Peduncle

“ We agreed that such a beast could never have been killed by any assault of man, and that the gate must have been a fallen tusk, and one fallen near and recently. Therefore he decided that it were better to flee at once; so he commanded, and the sailors went to the sails, and others raised the anchor to the deck, and just as the highest pinnacle of marble lost the last rays of the sun we left Perdondaris, that famous city. ”

“ Even I, to whom the bark of a wolf is no more than the clatter of a pebble in a brook, found some comfort in the fact that I stood at the priest’s side, and was thus in the centre of the group. As for the pack in the thicket, it had become bolder at our halt, and we could now see the brutes, some snarling in the bushes at our side, some jumping before us from the wood to the road, and again from the road to the wood, others dogging our steps and waiting for that moment when one beast more bold than the rest should spring to the attack and a hundred should follow him. ”

“ Such things as the swamp on the plateau, the hippopotamus floating unthinkingly in the lake, the naked native with his arrow and bow, must go down before the tread of the white man. It was their destiny, and Penderel, grateful for the act of grace which had made him of the ruling race, felt in his pocket for the arrow-heads and the blue bead which would score again the difference between these people and himself. ”

“ Mr Peden came above the deck and said, 'Why are ye discouraged? You need not fear, there will neither thumbkins nor bootkins come here; lift up your hearts and heads, for the day of your redemption draweth near; if we were once at London, we will be set at liberty.' And when sailing on the voyage, praying publicly, he said, 'Lord, such is the enemies' hatred at thee and malice at us for thy sake, that they will not let us stay in the land of Scotland, to serve thee, though some of us have nothing but the canopy of thy heaven above us, and the earth to tread upon ”

“ Far End, they calls the 'ouse.”
“Far End,” repeated Sara. The name conveyed an odd sense of remoteness and inaccessibility. It seemed peculiarly appropriate to a house built thus on the very edge of the mainland.
Her eyes rested musingly on the bleak promontory. It would be a fit abode, she thought, for some recluse, determined to eschew the society of his fellow-men; here he could dwell, solitary and apart, surrounded on three sides by the grey, dividing sea, and protected on the fourth by the steep untempting climb that lay betwixt the town and the lonely house on the cliff. ”

“ Peden's death drew near, and not being able to travel, he came to his brother's house, in the parish of Sorn, where he was born. He caused dig a cave, with a saughen bush covering the mouth of it, near to his brother's house. The enemies got notice, and searched the house narrowly many times. In the time that he was in this cave, he said to some friends, 1st. That God shall make Scotland a desolation.-2dly, There shall be a remnant in the land, whom God should spare and hide.-3dly, They should lie in holes and cavet of the earth, and be supplied with meat and drink ”

“ It was a fine scramble getting to the ruins, and when Sir Lionel had opened a door (with a key you get from a cottage close by the sea) it was quite as if he were my host, entertaining me in his ancestral home. I told him that it felt twice as interesting to be there with a true Pendragon, than with a mere king or anybody like that, and he seemed pleased.
"I hope I am a 'true' Pendragon," he said, rather thoughtfully. "One must try to be—always." ”

“ The walls of the room were covered by mirrors; and as Sir Richard Pendragon stood before each of them in turn, preening himself like a bird of bright plumage, now with his bonnet on his head to judge the appearance of his Persian cockado, now with it off to see how he seemed without it, I grew sensible of a concern for the affronts our singular leader was like to put upon the Father of his People. ”

“ The pedlar walked on singing, and she kept a little way behind him, treading softly. On they went till the first streak of daylight broke in the sky, for he was on his way to the town; he had sold all his wares and meant to go to sea again in the first ship he could find leaving the harbour. When they entered the streets all the world was asleep, and they passed through the town unnoticed. Beside the quay a forest of masts stood dark against the sky, and here the pedlar halted, looking about him. Then he turned and saw the Nix. ”

