpy dumpy fell downstairs and yet he married the princess


that's the way of the world


thought the fir tree and believed it all because the man who told the story was so good looking well well


i won't tremble to morrow thought the fir tree


and the whole night the tree stood still and in deep thought


in the morning the servant and the housemaid came in


but they dragged him out of the room and up the stairs into the loft and here in a dark corner where no daylight could enter they left him


what's the meaning of this thought the tree


and he leaned against the wall lost in reverie


time enough had he too for his reflections for days and nights passed on and nobody came up and when at last somebody did come it was only to put some great trunks in a corner out of the way


tis now winter out of doors thought the tree


how kind man is after all


if it only were not so dark here and so terribly lonely


squeak squeak


they snuffed about the fir tree and rustled among the branches


i am by no means old said the fir tree


there's many a one considerably older than i am


they were so extremely curious


i know no such place said the tree


and then he told all about his youth and the little mice had never heard the like before and they listened and said


said the fir tree thinking over what he had himself related


yes in reality those were happy times


who is humpy dumpy asked the mice


only that one answered the tree


it is a very stupid story


don't you know one about bacon and tallow candles can't you tell any larder stories


no said the tree


then good bye said the rats and they went home


at last the little mice stayed away also and the tree sighed after all it was very pleasant when the sleek little mice sat round me and listened to what i told them


now that too is over


why one morning there came a quantity of people and set to work in the loft


the trunks were moved the tree was pulled out and thrown rather hard it is true down on the floor but a man drew him towards the stairs where the daylight shone


but it was not the fir tree that they meant


it was in a corner that he lay among weeds and nettles


the golden star of tinsel was still on the top of the tree and glittered in the sunshine


in the court yard some of the merry children were playing who had danced at christmas round the fir tree and were so glad at the sight of him


and the gardener's boy chopped the tree into small pieces there was a whole heap lying there


the wood flamed up splendidly under the large brewing copper and it sighed so deeply


however that was over now the tree gone the story at an end


i remained there alone for many hours but i must acknowledge that before i left the chambers i had gradually brought myself to look at the matter in another light


had eva crasweller not been good looking had jack been still at college had sir kennington oval remained in england had mister bunnit and the bar keeper not succeeded in stopping my carriage on the hill should i have succeeded in arranging for the final departure of my old friend


on arriving at home at my own residence i found that our salon was filled with a brilliant company


as i spoke i made him a gracious bow and i think i showed him by my mode of address that i did not bear any grudge as to my individual self


i have come to your shores mister president with the purpose of seeing how things are progressing in this distant quarter of the world


we have our little struggles here as elsewhere and all things cannot be done by rose water


we are quite satisfied now captain battleax said my wife


quite satisfied said eva


the ladies in compliance with that softness of heart which is their characteristic are on one side and the men by whom the world has to be managed are on the other


no doubt in process of time the ladies will follow


their masters said missus neverbend


i did not mean said captain battleax to touch upon public subjects at such a moment as this


missus neverbend you must indeed be proud of your son


jack had been standing in the far corner of the room talking to eva and was now reduced to silence by his praises


sir kennington oval is a very fine player said my wife


i and my wife and son and the two craswellers and three or four others agreed to dine on board the ship on the next


this i felt was paid to me as being president of the republic and i endeavoured to behave myself with such mingled humility and dignity as might befit the occasion but i could not but feel that something was wanting to the simplicity of my ordinary life


my wife on the spur of the moment managed to give the gentlemen a very good dinner


this she said was true hospitality and i am not sure that i did not agree with her


then there were three or four leading men of the community with their wives who were for the most part the fathers and mothers of the young ladies


oh yes said jack and i'm nowhere


but i mean to have my innings before long


of what missus neverbend had gone through in providing birds beasts and fishes not to talk of tarts and jellies for the dinner of that day no one but myself can have any idea but it must be admitted that she accomplished her task with thorough success


we sat with the officers some little time after dinner and then went ashore


how much of evil of real accomplished evil had there not occurred to me during the last few days


what could i do now but just lay myself down and die


and the death of which i dreamt could not alas


when this captain should have taken himself and his vessel back to england i would retire to a small farm which i possessed at the farthest side of the island and there in seclusion would i end my days


jack would become eva's happy husband and would remain amidst the hurried duties of the eager world


thinking of all this i went to sleep


mister neverbend began the captain and i observed that up to that moment he had generally addressed me as president it cannot be denied that we have come here on an unpleasant mission


you have received us with all that courtesy and hospitality for which your character in england stands so high


it is a duty said i


but your power is so superior to any that i can advance as to make us here feel that there is no disgrace in yielding to it


not a doubt but had your force been only double or treble our own i should have found it my duty to struggle with you


that is all quite true mister neverbend said sir ferdinando brown


i can afford to smile because i am absolutely powerless before you but i do not the less feel that in a matter in which the progress of the world is concerned i or rather we have been put down by brute force


you have come to us threatening us with absolute destruction


therefore i feel myself quite able as president of this republic to receive you with a courtesy due to the servants of a friendly ally


i can assure you he has not even allowed me to see the trigger since i have been on board


then said sir ferdinando there is nothing for it but that he must take you with him


there came upon me a sudden shock when i heard these words which exceeded anything which i had yet felt


you hear what sir ferdinando brown has said replied captain battleax


but what is the delicate mission i asked


i was to be taken away and carried to england or elsewhere or drowned upon the voyage it mattered not which


then the republic of britannula was to be declared as non existent and the british flag was to be exalted and a british governor installed in the executive chambers


you may be quite sure it's there said captain battleax and that i can so use it as to half obliterate your town within two minutes of my return on board


you propose to kidnap me i said


what would become of your gun were i to kidnap you


lieutenant crosstrees is a very gallant officer


one of us always remains on board while the other is on shore


what world wide iniquity such a speech as that discloses said i still turning myself to the captain for though i would have crushed them both by my words had it been possible my dislike centred itself on sir ferdinando


you will allow me to suggest said he that that is a matter of opinion


were i to comply with your orders without expressing my own opinion i should seem to have done so willingly hereafter


the letter ran as follows


sir i have it in command to inform your excellency that you have been appointed governor of the crown colony which is called britannula


