Midway

“ When the show was over, she joined him proudly, her little brown-painted hands clinging to his arm, her face uplifted adoringly to his, as she pattered at his side on a tour of the midway. It was then that her dreams came true. At last she was “doing the carnival” with a “boy friend,” like other girls. And David played up magnificently, buying her hot dogs, salt water taffy, red lemonade—the two of them drinking out of twin straws from the same glass. ”

“ Those who dwell in clubs and studios may paint excellent pictures or write enchanting novels. There is one thing that they should not do: they should pass no judgment on man's destiny, for it is a thing with which they are unacquainted. Their own life is an excrescence of the moment, doomed, in the vicissitude of history, to pass and disappear: the eternal life of man, spent under sun and rain and in rude physical effort, lies upon one side, scarce changed since the beginning.
I would I could have carried along with me to Midway Island all the writers and the prating artists of my time. ”

“ Seven formations (or groups) of the Tertiary strata have been distinguished in Mississippi. The oldest is the Midway limestone and clays in a narrow strip whose western limit is nearly parallel to the western boundary of the Selma chalk; it includes: the Clayton formation, characterized by the hard blue Turritella limestone (so named from the frequent fossil (Turritella mortoni) ; and Porters Creek (previously called Flatwoods) clay, which is grey, weathering white, and is occasionally overlain by grey fossiliferous sandstone. ”

“ One of the men arrived from Cliffdale during dinner with the mail and the information that another cold rain was falling and freezing to everything it touched.
"The whole country about here will be one glare of ice in the morning," said Mr. Canary. "You young folks will have all the sledding you care for, I fancy. I have seen the time when, after one of these ice storms, one might coast from here to Midway Junction on the railroad, and that's a matter of twenty miles."
"What a lark that would be," cried Tommy Tucker. "Some slide, eh, Bob?" ”

“ We seem to have been traveling in it most of the time since leaving Denver and conclude, if we stay here a few days, it may get ahead of us.
The first thing we did after putting our horses up in the livery barn was to get our mail. Here I found a note from Mr. Adair, Cashier of the City National Bank, asking me to call at once on a very important matter. I concluded he probably had something to sell and had heard somewhere that I was liable to come through his town, so I put the note in my pocket and we went to the Midway Hotel and cleaned up, planning to see Mr. Adair the next day. ”

“ Though no one could claim for its surroundings the privilege of startling beauty, yet there is no more smiling a piece of country in the English Midlands than that of which it is the centre. Cut off from the Fenland flats on the east by a long table-land with a gradual eastward slope, and on the south by the broken country towards Bourn and Stamford, it has on the north the long line of pretty villages which mark the road to Lincoln, and on the west the vale of Belvoir, overhung by the wooded escarpments of the Leicestershire Wolds. ”

“ No, the palm of wintry beauty must assuredly be given to the English Midlands—the Midlands with their stolid and richly variegated woodlands, and their pretty undulating meadows, clad in fleecy garments of the purest, softest, and most glittering snow. It was a typical Midland Christmas when I got to Northampton and took my place in the luxurious closed carriage Achrow had sent to meet me. ”

“ A railway mania had seized those with money to spare, and quite a fevered gambling took place. In one year, 1846, 272 Acts were passed for new lines. At that time there were several Midland Companies—the Midland Counties, the North Midland, the West Midland—all later absorbed in the Midland. There were two North Westerns—the London & North Western and the "Little" North Western. The competition for towns and routes was of a bitter and remorseless character, and contract work was rushed. ”

“ On either side, the banks of the Medway, covered with cornfields and pastures, with here and there a windmill, or a distant church, stretched away as far as the eye could see, presenting a rich and varied landscape, rendered more beautiful by the changing shadows which passed swiftly across it as the thin and half–formed clouds skimmed away in the light of the morning sun. ”

“ Though it stands in the midst of a flat and dreary country, with good corn-land spread among desert fens, and fewer and smaller trees than ours—for the glory of Middlesex is the noble elms—yet the house has the advantage of a fine rise towards it, and a wide and open view for many miles across the level. ”

