Various

“ The great ruler never learned to rule her own spirit. She swore at her maids of honor, and boxed the ears of the Lord-Lieutenant for appearing before her in muddy boots, and sent him in disgrace to the Tower. She vowed that England was her husband, whom she loved with a perfect love, and she would have none other; she had wedded herself to the kingdom at the coronation by the ring then placed upon her finger: in remembrance thereof she wished engraved on her tombstone these words: "Here lies Elizabeth, who lived and died a Maiden Queen." ”

“ It was now about an hour past midnight, and the vast moonlighted prairie was hushed and still. Suddenly a curious sound troubled the silence—a trampling, tearing noise, accompanied by a hoarse confused roar. Jack lifted his head a little and looked.
His heart stood still.
A small herd of cattle roving about the prairie, moved by the curiosity inherent in animals, had drawn near, and excited by the smell of blood, were pawing the earth, bellowing with rage, and circling ever closer and closer about the helpless lad. He could see their wide horns glistening in the moonlight. "Mother! Father!" ”

“ Billy, without the smallest evidence of grief, but with rather a twinkle in his beady eyes, shook his young master's hand, jumped on the horse, and whistling to Rattler, all three of George's friends disappeared down the village street. George looked after them for some minutes, and sighed at what was before Billy, but comforted himself by recalling the boy's sensible behavior in the matter of the parting. In a few moments Lord Fairfax came out. George went up the steps to the porch, and making his best bow, tried to say how much he felt the Earl's kindness. ”

“ At supper, when there was time to spare, old Lance produced a box, out of which he took some handsome table furniture and a pair of tall silver candlesticks. The supper was brought in smoking hot, Lance bearing aloft the wild turkey on a vast platter. He also brought forth a bottle of wine of superior vintage to anything in the tavern cellar.
The Earl narrowly watched George as they supped together, talking meanwhile. He rightly judged that table manners and deportment are a very fair test of one's training in the niceties of life, and was more than ever pleased the closer he observed the boy. ”

“ The "Red Lacquered or Sacred Bridge" is another wonder of Nikko, and is known all over Japan. It is made entirely of red lacquer, and anybody who walks on it, except the Mikado, is shot! It is only unlocked when he is in the place. As lovely as Nikko is in summer-time, when all the various flowers are in blossom, it is even more lovely in autumn. Then the foliage takes the prettiest colors; the Japanese maple is wonderfully beautiful with its dark and light red or green shades. Nikko is a place which I should advise any one who comes to Japan to visit. ”

“ There is said to be one temple in Nikko wholly covered with gold. One other thing so lovely in Nikko is the abundance of running water and cascades. One cannot go out of hearing of the constant rushing and rippling of water. ”

“ There is little doubt in the minds of impartial observers that New York is in every respect the best city for any large meeting, such as that of the National I.S.A.A.A.A. New York is easier of access to most of the leagues than is Boston or Trenton or Hartford or Worcester or Philadelphia. It would be out of the question, of course, to hold a National meet in Iowa ”

“ You know I do!" exclaimed Bonny, impulsively, finding his voice at last. "But, Rick," he added, almost in a whisper, "are you sure there isn't any mistake about it all? Amos Todd, you know, is President of the Northwest Company, and the richest man on the coast. They do say he is a millionaire."
"It's all right, Bonny. I expect he is a millionaire," answered Alaric, joyously. "But we won't lay it up against him, will we? And we'll try not to think any the less of him for it. I didn't know he was President of the Northwest Company, though. Are you, dad?" ”

“ I think all the nourishment the Frenchmen get goes into their legs, for they will march day and night for their Grand Monarque, as they call him, and are always ready to fight."
"I hope we shall not have to fight the French up in Pennsylvania to make them keep their boundaries," said George, after a while, in a tone which plainly meant that he hoped very much they would have to fight, and that he would be in the thick of the scrimmage. "And now tell me how the Duke of Marlborough looked in action, and all about Prince Eugene and the siege of Bouchain, until it is time to go to the Earl. ”

“ The fact of the matter is that the contest at Columbia Oval was among teams from leagues, not among teams from schools, and therefore the question of school supremacy cannot enter into the discussion. Hartford deserves praise for being able so strongly to represent her league, but she has no just or valid claim to the title of "champion school." The only way such a title can be secured is to have dual meets with all other schools in her (athletic) class—and there are but ten or a dozen—and if she can defeat them all, then she may rightfully call herself champion. ”

“ Therefore it is the wisest plan to hold the National games in the largest city of the land—in the city to which the dwellers of other cities are always glad to come; in the city which affords the best accommodations; in the city which can contribute the largest crowd (even if it does not do so at first) ; in the city which can offer the greatest entertainment; in the city where live the largest number of well-known sportsmen. ”

