Edward Stratemeyer

“ The water leaped over the rocks in tiny waterfalls, and soon Larkspur Creek became a raging torrent. The sky was inky black, and they could not see a dozen paces in any direction.
Suddenly a strange rumble reached their ears, a rumble that made both Wumble and Slim Jim turn pale and look at each other with faces full of fear. The rumble rose and fell, shaking the earth beneath them, and mingling with a grinding and crashing and ripping that seemed to strike each one to the very heart. ”

“ When he did come up, to puff and blow like a porpoise, all was dark around him. He was on the top of a huge wave; a second later he went down into a great hollow, the waves before and behind him seeming like hills ready to tumble in and plunge him out of existence. Again he prayed a silent prayer—yet none the less heard—that his life might be spared to him. ”

“ But, though the bed was soft, sleeping, with the rumble of the train in their ears, was not so easy, and Dale lay awake for a good hour, listening to the toot-toot of the locomotive, the grinding of car wheels, and the sharp clack-clack as they sped over some intersecting tracks. He wondered what he would do if there was a wreck, and how he could save himself if the car rolled completely over, or if it took fire from the dimly burning lights in the aisle. And then tired Nature at last claimed her own, and lying back to back with Owen, he dropped off and slept as soundly as anybody. ”

“ BRIEF EXTRACTS FROM FAMOUS ADDRESSES DELIVERED BY THEODORE ROOSEVELT
"If we are to be a really great people, we must strive in good faith to play a great part in the world. We cannot avoid meeting great issues. All that we can determine for ourselves is whether we shall meet them well or ill."
"All honor must be paid to the architects of our material prosperity; to the captains of industry who have built our factories and our railroads; to the strong men who toil for wealth with brain or hand; for great is the debt of the nation to these and their kind. ”

“ I heard Captain Hannockcall out; and an instant later the jolly-boat had left the schooner's side!
In vain I repeated my cry. If the master of the Spitfire heard me, he gave no heed, and as for the sailors, they were too busy doing their duty to give me a thought.
Deserted! Left to fight for life amidst the flames! Oh, how bitterly I realized the awful position in which I was placed!
The wind blew in such a manner that soon the jolly-boat was hidden from view by the smoke. Evidently all had left the schooner in safety but myself. ”

“ THE HUNTERS HUNTED
With the rising of the sun the young pioneers felt once more like themselves. The dangers of the night were past, and they imagined that but little could come to disturb them until darkness had once again set in.
“It has got to be a bear to-day,” said Harry. “If it isn’t I shall be much disappointed.”
“Reckon we’ll have to take what comes,” answered Joe. Still he wanted to bring down a bear as much as did his chum.
They resolved to strike out to the westward, over the ridge and toward a hill topped with a heavy growth of timber. ”

“ I found the forecastle of the Spitfire a dark and rather unwholesome place. The ventilation was bad, and the smell of tar and oakum was so strong that for a moment I had to turn away to catch my breath.
Luckily my bunk was close to the doorway, so I had the best light the place afforded. Close to me was a chest, and upon this I sat down to think.
It would be hard to express my feelings at this moment. Had I gone on board the Spitfire of my own will I would not have considered the matter as bad. True, I had no great fancy for a life on the ocean wave, such as most boys are supposed to cherish. ”

“ Look, it is snowing! Where is the trail? We are lost! See the ice and snow! Lost! lost! lost!" And Tom floundered around more wildly than ever.
Sam leaped out of bed, and, catching his brother by the arm, shook him vigorously.
"Tom! Tom! wake up!" he cried. "You're asleep! Wake up! You are not in Alaska! Wake up!"
"Oh, the ice and snow! And the trail is lost! We shall die! Can nothing save—— Er—er—eh? What's the—the matter?" stammered Tom, and suddenly opened his eyes. "What are you shaking me for, Sam?" ”

