Various

“ The meridian sun was pouring down its fiercest rays, and he was thinking of returning to his tent and the grateful shade of the palm-trees, when, just as he had rounded the jagged spur of a particularly ugly-looking coral reef, he suddenly saw before him a deep, dark line of perfectly smooth water, over-arched by a natural bridge of grayish-white limestone, and flowing, as it seemed to him, directly under the island. ”

“ A little past noon he saw a sail a long way to windward, and so great was his joy at the discovery that he shouted at the top of his voice, and ran hither and thither about the deck in a mad transport of sudden hope and delight.
The vessel proved to be the British bark Swallow. Frank could hardly restrain his gladness within rational bounds when he saw her change her course and stand directly toward the Sea Eagle, with all the speed the light wind that was blowing would permit her to make.
When within speaking-distance, the stranger hove to and hailed:
“What schooner is that, and where bound?” ”

“ And when I made prints from them, and the familiar home scenes and my playmates’ faces were there plainly before me, it seemed to me that the universe could hold nothing more entrancing than amateur photography. Of course I had failures, but they were few compared with the successes.
One morning in May, after I had become thoroughly versed in the art of using the camera and had fitted up a dark-room of my own in the attic, Lester and I sallied out with our cameras, for no other purpose than to secure a half-dozen snap-shots whenever desirable ones might present themselves. ”

“ Yet it may be said, without exaggeration, that of all the benefits accruing to civilization that grew out of the discovery of America, not one bears any comparison with the public school system of the United States. Our forefathers were men who imbibed the love of liberty with every breath, and they early realized that liberty without intelligence was not possible, and that learning was a deadly foe to tyranny of any kind—not the learning which is confined to the few, but the learning which is free to all, without cost. ”

“ No one could, no one dared, to help him, when they knew it was yellow fever that menaced them, and tainted the very air through which the Sea Eagle sailed. He no longer need look for relief by means of a passing vessel. That hope was gone utterly; for it would be wicked and cruel not to tell of what it was the captain had died. And who would aid him, when they knew it was to risk their life to do so?
Yellow fever, and with good reason, is only another name for death to a sailor, and Frank could not blame them for giving the schooner a wide berth. ”

“ Grant hastened to obey his father’s directions, and in the space of a few minutes the team was ready, with O’Brien, the stable-man, and Mr. Mackerly as its occupants; and soon they were out of sight in the darkness, speeding for the train.
“There’s something up, that’s dead sure!” soliloquized Grant, as he stood in the doorway. “Father’s never in all that hurry for nothing. I wonder what the racket is? I’ll go a fiver that it has something to do with that Heathcote matter. He’s a perfect nuisance, and I hope father will squelch him this time, once and for all, the booby!” ”

“ Highton’s hands dropped from the door-frame, and he took a step backward. A dark flush spread over his countenance; his eyes wavered and fell. But he recovered himself almost instantly, and, with a harsh, disagreeable laugh, made answer.
“Tell you where your brother Jimmy is? Why, miss, I didn’t know you had a brother Jimmy. Has the young man been gittin’ himself lost?”
“No, he has not been getting himself lost; but some one, pretending to be his friend, has persuaded him to leave us, promising him money and good times. And, Mr. Highton, I believe that you are the man!” ”

“ Hardly a dozen yards were between him and solid earth. Frank soon had the ladder over the side, and in two minutes more was on shore.
He ran up and down the beach a little way, shouting at intervals as loud as he could, but there was no answer.
Scores of beautiful little paroquets were chattering in the palm trees, and numbers of long-legged sea-fowl stalking about on the reef, but no human being, or any sign of one, did he see. ”

“ All four returned in little more than an hour, and sat down under a wild plantain tree, not three feet from Frank’s place of concealment.
“There’s no one on the island, I’m certain of that,” said Montes, whose squat, ugly form was so near the loop-hole that it actually darkened Frank’s range of vision. “I can’t just make it out, but I know this much—that’s the Sea Eagle, and she’s ours dead sure! We’ll get her off to-morrow at flood-tide. There’s a bit of a blow in that cloud a-comin’ up in the east, but it won’t amount to much, so we’ll light a fire, get something to eat, and take it easy.” ”

“ Every boy was developing into a fine all-around player.
One Saturday afternoon in the middle of November, on a dull and chilly day, the team from the High School at Ripley Falls came over with a full complement of players, and the whole school to a boy following on their footsteps.
They were an enthusiastic but orderly crowd, and had the most implicit confidence in their team. In truth, their eleven deserved it, for they had met both Davenport and Jamesville and whipped those teams by good scores—the former by 16 to 4, the latter by 25 to 8, thus rendering their chances for the pennant null. ”

“ Will you explain to me how you manage to stand it?”
While he was speaking a far-away look had come into Matt’s eyes, and a shudder shook his robust frame, as though he saw something very disagreeable to himself; but he answered, quietly enough:
“Mr. Goodenough, there are some things in this world harder to bear than either work or unkind treatment, and I prefer even to live with Tom Noman’s family rather than to go back to the life I have left behind me.”
With these words, Matt started up his oxen and went on, leaving Mr. Goodenough to resume his way more mystified than ever. ”

