Jack Robinson

“ Sure’s my name’s Jack Robinson, I’m a quiet and peaceable stranger what always gets took in. When Jake Harper gets done orating to Buck, that affluent gentleman will give up lookin’ for me, except by accident. He won’t be real sure whether I’m workin’ for Jake or not, and the Circle Bar boys won’t be sure neither. In fact, nobody will be sure of anything, except you and me. That’s the best way to play her, ain’t it? ”

“ On the day of his encounter with the bear, Jack Robinson sent Rollo up to the fort to fetch down all the men except O’Donel, in order that the fishery might be carried on with vigour.
Of course it is unnecessary to inform the reader that Jack speedily recovered from the effects of his adventure. It would be absurd to suppose that anything of an ordinary nature could kill or even do much damage to our hero. ”

“ JACK PUDDING. The merry andrew, zany, or jester to a mountebank.
JACK ROBINSON. Before one could say Jack Robinson; a saying to express a very short time, originating from a very volatile gentleman of that appellation, who would call on his neighbours, and be gone before his name could be announced.
JACK SPRAT. A dwarf, or diminutive fellow.
JACK TAR. A sailor.
JACK WEIGHT. A fat man.
JACK WHORE. A large masculine overgrown wench.
JACKANAPES. An ape; a pert, ugly, little fellow. ”

“ The bull rose, blurred, and ran bang upon Dick, goring his ribs, throwing him up, and, bounding to the other side of the field, left the scratcher senseless upon the grass, and all before you could have found breath to say, "Jack Robinson!" had you been looking on, like the gamekeeper and farmer and dame Dobson.
Nothing in the wide world could have given the gamekeeper greater pleasure than Dick's overthrow. ”

“ He rode a huge, rawboned beast whose eye was roving and vicious—a brute named Celestine. No man but Jake had ever ridden her, and no man wanted to. Celestine had a reputation.
When he came upon Arnold and Robinson waiting in the road, Jake Harper drew rein very abruptly. At sight of Robinson’s laughing gaze, a shock of surprise crossed his seamed features. His eyes opened wide.
“For the love of Mike!” he uttered. “You!”
“C’rect the first shot as usual, Jake. Sure’s my name’s Jack Robinson, it’s me! I been having quite a bit o’ talk with Arnold; friendly and peaceable. How’re you, Jake?” ”

“ Jasper is only two miles off, and the Vigilants will be riding over here before we have time to say Jack Robinson.”
“There’s still time,” said George, “and as there’s only one man here against us now—I mean Hare—we can seize him, tie him to something, and then escape into the darkness.”
“So we can, my boy,” replied Watson, who was thinking as deeply and as calmly as if a game of chess, rather than a matter of life and death, were the issue. “There’s no trouble as to our escaping. But remember this. It’s pitch dark and raining again like cats and dogs; we don’t know our way ”

“ But Jack is only a child of four years as yet, and, intelligent though he is, it is only the intelligence of a human baby, and will never, even if he live to the full span of ourang-outan life of five-and-twenty, be anything more. But he is well worth going to see, and, as a “show,” Jack having his hands washed is far superior to the lions being fed.
For Jack gets his hands very dirty in the course of a day or two, and then they are washed. A chair is taken into the cage, and the attendant, having got out a pail of warm water, soap, towels, and flannel, calls the ourang out. ”

“ Hardly was his back turned, and amaist before ye could cry Jack Robinson, in comes the birkie and the very young leddy the auld gentleman described, arm-in-arm thegither, smoodging and lauching like daft. Dog on it! it was a shameless piece of business. As true as death, before all the crowd of folk, he pat his arm round her waist, and ca’ed her his sweatheart, and love, and dearie, and darling, and everything that is sweet. If they had been courting in a close thegither on a Friday night, they couldna hae said mair to ane anither, or gaen greater lengths. ”

