Decurion

“ Cicero (l.c.) speaks of the senate in the Sicilian towns as appointed by a vote of the township. But in most towns it was the duty of the chief magistrate to draw up a list (album) of the senators every five years. The decuriones held office for life. They were convened by the magistrate, who presided as in the Roman senate. Their powers were extensive. In all matters the magistrates were obliged to act according to their direction, and in some towns they heard cases of appeal against judicial sentences passed by the magistrate. ”

“ The hybrid began maneuvering Dixon toward the instrument enclosure. For a fleeting second the grip of the tentacles upon his shoulders loosened slightly. Dixon took instant advantage of it. Twisting himself free from the loosened tentacle in one mighty effort, he whirled and fired pointblank at the opalescent globe on the head looming above him.
The bullet smashed accurately home, shattering the globe like a bursting bubble. The great hybrid collapsed with startling suddenness, its life force instantly extinguished as the globe burst. ”

“ And the leader of the wild birds attacks the decoy partridge, and when he is taken another comes forward to fight the decoy bird; and this is done whenever the bird used for the decoy is a cock bird; but when a hen is employed for the purpose, then she crows till the leader of the wild birds meets her, and the rest of the wild birds assemble and drive him away from the hen, because he is attending to her and not to them; on which account sometimes he advances without making any noise, in order that no other bird may hear his voice and come to fight him. ”

“ Unfortunately, by the time the book was published Dexter had gone to Africa to seek a race of dwarfs said to exist in the Igidi Desert, and thus was totally out of reach. Then we were called upon to follow up this clew and find the Raposa if possible. Men with green eyes and patches of white hair above one ear are not common. So, though our knowledge of this strange wild man is confined to those few words of Dexter's, we are here to learn more of him and to get him if we can. ”

“ Do you accept it?"
"Speak!"
"I will give you a disguise; hasten to Kolozsvar and assemble your comrades,—then return and protect your house. I will wait you there, and man to man, in open honorable combat, the strife will no longer be ignominious."
"Thanks, thanks!" murmured the youth, pressing the Decurio's hand.
"There is not a moment to lose; here is a peasant's mantle—if you should be interrogated, you have only to show this paszura, [7] and mention my name. Your not knowing the language is of no consequence ”

“ None of the Utopes or the Glowing Ones fight."
Deker could detect fear. Not of any immediate danger from himself or the hunchback or the albino, but of this mysterious ability to fight.
Deker frowned through a mist of fevered weariness. It wasn't at all normal. Whatever else the human species had lacked they had always been children of conflict. They thrived on barriers to achievement. But the humans of this era had never been known to fight the Beasts. ”

“ No living soul breathed upon the Earth. No one lived here now, but Kiron and his kind.
"And," so thought Kiron to himself, "he might as well be a great unthinking robot able to do only one thing instead of the mental giant he was, so obsessed had he become with the task he had set himself to do." ”

“ With a bellow of humiliation and rage, the pirate-costumed scientist lunged with a tremendous slash, but his sword-point speared the air and before he could recover his balance, Guerlan drove his rapier deep into the fleshy shoulder.
His attacker was silent now, an ominous rage contorted the brutal face from which he'd torn the golden mask. He had but one single idea, to kill and kill quickly. Laughter and jeering shouts rose around him. As did the acrid odor of blood mingling with the exotic fragrances that cloyed the atmosphere ... his own blood! ”

“ In the battle of Cheronæa he evinced cowardice, and saved his life by flight. He ended his life by taking poison, which he always carried in a quill, in the sixtieth year of his age, B.C. 322.
Deuca ́lion. A son of Prometheus, who married Pyrrha, the daughter of Epimetheus. He reigned over part of Thessaly, and in his age the earth was covered by a deluge of water, sent by Jupiter as a punishment for the impiety of mankind. Deucalion constructed a ship, and by this means saved himself and Pyrrha. The ship, after being tossed on the waves for nine days, rested on Mount Parnassus. ”

“ Deucalion and Pyrrha leave it, offer sacrifice, and, according to the command of Zeus, repeople the world by throwing behind them 'the bones of the earth'—namely, stones, which change into men. This Deluge of Deucalion is, in Grecian tradition, what most resembles a universal deluge. Many authors affirm that it extended to the whole earth, and that the whole human race perished. ”

“ This promise has been frequently fulfilled, but proud (men) undertaking battle or conflict unjustly even if they march around it do not obtain victory but success remains with the enemy. The name of that homestead was Teach-Dhercain ("Dercain's House") and its name now is Coningean, from the claw [con] of the hound or dog aforesaid. To this place came the saintly concourse, scil:—Coman and Ultan, MacErc and Mocoba and Maclaisren, who dedicated themselves to (the service of) God and placed themselves under the spiritual rule and sway of Declan. ”

“ Now let the devils put him back on the torture bed if they could! Now let them try to make him betray his planet!
here was an alarmed squeak from the Rogan leader, and in an instant the huge laboratory was in an uproar. The Rogan guards whipped their hose-like arms toward the Earthman. Dex, with a sweep of his hands, knocked the pipe-stem legs of two of the guards from under them, leaped over their bodies, and stood at bay in a corner—guarding the bench on which the guards had laid their tubes when they filed into the laboratory. ”

“ One of the long arms went out and a sucker-disk was pressed to Dex's cheek. Dex quivered at the loathsome contact of that soft and slimy substance; then set his jaws to keep from groaning as the disk was jerked away, to carry with it a fragment of skin and flesh.
Gingerly, the tall leader felt the twitching, blackened stump of his blasted arm. Dex grinned mirthlessly at that: he'd struck one or two blows in his own defense, anyhow!
At sight of the Earthman's grin, an expression of defiance and grim joy that needed no interpreting to be understandable, the Rogan leader fairly danced with rage. ”

