Quibble

“ The amazement of my friend Gottlieb knew no bounds, but as it was a profitable arrangement for him he asked no questions and remained in ignorance as to the source of my stream of clients, until one of his friends, to whom my assistant had made application, showed him one of the contracts. That night he sent for me to come to his office, and after offering me a very large and exceedingly good Havana cigar delivered himself as follows:
"Harkee, Quib, you are more of a fellow than I took you for. You have more cleverness than any man of your years in my acquaintance at the bar. ”

“ Before the quillpig could right himself, the fisher had torn open his unguarded belly, and proceeded to eat the quivering, flabby meat as if from the shell of an oyster, or to be more accurate, a sea urchin. Throughout these proceedings he disregarded the quills entirely. Many of them pierced his skin. Others were swallowed along with the mouthfuls of warm flesh, which he tore out and greedily devoured. ”

“ When he had completed them, the mother placed them in a fine quiver, all worked in porcupine quills, and hung them up over where the boy slept in his fine hammock of painted moose hide.
At times when the mother would be nursing her son, she would look up at the bow and arrows and talk to her baby, saying: “My son, hurry up and grow fast so you can use your bow and arrows. You will grow up to be as fine a marksman as your father.” The baby would coo and stretch his little arms up towards the bright colored quiver as though he understood every word his mother had uttered. ”

“ There is no more awkward, stupid, guileless creature in the woods than Quill-back, and the only reason why the beasts of prey haven’t wiped out his breed centuries ago is because he is so fiendishly awkward to kill and eat. One spine in the nose means days of agony, a few in the mouth is apt to bring on slow starvation. And when one hunts porcupines, and they escape him, it means simply that the hunter is getting so old and so stiff that the scavengers may dine upon him very soon. In this case Quill-back crept up a tree and crawled out to the end of a limb where Broken Fang couldn’t get him. ”

“ Quilp, pushing in his head and striking his nose with his fist. There is nothing better in the whole brutal exuberance of the character than that gesture with which Quilp punches his own face with his own fist. It is indeed a perfect symbol; for Quilp is always fighting himself for want of anybody else. He is energy, and energy by itself is always suicidal; he is that primordial energy which tears and which destroys itself. ”

“ This conspicuous band is formed by the secondary quill feathers, which being of a fine yellow, with the ends a lively blue, appear like two distinct bands, and from their gaiety of colouring are admirably relieved by the deep sable hues of the wings and back. In the bird before us the black colour of the back extends nearly to the tail, the ends of the tail coverts only being green. ”

“ In our picture, Cupid looks just as the poets have described him, a beautiful baby boy with wings and "goodly curls." Only the milk and honey of Cyprus could have made the little body so plump. A deep crease marks the line of his wrist, a soft fold of flesh the neck. The full quiver lies on the table beside him, and he is sharpening one of the darts. [38] A little companion helps him hold the whetstone steady while he presses the arrow tip upon its surface. ”

“ Once again the chick comes out and walks to a little way from its mother. Having preened itself, it goes back to her, and then flaps its little wings. The quill feathers are growing and look just about an inch long. They are a good deal separated from one another, and have a very feeble appearance. Still, they might serve to make a fall a long fall, which is all that would be required of them to take their owner to the sea. The preening over, the chick, with considerable insistence, burrows once more under its mother's wing, and I now leave, it being all mist and raining into mist. ”

“ When the quill enters the flesh of an enemy, any muscular movement causes the quill to move forward until it emerges on the opposite side or becomes lodged against the bone or under the hide.
When the porcupine senses danger he raises the quills on his back and has his muscular spine-studded tail in readiness to flip upward. He tries to keep his rear toward the enemy and to push his head into protective brush. The quills are loosely attached to the skin so pull out readily when they stick into anything. ”