“ Once Uriah Risley gave a cry of alarm and came close to discharging his firearm. A wolf had slunk across their path in the darkness and the Englishman took the form to be that of a sneaking Indian.
"A redskin! He will scalp us!" he cried, and was on the point of pulling the trigger when Dave stopped him.
"No! no! It's only a wolf!" cried the youth. "Don't waste your powder and ball. Besides, a shot will arouse every Indian for quarter of a mile around."
"A wolf? So it must have been." Uriah Risley drew a long breath and lowered his musket. ”

“ The Texans had gathered around in little knots to discuss the situation in low tones. Under one of the trees stood General Houston, clad in nothing more striking than an old slouch hat, a shiny black coat, and a light-coloured pair of trousers which had long since seen their best days. His sword, also an old affair, was tied to his belt with bits of a lariat. Altogether he looked anything but a general bent upon leading a raw and un disciplined army to victory.
"We will win!" he was saying. "We cannot afford to lose. The whole fate of Texas hangs upon our courage!" ”

“ He felt as if he was entering another world, and so he was,—the world of school—with all its ups and downs, its friendships and its enmities, its studies and its sports—a world in which he was to fight a hard battle from start to finish, and one in which certain affairs were to happen which would fill him with perplexity and astonishment. ”

“ Away went the mule, as if accustomed to run over the ice all his life. He was a sure-footed creature and took only one or two slides, which amounted to nothing. The boys on the shore saw Dave and mule disappear in the darkness and set up a cry of wonder.
"Hi! come back here, Dave!" sang out Roger.
"If you are going to ride to the Hall take us with you!" yelled Shadow.
"He won't stop till he's tired out," said Henshaw. "And goodness only knows where he'll carry Dave."
"Trust Dave to take care of himself," answered the senator's son. ”

“ On went the three boys, the fresh air of the plains and the mountains filling their lungs and causing their eyes to snap with pure delight. At that moment each of them felt as if he hadn't a care in the world. ”

“ He is dead! Who will bury me? See the lights! I am dead. Beware of the mountain! He is dead! The mountain will kill you! See the lights! Who will bury me? Ha ha!" And then the strange voice died away in the distance.
"What on earth can it be?" gasped Whopper. His face was deadly pale.
"Don't ask me," answered Snap.
"What's up?" questioned Giant, who was a light sleeper, and the sound of his voice awoke the doctor's son. Soon he and the small youth were acquainted with what had occurred.
"Where did the voice go to?" asked Shep. ”

“ But now look at Jerry.
How like a flash his back bends! How powerful is that broad stroke! How quick his recovery!
In vain Pinkney tried to hold his lead. Jerry means to win and nothing can hold him back.
He fairly flies past Pinkney and comes in a winner by a length and a half. His friends go wild.
“Hurrah for Jerry Upton!” shouts Harry.
And the cheers echo and re-echo along the water and back to the distant hills.
Blumpo dances a breakdown for joy.
“I told you he could do it,” he cries. “Da can’t beat our Jerry nohow!”
“That’s right, they can’t!” adds Harry. “Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!” ”

“ In the darkness of the evening Dave's hand stole into that of his cousin. "I am just as glad over it all as you, Henry," he said softly. And then after a short silence he added: "There is no disputing it. God has been very good to us; don't you think so?"
For answer Henry gave his hand a tight squeeze. "We can be thankful we're alive, considering what we've gone through with. War is no holiday making."
"You're right it's not. But I'm glad I'm a soldier anyway—and I mean to do my duty to the end, no matter what comes." ”

“ Then of a sudden there came a cloud of smoke from the deck of the steam yacht, followed by a stream of sparks which went whizzing just over the rowboats. Then followed more sparks, and balls of fire, red, white and blue.
"What in the world are they doing?" murmured Captain Barforth.
"They are shooting off something, but it is not a gun or a cannon," answered Mr. Rover.
"Hurrah! I know what it is!" cried Tom. "Good for Fred and Hans! Those are my fireworks—those I had left from the Fourth of July celebration. They are giving them a dose of rockets and Roman candles!" ”

