Various

“ The sun grew hotter, the blinding glare increased, the morning breeze fell away, and not a sound from the enemy reached the strained ears of Lawson and his comrade. The hours dragged heavily along until the sun stood past noon, and still the partners kept their weary vigil, and strained eye and ear for some sign or sound of the enemy. Their continued silence was felt by the garrison to be due to the fact that part of the Indians had gone some distance away to bury their dead in the rocks, or hide them from view in the dark fastnesses of the swamp ”

“ In the first place, there was a fireplace of adobe, at which all the cooking was done; there were two rude bunks, in which Lawson and his partner slept, and there was a rough table, made out of a discarded hardtack box, which stood under the window overlooking the interior court. These, with a half-dozen stout chairs with rawhide seats, completed the scanty array of furniture. Each man wore a pistol and a thimble-belt always, and was never far from a repeating Winchester rifle. At the head of each bed, ready for instant use, stood a perfect arsenal of weapons of all dates and calibres. ”

“ The next moment that cat-boat, with the four wreckers in it, was tacking as straight a course as it could make toward the Elephant.
"Meet 'em, Pickering," thundered Captain Kroom. "I'm bringing him in. They mustn't guess we are after anything but fish."
"They won't," said Pickering, "not if you can show 'em a prime sea-bass."
"That's what it is, Sam," said Pete. "I told you this was the place to get 'em. If he doesn't know all about fish!" ”

“ How'd you feel if you had to go there and hark for your name to be called, and hear it: 'John Henry Lewis'—then you march out before 'em all and git a little candy-bag; 'John Henry Lewis'—then you march out and get an orange; 'John Henry Lewis'—then you march out and get a girl's book, and all of them things that everybody else has? Guess you'd be ashamed to go to Christmas trees as much as me. If your folks be poor and can't have things, I guess you don't want to tell of it before everybody."
Jim Mills turned about and went on with a defiant stride ”

“ As Green sped through the storm of bullets, closely followed by an athletic warrior, he felt the hot breath of a rifle-ball from his partner's Winchester, which brought down his pursuer stone-dead well within the entrance-gate. The long-looked-for attack had come, and the first brief passage at arms was over. Save that their skins were whole, the partners had but little to congratulate themselves upon. The first step in their carefully elaborated plan of defence had utterly miscarried. Green had been compelled by a flank attack to abandon the outwork without even an attempt at resistance. ”

“ The tree had been set up in the morning, and people had begun to bring the presents; the teacher and some of the older girls were tying them on. Now and then John Henry made a détour in that direction, and peeped furtively. Before he went home he made quite sure that all the presents which he expected were there. He counted them over as he trudged home over the moonlit snow-crust. A deep snow had fallen on Sunday, and so averted the danger of a green Christmas. The moon was full, and considerably above the horizon, though it was still early. John Henry hurried, for he had much to do. ”

“ There was a volley of shots, and the Captain dodged into the cabin, where the gold was stowed. The men swarmed up over the deck. For a moment Bascom had thought they were the Cubans, but now he caught up one of his rockets, lighted it, and held it steady while it rose. The Cuban boat must surely be waiting round the point of the island, and it would see the signal. A man leaped round the mast and knocked him down, but as Bascom rolled over to the rail he saw the rocket singing up to break in scintillating brightness through the night. ”

“ All he had last Christmas was an orange and a candy-bag and a girl's book, and he wasn't coming again. I had all the presents and he didn't have anything, and so I swapped. He ain't the one to be blamed; I am."
John Henry, pretty little mother's boy that he was, stood before them all, tingling with the rare shame of a generous action, meeting the astonished faces with the courage of one who invites punishment for guilt. ”

“ Most of mine came younger. I went to sea when I was a little feller. What I hate around a wreck is sharks."
If he was just about to tell a shark story, his chance for it was spoiled. He had a line of his own out now, and the next instant he exclaimed:
"Pete! Pickering! Take care of the boat while I get him in. 'Tisn't any blue-fish this time!"
The Elephant yawed and leaned over dangerously before Captain Pickering could get to the tiller, but Pete let the sail swing out like a tiptop young boatman.
"Just in time!" he said. "Sam, the Captain's got a big one!" ”

“ If this is not advocating the playing of football for money, and is not thus a direct propaganda of professionalism, I don't know what is. If the editor of the Meriden Journal believes that the schoolboys in his neighborhood are playing football for the prize-money to be divided at the end of the year I am sure he is very much mistaken in his men.
Nevertheless, any such statement as this, especially when given currency in the city of the team that stood second in the League, is exceedingly injurious not only to the reputation of that team and school but to the entire Connecticut Association. ”

“ Alone with his dead, Lawson now stoically awaited the [Pg 193] end. The Indians were maddened at their losses; darkness was still some hours away, and death by torture or, at the last extremity, by his own hand seemed to the exhausted survivor a question of but a few moments' time. Having solved the mystery of the dead angle, a dozen warriors could now climb the tower, or if their next attempt were as original in its conception as the last, a single Apache, from the top of the pole, could hold his rifle over the roof and riddle the interior with perfect safety. ”

“ He was a young man with straightforward clear eyes that commanded the same frankness they expressed, and had been very uncomfortable to meet until this open subject was reached. The Lieutenant saw Bascom's face light up with responsive enthusiasm, and he ran on: "It may have belonged to one of the old discoverers. Why, I can just see the old chaps that manned it when the ship went down, standing on tiptoe round it, with their swords clanking and their queer old clothes flapping in this very wind perhaps! You know I believe they would like it if we had the old veteran fire a salute." ”

