George Weston

“ One might have thought that with the mountain so near a young geologist would have thought of nothing else.
"The history of the world is written in its rocks"; and here was an inverted mountain, silently bearing witness to cooling crusts and molten masses, earthquakes and volcanoes and all those cosmic forces which engrave the records of time and make men look like such insignificant nincompoops. Just one look at Aurora, though, was all that the young professor could spare at the moment—a look half wistful and half pleading—and then his glance was back on Marion again. ”

“ Then came the bathroom and three bed-rooms, all in true bungalow style on one floor.
When they had first entered, Mary and Archey had chatted freely enough, but gradually they had grown quieter. There is probably no place in the world so contributive to growing intimacy as a new empty house—when viewed by a young man and a younger woman who have known each other for many years—
The place seems alive, hushed, expectant, watching every move of its visitors, breathing suggestions to them—
"Do you like it?" asked Mary, breaking the silence. ”

“ And no one who looked at little Miss Neames could reverse the verdict of Mr. Ridge. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks were pink, and she carried herself with a certain cozy assurance that was a delight to see. Moreover, she had focussed all her art in the making of a blue silk dress which fitted her to perfection, and which brought out the roses in her cheeks and laughed at the hint of gray in her hair. In a word, it was quite impossible to contradict Mr. Ridge when he sank into an easy chair near the window and looked at her and said, "It seems good to be here." ”

“ I cried, as a ray of light suddenly broke upon me, "so that is why Fido sits out on the front piazza!"
"Yes," nodded Alicia, "he's jealous because I have been talking to Philip."
"And that is why Peter sulks on the back porch!"
"Peter's jealous, too," sighed Alicia, "but they'll get over it quickly enough when—Philip—is gone. It seems a shame to kill him," she sighed again, "but I suppose it has to be done."
Inexorably then I lifted the trap from its hook and started for the cellar.
"Don't hurt him too much, Edward," pleaded Alicia. ”

“ With increasing frequency, Helen was coming home from the Country Club unconsciously scented with that combination of cigarette smoke and raspberry jam. Burdon had a new car, a swift, piratical craft which had been built to his order, and sometimes when he called at the house on the hill for Helen, Mary amused herself by thinking that he only needed a little flag-pole and a Jolly Roger—a skirted coat and a feathered hat—and he would be the typical younger son of romance, scouring the main in search of Spanish gold. ”

“ And that's the reason I like Aunt Hepzibah. She likes me! And that's the reason I don't like Margaret. She doesn't like me! And that's the reason all the young men like Margaret. She likes them! And that's the reason nobody likes a selfish person, because a selfish person likes nobody but himself. There! So if I want people to like me I've got to like them. And if I want everybody to like me I've got to like everybody, and that's all there is to it! ”

“ Do you remember my Aunt Betsy?"
"I remember her very well," said Rose, smiling.
"Every one does," sighed Mortimer. "Do you remember that twinkle in her eye, Rose? Well, she is laughing yet, wherever she is; and do you know what she is laughing at? She is laughing at me! At me!"
"Mortimer!" exclaimed Rose, in a shocked voice.
"I was her only nephew," said poor Mortimer, "and every one thought she would leave everything to me. But instead of that she left me—this—this— this parrot and so much a year as long as I keep the parrot—and as long as I remain single." ”

“ Bill's candidate, looking more belligerent at every tick of the clock, preserved his pressure against the other's shoulder and slowly straightened his figure from its stooping position. In the same grim silence Mr. Wilbur accompanied him upward, so that presently they stood like the two sides of a capital A, each young gentleman digging his feet into the rug, too dignified to speak, too proud to be the first to stop pushing. ”

“ When Mary reached home that evening, you can imagine how Aunt Patty and Aunt Cordelia listened to her recital, their white heads nodding at the periods, their cheeks pink with pride. Now and then they exchanged glances. "Our baby!" these glances seemed to say, and then turned back to Mary with such love and admiration that finally the object of this pantomime could stand it no longer, but had to kiss them both till their cheeks turned pinker than ever and they gasped for breath. ”

“ Lady Salisbury's critical eye was following her like a searchlight, and altogether it wasn't surprising that after a wild swing Charlotte nearly missed her ball, which rolled forward a few miserable feet instead of sailing grandly half way to the hole.
The gallery gasped. Mr. Ogilvie groaned. And, fortunately for Charlotte, Lady Salisbury smiled. Yes, fortunately for Charlotte! And why? Because it only needed Lady Salisbury's smile to drive the blush from her cheeks and to stiffen her knees till they felt as firm as two steel sockets. "I'll show them," she breathed; "yes—homely as I am!" ”

“ And then somehow he began to think of the life he had given up—the sunny wind-swept days and starry nights, the clean, sweet distances which were his to command, that intoxicating feeling of imminent discovery which sometimes fell upon him just before finding a rare specimen—Cape Eternity on the Saguenay, Mount Washington from Crawford Notch, and, finally, Aurora herself, rising crest on crest and crown on crown, a monument to those stupendous forces compared to which mankind is such an insignificant nincompoop and all his works are dust. ”

“ Deep in her heart she thought the old original Spencers had done more for the world than any leaders of fashion who ever lived; and when she read or thought of those who had made America, her mind never went to smart society and its doings, but to those great, simple souls who had braved the wilderness in search of liberty and adventure—who had toiled, and fought, and given their lives, unknown, unsung, but never in Mary's mind to be forgotten. ”

“ To balance this bonbon dish, Bill fetched an ash receiver which some one had given him for a Christmas present the year before the Spanish War. It was an artistic ash receiver, cleverly lined with cigar bands, and when he stepped back to see how that mantelshelf looked the only thing which disappointed Bill was that he had to voice his admiration in hoarse whispers because Maude might have been out on the veranda listening. "Some room! Some room!" hoarsely whispered Bill, and the rest he expressed by facial contortions. ”

“ I hate flies, of course, but when it comes right down to one little fly, sitting there all by himself, somehow I don't seem to hate him so much. And he is such a nice one."
"Who is?" I asked, beginning to wonder again.
"Our fly," said Alicia, thoughtfully playing with her fork.
"Our fly?" I asked, all at sea for the second time. "Our fly?"
"Yes," said Alicia, "the one in the trap. Come and look at him, Edward."
She cut up a plate of meat for Fido and Peter and put it in the corner of the pantry in its usual place. ”