“ When the long story was ended, he asked, quietly,
"How much have you earned by your summer's work, son; and what have you to show for it?"
"If you mean in money, dad, not one cent; and all I have to show, besides what you've already noticed, is this." Here Alaric held out a dilapidated baseball, at which his father gazed curiously. "With that ball," continued Alaric, "I took my first lesson in being a boy, and it has led me on from one thing to another ever since, until finally, this very evening, it brought me back to you. ”

“ Unless the event is held always in the same place there is no reason why each league should not have a chance to see the games on their own grounds, but, as I have said before, very few Eastern athletes could be persuaded to travel as far as the Iowans did to come here. Another reason, although a minor one, why it is well to hold the meetings each year not only in the same city but on the same grounds, is that the comparison between records made is then an absolute one, the only error in the equation being one of weather or temperature. ”

“ Many a second-hand bicycle, especially a woman's wheel, is quite as good as a new one, and can be bought for half-price or less. A woman's wheel is especially adapted to this kind of purchase, since many women of means buy a new bicycle every year, and not being particularly athletic, do not ride any one wheel more than two or three hundred miles, perhaps, and take the best of care of it all the time. ”

“ We are as young in college sports, when compared with England, as the Iowa schools are young in interscholastic sport when compared with Eastern institutions. To win at Henley means much both for Englishmen and Americans. For an English crew to win at Poughkeepsie would mean little to the English public. There would scarcely be a paragraph about such a victory in the London dailies. In the same way there would scarcely be a paragraph in the New York papers if the National games were held in Cedar Rapids or Sioux City, because neither of these cities is of national fame or importance. ”

“ Bicycling routes having the least number of miles are not always the shortest. Many a fifty-mile road is really shorter than one of thirty miles, since a bad mile, a sandy half-mile, a two-mile stretch of cobblestones are any and all worse than four miles of good road.
J. T. H. asks if we can tell him the best bicycle to buy and how to buy one. Possibly we may have an exhaustive article on this subject some day in the future, though it will be impossible to tell which is the best wheel. Most of the well-known makes are good bicycles, and one is pretty safe with any of them. ”

“ She was quite composed, for no woman ever surpassed Madam Washington in self-control; but little Betty still wept, and would not leave George's side even while he ate his breakfast. There had been some talk of Betty's going to Mount Vernon also for Christmas; and George, remembering this, asked his mother, as a last favor, that she would let Betty meet him there, whence he could bring her home. ”

“ Unquestionably, in a year or two, bicycles—new ones at that—will be sold at much less than $100, for as they cost but a small portion of that amount to manufacture, it will soon become impossible to keep up any agreement among bicycle firms to hold the price so high. Indeed, to-day almost any one can buy a '96 wheel of good make for less than $100, though this is still the retail price. ”

“ If the National games were held out West somewhere, and all the interscholastic records were broken, few people would take much stock in the figures, because they would have but little confidence in the local officials. Not that these local officials might not be just as good as those of New York (although they probably could not be, for they are not able to have as much experience) , but the general public interested in sport would not place full confidence in them, simply because those officials would be unknown to them. ”

“ The reason for this is that Eastern athletes are not compelled to travel to Iowa in order to get up a representative championship meeting, because the majority of strong school teams are in the East. With the Iowans, on the other hand, or with any of the school sportsmen of the West, it is different. If they are the strongest team in their section of the country, and believe themselves [Pg 886] stronger than any other scholastic team, they cannot prove this by challenging or inviting those who have shown themselves to be record-makers to come to them ”

“ Their principal argument in favor of having next year's meeting in some other city was that the sports would take on too local a color if always held in New York, and more of a national importance if held at the headquarters of the different interscholastic leagues in turn. The A.A.U. has tried this travelling championship business, and has found it unsuccessful. I believe that in the future the A.A.U. championships will be held in New York city, which will eventually become (even if in the minds of outside residents it is not already) the metropolis of sport as well as of commerce. ”

“ The interior of the temples is even more lovely and grand than the outside. The walls are decorated with valuable old carvings and glistening lacquer. Even the floors are sometimes lacquer, and here and there in some temples are images of gods entirely of gold. ”

“ In their rage the parrots repeat the words thus spoken, and by dint of mild torture and bad temper acquire a vocabulary which sometimes becomes very varied. Monkeys are usually dressed in ludicrous copies of foreign soldiers' uniforms, are taught to drill, and especially to salute and salaam profoundly at the word of command.
The west coast of Africa, Brazil, and the waters about the Asiatic station are famous for the queerness, variety, and cheapness of pets, and if the crews were not restrained the ship would soon become as riotous as a bear-garden and as clamorous as a menagerie. ”

“ Often, in the winter-time, the Earl does not see a white face for months, except mine, and then he forgets that we are master and man, and only remembers that he is my old commander and I am an old soldier. ”