Various

“ It might even be considered that this proposal by a sort of phantasmal proxy was hardly fair to the object of the experiment. A ghost is, after all, but a ghost, whether it be attached to a bodily tenement or be simply a spirit at large, and even the most heavenly minded young woman might cherish a prejudice in favor of a fleshly lover. On the other hand, however, the choice lay not between two methods of wooing, but between this and none at all; and how easy, how delightful a method of making a proposal of marriage. ”

“ It was Life confronting Death. Death raised itself upon an emaciated arm, and spoke to Life:—
“I cannot see you now, madame. The physicians have just come in, as you see. I beg that you will go away.”
Prince sprang to his feet and approached the visitor.
“I did not know the physicians would be here,” he murmured. “Shall I take you downstairs? Will you wait for me in the parlors?”
[35]
While he was speaking to Madame Kanaris his wife motioned to a surgeon. “I am ready. But, O doctor, are you sure it will make me quite dead? ”

“ The ward surgeon, entering, started at the sight of the beautiful face on the narrow pillow. Instantly the scene of two years before renewed its living colors on the sensitive film of memory. He even recalled the name of the woman before him, so deeply had that scene and her beauty impressed him.
“It is Madame Kanaris,” he said.
The patient opened her dark blue eyes.
“I am Mrs. Prince,” she corrected; “I wish to send a telegram to New York at once.”
She turned white; fainted again. The broken bones were attended to with expedition. ”

“ From beneath it uncoiled on either side two immensely long, ropelike plaits of black hair, between which the painted face smiled upon the white faces by the bedside.
The superintendent was the first to recover his wits. He sprang forward, lifted the picture, wondering at its weight. As he did so, the back, loosened by the fall, fell to pieces; a heavy bronze jar rolled from the face on the pillow, scattering a thin, fine, dust-like ashes that powdered the luxuriant curls, and floated above the stiff, stripped figure in a fine, impalpable cloud. ”

“ In a sick-bed for the first time in her life, strapped immovably to its narrow confines, her head beginning to throb with agony, she lay suffocating with impatience, suspense, and apprehension, she,—the spoiled darling of every good fortune. ”

“ I know only that all my bitterness towards my wife, all my dislike for her, in one revulsion of mind changed to the most passionate admiration and affection from the instant her lips touched mine. Dazed, astonished, I could not find voice to speak, but Leila chatted quite naturally as she led me to a big armchair on one side of the fireplace, while she threw herself on a low divan piled with cushions on the other side, putting out a slim little yellow-slippered foot to the blaze. ”

“ The men all looked up. A woman, young, beautiful as the day, stood on the threshold, her tender deep blue eyes fixed upon the patient with an expression of the liveliest emotion.
Her radiant hair, her dazzling complexion, her superb figure enveloped in furs, and the indescribable grace of her attitude made the sick woman appear grotesquely skeleton-like and ghastly. ”

“ An hour later Burwell sat at his friend’s dinner table, talking over the situation.
Evelyth was all kindness, and several times as he listened to Burwell’s story his eyes filled with tears.
“It does not seem possible, Richard,” he said, “that such things can be; but I will stand by you; we will fight it out together. But we cannot strike in the dark. Let me see this card.”
“There is the damned thing,” Burwell said, throwing it on the table.
Evelyth opened the envelope, took out the card, and fixed his eyes on the sprawling purple characters. ”

“ Amsden, in order to make telepathic [29] love to Miriam Foote, need simply drop to sleep, on a certain night, with a strong determination to send his phantasm to the young woman with an eloquent plea of affection. That was all. It was not even necessary for him to furnish the general substance, introduction, or any portion of this glowing address. He need simply specify that it should be passionate and rich in verbal color,—ordering a proposal much as he would a dinner at a first-class hotel, with perfect confidence that at the proper time it would be served in proper form. ”

“ During my nineteenth year my father’s income was so much reduced by unlucky investments that we moved to London that I might study art, with a view to supporting myself. Two years later my father, who was my only near relative, died suddenly, leaving me less than a hundred pounds clear of debt. By this time, however, I felt confident of success in my profession, and, thinking America offered a better field than England for a self-supporting woman, I came to New York. Here I took a studio with the intention of giving lessons in drawing and painting. ”

“ But taking them at our own low price we actually give you, absolutely free, two dollars’ worth of splendid books to induce you to become a trial subscriber to GOOD LITERATURE. This is the most gigantic, the most startling offer ever made by any responsible and reliable publishing house in the world. We lose money on every subscription, but this we are willing to do, because we believe that those who take advantage of this offer will become permanent subscribers to GOOD LITERATURE, and our profit will come in the future. ”

“ I’ve just rotated between here and the New York art schools, and lived very quietly. But I believe I’m doing all the talking. Would you like to say anything—just a little word? Well, I won’t let you, for I know two things. You are tired, and no man feels like talking before he has dined. ”

“ Among these officers were three Americans, all graduates of the Annapolis academy, who had been engaged by the Japanese government as advisers during the coming hostilities. As the little launch wormed its way through the maze of picturesque craft and sampans,—the curious little Chinese house-boats,—which crowded the bay, the eyes of the American officers were riveted by a curious sight. To the top of a wooden stake to which a sampan was moored a little Chinese boy clung, swaying to and fro, eyeing delightedly the steam launch as it shot through the water. ”

