Axminster

“ I would not speak of her capture of me; she would not speak of the Duke's march towards Taunton. There was some constraint whenever we came near those subjects. She was a very merry, charming companion; but the effect of her talk that morning was to make me angry at being trapped by her. I looked over the countryside for guiding points in case I should be able to get away. Axminster lay to the southeast, distant about six miles; so much I could reckon from the course of our morning's ride. ”

“ What think you of the army which hath just passed before you?’
‘If it please your Majesty,’ Saxon answered, ‘it is like so much uncarded wool, which is rough enough in itself, and yet may in time come to be woven into a noble garment.’
‘Hem! There is not much leisure for the weaving,’ said Monmouth. ‘But they fight well. You should have seen them fall on at Axminster! We hope to see you and to hear your views at the council table. But how is this? Have I not seen this gentleman’s face before?’
‘It is the Honourable Sir Gervas Jerome of the county of Surrey,’ quoth Saxon. ”

“ G. P. R. Pulman, of the Hermitage, Crewkerne, that at Axminster, the river Axe, the ancient British and Saxon boundary line, divides the dialect spoken to the east of it (the Dorset, to judge from a specimen of it that he has enclosed) from the Devon. He goes on to say: “On the opposite, the west side of the river, as at Kilmington, Whitford, and Colyton, for instance, a very different dialect is spoken, the general south or rather east Devon. The difference between the two within so short a distance (for you never hear a Devonshire sound from a native Axminster man) is very striking.” ”

“ The Luards had planned to spend September in Switzerland, at Saas-Fée and Zermatt. Noel and Honor were to have gone with them, and Mr and Mrs Dare had intended making a round of visits in Scotland.
Connal Dare and Alma Luard, if they could get off at the same time, had been going to friends on Dartmoor not far from Postbridge. As for Miss Mitten, she never would hear a word about going away. No place was as comfortable as home, she averred,—she had everything there that she wanted, so why should she make a change which could only be for the worse? ”

“ That's not Gard."
"It's the only man here, anyway. Pull close up, Philip—"
"Not in my boat, John Drillot!" from Peter.
"We must take this to the Sénéchal," said John angrily. "If you don't want to come you can wait here. If you don't make less noise, I will knock you on the head myself," and he jumped down into the boat, and took the dead man from Trevna, and laid him carefully in the bows. The others jumped in, and Peter, sooner than be knocked on the head or left behind, sulkily followed, and sat himself on the extreme edge of the stern as far away from the dead man as he could get. ”

“ My advice is—let him go."
"It's only natural, after all," said my grandfather, with a thoughtful nod. "Who's the best man to go with, George?"
"Torode of Herm makes most at it, they say. But—"
"A rough lot, I'm told, and he has to keep a tight hand on them. But I know nothing except from hearsay. I've never come across him yet."
"Jean Le Marchant could tell you more about him than anyone else round here," said Uncle George, looking musingly at me. "They have dealings together in trading matters, I believe. Then, they say, John Ozanne is fitting out a schooner in Peter Port. ”

“ Achison drew a breath of profound irritation, and then with an air of resigned patience lighted a cigarette.
“It seems to me,” he said with a show of disgust, “that the person with you might be better employed than in fostering and abetting your crazy obsessions. I respect your age, and have nothing more to say.”
“Don't bluff, Achison.” The cracked old voice had a ring of power in it. “I've played these cutthroat games myself You're a master of them, but it's of no use. When I explain a little further. you'll come down from your high horse and hand over the missal.” ”

“ I wish to goodness we could get some definite news. I wanted very much to take you up the Eggishorn—it’s just close here, and it seems a shame to pass right under it without going up. You don’t really know what a glacier’s like till you’ve seen the Aletsch. But....”
“I think we’d better go right on. We can come back some other time and see all these things. Suppose they shouldn’t have got your telegram from Leipsic! They’ll be getting frightfully anxious about us. Let us get on as quickly as possible.” ”

“ But he does not lament like Mimnermus, like Alcman, like Llwyarch Hen. “What is Life, what is delight without golden Aphrodite? May I die!” says Mimnermus, “when I am no more conversant with these, with secret love, and gracious gifts, and the bed of desire.” And Alcman, when his limbs waver beneath him, is only saddened by the faces and voices of girls, and would change his lot for the sea-birds. ”

