Various

“ The door opened into a side hall about a foot higher than the giant's head; for though he had to stoop to enter, when once in he easily stood upright.
"Pray be seated," said Hepsone; "and as we have an hour left before breakfast, let us talk a little. May I ask why you came here—on business or pleasure?"
"On pleasure, I hope," replied Gofaster; "and that I may more readily secure it I should like to know something about the King, the royal family, and the nobles of the people. Is your King a good one?"
"As kings go, yes," replied Hepsone. ”

“ Beware of the Count."
"I have seen enough to make me do that already," replied Gofaster.
"Very good; but you must have friends at Court. There are two parties there; that of Count Snarlitz is a power just now, but he has a rival in Count Merit, and you must attach yourself to him."
"But why should I," inquired the giant, "a stranger here, meddle in Court politics? Is it not safer to stand between both and lean to neither, and thus get none of the tumble when the seesaw goes up or down?"
"Did you ever, as a boy, play at seesaw?" asked the Phooka. ”

“ Frey and Ethel saw to it that no one was neglected in conversation; Meg and Conrad looked after the prompt replenishing of plates, though the alert little waiters, Felix and Félicie, anticipated every want, and were as sprightly as two crickets, while Dorothea provoked frequent laughter by a random fire of unexpected remarks, never failing, for instance, to offer ice-water during every "still minute"; and, indeed, once that young lady did a thing that might have proved quite terrible had the old lady Saxony, who sat opposite, been disagreeable or sensitive. ”

“ Make yourself friends with Count Merit."
"I see," replied the giant.
By this time they had reached the dead dragon, and with a few powerful strokes of his huge sword Gofaster severed the head from the body. Raising it with ease, through the immense strength conveyed by the jerkin, the giant proceeded towards the house of Hepsone. The weight he bore was enormous, but the shoes of endurance played their part well, and it seemed to him almost as light as a feather. ”

“ The Frey family, consisting of a widow and her brood of half a dozen children, were as poor as any of the tenants in the old building, for wasn't the mother earning a scant living as a beginner in newspaper work? Didn't the Frey children do every bit of the house-work, not to mention little outside industries by which the older ones earned small incomes? Didn't Meg send soft gingerbread to the Christian Woman's Exchange twice a week, and Ethel find time, with all her studies, to paint butterflies on Swiss aprons for fairs or fêtes? ”

“ He saw a wide stretch of snow-covered lawn, with the pine branches that lined the driveway weighted down, and each elm and apple bough all a-sparkle in a case of ice, and the sleigh bells "jingle-jangling" everywhere. He knew how his skates looked, hanging up on the nail behind the door, and his hockey-stick, and his sled. He could smell the hot buckwheat cakes and hear his little sisters laughing.
"They'd just be taking down their stockings," he said, a quiver coming to his eyelid.
In truth, Midshipman Bobby Seymour was nothing but a boy, and not a very tall one. ”

“ After a while a noise as of some one beating the earth furiously caused the giant to peer cautiously from one side of his hiding-place. There he beheld the dragon making the most terrible contortions, beating the ground with his long and massive tail, and apparently suffering great agony. This continued for some time; then the motion of the beast became weaker, and finally, with a terrific roar, it lay over on its back and became perfectly motionless.
"It may not be dead," said Gofaster, "and I had better wait."
"Slander is dead!" said the voice of the Phooka. "Truth has killed him. ”

“ The work done inside the King's palace was not seen by the multitude, but they saw large pipes laid in the ditches, the ditches themselves filled up, and a long row of tubes rising ten or twelve feet in the air, whose uses they could not divine. But in spite of the diverse rumors still circulated by the Snarlitz faction, the people cheered themselves with the reassuring words of the Princess Amber, and patiently awaited results. ”

“ Still, the little goose determined to make the best of the situation, and it is only fair to say that her vanity was greatly tickled when she saw the children coming from school pause at the window and look at her eagerly. A few days before Christmas the little toy goose felt very sad and lonely when a fat man with great white whiskers came in and purchased her for some little boy, for she had become very fond of a toy ostrich, an old companion in the window, and had always cherished the fond hope that they might be purchased by the same person. ”

“ No sooner had he noticed this when he saw something else—a score of naked black figures running up the sand. Now the Majuba tribes are cannibals. Bobby's heart stood still. To provide a Christmas dinner to a lot of hungry savages was not a pleasant prospect.
"Pull, port! hold, starboard!" shouted the young commander. The men bent to their oars, and, wonder of wonders, with a great heave and a twist the cutter crossed the bar, and shot up on a wave between the green shelving banks of an unknown river, where a white man's boat had never been before. ”

