Lascar

“ Suddenly it darted to the hatch, unfastened and lifted it with a swift, familiar dexterity, and disappeared in the opening. But as the moon shone upon its vanishing face, it revealed the whitening eyes and teeth of the Lascar seaman.
Dropping to the lower deck lightly, he felt his way through the dark passage between the partitions, evidently less familiar to him, halting before each door to listen. Returning forward he reached the second hatchway that had attracted Rosey's attention, and noiselessly unclosed its fastenings. A penetrating smell of bilge arose from the opening. ”

“ The Lascar was known to be a man of the vilest antecedents, but as by Mrs. St. Clair's story he was known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he could not account in any way for the presence of the missing gentleman's clothes. ”

“ LASCAR, the name in common use for all oriental, and especially Indian, sailors, which has been adopted in England into the Merchant Shipping Acts, though without any definition. It is derived from the Persian lashkar = army, or camp, in which sense it is still used in India, e.g. ”

“ The attack was so miraculously swift, so disconcerting in its beast-like ferocity, that Jan felt a strange qualm that was almost akin to panic. Then a black rage swelled his muscles; and tearing the creature from him he dashed him down upon the floor, on the back of his neck, with a violence which left no need of pursuing the question further. Not till he had examined each of the bodies carefully, and tried them with his knife, did he turn again to the wounded Lascar leaning against the wall.
"Thank you, my friend!" he said simply.
"You're a good fighting man. ”

“ So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. ”

“ The Lascar was really Swart’s hierarchical superior, in a business point of view. He received threepence a day more than the others, because his complexion was suited to the character of the show. With this natural advantage, and with a turban manufactured with rare self-denial from the tail of his own shirt, he was altogether a specialist of publicity for such things as Indian Bitters, and the Turkish Bath. He was more of a philosopher than (205) Swart. He had accepted caste as a law of Nature and of God, while the other, in the muddled English way, only took it as it came. ”

“ Lascaris expanded his chest, unoffended, and, caressing his beard, answered impassively:—
'Thou questionest of this vision, Theosutos? I answer, How many changes can be rung on a carillon of eight bells? By such measure shalt thou imagine, an thou canst, the changes possible to the myriad of particles that go to the composition of a single human eye. ”

“ Whenever any one entered or left the chamber the negro moved his head a little and looked at Lascaris. But he had grown accustomed to the Georgian and he did not move as she brushed by him, merely breathing deep, as a dog does when half asleep.
She filled the emperor's goblet from a jar brought by a little deaf-mute girl, and at the same time the domastikos, who was the chamberlain of the palace, offered her the tray with Lascaris' supper. The sick man had asked for seasoned food, and the tray held a dish of rice curry. ”

“ Finally he broke out, in a fury:—
'Now, by the Host, thou consolest me—now, by the Host! To reconcile to this spectre by arguing it perpetual! To——'
Grinding his teeth, he clipped his long fingers on the bench arm, as if he were about to spring. Lascaris forestalled him with a placid word:—
'Not perpetual. The mood invokes these shadows, as the mood shall lay them.'
Galeazzo snarled.
'The mood! What mood, fool? You shift and shift. God! it will be the mood of the mood next. Hast thou no master-key to all? ”

“ A half-suppressed snarl broke from the prisoner. Galeazzo, hunched on his cushions, stared vacantly before him.
'Ah!' he said, 'he could talk. I remember him, a midwife to the wind—as ye all be—as ye all be. What of the fellow?'
Lascaris wondered.
'Little, in truth, Magnificence, save in so far as your Magnificence was pleased to introduce his name.'
'Did I? I had forgot. What was the connection? Empty words, was it not, and vainglory and presumption?'
'And discontent. Add it thereto, Illustrious.'
'Discontent? Of what? The man prospers, I understand, on his school of all the virtues. ”

“ Because Lascaris must have forgotten her presence on the balcony, she kept very still and listened. The emperor was asking for news of the city, and the Lombard surely was an informer.
“No furs have come in from the northern trading posts, our agents say, may it please your august Majesty. There has been fighting on the Dnieper.”
“So near? The tribesmen?”
“May your clemency be enlightened! The savage Russians of the northern forests were slaughtered and scattered by the pagans from Cathay—the Horde, as it is called.”
“Ah.” Lascaris was silent a moment. ”

“ Some weeks later, Lady Hester begins to think that Lascaris is a hare-brained fellow. If General Oakes is able to obtain some money for him, it will be a charity, for the unfortunate man is on thorns (the old fox continues the little comedy) , but he must not be reckoned on; he is mad and will not be good for anything.... The cream of praises is beginning to turn. Finally, Lady Hester, saturated with the stories and jeremiads of Lascaris, gave him a handsome present to compensate him for his journey and invited him to remain with her. ”

“ Charging him breast-high, the muzzle of my piece came crash upon the crown of his caput, which a scarlet fez failed to protect, and so I tumbled him against one of the brass nines to leeward.
On seeing this the whole of the Lascars, instead of coming to his rescue, fled down the fore-hatchway.
I gave the tindal another tap on the head to enforce quietness, and took away his creese.
"Help me to secure this rascal," cried I to our men; "he will be a surety for the other Lascars." ”

“ Before I went to Palmyra, I made an excursion 322 into the Desert with Lascaris alone, keeping the doctor and the married servants, under one pretext or another, from accompanying me. Lascaris and I were pursued by the Fedâan Bedouins, who were hostile to Mohammed el Fadi; and, although our horses never drank for two days, we rode from ten in the morning until after midnight, without eating or drinking, to get out of their district. Then, again, the dispute between Lascaris and me was about a groom, who, not knowing who he was, would not let him enter my stables at Hamah. ”

