Various

“ All Charlie saw was an expanse of short crisp turf, excellent pasturage for his sheep. He never brought Fairy home a bunch of flowers, as Jack had been wont to do every day except in the depth of winter, and when she asked him to get her some bee orchises from Mount Caburn, Charlie either did not know where they grew or else had not time to gather them; and then Fairy would go to John Shelley, and beg him to get her some orchids before they were all over, and, busy as he might be, John never refused. ”

“ After all, we spent a pleasant afternoon on the beach, and I do not believe the children enjoyed themselves more than Hannah and I.
It was not a long walk to the shore if we had followed the direct route; but I wanted to see the pretty village of Netherton more closely; so we walked past the church and down the main street, and turned off by the row of bungalows that skirted the cliff, and, crossing the cornfields, made our way down a narrow cutting to a little strip of shingly beach, with its border of yellow sands washed by the summer surf. ”

“ If Farmer Baynes quarrels with his son, father has to hear both sides, and to try and make them hear reason; if Widow Marvel’s ten babies are down with typhoid fever, because she will not keep the place decently clean, he has to supplement the work of the doctor, and go in and out of the filthy hole as if he liked it. Nobody is in any trouble, no one does any sin, but it all comes back upon father. Don’t you know that that’s what makes him look so white—that and Gilbert together?”
“Elgitha,” said Mark, gravely, “your father is one of God’s saints, and of such as he is the kingdom of heaven. ”

“ Every cookery book teaches us the fact that if we leave the soup in the saucepan all night long it spoils. Why? Why should soup get bad in a metallic vessel, where it would not get bad in a porcelain one? The answer is very simple—on account of the metal being acted on by the air. If you leave a moist knife in the kitchen, in two or three days it becomes rusty. Why, then, should we expect meat or fish or food of any kind whatever to keep good in a tin, when we know it would not keep good in a tin saucepan? ”

“ Let the road of life be ever so long and straight and dull and monotonous, it is sure to lead to a turning some day, though, perhaps, the new road on which we enter with such hope and zest may be longer and duller and rougher than the first. ”

“ Fairy knew that this was only one phase of the Sussex downs; another time those hills—by the way, the word “down” is derived from an old Saxon word, meaning “hill”—another time those hills would look soft, and warm, and sweet, and attractive, just as the Sussex peasant, on better acquaintance, proves himself honest and true and kind-hearted, in spite of his uncouth manners. ”

“ They had not even heard of the existence of an association in which provision is made for the social, intellectual, moral, and spiritual welfare of young women. These girls were at once put into communication with the local secretary, who received them with a hearty welcome, and it is pleasant to record the eagerness displayed by our new members in availing themselves of the opportunity afforded to them by our Association to become allied with the great band of young women now encircling the globe who desire to live godly, righteous, and sober lives in this present evil world. ”

“ The Great Art of Life.—It is the great art and philosophy of life to make the best of the present, whether it be good or bad; to bear the bad with resignation and patience, and to enjoy the good with thankfulness and moderation. ”

“ The greater part of the majority of lives is passed in a groove. Sometimes a great crash comes, and all the machinery is put out of gear, but then the life is resumed, and all goes on quietly again—not as before, the change was too violent for that, but in another groove, in which it moves until another crisis comes. ”

“ Fairy was too much accustomed to them to notice or feel it any more than she noticed or felt the cold, blunt, downright, and, at first, repelling manner of the Sussex peasant, who probably derives some of his characteristics from the country in which he is born and bred, and lives and moves and has his being, for it is certain that scenery influences character to a much greater extent than is commonly supposed. ”

“ I shouldn’t enjoy dragging at the heels of St. Maur or Tullietudlem, so let us agree to differ and wish each other a good morning. The woods at least are cooler than the high road, and as Eva is bent on having a specimen of Dame Venus’s fly-trap, we may have far to go.”
“And, pray, what may Venus’s fly-trap be?” said Gilbert, who never had any particular taste for his own company.
“I’ll show you, if we are lucky enough to find one,” cried Eva, following her brother into the wood. Elgitha stopped to give Dusty a farewell hug, then plunged after them, and Gilbert was left to his own devices. ”

