Barnow

“ This, for Franzos, was the tragedy of Barnow. It is the theme of several of his tales. Sometimes it is the boy, sometimes the girl, who rides a-tilt against the paternal choice of a mate. The father selects for his son or daughter the most pious and wealthy partner available. They will not know each other, but what of that? They will have plenty of time to make acquaintance after marriage. One Barnow father thus defends the system: “We don’t look upon the chicken as wiser than the hen. And, thank God, we know nothing of love and all that kind of nonsense. ”

“ The "noble-minded benefactor" was Baron Sigismund Ronnicki, who had literally picked the "vagabond" out of the streets of Barnow, where he was wandering houseless and forlorn, and had taken him home to his castle at Z——. Wladislaus was given everything he wanted except—schnapps. And why was this, and this alone, denied him? "When he drinks schnapps," said Schmule, "he forgets everything that has happened. And I intend that he should remember. I will have my right." ”

“ I grew very fond of Adolf—as fond as I used to be of Aaron when I was a boy; so when the vacation approached, I invited him to accompany me to my eastern home, and was heartily glad when he accepted my invitation.
During this journey our conversation chanced to turn on Rachel as we speeded through the night in the railway toward Barnow. Her name had never been mentioned by either of us since the day on which we had first met in Vienna.
"Take care of yourself," I said jestingly; "old love never rusts out." ”

“ Is it reasonable to suppose that any one would invite all the ugly girls in Barnow and leave out the most beautiful? Take my word for it, young sir, Sprinze Klein and I know how to act on such occasions; and it is an acknowledged thing that when you invite young men to a party, you ought to have some pretty girls to meet them. ”

“ He does not yet give up hope of a reconciliation, and every time he revisits Barnow, he tries to soften the old man's heart.
But Nathan is seldom at Barnow, and when he returns there two or three times in the year, his visits are short. His business in the little town is managed for him by a cousin, and he travels to distant countries. He is no longer a small shop-keeper, but one of the richest wine-merchants in the country.
He has never married again. Once it was supposed that he was engaged to a girl in Czernowitz, but it was not the case. ”

“ He turned for protection to those who were bound to help him, and appealed to the imperial court of justice in Barnow. It is a punishable offense in Austria to use the cherem as a means of extortion; and, in the best case, when there is real and just cause for the infliction of punishment on an offender, it is nothing but an audacious attempt of a community to arrogate to itself the functions of the state. The sympathy of Herr Julko von Negrusz, district judge of Barnow, was aroused by Ruben's tale, and he did what he could to help him ”

“ The schoolmaster beats me, and so do all the Christian boys; and why? Because we crucified Him? I didn't crucify Him. Why do they beat me?"
"Oh, it'll be all right when we're grown up and are barristers."
"I shall never be a barrister; I intend to be a very great and very rich doctor. Then I shall come back to Barnow and say to old Hirsch, 'Here are a hundred ducats, which will pay off all our arrears of rent.' After that, the Poles will come to me and entreat me to cure their diseases and to lend them money ”

“ Her husband has lived ten years in Barnow, but he is still called the "new registrar," to distinguish him from his colleague, who has been there twice as long. Frau Emilie will show you a calling-card, and answer as follows: "How can one associate with such a person? Look at her card—why has she not had it printed in the proper way, with her maiden name in the usual place? Because it would not look well to put 'Christine von Negrusz, née Bilkes, divorcée Silberstein.' Her real name is Chane, her father is Nathan Bilkes, and another Nathan—Nathan Silberstein—is her first husband. ”

“ They were inwardly much afraid, but outwardly they made no sign, and denied all knowledge of the stranger. It was on the eve of the Day of Atonement that this took place—and how could they have entered the presence of God that evening if they had betrayed their brother in the faith? So they remained firm in spite of the agent's threats and rage. When he perceived that they either knew nothing or would confess nothing, he let them go with these dark words of warning: 'It will be the worse for you if I find the youth in Barnow. ”