“ Talking in this and a like strain, the road-agent did not seem to note the progress of his horse, but he suddenly spoke to the animal, which came to a halt in a beautiful spot not far from the banks of the Cheyenne river.
“This is the place for you, Dora,” said Midnight Jack, addressing the fair girl whom he had carried to this bewitching spot. “I'll visit your grave every day, and death shall be the portion of the fiend who ventures to despoil it. ”

“ WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE DISCOVERY OF HERVEY’S ISLAND, AND THE INCIDENTS THAT HAPPENED AT MIDDLEBURG. After leaving Ulietea, as before mentioned, I steered to the west, inclining to the south; to get clear of the tracks of former navigators, and to get into the latitude of the islands of Middleburg and Amsterdam: for I intended to run as far west as these islands, and to touch there if I found it convenient, before I hauled up for New Zealand. I generally lay to every night, lest we might pass any land in the dark. ”

“ Rising from a base of hard ground high above the stream, it forms a grand feature upon the shore of the Medway, here 1,000 feet in breadth, and which almost vies with the Thames in the volume of its waters. From the turrets of the keep is seen outspread a view of great extent and exceeding variety, including the steep and verdant slopes of the chalk, and the broad and fertile meads across which the great river flows in graceful folds, concealed and betrayed by the inequalities of the hills and the scattered masses of forest trees. ”

“ Enfield does not turn its best face to the Lea Valley, but the stretch of parks and shady roads to the north of it makes one of the pleasantest corners of Middlesex. And if the pedestrian seek a green ramble back to town, I can put him upon one which will show part of the country not so much changed from the days of Lamb’s wanderings. Let him take the Barnet Road, past the Great Northern Railway station and the spired church, a little beyond which, where the road drops from a turning marked “Chase Ridings,” he looks out for a field-path going off to the left. ”

“ George Midford—or Mitford, as he subsequently spelt his name—was the son of Francis Midford, Esq., of Hexham (descended from the ancient house of Midford, [2] of Midford Castle, near Morpeth) , and of his wife Jane, formerly Miss Jane Graham, of Old Wall in Westmoreland, related to the Grahams of Netherby. ”

“ I can be one little corner; there's all Middlefield beside. Isn't there work for you as a citizen and as a Christian in our little town? Suppose you go to Middlefield with the same motives that you would go on a mission to India, Africa, or the Isles of the Sea! ”

“ The beauty, fashion, and exclusiveness of Port Middlebay, flocked to do honour to one so deservedly esteemed, so highly talented, and so widely popular. Doctor Mell (of Colonial Salem-House Grammar School, Port Middlebay) presided, and on his right sat the distinguished guest. After the removal of the cloth, and the singing of Non Nobis (beautifully executed, and in which we were at no loss to distinguish the bell-like notes of that gifted amateur, WILKINS MICAWBER, ESQUIRE, JUNIOR) , the usual loyal and patriotic toasts were severally given and rapturously received. ”

“ But I always think Middlemarch a very healthy spot. I suppose it is being used to it from a child; but I never saw the town I should like to live at better, and especially our end.”
“I am sure I should be glad that you always should live at Middlemarch, Mrs Bulstrode,” said Mrs Hackbutt, with a slight sigh. “Still, we must learn to resign ourselves, wherever our lot may be cast. Though I am sure there will always be people in this town who will wish you well.” ”

“ Medway.
"I must go to New York at once," said Edward.
"Don't you do it. You will undo everything that has been done, if you do. Probably Mr. Medway has been seasick overmuch. He will be all right in a few days. Wait till you hear again, at least."
He did wait, and the next letter informed him of the death of his father-in-law, and that his remains had been sent to his friends in Maine. Mrs. Wayland added that she should go to Camden at once, where a letter from him would reach her.
"It is no use for you to go now, Ned," said Tom. "You can do no good." ”

