Brickbat

“ Brick thought the scoundrel was lying. In desperation he pulled the trigger. The hammer fell with a dull snap.
But Brick was determined to make the most of his freedom. He eluded Bogle’s grasp and sprang over the tree, still holding the useless rifle. He plunged through the copse of bushes, and saw before him a strip of level, open ground, on which rested a thin covering of slushy snow. He went across in a dozen leaps, though more than once he sank above his ankles in what felt like soft mud. As he reached the bushes on the other side, he heard a shrill yell of terror behind him. ”

“ Brick instantly reversed his rifle, and hit the brute a stunnning blow. The head vanished, and Hamp nervously examined his arm.
“Not a scratch,” he muttered. “You hit him just in time, Brick. Now I’ll pay the brute for his daring.”
He poked his shotgun out, and fired both barrels. Jerry joined in with a rattling fusillade.
“That hit something,” he shouted. “Half a dozen of the varmints were scratching at the sled. I thought it would give way.”
“We’ll beat them off yet,” gasped Brick. “Aren’t they savage, though? They don’t mind the fire a bit. Hullo! there’s a paw sticking through. Take that.” ”

“ He told Brick that there was nobody he would sooner see win the thousand dollars.
Then came Topaz Tyler, and King invited him to join them. For a man who was already drunk Brick stood an amazing lot of liquor. Topaz and Cleeve mourned over the fact that they could not drink liquor as Brick could. It was a gift. They boasted over his ability, and Brick's chest swelled. Brick admitted that he was a wonder.
But finally a glass of liquor eluded him. Then he stalked it, cautiously. King Cleeve's foot was elevated on the bar-rail, his leg encased in a very expensive, pearl-colored trouser. ”

“ Brick closed the stove-door, and the sudden gloom brought out in mellow effect Wilfred's animated face, the dull yellow wall against which his sturdy shoulder rested, and the letter in his hand.
CHAPTER XIV WRITING HOME
"Dear Brick and Bill:
"I don't know what to tell first. It's all so strange and grand—the people are just people, but the things are wonderful. The people want it to be so; they act, and think according to the things around them. They pride themselves on these things and on being amongst them, and I am trying to learn to do that, too. ”

“ One thing I am sot on: not to save nothing if I can bring my stomach to carry the burden with a willing hand. I'll eat mild and calm, but steadfast. Brick Willock he says, 'Better starve all at once, when there's nothing left, than starve a little every day,' says Brick. 'When it's a matter of agony,' says he, 'take the short cut.'"
In arranging his retreat, he had left undisturbed the wagon-tongue, since removing it from the end of the floor for a more secure barricade; it had stood with several of the sideboards against the wall, as if Brick meditated using them for a special purpose. ”

“ Brick was still further reassured by Maumer Rue, to whom he stood in the relation of grandson. On being consulted, she had replied, loftily,—
"A Bergan can do what he pleases, child. He is not obliged to walk by rule and measure, like people whose pedigree stops with their grandfathers. If a king chooses to make a box, a barrel, or a piece of furniture, for his own use, it is not a meanness, but an eccentricity." And the long word not only floored Brick's last remaining doubt, but furnished him with the means of silencing other critics. ”

“ It is 87 feet long by 69 feet wide, and the parapet of its angle turrets is no less than 112 feet above the level of the ground at its base. It is almost entirely constructed of small red bricks, traditionally supposed to have been brought from Flanders, though there is no reason why they should not have been made in the county. The walls externally have patterns, chequers, and lozenges in blue-black bricks upon their surface, and the groining of brick in the upper rooms is most delicately moulded, and may well serve as a lesson to us, even in this twentieth century, in artistic workmanship. ”

“ Then a bricklayer and his wife defied the heavens to fall, threw aside traditions and began to apply exact knowledge to brick-laying. As a result, they learned how to lay bricks three times as rapidly as the best workman had ever been able to before—and with less fatigue. ”