the peculiar circumstances of the colony are within your excellency's knowledge


but in their selection of a constitution the britannulists have unfortunately allowed themselves but one deliberative assembly and hence have sprung their present difficulties


it is founded on the acknowledged weakness of those who survive that period of life at which men cease to work


but it is surmised that you will find difficulties in the way of your entering at once upon your government


the john bright is armed with a weapon of great power against which it is impossible that the people of britannula should prevail


you will carry out with you one hundred men of the north north west birmingham regiment which will probably suffice for your own security as it is thought that if mister neverbend be withdrawn the people will revert easily to their old habits of obedience


when do you intend that the john bright shall start


to day i shouted


and i have no one ready to whom i can give up the archives of the government


i shall be happy to take charge of them said sir ferdinando


they of course must all be altered


or of the habits of our people it is quite impossible


your power is sufficient i said


if you will give us your promise to meet captain battleax here at this time to morrow we will stretch a point and delay the departure of the john bright for twenty four hours


and this plan was adopted too in order to extract from me a promise that i would depart in peace


this was what did the mischief so far as the running away was concerned


it is hardly necessary to say more of them here


from the manner in which he expressed himself with regard to robert hollan no man in the whole range of his recollections will be longer remembered than he his enthralment while under hollan will hardly ever be forgotten


of this party edward a boy of seventeen called forth much sympathy he too was claimed by hollan


john wesley combash jacob taylor and thomas edward skinner


a few years back one of their slaves a coachman was kept on the coach box one cold night when they were out at a ball until he became almost frozen to death in fact he did die in the infirmary from the effects of the frost about one week afterwards


the doctor who attended the injured creature in this case was simply told that she slipped and fell down stairs as she was coming down


another case said john wesley was a little girl half grown who was washing windows up stairs one day and unluckily fell asleep in the window and in this position was found by her mistress in a rage the mistress hit her a heavy slap knocked her out of the window and she fell to the pavement and died in a few hours from the effects thereof


as usual nothing was done in the way of punishment


i never knew of but one man who could ever please him


he worked me very hard he wanted to be beating me all the time


she was a large homely woman they were common white people with no reputation in the community


substantially this was jacob's unvarnished description of his master and mistress


as to his age and also the name of his master jacob's statement varied somewhat from the advertisement


of starting i didn't know the way to come


it's almost beyond conjecture


this reality begins to explain the dark power and otherworldly fascination of twenty thousand leagues under the seas


first as a paris stockbroker later as a celebrated author and yachtsman he went on frequent voyages to britain america the mediterranean


nemo builds a fabulous futuristic submarine the nautilus then conducts an underwater campaign of vengeance against his imperialist oppressor


in all the novel had a difficult gestation


other subtleties occur inside each episode the textures sparkling with wit information and insight


his specifications for an open sea submarine and a self contained diving suit were decades before their time yet modern technology bears them out triumphantly


even the supporting cast is shrewdly drawn professor aronnax the career scientist caught in an ethical conflict conseil the compulsive classifier who supplies humorous tag lines for verne's fast facts the harpooner ned land a creature of constant appetites man as heroic animal


but much of the novel's brooding power comes from captain nemo


this compulsion leads nemo into ugly contradictions he's a fighter for freedom yet all who board his ship are imprisoned there for good he works to save lives both human and animal yet he himself creates a holocaust he detests imperialism yet he lays personal claim to the south pole


and in this last action he falls into the classic sin of pride


he's swiftly punished


the nautilus nearly perishes in the antarctic and nemo sinks into a growing depression


for many then this book has been a source of fascination surely one of the most influential novels ever written an inspiration for such scientists and discoverers as engineer simon lake oceanographer william beebe polar traveler sir ernest shackleton


fathom six feet


gram roughly one twenty eighth of an ounce


milligram roughly one twenty eight thousand of an ounce


liter roughly one quart


meter roughly one yard three inches


millimeter roughly one twenty fifth of an inch


chapter three as master wishes


three seconds before the arrival of j b hobson's letter i no more dreamed of chasing the unicorn than of trying for the northwest passage


even so i had just returned from an arduous journey exhausted and badly needing a rest


i wanted nothing more than to see my country again my friends my modest quarters by the botanical gardens my dearly beloved collections


but now nothing could hold me back


conseil was my manservant


from rubbing shoulders with scientists in our little universe by the botanical gardens the boy had come to know a thing or two


classifying was everything to him so he knew nothing else well versed in the theory of classification he was poorly versed in its practical application and i doubt that he could tell a sperm whale from a baleen whale


and yet what a fine gallant lad


not once did he comment on the length or the hardships of a journey


never did he object to buckling up his suitcase for any country whatever china or the congo no matter how far off it was


he went here there and everywhere in perfect contentment


please forgive me for this underhanded way of admitting i had turned forty


he was a fanatic on formality and he only addressed me in the third person to the point where it got tiresome


there was good reason to stop and think even for the world's most emotionless man


conseil i called a third time conseil appeared


did master summon me he said entering


pack as much into my trunk as you can my traveling kit my suits shirts and socks don't bother counting just squeeze it all in and hurry


we'll deal with them later what


anyhow we'll leave instructions to ship the whole menagerie to france


yes we are certainly i replied evasively but after we make a detour


a route slightly less direct that's all


we're leaving on the abraham lincoln


you see my friend it's an issue of the monster the notorious narwhale


we don't know where it will take us


but we're going just the same


we have a commander who's game for anything


i left instructions for shipping my containers of stuffed animals and dried plants to paris france


i opened a line of credit sufficient to cover the babirusa and conseil at my heels i jumped into a carriage


our baggage was immediately carried to the deck of the frigate i rushed aboard


i asked for commander farragut


one of the sailors led me to the afterdeck where i stood in the presence of a smart looking officer who extended his hand to me


in person welcome aboard professor your cabin is waiting for you


i was well satisfied with my cabin which was located in the stern and opened into the officers mess


we'll be quite comfortable here i told conseil


and so if i'd been delayed by a quarter of an hour or even less the frigate would have gone without me and i would have missed out on this unearthly extraordinary and inconceivable expedition whose true story might well meet with some skepticism


