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"Two's better than one for this kind of business, and I am no use
here--only _fruges consumere natus_, as I learned from the Inveraray
dominie. It's my concern as much as yours, for I brought you here, and
I'm trysted with Lawrence to take back word. I'm loath to leave my
friends, but my place is at your side, Andrew. ... |
But about four o'clock the weather lightened, and from the cock's-comb
on which we moved we looked down into the lower glens. I saw that we
had left the main flanks of the range behind us, and were now fairly on
a cape which jutted out beyond the other ridges. It behoved us now to
go warily, and where the thickets grew... |
I made a desperate effort, and swung round so that I got my left
shoulder on his knife arm. That brought my right shoulder close to his
mouth, and he bit me to the bone. The wound did me good, for it
maddened me, and I got a knee loose, and forced it into his loins. For
a moment I dreamed of victory, but I had not coun... |
They carried me to where their horses were tied up in a glade, and
presently we were galloping towards the hills, myself an inert bundle
strapped across an Indian saddle. The pain of the motion was great, but
I had a kind of grim comfort in bearing it. After a time I think my
senses left me, and I slipped into a stupor... |
So I must suppose that I hung there in my bonds with a motionless face
and a mouth which gave out no cry. They brought the faggots, and poured
on water, and I did not look their way. Some score of braves began a
war dance, circling round me, waving their tomahawks, and singing their
wild chants. For me they did not bre... |
"When we fight, we fight not as butchers but as men-at-arms," he said.
"The brother of one of the dead will take on himself the cause of our
tribe. If he slay you, our honour is avenged. If he be slain, we save
you alive, and carry you with us as we march to the rising sun.""I am content," I said, though I was very lit... |
I could hear the plunge of it, and struggled towards it. I was long
past taking any care. I stumbled and slipped along the hill-side, my
breath labouring, and a moaning at my lips from sheer agony and
weakness. If an arrow sped between my ribs I would still reach the
water, for I was determined to die with my legs in i... |
"One so great that these little clanlets of Cherokee and Monacan, and
even the multitudes of the Long House, are but slaves and horseboys by
their side. We dwelt far beyond these mountains towards the setting
sun, in a plain where the rivers are like seas, and the cornlands wider
than all the Virginian manors. But ther... |
"A very weary, feckless cripple of a man," I said, smiling. "But the
armies of Heaven are on my side, Shalah. Take my pistols and Ringan's
sword. I am going into this business with no human weapons." And as
they set me on an Indian horse and the whole tribe turned their eyes to
the higher glens, I actually rejoiced. Li... |
"_A Sword is upon her horses, and upon her chariots, and upon all the
mingled people that are in the midst of her, and they shall become as
women. A Sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed; a
drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is the
land of graven images, and they are mad upon... |
"Who is it that speirs?" he said. "I ken the voice, but I havena heard
it this long time.""One who is well acquaint with Borrowstoneness and the links of Forth,"
said I.I spoke in the accent of his own country-side, and it must have woke
some dim chord in his memory, I made haste to strike while the iron was
hot."There... |
In that hour I had none of the exhilaration of success. So strangely
are we mortals made that, though I had won safety for myself and my
people, I could not get the savour of it. I had passed too far beyond
the limits of my strength. Now that the tension of peril was gone, my
legs were like touchwood, which a stroke wo... |
The strength of youth is like a branch of yew, for if it is bent it
soon straightens. By the third day I was on my feet again, with only
the stiffness of healing wounds to remind me of those desperate
passages. When I could look about me I found that men had arrived from
the Rappahannock, and among them Elspeth's uncle... |
OLD LADY MARY.A STORY OF THE SEEN AND THE UNSEEN.By Margaret O. (Wilson) OliphantIShe was very old, and therefore it was very hard for her to make up her
mind to die. I am aware that this is not at all the general view, but
that it is believed, as old age must be near death, that it prepares the
soul for that inevitabl... |
Besides these, however, she had many mild pleasures. She had a pretty
house full of things which formed a graceful _entourage_ suitable, as
she felt, for such a woman as she was, and in which she took pleasure for
their own beauty,--soft chairs and couches, a fireplace and lights
which were the perfection of tempered ... |
Nevertheless these men did disturb her a little about her will. She had
made more than one will in the former days during her active life; but
all those to whom she had bequeathed her possessions were dead. She had