“ The ladies in the drawing-room are seated round a large tea-table, drinking tea out of enormous cups, eating sweet cakes of all kinds, and talking a great deal. The only person at all out of humor is the fat wife of the fat estate agent. She is accustomed to be the principal lady in Barnow, but is dethroned for to-day by the wife of a beggarly Government official—i. e., the new registrar. For Frau Emilie comes from Lemberg, the capital of the province, and has brought with her not only the latest fashions in dress, but also a number of piquant stories. ”

“ All others will shake their heads. I can only say that it is a true story; I did not invent it: it really took place. Besides that, the story is a very sad one. It fills one with sorrow when one thinks of it....
Lea was a very lovely girl. She did not inherit her beauty from either of her parents; for her mother was a dumpy, little red-faced woman, and Gawriel Rendar, landlord of the large yellow inn on the way to Old Barnow, was an awkward giant with a muddy complexion, and a face much pitted with small-pox. ”

“ A short distance away was a dory, containing one person, and it needed but a single glance from the eyes of the Racer boys to tell them it was indeed the tall, dark stranger who had acted so oddly after questioning them about Paul Gale. The man was rowing slowly and awkwardly, as if unused to the exertion, but as the sea was fairly calm he was not having a hard time, especially as the dory was built for safety.
"Think he sees us?" asked Andy.
"No, but he'll hear us if you don't talk lower," objected Frank.
"Sounds carry very far over water."
"All right," whispered the younger lad. ”

“ Below them, on all sides, washing the rocky shores of the island were the heaving waters of the great bay. They could take in most of the shore line, irregular and indented as it was, but, look as they did, there was no sign of life.
They saw no curling smoke from a campfire. They saw no figure of a man—the man whom they had so fruitlessly pursued. Nor was there any vestige of a big motor boat half-burned.
"Well, nothing doing so far," remarked Frank, after a pause. "Now we'll go down and begin a circuit of the shore and see what is in some of the caves." ”

“ But it only to come face to face with a solid wall of rock.
"No use trying to get through there," said Andy. "We must try to move the big rock."
"We can't," spoke Frank. "I think——" But he never finished that sentence. Instead focused his light down on the stone floor of passage in the cave. A thin stream of water trickling along it.
"Look! Look!" whispered Andy.
"Yes," answered his brother in a low voice. "The tide is rising. It's running into the cave, and we—we're trapped here, Andy. No wonder that man said it was the last time. We're trapped by the rising tide!" ”

“ With all his strength Andy forced over the tiller, for the wind was strong on the sail, and the waves were running high, their salty crests filling the atmosphere with spume, while a fine spray drenched those aboard the Gull.
Suddenly there was a scraping sound, and the little craft shivered from stem to stern.
"The rocks! The rocks! We're on the rocks!" cried Frank, as with blanched face he looked up from where he was kneeling over the silent form of the lad he had rescued from the sea and the gale. ”

“ Barnum had been the friend of the poor, and his hospitalities had been extended to men of every State in the Union. The citizens of Bridgeport should be proud to claim as one of their citizens P. T. Barnum. His name was written upon every charity in their city, and the temples of God bore its impress. By a few fell strokes of an ugly pen, he has been drawn into that whirlpool of destruction to himself and almost destruction to many in the city. ”

“ There was another movement on the outskirts of the throng, and someone pushed his way in.
"It's dad!" cried Bob. "Hey, dad!" he shouted. "These men are going to take our whale! We just towed it in, Frank and Andy Racer and me! Can these men take it?"
"Of course we can, kid!" cried one of the fishermen. "Get out of the way, if you don't want to be knocked down."
"Oh, it's you, is it, Jack Kett!" ”

“ Barnum to come to us was a very cold and forbidding one in February. A snow-storm, the most formidable one of the winter, sprang up to apparently thwart the success of the performance; and so certain was Mr. Barnum that nobody would appear to hear him, he offered not only to release me from the contract between us, but, in addition to that, would pay me the price I was to pay him, or more, to be permitted to return to New York. "There is nothing on earth I hate to do so much," said he, "as to lecture to empty benches." ”

