Ray

“ But I am glad to say there were but a few of this class; and even they, before a great while, were forced to respect Ray. They found he was as good a scholar as he was bell ringer and sweeper. They found he could row a boat, or bat a ball, as well as he could recite. They found him manly and gentlemanly at all times. It suddenly dawned upon their minds that any necessary and useful employment is respectable. It was Ray who taught them that truth. He dignified the most menial work he was called to perform. He did it by putting Christian principle into his work. ”

“ No wonder Ray can feel that she is trembling from head to foot, and that his "I will" is firm and strong as he looks squarely into the eyes of the venerable priest and honors him for the gathering tears he sees there; no wonder his own turn proudly, fondly, down on her as her soft hand is placed in his nervous palm, and Blake sets his teeth to repel the gasp of delight with which he hears the clear-cut enunciation of every word of his solemn troth. ”

“ No doubt the ray passing over many things in such condition, enlightens the things after them, and there is no visible thing which it does not reach, with the surpassing greatness of its own splendour. Further also, it contributes to the generation of sensible bodies, and moves them to life, and nourishes, and increases, and perfects, and purifies and renews; and the light is both measure and number of hours, days, and all our time. ”

“ You lose count of time when you are a philosopher.
Mrs. Ray
And I am a woman of the world.
Professor
(As he goes to light another cigarette from the candles)
I’d hardly describe you that way, my dear; that sounds so naughty.
Mrs. Ray
I mean I love every minute that passes and everything the moment brings. I love the people who are of that moment.
Professor
You still dream of having a salon of celebrities?
Mrs. Ray
(Smiling)
It’s no worse than the museum of antiquities on your book shelves. But I keep forgetting you want your house in the forest so you can write about the dead. ”

“ As well let the rays of the solar light dispute for precedence, and the red ray, so blazing, presume to deny the equal worth of the violet ray, which, science teaches us, has power to make iron magnetic, and which more than its more bold companion on the other side of the prism, makes the impression on the silvered plate—itself the most magical pencil in the skilful hand of that unrivalled painter, the sun. God has united both rays in the sweet light of true humanity, and what He has joined together, let not man try to put asunder. ”

“ Yet the ray has a seeming identity, though even the very ripples of light that cause it are themselves ever changing, ever renewed. Could not the soul be such a ray, illuminating the atoms that pass through it, and itself a perpetual motion, a constant renewal? ”

“ Watching the firelight play fantastically through the dusk on the big, plain furniture, which achieved, at some expense, a rustic simplicity, he wondered a little about Ray. The husband whom Evangeline had chosen—he must be a wonderfully fine fellow. There was in her, Torringford knew, an unswerving surety of taste—to put the matter on no higher plane. Ah, there was in her the fine, divining quality of limpid, lovely womanhood! Ray must be a remarkable man, of stalwart virtues, of signal charm. ”

“ Ray’s face also lingered in her heart. Now and then she caught herself humming some darky song, and never once did the moon 279 smile into this quiet vale that her thoughts did not speed away to that wildwood lake, with its rippled path of silver, the dark bordering forest, and how she wielded a paddle while her young lover picked his banjo.
No word or hint of all this bygone life and romance ever fell from her lips. It was a page in her memory that must never be turned,–an idyl to be forgotten,–and yet forget it she could not, in spite of will or wishes. ”

“ R. Ray, I delighted to think how out-of-date she was, and how I must enlighten her at once on the correct method of addressing her son. I would do it that day, so that she might have opportunities of writing "Capt. Ray." For one never knew: some unpleasantly senior person might come along and take to himself my honourable rank.
I seized the letter and hurried home to our dug-out. Doe was already in possession of his mail, so, having wrapped ourselves in blankets to defeat the polar atmosphere, we crouched over a smoking oil-stove and read our letters. ”