survived them all, and inherited from many of them; which had been a hard
thing in its time. One day the ... |
"No, my lady," Jervis replied, deprecating and disappointed."Why cannot he tell his tale in daylight?""Oh, my lady, there's no tale to tell," cried the maid. "We are not of
the gossiping sort, my lady, neither me nor Mr. Brown." Lady Mary
laughed, and watched while the candles were put out, the fire made a
pleasant fli... |
It happened, however, that one day in the early winter the wind changed
when Lady Mary was out for her drive; at least they all vowed the wind
changed. It was in the south, that genial quarter, when she set out, but
turned about in some uncomfortable way, and was a keen northeaster when
she came back. And in the moment... |
It was a great shock, it need not be concealed. Otherwise, she had been
quite pleasantly occupied with the interest of something new, into which
she had walked so easily out of her own bedchamber, without any trouble,
and with the delightful new sensation of health and strength. But when it
flashed upon her that she wa... |
Though she was no longer old and weak, yet she was still a woman, and she
began to weep, in the terrible failure and contrariety of all things; but
yet she would not yield. She cried: "There must be some one here who
would do it for love. I have had people who loved me in my time. I must
have some here who have not for... |
The night which Lady Mary had been conscious of, in a momentary glimpse
full of the exaggeration of fever, had not indeed been so expeditious
as she believed. The doctor, it is true, had been pronouncing her
death-warrant when she saw him holding her wrist, and wondered what he
did there in the middle of the night; but... |
"Hush!" cried the vicar's wife; indeed she had been making signs to the
other lady, who stood with her back to the door, for some moments. Mary
had come in while this conversation was going on. She had not paid any
attention to it; and yet her ear had been caught by the names of Lady
Mary, and the earl, and Mr. Furniva... |
Lady Mary found herself on the road that led through her own village,
going home. It was like a picture of a wintry night,--like one of those
pictures that please the children at Christmas. A little snow sprinkled
on the roofs, just enough to define them, and on the edges of the roads;
every cottage window showing a ru... |
But as she said this, the woman did not know who was looking at her with
wide, wistful eyes, holding out her hands in appeal, receiving every word
as if it had been a blow,--though she knew it was useless. Lady Mary
could not help it. She cried out to them, "Have pity upon me! Have pity
upon me! I am not cruel, as you ... |
Mary, when she left her kind friend in the vicarage, went out and took a
long walk. She had received a shock so great that it took all sensation
from her, and threw her into the seething and surging of an excitement
altogether beyond her control. She could not think until she had got
familiar with the idea, which indee... |
"Well," said the stranger, "that is perhaps going too far on the other
side, for you can't even see my face, to know what I mean. But I do mean
to be kind, and I am very sorry for you. And though I think you've been
treated abominably, all the same I like you better for not allowing any
one to say so. And now, do you k... |
But Connie was very reluctant to tell. She was very shy, and clung to her
mother, and hid her face in her ample dress; and though presently she was
beguiled by Mary's voice, and in a short time came to her side, and clung
to her as she had clung to Mrs. Turner, she still kept her secret to
herself. They were all very k... |
Mary remembered what a consolation and strength in all wakefulness had
been the glimmer of the light under her godmother's door. She smiled to
think that she herself, so desolate as she was, was able to afford this
innocent comfort to another girl, and then sat down and wept quietly,
feeling her solitude and the chill ... |
Mrs. Turner looked from one to another with wondering eyes. "You know
what it is?" she said. "Oh, you know what it is? Doctor, doctor, is it
because my Connie is so delicate? Is it a warning? Is it--""Oh, for heaven's sake! You will drive me mad, you ladies. Is it this,
and is it that? It is nothing, I tell you. The ch... |
"My dear," said the vicar again, "you are asking me to believe in
purgatory,--nothing less. You are asking me to contradict the church's
teaching. Mary, you must compose yourself. You must wait till this
excitement has passed away.""I can see by her eyes that she did not sleep last night," the doctor
said, relieved. "W... |
Then Lady Mary turned away with a heart full of despair. She went quickly
from the house, out into the night. The pang of her disappointment was so
keen, that she could not endure it. She remembered what had been said to
her in the place from whence she came, and how she had been entreated to
be patient and wait. Oh, h... |
"How you talk, Francis! what can a woman say between you horrid men? I
say if she couldn't rest,--wherever she is,--because of leaving Mary
destitute, it would be only natural,--and I should think the more of her
