Various

“ No, Jack, fear never comes that way. Fear strikes the coward to a lump of jelly. What you feel now quivering to your finger-tips is the thing which gives fire and mettle to every gallant heart, and nerves the muscles to greater strength. No fighter worth his salt ever failed of this galloping music in his veins on the eve of action. Whisper to that gray beard by your side whether he doesn't feel the same leap of pulse, though his sinews have got stiff at the plough-tail, and his blood sluggish with years since he smelt powder. ”

“ Poor Hoke found his knees beginning to shake in a distressing manner. Any corner might suddenly reveal something to strike them with terror. If he had not discarded his hat before entering it would have been at present resting on the ends of his abundant crop of hair. He was obliged to catch hold of the farmer to steady himself, which called forth a growl from that quarter, for Bagstock was having all he could do to stifle some little misgivings of his own. ”

“ Why, lad, if an account of what you have gone through in attempting to take a quiet little trip from New London to Sitka was written out and printed in a book, people wouldn't believe it was true. They'd shake their heads and say it was all made up, which only goes to prove, what I never believed before, that truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, after all."
"Yes," replied Phil; "and the strangest part of it all is the way that fur-seal's tooth has followed us and exerted its influence in our behalf from the beginning to the very end. ”

“ The club run is very much like the paper-chase, except that no scent is laid. It is more of a race among individuals. A course is laid out across country by means of stakes with flags nailed to them, and the runners must follow this as faithfully as they would a paper trail. The rules for this kind of run are the same as for the chase. There are, of course, a great many minor regulations which it is impossible to set down here; but, after all, unless you want to go into the sport scientifically, or to get up contests for prizes, the fewer rules you have the better. ”

“ When a whale is sighted the craft is steered in its direction, and moves silently up behind the big monster as he lies on the water taking long breaths or resting. When the bow is within about twenty or thirty yards of the whale the gunner takes careful aim at his most vital parts, and fires the harpoon and shell combination, which is, of course, attached to the vessel by a long line, just as in the case of the old harpoon. The spear goes deep into the whale, but the moment he rushes forward or turns flukes he tightens the line, and the end of the spear is therefore pulled out behind. ”

“ When Jack and Cynthia returned from school they found that two little chicks—probably the only two which had escaped the cold bath—had emerged from their shells, and were hopping dismally about in the gravel beneath the trays. One hundred and ninety-eight hoped-for companions failed to appear.
Jack's first hatch was anything but a success. He bore it bravely, but it was a bitter disappointment. After waiting many hours in the vain hope of seeing another shell crack, he removed the two little comrades to the large brooder built to hold a hundred, and then, nothing daunted, sent for more eggs. ”

“ Jack and Cynthia were somewhat prepared for it, it is true, but when they heard the news from their father's own lips it was none the less startling.
To Edith it came like a thunderbolt. She had never had the smallest suspicion that her father would marry again. She had always supposed that she would be sufficient for him. She would never marry herself, she thought, but would stay at home and be the comfort of his declining years. It had never occurred to her that her father, still a young and good-looking man of barely forty, would be exceedingly likely to marry a second time. ”

“ And so vividly is his half-human nature brought out that one feels as if Hawthorne must have witnessed somewhere the mad revels of the veritable fauns and satyrs in the days of their life upon the earth. In the whole development of this story Hawthorne shows the same subtle sympathy with natures so far out of the commonplace that they seem to belong to another world. The mystery of such souls having the same charm for him as the secrets of the earth and air have for the scientist and philosopher. ”

“ As time goes on it is our purpose to treat the neighborhood of Philadelphia and Boston as we have treated New York, and then to cover territory in the vicinity of other cities also.
This run to Philadelphia can be made in one day by a good man. It can be done in two days with less than fifty miles each day; but if you are wise, and if you want to see the country, and get some pleasure out of the ride, do it slowly and take three days. Crossing the ferry at Tottenville, Staten Island, you run out of Perth Amboy direct, bearing right in a diagonal fashion one block. ”

“ As soon as the break is ordered the pack gives up all formation, and each man runs at his best speed. If at any time during a chase the pack catches sight of the hares, it may not make directly for them, but must follow the trail, thus covering the same ground gone over by the hares. It frequently happens in an open country that the hounds are actually within a few hundred yards of the hares, but perhaps half a mile behind them along the trail. Such an occurrence always adds excitement to a run. ”

“ For he started in 1863, with a little steamer which he had bought, to the whaling-grounds, and tried to harpoon whales.
This did not seem to succeed very well, and he made up his mind that spearing whales with a harpoon thrown by the hand of man was a doubtful thing. He went to work, therefore, to think of something more powerful and more certain in its aim than a man's arm, with the result that he invented a harpoon which was fired from a gun, and which carried along with it a shell that exploded inside the whale's vitals and almost invariably killed it at once. ”

“ It is bad to attempt to indulge in long runs at first. I would advise those who intend to take up 'cross-country running this fall—for the autumn is the prime season for that sport—to practise trotting a mile or two once or twice a week between now and then, just to get the muscles hardened. Don't do too much running in the summer, because the air is not so bracing then and the heat causes evil results. ”

