John T. McIntyre

“ In this one peddler's wagons replaced the shining carriages of a former day—wagons drawn by large-jointed horses and driven by bearded men who cried their wares in strange, throaty voices.
Everything exhaled a thick, semi-oriental smell. Dully painted fire-escapes clung hideously to the fronts of the buildings; stagnant-looking men, wearing their hats, leaned from bedroom windows. The once decent hallways were smutted with grimy hands; the wide marble steps were huddled with alien, unclean people.
A splendidly spired church stood almost shoulder to shoulder with the Ashton-Kirk house. ”

“ Ezra Prentiss and Nat Brewster were with Colonel Prescott almost all the time since the retreat had ceased. Their hearts were heavy when they learned of Dr. Warren’s death; for where would such another be found as he? That there were other great men in the colonies, they knew well; but none were quite so human, so entirely unselfish, so absolutely devoted to the public good as this patriot who still lay upon the hillside, his face turned to the sky.
They sat upon a settle in the wide hall of the house in which Prescott made his headquarters, and talked the sad news over in mournful undertones. ”

“ Young Campe wheeled like a flash, his hand going to his hip.
“All right,” said Scanlon. “You needn’t trouble about that.”
He approached hastily, his hands upraised.
“Bat!” said Campe, in surprise.
“We hadn’t expected you, Mr. Scanlon,” spoke Miss Knowles, sweetly.
“No, I suppose not,” said the big man, and his tone was dry. “I just thought I’d take a stretch along the path.”
“It’s such a splendid night for that,” said Miss Knowles.
“Not too bright,” exclaimed Campe. “A fellow doesn’t make such a target as he would on a moonlit night. And yet with plenty of light to see by.” ”

“ And among all the loyalists in Charleston Mark Harwood was liked the least; his sly, cunning manner and his mirthless smile made him hated among the frank young soldiers of the king’s forces; they avoided his company as much as possible, but, of course, to-night they could not but tolerate him.
Mark felt the sting which the quiet words of young Campbell contained and a dark flush stained his cheeks.
“It is the weakest who are ever the worst,” cried he, noticing the cold glances of dislike leveled at him. “A man like Foster could do as much harm to the cause of the king as Marion himself.” ”

“ During the entire fight, George’s great dread was that the fire might die out through want of attention. He did not fear Slade, or the outcome of the struggle; but that the waiting Americans upon the west bank might misread his signal gave him much anxiety. Even in the midst of the battling, he managed to keep his attention on the fire. Instead of dying out it grew stronger and stronger; indeed, it roared and sparkled bravely in the wind; its light made the hillside as plain as day. Amazed at this, George finally managed to twist about so in Slade’s clutch that he got a good view of the fire. ”

“ As the man spoke there came the deep boom of a gun; the Ranger, with her sails filled, went flying seaward; from around the headland swept the huge, dark hull and towering sail spread of a British ship-of-war, a column of white smoke arising from her bow.
“The Yankee are running away,” cried a voice. “They can rob defenceless people, but they won’t stand and fight.”
“What’s the matter wid them?” growled Longsword as he watched the Ranger. “Sure our ship can beat that fellow wid ease.”
“And she’s going to do it,” cried Ethan. “Look there. She only stood out for sea-room.” ”

“ Surely he was not quite firm in his mind.
"In your grandfather's time," said Tom Horn, "the circles flowed freely about the world. They were wide and wonderful, and the sun and the wind and the stars were in them." He bent closer to Anthony: "Do you know what makes the wind to blow?" he asked.
"No," said Anthony.
"No more does any one else," said Tom Horn. "No one in all the world knows what makes the wind to blow. And no one knows why water flows in circles, and rings in every ship, every island, and every man. Once," he said, "I saw a circle around the moon. The world moves in a circle. ”

“ As Ashton-Kirk and Bat emerged from the hotel, the big athlete turned to his friend with serious eyes.
"How much of what you've just been saying to him is right, and how much is just bluff to cover a place where you miscued?" asked he.
"What I gave him are the facts," replied Ashton-Kirk. "A confession is not always conclusive, as I have just shown. There are circumstances under which a man may confess, because he fears to have the real truth come out. And there are indications in this case which rather hold that guilt lies in another direction than young Burton." ”

“ From room to room fought the Texans, contesting every step of the way; the proof of their desperation is the great number of Mexicans who fell in this bloody close-quarters fight; forty-five bodies were counted in one spot after all was over.
Travis fell here, and so did the brave Colonel Bonham. With his loved rifle clubbed in his hands and with many a foeman stretched beside him, fell that gallant Tennessean, Davy Crockett, defending a doorway. Like fiends, the Mexicans, urged by the bloody minded Santa Anna, stabbed and shot, and when the fight was done, every Texan in the Alamo was dead. ”

“ The shadows on the second floor lengthened and grew grayer; they thickened in the corners; pieces of furniture grew vague and monstrous as the darkness began to cling to them and their outlines became lost; suits of armor loomed menacingly out of the gloom, the last rays of light striking palely upon helm or gorget; hideous gods of wood and stone smiled evilly at the two watchers.
"There was food in the bundles which we carried up, then," commented Pendleton, as he lay back on the old claw-footed sofa. ”

“ For a moment the men hesitated; they had caught sight of the advancing boat, and knew that it meant help; but the Irish dragoon’s pistol poked itself into their faces without any parleying, and in another instant the capstan was clanking merrily, and the heavy anchor was being drawn from the bottom of the cove. Then the seamen lent a reluctant hand at hoisting the mainsail and the jibs. As the wheel whirled under the skilful hands of Ethan Carlyle, the hanging canvas filled and the foot of the schooner broke the first ripple on her way seaward. ”