“ I presented her with the myrtle sprig, which she twisted into her pearls, seeming pleased with it; but otherwise she was very unexcited, though very bright. I was not bright, but very much excited; I quite shook as we walked up the soft stair-carpet side by side. She looked at me in evident surprise.
"You need not be nervous, Master Auchester, I assure you!"
"It is going into the drawing-room, and being introduced, I hate; will there be many people, do you think?" ”

“ Close astern of her came Prism and Axite, and as they showed, the watchers involuntarily caught their breaths.
The Prism looked queer and foreign somehow, with no foremast, a bare skeleton of a bridge, and a shapeless heap where the forward funnel had stood. The Axite looked just what she was—a mere battered hull, with very little standing above the level of her deck, her stern nearly awash, and her bow bent and torn as if some giant hand had gripped and twisted it. ”

“ What do you know of me?"
"Oh sir, sir! young brains and happy ones have short memories; but old and sad brains too too long ones often! Do you mind one that was with Mr. Oxenham, sir? A swearing reprobate he was, God forgive him, and hath forgiven him too, for His dear Son's sake—one, sir, that gave you a horn, a toy with a chart on it?"
"Soul alive!" cried Amyas, catching him by the hand; "and are you he? The horn? why, I have it still, and will keep it to my dying day, too. But where is Mr. Oxenham?"
"Yes, my good fellow, where is Mr. Oxenham?" asked Sir Richard, rising. ”

“ Though known only by his Indian name, Akspine was one of the most genial, cultured Englishmen one could meet anywhere. He was born and educated in good old Yorkshire, trained in the faith of his fathers, and nursed by an honest and kind-hearted woman. As he grew into a fine, manly lad he attended the village school, was enthusiastic in his studies, full of energy and always ready to help a lame comrade or to seize any opportunity of doing good. ”

“ Even the cormorant does not fish where fish are never found.
But when he went to and fro by night, he went mailed—according to the Doctor's ideas—and armed—according to the Sénéchal's; and each night the Doctor and the Sénéchal went quietly down, some time in advance, and lay hidden on the headlands with their guns, and never took their eyes off him and all his surroundings, while he was in sight.
And Gard, in nearing the Little Sark cutting, always kept carefully to the right-hand side of the path, though it was somewhat crumbly there and had fallen away down the slope towards Grande Grève. ”

“ You will be sure to see him in Germany, and then you can ask him whether he wrote the 'Tone-Wreath.'"
Oh, how I laughed again!
"What sort of place shall I go to, should you think?"
"I don't know any place really, Master Auchester. I can't tell what places they have to learn at, upon the Continent. I know no places besides this house, and Mr. Davy's, and the class, and church, and Miss Lenhart's house in London."
"Are you not very dull?"
Alas for the excitable nature of my own temperament! ”

“ Raspberry lemonade, as it is made in Switzerland, is much nicer than plain lemonade, at least so the Overall Boys thought.
A few minutes later they began their tramp over one of the most beautiful roads in the world. It is called the Axenstrasse, because it is built along the side of the steep mountain called the Axenberg.
A part of the way the mountain is so steep the road could not be built on the outside of it, so a tunnel has been cut right through the rocky side. ”

“ Axworthy sends for the lad on whom he has learnt to depend, and shows much disappointment at his absence. Where is he? Is he engaged with low companions in the haunts of vice, that are the declivity towards crime? Is he gaming, or betting, or drinking? No. He has obeyed the summons of his country; he is a zealous volunteer, and is eagerly using a weapon presented to him by a highly respected gentleman of large fortune in a neighbouring county; nay, so far is he from any sinister purpose, that he is making an appointment with a fellow-rifleman for the ensuing Monday. ”

“ The old gentleman was introduced both to Miss Milner and to Mr. Dorriforth, but received from each an answer so explicit, that left his nephew no longer in doubt but that all farther pursuit was vain.
Sir Edward Ashton about this time also submitted to a formal dismission; and had the mortification to reflect, that he was bestowing upon the object of his affections, the tenderest proof of his regard, by absenting himself entirely from her society. ”