“ Why must I be so cheerful then?”
“Because,” was the reply of this audacious foreigner, “Richard Pendragon, knight of England, hero of an hundred fields, is here to make you an offer of [117] his service. This two and a quarter yards by a yard and a half of brawn and valiancy hath left a monstrous quantity of the kingly blood that flows beneath his doublet on the battle meads of Europe. How many a pretty daisy hath fed its damask on the azure blood of a Pendragon! ”

“ Knowing I could not begin too soon to teach them their place, I rested the gun on Flat Mouth's shoulder, aimed a bit high and had the satisfaction of seeing the brave go sprawling down the bank, his head and shoulders remaining under water. This kill wrung a chorus of devilish yells from the hidden warriors. Flat Mouth hurled his war-cry at them and danced in great glee.
I reloaded and urged the Pillager to return to the girl and prepare her for making the tip of the grove. ”

“ Not a mote in the beam, not an herb on the mountain, not a pebble on the shore, not a seed far-blown into the wilderness, but contributes to the lore that seeks in all the true principle of life—the beautiful—the joyous—the immortal. ”

“ When the lad came to the house, the good wife hasted and gave him meat to them, saying, Lad, run hard, and tell them, that the enemies are spread; and we are looking for them here every minute. As the lad was going from the house, eighteen of the enemies foot appeared, who cried to him, Stand dog! But the lad ran, and six of them pursued half a mile, and fired hard upon him; the ball went close by his head: All that time Mr. Peden continued in prayer for him alone, and with the rest, being twelve men. ”

“ There are, indeed, occasions on which a pedestal may be necessary; it may be better to raise a shaft from a sudden depression of plinth to a level with others, its companions, by means of a pedestal, than to introduce a higher shaft; or it may be better to place a shaft of alabaster, if otherwise too short for our purpose, on a pedestal, than to use a larger shaft of coarser material; but the pedestal is in each case a make-shift, not an additional perfection. ”

“ Habitually given to chatter and to noise, they came out now in great silence, riding at a gentle canter through the park of the castle to the high plane of grass-land which gave them a view of the sea; and they stood upon the plateau to watch the coming of the boats from the haven of the tunnel to the creek wherein the survivors of the Semiramis had found refuge. At the end of an hour they observed the boats to return; and as the signal appointed was made by the leading craft Messenger's heart leaped with the fever of his excitement. ”

“ I sniffed and detected smoke, a thin reek of burning grass. I wet my finger and tested the faint breeze. It still held from the south. Creeping to the edge of the plain I could make out moving shapes as the Indians rode up and down the front of the timber. But there were no fires burning on this side, and a blaze lighted on the north would sweep away from us.
Returning to Miss Dearness, I reassured her.
"Then there is only one other explanation," she said. "Flat Mouth has set the grass afire on the north side of us,"
"It will burn to the Turtle, perhaps to the Park." ”

“ Before I could make Sir Richard Pendragon’s excuses for not being present, as I felt sure, notwithstanding his quiddity, the English giant, having the blood of kings under his doublet, would have wished me to do, there came through the soft and sweet morning airs a mighty commotion. There was shouting, the blowing of horns and trumpets, and then came the loud bark of a culverin. ”

“ Pendragon. Why sir, if war was not my profession, I'd sell out; but it's always my maxim to obey orders, whatever they may be: therefore, shall be happy to have a brush with you in war, and equally happy to crack a bottle of Burgundy with you in peace; a flash in the pan in one way, or a puff from a segar in another; a bullet under the ribs in battle, or a country dance in a ball-room; all's one to me, if it's only fashionably conducted.
General. Well, let's into my tent and partake of some refreshment. We may not always meet as enemies.
Pendragon. [To Adela.] ”

“ Mile after mile it stretches before you, a broad slope of sand, sparely roughened here and there by pebble drifts. At times you see numerous rounded lumps lying about of many sizes, which at a distance resemble sleeping turtles, and on a nearer view prove to be nothing but masses of hardened clay, water-worn, and as full of pebbles as a canon’s pudding is of plums. ”

