W. H. Maxwell

“ The heron traverses the country to a great distance in quest of some convenient or favourite fishing spot, and in its aerial journeys soars to a great height, to which the eye is directed by its harsh cry, uttered from time to time while on the wing. In flying it draws the head between the shoulders, and the legs stretched out, seem, like the longer tails of some birds, to serve the office of a rudder. ”

“ I bolted from the vessel; escaped a fate that none survived but you; passed through a thousand hair-breadth adventures; and now command the Flambeau—the sweetest schooner that ever spread canvass to a breeze. Come, I bear you have lost every thing again but life; try your luck once more with Captain Raleigh; and rest assured, that he who succoured the fevered boy, shall secure the friendship of the commander of the Flambeau,—a craft by some called a privateer, and by others set down—may Heaven forgive them!—as nothing better than a pirate! ”

“ Their bills are long and slender, and, like the common snipe’s, are smooth and blunt at the tip; their legs are of various colours, and long. When pursued by the sportsman, they run with great speed, are very restless, and spring at a great distance, and make a scream as they rise. Their voice is somewhat extraordinary, and has been compared to the smothered bleating of a goat. They delight in salt marshes, and are rare in countries remote from the sea. Their flesh is delicate and excellent food. ”

“ A terrible suspense,—a horrible stillness,—darkness,—a compression of the breathing,—the dull and ill-defined outline of the town,—the knowledge that similar and simultaneous movements were making on other points,—the certainty that two or three minutes would probably involve the forlorn hope in ruin, or make it the beacon-light to conquest,—all these made the heart throb quicker, and long for the bursting of the storm, when victory should crown daring with success, or hope and life should end together. ”

“ No tears, Julia; be firm, and listen to a brother who loves you tenderly as I do. The hand of destiny beckons me on; for months I have been wretched; while every post bears tidings of some glorious deed, I, in the pride of youth, am dreaming life away; my days passed idling on the beach, or listening at some cottage fire-side to the gossip of the humble villagers. This evening as I stood upon the cliffs, I saw a noble frigate close in shore, with her head turned to the coast of France. ”

“ The fox, if possible, fixes his abode on the border of a wood, in the neighbourhood of some farm or village: he listens to the crowing of the cocks, and the cries of the poultry; he scents them at a distance; he chooses his time with judgment; he conceals his road as well as his design; he slips forward with caution, sometimes even trailing his body, and seldom makes a fruitless expedition. If he can leap the wall, or get in underneath, he ravages the court-yard, puts all to death, and retires softly with his prey, which he either hides under the herbage, or carries off to his kennel. ”

“ At nine the sea-breeze cleared away the fog; the sun shone gloriously out—and in two hours the forlorn hope issued from the trenches. The columns succeeded,246—and every gun from the fortress that could bear, opened on them with shot and shells. The appearance of the breach was perfectly delusive; nothing living could reach the summit—no courage, however desperate, could overcome the difficulties, for they were alike unexpected and insurmountable. ”

“ But am I not the consort of a brave old man, the mother of a child, in whom all my love is centered?”
“And with these objects of affection, Nina, you must be happy.”
“I was,” she answered, with a sigh.
“Was? Nina. Nay, nay, you are.”
“No, William; strong in gratitude to my husband. I feel a woman’s weakness in the heart, and love and duty by turns obtain its mastery. William, neither you nor I have yet seen two-and-twenty summers; and at that age, friendship is too close akin to love to be encouraged. My husband dare not assist you to escape—I dare, and will. ”

“ If this family in their progress from the nest to the sea, happen to be interrupted by any person, the young ones, it is said, seek the first shelter, and squat close down, and the parent birds fly off; then commences that truly curious scene dictated by an instinct analogous to reason, the same as has been already noticed in the mallard and the partridge; the tender mother drops at no great distance from her helpless brood, trails herself along the ground, flaps it with her wings, and appears to struggle as if she were wounded, in order to attract attention, and tempt a pursuit after her. ”

“ From Grenoble to Lyons the march of the Emperor was nothing but a triumph. The Emperor, fatigued, was in his carriage, going at a slow pace, surrounded by a crowd of peasants, singing songs which expressed to all the noblesse the sentiments of the brave Dauphinois. “Ah,” said the Emperor, “I find here the sentiments which for twenty years induced me to greet France with the name of the Grand Nation; yes, you are still the Grand Nation, and you shall always be so.” ”

“ I never met a man who appeared to have made his mind up to die with more dignity and determination than Lieutenant Cammaran. He had already almost undergone the bitterness of death; as yet his fate was an uncertainty—the sword continued suspended by a hair—and still the expression of his manly countenance was perfectly undisturbed, and neither lip nor eye-lid trembled, he planted his foot firmly on the floor, and, calmly and resolved, awaited a doubtful result—the turn of the die, on which life and death depended. ”

“ The balls of her feet, instead of hard flesh, are covered with strong coarse fur, suited so well for the purpose, that she never treads easier or to more advantage than on the hardest beaten track, or rugged, stony road; the very surface which cripples a dog she glides over with pleasure. In a frost she has an evident superiority to most creatures; the horse does not at that season take his gallops for fear of foundering; the greyhound or hound would in running start all their claws, and tear their soles to pieces, whilst the hare treads as soft as if she went on wool. ”

“ The infantry already began to experience the annoyance of long marches, severe weather, and a very indifferent commissariate. To march over cut-up roads, and through an exhausted country, where no friendly place of strength protects, no well-supplied magazine refreshes, soon harasses the over-loaded soldier. But that, when accomplished in the dead of winter,—in cold and darkness, sleet and rain,—was enough to have subdued the spirit of any army but a British one, retiring under every privation, and with seventy thousand veteran troops marching on their flanks and rear. ”

“ What a strange epitome of life the scenes enacted at an inn would furnish! How dissimilar in rank, in object, in vocation, are those whom every apartment of this human halting-place receives in turn! The care-worn and the careless—the miser and the spendthrift. Opulence, with unassuming carriage—penury, vainly attempting to brazen out its wretchedness. A noble, in title old as the conquest, rests in this chamber to-day—to-morrow it will be tenanted by a bagman, who never heard that such a being as his grandfather had existence. This evening a bridal party occupy the inn. ”

“ When the ebb of tide commences, the mullet begin to retire, and when they discover that their egress is obstructed, their attempts to effect a passage are both constant and curious—now running down the nets, trying for a broken mesh by which to force an aperture—now with a bold spring endeavouring to clear the buoy-ropes, and, even after repeated failures, leaping at it again and again. The last effort is directed to the bottom, but there the heavy stones resist every attempt to dislodge them, and deserted by the treacherous water, the mullet are left upon the bare sands. ”