the wharves of brooklyn and every part of new york bordering the east river were crowded with curiosity seekers


departing from five hundred thousand throats three cheers burst forth in succession


thousands of handkerchiefs were waving above these tightly packed masses hailing the abraham lincoln until it reached the waters of the hudson river at the tip of the long peninsula that forms new york city


notwithstanding the high resolution of hawkeye he fully comprehended all the difficulties and danger he was about to incur


in his return to the camp his acute and practised intellects were intently engaged in devising means to counteract a watchfulness and suspicion on the part of his enemies that he knew were in no degree inferior to his own


in other words while he had implicit faith in the ability of balaam's ass to speak he was somewhat skeptical on the subject of a bear's singing and yet he had been assured of the latter on the testimony of his own exquisite organs


there was something in his air and manner that betrayed to the scout the utter confusion of the state of his mind


the ingenious hawkeye who recalled the hasty manner in which the other had abandoned his post at the bedside of the sick woman was not without his suspicions concerning the subject of so much solemn deliberation


the bear shook his shaggy sides and then a well known voice replied


can these things be returned david breathing more freely as the truth began to dawn upon him


come come returned hawkeye uncasing his honest countenance the better to assure the wavering confidence of his companion you may see a skin which if it be not as white as one of the gentle ones has no tinge of red to it that the winds of the heaven and the sun have not bestowed now let us to business


the young man is in bondage and much i fear his death is decreed


i greatly mourn that one so well disposed should die in his ignorance and i have sought a goodly hymn can you lead me to him


the task will not be difficult returned david hesitating though i greatly fear your presence would rather increase than mitigate his unhappy fortunes


the lodge in which uncas was confined was in the very center of the village and in a situation perhaps more difficult than any other to approach or leave without observation


four or five of the latter only lingered about the door of the prison of uncas wary but close observers of the manner of their captive


delivered in a strong tone of assent announced the gratification the savage would receive in witnessing such an exhibition of weakness in an enemy so long hated and so much feared


they drew back a little from the entrance and motioned to the supposed conjurer to enter


but the bear instead of obeying maintained the seat it had taken and growled


the cunning man is afraid that his breath will blow upon his brothers and take away their courage too continued david improving the hint he received they must stand further off


then as if satisfied of their safety the scout left his position and slowly entered the place


it was silent and gloomy being tenanted solely by the captive and lighted by the dying embers of a fire which had been used for the purposed of cookery


uncas occupied a distant corner in a reclining attitude being rigidly bound both hands and feet by strong and painful withes


the scout who had left david at the door to ascertain they were not observed thought it prudent to preserve his disguise until assured of their privacy


what shall we do with the mingoes at the door they count six and this singer is as good as nothing


the delawares are children of the tortoise and they outstrip the deer


uncas who had already approached the door in readiness to lead the way now recoiled and placed himself once more in the bottom of the lodge


but hawkeye who was too much occupied with his own thoughts to note the movement continued speaking more to himself than to his companion


so uncas you had better take the lead while i will put on the skin again and trust to cunning for want of speed


well what can't be done by main courage in war must be done by circumvention


as soon as these dispositions were made the scout turned to david and gave him his parting instructions


my pursuits are peaceful and my temper i humbly trust is greatly given to mercy and love returned david a little nettled at so direct an attack on his manhood but there are none who can say that i have ever forgotten my faith in the lord even in the greatest straits


if you are not then knocked on the head your being a non composser will protect you and you'll then have a good reason to expect to die in your bed


so choose for yourself to make a rush or tarry here


bravely and generously has he battled in my behalf and this and more will i dare in his service


keep silent as long as may be and it would be wise when you do speak to break out suddenly in one of your shoutings which will serve to remind the indians that you are not altogether as responsible as men should be


if however they take your scalp as i trust and believe they will not depend on it uncas and i will not forget the deed but revenge it as becomes true warriors and trusty friends


hold said david perceiving that with this assurance they were about to leave him i am an unworthy and humble follower of one who taught not the damnable principle of revenge


then heaving a heavy sigh probably among the last he ever drew in pining for a condition he had so long abandoned he added it is what i would wish to practise myself as one without a cross of blood though it is not always easy to deal with an indian as you would with a fellow christian


god bless you friend i do believe your scent is not greatly wrong when the matter is duly considered and keeping eternity before the eyes though much depends on the natural gifts and the force of temptation


the delaware dog he said leaning forward and peering through the dim light to catch the expression of the other's features is he afraid


will the hurons hear his groans


the mohican started on his feet and shook his shaggy covering as though the animal he counterfeited was about to make some desperate effort


he had no occasion to delay for at the next instant a burst of cries filled the outer air and ran along the whole extent of the village


uncas cast his skin and stepped forth in his own beautiful proportions


since the period of our tale the active spirit of the country has surrounded it with a belt of rich and thriving settlements though none but the hunter or the savage is ever known even now to penetrate its wild recesses


the dews were suffered to exhale and the sun had dispersed the mists and was shedding a strong and clear light in the forest when the travelers resumed their journey


after proceeding a few miles the progress of hawkeye who led the advance became more deliberate and watchful


he often stopped to examine the trees nor did he cross a rivulet without attentively considering the quantity the velocity and the color of its waters


distrusting his own judgment his appeals to the opinion of chingachgook were frequent and earnest


yet here are we within a short range of the scaroons and not a sign of a trail have we crossed


let us retrace our steps and examine as we go with keener eyes


chingachgook had caught the look and motioning with his hand he bade him speak


the eyes of the whole party followed the unexpected movement and read their success in the air of triumph that the youth assumed


it would have been more wonderful had he spoken without a bidding


see said uncas pointing north and south at the evident marks of the broad trail on either side of him the dark hair has gone toward the forest


if a rock or a rivulet or a bit of earth harder than common severed the links of the clew they followed the true eye of the scout recovered them at a distance and seldom rendered the delay of a single moment necessary


extinguished brands were lying around a spring the offals of a deer were scattered about the place and the trees bore evident marks of having been browsed by the horses


a circle of a few hundred feet in circumference was drawn and each of the party took a segment for his portion