“ There's lots going on, and we'll soon be back—if we have luck," commented Andy.
"Queer about that Paul," spoke Bob. "You haven't seen anything more of that strange man; have you?"
"No, and I'm afraid we won't, either," declared the elder Racer boy. "It seems to be a mystery we'll never solve. If we could only find that missing motor boat it might help some. But I guess that's sunk, though it was floating when we took Paul aboard our craft."
The boys rowed slowly about the spot where the whale had gone down, casting eager glances from time to time at the rolling billows. ”

“ We're marooned Cliff Island!"
CHAPTER XXV A LUCKY QUARREL Frank stared uncomprehendingly toward the slowly heaving waters of the bay.
"I can't believe it!" he exclaimed. "The Gull must be somewhere else. We're at the wrong place."
"I only wish we were," spoke Andy dubiously.
"But you can see for yourself that this is where we camped. Here is where our small boat was pulled up on shore, where we slept under it, and, if you want any better evidence—here's grub! Grub, Frank do you hear? We shan't starve, even if we are marooned!" ”

“ It was not without much labor that the boys succeeded in getting the heavy mass of driftwood down where the tide would float it for them. The man watched them with a scowling face, occasionally muttering to himself.
"Better take something to eat along with us; hadn't we?" asked Andy, when they were waiting for the rising tide.
"Sure," assented Frank. "We may not be picked up until along toward night. And we'll want water. Lucky we've got some empty cracker tins to carry it in." ”

“ Barnum, who had been an interested listener. “A New York policeman could have managed that quartet with one hand.”
“Then,” said Shakespeare, “in the opinion of you gentlemen, we old-time lions would appear to modern eyes to be more or less stuffed?”
“That’s about the size of it,” said Carlyle.
“But you’d draw,” said Barnum, his face lighting up with pleasure. “You’d drive a five-legged calf to suicide from envy. If I could take you and Cæsar, and Napoleon Bonaparte and Nero over for one circus season we’d drive the mint out of business.” ”

“ Under the management of P. T. Barnum, the most famous of all our dwarfs was touring the country. Between engagements he stopped over Sunday at a country hotel in New England.
A lady of the neighborhood called and sent up her card with the request that she be permitted to meet the General. The message was received by a member of Barnum’s staff, who happened at the moment to be in the General’s room. This person, who was six feet tall and broad in proportion, and also something of a wit, asked that the lady be shown up. ”

“ Paul and his father remained at Harbor View for some weeks, and then business called Mr. Bartlett away. He left, promising to see his friends again soon.
"Come on," called Andy to Frank one day, "I've just thought of a fine trick to play on Chet Sedley."
"Not for mine!" exclaimed Frank. "I've had enough of your tricks for a while. I'm going fishing. We haven't much more time at the beach, as it will soon be time to go back to New York."
"And then for boarding school," exclaimed Andy, turning a handspring. "I heard dad talking to mother about it. Say! Maybe we won't have sport!" ”

“ It was a good idea, for the speedy craft of Mr. Lacey, as it proved to be, could not have come in very close. But the raft made a good landing float.
"Well, Andy and Frank!" exclaimed Mr. Racer, when he could grasp their hands. "You've given us a fine scare."
"We didn't mean to," spoke Andy.
"And we have the man who caused all the trouble," added Frank. "He's a prisoner, dad. See, Paul. Here's the man we've been after."
Paul Gale pressed to the side of the motor craft as it floated near the raft. At once a strange change came over the lad's face. His cheeks flushed and his eyes grew bright. ”

“ You've got to do your best now, old girl," he called to the horse. The animal pricked up her ears.
"I'll ride in back and hold his head," volunteered Frank. "Andy, you go telephone for Dr. Martin. Tell him to get to our house as soon as possible—explain why. Have him there by the time we arrive, if possible."
"Right!" cried Andy sharply, and he raced off toward the nearest telephone, there being a few of the instruments in Harbor View.
"Wa'll, I'll be jib-boomed!" exclaimed Captain Trent, as his son drove off, the horse making good time. "Them Racer boys is allers up to suthin' or other." ”