“ Jack found Robinson Crusoe’s island a pleasanter place than he had expected. Among the ridges were many pretty valleys which were covered with patches of woods or grass. Everything bore a peculiar hue of green, from the groves of myrtle, pimento and corkwood to the grassy plots, the natural fields of oats and even to the moss-covered rocks of the spinelike mountains.
The coast, as far as he could see, overhung the sea or rose perpendicular to such a height as to make it inaccessible, except at one place where a rent in the wall allowed man to enter the almost sacred domain. ”

“ This curious advertisement is repeated in a satirical print which Rowlandson prepared on the same subject.
THE APOSTATE JACK ROBINSON, THE POLITICAL RAT-CATCHER.
March 1, 1784. The Apostate Jack Robinson, the Political Rat-catcher. N.B. Rats taken alive.—Before the door of the Treasury, from whence the converter of rats draws his supply of baits and lures, travelling cautiously on all fours and feeling his way, the political rat-catcher is slily augmenting his captures. ”

“ There was no note of sadness that day, for Jack was a "model young man," and every one agreed that there was "no finer girl than Nell."
Jack blamed his downfall to dabbling in politics. "Politics are rotten in this province," said he, as he endeavoured to excuse his condition; but perhaps, as a chum of Jack's said, he only blamed politics "'cause a fellow generally tries to find a soft place to fall." Whatever the cause, at least the fact was plain to all in the town that Jack was "down and out." ”

“ There was a momentary conflict within Jack, and then the beast became lord over the man. Going to the corner he brought his parcel from the bench and placed it on the bar. "How much can I draw on for that?" There was a wild determination in the voice. Unwrapping the parcel beneath the bar, the bar-tender at once knew what the contents meant.
"I don't want 'em, Jack: you better get home to your kids." But Jack was insistent, and gradually the other weakened. "Well, it's your property, and if you're going to sell 'em I guess I may as well buy 'em as anybody else. I'll chalk you fifty cents." ”

“ There is only One who could do it, and He has done it. I cannot say more now, but if you want to know all about it, come to me at the close of this service, or come to my home."
The eyes of the wife at his side were red again, but the tears were tears of joy. "It is very wonderful: we are all so happy. Oh, how glad I am that these services have been held," were her farewell words.
Jack's hand was the last one the missioner clasped. "Jack, you will be God's man. I go, but He remains. This change is all His doing, and He will hold you fast if you only trust Him. ”

“ You know that he went away in a ship to the Pacific Ocean, and the ship was wrecked, just as Robinson Crusoe’s was, and though he was not a supercargo, he was a midshipman, and I don’t suppose there is much difference; and at all events, if Robinson Crusoe was saved, and lived on a desert island for many years, though everybody else in the ship was lost, why should not dear Jack have been cast on some island, and be still alive, though not able to get away, or I am sure that he would, and would come home and tell us all about it; for he knows how we all love him and think about him every day. ”

“ To explain my meaning further I need only refer to the history of that overgrown but otherwise estimable person whose lodgings were burglariously entered by a young person named Jack, who for no apparent reason — such was the laxity of the public morals in those days — climbed up, so we are asked to believe, the stalk of a leguminous vegetable of the bean kind, and, having effected a forcible entry into the giant’s premises, robbed the amiable but stertorous Blunderbore of the most valuable of his effects. ”

“ Jack laughed, and with another hearty shake of the Captain's hand, he sprang into his saddle, and the Arrow was quickly speeding towards Fairacre again.
"He ought to make a rattling quarter-back," said Captain Phil, reflectively, to Tom Jones. "A fellow with his nerve is just the man we want to fill Robinson's shoes." ”

“ He still carried with him the paper so strangely found on Robinson Crusoe island, and he was determined to make a search for the hidden treasure which it mentioned.
Accordingly, mounted on a small but sure-footed and faithful pony, with a supply of provisions, Jack set out on his uncertain journey without telling any one his intentions, little dreaming of the result which was to come of his secret movement.
He believed the mysterious island was nearly north of Resaca, so he shaped his course in that direction, keeping a sharp lookout for any enemy that might be in his pathway. ”