“ It was a Saturday, and on his arrival at Easton a press of work was upon him until a late hour that night. Quite exhausted, not far from midnight he threw himself upon his bed, and soon fell asleep. Philosophers tell us that our dreams are a continuation of our waking thoughts. Be this as it may, Ray soon had a vision or dream quite in keeping with his thoughts and feelings of the whole day before. ”

“ Ray looked grimly on and inspected the evolutions; then there was long process of question and answer and asseveration, and, when the youth departed, little Jane had announced with authority that Ray should throw away his crutch and stand on two feet of his own again.
"What a gay fellow he is!" said Ray, drawing a breath of relief. "They're all alike, dancing on graves. To be an old Téméraire decked out in signal-flags after thunderous work well done, and settling down, is one thing. ”

“ And away he went with his head and shoulders still cutting capers that rendered Ray dumb with fascination. And then finally, Ray broke out. "There goes our gold mine," he said. "We mustn't lose him! When we get back in the States we'll join a side show.—'Ladies and gentlemen: it is my privilege to present to your astonished eyes the one and only living rubber-man. Observe the wonderful effect, as the breath and pulse of life courses through him. The only self-inflating—why, the only dread we have is that he may chance on some unhappy occasion to sit down on a bent pin or a sharp tack. ”

“ He drank half the mug, and addressed me.
"Ray, you have found favour in the sight of the General. He wants you for his A.D.C., and won't be happy till he gets you. He thinks you a pretty and a proper child and fairly clean. What abaht it?"
"Good Lord," said I. "I don't know what an A.D.C. is! What do I do?"
"Oh, see that the old gentleman is fed. And cut out the saucy girls from 'La Vie Parisienne,' and decorate the mess walls with them. And—and all that sort of thing."
"Go on, Ray," urged Doe. "Of course you'll be it. Put him down for the job. ”

“ Ray is of small stature, neat and wiry build, in race standing about half-way between the African and the Anglo-Saxon. He is polished in his manners, and gentlemanly in his personal appearance. As a writer, a preacher, and a platform-speaker, he has done much to elevate the standard of the colored man in the Empire State. ”

“ Watch, I say, how a troubled ray, low on life's horizon, at last becomes a star in the world of men, high fixed and resplendent—to be seen by human eyes as long as there shall be human eyes to see anything. ”

“ They passed tall pine trees and dodged in among green bushes. Ray never knew before that he could run so fast, but at last he was out of breath and had to stop.
The mice ran right past him and were soon out of sight. Ray looked around and found that he was at the edge of the woods quite near home. He stretched on the warm grass to rest a minute, and while he was looking up at the blue sky the rose-jar baby flew over his head and straight down the garden path to the house. After resting awhile Ray arose and followed, singing softly to himself:—
“Ring-a-ring-around! ”

“ Ray. Yes, it is night! It is night always for me. (Moving towards door L.)
Laura. (Placing one hand on his shoulder, taking his hand.) But there is a to-morrow. You see it cannot be dark forever.
Pearl. Hope for to-morrow, Ray.
Laura. We shall have cause to bless it, for it will bring the long sought sunlight of our lives.
Curtain.
R. Snorkey. Laura. Ray. Pearl. Peachblossom. L. H.
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. ”

“ But when the morrow came was it to be wondered at that Miss Ray had developed a high fever? Was it not characteristic that before noon, from the official head down, from Dr. Wells to Dottie Fellows, the most diminutive of the party, there lived not a woman of their number who was not eager in tender of services and in desire to be at the sufferer's bedside? Was it not manlike that Stuyvesant, who had shunned the sisterhood for days, now sought the very women he had scorned, and begged for tidings of the girl he loved? ”

“ A ray of light falls through a chink in a shutter; through the ray, as we watch it, floats an infinite array of tiny motes, and it is through the striking of the light upon them that we are aware of the light ”

“ Farmer was not able to say no to Ray, but even he looked dubious at the small gray fellow’s voluble outpouring of pseudo-scientific jargon. Ray, made sensitive by years of open skepticism on the part of many listeners, caught the look and insisted on a demonstration of his fabulous invention.
So the oddly assorted pair—quick, foxlike little Ray and big, awkward, uncomfortable Farmer—sputtered out into Long Island Sound in an indescribable old motor launch, and the adventure was on. ”

