Barbel

“ But the Barbel, though he be of a fine shape, and looks big, yet he is not
accounted the best fish to eat, neither for his wholesomeness nor his
taste; but the male is reputed much better than the female, whose spawn
is very hurtful, as I will presently declare to you.
They flock together like sheep, and are at the worst in April, about
which time they spawn; but quickly grow to be in season. He is able to
live in the strongest swifts of the water: and, in summer, they love the
shallowest and sharpest streams: and love to lurk under weeds, and to
feed on gravel, against a rising ground ”

“ Barbel gazed at me silently for a moment, and then he pointed to the frame. "That printed page," he said solemnly, "contains the 'Conundrum of the Anvil.' I hang it there, so that I can see it while I work. That conundrum ruined me. It was the last thing I wrote for 'The Grasshopper.' How I ever came to imagine it, I cannot tell. It is one of those things which occur to a man but once in a lifetime. After the wild shout of delight with which the public greeted that conundrum, my subsequent efforts met with hoots of derision. ”

“ Like the sheat-fishes, the Barbels are fond of grubbing in the mud, for the purpose of getting at the worms, grubs, and larvæ of aquatic insects that are always to be found in such places. The Barbels are rather long in proportion to their depth, a peculiarity which, owing to the length of the head, is rather exaggerated in this species.
The Long-headed Barbel is extremely common in Palestine, and may be taken with the very simplest kind of net. Indeed, in some places, the fish are so numerous that a common sack answers nearly as well as a net. ”

“ He looks like any old heathen or Indian, and few would care to meet him alone.”
“Well, and what of that?” said Dete, in a defiant voice, “he is the grandfather all the same, and must look after the child. He is not likely to do her any harm, and if he does, he will be answerable for it, not I.”
“I should very much like to know,” continued Barbel, in an inquiring tone of voice, “what the old man has on his conscience that he looks as he does, and lives up there on the mountain like a hermit, hardly ever allowing himself to be seen. ”

“ It happens well, however, for us, for he can now see after the child, and you can the better tell me your tale.”
“Oh, as to the looking after,” remarked Dete, “the boy need not put himself out about that; she is not by any means stupid for her five years, and knows how to use her eyes. She notices all that is going on, as I have often had occasion to remark, and this will stand her in good stead some day, for the old man has nothing beyond his two goats and his hut.”
“Did he ever have more?” asked Barbel. ”

“ She attempted in vain to speak, but kissing the hand of the young bride, a tear fell upon her nuptial ring.
"Eh, Barbelle!" scolded Mrs. Rosel, "don't be so timid and nervous. Gracious young lady,--I would say gracious madame,--have compassion on her; she comes but seldom into the presence of quality folks. There is no one so good who has not two dispositions, says the proverb; the girl can be otherwise as merry and cheerful as larks in spring."
"I thank you, Barbelle," said Bertha: "your linen is very acceptable and very fine. ”

“ Now and then a shot sounded far away, but clear and sharp, from where the guests of my lord of Barfield were killing time in the warren.
A labouring man, smock-frocked, billy-cocked, gaitered, and hob-nailed, was clamping down the frozen lane, the earth ringing like iron under iron as he walked. By his side was a fair-haired lad of nine or ten years of age, a boy of frank and engaging countenance, carefully and even daintily dressed, and holding up his head as if he were a lord of the soil and knew it. ”

“ Who among you does not know the barbet with its big round head, full of good will, its large drooping ears, short legs, squat body, long, fine and curly hair, almost like wool, which has given it the name of sheep dog? When half-shorn, as it is in the summer, it is still more comely. The hind quarters are naked and show the rosy skin; the fore part of the body is covered with a thick mane as white as cotton wool. A coquettish tuft finishes off the tail, elegant ruffles adorn the legs, the muzzle bears a mustache and small beard, which latter perhaps accounts for its name of barbet. ”

“ The boy glanced at him sidewise, hesitated, and then answered, "Swimmin'."
"Swimming!" said Mr. Betterlee. "At this time of night?"
"Sure!" The boy put his mouth-organ back to his lips and played a few notes softly. "Didn't you ever go swimmin' in moonlight?"
Mr. Betterlee thought hard and owned that he never had.
"It's great," said the lad. "Things—things look different in moonlight. Everything. Trees, leaves, water. It's fun. I do it often. Folks don't know, of course. They wouldn't let me if they knew. I climb out on the shed roof and drop off." ”