“ Crouching down between some bushes was a bob cat larger than either of those that had been killed the night before.
"Oh!" cried Songbird. "Scat!"
At the cry the bob cat turned and disappeared into the bushes like a flash. But then they heard it leap into a tree, and the rustling of the branches told them only too plainly that it was approaching closer and closer.
"This is—is awful!" groaned Fred. "It will surely pounce down and tear us to pieces. Help! help, somebody! Help!"
Songbird joined in the cry and the forest rang loudly with the sounds of their voices. ”

“ Instead of answering the old frontiersman began to tell a wild and wonderful tale of a bear who stole a gun and shot an Indian who had killed her cubs. Then he began to sing once more, in a wilder fashion than ever. He rolled his eyes, and worked his ears back and forth—a trick he had learned when a boy—and clicked his teeth together.
"He is mad—he has lost his reason," said one of the warriors.
"He is only shamming," cried Falling Star.
"No, no, he has surely lost his reason," said another Indian. "Hark to him!"
"We cannot burn one who is mad," said an old warrior, gravely. ”

“ The young man would spy upon the Indians and then go and tell the great English general of what he has seen. He is a snake in the grass, close to the trail of Pontiac and his followers."
"I am not a spy, Chief Pontiac. My father is a trader and I help him at his trading-post on the Ohio, that is all."
Pontiac waved his hand. "The wind can blow a lie away, but the truth is like a rock that the wind cannot stir. Pontiac's followers have watched the white youth, and he knows." ”

“ It was a late summer day, with a clear blue sky overhead and just enough breeze blowing to freshen the air. A shower of rain the day previous had laid the dust of the road and added to the freshness of fields and woods. ”

“ Before Caleb Gulligan could recover, Matt was out of the door and running like a deer up Nassau street.
“Hi! hi! stop him!” roared the old auctioneer. “He must not get away.”
“Stop him yourself, then,” said one of the bystanders heartlessly. “We have nothing to do with your quarrel with the boy.”
“You are in league with him,” fumed Caleb Gulligan, as he scrambled to his feet. “But, never mind, I’ll catch him!”
He ran out of the auction store and gazed perplexedly up and down into the crowd. It was useless. Matt Lincoln, like his friend, Ida Bartlett, had disappeared. ”

“ The young giant of the West stands on a continent and clasps the crest of an ocean in either hand. Our nation, glorious in youth and strength, looks into the future with eager and fearless eyes, and rejoices, as a strong man to run the race. ”

“ The short Alaska summer was now reaching its height, and flowers and berries were growing everywhere in the wildest profusion, while during the middle of the day the sun beat down so fiercely that they were often compelled to seek the shade for hours at a time.
"My gracious, the Hollow is like a pepper box!" said Randy one day, as he came into camp with his shirt wet through with perspiration. "Not a breath of air stirring."
"And the hotter it is, the worse the flies are," added Earl. "I declare, they seem to bother me more than even the mosquitoes." ”

“ As it is with the individual so it is with the nation. It is a base untruth to say that happy is the nation that has no history. Thrice happy is the nation that has a glorious history. Far better is it to dare mighty things to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat. ”

“ Soon the sun went under a heavy bank of clouds and a stiff breeze sprung up which threw the long, heavy swells of the ocean into millions of white-caps, dancing and skipping on every side as far as eye could reach. ”

“ As one division of the Celestials was fleeing from the Americans, they, or at least a larger portion of them, plumped straight into the others near the embankment, utterly demoralizing them. "The Americans are coming! They number thousands!" was the cry, in Chinese; and then began a retreat such as Gilbert had never before seen, the Boxers tumbling over each other in their haste, tearing their flowing uniforms, throwing down guns and swords, and all the while waving their beloved banners and shrieking as if to arouse the dead. ”

“ Anderson Rover listened with keen interest to what his sons had to say about Jasper Grinder and Dan Baxter.
"I sincerely trust they do not plot against us," he said. "I am getting old, and I want no more trouble."
"I don't believe Dan has the backbone his father has," answered Dick. "And I believe Mr. Grinder is good deal of a coward."
"If only young Baxter would turn over a new leaf!" sighed Mrs. Martha Rover. "I declare I'll not feel safe, on your account, until that young man is taken care of." ”

