Walloon

“ Emile took in the situation at once, for he too had “horse sense.” Jumping down along the grassy sides of the dyke, he picked off enough [13] white flowers to stick between his fingers and in his palm, so as to look like salt. Then in Walloon talk, he tried his old trick of enticing Baldy. As if in front of a phonograph, this four legged creature that had, for years, heard only German words, for “halt” or “back” or “get up,” moved his head sideways, first to the right, then up to the left, then down, as if pondering. ”

“ Their style, however, was not greatly varied, and they have mainly confined themselves to songs, satirical lampoons and farces. The founder of the Société Liégeoise was J. F. E. Bailleux (1817–1860) , to whom the revival of an interest in early Walloon literature is mainly due; in conjunction with J. V. F. J. Dehin (1809–1871) he published a translation of Lafontaine into patois. Among writers of the younger generation, special credit must be given to Henri Simon (b. 1856) , for his humoristic tales and sketches ”

“ And these Walloons, Pater-noster knechter, wearing upon their necks big black rosaries, of which there were found two thousand at Spienne in Hainaut, stealing oxen and horses by twelve hundred, two thousand at a time, choosing out the best, carrying off women and girls by field and by marsh; eating and never paying, these Walloons used to burn within their farmsteads the [307] armed peasants that tried to prevent the fruit of their hard toil from being carried away. ”

“ He owned much property in Boston and was often there; his large possessions in western Massachusetts and his position as the chief trader at Springfield would make it natural to use him in the way described; and in 1677 he had, at Albany, taken part, as representative of his colony, in Governor Andros's negotiations with the Mohawks.
[382] The Walebocht, or bay of the Walloons, was a bight in the Long Island shore, where the Brooklyn Navy Yard now stands. It was so named from a group of Walloons who settled there at an early date. The modern form of the name is Wallabout. ”

“ Now we are within a couple of hundred yards, and each man crouches in the bottom of the boat, the{122} harpooner still in the bow, his eyes intently fixed upon the walrus. Suddenly the walrus raises his head, and we are motionless. It is intensely still, and the scraping of a piece of ice along the boat seems like the roar of a railway train passing overhead on some bridge. Down goes the head, and we glide forward again. The walrus is uneasy; again and again he raises his head and looks round with a quick motion, but we have the sun right at our back, and he never notices us. ”

“ It is in the North Pacific that the walrus attains its great size—nine feet in length, broader across its back than any animal known to the civilized world. These piebald yellow monsters lay wallowing in herds of hundreds on the ice-fields. At the edge lay always one on the watch; and no matter how dense the fog, these walrus herds on the ice, braying and roaring till the surf shook, acted as a fog-horn to Cook's ships, and kept them from being jammed in the ice-drift. ”

“ Wally raised herself a little to see what had startled the bird. There, over the slippery, fissured glacier came a human form straight towards the rock where Wally sat. She recognized the dark eyes, the short, black beard, she saw the friendly glance and greeting, she heard the "Jodel" that he sent up to her--as once years ago, when from the Sonnenplatte she had seen him pass through the gorge with the stranger--she, an innocent, hopeful child in those days, not yet cast out and cursed by her father--not yet an incendiary--not yet a murderess. ”

“ By the way, Wallop, is it true the Field-Marshal was run in?”
“No, was he?” exclaimed Wallop, and Crow, and I, all in a breath.
“Well, I passed by Daly’s this morning, and he told me he hadn’t been home all night, and he supposed he’d have to go and bail him out.”
“What a game!” cried Wallop.
“You’d call it a game if you had to hand out forty shillings, or take a week,” replied Doubleday. “A nice expensive game this of yours, Master Batchelor. It’ll cost you more than all your eel-pies, and lobsters, and flash toggery put together.” ”

“ Few men are likely ever to forget the first occasion on which they found themselves amongst a herd of walrus in the water. Scores of fierce-looking heads—for the long tusks, small bloodshot eyes, and moustache on the upper lip (every bristle of which is as thick as a crow quill) give the walrus an expression of ferocity—gaze, perhaps in unbroken silence, from all sides upon the boat, See! ”

