Tobermory

“ In rough weather it requires no little courage to make one’s way in a steamer from Tobermory to Portree, the capital of the Isle of Skye. Our noble-hearted owner is very careful on this point. The Elena is a beautiful yacht, and he treats her tenderly. ”

“ It depends on what light one views them in.
Tobermory is the capital of Mull, and is a place of some resort. Like all these little capitals it is set in the wilderness world, and what [Pg 266] one would like best to do instead of sailing past them is to stay with them and go far into the backward. Perhaps traversing Mull as did McLeod of Dare when he hunted so royally—and in such a moonstruck way; or David Balfour when he was shipwrecked and walked through Mull; or the Pennells when they sought to walk through and did not take pleasure in it. ”

“ THE ICEBERG OF TORBAY. TORBAY. Torbay, finely described in a recent novel by the Rev. R.T.S. Lowell, is an arm of the sea, a short strong arm with a slim hand and finger, reaching into the rocky land and touching the water-falls and rapids of a pretty brook. Here is a little village, with Romish and Protestant steeples, and the dwellings of fishermen, with the universal appendages of fishing-houses, boats, and "flakes." One seldom looks upon a hamlet so picturesque and wild. The rocks slope steeply down to the wonderfully clear water. ”

“ But one morning, as the big mongrel went by at the tail of his master’s sled, Toby chanced to be very busy in the snow near the gate digging up a precious buried bone. The big dog crept up on tiptoe, and went over the gate with a scrambling bound. Toby had just time to lift his shaggy little head out of the snow and turn to face the assault. His heart was great, and there was no terror in the growl with which he darted under the foe’s huge body and sank his teeth strategically into the nearest hind paw. ”

“ There are no blue-water men afloat who do not know of Torbay, that rare and beautiful indentation in the Devonshire coast of England. There are but few globe-trotters who have not visited it, and those who have not are to be pitied. ”

“ And I know my birch is somewhere--looking for me.
Tobolsk! Pretty town--I must admit. The high bank with green slopes is covered with churches, white buildings and gleaming gold crosses. Something tranquil about Tobolsk! Blue, red and green roofs look shy from their cozy nests of trees. It must be very exciting to live here when all is normal. Good God! I see from the deck the fine foggish veil of dust and gossips hanging over the town. They must still play "préférence" here, or "vint." In these little "centers" bridge must be unknown.
I took a room in a hotel and went to the Kornilov house. ”

“ The cattlegates and rocky road made going slow, and as Venus, frosty and brilliant, came out, we were imprisoned in this weirdly gloomy spot, on the top of the world. A quaver in Toby’s usually stalwart voice made me wonder if she were remembering her mother’s last words,—“Don’t drive at night.” This is no reflection on Toby’s staunchness; the immensity of the West, after dark, when first it looms above one used to the coziness of ordered streets, must always seem portentous and awful. We hastened on, winding down through one enchanting glade after another, till we met the highway again. ”

“ From the wagon-master I heard, later, that Toby had been captured in Texas, during the war. He had been raised and trained by a woman who had followed him around the country for some time, trying to get her pet back again; but Uncle Sam, no doubt, had the best right to him, and he was placed in the stables of the Fitting-out Depot. One thing certainly spoke for the truth of the story: whenever Toby had been let loose and refused to be tied up again, he would always allow me to come up to him, when he would turn and throw up his heels at the approach of a man. ”

“ It was hard to people this solitude with rushing columns of cavalry, and stir its torpid pulses with the shouts of victors, the shrieks of the wounded, and the flash of banner and steel above the surging billows of war. A desolation is here that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action.
We reached Tabor safely, and considerably in advance of that old iron-clad swindle of a guard. We never saw a human being on the whole route, much less lawless hordes of Bedouins. Tabor stands solitary and alone, a giant sentinel above the Plain of Esdraelon. ”

“ While going and returning I have often seen people cross themselves or fall on their knees as Their Majesties passed. On the whole, the inhabitants of Tobolsk were still very attached to the Imperial family, and our guards had repeatedly to intervene to prevent them standing under the windows or removing their hats and crossing themselves as they passed the house. ”