“ Lottie was startled out of her self-possession by Mr. Highton’s speech to his wife. She turned quickly, and stretching out an imploring hand toward her, begged her not to go.
But Mrs. Highton, with a coarse laugh, exclaimed, “Oh, you needn’t be afraid. He ain’t a-goin’ to hurt you!” and walked out of the room.
There were a few whispered words between man and wife before the woman left the house, and while these were being said, Lottie’s courage was coming back, and when Mr. Highton came in he found her seated composedly upon the lounge, with Eva nestled close to her side. ”

“ He soon found that his employer was a hard, grasping tyrant, while his wife was a termagant, scolding and fault-finding incessantly from morning until night. There was not an animal on the place that escaped the abuse of the master, and not even the master himself eluded the tirades of the mistress.
Matt, by faithfully performing every task assigned him, and thus frequently doing twice over what a boy of his age should have been expected to do, tried to win the approval of both Mr. Noman and his wife. ”

“ Of course, boy like, I wanted to try it before we had gone a mile. While traveling, the lash trails along in the rear, and by a quick motion of the hand and wrist is thrown forward like a great snake, snapping like a gun-shot over the heads of the team. ”

“ In the great civic parade in New York city on October 10, twenty-five thousand school children marched to the music of a hundred bands, before the grand-stands, on which sat the dignitaries of the nation, and to the admiring plaudits of half a million spectators who crowded the sidewalks, balconies and windows along the route. ”

“ Eph Clark’s temper rose at hearing this speech, and, losing all shyness, he replied:
“If it pleases your excellency and the rest of the gentlemen, I may say that I know there are some bad men at Barataria, who are there from choice; but I was taken there against my will. I could not help myself. I am no particular champion of Lafitte, but he means right in this matter, I know, and I myself went with him to meet the Englishmen and bring them in. Captain Lockyer’s letter is genuine, and they mean all they say. ”

“ No. 18, Vol. 13, Golden Days.
Detective.—If you have any serious notion of being a detective, the best thing for you to do is disabuse your mind of the idea. A boy who can speak three languages and writes shorthand should secure a situation in the office of a steamship company or a large importing house which has foreign correspondents. Such talents would be thrown away in the detective business, which is not the lucrative profession you imagine. The best detectives are now in the employ of the national government or city authorities, and the supply at all times exceeds the demand. ”

“ Noman, kicking savagely at a cow that was reaching out for the forkful of hay he was carrying by her.
Matt obeyed with alacrity; and, when that job was finished, it was followed by others, including the milking, wherein the boy proved an apt scholar, until nearly six o’clock, when Mrs. Noman’s shrill voice summoned them to breakfast.
That meal, possibly on account of Matt’s want of the good appetite he had had the night before, seemed to him greatly inferior to his supper. The coffee was bitter and sweetened with molasses, the johnny-cakes were burnt, and the meat and vegetables cold. ”

“ So it was eminently fitting that the school children should celebrate the discovery of this new world where they are rightly considered the keystone of our national greatness. And they have celebrated it in a way such as the world has never seen. ”

“ His boat he kept in the channel forming the water entrance to the grotto, and during the roughest weather he had yet experienced on the island the tide never once rose higher than from four to six inches, and its ebb and flow was so silent that it was never heard, no matter how loud and tempestuously the surf was roaring without. ”

“ I felt mighty mean then, I can tell you.
“Throw down your switch, neighbor,” said father. “You’ve got an honest boy, and that’s a fact. When I found you whipping him, I was dreadfully afraid of something bad. Why, neighbor, we’re all liable to forget; it’s human nature.”
Mr. Ridlet looked down.
“Your boy’s an honest boy,” repeated father. (How thankfully Bub looked at him!) “You yourself, Mr. Ridlet, forgot the silver, when you started for Mr. Bangs’,” continued father, with a laugh.
Mr. Ridlet looked foolish. He drew a step nearer father, dropping the switch. ”

“ I’ll read all Captain Thorne’s books, and there’s a good many of them, including works on navigation, history and science. I’ll fish and row when the weather is fine, and when it isn’t I’ll amuse myself in enlarging the grotto. I’ll make a collection of all the plants and flowers I find on the land and all the shells and seaweeds I find in the sea, or that may drift on the shore. I’ve a whole island that I may honestly call my own, a box of candles, plenty of matches, four cans of oil, a lamp and a lantern, a good boat, and lots of other things besides ”

“ My mother noticed it also, and immediately inquired as to the cause of his uneasiness.
“The bank was robbed last night,” he answered, “and over fifty thousand dollars stolen. Every cent I had in the world is gone with the rest.”
My mother made an exclamation of dismay.
“And the worst of it is,” went on my father, “that we are almost certain who the thief is, but we haven’t a thing in the world to trace him by—not a vestige of a photograph or anything like it, which we could give to detectives to guide them in the hunt. The man’s gone, and the money with him.” ”