Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:26:02

Excerpt #1, from Gulliver’s Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, by Jonathan Swift

…belonging to that city. On the 16th of April, 1710, we put in at the Downs. I landed next morning, and saw once more my native country, after an absence of five years and six months complete. I went straight to Redriff, where I arrived the same day at two in the afternoon, and found my wife and family in good health. PART IV. A VOYAGE TO THE COUNTRY OF THE HOUYHNHNMS. CHAPTER I. The author sets out as captain of a ship. His men conspire against him, confine him a long time to his cabin, and set him on shore in an unknown land. He travels up into the country. The Yahoos, a strange sort of animal, described. The author meets two Houyhnhnms. I continued at home with my wife and children about five months in a very happy condition, if I could have learned the lesson of knowing when I was well. I left my poor wife big with child, and accepted an advantageous offer made me to be captain of the Adventurer, a stout merchantman of 350 tons: for I understood navigation well, and being grown weary of a surgeon’s employment at sea, which, however, I could exercise upon occasion, I took a skilful young man of that calling, one Robert Purefoy, into my ship. We set sail from Portsmouth upon the 7th day of August, 1710; on the 14th we met with Captain Pocock, of…

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Excerpt #2, from Investigation of Communist Activities in Seattle, Wash., Area, Hearings, Part 1

…unemployment councils had offered the slogan that the solution must be in the form of unemployment insurance. Well, to the person who is hungry the hope of unemployment insurance, which required the adoption of legislation, which would take a longer period of time, wasn’t a very realistic thing. But the demand for immediate relief was a very realistic thing. And the people in Bellingham flocked to the banner of London, and London organized what was known as the people’s councils. He had as his able assistant a man by the name of George Bradley. George Bradley had had no connection with the Communist Party at that time or prior to that time. George Bradley at that time was an unemployed railroad worker. London, I believe, was an unemployed seaman at that time, who was actually living on a farm. Mr. TAVENNER. What was London’s real name? Mr. DENNETT. I do not know. I never have known. I think he took legal steps to have London established as his proper name. I think that is his legal name. Mr. TAVENNER. Do you know in what court and at what time he took that action? Mr. DENNETT. I have no knowledge of that. I say that I think that is true….

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Excerpt #3, from Round the Red Lamp: Being Facts and Fancies of Medical Life, by Arthur Conan Doyle

…The old man chuckled. “I’ve got brother Jarge’s girl to look after me now. She’ll see I don’t break barracks or do what I hadn’t ought to. Why, darn my skin, I knew something was amiss!”With what?" “Why, with them soldiers. You saw them pass, doctor–eh? They’d forgot their stocks. Not one on ’em had his stock on.” He croaked and chuckled for a long time over his discovery. “It wouldn’t ha’ done for the Dook!” he muttered. “No, by Jimini! the Dook would ha’ had a word there.” The doctor smiled. “Well, you are doing very well,” said he. “I’ll look in once a week or so, and see how you are.” As Norah followed him to the door, he beckoned her outside. “He is very weak,” he whispered. “If you find him failing you must send for me.” “What ails him, doctor?” “Ninety years ails him. His arteries are pipes of lime. His heart is shrunken and flabby. The man is worn out.” Norah stood watching the brisk figure of the young doctor, and pondering over these new responsibilities which had come upon her. When she turned a tall, brown-faced artilleryman, with the three gold…

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Excerpt #4, from The Boy’s Book of the Sea, by Eric Wood

…the pirates roamed the seas at their own sweet will and took toll of shipping, these tales of treasure have been told. Dotted about here and there are small islands where tradition has it that the pirates hid their hoards of gold, silver, and precious jewels, intending to come back for them at some future date; but, being caught and hauled to justice, they died with their secret unrevealed, and the treasure remained. Then someone was told–or perhaps imagined–that such-and-such an island held it, and expeditions would be fitted out to seek for the treasure, which, as time rolled on, grew in size and value till it assumed fabulous proportions. Of course, there are hidden treasures secreted by the old pirates, and there are, too, other hoards which it would be well worth while to salvage, if the exact places were known. One can go back as far as the reigns of Tiberius and Caligula and find mention of richly laden ships which foundered with all their treasure; two galleys, for instance, containing plate, gold, art treasures, and many jewels were lost in the Lake Nemi, and nothing has ever been recovered, although the lake at this spot is only little more than a hundred feet deep. Coming to a much later date, the seventeenth century, there is an authentic record of the recovery of a vast quantity of lost treasure which was lost off Hispaniola, when a great Spanish galleon went…

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Excerpt #5, from The Radio Amateur’s Hand Book, by A. Frederick Collins

