Various

“ The landlady had everything made snug before their arrival; the curtains were drawn, a cheerful fire was ablaze, and the lit lamp stood in the centre of the table spread with pretty blue crockery and provided with ham, eggs and toast. There are few who can wholly resist the genial influence of such surroundings. Charlie and Lucy Challoner yielded themselves up to them, and little Hugh danced and clapped his hands. Lucy felt as if she was happier than she had ever thought to be again. ”

“ May—the strange landlady downstairs,” she explained. And she reminded him of the little incident of the picture plate.
Charlie leaned back in his chair and enjoyed a quiet deep laugh.
“And there he is altogether right,” he said, “for love is all off the same piece whether it’s in a great fold that ties two lives together—like yours and mine, Lucy—or but some little scrap that just binds up a pricked finger. For God is Love, and therefore Love is God, and any affection that gets taken outside that unity is—just—an idol!” ”

“ The thought of parting from her was heartbreaking to Sheila.
“I would almost rather she was shot, Uncle Tom,” she said, with a little sob in her voice. “I can’t bear to think what may become of her. She will have a good home, I daresay, whilst she is young and handsome; but when she grows old she may be so badly treated. I can’t bear to think of it!”
“Tut, tut, my dear, don’t cry! Why, I don’t see why you and your horse shouldn’t go together. There is plenty of room at Cossart Place; and it would do Effie a world of good to put her on horseback. ”

“ But when you said ‘not for two or three weeks’ he could put it right out of his head. It’s only childlike, after all.”
“But we ought all to be childlike, ought we not, Lucy?” answered Charlie thoughtfully. “And we are, more or less, even the worst of us. All who love know they will have to part; but they don’t go on thinking about it all the years they are together. And days are as long as years to poor little Hughie.” ”

“ It was almost a relief at last both to Oscar and Sheila to say their final farewells, and feel they had left the old life behind them. As the train bore them away from the familiar country in which they had been born and brought up, Sheila was able to dry her wet eyes and look at her uncle with a brave little smile.
“I’m not going to cry any more, Uncle Tom,” she said; “I’m going to try and be happy and useful and good. I’ve made lots and lots of good resolutions. Don’t you think it’s a good plan when one is beginning a different sort of life? ”

“ The crushing of Spain, delayed by Moore’s action, had to be put off indefinitely. Napoleon, with a large body of troops, hurried back to Paris. But he left Soult and Ney in command of about sixty thousand men, in two columns, one to attack Moore in rear, the other to take him in flank, while thousands scattered about the country were advancing to support the attack.
Enough, in all conscience, one would imagine, to deal with a retreating force of less than twenty-four thousand! ”

“ In Praise of Work.—Work drives away depression, whets the appetite for food, invites sleep, promotes digestion, strengthens the muscles and sinews, gives free circulation to the blood, stimulates the intellectual faculties, provides the comforts of life, develops all the powers which it brings into exercise, transforms stupid ignorance into brilliant genius, fills the world with works of art and literature, and develops the resources of nature. Nothing can stand before work. ”

“ I’m not sure that I should have liked it myself; though papa used sometimes to say that he wished I had one.”
“Effie is a bit spoiled, I won’t deny that,” answered Uncle Tom in his straightforward fashion. “What could you expect after such a family history? She is not always the easiest person to please or amuse; but you will be patient with her, I daresay, my dear, and try to do her good.”
Sheila was just a little taken aback. She had always been the petted darling at home. It seemed rather a turning of the tables to expect her to study the caprices and whims of another spoilt child. ”

“ My girls go up as often as they can; but that isn’t the same thing as being always in the house. Directly we heard about your loss, and that you would have to leave your present home, we all said that it would be a fine thing for Effie to have a cousin to be a sister and playfellow.”
“Perhaps she won’t like it so much herself,” said Sheila, with a little upward glance through her long eye-lashes. “People don’t always like a new sister thrust down their throats. ”

