Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

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Excerpt #1, from The Grenadier Guards in the Great War of 1914 to 1918, Vol. 3 of 3, by Ponsonby

…ROLL OF OFFICERS IN JULY Lieut.-Colonel W. S. Pilcher, D.S.O. Commanding Officer. Major C. F. A. Walker, M.C. Second in Command. Capt. C. R. Gerard, D.S.O. Adjutant. Capt. I. H. Ingleby Act.-Quartermaster. Lieut. G. W. Selby-Lowndes Transport Officer. Lieut. R. L. Murray-Lawes Intelligence Officer. Capt. the Hon. F. E. Needham No. 1 Double Compy. Capt. J. H. C. Simpson " " Lieut. R. P. le Poer Trench, M.C. " " Lieut. H. G. Wiggins, M.C. " " Lieut. M. P. B. Wrixon, M.C. " " Lieut. J. E. Greenwood " " 2nd Lieut. the Hon. S. E. Marsham " " Capt. the Hon. A. H. L. Hardinge, M.C. No. 2 Double Compy. Lieut. E. W. Nairn " " Lieut. C. E. Irby, M.C. " " 2nd Lieut. A. F. Alington " " 2nd Lieut. P. G. S. Gregson-Ellis " " 2nd Lieut. H. V. Gillett " " Capt. N. Grellier, M.C., R.A.M.C. Medical Officer….

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Excerpt #2, from Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen

…“What did you hear?” “That a gentleman, whom I had reason to think—in short, that a man, whom I knew to be engaged—but how shall I tell you? If you know it already, as surely you must, I may be spared.” “You mean,” answered Elinor, with forced calmness, “Mr. Willoughby’s marriage with Miss Grey. Yes, we do know it all. This seems to have been a day of general elucidation, for this very morning first unfolded it to us. Mr. Willoughby is unfathomable! Where did you hear it?” “In a stationer’s shop in Pall Mall, where I had business. Two ladies were waiting for their carriage, and one of them was giving the other an account of the intended match, in a voice so little attempting concealment, that it was impossible for me not to hear all. The name of Willoughby, John Willoughby, frequently repeated, first caught my attention; and what followed was a positive assertion that every thing was now finally settled respecting his marriage with Miss Grey—it was no longer to be a secret—it would take place even within a few weeks, with many particulars of preparations and other matters. One thing, especially, I remember, because it served to identify the man still more:—as soon as the ceremony was over, they were to go to Combe Magna, his seat in Somersetshire. My astonishment!—but it would be impossible to describe what I felt. The communicative lady I learnt, on inquiry,…

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Excerpt #3, from A Border Ruffian, by Thomas A. Janvier

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Excerpt #4, from Vikram and the Vampire: Classic Hindu Tales of Adventure, Magic, and Romance

…Raja Vikram was silent, nor did he acknowledge the Baital’s indirect compliment. He hated flattery, but he liked, when flattered, to be flattered in his own person; a feature in their royal patron’s character which the Nine Gems of Science had turned to their own account. Now the young prince Raja Ram (continued the tale teller) had an old father, concerning whom I may say that he was exceedingly unlike your Rajaship, both as a man and as a parent. He was fond of hunting, dicing, sleeping by day, drinking at night, and eating perpetual tonics, while he delighted in the idleness of watching nautch girls, and the vanity of falling in love. But he was adored by his children because he took the trouble to win their hearts. He did not lay it down as a law of heaven that his offspring would assuredly go to Patala if they neglected the duty of bestowing upon him without cause all their affections, as your moral, virtuous, and highly respectable fathers are only too apt—-. Aie! Aie! These sounds issued from the Vampire’s lips as the warrior king, speechless with wrath, passed his hand behind his back, and viciously twisted up a piece of the speaker’s skin. This caused the Vampire to cry aloud, more however, it would appear, in derision than in real suffering, for he presently proceeded with the same subject. Fathers, great king, may be divided into three kinds; and be it said…

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Excerpt #5, from The Knights of the Round Table: Stories of King Arthur and the Holy Grail, by Frost