“ The belief of the peasantry did not long confine the apparition to the sea-coast; it was seen sometimes late at night far inland, and following Gilbert the fisherman, like a human shadow—like a pure light—like a white garment—and often in the shape, and with the attributes, in which it disturbed the carousal of the smugglers. ”

“ For every rock in the desert, every boulder on the plain, every pebble by the brook-side, every grain of sand on the sea-shore, is fraught with lessons of wisdom to the mind which is fitted to receive and comprehend their sublime import. ”

“ I had half expected to see an old stone building with a moat, and round towers and battlements, and a great flag flying; and that the old gentleman would have walked across the drawbridge, and cried out, “What ho! warder!” and that we should have been waited upon at lunch by an old white-headed man in black velvet, with a silver chain, and keys round his waist. Somehow, the story of the battle, and all the talk about Pendragon and Arthur, coming upon the back of the farm-house, and the out of the way country life, which was so strange to me, had carried me into a sort of new world ”

“ The town itself spread out before her, an assemblage of red and grey tiled roofs sloping downwards to the curve of the bay, while, on the right, a bold promontory thrust itself into the sea, grimly resisting the perpetual onslaught of the wave. Through the waning light of the winter's afternoon, Sara could discern the outline of a house limned against the dark background of woods that crowned it. Linked to the jutting headland, a long range of sea-washed cliffs stretched as far as the eyes could reach. ”

“ It was as if the door had been opened into Siberia. The thought of the menacing night and the Wavertons waiting there behind him, the contrast between their situation and this senseless immobility suddenly angered him. He raised his voice: ‘The road here’s under water now. There are floods, landslides. All the mountain side’s coming down. We shall have to stay here. Don’t you understand?’
If the man did, he gave no sign, but stood there as if he were staring out of another world. Penderel had a sudden desire to pound the great senseless carcase. ”

“ He has been here hardly at all since I came to Pendabury, and when he is here he can talk of nothing but pots and potters—the making of one and the improvement of the other. I must say you people who set up to be philanthropic, and all the rest of it, are as cunning as foxes, and poor simple creatures, like myself, are no match for you. ”

“ He passed them with as good an air of dignity as he could assume, and made directly for the boudoir. When he opened the door an astonishing and even menacing spectacle presented itself to his eyes; for he beheld the General and his wife, and, of all people, Charlie Pendragon, closeted together and speaking with earnestness and gravity on some important subject. ”

“ This led him to notice that the tree he was leaning against also was a beech and his eyes opened in admiration as he decided it must be nearly three feet in diameter.
“It’s more than two and a half feet,” he mused, tapping the trunk idly with the back of his ax. “It’s fully as large—yes, larger—than the one on Nace’s line. It’s about half way.”
Then his breath came in a gasp as his ax-head hit a place that gave back a dead sound.
The bark looked smooth, yet it felt beneath the ax as if the wood were dead.
“It can’t be! it can’t be!” he murmured, sinking down at the foot of the tree. ”

“ The forms under which these restless spirits performed their pranks have unfortunately been left undefined by a curious and a poetical peasantry.
It happened one winter, during the fifteenth year of the ministry of Ezra Peden, and in the year of grace 1705, that he sat by his fire pondering deep among the treasures of the ancient Presbyterian worthies, and listening occasionally to the chafing of the coming tide against cliff and bank, and the fitful sweep of heavy gusts of wind over the roof of his manse. ”

“ And when a certain tract has been searched through, pebble by pebble, and found to be absolutely barren, then they will begin on it again, on the off-chance of a thrown brick or the passing of some human creature in the meantime having left behind it something to eat. ”

“ A realisation, not of her own peril, but of her solitude, overwhelmed her. The presence of the dead haunted her. She ran up to her bedroom, and sitting in the unlighted room she opened her window and looked out over the awakened vineyards. France had poured its very life into that valley. Watchfires glowed red in the woods as a thousand stars of good omen. She could see regiments of cuirassiers with the moonbeams glowing upon their helmets and their breastplates while they march northward to the villages by the river. ”