Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:26:25

Excerpt #1, from The Aztec Treasure

…King’s symbol an’ th’ arrow, all reg’lar, blazed on th’ rock." “Is the trail good enough to make a start on now?” Rayburn asked; “we won’t have more than half an hour more light, but I’d give a lot to get off this mountain before dark, and every foot down that we go we’ll be that much warmer. We’d stand a pretty fair chance of freezing up here to-night without any fire.” “Th’ trail’s all right for a good half-mile, anyway,” Young answered; “an’ I guess it’s good all th’ way. It’s pretty much th’ same as th’ one we come up by, an’ that’s good enough, where it don’t jump cañons, t’ go along in th’ dark; but we must rustle if we mean t’ do much by daylight.” We were back at the pyramid by this time, and we found Fray Antonio very willing to be off with us that we might try to get well down the mountain before night set in; for at that great elevation the quick beating of his heart added very sensibly to the throbbing pain of his wound. Therefore we lost no time in getting our packs upon our backs, and upon the back of El Sabio, and briskly started downward; and the keen cold that came into the air, as the sun sunk away behind the mountain peaks at last, warned us that it was safer to take the risks of a descent almost in darkness than to stay for the night upon that bleak mountain-top without a fire….

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Excerpt #2, from An Account of Egypt, by Herodotus

…Egyptians do this from the right to the left; and doing so they say that they do it themselves rightwise and the Hellenes leftwise: and they use two kinds of characters for writing, of which the one kind is called sacred and the other common. They are religious excessively beyond all other men, and with regard to this they have customs as follows:–they drink from cups of bronze and rinse them out every day, and not some only do this but all: they wear garments of linen always newly washed, and this they make a special point of practice: they circumcise themselves for the sake of cleanliness, preferring to be clean rather than comely. The priests shave themselves all over their body every other day, so that no lice or any other foul thing may come to be upon them when they minister to the gods; and the priests wear garments of linen only and sandals of papyrus, and any other garment they may not take nor other sandals; these wash themselves in cold water twice in a day and twice again in the night; and other religious services they perform (one may almost say) of infinite number. They enjoy also good things not a few, for they do not consume or spend anything of their own substance, but there is sacred bread baked for them and they have each great quantity of flesh of oxen and geese coming in to them each day, and also wine of grapes is given to them; but it is not permitted to them to taste of fish: beans…

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Excerpt #3, from Thought Forms, by Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater

…influence of human thought, and every impulse sent out, either from the mental body or from the astral body of man, immediately clothes itself in a temporary vehicle of this vitalised matter. Such a thought or impulse becomes for the time a kind of living creature, the thought-force being the soul, and the vivified matter the body. Instead of using the somewhat clumsy paraphrase, “astral or mental matter ensouled by the monadic essence at the stage of one of the elemental kingdoms,” theosophical writers often, for brevity’s sake, call this quickened matter simply elemental essence; and sometimes they speak of the thought-form as “an elemental.” There may be infinite variety in the colour and shape of such elementals or thought-forms, for each thought draws round it the matter which is appropriate for its expression, and sets that matter into vibration in harmony with its own; so that the character of the thought decides its colour, and the study of its variations and combinations is an exceedingly interesting one. This thought-form may not inaptly be compared to a Leyden jar, the coating of living essence being symbolised by the jar, and the thought energy by the charge of electricity. If the man’s thought or feeling is directly connected with someone else, the resultant thought-form moves towards that person and discharges itself upon his astral and mental bodies. If the man’s thought is about himself, or is based upon a…

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Excerpt #4, from The Third Officer: A Present

…undefended by guns in position. Evidently the authorities responsible for the safety of the secret base deemed the frowning cliffs to be sufficient protection. An army formed up on that beach would be useless for assault, since the smooth overhanging precipices were unscaleable. Presently Alwyn, who had been silently contemplating the view, startled his companion by declaring: “I’m going to explore that beach, old son!” “Nonsense!” protested Phil. “The cliff’s too smooth. There’s not a single niche in it. You’d be smashed to a jelly for a dead cert.” “I’m not trying at present,” said Burgoyne. “But I mean to some day. And by a rope.” “Rope! What rope?” asked his friend. “We’ll have to make up one from short ends,” replied Alwyn. “It’s easy to cut off short lengths and stow them under our clothes. Then at night, or at any odd time if it comes to that, we can make up a rope long enough to reach the beach, and strong enough to bear at least a couple of men. Then if we can get hold of some files—-” “You’ll have a job, old son,” interrupted Branscombe. "I was speaking to Withers about that very thing last night. There’s a mighty sharp Chink in charge of the stores in the workshops, and he takes care to…

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Excerpt #5, from English Literature, by William J. Long