“ Wally laughed her fearful laugh of scorn. "Thou fool, when I fling myself down yonder with thee, shall not we two be together to all eternity? will thou try to save thy wolfish life?" And with the strength of a giant she grasped him in her arms, and hurried him forward to the low parapet that she might throw herself with him into the twilight gloom of the abyss. ”

“ Every gloomy corridor that issued upon the landings of the stair-case,--every dusky archway, some in utter darkness, some pierced with partial flashings of the flambeaux, were the scenes of mortal struggle, flight, or dying agony. Such a spectacle, by the demands which it made on his firmness and presence of mind, restored Captain Walladmor to the tranquil composure of the quarter-deck. Miss Walladmor followed him with her eyes, and stood, with uplifted hands, beneath the archway. ”

“ My name is Wallion. I have come from Sweden and bring a message from Christian Dreyel."
William Robertson looked steadily at him, not with fear, but with an almost childlike curiosity.
"You are welcome, Mr. Wallion," he answered in a voice the strength of which had been sapped long ago, "don't be afraid that I shall make a noise. My daughter has told me all about you and your friend." In a low and hopeless tone he added, "But you have come too late."
"Too late? ... Not a bit of it.... It is never too late for anything," said Wallion soothingly, sitting down on the edge of the bed. ”

“ In half an hour more he came back, and ran direct to his master with the halfpenny in his mouth.
Since, Mr. John had sent the dog for his stick, his cap, or his handkerchief, often considerable distances; but Wallace always brought the thing safe back, whatever it was, and laid it at his master’s feet. Mr. John was very proud of Wallace, and very fond of him.
Sunny was not old enough to understand these clevernesses of the creature, but she fully appreciated one trick of his. ”

“ Wallaby could shoot or snare any living creature that bred, and boasted that he knew every mountain-path, track, and gully between White Swamp and Mount Dreadful. So mighty was the prowess of his gun, that men from the stations round about, spending a barren day stalking the scrub, would aver that Wallaby had discovered the track which led to that legendary Land of Plenty existing on the inaccessible summit of the ranges, and was wont to withdraw from his kind to hunt there.
There is an indescribable ghastliness about the mountain bush at night which has affected most imaginative people. ”

“ Although one can discern the Wallaby at some distance by its plashing tramp, so that it seems but to need a glance of the eye to bring it down as it flies past on its hind legs, followed close by the dogs, it yet needs great activity and precision of aim to hit the nimble animal as it hops swiftly past. ”

“ Lord love her! there's not a driver in the county, not a horse almost nor any dumb creature whatsomever, that would bring Miss Walladmor into any danger. What! the lads may be a little 'fresh' or so; but they'll drive all the better for that. There's that lad now: he's going to ride the leaders; and I'm much in doubt whether he'll be able to mount. But if he once gets fairly into the saddle, the devil won't throw him out; he'll sit like a leech all the way from Carnarvonshire to Jerusalem. ”

“ Wallflowers, left-off and “regenerated” clothes exposed for sale on the bunks and shop-boards of Seven Dials. See REACH-ME-DOWNS.
Wallabee-track, Colonial slang for the tramp. When a man in Australia is “on the road” looking for employment, he is said to be on the WALLABEE-TRACK.
Wallop, to beat, or thrash. John Gough Nichols derives this word from an ancestor of the Earl of Portsmouth, one Sir John Wallop, Knight [336] of the Garter, who in King Henry VIII.’s time distinguished himself by WALLOPING the French ”

“ I have had a walrus hunt and a most exciting day's sport. Much ice has broken adrift and come down the Sound, during the past few days; and, when the sun is out bright and hot, the walrus come up out of the water to sleep and bask in the warmth on the pack. Being upon the hill-top this morning to select a place for building a cairn, my ear caught the hoarse bellowing of numerous walrus; and, upon looking over the sea I observed that the tide was carrying the pack across the outer limit of the bay, and that it was alive with the beasts, which were filling the air with such uncouth noises. ”