the examination however resulted in no discovery


the whole party crowded to the spot where uncas pointed out the impression of a moccasin in the moist alluvion


run back uncas and bring me the size of the singer's foot


the paris plant like that at the crystal palace was a temporary exhibit


the london plant was less temporary but not permanent supplying before it was torn out no fewer than three thousand lamps in hotels churches stores and dwellings in the vicinity of holborn viaduct


there messrs johnson and hammer put into practice many of the ideas now standard in the art and secured much useful data for the work in new york of which the story has just been told


the dynamo electric machine though small was robust for under all the varying speeds of water power and the vicissitudes of the plant to which it belonged it continued in active use until eighteen ninety nine seventeen years


owing to his insistence on low pressure direct current for use in densely populated districts as the only safe and truly universal profitable way of delivering electrical energy to the consumers edison has been frequently spoken of as an opponent of the alternating current


why if we erect a station at the falls it is a great economy to get it up to the city


there seems no good reason for believing that it will change


broad as the prairies and free in thought as the winds that sweep them he is idiosyncratically opposed to loose and wasteful methods to plans of empire that neglect the poor at the gate


everything he has done has been aimed at the conservation of energy the contraction of space the intensification of culture


for some years it was not found feasible to operate motors on alternating current circuits and that reason was often urged against it seriously


it could not be used for electroplating or deposition nor could it charge storage batteries all of which are easily within the ability of the direct current


but when it came to be a question of lighting a scattered suburb a group of dwellings on the outskirts a remote country residence or a farm house the alternating current in all elements save its danger was and is ideal


edison was intolerant of sham and shoddy and nothing would satisfy him that could not stand cross examination by microscope test tube and galvanometer


unless he could secure an engine of smoother running and more exactly governed and regulated than those available for his dynamo and lamp edison realized that he would find it almost impossible to give a steady light


mister edison was a leader far ahead of the time


he obtained the desired speed and load with a friction brake also regulator of speed but waited for an indicator to verify it


then again there was no known way to lubricate an engine for continuous running and mister edison informed me that as a marine engine started before the ship left new york and continued running until it reached its home port so an engine for his purposes must produce light at all times


edison had installed his historic first great central station system in new york on the multiple arc system covered by his feeder and main invention which resulted in a notable saving in the cost of conductors as against a straight two wire system throughout of the tree kind


he soon foresaw that still greater economy would be necessary for commercial success not alone for the larger territory opening but for the compact districts of large cities


the strong position held by the edison system under the strenuous competition that was already springing up was enormously improved by the introduction of the three wire system and it gave an immediate impetus to incandescent lighting


it was specially suited for a trial plant also in the early days when a yield of six or eight lamps to the horse power was considered subject for congratulation


the street conductors were of the overhead pole line construction and were installed by the construction company that had been organized by edison to build and equip central stations


meanwhile he had called upon me to make a report of the three wire system known in england as the hopkinson both doctor john hopkinson and mister edison being independent inventors at practically the same time


i think he was perhaps more appreciative than i was of the discipline of the edison construction department and thought it would be well for us to wait until the morning of the fourth before we started up


but the plant ran and it was the first three wire station in this country


they were later used as reserve machines and finally with the engine retired from service as part of the collection of edisonia but they remain in practically as good condition as when installed in eighteen eighty three


the arc lamp installed outside a customer's premises or in a circuit for public street lighting burned so many hours nightly so many nights in the month and was paid for at that rate subject to rebate for hours when the lamp might be out through accident


edison held that the electricity sold must be measured just like gas or water and he proceeded to develop a meter


there was infinite scepticism around him on the subject and while other inventors were also giving the subject their thought the public took it for granted that anything so utterly intangible as electricity that could not be seen or weighed and only gave secondary evidence of itself at the exact point of use could not be brought to accurate registration


hence the edison electrolytic meter is no longer used despite its excellent qualities


the principle employed in the edison electrolytic meter is that which exemplifies the power of electricity to decompose a chemical substance


associated with this simple form of apparatus were various ingenious details and refinements to secure regularity of operation freedom from inaccuracy and immunity from such tampering as would permit theft of current or damage


the standard edison meter practice was to remove the cells once a month to the meter room of the central station company for examination another set being substituted


in december eighteen eighty eight mister w j jenks read an interesting paper before the american institute of electrical engineers on the six years of practical experience had up to that time with the meter then more generally in use than any other


the others having been in operation too short a time to show definite results although they also went quickly to a dividend basis


in this connection it should be mentioned that the association of edison illuminating companies in the same year adopted resolutions unanimously to the effect that the edison meter was accurate and that its use was not expensive for stations above one thousand lights and that the best financial results were invariably secured in a station selling current by meter


the meter continued in general service during eighteen ninety nine and probably up to the close of the century


he weighed and reweighed the meter plates and pursued every line of investigation imaginable but all in vain


he felt he was up against it and that perhaps another kind of a job would suit him better


the problem was solved


we were more interested in the technical condition of the station than in the commercial part


we had meters in which there were two bottles of liquid


no words were spoken no language was uttered save that of wailing and hissing and that somehow was indistinct as if it existed in fancy and not in reality


i heard a noise behind i turned and saw kaffar his black eyes shining while in his hand he held a gleaming knife he lifted it above his head as if to strike but i had the strength of ten men and i hurled him from me


onward said a distant voice


no sound broke the stillness of the night


the story of its evil influence came back to me and in my bewildered condition i wondered whether there was not some truth in what had been said


what was that


what then a human hand large and shapely appeared distinctly on the surface of the pond


nothing more not even the wrist to which it might be attached


it did not beckon or indeed move at all it was as still as the hand of death


i awoke to consciousness fighting at first it seemed as if i was fighting with a phantom but gradually my opponent became more real to me it was kaffar


a sound of voices a flash of light


a feeling of freedom and i was awake where


said another voice which i recognized as voltaire's kaffar


i had scarcely known what i had been saying or doing up to this time but as he spoke i looked at my hand


in the light of the moon i saw a knife red with blood and my hand too was also discoloured