“ Eighteen inches of cold steel would have no chance against that brute's claws. May I ask to whom I am indebted for this aid?"
"A mere private gentleman," replied Gofaster, "from the country of the giants, who is travelling here for pleasure, and who happily strolled this way this morning. May I ask whom I have had the honor of serving?"
"I am the King," said the latter, "and I should be glad to see you at Court as early as may suit your convenience, that I may express my thanks in a more fitting way than I can do now."
"I shall not fail to obey your Majesty's command," said the giant, bowing. ”

“ He even forgot the Phooka, but the latter did not forget him.
As Gofaster was seated in his apartments, ruminating upon his sad fate, he heard a hollow laugh near him, which he recognized as that of his invisible guardian.
"Clearly," said the goblin, "all human beings are fools, and Count Gofaster seems to be about the biggest fool of all."
The giant did not resent the reproach, for the gratitude toward his benefactor blunted the point of it, if it did not relieve the sting. ”

“ Tommy. Oh, good Santa Claus, I promise it truly, truly! Honor bright! Hope to die!
Santa Claus. I believe you, my lad. There, there. Give me your hand. I want to be good friends with every child in the whole happy world on the glad Christmas day. Now, we'll try again. (He draws out the strap, etc., from Tommy's stocking, and deftly inserts in their places skates, books, etc.) Ah, the magic stocking opens to receive gifts for a loyal child. Here go the skates, and the boys' own Swiss Family Robinson. ”

“ He spoke in a half whisper. "I wish I was at Irvington with the river all iced up, the sleigh-bells jingling-jangling everywhere, and—"
"Oh, I say, quit, please, won't you?" interrupted the boy [Pg 150] at his elbow. "It's hard enough to stand things as they are. What wouldn't we all give—" Then he shut his lips firmly without finishing his sentence. "Hear that surf!" he added, after a moment's silence.
Borne on the slight air from the eastward came a deep sound like the booming of a thousand giant drums.
"It doesn't look like any landing to-morrow," remarked Midshipman Seymour, wisely. ”

“ The latter, spear in hand, stood firmly; but the bear, with a sweep of his powerful arm, struck the weapon with such force sidewise as to shatter the shaft. In an instant more the monarch, who had drawn his sword, would have been unable to make any serious resistance; but Gofaster, who had rushed forward, and whose step had not attracted the attention of the beast, drove his battle-axe with full force into the skull of the bear, and the huge animal fell dead at the feet of the King. ”

“ Didn't everybody know that Conrad, now but thirteen, was a regular solicitor for orders for Christmas trees, palmetto palms, and gray moss from the woods for decorative uses on holiday occasions?
The idea of people in such circumstances as these giving dinner parties! It was almost incredible, but it was true, for tiny notes of invitation tied with rose-colored ribbons had been flying over the building all the afternoon. The Frey twins, Felix and Félicie, both barefoot, had carried one to each door. ”

“ The old fashion of spending these small amounts in presents for one another had long ago given place to the better one—more in the Christmas spirit—of using it to brighten the day for some one less blessed than themselves. ”

“ A little goose eight months old—just old enough to be a very lively goose, and not of a sufficiently mature age to be a Christmas goose—stood upon the bank of the old mill-pond, lost in as pensive a reverie as it is possible for a little goose of ordinary intelligence to indulge in. ”

“ Madame Coraline soon moved away, and, indeed, before another Christmas the Freys had moved too—to a small cottage all their own, sitting in the midst of a pretty rose garden. Here often come Miss Guyosa and the Professor, both welcome guests, and Conrad says the Professor makes love to Miss Guyosa, but it is hard to tell.
One cannot keep up with two people who can tell jokes in four languages, but the Professor has a way of dropping in as if by accident on the evenings Miss Guyosa is visiting the Freys, and they do read the same books—in four languages. There's really no telling. ”

“ The shoes are the shoes of endurance. So long as they are on your feet you will be able to bear any toil without fatigue. As for means to support you, place your hand in your pocket and draw out a purse which it contains."
Gofaster obeyed, and drew out a small silken purse. "Why, this," he said, "contains but one coin—a broad gold piece."
"Take out the coin and put it in your pocket." And Gofaster obeyed.
"Why," said the giant, "there is another piece in the purse." ”