“ I lavished consolations on Madame d’Urfe; and on consulting the oracle I found that the Lascaris had been defiled by an evil genius, and that I must search for another virgin whose purity must be under the protection of more powerful spirits. I saw that my madwoman was perfectly happy with this, and I left her to visit the Corticelli, whom I found in bed with her mother beside her. ”

“ He appeared for the first time in Germany at the beginning of the eighteenth century, a man seemingly some forty or fifty years old, of attractive mien, agreeable in manner, and fluent in his conversation. Finding himself indisposed at Berlin, he sent for a certain apothecary, who for some reason was unable to attend, and on several occasions was represented by a pupil at the bedside of the stranger. With this youth Lascaris fell into conversation, and a sort of friendship sprung up between them. ”

“ It will be amusing to know Lady Hester's opinion on this subject, if only in order to follow the evolution of a woman's judgment.
On returning from her journey to the Emir Mahannah, Lascaris is lauded to the skies. She writes at that time to General Oakes, Governor of Malta:
"I have met here an extraordinary character, Mr. Lascaris, of Ventimiglia. He is a little giddy, but he is a remarkable man who has an astonishing knowledge of the Arabs. He is extremely poor and very energetic. If he falls into the hands of the French, we shall stand some chance of repenting of it in the future. ”

“ Portuguese India, see s.v.) that the good Lasquarim, or 'soldier' as we should call him, must be an Abyssinian."—Castro, Roteiro, 73.
1546.—"Besides these there were others (who fell at Diu) whose names are unknown, being men of the lower rank, among whom I knew a lascarym (a man getting only 500 reis of pay!) who was the first man to lay his hand on the Moorish wall, and shouted aloud that they might see him, as many have told me. And he was immediately thrown down wounded in five places with stones and bullets, but still lived ”

“ She—your mother—said that she knew it; that was the reason—one reason— And I, Edward Lasker, outside, peering in at that happiness. God, if I'd had a conscience, it wouldn't have stood before that—that night!” He swallowed and caressed his lips with his tongue. “So easy,” he went on. “So very easy—and unique. That was why. You'd never suspect that—would you, Dimmock? You'd never suspect a man would steal the child of a woman who'd broken his heart, would you? No—that saved it for me. Unique, by God—different! Killed him? Killed her? ”

“ Human nature. I went out to Colorado just a lonesome little kid with a bum lung. The lung's all right, but I never did quite get over the other. Two years ago, in the mountains, I met Carl Lasker, who owns the New York Star. It's said to be the greatest morning paper in the country. Lasker's a genius. And he fries the best bacon I ever tasted. I took him on a four-weeks' horseback trip through the mountains. We got pretty well acquainted. At the end of it he offered me a job. You see, I'd never seen a chorus girl, or the Woolworth building, or a cabaret, or a broiled lobster, or a subway. ”

“ Lax, nor even of Pat Carroll, who will be in the dock glaring at him; nor would he think much of anything but his direct story, while a friendly barrister is drawing it out of him; but when it comes to his cross-examination, it will be different. He will want all his pluck then, and all the simplicity which he can master. You must remember that a skilful man will have been turned loose on him with all the ferocity of a bloodhound; a man who will have all the cruelty of Lax, but will have nothing to fear ”

“ Whether in search of diversion, or that a vague hope whispered to him that he might obtain some intelligence by so doing, Lacour, on the fifth night after his interview with the minister, went to a masked ball at the grand opera house, in the costume of an officer of the Fusilier Guard, which chance led him to select. Weary of the noise and confusion, sad and discouraged, he had withdrawn from the crowded circle of dancers, when some one touched him on the shoulder.
"Captain Lassalle," said a sweet musical voice, "you are known, though the uniform you wear is not that of your own corps." ”

“ Lacson rose, to get a message off about the boat, but Rick stopped him and quickly outlined his conclusion about the headman, and Chahda's trip to the Bagobo village.
The major scratched his cheek thoughtfully. "It is just possible you are right," he said at last. "I myself noted that the old man was not at ease, but I attributed it to the presence of strange Americans, plus my own official status. Many primitive peoples are shy in the presence of authority. ”

“ Finding that there were not enough people there to maintain such an establishment of even moderate proportions, Lazard decided upon the advice of a seafaring man whom he met to remove his stock, which he had brought from the Northern town, to Los Angeles. He told me that he paid fifty-six dollars' steamer fare from San Francisco to San Diego, and that the freight on his merchandise cost him twenty 72 dollars a ton. Among his native friends, Lazard was always known as Don Solomon, and being popular, he frequently acted as floor-manager at balls and fandangos. ”

“ He ain’t no more Lassiter! He’s lost his nerve, he doesn’t look like the same feller. It’s village talk. Everybody knows it. He hasn’t thrown a gun, an’ he won’t!”
“Jud, I’ll bet he does,” replied Venters, earnestly. “Remember what I say. This Lassiter is something more than a gun-man. Jud, he’s big—he’s great!... I feel that in him. God help Tull and Dyer when Lassiter does go after them. For horses and riders and stone walls won’t save them.”
“Wal, hev it your way, Bern. I hope you’re right. Nat’rully I’ve been some sore on Lassiter fer gittin’ soft. ”

“ A good continuation for Black, which presents itself at first thought, is R-d6, enabling the doubling of the Rooks in the d- line or the participation of the Rook d6 in a fight on the King's wing.
(21) ... R-d6 (22) R-e4
White cannot take the Bishop h2 as Rxd2 would win the Queen. (22) P-f4 would not be good either as Black would reply Q-d7, threatening Rxd2 as well as Q-g4+; Kxh2, R-g6 and mate in two moves.
With R-e4 White attempts to protect his King by R-g4 against attacks in the g-file, and Black naturally tries to foil this attempt. ”