Oliver Optic

“ I have heard so much about the dikes of Holland, that I expected to see a big thing when I came across one of them," added Paul.
"They are a big thing; but really there is very little to see."
"But what is a dike, sir?" asked Paul, curiously. "I never supposed it was anything more than a mud wall."
"It is nothing more than that, only it is on a very large scale, and it must be constructed with the nicest care; for the lives and property of the people depend upon its security. When they are going to build a dike, the first consideration, as in putting up a heavy building, is the foundation. ”

“ To go back to the consort unsustained was almost like going to a dungeon for a capital crime, to which nothing but personal interest induced him to submit. If the captain did not enjoy his triumph, it would be a degree of forbearance which he could not comprehend. But he was quite certain that the captain would "put on airs," abuse his absolute liberty, and perhaps snub his teacher before the class. Mr. Hamblin expected this, and made up his mind to be on the lookout for it. ”

“ The Young America, with every rag of canvas set, including studding-sails alow and aloft, rolled and pitched gracefully on the long swells of the German Ocean. The wind was very light from the north-west, and there was hardly enough of it to give the ship steerage-way. A mile off, on her starboard bow, was the Josephine, beclouded in the quantity of sail she carried, but hardly leaving a wake in the blue waters behind her. The hummocks and the low land of the shores of Holland and Belgium were in sight ”

“ You interfered with the discipline of the vessel, and because the captain respectfully declined to recall the boat, you threw yourself into a passion, and behaved in a most ungentlemanly and undignified manner. Positively, sir, I am ashamed of you! You called the captain a puppy, sir!" [Pg 180]
"He's only a boy," answered Mr. Hamblin, in whom this plain talk seemed to create a doubt in regard to his conduct.
"Any boy has the right to be treated like a gentleman when he behaves like one, even if his opinion does not agree with our own; and especially is this true of the captain." ”

“ That lady was Queen Victoria. The Josephine at this moment came up on the other side, and delivered her round of cheers. Mr. Fluxion carried the intelligence on board that the queen had returned, and that the yacht would sail that evening; and all hands were on the lookout for her majesty. She bowed and waved her handkerchief to the Josephines, as she had to the students in the ship.
She was not very distinctly seen by the curious students in either vessel, and appeared like a stout "dumpy" little woman, in no respect different from any other lady. ”

“ What is paid in Europe to build these grand structures for worship, and to support the trappings of royalty, is in our own country appropriated to public schools; and the nation reaps the benefit of them every year of its existence."
"That's so," replied Paul, emphatically; "and when any foreigner says anything to me again about our want of costly cathedrals, I shall call his attention to our schools."
"That's right; you are an American to the core," laughed the doctor.
"But I don't see any reason why we should not have as great painters in the United States as in Europe," added Paul. ”

“ The famous order of the Knights of the Golden Fleece, so often mentioned by Motley, whose emblems are seen in many of the churches of Belgium, was established at Bruges, by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. The weavers of Flanders had carried the manufacture of wool to a degree of perfection which added greatly to the prosperity of the country, and the Golden Fleece was a fitting symbol of the industry of the people, as well as a compliment to their skill. ”

“ By this time Grimme had descended from his perilous perch, having completed the reeving of the halyard. Without a moment's delay, he hastened to the spot where the angry man stood, and touched his cap with the utmost deference. [Pg 154]
"I beg your pardon, Mr. Hamblin. I hope you will excuse me," said Grimme, who really wore a very troubled look.
"You did it on purpose, you scoundrel!" growled the professor, savagely; for he could not fail to see the ill-suppressed chuckling of the students in the waist.
"No, sir! I did not, sir!" protested Grimme. ”

“ The information communicated in regard to England and Scotland was so familiar to them that it was robbed of its interest; but the school-books contained only very meagre allusions to Holland and Belgium. Many of them had read Mr. Motley's eloquent descriptions of the bravery and devotion to principle of the Dutch people in their civil wars and in their terrible conflict with the Spaniards, and they were desirous of knowing more about the country and its inhabitants.
Holland is in itself an exceedingly interesting country. ”

“ Nothing so much as the dependence of one seaman [Pg 77] upon another, in the hour of shipwreck and disaster, unites the seamen of all nations in one fraternity. Young gentlemen, you have done something for your ship, and something for your country; for every true American feels proud and happy when he learns that an American vessel has saved even a single shipwrecked mariner. ”

“ The author finds his notes so copious, and his recollections of the Low Countries so full of interest, that he has felt obliged to devote a considerable portion of the work to the geography and history of the country, and to the manners and customs of the people; but there is so much that is novel in the region itself, and so much that is stirring and even "sensational" in the history of the sturdy patriots of Holland, that he hopes his young friends will not complain of the proportion in which he has mingled his material. ”