i do not know i am dazed bewildered


but that is kaffar's knife


i know he had it this very evening


i remember saying have we been together


voltaire picked up something from the ground and looked at it


i say you do know what this means and you must tell us


a terrible thought flashed into my mind


i had again been acting under the influence of this man's power


perchance too kaffar's death might serve him in good stead


my tongue refused to articulate my power of speech left me


my position was too terrible


my overwrought nerves yielded at last


for some time after that i remembered nothing distinctly


concord returned to its place amidst the tents


the english forwarded to the french baskets of flowers of which they had made a plentiful provision to greet the arrival of the young princess the french in return invited the english to a supper which was to be given the next day


congratulations were poured in upon the princess everywhere during her journey


from the respect paid her on all sides she seemed like a queen and from the adoration with which she was treated by two or three she appeared an object of worship the queen mother gave the french the most affectionate reception france was her native country and she had suffered too much unhappiness in england for england to have made her forget france


she taught her daughter then by her own affection for it that love for a country where they had both been hospitably received and where a brilliant future opened before them


the count had thrown himself back on his seat leaning his shoulders against the partition of the tent and remained thus his face buried in his hands with heaving chest and restless limbs


this has indeed been a harassing day continued the young man his eyes fixed upon his friend


you will be frank with me i always am


can you imagine why buckingham has been so violent i suspect


it is you who are mistaken raoul i have read his distress in his eyes in his every gesture and action the whole day


i can perceive love clearly enough


i am convinced of what i say said the count


it is annoyance then


in those very terms i even added more


but continued raoul not interrupted by this movement of his friend heaven be praised the french who are pronounced to be thoughtless and indiscreet reckless even are capable of bringing a calm and sound judgment to bear on matters of such high importance


thus it is that the honor of three is saved our country's our master's and our own


yes i need repose many things have agitated me to day both in mind and body when you return to morrow i shall no longer be the same man


but in this friendly pressure raoul could detect the nervous agitation of a great internal conflict


the night was clear starlit and splendid the tempest had passed away and the sweet influences of the evening had restored life peace and security everywhere


upon the large square in front of the hotel the shadows of the tents intersected by the golden moonbeams formed as it were a huge mosaic of jet and yellow flagstones


bragelonne watched for some time the conduct of the two lovers listened to the loud and uncivil slumbers of manicamp who snored as imperiously as though he was wearing his blue and gold instead of his violet suit


goliath makes another discovery


they were certainly no nearer the solution of their problem


the poor little things cried cynthia think of them having been turned to the wall all these years


now what was the sense of it two innocent babies like that


but joyce had not been listening all at once she put down her candle on the table and faced her companion


the twin brother did something she didn't like and she turned his picture to the wall


hers happened to be in the same frame too but she evidently didn't care about that


now what have you to say cynthia sprague


i thought we were stumped again when i first saw that picture but it's been of some use after all


do you suppose the miniature was a copy of the same thing


what in the world is that queried joyce


they worry me terribly and besides i'd like to see what this lovely furniture looks like without such quantities of dust all over it good scheme cyn


we'll come in here this afternoon with old clothes on and have a regular house cleaning


it can't hurt anything i'm sure for we won't disturb things at all


this thought however did not enter the heads of the enthusiastic pair


smuggling the house cleaning paraphernalia into the cellar window unobserved that afternoon proved no easy task for cynthia had added a whisk broom and dust pan to the outfit


the lure proved too much for him and he came sporting after it as friskily as a young kitten much to cynthia's delight when she caught sight of him


oh let him come along she urged i do love to see him about that old house


he makes it sort of cozier


now let's dust the furniture and pictures


yet little as it was it had already made a vast difference in the aspect of the room


surface dust at least had been removed and the fine old furniture gave a hint of its real elegance and polish


then she suddenly remarked


and my pocket money is getting low again and you haven't any left as usual


they say illumination by candle light is the prettiest in the world


why it's goliath as usual they both cried peering in


isn't he the greatest for getting into odd corners


forgetting all their weariness they seized their candles and scurried through the house finding an occasional paper tucked away in some odd corner


well i'm convinced that the boarded up house mystery happened not earlier than april sixteenth eighteen sixty one and probably not much later


the roarings become lost in the distance


the weather if we may use that term will change before long


the atmosphere is charged with vapours pervaded with the electricity generated by the evaporation of saline waters


the electric light can scarcely penetrate through the dense curtain which has dropped over the theatre on which the battle of the elements is about to be waged


the air is heavy the sea is calm


from time to time a fleecy tuft of mist with yet some gleaming light left upon it drops down upon the dense floor of grey and loses itself in the opaque and impenetrable mass


the atmosphere is evidently charged and surcharged with electricity


the wind never lulls but to acquire increased strength the vast bank of heavy clouds is a huge reservoir of fearful windy gusts and rushing storms


there's a heavy storm coming on i cried pointing towards the horizon


those clouds seem as if they were going to crush the sea


on the mast already i see the light play of a lambent saint elmo's fire the outstretched sail catches not a breath of wind and hangs like a sheet of lead


but if we have now ceased to advance why do we yet leave that sail loose which at the first shock of the tempest may capsize us in a moment


that will be safest no no never


the piled up vapours condense into water and the air put into violent action to supply the vacuum left by the condensation of the mists rouses itself into a whirlwind


hans stirs not


from the under surface of the clouds there are continual emissions of lurid light electric matter is in continual evolution from their component molecules the gaseous elements of the air need to be slaked with moisture for innumerable columns of water rush upwards into the air and fall back again in white foam


i refer to the thermometer it indicates the figure is obliterated


is the atmospheric condition having once reached this density to become final


the raft bears on still to the south east


at noon the violence of the storm redoubles


each of us is lashed to some part of the raft


the waves rise above our heads


they seem to be we are lost but i am not sure


he nods his consent


the fireball half of it white half azure blue and the size of a ten inch shell moved slowly about the raft but revolving on its own axis with astonishing velocity as if whipped round by the force of the whirlwind


here it comes there it glides now it is up the ragged stump of the mast thence it lightly leaps on the provision bag descends with a light bound and just skims the powder magazine horrible


we shall be blown up but no the dazzling disk of mysterious light nimbly leaps aside it approaches hans who fixes his blue eye upon it steadily it threatens the head of my uncle who falls upon his knees with his head down to avoid it