for it," Mrs. Bowyer cried.The vicar had a gentle professional laugh over the confusion of his
wife's mind.... |
Mary had a long illness, and hovered on the verge of death. She said a
great deal in her wanderings about some one who had looked at her. "For a
moment, a moment," she would cry; "only a moment! and I had so much to
say." But as she got better, nothing was said to her about this face she
had seen. And perhaps it was on... |
A LITTLE PILGRIMBy Margaret O. (Wilson) OliphantA LITTLE PILGRIM.I.IN THE UNSEEN.She had been talking of dying only the evening before, with a friend, and
had described her own sensations after a long illness when she had been
at the point of death. "I suppose," she said, "that I was as nearly gone
as any one ever was ... |
She rose up, and it was strange how like she felt to the child she
remembered in that still summer morning so many years ago. Her little
body, which had been worn and racked with pain, felt as light and
unconscious of itself as then. She took her first step forward with the
same sense of pleasure, yet of awe, suppresse... |
"Ah," said the little Pilgrim, "I have been thinking of other things. Of
how happy I was, and of _them_; but never of the Father,--just as
if I had not died."The other smiled upon her with a wonderful smile."Do you think he will be offended--our Father--as if he were one of us?"
she said.And then the little Pilgrim, in... |
"Oh, I will tell you," she said. "There was a moment when he was very sad
and perplexed, not knowing what to think; there was something he could
not understand. Nor could I understand, nor did I know what it was, until
it was said to me, 'You may go and tell him.' And I went in the early
morning before he was awake, an... |
The little Pilgrim half laughed with delight, and then half cried with
longing to go, as the beautiful lady had done, and make something clear
that had been dark before, to this friend. As she was thinking what a
pleasure it would be, some one came up to her, crossing over the flowery
greenness, leaving the path on pur... |
He was going about his Father's business, not lingering, yet neither
making haste; and the calm and peace which the little Pilgrim had seen in
the faces of the blessed were but reflections from the majestic
gentleness of the countenance to which, all quivering with happiness and
wonder, she lifted up her eyes. Many thi... |
The little Pilgrim thus went on and on toward the gate, which she had not
seen when she herself came through it, having been lifted in his arms by
the great Death Angel, and set down softly inside, so that she did not
know it, or even the shadow of it. As she drew nearer, the light became
less bright, though very sweet... |
The woman had sat up and was gazing round her. "It is very strange," she
said; "it is all confused. I think upon my mother and the old prayers I
used to say. For a long, long time I always said my prayers; but now I've
got hardened, they say. Oh, I was once as fresh as any one. It all comes
over me now. I feel as if I ... |
"What way?" cried the little Pilgrim; for her strength was gone from her,
and she had no word to say to him. He looked at her with that
bewilderment on his face, and said, "I find myself strange, strange. I
ought to know where I am; but it is scarcely daylight yet. It is perhaps
foolish to come out so early in the morn... |
"Stay with me till he comes,--oh, stay with me," the woman cried,
clinging to her arm."Unless another is sent," the little Pilgrim said. And it was nothing to
her that the air was less bright there, for her mind was full of light,
so that, though her heart still fluttered a little with all that had
passed, she had no l... |
"Not everybody," he said, and smiled upon her like a brother; "for we are
not all alike even here.""Were you a painter?" she said, "in--in the other--""In the old times. I was one of those that strove for the mastery, and
sometimes grudged--We remember these things at times," he said gravely,
"to make us more aware of ... |
The little Pilgrim felt her heart beat very wildly while she looked at
this, and she thought upon the rich man in the parable, who, though he
was himself in torment, prayed that his brother might be saved, and she
said to herself, "Our dear Lord would never leave him there who could
think of his brother when he was him... |
She looked at him again and again while he spoke, and it seemed to her
that she saw in him such great knowledge and tenderness as made her glad;
and how he could understand the follies that men had done, and fathom
what real meaning was in them, and disentangle all the threads. He smiled
as she gazed at him, and answer... |
After this the little Pilgrim went out again into the beautiful city,
feeling in her heart that everything was a mystery, and that the days
would never be long enough to learn all that had yet to be learned, but
knowing now that this too was the little language, and pleased with the
sweet thought of so much that was to... |
The woman who had been at her side listened too with all her heart,
saying to herself, as she stood in the crowd, "He has left nothing out!