“ Barbe, as a literary man and critic, always professed a desire to live in a quiet neighbourhood. Therefore, as I approached his house, on the almost inaccessible slopes of Campden Hill, I was amazed to see a large and increasing crowd assembled in the vicinity. Pushing my way through, I saw that St. Barbe's windows were broken, glass was in a weak minority in the panes, and, what was more singular, the breakage seemed to be done from within! Objects were flying out into the garden, and those objects were books. I had the curiosity and agility to catch a few as they fell, and to pick others up. ”

“ What's the word, Barbee?"
Packard, having held back thus long, remained motionless, glimpsing unexpectedly something of Barbee's soul; watching a little human drama, become spectator to the battle royal of the two contending factions which made up a man's self.
It seemed to him that young Barbee was pale and grew paler; that a shiver ran through him; that he was, for the moment, like one drugged. And, side by side, two emotions, both primal and unmistakable, peered out of his eyes: a savage hatred of Blenham, a leaping greed of gold. ”

“ Maybe, though, I can climb up somehow.”
“Perhaps,” offered Polly, “Ned will bring some one back with him to help.”
“Let’s hope so,” said Laurie. “If he doesn’t, the next best thing is a rope long enough to reach to the bottom. My idea was this, Bob.” He paused long enough to shift one foot gingerly and relieve his jumping nerves. “I thought I could tie the end of the rope under my shoulders and work along this ledge that I’m standing on until I got where I could jump or drop or something.” ”

“ Mr. Betterlee, watching from the bank, recalled forgotten lore of water-sprites and nereids. The boy circled at the end of the pool and came back, straight into the reflected orb, and for the moment a confusion of senses made it seem to the watcher that the slim, gleaming body was suspended in air, afloat in moonlit heavens. Then the illusion was dispelled, for the swimmer bobbed a dripping head from the ripples, and laughed softly in the stillness.
"Say, why don't you come in, Mister? Honest, the water's great!"
Beneath Mr. Betterlee's immaculate shirt-front a pagan impulse stirred. ”

“ Here, therefore, we see one more explanation of the plentifulness of our ‘Barbers,’ ‘Barbours,’ ‘Barbors,’ and more uncouth-seeming ‘Barbars.’ The old records give us an equal or even greater variety in such registrations as ‘John le Barber,’ ‘Richard le Barbour,’ ‘Nicholas le Barbur,’ ‘Thomas le Barbitonsor,’ or ‘Ralph Tonsor;’ [393] while feminine skill in operating upon the chins of our forefathers is commemorated in such an entry as ‘Matilda la Barbaresse.’ It is just possible, however, that she kept an apprentice, although such things are still to be seen, I believe, as women-shavers. ”

“ Can I be expected to care for you each as individuals? Watch the motes dancing in the sunshine. As the motes to you so you to me. Go look at the sands shining on the beach at Coney. As the grains to you so you to me. Let your eyes follow the ripples of my big river. As the ripples to you so you and all the rest of the human eddies which make up my great tide to me."
Yet there were moments when Barb felt as if she had almost surprised the city's secret, caught it unaware, as it were, and half ashamed, slipping into its holy of holies. ”

“ The Vagabond lay peacefully at anchor at the mouth of Hempstead Harbor. It was almost midnight and a ragged-looking moon was tingeing the quiet water with silver light. In the cabin the crew were preparing for bed. Spencer had finished his narrative of events and was sitting on the edge of Bob’s berth looking almost happy.
“Then we guessed right about the empty boat,” said Nelson.
“Yes,” answered Spencer. “They seen me from the Henry the first thing. And when they had me aboard the captain told Joe—that’s the feller with the rings in his ears—to stave a hole in the bottom of your boat. ”

“ The labourer’s voice only reached the listener in the meadow. He spoke with the Barfield drawl, and his features, which were stiffened by the frozen wind, were twisted into a look of habitual waggery.
‘Well,’ said he, in answer to his young companion, ‘maybe, Master Richard, it might be wicked, but it’s main like natur.’
‘I shan’t hate Joe Mountain when I’m a man,’ said the boy. ”

“ What made you think of that?”
“I don’t know,” answered Dan, puzzled.
“I do,” said Tom. “You’d just told the man you got him at Barrington; see? Barry—Barrington.”
“I guess that was it. Mr. Barry, of Barrington. Well, that isn’t such a bad name.”
“It’s easy to say,” responded Bob. “Here, Barry.”
But the terrier only wagged his tail in a friendly way.
“He’ll learn his name quick enough,” said Dan. “I wonder, though, what his real name is.”
“Let’s see if we can find out,” suggested Bob. “We’ll call him all the names we can think of and see if he answers to any of them.” ”