…to drive them off would be a crueler thing than he had done already. And his mother thought: ’The boy is right; I brought him here to find peace and safety for both of us, and why should I not let the poor birds stay in peace and safety too?’ “But it was foolish for the poor woman to think that she could keep her boy so that he would never know anything of the world. The world was all around him, no matter how far off, and it was sure some time to come where he was. And so, one day, as he was wandering in the wood, he saw three horses coming, larger and stronger and finer than any horses he had ever seen before. And on their backs, he thought, were three men, but he could not feel sure, for they did not look like any men whom he had ever seen. They seemed to be all covered with iron, which was polished so that it glistened where the light touched it, and they wore many gay and beautiful colors besides. He stood and looked at them till they came close to him, and then one of them said: ’My boy, have you seen a knight pass this way?’”’I do not know what a knight is,’ Percivale answered. “’We are knights,’ the man on the horse said; ’have you seen anyone like us?’”But Percivale was wondering so much at what he saw that he could not answer. ’What is this?’ he asked, touching the knight’s shield….

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Excerpt #6, from The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, by Laurence Sterne

…Indeed there is one thing to be considered, that in Nova Zembla, North Lapland, and in all those cold and dreary tracks of the globe, which lie more directly under the arctick and antartick circles, where the whole province of a man’s concernments lies for near nine months together within the narrow compass of his cave—where the spirits are compressed almost to nothing—and where the passions of a man, with every thing which belongs to them, are as frigid as the zone itself—there the least quantity of judgment imaginable does the business——and of wit——there is a total and an absolute saving—for as not one spark is wanted—so not one spark is given. Angels and ministers of grace defend us! what a dismal thing would it have been to have governed a kingdom, to have fought a battle, or made a treaty, or run a match, or wrote a book, or got a child, or held a provincial chapter there, with so plentiful a lack of wit and judgment about us! For mercy’s sake, let us think no more about it, but travel on as fast as we can southwards into Norway—crossing over Swedeland, if you please, through the small triangular province of Angermania to the lake of Bothmia; coasting along it through east and west Bothnia, down to Carelia, and so on, through all those states and provinces which border upon the far side of the Gulf of Finland, and the north-east of the Baltick, up to Petersbourg, and just stepping…

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Excerpt #7, from Tales of an Old Sea Port, by Wilfred Harold Munro

…for himself a stately mansion, on a little hill always spoken of by Bristol people as “The Mount,” in which his descendants continued to reside until its destruction by fire a few years ago. Inevitably he came to take a leading part in political matters. For almost thirty years he represented his native town in the Rhode Island Legislature, laying aside the gavel of the Speaker of that body in 1821 to become a member of the United States Senate. As a Senator his immense business experience made him the recognized authority in commercial matters. He was a strong “protectionist” and was the first in the Senate to propose the “drawback” system which has since been so largely adopted in the United States and elsewhere. He was one of the few Senators, perhaps the only one from New England, who were accustomed to ride to Washington in their own coaches. Happily this relic of the luxury of a hundred years ago still remains in the possession of a descendant of Mark Anthony De Wolf, Colonel Samuel Pomeroy Colt of Bristol. Mr. De Wolf’s life at Washington was not pleasing to him. The progress of Congressional legislation was too slow for his active mind, and his constantly increasing business demanded all of his attention. He therefore resigned from the United States Senate long before his term expired and joyfully resumed his old position as a representative of Bristol…

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Excerpt #8, from The Talking Horse, and Other Tales, by F. Anstey

…indeed!’ ‘Poor dear Tumps came home so proud of your approval,’ said Jessie to Ella, ‘and we were awfully relieved to find you didn’t think we’d made the house quite too dreadful–weren’t we, Carrie?’ ‘Yes, indeed, Jessie.’ ‘Of course,’ observed the latter young lady, ‘it’s always so hard to hit upon another person’s taste exactly–especially in furnishing.’ ‘Impossible, I should have thought,’ from Mrs. Hylton. ‘I hope Ella is of a different opinion–what do you say, dearest?’ ‘Oh,’ cried Ella hastily, with splendid mendacity, ‘I–I liked it all very much, and–and it was so much too kind of you and Carrie. I’ve never thanked you for–for all the things you gave me!’ ‘Oh, those! they ain’t worth thanking for–just a few little artistic odds and ends. They set off a room, you know–give it a finish.’ ‘Young people nowadays,’ croaked old Mrs. Chapman lugubriously in Mrs. Hylton’s courteously inclined ear, ‘think so much of luxury and ornament. I’m sure when I married my dear husband, we—-’ ‘Now, mater dear, you really mustn’t!’ interrupted the irrepressible Jessie; ’Mrs. Hylton is on our side, you know. She likes pretty things about her–don’t you, Mrs. Hylton? And, talking of that, Ella, I hope you thought our glyco-vitrine decoration a success? We were perfectly…

