E. C. Hartwell

“ The crowd stamped and howled.
Voices calling for mercy grew simply terrible. People not
only took the part of the athlete, but rose in defense of the
soldier, the maiden, their love. Thousands of spectators
turned to Cæsar with flashes of anger in their eyes and with 15
clinched fists.
But Cæsar halted and hesitated. Against Vinicius he
had no hatred indeed, and the death of Lygia did not
concern him; but he preferred to see the body of the maiden
rent by the horns of the bull or torn by the claws of beasts. ”

“ The spectators understood perfectly what he wanted.
At sight of the unconscious maiden, who near the enormous
Lygian seemed a child, emotion seized the multitude of
senators and knights. Her slender form, as white as if 25
chiseled from alabaster, her fainting, the dreadful danger
from which the giant had freed her, and finally her beauty
and attachment had moved every heart. Some thought
the man a father begging mercy for his child. ”

“ That dog kennel of a barn gave me much to think about.
The wind was dead against us. Our speedometer registered
ninety miles an hour—and the wind pushing us 15
back at the rate of forty miles left us fifty miles an hour
speed. It seemed like fifty feet to me, until I saw off in
the distance ahead the silvery haze that hangs over New
York like a mantle of mist. A moment later we made out
Long Island Sound, laid out with all its little bays and harbors 20
just like a pattern of white paper fallen on the extreme
edge of a Persian carpet. ”

“ The
whale's great length made it no easy job for him to turn, 5
while our boat, with two oars a side and the great leverage
at the stern supplied by the nineteen-foot steer oar, circled,
backed, and darted ahead like a living thing animated by
the mind of our commander. When the leviathan settled,
we gave a wide berth to his probable place of ascent; 10
when he rushed at us, we dodged him; when he paused, if
only momentarily, in we flew and got home a fearful thrust
of the deadly lance.
All fear was forgotten now—I panted, thirsted, for his
life. ”

“ Pretty soon, however, the heat
of the sun began to melt the wax with which the boy's
wings were fastened. He felt himself sinking through the
air; the wings had become loosened from his shoulders.
He screamed to his father, but it was too late. Dædalus 15
turned just in time to see Icarus fall headlong into the
waves. The water was very deep there, and the skill of
the wonderful artisan could not save his child. He could
only look with sorrowing eyes at the unpitying sea, and
fly on alone to distant Sicily. ”

“ A loud shout from the spectators, waving of scarfs and
handkerchiefs, and general acclamations, attested the interest
taken by the spectators in this encounter; the most equal,
as well as the best performed, which had graced the day. 15
But no sooner had the knights resumed their station
than the clamor of applause was hushed into a silence so
deep and so dead that it seemed the multitude were afraid
even to breathe. ”

“ The murmur rose to shouts,
and eager questions were put: Where did the people live 5
who could produce such a giant?
He stood there, in the middle of the amphitheater, naked,
more like a stone colossus than a man, with a collected
expression, and at the same time the sad look of a barbarian;
and while surveying the empty arena, he gazed 10
wonderingly with his blue childlike eyes, now at the spectators,
now at Cæsar, now at the grating of the cunicula,
whence, as he thought, his executioners would come. ”

“ Scarcely had they done so when the
walrus came up again with a loud snort, splashing the water 5
with its broad, heavy flippers—which seemed a sort of
compromise between legs and fins—and dashing waves
over the ice as it rolled about its large, unwieldy carcass.
It was truly a savage-looking monster as large as a small
elephant and having two tusks of a foot and a half long. ”

“ We are too apt to forget the struggles the pioneer fathers of our nation had in their frontier life. To them we owe a debt of gratitude not only for what we have and are, but also for the deeds of heroism they have bequeathed us as a part of our national heritage. ”