“ When one was strong one wasn’t fidgety, and a union with a species of calm goddess would of course be a source of repose. Lady Barb was a calm, was an even calmer goddess still, and he had a much more intimate view of her divinity than on the day he had led her to the altar; but I’m not sure he felt either as firm or as easy.
“How do you know what people are?” he said in a moment. “You’ve seen so few; you’re perpetually denying yourself. If you should leave New York to-morrow you’d know wonderfully little about it.” ”

“ Perhaps if I look out into the garden some moonlight night I shall see you here counting your roses, as a miser counts his gold.”
She smiled at the picture he drew. Then, tossing some loose petals from her hand with a gesture of surrender,—
“Very well,” she said, “you shall have your one rose a day while you’re here. I reckon it won’t impoverish me, for no one never stays in Belle [102] Harbour very long at a time—unless one lives here.” ”

“ If you’ve got any silly idea in your head that Bob and I are going to buy a house for Miss Comfort to spend the rest of her days in—”
“Don’t be an ass,” begged Laurie.
“All right, but why the locked door, then? And why all the—the talk about it?”
“Nod’s got a scheme,” said Bob, and he beamed trustfully at Laurie.
Ned grunted suspiciously. “Bet you it calls for money,” he said.
“It doesn’t,” replied Laurie. “At least, only a few pennies. The price of a telegram to Sioux City, Iowa, and, divided among the three of us, that won’t amount to anything, I guess.” ”

“ The moment’s [163] silence was broken by a hail from Laurie.
“No good, you fellows! The rope’s worked into a crevice of the rock and is jammed there. I’ll have to climb it myself. Make your end fast around something and stand by to give me a hand—if I make it!”
Bob silently questioned Ned, and the latter nodded again. “Let him try,” he said huskily. “If he can’t—”
“Oh, wait, wait!” cried Polly. “We’re—we’re perfect idiots! He doesn’t have to do that, Ned! He can walk along that ledge, and we can hold the rope—”
“But it isn’t long enough,” Bob expostulated. ”

“ Pale blue-gray columns of smoke arose in the still air from neighboring chimneys, while beyond the crest of an intervening rise, dun-colored vapor hovered above the scene of the fire.
“We'll all miss the clubhouse dreadfully,” murmured Beryl, stealing a glance at the silent Allan.
“Yes.”
“Does any one know,” she continued after a moment, “how the fire started?”
“They think from the electric wires.” There was another long moment of silence, and then, “Miss Vernon,” he said, “I wish you'd tell me what you meant yesterday when you—congratulated me.” ”

“ It sounds— You know how it sounds, Barbee."
"I don't know how he does it," growled Barbee. "I don't know how a man could run off a string of cows like that in them mountains an' not leave no tracks. Why, there ain't half-a-dozen places where they could be drove out'n the valley an' through the cliffs, an' I been watchin' every one of them places myself all night an' keepin' the other boys ridin' until they're saddle-weary. An'—an' six head more gone——"
"You're either a clever little actor, Mr. Barbee," muttered Steve sharply, "or you are straight, and I'm hanged if I know which. ”

“ They took off their oilskins and wet shoes, placing the latter near the flames where they soon began to steam prodigiously.
“Wish we had something to sit on,” lamented Nelson.
“That’s easy,” Bob answered. “Here’s this old 224 anvil over here. If we can get it to the fire it will do finely.”
After several minutes of the hardest sort of work they managed to edge it over to the forge. Then they sat down on it, very close together of necessity, and puffed and blew like a couple of porpoises.
“How long are we going to stay here?” asked Nelson, tossing another piece of wood on the flames. ”

“ Principle forbids; and this heart is blighted.
Barb. Plighted, or not, I want none of it. What nonsense the man talks!
Will. This beard—what think you of it?
Barb. That it is red.
Will. Yet 'tis not for you.
Barb. I would humbly desire so.
Will. Do you know, lively rustic, that the beard of Mars, the god of war, is auburnly inclined? It is much affected by the ladies of the south.
Barb. I would they had it then, for it is an abhorr'd thing here.
Will. What a rank prude is woman, thus to disguise her inclination. They call thee Barbara—Bab! restrain not thy fancy. ”