a suffocating smell of nitrogen fills the air it enters the throat it fills the lungs


we suffer stifling pains


saturday august fifteenth the sea unbroken all round no land in sight


the horizon seems extremely distant


all my danger and sufferings were needed to strike a spark of human feeling out of him but now that i am well his nature has resumed its sway


you seem anxious my uncle i said seeing him continually with his glass to his eye anxious


one might be with less reason than now


i am not complaining that the rate is slow but that the sea is so wide


we are losing time and the fact is i have not come all this way to take a little sail upon a pond on a raft


he called this sea a pond and our long voyage taking a little sail


therefore don't talk to me about views and prospects


i take this as my answer and i leave the professor to bite his lips with impatience


sunday august sixteenth


nothing new weather unchanged the wind freshens


but there seemed no reason to fear


the shadow of the raft was clearly outlined upon the surface of the waves


truly this sea is of infinite width


it must be as wide as the mediterranean or the atlantic and why not


these thoughts agitated me all day and my imagination scarcely calmed down after several hours sleep


i shudder as i recall these monsters to my remembrance


i saw at the hamburg museum the skeleton of one of these creatures thirty feet in length


i suppose professor liedenbrock was of my opinion too and even shared my fears for after having examined the pick his eyes traversed the ocean from side to side


tuesday august eighteenth


during his watch i slept


two hours afterwards a terrible shock awoke me


the raft was heaved up on a watery mountain and pitched down again at a distance of twenty fathoms


there's a whale a whale cried the professor


flight was out of the question now the reptiles rose they wheeled around our little raft with a rapidity greater than that of express trains


two monsters only were creating all this commotion and before my eyes are two reptiles of the primitive world


i can distinguish the eye of the ichthyosaurus glowing like a red hot coal and as large as a man's head


its jaw is enormous and according to naturalists it is armed with no less than one hundred and eighty two teeth


those huge creatures attacked each other with the greatest animosity


suddenly the ichthyosaurus and the plesiosaurus disappear below leaving a whirlpool eddying in the water


as for the ichthyosaurus has he returned to his submarine cavern


and how odd the directions will look


poor alice


it was the white rabbit returning splendidly dressed with a pair of white kid gloves in one hand and a large fan in the other he came trotting along in a great hurry muttering to himself as he came oh the duchess the duchess


oh won't she be savage if i've kept her waiting


alice took up the fan and gloves and as the hall was very hot she kept fanning herself all the time she went on talking dear dear how queer everything is to day


and yesterday things went on just as usual


i wonder if i've been changed in the night


i almost think i can remember feeling a little different


i'll try if i know all the things i used to know


i shall never get to twenty at that rate


how cheerfully he seems to grin how neatly spread his claws and welcome little fishes in with gently smiling jaws


no i've made up my mind about it if i'm mabel i'll stay down here


it'll be no use their putting their heads down and saying come up again dear


i am so very tired of being all alone here


and i declare it's too bad that it is


i wish i hadn't cried so much said alice as she swam about trying to find her way out


i shall be punished for it now i suppose by being drowned in my own tears


that will be a queer thing to be sure


i am very tired of swimming about here o mouse


cried alice again for this time the mouse was bristling all over and she felt certain it must be really offended


we won't talk about her any more if you'd rather not we indeed


he knew the silver fleece his and zora's must be ruined


it was the first great sorrow of his life it was not so much the loss of the cotton itself but the fantasy the hopes the dreams built around it


ah the swamp the cruel swamp


the revelation of his love lighted and brightened slowly till it flamed like a sunrise over him and left him in burning wonder


he panted to know if she too knew or knew and cared not or cared and knew not


she was so strange and human a creature


the world was water veiled in mists


then of a sudden at midday the sun shot out hot and still no breath of air stirred the sky was like blue steel the earth steamed


where was the use of imagining


the lagoon had been level with the dykes a week ago and now


perhaps she too might be there waiting weeping


he started at the thought he hurried forth sadly


he splashed and stamped along farther and farther onward until he neared the rampart of the clearing and put foot upon the tree bridge


then he looked down the lagoon was dry


he stood a moment bewildered then turned and rushed upon the island a great sheet of dazzling sunlight swept the place and beneath lay a mighty mass of olive green thick tall wet and willowy


the squares of cotton sharp edged heavy were just about to burst to bolls


for one long moment he paused stupid agape with utter amazement then leaned dizzily against a tree


he gazed about perplexed astonished


here lay the reading of the riddle with infinite work and pain some one had dug a canal from the lagoon to the creek into which the former had drained by a long and crooked way thus allowing it to empty directly


he sat down weak bewildered and one thought was uppermost zora


the years of the days of her dying were ten


the hope and dream of harvest was upon the land


up in the sick room zora lay on the little white bed


the net and web of endless things had been crawling and creeping around her she had struggled in dumb speechless terror against some mighty grasping that strove for her life with gnarled and creeping fingers but now at last weakly she opened her eyes and questioned


for a while she lay in her chair in happy dreamy pleasure at sun and bird and tree


she rose with a fleeting glance gathered the shawl round her then gliding forward wavering tremulous slipped across the road and into the swamp


she had been born within its borders within its borders she had lived and grown and within its borders she had met her love


on she hurried until sweeping down to the lagoon and the island lo the cotton lay before her


the chair was empty but he knew


he darted through the trees and paused a tall man strongly but slimly made


the hon charles smith miss sarah's brother was walking swiftly uptown from mister easterly's wall street office and his face was pale


at last the cotton combine was to all appearances an assured fact and he was slated for the senate


why should he not be as other men


she was not herself a notably intelligent woman she greatly admired intelligence or whatever looked to her like intelligence in others


as she awaited her guests she surveyed the table with both satisfaction and disquietude for her social functions were few tonight there were she checked them off on her fingers sir james creighton the rich english manufacturer and lady creighton mister and missus vanderpool mister harry cresswell and his sister john taylor and his sister and mister charles smith whom the evening papers mentioned as likely to be united states senator from new jersey a selection of guests that had been determined unknown to the hostess by the meeting of cotton interests earlier in the day