“ She saw them talking in a most sociable manner, just as little Reginald's mother and the other members of the church sewing society talked when that body met in the library down-stairs.
Then the little goose tried to close its eye upon a tragedy without, but couldn't, because it was not, and never had been, in the enjoyment of eyelids. So she had to look on while the coachman chased the flock. He finally caught a large lordly gander, and chopping his head off, started with him towards the kitchen. ”

“ They fitted perfectly, and he felt himself ready for the audience.
As he was hesitating whether or not to seek the King, he heard horses' hoofs without, and, looking through the low window, beheld a group of gentlemen, each of less than medium height, who were mounted upon ponies. They were in conversation with his host, and as they spake loudly, he heard their words.
"We have been seeking through the town," said the spokesman, "for a foreign gentleman, the Count Gofaster, and not finding him, have come here with the hope that he might lodge with you." ”

“ If the managers of New York school athletics cannot do this, if they cannot keep the professional spirit out of sport, they had better disband their elevens and their nines, rather than make sport a farce and a masquerade for dishonesty. A commendable step in the "house-cleaning" now going forward is the revision of the constitution.
The most interesting, most scientific, and most important game of the Boston season was that played Thanksgiving morning between Boston Latin and English High Schools, before three thousand spectators. ”

“ The Little Giant. By Thomas Dunn English. CHAPTER I.
Once upon a time, in the country of the giants, there lived a young man who was the mock of all his companions because he was somewhat deficient in the qualities of a first-rate giant. He was very little, being not seven feet high, while not one of his kinsfolk were less than ten; he had so little bodily strength that he could scarcely lift an ox; and he was so slow in his movements that his companions, in derision, called him Gofaster. ”

“ Santa Claus. And a box of sweets—it won't do to forget that—and a funny puzzle for a clever little head to solve, and a mysterious package—she'll find what's in it in the morning. (Chuckles to himself)
Nan. Now it's yours, Mary dear.
Santa Claus (taking Mary's stocking) . Now for the next one. No time to lose. This is a busy night for St. Nick. 'Way down in the very tip-toe shall go this bright little watch, to tick away the happy minutes of the New Year for mother's own little woman. ”

“ The dinner all through was what Conrad called a "rattlin' success," and the evening afterward, during which nearly every guest contributed some entertainment, was one long to be remembered. The Professor not only sang, but danced. Miss Penny whistled so like a canary that one could really believe her when she said she always trained her young birds' voices. Miss Guyosa told charming folk-lore anecdotes, handed down in her family since the old Spanish days in Louisiana. ”

“ Our task is only to put up the building, not to conduct the school. Say that during the last few years—two or three—more than 700 poor boys have applied for admission to Good Will, and had to be refused it for lack of room. These boys were deserving. Say further that if you get the subscription the school will be built, and, by turning a house now used for the school into a dwelling, more boys can be taken—boys of five, six, and seven years of age, who are now homeless, may be given homes, school advantages, and a chance to become useful Christian men. ”

“ It will be remembered that in the game for the championship of the New York League in baseball, Ehrich caught for Harvard in spite of the fact that De La Salle claimed he had no right to play, having been a student at the College of the City of New York. Harvard School won that game, and as a result the pennant was subsequently awarded to them. At the recent meeting of the Arbitration Committee to decide the question of fraud on the part of Harvard, this school claimed that the association had already legally awarded the championship, and that therefore no further action could be taken. ”

“ After breakfast he asked Hepsone how he should manage to purchase a wardrobe, as he supposed there was no ready-made clothing in the city beyond which would fit him.
"As for that," said Hepsone, "there need be no trouble. I know a very worthy tailor who will be glad to make you anything that you desire at the shortest notice, and though he makes for some of the nobles of the Court, will be ready, for cash, to do it reasonably. ”

“ For use in company, afternoon teas, evenings, little gatherings of friends at dinner, or any fête to which she is invited, a pretty waist of silk or chiffon and a skirt of silk or fine wool will be appropriate. In packing waists use plenty of soft white tissue-paper, so that they will come out uninjured at the journey's end. Your mother will provide you with a simple evening gown, if she thinks it needful, and a girl never looks sweeter than in simple white muslin or in a white gown of some sort. With the white gown must be white shoes, and house gowns of all kinds need dainty foot-gear. ”