“ Lower mandible yellow, except at the tip. Body above olivaceous, strongly tinged with ashy towards and on the head. Beneath pale yellowish-brown, darkest on the legs and abdomen, becoming lighter to the bill. An elongated spot of dark plumbeous behind the eye. Inner edges of the quills and under wing-coverts like the belly. Tail-feathers, except the central, black, with a sharply defined tip of white for about an inch, this color not extending along the outer web of the quill. ”

“ In running we usually grasp the quiver in the right hand, not only to prevent it interfering with locomotion, but to keep the arrows from rattling and falling out. When on the trail of an animal we habitually stuff a twig of leaves, a bunch of ferns or a bit of grass in the mouth of the quiver to damp the soft rustling of the arrows. Sometimes, in going through brush or when running, we carry the quiver on a belt slung over the left shoulder. ”

“ Without further persuasion, the two boys fell upon each other, tooth and nail, while Quilp, holding up the cage in one hand, and chopping the ground with his knife in an ecstasy, urged them on by his taunts and cries to fight more fiercely. They were a pretty equal match, and rolled about together, exchanging blows which were by no means child’s play, until at length Kit, planting a well-directed hit in his adversary’s chest, disengaged himself, sprung nimbly up, and snatching the cage from Quilp’s hands made off with his prize. ”

“ Many and many an animal has thought that he could kill sluggish, stupid Quillpig. The wolf, the lynx, the panther, and the wildcat all have tried—and died. So to-night the porcupine kept on with his gnawing, under the star-shine, convinced that no animal that lived could solve his defense. But the blackcat is one of two animals which have no fear of the quillpig. Blackbear is the other. With its swift, sinuous gait, the pekan came closer, whereupon Quillpig unwillingly stopped his sawing and thrust his head under the broken, frozen staves of the barrel. ”

“ Sleigh-bells were heard at a distance, and the illuminated snow which lay beneath the windows was peopled with shadows moving over it, as one group after another passed out, anxious to obtain a view up the lane.
A knock at the nearest front door put us to flight. Three young gentlemen entered and found us sitting primly around the quilt, each with a thimble on and earnestly at work, like so many birds in a cherry-tree. Again the knocker resounded through the house, as if the lion’s head that formed it were set to howling by the huge mass of iron belabouring it so unmercifully. ”

“ His playful bites draw blood, and his unsheathed claws are a terror, even when one is stroking his back. His tail quivers and his eyes have a tigerish expression, even when he is but catching a ball of yarn. ”

“ The first of these are from Quimby's home town, Belfast. One of these writers says, in part:
“Before we proceed to describe the experiments, we will say that Mr. Quimby is a gentleman, in size rather smaller than the medium of men, with a well-proportioned and well-balanced phrenological head, and with the power of concentration surpassing anything we have ever witnessed. His eyes are black and very piercing, with rather a pleasant expression, and he possesses the power of looking at one object even without winking, for a length of time.” ”

“ To the inexperienced eye the prickly pear looks innocent enough, with its smooth, shiny skin, suggestive only of a juicy interior, and telling no tales of lurking mischief; yet each of these soft-looking tufts, with which at regular intervals it is dotted, is a quiver filled with terrible, tiny, hairlike thorns, or rather stings, and woe betide the fingers of the unwary, who with no kind friend at hand to warn him, plucks the treacherous fruit. ”

“ Scarcely do I conceal myself at the foot of the stairway and rest my head upon my knees than I see him coming, looking for me in the darkness, strong and loving, with his quiver at his side and his bow slung across his shoulders. When he comes the ferocious dogs which slink through the shadows, sniffing in my face and staring at me with their gloomy eyes, are frightened away. ”

“ Now along each broad quill it passes, drawing it out and displaying its elasticity; and now with necks stretched to their full length, and heads elevated, they direct its point in search of the insects that are concealed along their necks and breasts. Now they droop their wings for a while, or stretch them alternately to their full extent; some slowly lie down on the sand, others remain standing, quietly draw their head over their broad shoulders, raise one of their feet, and placing their bill on their back, compose themselves to rest. ”