…connect the end of the lead with the free terminal of the filament of the second amplifier tube. Next shunt a potentiometer around the A battery and connect the third post, which connects with the sliding contact, to the negative or zinc pole of a B battery, then connect the positive or carbon pole of it to the negative or zinc pole of a second B battery and the positive or carbon pole of the latter with one end of the primary coil of the second audio frequency transformer and the other end of it to the plate of the first amplifying tube. Run the lead on over and connect it to one of the terminals of the second fixed condenser and the other terminal of this with the plate of the second amplifying tube. Then shunt the headphones around the condenser. Finally connect one end of the tickler coil of the tuner with the plate of the detector tube and connect the other end of the tickler to one end of the primary coil of the first audio frequency transformer and the other end of it to the wire that connects the two B batteries together. CHAPTER XI SHORT WAVE REGENERATIVE RECEIVING SETS A short wave receiving set is one that will receive a range of…

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Excerpt #6, from The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Two Roses, by Robert Louis Stevenson

…stood silent for a space. Then he gave Joanna his hand to arise, though it was to be observed that he did not offer the like courtesy to her who had called herself his niece. “Sir Daniel,” he said, “here is a right intricate affair, the which, with your good leave, it shall be mine to examine and adjust. Content ye, then; your business is in careful hands; justice shall be done you; and in the meanwhile, get ye incontinently home, and have your hurts attended. The air is shrewd, and I would not ye took cold upon these scratches.” He made a sign with his hand; it was passed down the nave by obsequious servants, who waited there upon his smallest gesture. Instantly, without the church, a tucket sounded shrill, and through the open portal archers and men-at-arms, uniformly arrayed in the colours and wearing the badge of Lord Risingham, began to file into the church, took Dick and Lawless from those who still detained them, and, closing their files about the prisoners, marched forth again and disappeared. As they were passing, Joanna held both her hands to Dick and cried him her farewell; and the bridesmaid, nothing downcast by her uncle’s evident displeasure, blew him a kiss, with a “Keep your heart up, lion-driver!” that for the first time since the accident called up a smile to the faces of the crowd….

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Excerpt #7, from The call of Cthulhu, by H. P. Lovecraft

…relating. He called himself “psychically hypersensitive”, but the staid folk of the ancient commercial city dismissed him as merely “queer”. Never mingling much with his kind, he had dropped gradually from social visibility, and was now known only to a small group of esthetes from other towns. Even the Providence Art Club, anxious to preserve its conservatism, had found him quite hopeless. On the occasion of the visit, ran the professor’s manuscript, the sculptor abruptly asked for the benefit of his host’s archeological knowledge in identifying the hieroglyphics on the bas-relief. He spoke in a dreamy, stilted manner which suggested pose and alienated sympathy; and my uncle showed some sharpness in replying, for the conspicuous freshness of the tablet implied kinship with anything but archeology. Young Wilcox’s rejoinder, which impressed my uncle enough to make him recall and record it verbatim, was of a fantastically poetic cast which must have typified his whole conversation, and which I have since found highly characteristic of him. He said, “It is new, indeed, for I made it last night in a dream of strange cities; and dreams are older than brooding Tyre, or the contemplative Sphinx, or garden-girdled Babylon.” It was then that he began that rambling tale which suddenly played upon a sleeping memory and won the fevered interest of my uncle. There had…

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Excerpt #8, from Raw Gold: A Novel, by Bertrand W. Sinclair

…torture to feet that were sadly galled by fruitless tramping around the Stone. When a man has grown up in the habit of mounting a horse to travel any distance over three hundred yards, a walk of twenty undulating miles over a network of bald ridges and yawning coulées makes him think that a sulphur-and-brimstone hereafter can’t possibly hold much discomfort that he hasn’t sampled. A cowpuncher in high-heeled riding-boots is handicapped for pedestrianism by both training and inclination–and that scarred and wrinkled portion of the Northwest is a mighty poor strolling-ground for any man. But we kept on, for the simple reason that there was nothing else we could do. MacRae wasted no breath in words. If the heat and the ungodly steepness of the hills and the luke-warm water that trickled along the creek channels ruffled his temper, he made no noise about it, only pressed doggedly toward Pend d’ Oreille. I daresay he thought I was attending to that part of it, registering a complaint for both of us. And if I didn’t rise to the occasion it was the fault of my limited vocabulary. I kept a stiff backbone for a while, but presently a futile rage against circumstances bubbled up and boiled over. I climbed each succeeding canyon wall oozing perspiration and profanity, and when the top was reached took fresh breath and damned the Northwest by sections in a large, fluent manner of speech. In time, however, the foolishness…