“ Never had I met a man who showed so many brilliant sides of character; he could talk about anything, and in a way which indicated a mastery of the matter. Every ambition [Pg 25] I cherished met with his approval; everything I longed for seemed within reach when he talked. It was a species of hypnotism, Bat; nothing else explains it."
"How a fellow like that could so put it over on a woman like you, Nora, puzzles me," said Bat Scanlon, shaking his head.
"It would puzzle any right sort of a man," said the girl. "Only a woman would understand it thoroughly—or a man like Tom Burton. ”

“ I doubt if any one has ever seen him foot up a column of figures or turn to a ledger for a point of information; yet no man anywhere is more possessed of the spirit of commerce. But it is commerce as a pageant, as a spectacle, a wide, spirited vision, rich with color, alive with movement, remarkable with discovery. There is nothing of the huckster in Charles; he is no mere chafferer or trafficker in commodities. In his mind ships are not dull things of oak, stuffed with cargo; they are the laden argosies of the world, crossing the seven seas, their sails filled with glory. ”

“ As Ethan and Dale regained the main deck, the ammunition once more began to come through the hatches; but the guns were still silent.
All this time the Serapis had been pouring death into the huge, helpless hulk of the American. The Richard was a wreck—shattered, reeling and all but sinking. Her crew had deserted her main deck, her dead lay about in heaps. The moonlight, streaming down upon the scene showed the slight figure of John Paul Jones as he worked desperately at a dismounted gun, almost alone, but with a determination to win that only death could destroy. ”

“ Were you ever employed under a German conductor?"
"Twice," replied the violinist, with a shrug. "Nobody can deny the art of the Germans. But they have their faults. They say they know the violin. And they do; but the Italian has taught them. The violin belongs to Italy. It was the glory of Cremona, was it not? The tender hands of the Amatis, of Josef Guarnerius, of old Antonio Stradivari, placed a soul within the wooden box; and that soul is the soul of Italy!"
"Haupt, a German, wrote a treatise on the violin," said Ashton-Kirk. "If you would read that—"
"I have read it," cried Spatola. ”

“ Bat Scanlon walked for hours, thinking, thinking; and out of it all he got only what the first few moments told him. If young Burton had confessed to a thing of which he was not guilty, it must be as Ashton-Kirk said: fear that the real truth might come out. But fear of what? There could only be one thing: the fear of the charge being placed at the door of some one else.
"And who could that some one else be but the one," kept repeating in the big athlete's brain. ”

“ Two weeks passed; often their sails hung idle, while time went completely around the clock; a slow, hot wind sometimes blew; and they held to the south and made what time they might. The drift grew thicker; the weed sometimes choked their progress; a green, stiff sea spread out before them; strange life crept upon it, and the hideous birds perched upon bits of wreckage, much as crows might in a stump-filled field.
In the mists of one morning a cry came from Tom Horn; and Corkery, whose watch on deck it was, advanced toward him. ”

“ When the throng realized what the axe blows meant, a wild howl went up from them.
“Down with the Yankee pirate,” came the cry.
“They are burning the ship!” shrilled a newcomer.
“Look,” shouted another; “there is only one man. Shall five hundred loyal subjects of the king be braved by one American cut-throat?”
“Never!” roared the mob.
Like a fury Ethan hacked and hewed at the hatches until he had them all cut away; he was delivering the finishing strokes when the press from the rear of the crowd became so great that those in front were hurled forward. ”

“ Charles and Anthony went into the tavern.
"Old seamen are fond of mumbling such prophecies," smiled Charles, as they sat down at a table in the public room. "As they grow weaker themselves, the danger and power of the ocean magnifies in their minds. What would have been the day's work in their youth or their prime comes to be looked upon as vast peril in their old age. God help them," said Charles, "it may be a sort of compensation; they, like enough, think themselves fortunate in having grown well away from such dangerous days." ”

“ The shutters were all open; and lights were seen behind trim white curtains. Water Street was quiet of an evening; the drays had ceased to trundle over the stones; porters, clerks, and merchants, who had all day been matching themselves against the mounds of goods that grew before the warehouses, the bills and figures and entries that crowded the desks of the counting-rooms, and the wits and wants of buyers, sellers, and agents, had all melted from view, into their homes, or into the bars or eating-rooms of favorite taverns. ”

“ And now the ship was on the sea; the wonderous freight she carried was blowing nearer and nearer each day. The mind of Charles mounted into thin air; his spirits sang; his sayings were like things printed in old books. He laughed at the dull routine of the counting-room, and the bent shoulders and moody brows he saw there; and he put a good-humored curse on their doings and bade Anthony take his mind from worrying.
"But," said the young man, "the claims made against us must be understood and met. They are real; they are heaping up; I can only hope they'll not fall in on us." ”

“ And neither did he have any words in the matter, but put the snuff-box into his waistcoat pocket and listened considerately to the sayings of his neighbors.
There had never before been such a ship as the Rufus Stevens. The Siddons yard, in that springtime, had hummed with her making; such a hammering and sawing as there had been, such a chipping and shaving, and boring and fitting, the clever old place never saw before. The keel was of solid, seasoned, toughened oak, as surely fitted, as strongly braced as old Rufus' spine had been. ”

“ One early morning, as he shook the snow from his cloak and stamped it from his boots before the counting-room fire, Tom Horn was arranging his books upon the desk; and Anthony said, smilingly:
"You'll be a very wise man one day, Tom. All this poring over books should lead to something."
"The books of the world, hold the world's knowledge," said Tom Horn. "And too few people give attention to them."
"That's true," said Anthony, "most of us do not employ ourselves with as many of them as we should." ”