“ Now that Jack had really got started in his speculations, he studied how best he might promote his interest. His young wife going with him to South America, he resolved to locate in that country until he had got fairly under control the gigantic business he intended to build up.
While successful in his nitrate ventures, he still preserved the manuscript he had picked up in the convict cell on the island of Robinson Crusoe, and he looked forward to the time when he should be able to visit the strange lake in the Andes with means to reach its mysterious island of buried treasure. ”

“ Such touching kindness deeply affected all who witnessed it, and Bill at once greeted the good gentleman, and begged of him to account to them for his very strange appearance on the country road.
'Sirs,' said the Ancient Mariner, as he placed his burden lovingly on the ground, 'my name is Jack, Plain Jack, and I am the ninth mate of the Swedish ship Turnip, a brig-rigged barquentine, that sailed from Cherry Garden Pier for Margate with a cargo of camels, in the year 1840, and has never since been heard of. ”

“ It'll be no easy business, but I'm not in the fight alone; God's in it too. Good-bye."
And the years that have passed since these words were spoken have shown clearly enough that Jack is not fighting alone. Once again prayerful hearts are returning thanks for the touch that "has still its ancient power."
"IF A MAN BE OVERTAKEN"
George fell—all the people knew that was what would happen. When he told in the church that he was going, with God's help, to be a Christian and "act the square," there was only one at the close of the meeting to say an encouraging word to him ”

“ A tendency to chest and throat complaints is always present, and if visitors only knew it, it is they themselves, with their wet clothes, waterproofs, and dripping umbrellas, who as often as not give the man-apes that are brought to the Zoo “their death of cold.” For himself, Jack is very careful in trying not to catch cold, and it is delightful to see the skill with which he completely covers himself with straw whenever he lies down. ”

“ Listen!” Jack squirmed about on the creaking cot until he had his back against the wall. Then he waved his pad triumphantly over his head. “It goes to the tune of ‘John Brown’s Body’; you suggested that, you know; and I didn’t have any trouble at all; and the rhymes are all right, too, I think! Now, then!” And Jack, beating time with his pencil, recited sonorously his verses:
“Robinson is wavering, her pride’s about to fall ”

“ Without it, the sage-brush laughs at man, and the horn of the jack-rabbit is exalted against him. With it, corn expels the weed, and the long-eared rodent is ploughed out of his possession. Without it, greasewood and gophers divide the wilderness between them. With it, homesteads spring up and gather the orchards around them. Without it, the silence of the level desert is broken only by the coyote and the lark. With it, comes the laughter of running brooks, the hum of busy markets, and the cheery voices of the mill-wheels by the stream. Without it, the world seems a dreary failure. ”

“ He even had the boldness to think of gaining both bags; but suddenly recollecting himself, he began to fear that the giant would sham sleep, the better to entrap any one who might be concealed.
⁠When the giant had counted over the gold till he was tired, he put it up, if possible, more secure than he had put up the sliver before; he then fell back on his chair by the fireside, and fell asleep. He snored so loud, that Jack compared his noise to the roaring of the sea in a high wind, when the tide is coming in. ”

“ LITTLE Jack Horner Sat in a corner, Eating a Christmas pie; He put in his thumb, And pulled out a plum, And said, "What a good boy am I!"
HEIGH, diddle, diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laughed To see such sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon.
[101]
ROBIN and Richard were two pretty men; They lay in bed till the clock struck ten; Then up starts Robin, and looks in the sky, Oh! brother Richard, the sun's very high!
SEE, saw, Margery Daw, Jacky shall have a new master; Jacky must have but a penny a day, Because he can't work any faster. ”

“ Dick finds him rather a handful very often. Robin can't abide him, which perhaps isn't much to be wondered at, seeing as it was mostly Jack's fault that he is such a poor cripple. He was always sickly. It's often the way with twins, you know. All the strength goes to one. But he always had to do what Jack did as a little one, and Jack led him into all sorts of mischief, till one day when they were about ten they went off bird's-nesting along the cliffs High Shale Point way, and only Jack come back late at night to say his brother had gone over the cliff. ”