“ If he could succeed in winning Field's confidence it might well be that he could bring him to see that there were good and sufficient grounds for the post commander's action—that for Field's own good, in fact, it was a most desirable move. The soul of loyalty and square dealing himself, Ray had never for a moment dreamed that anything other than a foolish escapade had occurred—a ride by moonlight, perhaps, demanded of her devotee by a thoughtless, thoroughbred coquette, whose influence over the young fellow was beginning to mar his usefulness, if not indeed his future prospects. ”

“ Oh,—with the Red Cross, you mean? And shame be to you, Maidie Ray, you knew—you well knew—he didn't."
"I mean—to Mr. Foster. Mrs. Brent has just told me——"
"Mrs. Brent!" interposes Miss Ray in a flutter of amaze. That carriage is coming nearer every instant, driving like mad, Brent on the back seat and a whip-lashing demon on the box. There will be no time for love-tales once that burly warrior returns to his own. Yet she is fencing, parrying, holding him at bay, for his heart is bubbling over with the torrent of its love and yearning and pleading. ”

“ Ray, is the only describer that conveys some precise idea in every term or word, maintaining his superiority over his followers and imitators in spite of the advantage of fresh discoveries and modern information. ”

“ The carryall drove on, and she saw him returning and scanning the bushes.
She was caught, fairly and squarely. One instant she hesitated, then, blushing rose-red, emerged from the undergrowth.
And now came another capture, for with a “Chip, my darling,” Ray sprang forward, and although she turned away, the next moment she was clasped in his arms.
In vain she struggled. In vain she writhed and twisted. In vain she pushed him away and then covered her blushing face.
Love, fierce and eager, could not be thus opposed. ”

“ Ray sat on a little white sofa near a window and a dear little man came and sat beside him.
“I am the Sugar-bowl Fairy,” said the little man, “would you like to take a walk through the house?”
“Thank you,” replied Ray, “what do you do all day in the sugar-bowl?”
“We play and have a good time,” answered the little man, “except when the great giant comes, then we are all afraid and run to hide.”
“Who is this great giant?” asked Ray.
“I will tell you a true story about my brother and sister and then you will know all about the great giant,” said the Sugar-bowl Fairy. ”

“ In a few seconds Ray saw a procession coming. He kept very still, and as it came nearer he saw that four tall men were carrying a sort of chair in which a little girl was sitting.
“That must be the Princess,” thought Ray, and just then he caught sight of his little friend Yan Lu who walked behind the chair.
When they reached the spot where Ray was hiding the four tall men placed the chair on the ground and the little Princess arose and stepped out of it. She waved her hand and the men took the chair and walked away. ”

“ But one may judge what kind of a thing a ray is, if he looks at the sun's light passing through a narrow opening into a darkened room, for it is extended in a right line, and as it were is divided when it meets with any solid body which stands in the way and intercepts the air beyond ”

“ Stephen Ray looked at the register, and started violently as he read the entry:
ERNEST RAY, Oreville, California.
"What's the matter, pa?" asked Clarence, noticing his father's agitation.
"Oh, nothing, nothing," answered his father, with an effort.
"Haven't we a cousin named Ernest Ray?"
"We had, but he is dead."
"It is strange that there should be another person of the name."
"Not at all. The world is large, and there are probably a good many persons of one name." ”

“ I think it pleased the drowsy Head to see two of his masters boxing over the body of one of his boys.
"Well, well," he said, "I'm glad, Ray, to hear you give such a good account of yourself. We are satisfied, I may say, with your prowess in the baths this evening—you did your best, sir, you did your best—and we are satisfied with the attitude you have taken up in regard to this nonsensical business outside—"
"But, sir," I began, deprecatingly.
"God bless me, my man, don't interrupt! I tell you, we are satisfied. We don't sigh for the moon ”