The little days they were so short, and the skies would change all in a
moment and one's heart with them. How he brings it all back!" And she put
up her hand to dry away a tear fro... |
Upon this the poet rose and lifted up his hands and sang again a great
song; it was in the other language which the little Pilgrim still did not
understand, but she could make out that it sounded like a great
proclamation that He was wise as he was good, and called upon all to see
that the Lord had chosen the only way:... |
And now she found herself at a distance from the great city, which shone
in the light with its beautiful towers, and roofs, and all its monuments,
softly fringed with trees, and set in a heavenly firmament. And the
Pilgrim thought of those words that described this lovely place as a
bride adorned for her husband, and d... |
"I was glad," the lady said, "that you came in your sleep; for sometimes
the way is dark and hard, and you are little and tender. When your
brother comes you will be the first to see him, and show him the way.""My brother! is he coming?" the little Pilgrim cried. And then she said
with a wistful look, "But we are all b... |
HELLOR THE INFERNO FROM THE DIVINE COMEDYBY
Dante AlighieriTranslated by
THE REV. H. F. CARY, M.A.ContentsCANTO I.
CANTO II.
CANTO III.
CANTO IV.
CANTO V.
CANTO VI.
CANTO VII.
CANTO VIII.
CANTO IX.
CANTO X.
CANTO XI.
CANTO XII.
CANTO XIII.
CANTO XIV.
CANTO XV.
CANTO XVI.
CANTO XVII.
CANTO XVIII.
CANTO... |
I thus began: "Bard! thou who art my guide,
Consider well, if virtue be in me
Sufficient, ere to this high enterprise
Thou trust me. Thou hast told that Silvius' sire,
Yet cloth'd in corruptible flesh, among
Th' immortal tribes had entrance, and was there
Sensible present. Yet if heaven's great Lord,
Almighty foe to il... |
And I, who straightway look'd, beheld a flag,
Which whirling ran around so rapidly,
That it no pause obtain'd: and following came
Such a long train of spirits, I should ne'er
Have thought, that death so many had despoil'd.When some of these I recogniz'd, I saw
And knew the shade of him, who to base fear
Yielding, abjur... |
Far as the luminous beacon on we pass'd
Speaking of matters, then befitting well
To speak, now fitter left untold. At foot
Of a magnificent castle we arriv'd,
Seven times with lofty walls begirt, and round
Defended by a pleasant stream. O'er this
As o'er dry land we pass'd. Next through seven gates
I with those sages e... |
Then turning, I to them my speech address'd.
And thus began: "Francesca! your sad fate
Even to tears my grief and pity moves.
But tell me; in the time of your sweet sighs,
By what, and how love granted, that ye knew
Your yet uncertain wishes?" She replied:
"No greater grief than to remember days
Of joy, when mis'ry is ... |
E'en as a billow, on Charybdis rising,
Against encounter'd billow dashing breaks;
Such is the dance this wretched race must lead,
Whom more than elsewhere numerous here I found,
From one side and the other, with loud voice,
Both roll'd on weights by main forge of their breasts,
Then smote together, and each one forthwi... |
And thus the good instructor: "Now, my son!
Draws near the city, that of Dis is nam'd,
With its grave denizens, a mighty throng."I thus: "The minarets already, Sir!