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Excerpt #9, from A Journey to the Centre of the Earth, by Jules Verne

…………. “And your lamp?” …………. “Out.” …………. “But the guiding stream?” …………. “Is lost!” …………. “Keep your courage, Harry. We will do our best.” …………. “One moment, my uncle,” I cried; “I have no longer strength to answer your questions. But–for heaven’s sake–do you–continue–to speak–to me!” Absolute silence, I felt, would be annihilation. “Keep up your courage,” said my uncle. "As you are so weak, do not speak. We have been searching for you in all directions, both by going upwards and downwards in the gallery. My dear boy, I had begun to give over all hope–and you can never know what bitter tears of sorrow and regret I have shed. At last, supposing you to be still on the road beside the Hansbach, we again descended, firing off guns as signals. Now, however, that we have found you, and that our voices reach each…

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Excerpt #10, from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 1, by Edgar Allan Poe

…to stir from the spot, nor to open his mouth until our return. We then hurriedly made for home with the chest; reaching the hut in safety, but after excessive toil, at one o’clock in the morning. Worn out as we were, it was not in human nature to do more immediately. We rested until two, and had supper; starting for the hills immediately afterwards, armed with three stout sacks, which, by good luck, were upon the premises. A little before four we arrived at the pit, divided the remainder of the booty, as equally as might be, among us, and, leaving the holes unfilled, again set out for the hut, at which, for the second time, we deposited our golden burthens, just as the first faint streaks of the dawn gleamed from over the tree-tops in the East. We were now thoroughly broken down; but the intense excitement of the time denied us repose. After an unquiet slumber of some three or four hours’ duration, we arose, as if by preconcert, to make examination of our treasure. The chest had been full to the brim, and we spent the whole day, and the greater part of the next night, in a scrutiny of its contents. There had been nothing like order or arrangement. Every thing had been heaped in promiscuously. Having assorted all with care, we found ourselves possessed of even vaster wealth than we…

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Excerpt #11, from The Book of Hallowe’en, by Ruth Edna Kelley

…She says in to hersel; He bleez’d owre her, an’ she owre him, As they wad never mair part; Till fuff! he started up the lum,[2] And Jean had e’en a sair heart To see’t that night." BURNS: Hallowe’en. [1] Careful. [2] Chimney. Three “luggies,” bowls with handles like the Druid lamps, were filled, one with clean, one with dirty water, and one left empty. The person wishing to know his fate in marriage was blindfolded, turned about thrice, and put down his left hand. If he dipped it into the clean water, he would marry a maiden; if into the dirty, a widow; if into the empty dish, not at all. He tried until he got the same result twice. The dishes were changed about each time. This spell still remains, as does that of hemp-seed sowing. One goes out alone with a handful of hemp-seed, sows it across ridges of ploughed land, and harrows it with anything convenient, perhaps with a broom. Having said: "Hemp-seed, I saw thee,…

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Excerpt #12, from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World, by Verne

…Everything through Electricity “SIR,” CAPTAIN NEMO SAID, showing me the instruments hanging on the walls of his stateroom, “these are the devices needed to navigate the Nautilus. Here, as in the lounge, I always have them before my eyes, and they indicate my position and exact heading in the midst of the ocean. You’re familiar with some of them, such as the thermometer, which gives the temperature inside the Nautilus; the barometer, which measures the heaviness of the outside air and forecasts changes in the weather; the humidistat, which indicates the degree of dryness in the atmosphere; the storm glass, whose mixture decomposes to foretell the arrival of tempests; the compass, which steers my course; the sextant, which takes the sun’s altitude and tells me my latitude; chronometers, which allow me to calculate my longitude; and finally, spyglasses for both day and night, enabling me to scrutinize every point of the horizon once the Nautilus has risen to the surface of the waves.” “These are the normal navigational instruments,” I replied, “and I’m familiar with their uses. But no doubt these others answer pressing needs unique to the Nautilus. That dial I see there, with the needle moving across it—isn’t it a pressure gauge?” “It is indeed a pressure gauge. It’s placed in contact with the water, and it indicates the outside pressure on our hull, which in turn gives…

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