Various

“ Well, I was going to call her Sal; but a chap at the College thought the other would look more stylish if I ever meant to exhibit her. Andromeda was one of them Roman goddesses, you know.
Tanr. Oh, I knew that right enough. Come and have a drink before you start—just for luck—not that you want that.
Spurr. I'm lucky enough in most things, Tom; in everything except love. I told you about that girl, you know—Emma—and my being as good as engaged to her, and then, all of a sudden, she went off abroad and I've never seen or had a line from her since. Can't call that luck, you know. ”

“ Almost imperceptible movement of river goes forward. The blameless Bartley on his feet, entrancing House with particulars of a silver cup, prized heirloom in the humble household in Victoria Street. It seems that one of Bartley's ancestors—he who came over with the Conqueror—had brought with him certain blades of buckwheat, which he industriously planted out on the site, then a meadow, on which the Army and Navy Stores now flourish. ”

“ A Wind Lass is short for "Winn'd Lass," i.e. a Lass he has won. I think her name is "Poll." The Captain says he is always true to her, and nothing will ever induce him to leave his dear Wind Lass ashore when he's afloat. Noble sentiment, but unpractical. The fact is (as whispered) the Wind Lass is jealous of the Naughty Lass, and won't let the Captain go alone. When the other Captain went on board the rival of the gallant Naughty Lass, the Anne Nemone, and "the crafty ones," as they call the sailors "in the know," were ready to bet any money on the Anne Nemone. ”

“ So "stand away" and not "stand by" it was, and when we got to Squeams Bay the sailors took a short hitch (it is necessary occasionally—but I cannot say more—lady-readers being present) , and we went streaking away like a side of bacon on a fine day.
"Are we winning?" asks Polly, the Wind Lass. "You look winning!" I reply, politely. "By how much?" she inquires, just tucking up her skirts, and showing a trim ankle. The Captain, with his glass to his eye, and looking down, answers, "The fifth of a long leg!" I never saw a woman so angry! ”

“ British Farmer ("playing a game of mixed chance and skill with Nature") "I do believe my Luck's on the turn!"
[pg 027]
"A GOOD TIME COMING!" (And it HAS been a good time coming.)
["The game of mixed chance and skill which the farmer plays each year with Nature is still undecided; but, if the farmer wins, his winnings will be large indeed."—The "Times" on Farming Prospects.] ”

“ At this moment the Anne Nemone, racing close to us, let out a right good "gybe," which was in execrable taste, I admit, but which ought not to have called for any retort from the captain's Wind Lass, who gave it her hot and strong, and threatened to haul her over the coal-scuttlers. Fortunately we were away again, and there was no time for opposite gybes. (I spell "gybes" in the old English nautical fashion, but, as I ascertain, it is precisely the same as "jibes.") Sailors' language is a bit odd; they don't mean anything, I know—it's only professional ”

“ She thinks without the thoughts of a male, and yet has lost the comprehension of a female.
To sum up, she is hardly up to the standard of a man, and yet has sunk several fathoms below the level of a woman. ”

“ British Farmer, loq.:—
Bless my old bones!—they're weary ones, wherefore I takes small shame—
For the first time for many a year mine looks a winning game!
A "bumper" harvest? Blissful thought! For long I've been fair stuck,
But now I really hope I see a change in my bad luck.
True, my opponent is a chap 'tis doosed hard to match. ”

“ At a bookstall like this one feels the pulse, as it were, of Contemporary Culture; and here my Andromeda, which no less an authority than the Daily Chronicle hailed as the uprising of a new and splendid era in English Songmaking, a Poetic Renascence, my poor Andromeda is trampled underfoot by— (choking) —Men with Missing Toes! ”

“ Get a compartment for us, and two foot-warmers, and a second-class as near ours as you can for Phillipson; then come back here. Stay, I'd better give you Phillipson's ticket. (The Footman disappears in the crowd.) Now we must get something to read on the journey. (To Clerk.) I want a book of some sort—no rubbish, mind; something serious and improving, and not a work of fiction. ”

“ Exactly, old chap—what if you are?
Und. I don't say that I may not have another reason—a—a rather romantic one—but you would only sneer if I told you! I know you think me a poor creature whose head has been turned by an undeserved success.
[pg 029] Drys. You're not going to try to pick a quarrel with an old chum, are you? Come, you know well enough I don't think anything of the sort. I've always said you had the right stuff in you, and would show it some day; there are even signs of it in Andromeda here and there ”

“ But then I'm an old hand at this sort of thing,—luncheon on board, I mean; for there's scarcely a board, be it sea board or other board, or, in fact, any boarding establishment, that I don't know. But "yeo ho! my boys! and avast!" for are we not still racing? We are!!
We passed The Bottle at 2.30 P.M. What had become of the Anne Nemone I don't know, and probably we should never have seen her again had not our captain, who was trying to sight the port after passing The Bottle, stood on the wrong tack, which ran into his boot and hurt him awfully. ”

“ All I can say is, I don't see any worth three and sixpence a dozen. Playfair's no business to bring these things down here, filling House with smell of stale seaweed when his oysters are no bigger than a pin's head."
The Marquis strode angrily forth. Others followed. Lecture cut short.
Business done.—Sea Fisheries (Shell Fish) Bill read a second time, amid unexpectedly depressing circumstances.
House of Commons, Tuesday.—Squire of Malwood back after a week's rustication. Brings glowing news of the hay crop; looks, indeed, as if he had been helping to make it; ruddier than a cherry ”

“ WHAT WE MAY EXPECT SOON. By Our Own Wire.—Dispute broken out between local employer of labour—Shoemaker with two apprentices—and his hands. One apprentice won't work with t'other. Shoemaker locked out both. ”

“ Enrolled ten extra policemen. Police, including extra ten, captured by rioters, and locked up in their own cells. Business—except of undertakers—at standstill.
Latest Developments.—More conflicts, deaths, outrages, incendiarism. Central Government telegraphs to Shoemaker to take back both apprentices to stop disastrous disorder. No reply. Shoemaker and both apprentices been killed in riots.
Close of the Struggle.—Stock of gunpowder exhausted. Both sides inclined to accept compromise. Board of Conciliation formed. Survivors of employers and employed shake hands. ”

“ I know very well what you had in mind in bringing in this Clause. The heirlooms you thought of are those cups and medals you won for Cambridge when, twenty-nine years ago, you met the Oxford Champion in the two-mile race, and in the one-mile spin. If we could do something in the Schedules specially exempting them I should be glad. Think it over, and see me later."
An Interesting Specimen. The Coleridge Caterpillar!
Webster wrung the Squire's hand, and passed on, saying nothing. There are moments when speech is superfluous. 'Tis true, they don't often occur in House of Commons ”

“ Question. What is the ambition of every rifleman?
Answer. To become an expert marksman.
Q. How is this to be done?
A. By practice at the regimental butts (where such accommodation exists) , and appearing at Bisley.
Q. Is the new site of the National Rifle Association better than the last? ”