“ But Edgerton, he began rowing towards me with Annabel, she happy despite herself, and when I see it wouldn't do to tarry no longer, I cuts loose the old deaf boatman and unstops his mouth. Well, sir, he lets out a yell that would a-done credit to a bobcat fighting in the traps. I had to run for it fellows from the club-house took after me thinking I'd been murdering somebody—I skinned them Ozark hills and I skinned myself. But Brick, he says, 'When you turns loose a bobcat, expect scratches,' says he. ”

“ At times he had thus carryed home as many as would neer build his wall; but the owner of the Brick-kiln being acquainted with his doings, and his covetous inclination, was resolved to catch him, and make him pay for it; wherefore he watched him, and catcht him with four bricks under his arm: How now? my friend, said the Brick-maker, What have you gotten under your Cloak? Nothing, nothing, replyed our Old Dotard: I must see, said the other; and thereupon threw open his Cloak, and discovered the prize: what do you with these Bricks? ”

“ I will give you all the money back, and will guide you to the edge of the swamp. Do you think a dying man would deceive you?”
His voice rose to a shrill pitch, and he extended his arms appealingly.
Brick concluded to trust the ruffian. He could not bear to go away and leave him to such a terrible fate.
“I’ll save you, if I can,” he said, “and I shall expect you to keep your promises.”
“I will, lad,” declared Bogle. “I swear it. Quick, or you will be too late. I’m sinking deeper all the time.”
Brick took hold of the log, and rolled it slowly across the quagmire. ”

“ The white bricklayer may continue to lay his bricks while they are carried for him by a black hodsman, but he will not lay a brick at one end of the wall while a Kafir is laying an equal brick at the other. ”

“ Brick dropped on his knees beside it and lifted one of the heavy bars, weighing it in his hands. Then Brick closed the box carefully and examined the masks.
They were made of cheap material—sack-like affairs, with rough circles cut for eye-holes. An examination proved to Brick that they were not all made by the same person, as the sewing was crude, each one a different stitch and with different-colored thread. ”

“ As the girl had no gloves, I would not allow her to handle the cement (for nothing cracks the skin so badly, as I had discovered in my orchard work) . But she kept busy mixing with the hoe, and handing me bricks. Some I broke and put in endwise, and I was careful to give all as irregular a setting as possible, till the top was reached. Then, of course, I laid an even line of the best bricks all the way around, and levelled them carefully. We had scarcely got the last brick on when we heard Bert’s carryall rattle over the bridge and Bert’s voice yelling “Dinner!” ”

“ I guess I'll have to leave camp, fellows."
"Then we'll go, too," said Bricktop.
"No, there's no need of that. I invited you out for three weeks, and that time isn't up yet. You might as well stay. Hannibal will cook for you, and if I can come back I will. Otherwise you stay here and enjoy yourselves."
"We won't enjoy ourselves very much if you leave," said Walter regretfully, and the others echoed his sentiment.
"Well, that's a compliment to me," declared Dick, with a smile, "but I guess you'll manage to exist. Now I wonder how I'd better go? ”

“ Enemies they were indeed, for the brickfield savages were human, after all, and every man, woman, and child was armed with shovel, stick, or well-burned fragment of refuse brick—this last, a missile that he knew by heart as angular and sharp; and dog as he was, he had sense enough to feel that, if taken, they would pound the life out of his wretched carcase on the spot. ”

“ He unbuttoned his jacket, and drew out the pocketbook. Then, in a few words, he related the whole adventure to his new friends.
“I’m lucky to escape with a bruise and the loss of my overcoat,” he concluded. “It would have been ten times worse but for you fellows.”
“Here is your coat,” said the younger lad. “We stumbled over it when we were chasing the rascal. Were there any valuables in it?”
“Only a couple of letters from my father,” replied Brick, as he went through the pockets of the garment. “By Jove! they’re gone, though. The thief will find he’s made a valuable haul.”
Brick spoke in jest. ”

“ Brick Willock was once a member of Red Kimball's gang; he's the only one that didn't come in to get his amnesty. See? Well, he killed Red's brother—shot 'im. Gledware's coming on to witness to it. Willock will claim he done the deed to save Gledware's life—his and his little gal's. But Gledware will show it was otherwise. Red told me all about it. Brick's a murderer, and worst of all, he's a murderer without an amnesty—that's the only difference between him and Red. ”

