C. H. Forbes-Lindsay

“ He was a great hunter; and, like so many other young colonial gentlemen of good birth and bringing up, and adventurous temper, he followed the hazardous profession of a backwoods surveyor. With chain and compass, as well as axe and rifle, he penetrated the far places of the wilderness, the lonely, dangerous regions where every weak man inevitably succumbed to the manifold perils encountered, but where the strong and far-seeing were able to lay the foundations of fame and fortune. ”

“ Few men have compassed in fifty years of life so much of noble action and inspiring example as did John Smith. He died, as he had lived, a God-fearing, honorable gentleman, rich in the consciousness of a life well spent and in the respect of all who knew him. He was a connecting link between the old world and the new, and we, no less than England, should keep his memory green. ”

“ Notwithstanding the intimacy of our relations with the Cubans for many years past, our people entertain the most hazy and confused ideas about them. It is difficult to make an American understand that there is any essential difference between a Cuban and a Spaniard. He generally imagines that the distinction is nominal, or, if actual, that it rests entirely upon political status. Of the Americans who go to Cuba only a small proportion travel farther from Habana than the caves of Bellamar, and they imagine that they see the typical native in the men and women of the city. ”

“ Meldritch’s corps, in line of double rank, advanced at a trot, breaking into a hand-gallop as they approached the foe. Then, as the uplifted sword of the Earl gave the signal, they swept forward in a mighty charge and with a shout crashed through the line of Turks, overthrowing horse and rider in their impetuous course. In an instant the ground was strewn with dead and dying, with kicking animals and with men striving to get clear of the struggling mass. The victors rode among them slaying without mercy, whilst the remnant of the broken regiment fled in every direction. ”

“ Boone stood at the port-hole of the upper story of one of the blockhouses, the cool breeze from the west fanning his brow. A sigh escaped him as he thought of the many lives that had been sacrificed for the possession of “the dark and bloody ground” of Kentucky, and the many more that would be demanded. For Boone was a fighter of necessity, not from choice. Action was the very spice of life to him and he loved the stress of conflict, as every strong man must, but he found no pleasure in bloodshed. Boone killed as a measure of self-preservation [190] and for the protection of others. ”

“ Why is the Chinaman, who is the most inoffensive of beings, disliked more universally than any other? It may be because he is such an unsociable, self-contained, enigmatical fellow. In Cuba, as in the States, he lives in the midst of the community and far apart from it, restricting his intercourse with the natives to the necessities of business. He may have been born in the country, and intend to die in it, but, unless his mother was a native, he will never be anything else than a Chinaman, even though he adopt a frock coat and a silk hat. ”

“ Still with his fingers entwined in Opechancanough’s hair, Captain Smith drew him out of the house and into the presence of the warriors waiting in ambush. Some of his men carried out the seized weapons and threw them in a heap before the captain and his captive, whilst the disarmed braves were made to form a group behind them. This humiliating spectacle had an instantaneous effect upon the spectators. Overcome with shame and apprehension they bowed their heads in despair and allowed their weapons to drop from their hands. ”

“ Vigilance was of no less consequence than speed. They knew that at the first alarm the redskins would bury their tomahawks in the skulls of the girls and scatter in the forest. Noiselessly, then, and tirelessly, the trackers followed the trail, every moment bringing them closer to the now slowly-moving savages. At length, towards the close of the third day, and after a journey of fifty miles, Boone decided that nightfall would bring them within striking distance of the Indians’ camp.
The pace was now slackened and each man bent his efforts to a stealthy advance without sound. ”

“ He gave himself up for lost as he felt his senses deserting him. Then came the thought that he was the champion of the Christian army, that they were watching him, depending upon him to secure victory for them. Exerting all the will at his command, he set his teeth together and fought back the inclination to swoon.
Grualgo seeing his enemy at his mercy, smiled with grim satisfaction as he drew his second pistol, intending to dispatch the Christian youth with deliberate and sure aim. But the trusty Norman had not been trained to battle for nothing. ”