“ I have come to the conclusion that the basis of all the most successful secret decoys for catching fox is the substance taken from the glands of the female fox during the running season, mixed with grease of some sort, together with contents of the glands of the skunk, preferably the female taken in the spring or latter part of the winter. I do not pretend to say that every one will be successful who uses that decoy. I am of the opinion, if directions are closely followed in the following method of water trapping for fox, you are reasonably sure to catch them if you use that decoy. ”

“ Dexter heard no sound except the faint creak of saddle leather as Susy breathed. He might easily imagine himself alone in all that vast stretch of forest. But as he peered forth from behind his shelter of brush, a vagrant puff of air brought to him an odor of chimney smoke. And as he strained his vision to see in the gathering darkness, he was aware that the hobnail prints ran directly across the open ground to the cabin door.
He left the pony to drowse in the thicket, with the reins dangling from the bit, and strode forward alone into the clearing. ”

“ In spite of the agony of the pain that throbbed and flamed through his body, Dexter's mind was still functioning. He had not forgotten that his own back trail led to the cave where Devreaux was hiding. If he could convince these men that the colonel was dead, they probably would not bother to follow his footsteps to Saddle Mountain. "A thirty caliber bullet through the lungs will finish almost any man," he stated. ”

“ A single white feather was sufficient to cause the rejection of a female; and even when the colour scheme was otherwise perfect, too light a shade proved undesired.
"I don't know just why it is," said he, "but the wild ducks are a lot more particular about the live decoys than about the wooden. A wooden decoy can be all knocked to pieces, faded and generally disreputable, but it does well enough; but a live decoy must look the part absolutely. ”

“ But they were not to escape. Out of all control, all semblance of humanity now, the remaining Amnesiacs were a screaming horror that pursued the quarry and pulled it down like the giant Calamar of Venus pulls down its prey in the virgin forests, until only the moaning wounded and the dead remained on the blood-drenched plastic flooring of the titanic grotto.
Guerlan never knew when the battle was finally over. His tunic was a crimson stain from top to bottom; a long slash across his ribs to the center of his powerful chest, had left a shallow gash that dripped a slow gout of blood. ”

“ Does it really terrify its prey? Under the shining head of the Decticus, behind the long face of the cricket, who is to say what is passing? No sign of emotion can reveal itself upon these immovable masks. Yet it seems certain that the threatened creature is aware of its danger. It sees, springing up before it, a terrible spectral form with talons outstretched, ready to fall upon it; it feels itself face to face with death, and fails to flee while yet there is time. ”

“ Dexter smiled gratefully, his eyes following her movements as she bent over the fire and picked up a lighted brand. But as he watched her come back to him, a glowing ember in her hand, something all at once seemed to go wrong with his eyesight. The girl, the firelight, the ragged line of the thickets, all became hazy and unreal, fading before him. He tried to hold his head erect, but the effort was too great. His eyelids closed like leaden weights, the pipe dropped from his mouth, blackness flooded upon him, and he toppled with a sigh and fell forward upon his face. ”

“ He was at length so very much incensed at the great depravation of human nature, and the repeated provocations which he received from all parts of the earth, that [Pg 173] having resolved to destroy the whole species, except Deucalion and Pyrrha, he commanded the Destinies to gather up the blessings which he had thrown away upon the sons of men, and lay them up till the world should be inhabited by a more virtuous and deserving race of mortals. ”

“ The brigands now turned their attention to their own men. Two of these had received bad but not dangerous wounds from the dagger of Dacres, and the scowls of pain and rage which they threw upon Hawbury and the other captives boded nothing but the most cruel fate to all of them. Another, however, still lay there. It was the one who had intercepted 87 Dacres in his rush upon Girasole. He lay motionless in a pool of blood. They turned him over. His white, rigid face, as it became exposed to view, exhibited the unmistakable mark of death, and a gash on his breast showed how his fate had met him. ”

“ It is our only law, and that is strictly for survival of the species. We terminate the association as quickly as possible."
Deker smiled openly. "You're not even fooling yourself, Perl. You say no one except one suitable for mating with you can penetrate your composite shield. I did. You say it's because I'm physically not human. Why not admit that my vibratory pattern is almost identical with yours? That is why I was able to penetrate your commuting shield and the walls of your sanctum." ”

“ They harness other great animals to haul burdens. But none of the beasts are like this one. This kind cannot be tamed or harnessed. It is too ferocious. It is used only as a scourge of fear, to crush us into complete submission."
"Can't be tamed?" Brand said. "We'll see about that! Come on, Dex."
"Just a minute," said Dex. He flattened against the wall, motioning them to do the same. Then he leveled his tube at the door.
Slowly, cautiously, the door began to swing back; and the Rogan that Dex had heard fumbling with the bolt stuck his huge head out to locate the escaped prisoners. ”

“ But, far as the eye could reach, there was no sign of living thing, save of the vultures who wheeled in circles through the heaven to swoop upon their prey, and Deukalion looked on Pyrrha, and their hearts were filled with a grief which can not be told. "We know not," he said, "whether there live any one of all the sons of men, or in what hour the sleep of death may fall upon us. ”

“ A person who has once taken part in it, will willingly go a hundred miles to have more of it. The shooting is all done over decoys. These decoys are pieces of light wood shaped like ducks and geese, and painted to resemble them. And that they do resemble the natural bird very closely, is proved by the fact that more than one hunter has emptied his double-barrel into a flock of decoys and never discovered his mistake, until the disgusted owner of the wooden birds jumped up from behind his blind and demanded to know what he was about. ”