“ A moment more, and to the ears of spectators sitting
nearer came as it were the crack of breaking bones; then the
beast rolled on the earth with his neck twisted in death.
The giant removed in a twinkle the ropes from the horns
of the bull, and, raising the maiden, began to breathe 30
hurriedly. His face became pale, his hair stuck together
[410] from sweat, his shoulders and arms seemed flooded with
water. For a moment he stood as if only half conscious;
then he raised his eyes and looked at the spectators.
The amphitheater had gone wild. ”

“ Bear 't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy; 15
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are most select and generous, chief in that. ”

“ Suddenly the admiral's grim face brightened with a 20
light never seen there before, and he drew a long, deep
breath like one shaking off a heavy burden. At the same
moment there broke out a fresh thunder of guns on the
right, and through the smoke burst the flag of England,
sweeping all before it like mists scattered by the rising sun. 25
The battle was won, and the few Dutch vessels that had
escaped were disappearing in the dimness of night when the
admiral and his remaining officers gathered on the quarter-deck
to do honor to the little hero. ”

“ Arthur, and thy fame and thy renown be forever held in
glorious memory throughout the length and the breadth
of this land!" 30
[23] "Hail to thee, noble youth!" returned Arthur. "Thou
art right welcome. Here is a place for thee between two of
my knights. Sit down, and my minstrels will play for thee."
But Kilhugh made answer: "I have not come hither,
sire, to eat and drink, but to crave of thee a boon. ”

“ The poplars yonder rustle, that their quivering
[200] leaves may see themselves upon the ground. Not so the
oak; trembling does not become him; and he watches
himself in his stout old burly steadfastness without the
motion of a twig.
The moss-grown gate, ill-poised upon its creaking hinges,
crippled and decayed, swings to and fro before its glass 5
like some fantastic dowager: while our own ghostly likeness
travels on, through ditch and brake, upon the plowed land
and the smooth, along the steep hillside and steeper wall,
as if it were a phantom hunter. ”

“ A few of these we call adventures because they are out of the ordinary. If, however, one is keen and alert, every experience is a fresh adventure. And excitement galore can be had by reading about the doings of other people. It is no longer necessary to hunt lions or to be adrift on an ice sheet to get the thrill of those who have experienced these things. Books, pictures, and theaters afford us ample means of enjoying in comfort the hour of high adventure of the other person. ”

“ Thou shalt have anything that is
mine, except my ship that bears me over the sea, and
the mantle in which I can walk unseen, and my good sword,15
and my keen lance, and my shield, and my gleaming dagger,
and Guinevere my wife. Ask what thou wilt."
"My request is, that thou wilt cut my hair," answered
Kilhugh.
"Thy request is granted," quoth the king.20
Then Arthur called for a golden comb and a pair of
scissors with silver loops. And he combed the hair of the
prince, as he sat upon his steed, and cut it front and back.
"Now tell me thy name," he said. ”

“ And if thou thinkest the price be high, in steer and gear and
stack,
Give me my father's mare again, and I'll fight my own way
back!"25
Kamal has gripped him by the hand and set him upon his
feet.
"No talk shall be of dogs," said he, "when wolf and gray
wolf meet.
[172] May I eat dirt if thou hast hurt of me in deed or breath;
What dam of lances brought thee forth to jest at the dawn
with Death?"
Lightly answered the Colonel's son: "I hold by the blood
of my clan: 5
Take up the mare of my father's gift—by God, she has
carried a man!" ”

“ Now the name of the King of Crete was Minos. His
grandfather, whose name was also Minos, was the son of
Europa, a young princess whom a white bull, it was said,
had brought on his back across the sea from distant Asia.25
This elder Minos had been accounted the wisest of men—so
wise, indeed, that Jupiter chose him to be one of the
judges of the Lower World. The younger Minos was
almost as wise as his grandfather; and he was brave and
farseeing and skilled as a ruler of men. ”

“ But
we want something more than thrills in our patriotism:
we want thought; we want intelligence.
Not vast extent of territory, not great population, not 25
simply extraordinary statistics of national wealth, although
they speak in eloquent words of energy and managing
ability; but what we need more than anything else is an
intelligent comprehension of the ideals of democracy. ”