“ The light of day seemed to die out utterly, and the air was filled with flying débris and screaming birds and wild animals made homeless on the instant. The very earth seemed to quake with the violence of the trees uprooted, and branches and dirt flew all over the Americans, until they were buried as completely as Ben and his companions had been. Larry thought it was indeed the end of the world, and breathed a silent prayer that God might watch over him and those he loved. ”

“ Why, a sailor is the merest nobody on earth!"
"I guess you mean on the sea, uncle," said Sam with a grin.
"Don't joke me, Samuel. Yes, Thomas—the calling of a sailor amounts to absolutely nothing. Scientific farming is the thing! Nothing more noble on the face of the earth than to till the soil."
"I never saw you behind a plow, Uncle Randolph," answered Tom, with a twinkle in his blue eyes. "Besides, I heard you say that the farm ran behind last year." ”

“ This was on Sunday, and all day long the people of the North wondered what President Lincoln would do. Great crowds walked the streets at night, and the little village of Poland shared in the general anxiety. On Monday the President issued a proclamation calling for seventy-five thousand men to put down the rebellion.
Seventy-five thousand men! The eyes of the nation were opened at last. Grim war was a reality. The excitement grew, and as the call to arms was made in every city, town, and hamlet, men, young and old, poured forth, to fight for the flag they so loved. ”

“ Spare not those who would take our beloved homes from us!" And then would follow a shrill yelling which was deafening, to be swallowed up in another rattle and roar of rifles and cannon. The very ground was torn up as by ploughs run mad, and the dead and dying lay everywhere, the painfully wounded shrieking for help, for water, for death to relieve them of their sufferings. Such is the ghastly terror of real war. ”

“ By the time the boys had said their prayers and [22] retired, a deep silence had fallen on the cabin and its surroundings, broken only by the faint gurgling of the brook as it tumbled along over the rocks and the soft fall breeze as it swept through the forest beyond the clearing, sending the golden leaves down in showers. Presently the moon shone over the top of the distant mountains, tipping the brook here and there with silver. The shining of the orb of night seemed to displease the wolves, and soon one and another let up a lonely howl, ending in a chorus which was truly dismal. ”

“ It was now pitch dark.
"We are in for it, so make yourselves as comfortable as possible," observed Frank. "My, how the wind does blow!"
"It's like a hurricane in an African forest," said Sam. "I believe it's almost strong enough to take a fellow off his feet."
The wind kept increasing in violence, until the old barn seemed to rock back and forth. It arose in a low moan and mounted steadily to a shriek, gradually dying away in the distance, followed by the slish-slishing of the fine snow across the rotted shingles of the roof.
"It's a tempest not to be forgotten," said Frank. ”

“ Once or twice the Indians came up to him but only to jibe at him and poke him with their guns or their bows, while one made a move with his hunting knife as if to cut out the young hunter's heart.
While the Indians were busy eating Henry tugged at his bonds with all the strength he could muster. But he was too weak, and the warriors had bound the rawhides too firmly, for the youth to budge them. He only made his wound break out afresh, and then had to stop, well-nigh exhausted with his effort.
"Getting away is out of the question," he thought, and a heavy sigh escaped his lips. ”

“ Dave looked at his old Indian friend and saw, to his astonishment, that White Buffalo was ill at ease, if not actually nervous. Had he been alone, it is likely that he would have turned on his heel and hurried away.
"What be they a-saying?" demanded Barringford, after listening to the chant. "I never heard sech gibberish in my life afore."
"Much magic," answered White Buffalo. "Magic make the Indians strong to fight their white enemies."
"Oh, so that's it, eh? Do they believe in it, White Buffalo?"
"Magic is magic," returned the old chief simply.
"Does it mean digging up the war hatchet?" ”