missus grey had met southerners before but not intimately and she always had in mind vividly their cruelty to poor negroes a subject she made a point of introducing forthwith


she was therefore most agreeably surprised to hear mister cresswell express himself so cordially as approving of negro education


but you believe in some education asked mary taylor


i believe in the training of people to their highest capacity the englishman here heartily seconded him


but cresswell added significantly capacity differs enormously between races


the vanderpools were sure of this and the englishman instancing india became quite eloquent missus grey was mystified but hardly dared admit it the general trend of the conversation seemed to be that most individuals needed to be submitted to the sharpest scrutiny before being allowed much education and as for the lower races it was simply criminal to open such useless opportunities to them


positively heroic added cresswell avoiding his sister's eyes


but we're not er exactly welcomed


mary taylor however related the tale of zora to missus grey's private ear later


fortunately said mister vanderpool northerners and southerners are arriving at a better mutual understanding on most of these matters


in the debate between the senior societies her defence of the fifteenth amendment had been not only a notable bit of reasoning but delivered with real enthusiasm


the south she had not thought of seriously and yet knowing of its delightful hospitality and mild climate she was not averse to charleston or new orleans


john taylor who had supported her through college was interested in cotton


better go he had counselled sententiously


might learn something useful down there


but john there's no society just elementary work


been looking up tooms county


find some cresswells there big plantations rated at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars


some others too big cotton county


you ought to know john if i teach negroes i'll scarcely see much of people in my own class


at any rate i say go


here she was teaching dirty children and the smell of confused odors and bodily perspiration was to her at times unbearable


she wanted a glance of the new books and periodicals and talk of great philanthropies and reforms


so for the hundredth time she was thinking today as she walked alone up the lane back of the barn and then slowly down through the bottoms


cotton she paused


she had almost forgotten that it was here within touch and sight


the glimmering sea of delicate leaves whispered and murmured before her stretching away to the northward


there might be a bit of poetry here and there but most of this place was such desperate prose


her regard shifted to the green stalks and leaves again and she started to move away


cotton is a wonderful thing is it not boys she said rather primly


miss taylor did not know much about cotton but at least one more remark seemed called for


don't know well of all things inwardly commented miss taylor literally born in cotton and oh well as much as to ask what's the use she turned again to go


i suppose though it's too early for them then came the explosion


goobers don't grow on the tops of vines but underground on the roots like yams is that so


the golden fleece it's the silver fleece he harkened


some time you'll tell me please won't you


now for one little half hour she had been a woman talking to a boy no not even that she had been talking just talking there were no persons in the conversation just things one thing cotton


and often has my mother said while on her lap i laid my head she feared for time i was not made but for eternity


why are we to be denied each other's society


why are we to be divided


surely it must be because we are in danger of loving each other too well of losing sight of the creator in idolatry of the creature


we used to dispute about politics and religion


she a tory and clergyman's daughter was always in a minority of one in our house of violent dissent and radicalism


her feeble health gave her her yielding manner for she could never oppose any one without gathering up all her strength for the struggle


he spoke french perfectly i have been told when need was but delighted usually in talking the broadest yorkshire


and so life and death have dispersed the circle of violent radicals and dissenters into which twenty years ago the little quiet resolute clergyman's daughter was received and by whom she was truly loved and honoured


january and february of eighteen thirty seven had passed away and still there was no reply from southey


i am not depreciating it when i say that in these times it is not rare


but it is not with a view to distinction that you should cultivate this talent if you consult your own happiness


you will say that a woman has no need of such a caution there can be no peril in it for her


the more she is engaged in her proper duties the less leisure will she have for it even as an accomplishment and a recreation


to those duties you have not yet been called and when you are you will be less eager for celebrity


but do not suppose that i disparage the gift which you possess nor that i would discourage you from exercising it i only exhort you so to think of it and so to use it as to render it conducive to your own permanent good


farewell madam


though i may be but an ungracious adviser you will allow me therefore to subscribe myself with the best wishes for your happiness here and hereafter your true friend robert southey


sir march sixteenth


i had not ventured to hope for such a reply so considerate in its tone so noble in its spirit


i know the first letter i wrote to you was all senseless trash from beginning to end but i am not altogether the idle dreaming being it would seem to denote


i thought it therefore my duty when i left school to become a governess


in the evenings i confess i do think but i never trouble any one else with my thoughts


i carefully avoid any appearance of preoccupation and eccentricity which might lead those i live amongst to suspect the nature of my pursuits


i don't always succeed for sometimes when i'm teaching or sewing i would rather be reading or writing but i try to deny myself and my father's approbation amply rewarded me for the privation


again i thank you this incident i suppose will be renewed no more if i live to be an old woman i shall remember it thirty years hence as a bright dream


p s pray sir excuse me for writing to you a second time i could not help writing partly to tell you how thankful i am for your kindness and partly to let you know that your advice shall not be wasted however sorrowfully and reluctantly it may be at first followed c b


i cannot deny myself the gratification of inserting southey's reply


keswick march twenty second eighteen thirty seven dear madam


your letter has given me great pleasure and i should not forgive myself if i did not tell you so


of this second letter also she spoke and told me that it contained an invitation for her to go and see the poet if ever she visited the lakes


on august twenty seventh eighteen thirty seven she writes


come come i am getting really tired of your absence


saturday after saturday comes round and i can have no hope of hearing your knock at the door and then being told that miss e is come oh dear


in this monotonous life of mine that was a pleasant event


i wish it would recur again but it will take two or three interviews before the stiffness the estrangement of this long separation will wear away


my eyes fill with tears when i contrast the bliss of such a state brightened by hopes of the future with the melancholy state i now live in uncertain that i ever felt true contrition wandering in thought and deed longing for holiness which i shall never never obtain smitten at times to the heart with the conviction that ghastly calvinistic doctrines are true darkened in short by the very shadows of spiritual death


if christian perfection be necessary to salvation i shall never be saved my heart is a very hotbed for sinful thoughts and when i decide on an action i scarcely remember to look to my redeemer for direction


and meantime i know the greatness of jehovah i acknowledge the perfection of his word i adore the purity of the christian faith my theory is right my practice horribly wrong


