Peekskill

“ Had I possessed the power of foreknowledge, I might twice have put Arnold asleep without any one knowing it and saved the life of, perhaps, a better man, and my country much trouble and disgrace. The first time was at the Peekskill in a barn, just before Andre came to his quarters and while their clandestine negotiation was in progress. I was upon a guard. "There are men," says Shakespear, "who, in their sleep mutter all their conceits." Such an one was Arnold, and therefore afraid to sleep near any one lest he should "babble his conceits" in his sleep. ”

“ Our officers were all on tiptoe to show their abilities in executing some extraordinary exploit. Verplank's point was the word; "shall the Light Infanty get all the honour, and we do nothing!" said they. Accordingly, we sat off, full tilt, to take Verplank's point; we marched directly for the Peekskill, and arrived near there early in the day. We there received information that the British at Verplank's point were reinforced, and advancing to attack us. ”

“ M'Dougall had only two hundred and fifty effective men, too few to attempt opposition. He immediately commenced sending his stores to Forts Clinton and Montgomery for safety, but before he had accomplished his design, ten sail of British vessels appeared off Tarrytown, and two went up to Haverstraw Bay, at a point twelve miles below Peekskill. March 22, 1777 The next day the whole fleet anchored in Peekskill Bay; and at one o'clock, five hundred men, in eight flat-boats, under the command of Colonel Bird, landed at Lent's Cove, on the south side of the bay. ”

“ A sand filter was constructed for the water supply of this city in 1909, and put in operation in December. The filter has a capacity of 4,000,000 gal. per day. The supply is taken from Peekskill Creek, and the water receives about one week's nominal storage before flowing to the filters. An aerator is used before filtration during the summer, when algae are likely to develop in the reservoir. The filter was installed after an epidemic of typhoid which was apparently caused by an infection of the water supply. ”

“ If a husband's dead he's dead, and there's nothing made by mourning. Likewise, what's most wanted in any husband is that he should be a live one.
Little Maxie died in a rather curious way. Some say he was drowned by his pals, Big Mike among them. The story runs that there was a quarrel over splitting up a touch, and the mob charged Little Maxie with holding out. Be that as it may, the certainty is that Little Maxie and his mob, being in Peekskill, got exceeding drunk—all but Little Maxie—and went out in a boat. Being out, Little Maxie went overboard abruptly, and never came up. ”

“ The son, Jacob de Pechels (born at Montauban, 2d June 1679) , already mentioned, accompanied his parents to Dublin, which city was his home till his death at a good old age. He entered our army; and his name was spelt Pechell in his commission, and in consequence the family took that name. He rose to the rank of Colonel, having seen much service in the wars of Queen Anne’s and George the Second’s reigns. About the period of the Peace of Utrecht he married an heiress in Ireland, Jane Elizabeth Boyd, daughter of John. ”

“ Jim, coming down the river, had not only the lonesomeness to fight, but hunger as well, and wielded a starved paddle when he reached the first Indian village on the Koyukuk, where, with the swift swinging drag of the hand, they helped him to land his canoe and watched him try to stagger out on feet that had become wooden and jointless. They housed him in the kasima, or club house, and the first one to give him food and sympathy was Peechecan. She was the daughter of a shaman, and in those days a beauty; long limbed, lithe, fair skinned, ami wide eyed. ”

“ So he saw again that Peik had been out with his fooling rods this time too. Then he fell a-tearing his hair, and swore he would set off at once and slay him. He wouldn't spare him this time, whether he put a good or a bad face on it.
But Peik had taken steps to meet him again. He slaughtered a wether and caught the blood in the bladder, and stuffed it into his sister's bosom, and told her what to say and do.
"Where's Peik!" screeched out the King. He was in such a rage that his tongue faltered.
"He is so poorly that he can't stir hand or foot," she said, "and now he's trying to get a nap." ”

“ It's no good sparing the life of such a rogue."
"Yes! he knew by his spies that your Majesty was coming, and was going to take his life for his wicked tricks; but he has left me all alone without a morsel of bread or a penny in my purse," said Peik, who made himself as soft and mealy-mouthed as a young lady.
"Come along, then, to the King's Grange, and you shall have enough to live on. There's no good sitting here and starving in this cabin by yourself," said the King. ”