…artificial couplets of Johnson’s age, we turn suddenly to Cowper’s description of homely scenes, of woods and brooks, of plowmen and teamsters and the letter carrier on his rounds, we realize that we are at the dawn of a better day in poetry: He comes, the herald of a noisy world, With spatter’d boots, strapp’d waist, and frozen locks: News from all nations lumbering at his back. True to his charge, the close-packed load behind, Yet careless what he brings, his one concern Is to conduct it to the destined inn, And, having dropped the expected bag, pass on. He whistles as he goes, light-hearted wretch, Cold and yet cheerful: messenger of grief Perhaps to thousands, and of joy to some; To him indifferent whether grief or joy. Houses in ashes, and the fall of stocks, Births, deaths, and marriages, epistles wet With tears that trickled down the writer’s cheeks Fast as the periods from his fluent quill, Or charged with amorous sighs of absent swains, Or nymphs responsive, equally affect…

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Excerpt #6, from Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling

…mutton, and the Woman, looking at the blade-bone, heard him, and laughed, and said, ‘Here comes the first. Wild Thing out of the Wild Woods, what do you want?’ Wild Dog said, ‘O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy, what is this that smells so good in the Wild Woods?’ Then the Woman picked up a roasted mutton-bone and threw it to Wild Dog, and said, ‘Wild Thing out of the Wild Woods, taste and try.’ Wild Dog gnawed the bone, and it was more delicious than anything he had ever tasted, and he said, ‘O my Enemy and Wife of my Enemy, give me another.’ The Woman said, ‘Wild Thing out of the Wild Woods, help my Man to hunt through the day and guard this Cave at night, and I will give you as many roast bones as you need.’ ‘Ah!’ said the Cat, listening. ‘This is a very wise Woman, but she is not so wise as I am.’ Wild Dog crawled into the Cave and laid his head on the Woman’s lap, and said, ‘O my Friend and Wife of my Friend, I will help Your Man to hunt through the day, and at night I will guard your Cave.’ ‘Ah!’ said the Cat, listening. ‘That is a very foolish Dog.’ And he went back through the Wet Wild Woods waving his wild tail, and walking by his wild lone. But he never told anybody. When the Man waked up he said, ‘What is Wild Dog doing here?’ And the…

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Excerpt #7, from Gulliver’s Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, by Jonathan Swift

…down every precipice, and bouncing his head against every post; and in the streets, of justling others, or being justled himself into the kennel. It was necessary to give the reader this information, without which he would be at the same loss with me to understand the proceedings of these people, as they conducted me up the stairs to the top of the island, and from thence to the royal palace. While we were ascending, they forgot several times what they were about, and left me to myself, till their memories were again roused by their flappers; for they appeared altogether unmoved by the sight of my foreign habit and countenance, and by the shouts of the vulgar, whose thoughts and minds were more disengaged. At last we entered the palace, and proceeded into the chamber of presence, where I saw the king seated on his throne, attended on each side by persons of prime quality. Before the throne, was a large table filled with globes and spheres, and mathematical instruments of all kinds. His majesty took not the least notice of us, although our entrance was not without sufficient noise, by the concourse of all persons belonging to the court. But he was then deep in a problem; and we attended at least an hour, before he could solve it. There stood by him, on each side, a young page with flaps in their hands, and when…

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Excerpt #8, from You no longer count, by René Boylesve

…“It is absurd to think of nature as taking note of our affairs; but just for curiosity look at that sky: I have never seen anything like it.” The words had been spoken to some one in the next room, who drew near to the window, and she had heard a woman’s voice exclaiming, with a moan or in desperate appeal, such as one seldom hears. Odette had risen, and she too had looked out. She had never been superstitious, and was especially not inclined to doleful prognostications. She had always been happy; her life had flowed along, so to speak, like one continued festival. Being alone in her room, she did not speak; but all her flesh quivered. It may well be that similar phenomena occur sometimes without attracting our attention; yet, on that day, to three persons occupying neighboring rooms in a hotel, to others also, who had spoken of it at dinner or in the evening, that sunset appeared utterly unusual, and such as might justify all gossiping conjectures as to the relations of the earth with the marvellous changes, stupendous in their nature, which take place in the vault of heaven. Above the quiet sea the whole horizon was a fiery furnace, blazing with intense fervency, across which were spread, like fragments of slashed flesh, long clouds of a livid bluish red. Before long the intense fire died down, as if all the combustible matter had been devoured by the fury of the flames. Then the disk of the sun…

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Excerpt #9, from The Submarine Hunters: A Story of the Naval Patrol Work in the Great War