“ Every housewife knows what is meant by “Bath 122brick.” With this article of commerce and domestic economy knives are cleaned, brass fenders and candlesticks and coppers are scoured, and much other metal-work brought to brightness. But it is not made at Bath. At only one place in the world—and that Bridgwater—is the so-called “Bath brick” brought into being: the reason of this monopoly of manufacture lying in the fact that the material of which it is made is found only here in the mud of the river Parret. ”

“ Taken forcibly and unawares, Sparwick toppled over on his side. He struggled hard for a few seconds, then the stupefying drug did its work, and he lay still, with quivering limbs.
Brick flung the handkerchief across the cave.
“Will they come to life again?” he asked, huskily.
“Of course,” replied Hamp. “Don’t worry. Chloroform never kills. But we must pull out of here right away. We’ll save that fifteen thousand, Brick, if we can only get back to civilization without being caught.”
“We’ll do our best,” replied Brick. “I can imagine Raikes and my guardian waiting for us to-morrow night.” ”

“ But what we more particularly desire to draw the reader’s attention to at the present stage, is not the employment of lime in making fire-bricks so much as its mixture with ordinary brick-earth, as in the manufacture of malm bricks. Sometimes the mixture has been effected by Nature, as is the case with true marls; but the brickmaker does not care so much for these, as without considerable and expensive artificial assistance they do not often make readily saleable bricks. ”

“ The result is that the stretchers break joint with each other, and all the joints range themselves in diagonal lines, and if in any part of the work headers of a different brick are introduced, the appearance of a cross is at once brought out; and even without this the diagonal arrangement of joints is very perceptible and pleasing.
Besides wall building, the bricklayer has many other works to perform. He has to form fireplaces, flues, chimneys, and the flat trimmer arches which support the hearth, and has to set the stove, kitchen range, copper, etc., in a proper manner. ”

“ Tests of Fire-clay and Shales.—Paving Bricks.
From a series of tests recently made by Mr. Fickes,22 the following factors were educed:—
1. A brick which stands the “rattling” test well, has ample crushing strength and rarely chips under less than 5,000 lbs. per square inch, or crushes under less than 10,000 lbs. The crushing strength tends to vary with the resistance to abrasion, however, but more slowly and irregularly.
149 2. The transverse strength also tends to vary with the resistance to abrasion, but more slowly and irregularly.
3. The toughest bricks usually absorb the least water. ”

“ Price of red face and moulded bricks necessary to lay up this mantel, including the hearth, fire-back, under-fire and tile shelf, $56.
Price of cream, gray, pink, buff or brown bricks with red hearth, $84.
Below is a drawing of each ornamental brick used in this design.
Note.—Breast measured between wings.
- 81 -
- 82 -
SKETCH No. 41.
This shows a portable fireplace (241⁄2 in. wide x 301⁄4 in. high) set inside of the regular mantel opening. It is made of iron, is lined with fire-brick, and can be taken out and moved away in one piece at any time. The front is copper plated. ”

“ If Van Horn didn’t watch out, Brick mused, he would be laid up with a bad case of sunburn, for his shoulders were pale and lacked the protective coat of tan that marked the boys who had already spent a month in the mountain sunshine.
59
“Some people never learn,” Brick muttered, viciously splitting a stick of smooth birchwood. “Runnin’ home to mama just because we was havin’ a little fun with him, and squealin’ to Sax so he’d make me do wood-pile duty! ”

“ The brickmaker may no longer debase and ruin, both morally and physically, his child of the tender age of nine or ten years, by turning it—boy or girl—into the brick-yard to toil, shoeless and ragged, at carrying heavy lumps on its head. ”

“ The situation of Birkwood, between the downs and the sea, so delightfully breezy and fresh in spring and summer, was decidedly cold in winter; Aldred was amazed at the number of blankets she required on her bed, and fully appreciated the hot brick that was allowed. Miss Drummond was indulgent in that respect. The bricks were placed every evening on a special stone intended for the purpose connected with the heating apparatus; by [118] nine o'clock they were delightfully warm, and each girl carried her own upstairs, returning it next morning to its place.
"They're the greatest comfort ”