“ If a person is suffocated in the smoke of a fire, or an infant is smothered by the bed-clothes, take her out into the fresh air and perform artificial respiration at once.
In all these cases, the patients are in the greatest peril of their lives, and if you run after assistance, they will die in your absence. But one might almost say that a person cannot die while proper artificial respiration is being performed upon her. ”

“ We are of opinion that the less you have to do with drugs the better. People cannot understand that if a drug has a powerful action in disease—if, for instance, a drug will stop convulsions—it will have an action if given to a perfectly healthy person, and that action will do harm to the body.
The drugs which we advise you to keep in your medicine chest are all perfectly safe ”

“ I suppose there isn’t a man of us that wouldn’t still go on, in the face of any odds. But Sir John asks no advice. He is quiet, resolved, with never a look of hesitation.
“Yet having come so far, now to go back, with nothing done—’tis an awful disappointment. Some, much as they love Sir John, are bitter about it, and will not or cannot see the need. Jack trusts him fully, and says he understands,—Boney has been too sharp. If he can cross our communications with Portugal, we shall just find ourselves between him and Soult, and the Spanish Armies nowhere. ”

“ Brand also knew of Pollie’s imminent departure and would be almost sure to blurt it out before Charlie. Lucy hated to ask her sister to keep a secret from him. It would be as useless, too, as painful, for Florence would be sure to “forget” or “not to think.” As such “forgetfulness” or “want of thought” always pleads “meaning no harm,” and resents indignation as harsh and uncharitable, there is nothing to be done but to prevent their harmful doings by keeping them out of the way. ”

“ Yet everyone ought to know how to do it, for rarely does a girl go through her life without encountering a situation where a knowledge of how to perform artificial respiration would be the means of saving the life of one of her fellow creatures.
Every girl ought to be taught how to perform artificial respiration when she is at school. This immensely important aid ought to be able to be rendered by every man, woman or child in the world. ”

“ We’re not much of riders ourselves, we Cossarts; but Effie did have a pony once. She would take to it again. There, there, my dear, don’t smother me. You shall have your horse right enough. I’ll make that all square here, and with your uncle and aunt yonder.”
“Oh, Uncle Tom, you’re a darling!” cried Sheila in her impulsive way with her arms about his neck; and though Mr. Tom Cossart had probably never been called a darling since his babyhood, and was not at all used to being hugged, he found it amazingly pleasant to be so treated by his pretty little niece. Not that Sheila was really little ”

“ Very few drugs indeed influence obesity at all, and the few drugs which do have an influence cannot be taken with safety. Look at the drug you suggest, for instance; bromide of ammonium is an exceedingly powerful drug. It has no influence whatever upon the absorption of fat, save that which results from its depressing effects upon the organism. Even if it did cure corpulency, it would be inadvisable to take it, for, however annoying obesity may be, it is nothing compared with the condition which arises from taking bromide habitually. ”

“ After the railway journey, whose slight fatigue the convalescent bore capitally, they went straight to an hotel and had lunch, and there Lucy left her husband and little Hugh, while she went in quest of “apartments.” She wanted cleanliness, economy, and a sea view. Like all people who know what they want she was not long in getting suited. ”

“ He’s a good steady fellow is North, and works hard. Cyril is the fine gentleman of the family. Nothing would serve him but a university education. He has been at Cambridge, and took his degree at Christmas. He can’t quite make up his mind now between the Church and the Bar. He’s having a spell at home to think about it. You’ll get on with Cyril, you two; he’s quite your style, you’ll see.”
Mr. Tom Cossart spoke with evident pride of this son. Oscar and Sheila were both interested in hearing of their cousins and the home that awaited them in Isingford. ”