“ Once in awhile I grow desperate and try everything over again. But it is useless. And yet I have a feeling that she will return, and that if she does it will be to this house. So I am just waiting here, waiting—
“Well, John?”
“A lady to see you, sir,” said the butler at the door.
“Who is she?”
“I don’t know, sir; she wouldn’t give any name.”
Fancourt rose and went towards the door; but before he reached it his visitor pushed past the servant and stood,—a tall, veiled figure in black,—clutching nervously at the drapery at the door. Then she threw back her veil. ”

“ I tore open the envelope and read the one word which comprised the answer, standing alone, naked of punctuation, on the yellow sheet: ‘Come.’
“‘That means war to the knife,’ I thought, tossing the paper on my dressing-table. ‘No words wasted.’
“As I made preparations for the trip I caught myself glancing at the letter now and then. ‘Come!’ After all, it had a certain charm of its own, that word. Like all affirmative expressions, it possessed drawing power. The more I looked at it, the more alluring it appeared. Then I examined the signature. ”

“ Waxe came in, weary, but the embodiment of strength and kindness.
“I think,” she said coaxingly, “you must try and get to sleep. I shall give you something to quiet you, and then turn off the light, and I hope you will soon drop off. I shall be near you in the corridor. If you want anything just tinkle the bell. Close to hand, you see, my dear.”
She administered a draught, straightened the pillow, then bent down impulsively and kissed the lovely, disquieted face maternally. Two beautiful arms closed about her ample neck, and the patient was sobbing on her generous bosom. ”

“ I’m the Princess Iris,” she explained, “in the Golden Crown Opera Company; and if I wore my fairy clothes all the time my wings would fade and the spangles would wear off.
“But you know,” said the small girl, “you don’t look a bit like the kings of my acquaintance. They all wear gilt crowns and velvet and ermine robes, and carry scepters. And, besides, you are a great deal too young.” ”

“ You look as if your month’s work had about finished you.”
The nurse whose turn came next was the one who had been with Mrs. Prince. The last night of her watch was the twenty-seventh of February. She had had an unusually hard month’s work, and was exceedingly tired and not a little cross when, at midnight, a bell rang which she could not locate.
“Some plaguey wire out of gear again,” she said, provoked, after a second, fruitless search for the elusive tinkle. She had turned at the end of the corridor, and stood just by the Prince Ward. The bell rang sharply. ”

“ The next twenty-four hours Burwell passed in a fever of [5] anxiety. As his mind conjured up one fearful possibility after another he deeply regretted that he had not torn up the miserable card at the start. He even seized it,—prepared to strip it into fragments, and so end the whole affair. And then his Yankee stubbornness again asserted itself, and he determined to see the thing out, come what might.
“After all,” he reasoned, “it is no crime for a man to pick up a card that a lady drops on his table.” ”

“ On one occasion, indeed, Tang-u’s sixth sense made him for five minutes the ship’s commander.
It was late in the evening before the memorable engagement of Port Arthur. The flagship, which, having passed unscathed through months of war, had been recently ordered to this stronghold, had just anchored in the harbor, and preparations were making for the night’s defense. The torpedo net had not yet been lowered, but the whole ship resounded with the bustle and hurry of preparations for what every one felt would be the most decisive battle of the war. ”

“ Each book contains a complete, first-class novel or other work by a well-known and popular author, published in the handiest and most convenient form for reading and preservation. It is not a large number of novels or stories bound together in one book, but forty separate and distinct books. And we agree to send to you—not one, or five, or ten, but the whole forty splendid books absolutely free, by mail post-paid, if you send us twenty-five cents for a six months’ subscription to GOOD LITERATURE. Our regular price for these books is five cents each, or two dollars for the set of forty. ”

“ But they want only the most fascinating stories that can be told,—stories that both in plot and handling are outside of the beaten path of fiction,—stories so full of incident and movement and so cleverly handled as to interest every one,—stories tersely told, which never, either in whole or part, have appeared in print before, and which are free from padding, foreign phrases, and attempted fine writing. ”

“ A condition of sleep, either cataleptic or natural, is induced by the agent in himself; but previously to falling to sleep he must concentrate his whole mental energy and will-power upon the determination to convey a certain image, or message, or both to the subjective mind of the person with whom he wishes to communicate. Then away goes his spirit—his phantasm—while he is buried in unconscious slumber, appears in his very image to the person designated, and delivers the message with his very voice and manner. ”

“ Fancourt’s caprices. It had been one of her stormiest days, culminating in the discharge of her butler, and the bitterest invectives against the other servants. I had just retired, and had hardly fallen asleep, when the bell over my head rang violently. Springing up, I slipped on a dressing-gown and went downstairs. Mrs. Fancourt was sitting in an easy-chair reading a novel. ”

“ Indeed, the little Mongolian was already disappearing in the waters of the bay when the steam launch, at the signal of the commander, veered in its course, and a strong arm snatched the little body from the waves. As for the sampan-men, they watched the rescue with cries of amazement. This was because of the curious law existing in certain provinces of China that whosoever saves a life, the rescued one may lawfully look to the rescuer for support forever after. It is plain that this barbaric edict virtually puts a premium on death ”

“ Everybody is delighted with Good Literature, and those who are once subscribers are always subscribers, hence for the purpose of introducing this charming periodical into new homes we can afford to lose money upon each subscription at the outset. ”