“ Pecksniff himself," observed the hostess in conclusion, spreading out the skirts of her gown with both hands, and nodding her head a great many times as she did so, "I don't know what to say. Somebody must have poisoned his mind, or influenced him in some extraordinary way. I cannot believe that such a noble-spoken gentleman would go and do wrong of his own accord!"
How many people are there in the world, who, for no better reason, uphold their Pecksniffs to the last, and abandon virtuous men, when Pecksniffs breathe upon them! ”

“ And your conscience does not acquit you. No, Sir, no!"
Pronouncing these last words in a loud and solemn voice, Mr. Pecksniff was not so absolutely lost in his own fervour as to be unmindful of the expediency of getting a little nearer to the door.
"I have been struck this day," said Mr. Pecksniff, "with a walking-stick, which I have every reason to believe has knobs upon it: on that delicate and exquisite portion of the human anatomy, the brain. Several blows have been inflicted, Sir, without a walking-stick, upon that tenderer portion of my frame: my heart. ”

“ Pecksniff, after a short silence, "is a high one. Forgive me, my dear Mr. Jonas," he added, greatly moved, "if I say that you have spoiled me, and made it a fanciful one; an imaginative one; a prismaticaily tinged one, if I may be permitted to call it so."
"What do you mean by that?" growled Jonas, looking at him with increased disfavour.
"Indeed, my dear friend," said Mr. Pecksniff, "you may well inquire. The heart is not always a royal mint, with patent machinery, to work its metal into current coin. Sometimes it throws it out in strange forms, not easily recognised as coin at all. ”

“ It will not do, sir," repeated Mr. Pecksniff, shaking his head. "You may think it will do, but it won't. You must provide for that young man; you shall provide for him; you will provide for him. I believe," said Mr. Pecksniff, glancing at the pen-and-ink, "that in secret you have already done so. Bless you for doing so. Bless you for doing right, sir. Bless you for hating me. And good night!"
So saying, Mr. Pecksniff waved his right hand with much solemnity; and once more inserting it in his waistcoat, departed. There was emotion in his manner, but his step was firm. ”

“ Can you kill folk and blow life into them again? Can you do that?" said the King.
"Why!" said Peik, "how could I get on at all if I couldn't? I am always killing every one I come near; don't you know I have a terrible temper?"
"I am hot-tempered, too," said the King, "and that horn I must have. I'll give you a hundred dollars for it, and besides I'll forgive you for cheating me out of my horse and for fooling me about the pot and the block, and all else." ”

“ Pecksniff returned with a breathless rapidity, strange to observe in him, at other times so calm; and, seeking immediate speech with his daughters, shut himself up with them in private conference, for two whole hours. Of all that passed in this period, only the following words of Mr. Pecksniff's utterance are known:
"How he has come to change so very much (if it should turn out as I expect, that he has) , we needn't stop to inquire. My dears, I have my thoughts upon the subject, but I will not impart them. It is enough that we will not be proud, resentful, or unforgiving. ”

“ And then, darting in and catching sight of old Martin, "My venerable friend is well?"
Mr. Pecksniff looked round upon the assembled group, and shook his head reproachfully.
"Oh, vermin!" said Mr. Pecksniff. "Oh bloodsuckers! Horde of unnatural plunderers and robbers! Leave him! Leave him, I say! Begone! Abscond! You had better be off! Wander over the face of the earth, young sirs, and do not presume to remain in a spot which is hallowed by the grey hairs of the patriarchal gentleman to whose tottering limbs I have the honour to act as an unworthy, but I hope an unassuming, prop and staff." ”

“ Here he took a captain's biscuit. "It is a poor heart that never rejoices; and our hearts are not poor. No!"
The following morning Mr. Pecksniff announced that he must go to London. "On professional business, my dear Martin; strictly on professional business; and I promised my girls long ago that they should accompany me. We shall go forth to-night by the heavy coach--like the dove of old, my dear Martin--and it will be a week before we again deposit, our olive-branches in the passage. When I say olive branches," observed Mr. Pecksniff, in explanation, "I mean our unpretending luggage." ”