“ Dorcas crawled into our larder!” exclaimed Aunt Sophy, holding her hands up in amazement. Dorcas was one of the hunters. “That’s the third time this year,” she said, when she understood. “It’s always getting lost.” She shook her head with annoyance, just like blanc-mange, thought Toby.
“Beastly little creatures!” complained her husband. “They’re no use to anybody. Why, they can’t even squeak!” He bustled off in the car, and Toby saw him through the window polishing his tall silk hat with his hand, as though it were an animal he loved and was stroking affectionately. ”

“ Toby learned that they were within a couple of miles of the town, and that the entire procession would remain by the roadside until time to make the grand entree into the village, when every wagon, horse, and man would be decked out in the most gorgeous array, as they had been when they entered Guilford. ”

“ There is not one whose exterior form is like another, or whose internal organisation resembles the rest! And it is by disregarding this truth that we are led to the commission of so many errors! Had Toby been a Brutus, he would have put himself to death: if an Æsop, he would now, perhaps, have been the Governor’s adviser; if an ardent and zealous Christian, he would have borne his chains in the sight of God, and blessed them. As for poor Toby, he endures his misfortunes very quietly; he stoops to his work, and spends his days in innocent tranquillity. ”

“ Torquay is one of those rare watering-places that upset all one’s prejudices. Its houses are many and modern, its streets are populous; but the harbour under the hill is so snug, the sea so blue and bright, the boats so gay, the buildings so softly framed in trees and flowers, that the most churlish heart must be won. ”

“ Toby had discovered some sort of danger, and was warning his comrades in order that they might drop down out of sight.
Every fellow seemed to understand this instantly, for as though they were all moved by the same controlling influence, they allowed themselves to sink on their knees amidst the friendly bushes that afforded such splendid shelter. Even as Elmer dropped thus he had shot a quick glance toward the left, from which that seeming cough had come, and saw something that electrified him. ”

“ Now you shall hear how I came to be in Tobiesen’s grand parlor where none of the town folk have ever been; for it was in a curious way, as you will agree.
Tobiesen is an assistant at the Custom House—but he doesn’t look like the other officers. They are all short and stout and red-faced—at least they are in our town. But it is not so long ago that Tobiesen came here, so probably that is why he is so unlike the other officers. He is very tall and cross-looking; won’t talk to people and doesn’t associate with any one. ”

“ Sara, Tobias’s bride, has had seven husbands slain by Asmodeus, the evil spirit, before they had lain with her; Raguel, Sara’s father, learns of Tobias’s safety on the morning after their marriage; Tobias offers half his goods to Raphael; and Raphael then disappears. The story of Tobit has certainly passed into Sicilian folklore, borrowed straight, it would seem, from the Apocrypha, as ‘The History of Tobià and Tobiòla’ (Laura Gonzenbach’s Sicil. Märchen, No. 89, ii. 177) ; but the Apocryphal book itself is plainly a corrupt version of the original folk-tale. ”

“ But Tobias was looking at Rafe Silver.
"Rafe," he said, "I've got to depend on you if I go with Lorny. Somebody's got to watch the light. You savvy?"
"Si, si! Captain Bassett can depen' on heem," and he struck his chest with his uninjured hand.
"If you need a man's two hands for anything, ring that fellow in," and Tobias nodded scornfully at the detective. "If anything goes wrong here and me gone, remember it means I'll lose my job. And the good Lord knows," he murmured, "me and Heppy's lost enough, seems to me—money and all." ”

“ That morning, at Strides Cottage, a regrettable event had disturbed Granny Marrable's equanimity. A small convalescent, named Toby, who was really old enough to know better, had made a collection of beautiful, clean, new horse-chestnuts from under the tree in the field behind the house. Never was the heart of man more embittered by this sort being no use for cooking than in the case of these flawless, glossy rotundities. Each one was a handful for a convalescent, and that was why Toby so often had his hands in his pockets. ”