“ The result is that the soup has a gruelly taste. If, however, the flour is fried a light brown before it is used for thickening the soup, it produces quite a different effect. In fact, in one case the flour is cooked, and in the other case it is raw, and the difference in the flavour is as great as that between a dish of pastry before it is put in the oven to be baked, and afterwards. You all know what a nice thing a rich piece of pie-crust is, especially if it be made from puff paste. Of course before it was put in the oven to be baked it would be absolutely uneatable. So with our brown roux. ”

“ Bertram riding from Ellangowan, and I am Meg; but I ought to be standing on the top of the gate to tell you your doom.”
“Nonsense, child; let the horse’s head free,” for Elgitha was fondling her father’s old favourite.
“The horse! Just as if the dear old thing hadn’t got a name! Poor darling old Dusty, who has carried you, man and boy, for these fifteen years. I’m ashamed of you, Gil.”
“I’m ashamed of him!” replied Gilbert, “the stupid old beast; he hasn’t a bit of spunk left in him, if he ever had any. A nice specimen, isn’t he, Mark?” for Mark and Eveline had not joined them. ”

“ Markham looked somewhat displeased.
“We must ask your mother’s permission, Master Rolf;” then, turning to her, “I hope you will allow him to go with us this afternoon,” for, in spite of his rude ways, I felt full of pity for the lonely little boy; he seemed to have no playfellows except poor Judson, who was a low-spirited, overworked young woman. It must have been dreary for him to be in a household of grown-up people, who all voted him a plague and took no trouble to amuse him. Spoilt children are seldom happy ones ”

“ From time to time reports have arisen on the danger of eating tinned goods, and every now and then we hear of cases of persons being ill, who date the origin of their illness from eating some species of preserved provision. You would do well to bear in mind that the persons to blame are not the makers of the tinned goods, but the housekeeper who opens them and then fails to exercise her common sense. Probably every housekeeper is aware of the fact that if you make soup it is necessary to turn the soup out in a basin before going to bed. ”

“ Australian meat can also be used for making a meat pie. To make a good meat pie, you must melt the jelly, pour it into a saucepan, and boil with it six beads of garlic, and also add some gelatine to make the jelly when cold nice and firm. In fact, it should be quite as firm as an ordinary mould of jelly. Now place the Australian meat in a piedish, pour the gravy over it, and place a few very thin slices of bacon on the top. You can also mix with the pie a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, and be sure to add plenty of black pepper. ”

“ Leslie’s brains, and the only solution they could arrive at was that Jack must make his fortune in America, and come back and marry her, since it was quite clear she could not live for ever with the shepherd; neither was she fitted to be a governess; and there was no other way of well-educated women earning their living in those days, and there would be some insurmountable obstacles to marrying her to any one else. A gentleman would hesitate at marrying a girl brought up in a peasant’s cottage, and it was quite certain Fairy would not marry anyone but a gentleman, unless, indeed, she took Jack ”

“ At Eva’s wish they sat down to rest under a lime just bursting into blossom.
It was a day when to be alive was pleasure, and Mark lay on his back gazing up into the world of tender green, dreaming deliciously; but Elgitha had not reached the dreamy age, and, having sat for five minutes, pulling to pieces a bunch of poppies which she had gathered, and watching their tender leaves float in the wind, she suddenly started up at the sight of a horseman riding along the high road, where it skirted the wood some two hundred paces distant.
“Hullo!” she shouted. “Gilbert, I wonder where he is going. ”

“ The laws of succession were not firmly established in those days and in that part of Ireland, and the strong-minded woman found little difficulty in setting aside the claim of the boy, and establishing herself as Chieftainess of the clan or sept of O’Maley. She soon gathered together a number of followers, who were ready to support this dauntless woman in those very unsettled days for Ireland, when the Virgin Queen sat upon the throne of England.
Quickly she became famous as the head of a powerful clan, and as a leader of rare courage and intrepidity. ”