“ And many a day I looked over at Number One claim and saw Peechecan, in her denim parka, turning at the windlass and hoisting the dirt Jim carefully picked up below.
Sometimes I think we failed to realize how rich and happy we were off there in that wilderness by ourselves and so far removed from the greed and harshness of civilization. The knowledge was brought to us when the summer came and the world flowed in on our fastness, bringing by thousands and tens of thousands a drove of gold-mad men. ”

“ Pecksniff's speech, attacked the bottle with such vigour, that every time he filled his glass anew, Miss Charity, despite her amiable resolves, could not repress a fixed and stony glare, as if her eyes had rested on a ghost. Mr. Pecksniff also became thoughtful at those moments, not to say dejected: but, as he knew the vintage, it is very likely he may have been speculating on the probable condition of Mr. Pinch upon the morrow, and discussing within himself the best remedies for colic. ”

“ Bred in a more poisonous swamp than their Eden, of greatly older standing and much harder to be drained, Pecksniff was all our own. The confession is not encouraging to national pride, but this character is so far English, that though our countrymen as a rule are by no means Pecksniffs, the ruling weakness is to countenance and encourage the race. When people call the character exaggerated, and protest that the lines are too broad to deceive any one, they only refuse, naturally enough, to sanction in a book what half their lives is passed in tolerating if not in worshipping. ”

“ Her doubt turned to conviction; her face became hot; her heart, but for the anger at it, would have grown sick with the disappointment. Her conductors and the donkey were retreating, having played their joke out! Two certainties forced themselves upon her mind. One, that Peckaby and his friends had planned it: she felt sure now that the biggest of the “Brothers” had been nobody but Chuff, the blacksmith; the other certainty was, that she should never be sent for to New Jerusalem in any other way. Why it should have been, Mrs. Peckaby could not have told, then or afterwards ”

“ The gentleman in question dived.
"With Pecksniff!" rejoined Tom, with cheerful confidence. "Oh dear, he'd never think of us! He's the best of men. The more at ease you were, the happier he would be. Oh dear, you needn't be afraid of Pecksniff. He is not a spy."
Many a man in Mr. Pecksniff's place, if he could have dived through the floor of the pew of state and come out at Calcutta or any inhabited region on the other side of the earth, would have done it instantly. Mr. Pecksniff sat down upon a hassock, and listening more attentively than ever, smiled. ”

“ They marched him a mile across that snow to a rope bridge over a ravine with a river at the bottom. You may have seen such. They prodded him behind like an ox. ‘Damn your eyes!’ says the King. ‘D’ you suppose I can’t die like a gentleman?’ He turns to Peachey—Peachey that was crying like a child. ‘I’ve brought you to this, Peachey,’ says he. ‘Brought you out of your happy life to be killed in Kafiristan, where you was late Commander-in-Chief of the Emperor’s forces. Say you forgive me, Peachey.’ ‘I do,’ says Peachey. ‘Fully and freely do I forgive you, Dan.’ ‘Shake hands, Peachey,’ says he. ”

“ The blow that had fallen on Peace and his domestic circle was a terrible one, and in a short space of time, after his conviction, the house in the Evalina-road was tenantless.
A visit to the locality is thus described by an eye-witness:—
“Peckham approached from Greenwich, with a suggestion of sunshine in the sky, looked much prettier to-day. There are some goodly houses along Queen’s-road, but as one climbs the hill to Peace’s part, the houses taper away till long lines of modest brick buildings meet the eye. Where Peace lived may be called the tail-end of Peckham. ”

“ I know what you would urge: that by going elsewhere you would displease Roy. It seems to me that if you would all go elsewhere, Roy could not prevent it. Should one of you attempt to go, he might; but he could not prevent it if you all go with one accord. If Peckaby’s things are bad—as I believe they are—why do you buy them?”
“There ain’t a single thing as is good in his place,” spoke up a woman, half-crying. “Sir, it’s truth. His flour is half bone-dust, and his ’taturs is watery, his sugar is sand, and his tea is leaves dried over again, and his eggs is rotten, and his coals is flint.” ”