“ If we find the ship is overhauling us, all we have to do is to hug the wind, and we can give her the slip."
"We haven't money enough to pay the expenses of such a trip," said Wilton.
"There's plenty of money in the Josephine. But we don't need much. The vessel has a year's provisions in her hold."
"Salt junk and hard tack," suggested Wilton, who was not partial to this diet.
"That will do very well while we are at sea; and when we get to Spain we can buy things cheap. Besides, our fellows are going to raise some money on their own account," said Perth, in a whisper. ”

“ Indeed, this is true of all the canals, which are provided with gates at each end, like a dock. The dikes at the mouth of the Rhine are stupendous works; and as the foundation is nothing but sand, they are built on piles, and the face of them is of stone. This is Leyden."
"What is there here?" asked Paul, as they got out of the carriage. [Pg 324]
"It has about the same sights as Delft, and also a celebrated university; but it is more noted for its siege by the Spaniards, in 1574, than for anything else. Doubtless Mr. Mapps will fight the battle over again." ”

“ Hamblin, after the vessel had given an unusually heavy lee lurch, the jerk of which had nearly knocked the breath out of his body.
"What's the matter, your honor?" demanded Cleats, who always pitied a landlubber in a gale.
"Do you think there's any danger, Mr. Cleats?" gasped the professor.
"Danger! Bless your honor's heart! there's never any danger in a good ship, well manned," replied the veteran tar, as he knocked a kink out of the sheet. "Look at the captain! When he gets scared, you may."
"It is really terrible!" puffed the learned professor.
"Wouldn't your honor like the boat now?" ”

“ It appeared that the captain of the galiot was much distressed on this account. He declared that he was a poor man; that his vessel was all the property he had in the world; that one of the men lost overboard in the squall was his own brother, and the other his wife's brother; and misery had suddenly come upon him in an avalanche. By the exertions of Martyn and others from the Josephine, a portion of the sails and standing rigging of the galiot had been saved, so that only about one fourth of the value of the vessel had been sacrificed by the tempest. ”

“ I am willing to acknowledge that I intended to join with the rest of the fellows in hazing Mr. Hamblin."
"Are you, indeed?" sneered the professor, so wrathy that it was impossible for him to keep his seat, and he began to stride up and down the cabin.
"I am, indeed. About a dozen of us were going to write letters to Mr. Hamblin from all the big bugs, including Louis Napoleon, the King of Holland, the King of Belgium, and all the Ministers of State whose names we could find out." ”

“ Cleats! Will you listen to reason?"
"Sartain, your honor. I always listen to reason; [Pg 27] but there isn't any reason in leaving the ship without the captain's orders."
"But the captain says I may have the boat; and I only want a couple of men to row it."
"I will pull the boat with the greatest pleasure, sir, if the captain orders me to do so; or the first lieutenant, for that matter, sir. I always obey orders, sir, if it sinks the ship."
"I have a complaint to make against the captain for disobedience of my orders, and he will not permit me to go on board of the ship to prefer the charge." ”

“ Lowington," replied Paul.
"I don't think we ought to give him any more than enough to make up his loss. That would tempt him to wreck his galiot again, if there was an American flag in sight," said Terrill.
"I see no reason why he should be left any better off than before the disaster," continued the captain. "We can keep the money as a charity fund; and I have no doubt we shall soon find a chance to make good use of it."
The embarrassment of having a surplus was better than that of a deficiency would have been, and the sleepy officers of the Josephine were not likely to be kept awake by it. ”

“ Professor Stoute did understand why Mr. Hamblin had been so frequently sacrificed, but he had a habit of minding his own business, and did not venture to give an opinion on the subject, which probably would not have been well received. What the fat professor knew all the boys in the Josephine, and most of those in the Young America, knew—that the cold, stiff, haughty, tyrannical, overbearing manner of the lean professor had made him exceedingly unpopular; that the students disliked him even to the degree of hating him ”

“ Probably we have just as much talent for art in our nation, but the people find that it doesn't pay so well as developing the resources of a new country. When it is possible in America [Pg 134] for a man to win the wealth and distinction which Rubens won, we shall be as successful in art as Europe has been; for Washington Allston, Benjamin West, and others have demonstrated the capacity of our people in this direction. The encouragement which artists receive makes the men. There are not many persons in our country who are willing to pay ten, fifty, or a hundred thousand dollars for a picture. ”

“ Hamblin's estimation, overshadowed all others. If the principal did not think of it all the time, he ought to do so; for the academic branch of the institution would be a failure if discipline was not enforced. The ship stood on her way before the fresh westerly breeze, and still Mr. Lowington did not mention the matter. The professor waited till he felt he was utterly ignored, and was sacrificing his dignity every moment that he permitted the question to remain unsettled. ”