There certes in the valley I descry,
Gleaming vermilion, as if they from fire
Had issu'd." He replied: "Eternal fire,
That inward burns, shows them with ru... |
As where Rhone stagnates on the plains of Arles,
Or as at Pola, near Quarnaro's gulf,
That closes Italy and laves her bounds,
The place is all thick spread with sepulchres;
So was it here, save what in horror here
Excell'd: for 'midst the graves were scattered flames,
Wherewith intensely all throughout they burn'd,
Tha... |
"Of all malicious act abhorr'd in heaven,
The end is injury; and all such end
Either by force or fraud works other's woe
But fraud, because of man peculiar evil,
To God is more displeasing; and beneath
The fraudulent are therefore doom'd to' endure
Severer pang. The violent occupy
All the first circle; and because to f... |
We to those beasts, that rapid strode along,
Drew near, when Chiron took an arrow forth,
And with the notch push'd back his shaggy beard
To the cheek-bone, then his great mouth to view
Exposing, to his fellows thus exclaim'd:
"Are ye aware, that he who comes behind
Moves what he touches? The feet of the dead
Are not so... |
"Briefly ye shall be answer'd. When departs
The fierce soul from the body, by itself
Thence torn asunder, to the seventh gulf
By Minos doom'd, into the wood it falls,
No place assign'd, but wheresoever chance
Hurls it, there sprouting, as a grain of spelt,
It rises to a sapling, growing thence
A savage plant. The Harpi... |
Then I to him: "If from our world this sluice
Be thus deriv'd; wherefore to us but now
Appears it at this edge?" He straight replied:
"The place, thou know'st, is round; and though great part
Thou have already pass'd, still to the left
Descending to the nethermost, not yet
Hast thou the circuit made of the whole orb.
W... |
"If misery of this drear wilderness,"
Thus one began, "added to our sad cheer
And destitute, do call forth scorn on us
And our entreaties, let our great renown
Incline thee to inform us who thou art,
That dost imprint with living feet unharm'd
The soil of Hell. He, in whose track thou see'st
My steps pursuing, naked th... |
And when amongst them looking round I came,
A yellow purse I saw with azure wrought,
That wore a lion's countenance and port.
Then still my sight pursuing its career,
Another I beheld, than blood more red.
A goose display of whiter wing than curd.
And one, who bore a fat and azure swine
Pictur'd on his white scrip, add... |
Hence in the second chasm we heard the ghosts,
Who jibber in low melancholy sounds,
With wide-stretch'd nostrils snort, and on themselves
Smite with their palms. Upon the banks a scurf
From the foul steam condens'd, encrusting hung,
That held sharp combat with the sight and smell.So hollow is the depth, that from no pa... |
As on them more direct mine eye descends,
Each wondrously seem'd to be revers'd
At the neck-bone, so that the countenance
Was from the reins averted: and because
None might before him look, they were compell'd
To' advance with backward gait. Thus one perhaps
Hath been by force of palsy clean transpos'd,
But I ne'er saw... |
Me then my guide bespake: "Lest they descry,
That thou art here, behind a craggy rock
Bend low and screen thee; and whate'er of force
Be offer'd me, or insult, fear thou not:
For I am well advis'd, who have been erst
In the like fray." Beyond the bridge's head
Therewith he pass'd, and reaching the sixth pier,
Behov'd h... |
"If ye desire to see or hear," he thus
Quaking with dread resum'd, "or Tuscan spirits
Or Lombard, I will cause them to appear.
Meantime let these ill talons bate their fury,
So that no vengeance they may fear from them,
And I, remaining in this self-same place,
Will for myself but one, make sev'n appear,
When my shrill... |
Thus spake: "That pierced spirit, whom intent
Thou view'st, was he who gave the Pharisees
Counsel, that it were fitting for one man
To suffer for the people. He doth lie
Transverse; nor any passes, but him first
Behoves make feeling trial how each weighs.
In straits like this along the foss are plac'd
The father of his... |
The sinner heard and feign'd not, but towards me
His mind directing and his face, wherein
Was dismal shame depictur'd, thus he spake:
"It grieves me more to have been caught by thee
In this sad plight, which thou beholdest, than
When I was taken from the other life.
I have no power permitted to deny
What thou inquirest... |
But if our minds, when dreaming near the dawn,
Are of the truth presageful, thou ere long
Shalt feel what Prato, (not to say the rest)
Would fain might come upon thee; and that chance
Were in good time, if it befell thee now.
Would so it were, since it must needs befall!
For as time wears me, I shall grieve the more.We... |
"Lamone's city and Santerno's range
Under the lion of the snowy lair.
Inconstant partisan! that changeth sides,
Or ever summer yields to winter's frost.