“ While our battalion was at Flushing the Officers frequently visited the town of Middleburgh, the capital of the Island, and pleasantly situated in its centre. It is a clean and very beautiful place, surrounded by gardens and richly improved pleasure grounds, among which are interspersed many handsome buildings and cottages, laid out with a degree of taste and neatness, seldom to be found beyond the boundaries of England. With regard to the town it is perfection itself, free from every nuisance; the houses are well built, the streets wide and regularly paved. ”

“ What's the finish here?
A start was made to tell the life story of a midget, but complications arose that could not be avoided. Instead of traveling the infrequent paths of the Lilliputians the journey has, in many instances, swept down the traffic-filled thoroughfare of the big adults. But midgets are few in number, they have few contacts with each other. In most every instance, their employment is to exhibit themselves to the thousands and thousands who come to see and comment.
Midgets do not go to war, cannot win a prize fight, or bust one over the right field fence for a home run. ”

“ About the campus it was commonly rumored that the president of Midland had a little China doll into which, each midnight, he jabbed many red hot needles.
The plaything wore coveralls and bulldog shoes, just like Hank Cleaver!
I said, "So you're going to call in 'Horse-sense' Hank." [1]
"Don't talk about him!" growled MacDowell savagely. "Find him! If we don't solve this mystery soon, we're going to have F.B.I. men romping all over our campus. The reputation of glorious Midland will be ruined. ”

“ Look at the men. There's not a head covered, and there's not a heart, my boy, that would not jump out of its shoes at a smile from her. Who is she? Why she is the beauty and the belle and the mystery of London. Her name is Mildmay, Violet Mildmay. One of the old ladies with her is her aunt, Mrs. Mildmay. The other is a Mrs. Dodson—a relation of the family, some say, others a mother of that singular fellow, Leicester Dodson, Bertie Fairfax's sworn friend, who cut his throat down at some outlandish watering-place. ”

“ When the men were sufficiently under the influence of the liquor, Middleton, who had explained his plan in advance to all whom he felt he could trust, gave the signal for the flight. One by one the captives left the house in which they were confined and proceeded to a point on the shore where a boat from the Darling was waiting to take them off. Middleton was too well known to make it safe for him to proceed openly through the streets. ”

“ Peter Middleton had a restaurant to his right, to his left and in front of him; and to his oversensitive nostrils the murky atmosphere was redolent with all the perfumes of the kitchen. A handsomely appointed limousine, having scraped the curb and splashed his carefully creased trousers with mud, jerked his thoughts into a new groove.
“Beastly plutocrats!” he muttered. “The world's full of them, and they all have motorcars. ”

“ Rube had made an important discovery. The dead Indian had been Dora's captor; this he had learned by following the three young bucks from the square, but beyond this he had not been able to proceed far.
“Every soul in an Indian town must be present at a sun-dance—captives and all?” said Midnight Jack. “So in all probability we shall have to go through it. But there is one who won't trouble us.”
“Yes, I know him; he keeps his word inviolate. We have but Tanglefoot to deal with.” ”

“ Once more we drove back over Mendip in the dark. All around us on the desolate plateau was impenetrable gloom, but in the northern sky, and it seemed but a few miles away, the lights of Bath and Bristol flared across the heavens like two immense conflagrations. Never does one feel the sublimity of the open, windy earth, the starry sky, and the free sense of space, so profoundly as after striving for a long day to break through the barriers that shut us out from the regions of mystery under the hills. ”

“ But it was so incoherent that it tormented him.
“Am I never to find you, Dora?” he said. “Does another man hunt you for your pretty face? If so let him stand clear of Midnight Jack.”
That the dumpy man was old Tanglefoot the road-agent was certain. His companion was straight and well built, and was attired as many Indians were, in a cavalry jacket and blue pantaloons.
The name Golden George was not unfamiliar to Midnight Jack. It told him that another foe had risen against him in the very heart of the Sioux camp. ”