“ There were now two dead Apaches in the gateway under control of the partners' rifles, and to Lawson's mind the next move of the enemy was perfectly clear. For their souls' peace, the bodies of the dead must be gotten back at all hazards. The attempt was only a question of time, and of a short time at that. The only hope in the situation for the partners was that the rush, when it came, would be for the sole purpose of recovering the bodies, and that the Indians would not succeed at the same time in gaining a view of the defenceless interior. ”

“ The boys caught a glimpse of a tall Christmas tree and heard the sound of many voices.
"Mrs. Raymond," said the maid, excitedly, "here are some little boys with Mr. Raymond's lost bundles!"
In a moment the hallway was full of people—or rather it seemed so to the boys—and a young man in his shirt sleeves, with his clothes and hair all covered with tinsel, was dragging them into the house. They huddled in a corner, and held firmly to their burdens.
"Where did you find those things, kids?" asked the young man, smiling.
"Dey fell on us in Nint' Av'noo," replied Ratsey, very much embarrassed. ”

“ A marauding party will spend hours in planning the murder of a mail-rider, and will arrange every detail with such devilish cunning as to leave their victim absolutely no loophole of escape.
And this, strangely enough, was Lawson's present salvation. The Indians did not know how many men there were in the ranch, or how they were posted. Until they had gained this information, the partners could count upon it that there would be no assault by way of the half-closed gate, as it shut out from view more than half of the interior of the court. ”

“ Why don't you fellers throw a hook?"
"No use, Captain," came back. "We may get some weakfish in the inlet, but you'll only throw away time."
"We've got all the time there is," said Captain Kroom; but Sam and Pete were making haste, and when the Elephant tacked again their lines were out.
"Shouldn't wonder if they were kind o' mad," remarked Pickering. "But there was more'n one life-preserver on deck. They can hunt for the others." ”

“ The sun was beginning to cast slanting shadows from the west, but the heat and glare showed no sign of relenting, and the close corner tower glowed like a living furnace. As the Indians seemed to have given up all thought of an assault by the entrance, gate, the partners determined to abandon the general defence of the interior, and restrict their endeavors to the flanking tower. ”

“ Poor John Henry's mother was afraid to have him climb trees or coast down hill, and he might never have enjoyed these boyish sports had it not been for his father. When he was quite small, his father took him out in the pine woods and taught him how to climb a tall tree.
"Don't you be afraid, sonny. A boy can't live in this world and not be picked on unless he can climb." ”

“ Right ahead of them, moreover, was another cat-boat, twice as large as the Elephant, with four men in it.
"There they are!" exclaimed Pickering. "The very chaps that came aboard the Goshawk this morning. Reckon they'd been there before, too. Tell you what, Kroom, they're hunting for that spar-buoy, to get the things they hung to it."
"They won't get 'em," growled Kroom. "But every man of 'em belongs on the other side o' the bay. They are oyster and clam dredgers. Some of our fishermen are born wreckers, sure's you live. Anything they can take off a stranded ship is fair game to them." ”

“ The very fact of dividing up money at all savors of professionalism, but when you come to dispose of it in proportion to the success of the teams, the offence is made even worse. Any of these elevens in question that accepts a dividend makes itself liable to charges of professionalism, and a strict interpretation of the ethics of sport would find it guilty. It is to be hoped that the Connecticut Association will recognize this fact as soon as it is pointed out to them, and reconsider the proposition of sending $50 to each team. ”

“ There was another lot of chaps there, just like 'em."
"We can't help it if they have," said Kroom. "Do you know, they're not a bad kind of chap. Honest as the day on shore. Wouldn't cheat you in the weight of a fish. It was just so with the Cornish wreckers that plundered me once."
"Never was wrecked in my life," replied Pickering. "This Goshawk business wasn't mine. I wasn't in charge of the ship. It doesn't count." ”

“ This was a dream that came to Lawson in the night when a big escort camped at the Cienega and he could eat and sleep in peace.
No one who knows Arizona need be told that the Apaches were particularly bad in the early seventies. No place outside the towns or beyond the lines of the garrisoned forts was safe from their incursions. Depredations were of daily occurrence, and were only desisted from when there were no white men left to kill and no horses or cattle to steal and carry away. ”

“ It seemed idle to count upon anything in the shape of relief from the mail-drivers, who were really in greater peril than themselves, as the Indians were watching the roads for some distance in either direction. More than this, the buckboard from the west would not reach the Cienega until midnight, while the driver from the San Pedro crossing, though due just after dark, if he were so fortunate as to escape with his life, would have a stiff hundred-mile drive to double back to the cavalry post at Apache Pass. ”

“ John Henry cried out, wildly.
"He must have," said the first woman.
"Yes; you're a real good boy to stand up for him, but he must have," agreed the second woman.
"I tell you he didn't!" almost screamed John Henry; but they paid no more attention. He called the teacher, waving his arms frantically, but she was still busy with Jim Mills, and did not hear or see him. ”

“ Temple looked at every man, as he presented himself, slowly from top to toe, and I noticed that many of them gave a shake to their shoulders when he lowered his eyes, as if a chill had passed over them. ”

“ So the partners fell back towards the south wall of the enclosure, and established themselves among the kicking-posts, in a position from which they could still command the half-open gateway. It would now seem as if the Indians had it in their power to carry the building by a single bold rush through the entrance-gate; and that is precisely what would have happened had the attacking party been composed of white men, or of Sioux Indians or Cheyennes—or Nez Percés, for that matter—but the Apache is a brutal coward, and doesn't do things that way. ”

“ When you sit down to choose a profession, then—unless you have a very definite idea of what you want to do, and in that case the work is easy, for you only have to work at it hard and long to make your living by it—when you sit down to make a choice, and have no great preference, say to yourself that you will take whatever job you can get, and will not only do that which is given you to do honestly and thoroughly, but will get up each morning thinking out some little thing that may possibly be of advantage to your employer's purse or fame. ”