And she, whose flank is wash'd of Savio's wave,
As 'twixt the level and the steep she lies,
Lives so 'twixt tyrant power and liberty."Now tell us, I entreat thee, who ... |
"Declare, as thou dost wish that I above
May carry tidings of thee, who is he,
In whom that sight doth wake such sad remembrance?"Forthwith he laid his hand on the cheek-bone
Of one, his fellow-spirit, and his jaws
Expanding, cried: "Lo! this is he I wot of;
He speaks not for himself: the outcast this
Who overwhelm'd t... |
The other leprous spirit heard my words,
And thus return'd: "Be Stricca from this charge
Exempted, he who knew so temp'rately
To lay out fortune's gifts; and Niccolo
Who first the spice's costly luxury
Discover'd in that garden, where such seed
Roots deepest in the soil: and be that troop
Exempted, with whom Caccia of ... |
Turning our back upon the vale of woe,
W cross'd th' encircled mound in silence. There
Was twilight dim, that far long the gloom
Mine eye advanc'd not: but I heard a horn
Sounded aloud. The peal it blew had made
The thunder feeble. Following its course
The adverse way, my strained eyes were bent
On that one spot. So te... |
A space I look'd around, then at my feet
Saw two so strictly join'd, that of their head
The very hairs were mingled. "Tell me ye,
Whose bosoms thus together press," said I,
"Who are ye?" At that sound their necks they bent,
And when their looks were lifted up to me,
Straightway their eyes, before all moist within,
Dist... |
"Whence I betook me now grown blind to grope
Over them all, and for three days aloud
Call'd on them who were dead. Then fasting got
The mastery of grief." Thus having spoke,Once more upon the wretched skull his teeth
He fasten'd, like a mastiff's 'gainst the bone
Firm and unyielding. Oh thou Pisa! shame
Of all the peop... |
"Arise," my master cried, "upon thy feet.
The way is long, and much uncouth the road;
And now within one hour and half of noon
The sun returns." It was no palace-hall
Lofty and luminous wherein we stood,
But natural dungeon where ill footing was
And scant supply of light. "Ere from th' abyss
I sep'rate," thus when rise... |
BILLIE BRADLEY AND HER INHERITANCEORTHE QUEER HOMESTEAD AT CHERRY CORNERSBY JANET D. WHEELERBILLIE BRADLEY AND HER INHERITANCECONTENTSCHAPTERI. AN ACCIDENT.II. THAT HUNDRED DOLLARS.III. CHET HELPS.IV. THE LAST HOPE.V. WORSE AND WORSE.VI. DEBBIE DESERTS.VII. A STRANGE BURGLAR.VIII. STARTLING DEVELOPMENTS.IX. GHOSTS AND ... |
"There it is," she said, running to a desk at the farther end of the room
and picking up from an inner corner a prettily bound book. "Just the very
place I left it, too. My, but I'm glad to get it back again.""What do you think you're doing, Billie Bradley?" inquired Laura a
minute later, for Billie had seated herself ... |
"All right, come on," cried Billie, running ahead of them and taking two
steps at a time. "As Dad says: 'A coward dies a thousand deaths, the
brave man only one.'"The end of this quotation brought them to the porch, and Billie looked
for the bell."Now then," she said, and braced herself for the ordeal.A stout, middle-a... |
"Well," said Chet, taking this startling bit of information more calmly
than would have been thought possible, "you don't seem very much worried
about it.""Oh, but, Chet, I am!" once more the cloud banished the merry gleam in
Billie's eyes. "Wait till I show you."She left her breakfast, ran upstairs, and was back in a ... |
"Oh, and I'm a perfect fright!" cried Billie, her hands flying to her
hair--hair, by the way, which was arranged in the very best manner to set
off Billie's sparkling prettiness. "Laura," she turned accusing eyes upon
her chum, "tell the truth. Did you know he was coming?""No," said Laura honestly, adding with a little... |
Billie had to turn away to hide the tears that sprang to her eyes. For to
go to Three Towers Hall had long been the ambition of the chums, and now
it was doubly hard to see her chance snatched away by an accident that
could have been so easily avoided. If only she had not been so foolish!Violet came over and put a lovi... |
"It was strange," remarked Billie slowly, "that I should have been
speaking of Aunt Beatrice only the other day. Violet wanted to know if
she was wealthy.""Was she, Dad?" asked Chet, with interest."I imagine nobody knew," his father answered. "As you know, she was
queer, and as tight as a clam when it came to talking a... |
Nearer, nearer came the stealthy padding, till Billie realized it had
reached the landing. Her scalp crept and her hair began to stand on end.