“ ZEBRA.
"It's the most ridiculous thing I ever saw," said Jimmieboy. "I didn't say he had stars on him."
"I know you didn't," retorted the Pen. "But that square might pass for a chest-protector, if any body ever criticised it."
"Well, it isn't anything like a Zebra," said Jimmieboy, firmly. "You'd better try making an elephant."
"That's easy," returned the Quill. "I never saw an elephant, but I've heard what they look like. Sort, of like pigs, with two tails, big flop ears, and paper-cutters for teeth, and great big huge large legs that look like bolsters. ”

“ If the poor beast is not killed at once, he is so severely wounded that he is soon captured and hauled alongside the steamer.
Sometimes, however, the harpoon does not penetrate far enough or fails to hit a vital part, and then the explosion only wounds the whale slightly and angers him. At such times there is a long and a hard chase in which the steamer is hauled through the water at thirty miles an hour for different lengths of time. Svend tells a story of being so towed by an enormous whale for ten hours at more than twenty-eight miles an hour up against a hard gale of wind. ”

“ Phil stationed himself in the bow, Serge tended sheet, and Jalap Coombs steered. As before the prevailing northerly wind their long-beaked canoe shot out from the river into the wider waters of the inlet, and they saw, at anchor, less than one mile away, a handsome cutter flying the United States revenue flag, the three friends uttered a simultaneous cry of, "The Phoca!" ”

“ After leaving Bowdoin, Hawthorne returned to Salem, where he passed the next twelve years of his life, and during which he must have marked out authorship as his profession, as he attempted nothing else. Here he produced, from time to time, stories and sketches which found their way to the periodicals of the day, and which won for him a reputation among other American writers. But it is remarkable that the years which a man devotes usually to the best work of his life were spent by Hawthorne in a contented half-dream of what he meant to accomplish later on ”

“ A pitchfork with a short handle, a scythe set in a stick, make the best of boarding-pikes. We need no firelocks. The ship must be taken by surprise, and carried with a rush. The decks once swept and the hatches battened down, and she is ours. There is no moon, and the air and sky betoken a great snow-storm brewing. When that comes, whether to-morrow night or later, we attack." And so he gave them stirring words, saying that this feat would ring like the peal of a trumpet.
He proceeded to tell off the boat-crews, appoint the officer of each division, and give careful instructions. ”

“ These will resume in August with the tennis tournament at Newport, followed by the opening of the football season everywhere.
What I want to speak of principally this week is 'cross-country running. It is a branch of sport that receives far too little attention from school and college athletes in this country, yet is one of the oldest, simplest, and healthiest pastimes on the calendar. In England it has been popular for years, where there are a number of 'cross-country running clubs of long standing, but in America we have known the sport scarcely twenty years, and not very intimately at that. ”

“ Every runner has his own views about what suits him best. In runs for exercise, knicker-bockers, stout shoes, heavy woollen stockings, and a flannel shirt are usually worn. The stockings should be heavy, so as to resist being torn by thorns and briars, and the sleeves of the shirt ought to be of a good length for the same reason. In club runs, experts who are in for making the greatest possible speed sometimes wear light shirts with no sleeves, and regular running shoes without any stockings. ”

“ All looked for Conneff, but Conneff was not to be seen. The gap behind Carter widened, and Conneff came not. Ho had done his best; but he was not strong enough, and he had gone to pieces. He had dropped to the ground back of the hill, unable to move another step.
A big race, such as that, is most exciting; but just as much sport can be had by less able runners. Several of the colleges, notably Harvard and Yale, have hare and hounds in the fall—although I do not believe there were ever any inter-collegiate contests in that branch of sport. ”

“ For half-armed countrymen to storm a royal ship seems heavy odds of failure. But courage on one side and panic on the other will right the scales. And there are no better weapons than yours for a hand-to-hand fight. ”

“ The book coming between The House of the Seven Gables and The Marble Faun is called The Blithedale Romance. It is founded partly upon a period of Hawthorne's life when he became a member of a community which hoped to improve the world by showing that to live healthily, manual labor must be combined with intellectual pursuits, and that self-interest and all differences in rank could only be injurious to a country. This little society of reformers lived in a suburb of Boston, and called their association Brook Farm. ”

“ The Mosses from an Old Manse must ever be famous as the history of the quiet hours of the greatest American man of letters. They are full of Hawthorne's own personality, and reveal more than any other of his books, the depth and purity of his poetic and rarely gifted nature.
In 1853 Hawthorne was appointed American Consul at Liverpool by his old friend and school-mate Franklin Pierce, then President of the United States. He remained abroad seven years, spending the last four on the continent. ”

“ Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, after the football season, when there is nothing particular going on, before the snow has come, and while the roads are hard and the hills at their best, then is the time for 'cross-country running. Then, if you are in good condition, you can have a chase of five or eight miles that will make you feel like a fighting-cock, and will not stiffen you up the next day. It is far better to make two or three short runs in various sections each week, rather than to make one long run once a week—a long run that leaves you aching and sore. ”

“ As in matters of this kind generally, I believe that players should always be well supported by their adherents. As many scholars as possible should make it a point to be at Newport when the tournament is going on to cheer the scholastic players. If the tennis men feel that their own friends and classmates are as much interested in their individual work as if they were a football team or a baseball team, they will surely strive harder and accomplish more. ”