“ Pull the arms as high above the head as you possibly can. Rest for two seconds, then slowly bring the arms down again to the side of the chest, cross them over the chest, press upon the chest, and gently press upon the pit of the stomach. Again rest for two seconds, then elevate the arms again and repeat the performance as long as necessary. Never be in a hurry. The performance is no good at all unless it is done slowly.
Now we will tell you where artificial respiration is necessary.
Suppose you are on the scene when a person is dragged out of the water after drowning. ”

“ Again, on the 23rd of December, he wrote to the British Envoy in Spain—“I march this night to Carrion, and the next day to Saldana, to attack the corps under Marshal Soult.... Buonaparte is dating his proclamations from Madrid; and as to the British Army, if it were in a neutral or Enemy’s country, it could not be more completely left to itself. If the Spaniards are enthusiasts, or much interested in this cause, their conduct is the most extraordinary that ever was exhibited. The movement I am making is of the most dangerous kind. ”

“ The gentlemen about her lift her up, elevate her head and take her out of the church.
What is a faint? It is the momentary cessation of the heart’s action. The heart stops for a second. The brain is deprived of blood. It instantly ceases its function. The body drops as if inanimate. ”

“ Let us see if we can explain to you how to perform artificial respiration. Two persons are required. Place the patient on her back, open her mouth, pull her tongue forward and wipe out her mouth and throat, so as to clear it of any blood or whatever it may contain, which would hinder the air from entering her chest.
Each of you must then take hold of one arm, with one hand grasping the forearm and the other grasping the upper arm. Now start. Slowly draw the arms away from the chest and elevate them above the head. ”

“ Therefore make the patient vomit. Give her an emetic for every poison except the strong mineral acids (sulphuric, nitric and hydrochloric acids) and the strong alkalies (caustic soda, caustic potash, and strong solution of ammonia) . In poisoning from these you must not give an emetic.
The best of all emetics is a large tablespoonful of mustard in a tumblerful of tepid water. Therefore in poisoning from anything except the six drugs mentioned above, give mustard and water before you do anything else.
Then loosen the clothes about the person’s neck, and apply warmth to her extremities. ”

“ It is this which saves the person from danger.
When a person falls down in a faint, leave her alone. Unloose her collar if you like, but under no circumstances should you elevate her head. Let her head be the lowest part of her body. Remember this! Let the head of a fainting person be the lowest part of the body.
Afterwards you may give her a little sal volatile and fresh air. But it really does not matter what you do as long as you pay attention to the position of the head.
Oh, by the way, we were talking about our medicine chest! ”

“ Stenographer.—We fear you may have a struggle to support your husband and son in this country by your own unaided exertions as shorthand writer and typist. Still, we believe it might be done if you are very efficient and ready to undertake work at all times and seasons, and to do it often under conditions of great pressure. If at first you could manage to join a lady who already has an office, and act as her chief assistant, we think that might be wisest, as we assume that you have no means of setting up an office of your own. ”

“ Never sleep with your mouth open. Do you breathe through your nose? If you do not, you must have your nose seen to. Mouth breathing is the commonest cause of catarrh, and relaxed throat is only a mild form of chronic catarrh. The best applications for the throat are a two per cent. solution of alum in glycerine and water, and a one-in-eight solution of menthol in paraleine. These may be used either as paints applied with a brush to the throat, or as a spray with an atomiser. Gargling is no good whatever, for in this process none of the solution can get further back than the tonsils. ”

“ The thirst for information continues, and again we have been inundated with solutions. Happily for our peace of mind, many of them were far from perfect, and the more subtle methods of our Art have not been called into requisition. ”

“ The truths of the Gospel will become commonplace by familiarity. Associations and companions will get more and more powerful, and you will stiffen as a tree trunk becomes stiffened with the growth of years. ”

“ What Moore is and what Moore may do are the theme of all. Was ever man more beloved than he?
“The three Napier brothers are gallant fellows—which the more so ’twould be hard to say. A little later, on my way, I met Jack’s friend, George Napier, who is Aide-de-camp to Moore, and had some words with him—a fine fellow indeed, and ardently devoted to our General. ”