“ A boy of fifteen is a great deal
more sure of what he thinks he knows than most men of 5
fifty. You ask the boy a question and he will answer you
right off, up and down; he knows all about it. Ask a man
of large experience and ripe wisdom the same question,
and he will say, "Well, there is much to be said about it.
I am inclined on the whole to think so and so, but other 10
intelligent men think otherwise."
When I was eight years old, I traveled from central
Massachusetts to western New York, crossing the river at
Albany and going by canal from Schenectady to Syracuse. ”

“ You should read it with a sharp lookout for the play on words. Each day supposedly acts in keeping with its character, and so the New Year's dinner party is kept in high mirth. But you cannot appreciate the humor until you understand what each day stands for.
The Old Year being dead, the New Year came of age,
which he does by Calendar Law as soon as the breath
is out of the old gentleman's body. Nothing would serve
the youth but he must give a dinner upon the occasion, to
which all the Days of the Year were invited. ”

“ The giant blinked, dazed evidently by the glitter of the
arena; then he pushed into the center, gazing around as 5
if to see what he had to meet. It was known to all the
Augustans and to most of the spectators that he was the
man who had stifled Croton; hence at sight of him a
murmur passed along every bench. In Rome there was
no lack of gladiators larger by far than the common 10
measure of man, but Roman eyes had never seen the like
of Ursus. Cassius, standing in Cæsar's podium, seemed
puny compared with that Lygian. ”

“ The utmost caution and rapidity of manipulation
of the boat was necessary to avoid his maddened 15
rush, but this gigantic energy was short-lived. In a few
minutes he subsided slowly in death, his mighty body reclined
on one side, the fin uppermost waving limply as he
rolled to the swell, while the small waves broke gently over
the carcass in a low, monotonous surf, intensifying the 20
profound silence that had succeeded the tumult of our
conflict with the late monarch of the deep. ”

“ Each state will
bring its generous contributions to the great aggregate of 15
the nation's increase. And when the harvests from the
fields, the cattle from the hills, and the ores from the earth,
shall have been weighed, counted, and valued, we will turn
from all to crown with the highest honor the state that has
most promoted education, virtue, justice, and patriotism 20
among its people. ”

“ Again the Smith replied to the query of Iron in a magic
song:
"Come with me, for kindly we will treat you.
On my anvil gently will I beat you;
With my tongs, then, deftly will I hold you; 5
With my hammer I will shape and mold you
Into forms so fair that all will prize you,
Forms so rare that none will e'er despise you:
Axes, knives (so men will wish to use you) ,
Needles, pins (so women, too, will choose you) . ”

“ Thornton was
running behind, encouraging Buck with short, cheery
words. The distance had been measured off, and as he
neared the pile of firewood which marked the end of the
hundred yards, a cheer began to grow and grow, which 25
burst into a roar as he passed the firewood and halted at
command. Every man was tearing himself loose, even
Matthewson. Hats and mittens were flying in the air.
Men were shaking hands, it did not matter with whom,
and bubbling over in a general incoherent babel. 30
But Thornton fell on his knees beside Buck. ”

“ Ali Hafed's mind was fully made up. "I will no longer,"
he thought, "remain on a wretched farm, toiling day in and 25
day out for a mere subsistence, when acres of diamonds—untold
wealth—may be had by him who is bold enough
to seek them."
He sold his farm for less than half its value. ”

“ Charlemagne, the boy then boldly declared that he wanted
the meat and wine for his mother, a lady of high degree.
In answer to the emperor's bantering questions, he declared
that he was his mother's cupbearer, her page, and
her gallant knight, which answers so amused Charlemagne 5
that he sent for her. He saw her to be his own sister, and,
stricken with remorse, he asked for her forgiveness and
treated her with kindness as long as she lived, and took her
son into his service. ”