“ Once more, then, when day was full broken, Archie and Billy came on Jonathan Farr and Toby.
The old man was sheathed in snow and frozen [295] spindrift. A hairy old codger he was—icicles of his own frozen breath clinging to his long white beard and icicles hanging from his bushy brows. And he was beating Toby without mercy: for the lad would fall down, worn out, and whimper and squirm; and the old man would jerk and cuff him to his feet, and drive him on with cuffs from behind, stumbling and whimpering and bawling. ”

“ When I found out that there was no disinclination on the part of the natives at the village to lend me a canoe, but that only my own natives wished to throw obstacles in the way of going, I soon got over all difficulties by a few figs of tobacco judiciously applied.
I was told, just as I was thinking of starting, that the chief of Towpo wanted to see me, and was waiting for me. I accordingly went to a place where they pointed out three men sitting very gravely; the one in front was the chief. He was a remarkably fine man, upwards of six feet high, and very strongly built—a complete giant. ”

“ Toby, aged nearly seven, had no parents, and lived with his Aunt and Uncle in the country. He loved them both, for they were very kind to him, yet they were not quite the same as the father and mother he could just remember. They had no children of their own. His Aunt Sophy was rather deaf. In his mind he always connected her with puddings, because of the way she said: “No, Toby, one helping is quite enough today. If you eat any more, you’ll turn into a pudding yourself.” ”

“ Led by the warrior priests, the fighting men of the village descended the trail, where the priests signified to the [47] strangers that they were unwelcome. They forbade their ascending the trail, and with elaborate ceremony sprinkled a line of sacred meal across it, over which no one must pass. To cross that sacred and mystic line was to declare one's self an enemy and to invite the swift punishment of gods and men. But Tobar and his warriors knew nothing of the vengeance of Hopi gods and cared little for the anger of Hopi men, so they made a fierce and sharp onslaught. ”

“ The fairest towns that ever the sun rose upon, are now no more; the names only are left, and those (for many of them are wrong spelt) are falling themselves by piece-meals to decay, and in length of time will be forgotten, and involved with everything in a perpetual night: the world itself, brother Toby, must—must come to an end.
“Returning out of Asia, when I sailed from Ægina towards Megara,” (when can this have been? thought my uncle Toby) “I began to view the country round about. ”

“ There were swans on the lake, and birds of bright plumage on the trees and in the air, and birds everywhere around.
“What place is this, sir?” cried Toby in amazement.
“This is the land of the three sparrows,” answered the dwarf with a smile. “Look there; that little white building is the home of ‘Test,’ the eldest of the three; yonder by the water is the palace of ‘Try,’ while on the hills over there you can see the castle of ‘Cure,’ the youngest.” ”

“ Todmorden (25) , a cotton town prettily situated amid hills on the border of Lancashire and Yorkshire, on the Calder, 21 m. NE. of Manchester; coal abounds in the vicinity.
Toga, an outer garment, usually of white wool like a large blanket, folded about the person in a variety of ways, but generally with the right arm free, thrown over the left shoulder, and hanging down the back; it was at once the badge of manhood and Roman citizenship.
Togoland, a German protectorate on the Slave Coast, in Upper Guinea, Gold Coast Colony on the W., and Dahomey on the E.; exports palm-oil and ivory. ”

“ TOBIAS HAS A MIND DISEASED. With a bottle of claret upon the table between them, Colonel Jeffery and his old friend sat over the fire in the bed-room devoted to the use of poor Tobias Ragg. Alas! poor boy, kindness and wealth that now surrounded him came late in the day. Before he first crossed the threshold of Sweeney Todd's odious abode, what human heart could have more acutely felt genuine kindness than Tobias's, but his destiny had been an evil one. Guilt has its victims, and Tobias was in all senses one of the victims of Sweeney Todd. ”

“ Poor old Toby! I used to lie on my straw sometimes and wonder he did not cry out with pain. Cold and half starved he always was in the winter time, and often with raw sores on his body that Jenkins would try to hide by putting bits of cloth under the harness. But Toby never murmured, and he never tried to kick and bite, and he minded the least word from Jenkins, and if he swore at him, Toby would start back, or step up quickly, he was so anxious to please him. ”