Her door was the nearest to the stairs, and she was all alone in the
house with Chet!Swiftly, she threw off the covers, jumped out of bed, and with her
limbs trembling under her... |
"Thank you, I don't," called back Billie, making a face at him over
her shoulder.And then followed such a whirlwind of sweeping and dusting and throwing
about of furniture that poor Chet was dismayed and was forced to take
refuge on the porch.However, when Billie, flushed and breathless and very, very pretty, took
him ... |
"Well, I should say so!" cried Chet, to whom the description of the queer
old house, while dismaying his sister, had appealed immensely. "Say, I'd
like nothing better than to go out right now and look your property over,
Billie. Big rooms and spooky halls and--say, Mother, it must have a
cellar and an attic. What are t... |
"Just think," Violet had said in one of their excited conferences on the
subject, "what a wonderful thing it will be for Billie just now when she
is so worried about that miserable old statue. And for Chet too!""Yes, it would mean they could both go to school and we'd all have such a
good time," Laura had chimed in. "G... |
"Vi!" cried Laura joyfully, not waiting for her to finish, "you _have_
a good idea this time. You were going to say, why not spend our
vacation there?""At Cherry Corners?" asked Billie surprised, adding with a demure
glance: "Nobody seems to think of asking me about it. And it's my
property, you know.""Gracious, isn't ... |
"You do have a good idea once in awhile, Billie!" exclaimed Laura,
jumping out of the swing and holding out a hand to each of them. "Come
on, we can't afford to waste any time.""Where shall we go first?" asked Violet."To Laura's," Billie decided. "If we can get her mother and father to
consent and then can get Mrs. Gil... |
"Heavens, listen at her!" cried Ferd in alarm. "Is she going to set us to
work already--before we get there? What's the idea, Billie?""Well," replied Billie, biting off her thread calmly, "we have to eat
while we're there, you know.""No!" cried Chet sarcastically. "You may, sweet sister, but not us. We
are too ethereal... |
"I don't know whether you would think so," Laura retorted calmly. "I was
wondering why we didn't take the night train that reaches Roland, the
nearest station to Cherry Corners, in the morning.""That would have been a good idea, wouldn't it?" said Billie. "Now we
will reach the house after dark.""When all the spooks ar... |
"There it is!" she said, standing up in the jolting vehicle. "Over there
through the trees! Oh, girls! doesn't it look gloomy?"CHAPTER XIVWEIRD TALES"Aye, and it is gloomy."Startled, the girls looked around for the voice, then realized that it
was their driver who had spoken. He had been silent all the way from the
sta... |
"I've found another one!" cried Billie, who had been prospecting on her
own account. "And here's another! Why we'll have a big illumination
before we're through.""That's the way to talk," said Mrs. Gilligan approvingly, as she crossed
over to Billie's side of the large hall and began to light the other
candles. "If we ... |
While they were waiting for the supper to cook and after they had done as
much as they could toward its preparation, the girls looked about the
kitchen and the gloomy dining room a bit. The latter room was dark and
cheerless, and they wondered that any one should have selected it for a
dining room. The woodwork was all... |
"There, there," cried Billie soothingly. "Don't go and get mad, Vi,
darling, or our last hope will be gone. I guess Aunt Beatrice left it
this way. Gracious! what's that?""Only me opening a door," said Mrs. Gilligan from the farther end of the
room. "My, but you girls are jumpy! Better get to bed," she added,
crossing ... |
"Ghosts?" she said, her eyes sparkling. "I shouldn't think you'd be
talking of ghosts any more. Here you've spent a whole night in the house
and no spirits have bothered you yet. I should think you'd be satisfied.""Oh, but didn't you hear that noise in the night?" Violet asked her,
turning over and forgetting the nap s... |
"Goodness, they'll know where to go just as well as we did," said Billie,
regarding herself sideways in the mirror to be sure she had not forgotten
anything. "They aren't infants, you know.""Here it comes! Here it comes!" sang out Laura from her place at the
window. "Are you ready, girls?"The answer was a concerted rus... |
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