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Excerpt #9, from The Influence of the Stars: A book of old world lore, by Rosa Baughan

…fail, on the upper part of the head; if the middle part of the sign ascends the mark is in the middle of the face; if the latter part of the sign is ascending the mark is near the chin. This house represents the head, the tongue and the memory, and it governs in colours white. The Second House.–This house has signification of the native’s wealth and worldly goods. The house is feminine, ruling the neck, and the colour is green. The Third House.–This governs brothers and sisters, short journeys, neighbours, letters and writings. It is masculine and governs the hands, arms and shoulders; its colours are red and yellow mixed. The Fourth House.–This rules the father, inheritances or property of the native, and shows his condition at the close of life. It is feminine, and rules the stomach, breast and lungs; its colour is red. The Fifth House.–This signifies the children of the native, also his success in speculation and hazardous games, the pleasures he enjoys and the wealth of the father. It rules the heart, back and liver, is masculine, and represents in colour black and white mixed. The Sixth House.–This concerns the native’s servants, sheep, goats and small cattle. It also signifies the father’s kindred. This house is feminine. It rules the belly and intestines and its colour is black. The Seventh House gives judgment of marriage and describes the man or…

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Excerpt #10, from Poirot Investigates, by Agatha Christie

…“That’s just why they couldn’t have had the key. It never left me day or night.” “You are sure of that?” “I can swear to it, and besides, if they had had the key or a duplicate, why should they waste time trying to force an obviously unforceable lock?” “Ah! there is exactly the question we are asking ourselves! I venture to prophesy that the solution, if we ever find it, will hinge on that curious fact. I beg of you not to assault me if I ask you one more question: Are you perfectly certain you did not leave the trunk unlocked?” Philip Ridgeway merely looked at him, and Poirot gesticulated apologetically. “Ah, but these things can happen, I assure you! Very well, the bonds were stolen from the trunk. What did the thief do with them? How did he manage to get ashore with them?” “Ah!” cried Ridgeway. “That’s just it. How? Word was passed to the Customs authorities, and every soul that left the ship was gone over with a toothcomb!” “And the bonds, I gather, made a bulky package?” “Certainly they did. They could hardly have been hidden on board—and…

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Excerpt #11, from Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in Egypt

…the sand to be cleared, thus disclosing the entrances to several rock- cut tombs dating from the Sixth and Twelfth Dynasties, as well as two flights of steps on either side of an inclined plane leading from the Nile bank to the door of one of the tombs. The distance between the two walls is ten feet. The steps are eighteen inches deep, and 250 in number. The steps were for the haulers, the mummies and sarcophagi being dragged up the inclined plane. (See p. 209.)–A.B.E. [33] M. Léfébure has lately produced a superb and elaborate volume on this tomb, with the whole of the texts and the wall decorations faithfully reproduced: Mémoires publiés par les Membres de la Mission du Caire, Vol. II., fasc. I.–A.B.E. [34] We have in this country two very fine specimens of inscribed sarcophagi; namely, that of Seti I., of beautiful alabaster, in the Soane collection (xixth Dyn.), and that of Queen Ankhnesraneferab (xxvith Dyn.) in the British Museum.–A.B.E. CHAPTER IV. PAINTING AND SCULPTURE. The statues and bas-reliefs which decorated the temples and tombs of Ancient Egypt were for the most part painted. Coloured stones, such as granite, basalt, diorite, serpentine, and alabaster, sometimes escaped this law of polychrome; but in the case of sandstone, limestone, or wood it was…

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Excerpt #12, from The Naval War of 1812, by Theodore Roosevelt

…Americans. Cooper, as usual, praises all concerned; but in this instance not with very good judgment. He says the line-of-battle was highly judicious, but this may be doubted. The weather was peculiarly suitable for the gun-boats, with their long, heavy guns; and yet the line-of-battle was so arranged as to keep them in the rear and let the brunt of the assault fall on the Lawrence, with her short carronades. Cooper again praises Perry for steering for the head of the enemy’s line, but he could hardly have done any thing else. In this battle the firing seems to have been equally skilful on both sides, the Detroit’s long guns being peculiarly well served; but the British captains manoeuvred better than their foes at first, and supported one another better, so that the disparity in damage done on each side was not equal to the disparity in force. The chief merit of the American commander and his followers was indomitable courage, and determination not to be beaten. This is no slight merit; but it may well be doubted if it would have ensured victory had Barclay’s force been as strong as Perry’s. Perry made a headlong attack; his superior force, whether through his fault or his misfortune can hardly be said, being brought into action in such a manner that the head of the line was crushed by the inferior force opposed. Being literally hammered out of his own ship, Perry brought…

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