“ If I had half-a-dozen such lads as you, I would make knights of them before I died. Eh, Yeo?"
"He'll do," said Yeo; "he will make a brave gamecock in year or two, if he dares ruffle up so early at a tough old hen-master like the Captain."
At which there was a general laugh, in which Oxenham joined as loudly as any, and then bade the lad tell him why he was so keen after the horn. ”

“ Sir George had furnished him with ample funds and the best of advice. He organised his own transport, saw to it himself; with the hearty assistance of Leale and his two mates and some picked men of the crew, and drove things forward at such astonishing speed that the harbour-master broke out one time.
"Man! Was it a parson you said you were, Mr. Eager? It's head of the Transport you ought to have been. You get more out of those lazy scamps than any man we've had here yet." ”

“ He lay there till the sun had gone, and the pale green and amber, and the crimson and gold of his going had slowly passed from sea and sky, and left them grey and cold; till a single light shone out on Sark, which he knew must be in one of the miners' cottages, and many lights twinkled in Guernsey; till beneath him he could no longer see the sea, but only the white foam fury as it boiled along the rocks. Then he crept away to his burrow, rejoicing in the thought of the companionship of a fire and hot food. ”

“ Con gone already—possibly gone for good. Ray going,—he might well never come back. Noel and Gregor192 longing to go,—they would jump at any chance that offered. They too might never come back, and she had fathomed Gregor’s feeling for Honor, from the shy anxious glances he cast at her whenever opportunity offered. About Noel and Vic she was not so sure; their manner towards one another puzzled her. But already she forecasted all the boys lying dead and all the girls left broken-hearted.
Mr Dare had his own reasons for withdrawing into his shell. Business, of course, for one thing. ”

“ The most amusing thing about Accrington is the changefulness of his affections; he has, as Reggie remarked not long ago, the most expansive and expensive heart in Oxford. Only a week ago two of his ‘best girls’ arrived together quite unexpectedly and held prolonged and wordy warfare in his rooms until they caught sight of some photos of a third ‘best girl,’ when they buried the hatchet and tore up the other girl’s photos together. ”

“ Don’t know where Axtell is located.”
“Well, we do seem to be up against it,” remarked Jerry dubiously as he read the message a second time. “I wonder where in the world Axtell can be?”
“Did you ever know an airship man by that name?” the lawyer asked Mr. Glassford.
The inventor shook his head.
“There are so many in the business now,” he said, “that it is impossible to keep track of them. Axtell—Axtell—no, I never heard the name before.”
“Well,” remarked the lawyer, “I don’t see what can be done until you get hold of Masterly. Is there no one else who could give the evidence we need?” ”

“ I’m in trouble about my airship, and he is the only one who can help me out.”
“That’s different,” declared Mr. Axtell, when the matter had been explained to him. “Go in and talk to Masterly. But he has a visitor already.”
“A visitor? Who?” asked Jerry.
“I don’t know. A young fellow. Came about [186] half an hour ago. Said he wanted to see Masterly on very important business.”
“May we go in?” asked Mr. Glassford, while a vague feeling of uneasiness seemed to come to Jerry and his chums. Who was the person now in the tent with Masterly?
“Yes—yes, go right in. I’m waiting here for a man I expect. ”

“ The first emissary from the shore to welcome the Acushnet was a visitor in that interesting state of intoxication when a man is amiable and helpless: a south-sea vagabond, once a lieutenant in the English navy, recently appointed pilot to the harbour by the invincible French. He was aided by some benevolent person out of his whale-boat into the Acushnet, and though utterly unable to stand erect or navigate his own body, he magnanimously proffered to steer the ship to a good anchorage: a feat Captain Pease did for himself, despite the amazing volubility of the visitor in contrary commands. ”

“ It was the sharp peremptory note of the drum beating the alarm. As it came nearer and could no longer be mistaken, the bright colour went out from poor Minna's cheek and she clung with a brave touching silence to her sister. In two minutes more Eckenstein had his helmet on his head and his sword buckled on, and then he turned to say farewell to his girl ere he left her for the battle. The parting was silent and brief; but the faces of the two were more eloquent than words. Poor Minna sat down by the window straining her eyes as Eckenstein, running at speed, went his way to the rendezvous. ”