the christmas holidays came and she and anne returned to the parsonage and to that happy home circle in which alone their natures expanded amongst all other people they shrivelled up more or less


indeed there were only one or two strangers who could be admitted among the sisters without producing the same result


she was gone out into the village on some errand when as she was descending the steep street her foot slipped on the ice and she fell it was dark and no one saw her mischance till after a time her groans attracted the attention of a passer by


unfortunately the fracture could not be set till six o'clock the next morning as no surgeon was to be had before that time and she now lies at our house in a very doubtful and dangerous state


however remembering what you told me namely that you had commended the matter to a higher decision than ours and that you were resolved to submit with resignation to that decision whatever it might be i hold it my duty to yield also and to be silent it may be all for the best


after this disappointment i never dare reckon with certainty on the enjoyment of a pleasure again it seems as if some fatality stood between you and me


i am not good enough for you and you must be kept from the contamination of too intimate society


a good neighbour of the brontes a clever intelligent yorkshire woman who keeps a druggist's shop in haworth and from her occupation her experience and excellent sense holds the position of village doctress and nurse and as such has been a friend in many a time of trial and sickness and death in the households round told me a characteristic little incident connected with tabby's fractured leg


tabby had lived with them for ten or twelve years and was as charlotte expressed it one of the family


he refused at first to listen to the careful advice it was repugnant to his liberal nature


this decision was communicated to the girls


tabby had tended them in their childhood they and none other should tend her in her infirmity and age


at tea time they were sad and silent and the meal went away untouched by any of the three


she had another weight on her mind this christmas


but anne had begun to suffer just before the holidays and charlotte watched over her younger sisters with the jealous vigilance of some wild creature that changes her very nature if danger threatens her young


stung by anxiety for this little sister she upbraided miss w for her fancied indifference to anne's state of health


still her heart had received a shock in the perception of anne's delicacy and all these holidays she watched over her with the longing fond anxiety which is so full of sudden pangs of fear


i doubt whether branwell was maintaining himself at this time


chapter one origin


it engenders a whole world la pegre for which read theft and a hell la pegrenne for which read hunger


thus idleness is the mother


she has a son theft and a daughter hunger


what is slang


we have never understood this sort of objections


slang is odious


slang makes one shudder


who denies that of course it does


when it is a question of probing a wound a gulf a society since when has it been considered wrong to go too far to go to the bottom


we have always thought that it was sometimes a courageous act and at least a simple and useful deed worthy of the sympathetic attention which duty accepted and fulfilled merits


why should one not explore everything and study everything


why should one halt on the way


nothing is more lugubrious than the contemplation thus in its nudity in the broad light of thought of the horrible swarming of slang


now when has horror ever excluded study


since when has malady banished medicine


can one imagine a naturalist refusing to study the viper the bat the scorpion the centipede the tarantula and one who would cast them back into their darkness saying oh how ugly that is


he would be like a philologist refusing to examine a fact in language a philosopher hesitating to scrutinize a fact in humanity


what is slang properly speaking


it is the language of wretchedness


we may be stopped the fact may be put to us in general terms which is one way of attenuating it we may be told that all trades professions it may be added all the accidents of the social hierarchy and all forms of intelligence have their own slang


the painter who says my grinder the notary who says my skip the gutter the hairdresser who says my mealyback the cobbler who says my cub talks slang


there is the slang of the affected lady as well as of the precieuses


the sugar manufacturer who says loaf clarified lumps bastard common burnt this honest manufacturer talks slang


algebra medicine botany have each their slang


to meet the needs of this conflict wretchedness has invented a language of combat which is slang


to keep afloat and to rescue from oblivion to hold above the gulf were it but a fragment of some language which man has spoken and which would otherwise be lost that is to say one of the elements good or bad of which civilization is composed or by which it is complicated to extend the records of social observation is to serve civilization itself


phoenician very good


even dialect let that pass


to this we reply in one word only


assuredly if the tongue which a nation or a province has spoken is worthy of interest the language which has been spoken by a misery is still more worthy of attention and study


and then we insist upon it the study of social deformities and infirmities and the task of pointing them out with a view to remedy is not a business in which choice is permitted


he must descend with his heart full of charity and severity at the same time as a brother and as a judge to those impenetrable casemates where crawl pell mell those who bleed and those who deal the blow those who weep and those who curse those who fast and those who devour those who endure evil and those who inflict it


do we really know the mountain well when we are not acquainted with the cavern


they constitute two different orders of facts which correspond to each other which are always interlaced and which often bring forth results


true history being a mixture of all things the true historian mingles in everything


facts form one of these and ideas the other


there it clothes itself in word masks in metaphor rags


in this guise it becomes horrible


one perceives without understanding it a hideous murmur sounding almost like human accents but more nearly resembling a howl than an articulate word


one thinks one hears hydras talking


it is unintelligible in the dark


it is black in misfortune it is blacker still in crime these two blacknesses amalgamated compose slang


the earth is not devoid of resemblance to a jail


look closely at life


it is so made that everywhere we feel the sense of punishment


each day has its own great grief or its little care


yesterday you were trembling for a health that is dear to you to day you fear for your own to morrow it will be anxiety about money the day after to morrow the diatribe of a slanderer the day after that the misfortune of some friend then the prevailing weather then something that has been broken or lost then a pleasure with which your conscience and your vertebral column reproach you again the course of public affairs


this without reckoning in the pains of the heart and so it goes on


there is hardly one day out of a hundred which is wholly joyous and sunny


and you belong to that small class who are happy


in this world evidently the vestibule of another there are no fortunate


the real human division is this the luminous and the shady


to diminish the number of the shady to augment the number of the luminous that is the object


that is why we cry education science


to teach reading means to light the fire every syllable spelled out sparkles


however he who says light does not necessarily say joy


people suffer in the light excess burns


the flame is the enemy of the wing


to burn without ceasing to fly therein lies the marvel of genius


it was not very much past eleven that morning when the pony carriage from brandon drew up before the little garden wicket of redman's farm


well she was better though she had had a bad night


so there came a step and a little rustling of feminine draperies the small door opened and rachel entered with her hand extended and a pale smile of welcome