“ Dixon had picked up the coat he had forgotten.
"Corman is no fool," remarked Wallion. "I was just going to say I wonder how far McTuft has got. When he gave up the black car, he very likely went back to the 'Golden Snake,' where he would be told that the 'Ariadne' had put out to sea. A patrol-boat would have been put at his disposal yesterday morning at latest, and a nice race it will be, indeed. I should rather like to give him a few choice bits of information...."
"Information as to what?" asked Tom.
"That there are always means of evasion," said Wallion suavely. ”

“ It was erected there by the village community in memory of Wallburga the Vulture-maiden and Joseph the Bear-hunter--the benefactors of the whole neighbourhood.
Wally and Joseph died early, but their name lives and will be praised so long and so far as the Ache flows. The traveller who passes through the gorge late in the evening when the bell rings for vespers and the silver crescent of the moon stands above the mountains, may see an aged couple kneeling up yonder. ”

“ It wasn’t often Wallop indulged in classical quotations, but when he did they were always effective, as was the case now.
My recent adventure had left me just in an hysterical mood; and try all I would, I could not resist laughing at the very learned allusion.
“Bull’s-eye be hanged!” I exclaimed, recklessly. “Hear, hear,” was the general chorus. “Come along,” cried Doubleday. “Now you are sober you can come along with us. Hook on to Whip. There’s just room for five on the pavement comfortably. Plenty of room in the road for anybody else. Come on, we’re on the spree, my boy, and no mistake. ”

“ Wallion started visibly and exchanged a quick glance with Tom.
"In a Home, you say. Tell us more about it."
Elaine handed him the locket. He looked closely at the photograph, and she said in a broken voice:
"There you see my father, but you must not think ... you must not think that his mind is affected ... he has broken down with grief and sorrow, no one has gone through so much adversity, but he is not out of his mind."
Wallion returned the locket but said nothing. She pressed it to her bosom and repeated: "He has broken down, but he is not mad, he has been injured by wicked people ... ”

“ In his solitary wanderings over the terrible Similaun and the wild glacier peaks, he had acquired a taste for subtle meditations and reflected more deeply on many things than other people. "Take care, Wally! He who sets himself too high thrusts his head up easily enough, but that's what those up yonder won't endure, and they thrust him down again." ”

“ Lamb, Jasper, Lewis, Nolting, Ella; what were all these people to them? What were any living creatures except a part of the always moving panorama which composed the background of their lives? Nomads always since their marriage, when Mrs. Wallingford as a girl had run away from home that was no home to join this cheerful knave of fortune, they had known no resting place, no spot on earth that called to them ”

“ Wallingford frowningly, as he unconsciously rubbed the tips of his fingers over the black puff under his right eye. "You've got it wrong. I like to sting the big people best. They take it like a dentist's pet; but when you tap one of these pikers for a couple of mean little thousands he howls like a steam calliope. One old pappy guy started to take it out of my hide, and he tried so hard it gave him paralysis."
Mr. Daw laughed in sympathy.
"You must have had a lively get-away, to judge from the marks the mill left on you; but why this trip across the pond? Are they after you?" ”

“ Each age that followed, the mining period, the cowboy period, the farming period, entered or left the Walla Walla Valley at this very point. Here the first steamboats blew their jubilant blasts to echo from these basaltic ramparts, and here the toot of the first railway in the Inland Empire started the coyotes and jackrabbits from their coverts of sagebrush. Wheresoever we turn history sits enthroned. ”

“ It became indeed a point of honour to be a suitor of the wild Wallburga, as any rash adventure is thought honourable by a man of strength and courage.
Soon there was not a man of marriageable age in all the three valleys who had not striven to conquer Wally and to wrest the kiss from her, but not one had succeeded. And she triumphed in the wild game and in her mighty strength, for she knew that she was talked of far and near, and that Joseph would often hear of her ”