…Scotland Yard, but Hawke, mindful of a former failure, induced him not to do so. The detective, who had occasion to contrast unfavourably the summary powers of arrest under the Defence of the Realm Act with those allowed by the Civil Power, was eventually allowed to communicate with his brother officer at Parkeston Quay. And then the military authorities required a considerable amount of convincing. It looked as if Detective-inspector Hawke would have to remain under arrest until next morning. While Ferret was losing time and patience in his efforts to release his confrère, Ross and Vernon noticed a man hurrying along the quay. He was short and thick-set. He wore a long mackintosh, the collar of which was turned up and helped, with the peak of his cap, to hide his features. Suddenly the man’s foot tripped over a ring-bolt. He cursed under his breath, but sufficiently loudly for the lads to overhear. Ross gripped his companion’s arm. The fellow was swearing in German. “Von Ruhle!” he whispered. He made a movement as if to issue from his place of concealment, but Haye restrained him. “Hold on!” he cautioned in a low voice. The man paused on the gangway. A partly shaded electric light threw a glare upon his face. He wore a heavy beard and moustache….

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Excerpt #10, from Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War, by Finley Peter Dunne

…iv risolution on his face; an’ whin he left me, he says, says he, ‘Dooley,’ he says, ‘I’ll conquir, or I’ll die,’ he says. “It’s been comin f’r months, but it on’y bust oh Donahue las’ week. He’d come home at night tired out, an’ afther supper he was pullin’ off his boots, whin Mollie an’ th’ mother begun talkin’ about th’ rights iv females. ‘’Tis th’ era iv th’ new woman,’ says Mollie. ‘Ye’re right,’ says th’ mother. ‘What d’ye mean be the new woman?’ says Donahue, holdin’ his boot in his hand. ‘Th’ new woman,’ says Mollie, ‘’ll be free fr’m th’ opprision iv man,’ she says. ‘She’ll wurruk out her own way, without help or hinderance,’ she says. She’ll wear what clothes she wants,’ she says, ‘an’ she’ll be no man’s slave,’ she says. ‘They’ll be no such thing as givin’ a girl in marredge to a clown an’ makin’ her dipindant on his whims,’ she says. ‘Th’ women’ll earn their own livin’,’ she says; ‘an’ mebbe,’ she says, ‘th’ men’ll stay at home an’ dredge in th’ house wurruk,’ she says. ‘A-ho,’ says Donahue. ‘An’ that’s th’ new woman, is it?’ he says. An’ he said no more that night.”But th’ nex’ mornin’ Mrs. Donahue an’ Mollie come to his dure. ‘Get up,’ says Mrs. Donahue, ‘an’ bring in some coal,’ she says. ‘Ye drowsy man, ye’ll be late f’r ye’er wurruk.’ ‘Divvle th’ bit iv coal I’ll fetch,’ says Donahue. ‘Go away an’ lave me alone,’ he says. ‘Ye’re inthruptin’ me dreams.’ ‘What ails ye, man alive?’ says Mrs. Donahue….

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Excerpt #11, from The King in Yellow, by Robert W. Chambers

…“If it was, don’t you suppose I’d chain him?” The officer glared for a moment in silence, then deciding that as he was a student he was wicked, grabbed at the dog, who promptly dodged. Around and around the flower-beds they raced, and when the officer came too near for comfort, the bull-dog cut across a flower-bed, which perhaps was not playing fair. The young man was amused, and the dog also seemed to enjoy the exercise. The policeman noticed this and decided to strike at the fountain-head of the evil. He stormed up to the student and said, “As the owner of this public nuisance I arrest you!” “But,” objected the other, “I disclaim the dog.” That was a poser. It was useless to attempt to catch the dog until three gardeners lent a hand, but then the dog simply ran away and disappeared in the rue de Medici. The policeman shambled off to find consolation among the white-capped nurses, and the student, looking at his watch, stood up yawning. Then catching sight of Hastings, he smiled and bowed. Hastings walked over to the marble, laughing. “Why, Clifford,” he said, “I didn’t recognize you.” “It’s my moustache,” sighed the other. “I sacrificed it to humour a whim of–of–a friend. What do you think of my dog?”…

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Excerpt #12, from Much Ado about Nothing, by William Shakespeare

…To her he thinks not worthy; yet he wooes; Yet will he swear he loves. DON PEDRO. Nay, pray thee come; Or if thou wilt hold longer argument, Do it in notes. BALTHASAR. Note this before my notes; There’s not a note of mine that’s worth the noting. DON PEDRO. Why these are very crotchets that he speaks; Notes, notes, forsooth, and nothing! [Music.] BENEDICK. Now, divine air! now is his soul ravished! Is it not strange that sheep’s guts should hale souls out of men’s bodies? Well, a horn for my money, when all’s done. BALTHASAR [sings.] Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more, Men were deceivers ever; One foot in sea, and one on shore,…

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