Charles Edward Carryl

“ I feel no longing for the life I am about to end, nor do I leave a single soul who will mourn my death. I regret, alone, that restitution is beyond my power. The sea is merciful to me in all else.
Lansing Black. “Poor fellow!” said Farnham. “How bad a matter was it?”
“Extensive forgeries and about sixteen thousand pounds in hard cash, supposed to be with him,” replied Lethbridge. “That’s all we know. Particulars by mail.”
“I am glad Leath is out of it, at all events,” said Farnham, heartily enough.
“So am I, sir,” echoed the purser; “but I’m blessed if it didn’t look ugly for a while.” ”

“ Farnham went away with a disquieting sense of having been cleverly impressed into the English detective service; but an irrepressible desire to follow up the unravelling of the mystery that lay before him enabled him to stifle certain stirrings of conscience by the self-assurance that he was merely furthering the ends of justice. He wandered aimlessly about, avoiding the vicinity of the hotel until bedtime, when he sneaked in, carrying a satchel, and with a humiliating consciousness of imposture lying heavily on his mind, and was allotted a gloomy back room at the top of the house. ”

“ The wind was rustling pleasantly in the trees, and the sunlight, shining down through the dancing leaves, made little patches of light that chased each other about on the grass, and, as Dorothy walked along, she felt happier than she had at any time since losing the Blue Admiral Inn. To be sure, it wasn’t the easiest matter in the world to get along, for as the trees and the bushes and the blades of grass were all of the natural size and Dorothy was no bigger than a wren, she fell over a good many twigs and other small obstacles, and tumbled down a great many times. ”

“ The poor Goblin, who had turned sea-green in color, was frantically waving his hands to and fro, as if motioning for the beach to get out of the way; and Davy watched his approach with the greatest anxiety. Meanwhile the animals had mounted on four sand-hills, and were solemnly looking on, while Robinson, who seemed to have run out of tooth-powder, was hurriedly loading his gun with sand. The next moment the clock struck the beach with great force, and, turning completely over on the sand, buried the Goblin beneath it. ”

“ Oh, lor!” cried the Goblin, in an uncontrollable fit of merriment. “Another minute and you wouldn’t have been bigger than a peanut!”
“What’s the matter with me?” said Davy, not knowing what to make of it all.
“Matter?” cried the Goblin. “Why, you’ve been and gone and fallen into an Elastic Spring, that’s all. If you’d got in at stretch tide, early in the morning, you’d have been a perfect giraffe; but you got in at shrink tide and—oh, my! oh, my!” and here he went off into another fit of laughter. ”

“ The Admiral stared at Sir Walter for a moment through his spy-glass, and then said very firmly, “You’re a pig!” at which the Highlander again consulted his watch, and then shouted, “Two pigs!” with great enthusiasm, as if that were the time of day.
“And you’re another,” said Sir Walter, angrily. “If it comes to that, we’re all pigs.”
“Dear me!” cried Dorothy, quite distressed at all this. “What makes you all quarrel so? You ought to be ashamed of yourselves.” ”

“ The floor was of tin, and greased to such a slippery degree that Davy could hardly keep his feet, and against the walls on all sides were ranged long rows of little tin chairs glistening like silver in the dazzling light.
The only person in the room was a little man, something like the Hole-keeper in appearance, but denser and darker in the way of complexion, and dressed in a brown paper tunic and cocked hat. ”

“ By this time the toy-shop itself was all in a commotion. Dolls were climbing down from the shelves and falling over each other; the big marbles had in some way got out of the basket and were rolling about in all directions; and Dorothy could see the old dame at the further end of the shop, running about and frantically striking at one thing after another with her spoon. To make matters worse, quite a little army of tin soldiers suddenly appeared, running confusedly about, with the drawers from the little grocer’s shop upside down on their heads, and all calling “Fire!” ”

“ It was at this instant that Farnham’s attention was attracted to a cab that came rattling along the pier, scattering the crowd in every direction. As it drew up at the gangway opening, a man sprang out and crying frantically, “Stop! stop!” rushed to the edge of the pier and began running back and forth upon the string- piece as if meditating a desperate attempt to leap out and clutch at the side of the receding ship. ”

“ Immediately all the bell-pulls began flying in and out of their own accord, with a deafening clangor of bells behind the paling; and then the door swung slowly back upon its hinges.
Davy walked through the door-way and found himself in the oddest-looking little country place that could possibly be imagined. There was a little lawn laid out, on which a sort of soft fur was growing instead of grass, and here and there about the lawn, in the place of flower-beds, little footstools, neatly covered with carpet, were growing out of the fur. ”