“ Since the introduction of frozen meat, we have heard a great deal less about meat in tins. Still these tins are very useful to persons living in out-of-the-way places in the country, where frozen meat would be just as difficult to obtain as ordinary butchers’ meat. Australian meat differs very much in quality. As a rule you will find that unless the meat is surrounded by a good deal of jelly it is not worth having at all. When the Australian meat has plenty of jelly with it, and you can turn it out in a solid lump, I am not sure but what the best method is to have it as it is—cold. ”

“ Another method is to boil a couple of beads of garlic in the clear soup, but then many persons object to the flavour of garlic. Still, if garlic is used with care it is not nearly so objectionable as many people think. There is a strong prejudice against the use of garlic in this country, but I believe this prejudice is brought about by the fact that English cooks as a rule do not understand how to use it. Garlic should be used to impart a slight flavour, and should rarely if ever be chopped up to be eaten. ”

“ Men are rather satirical on the subject of women’s talk. They quiz us dreadfully, and insist that our main topic is bonnets, but I am not sure that we could not retaliate with equal force. Bonnets can be treated as works of art, but could anything be more trivial and worthless than a cigar? ”

“ If we take one of these tins and open it in the ordinary manner, leaving the tin half on as a lid, it is by no means an elegant-looking dish, whereas if we cut the tin entirely round the edge and take the top off, then make a little hole the other side in order to let the air get in, we can turn the whole of the contents of the tin out in a shape exactly as we could turn jelly out of a copper mould. The tin of potted beef, if that is what we have, can be turned out on an ornamental piece of paper placed in the middle of a dish. ”

“ The products of nature are not valued in proportion to their size or outward appearance, but more generally with reference to their use for the sustaining of life. The spreading cedar is far more magnificent and beautiful than the little potato-plant, and yet the cedar would be less missed than the potato. ”

“ A very simple method of having a nice dish in a hurry for breakfast or for dinner can be made as follows:—Open a tin of sardines or a tin of pilchards, pour the oil of the tin into a frying-pan, and add to it a brimming teaspoonful or more of curry powder, moistened in a little water. Add a teaspoonful of cornflour, also moistened in a little water. Stir the whole for a time till you get a thick, oily gravy. Now add the fish, either sardines or pilchards, and gradually make them hot in this quickly-made curry sauce, and with a spoon keep pouring the sauce over the fish. ”

“ Let us now return to the history of our “Girl’s Own Branch.” The duty of the Secretary was to correspond with the members, supply them with the Monthly Letter, and induce them to take in one of the Association magazines. It was only about three years ago that our branch first saw the light, and during that period it has proved to have a healthy and vigorous life. In all 82 have joined, of whom a great many have been transferred to other branches, two have married, two have been removed by death, leaving 40 now in constant correspondence with the secretary. ”

“ The soup, instead of being as thin as water, is more like milk, and although the soup is not in reality any richer, it conveys the idea of being exceedingly good. Another method of improving clear tinned soups in flavour is by the addition of celery. If you have a head of celery in the house, take a small stick, and with a knife cut it into very thin slices indeed. Boil this in the soup, and you will find that it will improve the flavour very considerably, that is, if the soup contains other kinds of vegetables. ”

“ Our children grow up and are both a blessing and a comfort to our fading lives, but the days are gone for ever when the curly-headed cherub, now a man of six feet high, awoke us at unearthly hours for a romp, before a sepulchral voice outside announced that his bath was ready, to our intense relief. ”

“ The dish can then be ornamented with a little bright green parsley, and a little cut lemon, and can be made to look really appetising. In fact, there is no more excuse for sending potted meat to table in the tin than there would be for sending a mould of jelly to table in the mould. What would you say if you were asked out to a dinner were the man to hand round the mould of jelly in the mould, and you were to scoop it out with a spoon?{254} and yet this is what you have virtually done over and over again at breakfast. ”