“ Beginning with dry flies, my first choice would be {63} a Quill Gordon, on a size 16 hook. This fly closely represents the numerous duns that are on or about the water, to some extent, during the entire season. I have little faith in color in the dry fly, except light or dark shades. I do believe that the size and shape have a great deal more to do with the success of a dry fly than color. I have proven to my own satisfaction that a Quill Gordon sparsely dressed as it should be, but tied with a black hackle and yellow mallard wings, is just as successful as the customary dressing. ”

“ The base of the upper mandible is covered with short velvet-like feathers; between the bill and the eye is a large patch of white; the head, neck, back, and wings, glossy black; lesser quill-feathers tipped with white; legs black.
The smallness of the wings renders them useless for flight, the longest quill-feather not exceeding four inches in length. These, however, are admirably adapted to its mode of life, and are of peculiar use in diving under water, where they act as fins; by which means it pursues its prey with astonishing velocity. ”

“ When you have fastened these feathers on each arrow lay them aside for ten or twelve hours. The three feathers will look like this: (Fig. P.)
Fig. P.
A boy can hardly make a good quiver unless he were to kill some furred animal and make a cylindrical case such as the Indians have, out of its skin. I am afraid that he usually would have to get a harness-maker to make him a quiver out of leather, somewhat larger at the top than at the bottom. It should hold from eight to twelve arrows.
A good target may be made of soft pine, circular or elliptical in shape. ”

“ Now, just as Mr Quilp laid his hand upon the lock, and saw with great astonishment that the fastenings were undone, the knocking came again with the most irritating violence, and the daylight which had been shining through the key-hole was intercepted on the outside by a human eye. The dwarf was very much exasperated, and wanting somebody to wreak his ill-humour upon, determined to dart out suddenly, and favour Mrs Quilp with a gentle acknowledgment of her attention in making that hideous uproar. ”

“ As they crossed the stream one stooped and drank from his hand, but they said no word and made no noise. All were painted black; a few had face and chest striped with yellow. Their headdresses were tall and wonderful, their leggings and moccasins fringed with scalp locks; their hatchets glinted in the sunshine, and their quivers were stuck full of arrows. One by one they glided from the stream into the thick woods beyond. We waited until we knew that they were deep in the forest, then crept from the willows and went our way. ”

“ Its body is covered with hair of a dark brown, about four inches long, great part of which are the thickness of a straw, and are termed its quills. These are white, with black points, hollow, and very strong, especially those that grow on the back. The quills serve this creature for offensive and defensive weapons, which he darts at his enemies, and if they pierce the flesh in the least degree, they will sink quite into it, and are not to be extracted without incision. ”

“ Suddenly they both felt the blood congeal in their own veins; each turned to each a horrified face, then slowly and as if drawn by a power supernatural and quite outside of their own will, their two heads turned in the direction she was looking, and they beheld standing in their midst a spectre—no, it was the figure of a living, breathing woman, with eyes fastened on those jewels,—those well-known, much-advertised jewels! So much they saw in that instant flash, then nothing! For Quimby, in a frenzy of unreasoning fear, had taken the chair from under him and had swung it at the figure. ”

“ These quills are very useful, too, for after a Swift has broken off a tiny twig for his nest, he has to cling to the side of the chimney and fix it into place, and he could not do this without supporting himself by these tail quills. It is hard work building nests, and you can see that it would be. They have to cling with both feet, support themselves with their tails, put each tiny twig in place with their bills, and glue it there with sticky saliva from their mouths or else with tree-gum. ”

“ When the wind is behind, each stiff quill at the end of the wing stands out by itself and is caught and driven by the blast; but as the bird turns round to face the gale, they all close up and form a continuous mainsail, close-hauled. And all the while the expanded tail is in play, dipping first at one side and then at the other, and turning the trim craft with easy grace "as the governor listeth." ”