“ The following quotation from the Unión Española, of Habana, affords a typical illustration:
“Political anarchy, by which the country is at present confronted, is daily growing greater. It would seem as though all the political elements had made an agreement to perturb, or rather to dissolve, the nation, for the tendency on all sides is to dissolution. It is time the true patriots sounded the alarm, and that politicians pause in their work of destruction, curbing bits, that the Cuban people may continue the ministering of its destinies and in the possession of self-government. ”

“ John Smith had never found himself in worse straits than now, as shackled to a fellow slave he tramped along the road between Axopolis and the Turkish capital. Hopeless as the situation seemed to be, he did not give himself up to despair, nor wear himself by repining over a condition which was beyond his power to remedy. He had learned from experience that the sun is apt to break through the clouds of the darkest day and when we are least expecting it. ”

“ HARDY’S FIRST INDIAN The war-cloud gathers over Kentucky—Hardy goes a-hunting and bags a fat turkey—He practices the difficult feat of barking squirrels—He detects a dusky foe spying upon him from behind a tree—And plans to outwit the wily savage—Hardy fires and scatters the head-feathers of the Indian—Hardy is now reduced to his tomahawk for defence—He makes a good throw and barely misses the mark—Powerless, he awaits death as the savage advances—A friend in need is a friend indeed—“My scalp, I reckon, young fellow!”—Simon Kenton, the daring dandy of the backwoods. ”

“ It is difficult to hold the publicity man down to a consistently honest story. He must be an enthusiast to serve his employers well and, with perhaps the best intentions in the world, he shuts his eyes to the disadvantages which pertain to farming in Cuba as well as to farming in any part of the world, and expends his eloquence solely on the roseate aspects of the situation. The literature of the best of the land companies is deceptive inasmuch as it draws a picture of the results attainable under the most favorable conditions, and not those which the average settler will experience. ”

“ After his captors had refreshed themselves with food and rest, the entire population of the place assembled in the great square and Kenton was led forth to afford amusement for them. After he had been subjected to the jibes and floutings of the children and squaws, he was bound to a post and flogged upon the bare back with switches until the blood flowed copiously. Meanwhile the redskins danced around him, howling with demoniac delight. But they tired of this pastime when it was found impossible to extract a cry of pain from the victim. ”

“ Powhatan was in the act of raising his hand in the fatal gesture that would have stamped our hero’s doom, when a young girl, as graceful as a doe and not less agile, burst through the throng that surrounded the Werowance and sprang to the prisoner’s side. Waving back the executioners with the haughty dignity derived from a long line of noble ancestors, she drew her slim and supple figure to its full height and faced the group of chieftains with head erect and flashing eyes. ”

“ Strangely enough, in view of the number of books that have been written about Cuba, there is no adequate history of the Island in the English language—none that may be justly deemed comprehensive and trustworthy. Many important events in the life of the country have never been properly recorded and much that is of great interest still reposes undisturbed in scattered documents. A candid account could hardly be expected of a Spaniard or a Cuban, but it might be supposed that an American would treat the subject with impartial fairness. ”

“ Each had a burden of fifty or sixty pounds, which consisted largely of the blankets and skins with which he was permitted to cover himself at night. Such a load would tire the ordinary man in an hour, but these hardy backwoodsmen could carry it all day and over fifteen miles of heavy ground, not without great fatigue, of course, but without breaking down. Thus they tramped along under the dripping boughs of the silent forest, their moccasins squelching the spongy earth and their long hair hanging wet and stringy about their necks. ”

“ Courcelles was no mean swordsman, and he saw before him a bareface boy whom he could not suppose to be a master of fence. Moreover, he was moved by the hatred which mean souls so often feel for those whom they have wronged. He made a furious attack upon the stripling intending to end the affair in short order.
John calmly maintained his guard under the onslaught with his weapon presented constantly at the other’s breast. With a slight movement of the wrist he turned aside Courcelles’ thrusts and stepped back nimbly when the Frenchman lunged. ”