Slacker

“ One glimpse of that weapon at the cattle-buyer's shoulder was enough; they did not wait for him to pull the trigger but fled.
John Slaughter was wearying of this sort of thing. Lyle and Stilwell were men of parts; good men of whom to make examples. He sought the former out in Charleston. They met in front of a saloon on the main street. John Slaughter drew and, as he threw down—
“I've got no gun,” Lyle cried.
“If you were armed,” the cow-man said, “I'd kill you now. But if I ever see you in this country again, I'll kill you anyhow.” ”

“ It may be argued that the existence of the hammer is such a point; but what household in the land is devoid of a hammer? It is to be remembered that if Slater committed the murder with this hammer, he must have taken it with him in order to commit the crime, since it could be no use to him in forcing an entrance. But what man in his senses, planning a deliberate murder, would take with him a weapon which was light, frail, and so long that it must project from any pocket? ”

“ The slackener is usually in the form of a lever, one end of which can be lifted by the dobby or whatever shedding motion is used, and when the dobby lifts one end of the lever the rod is moved downward, thus slackening the warp which is drawn over the rod. Whenever the doup is lifted the crossing warp must be slackened, or it would cause the standard end B to be lifted, as it is crossed under it. ”

“ The sum of all my investigation was, that in a kind of semi-corporeal dream life Slater wandered or floated through resplendent and prodigious valleys, meadows, gardens, cities, and palaces of light; in a region unbounded and unknown to man. That there he was no peasant or degenerate, but creature of importance and vivid life; moving proudly and dominantly, and checked only by a certain deadly enemy, who seemed to be a being of visible yet ethereal structure, and who did not appear to be of human shape, since Slater never referred to it as a man, or as aught save a thing. ”

“ ATTACKING STALKERS It must often have occurred to every one who has had experience in stalking what a very different sport stalking would be if stags realised their power and had no fear of man. It is, of course, well known to every one who is interested in the habits of deer that a tame stag in the rutting season is one of the most dangerous animals, and some years ago a tragedy occurred in Ross-shire, when a stalker was attacked and killed by a stag which he had himself brought down from the forest as a calf and which knew him well. ”

“ A large body was moving through the thicket, just out of sight, coming toward them. A serpentine neck poked out of the copse, bearing a cactuslike head a foot in diameter. The head swung toward them, circularly machairodont, a ring of six-inch eye stalks extended.
The men froze, watching the creature. The head moved away, apparently losing its orientation in the silence. The neck was smooth and flexible, about ten feet in length; the body remained out of sight.
"Look at those teeth!" Slaker whispered fiercely. "That's our monster." ”

“ Now I want to tell you that a blow from a bare fist is much different than a blow from a glove, and while less stunning, is more of a punisher in its way. Still, I was used to being hit with bare knuckles, and I kept boring in. I swung a left to the ribs that made Slade grunt, and missed a right in the same direction.
This was the beginning of a cruel, bruising fight with no favor. I felt like a wild animal, when I had time to feel anything but Slade's left, battling down there in the pit, with a ring of yelling, distorted faces leering down at us. ”

“ But if any man falls out he may not get found again."
"That's so. Close up, gentlemen." Carruthers reined in behind Dick. "Kick her into it," he said, and with a thunder of hooves the little army swung to the right along the hilltop.
Slicker was riding a pony of Ducane's, and when the unstable muskeg came underfoot in the drifting smoke something of the craven spirit of its master seemed to possess it and it endeavoured to lie down. Slicker got off and explained his own desires with the whip-butt, and Grange helped him. ”

“ Poke that log back, Slicker. It's smoking."
"I guess he just thinks of Andree, Andree all the time," said Slicker, obeying. "I wish somebody had drowned that girl when she was a kitten—I mean, as old as a kitten. She's done more harm than any one person has a right to, and she isn't through yet, I guess. There are stacks more fools left in the world. I suppose she is a beauty, though. Heriot has made some glorious pictures of her, Forbes says. He writes to me regularly. Rather a nice chap. You remember him, honey?"
Slicker continued his monologue, giving Jennifer time to recover her poise. ”

“ Such are the words, in his book Wild Sport with Gun, Rifle, and Salmon Rod, of Mr. Gilfrid [198] W. Hartley, a stalker of great experience, and the author of some most fascinating reminiscences on stalking.
Every good sportsman is, of course, greatly distressed if he has the misfortune to wound a stag without being able to kill him. No matter what care may be exercised, it is impossible, even for the best of shots who has been accustomed to stalk for many years, not to experience some time or other a catastrophe of this kind. ”

“ Then, as he grasped the gee-pole to mush on again, there came the shrill sound of sledge-runners on the beaten trail, and the muffled whine of punished dogs.
Sark paused and looked back curiously.
Around the bend flashed another sledge, drawn by five lean malemiuts and driven by a seeming lunatic. The seeming lunatic lay face down, holding on to the sledge with his left hand and plying the whip with his right. The wind of his going had blown back his parka-hood so that it flapped uselessly on his shoulders. But the man did not appear to know or care. ”

“ When the slap is delivered, the slapper darts back to his place in the rank with all possible speed, and the slapped one darts after the other like greased lightning, and touches the wrong man perhaps, and pulls the bandage off, only to have to put on again, while the passengers roar with delight ”

“ Slicker shrugged his shoulders. His ideas concerning love and human nature were increasing in severity. "Because he's a fool. Men like Tempest usually love as they work—over-time. Everybody knows it."
Jennifer winced. She knew enough of Tempest to know that something sacred was being despoiled here. She forgot what was going forward in the next room and turned her rage on Slicker.
"Why don't you try to stop it?" she cried. "How dare you let a thing like that go on, and you in the middle of it? ”

“ A tramp-woman, drunk, and wet to the skin with rain, was going along a road near Burnley, in company with a navvy, [24] who by-and-by left her helpless at a gate. Two out of a party of young colliers coming from work found her lying there, and they led her into a field. They then sent a boy named Slater to fetch the remaining eight of their band, and, having thus gathered many spectators, two of them certainly, and others of the number in all probability, outraged the hapless creature, leaving her after this infernal treatment in such plight that next day she was found lying dead in the field. ”

“ The chance came the next minute, but he was not able to take advantage of it, for on turning one of the black masses of slag which looked as if it had lately come from a furnace, the great lizard was started again, and what followed was over in a few seconds, for the lithe, active creature turned threateningly upon its pursuer with jaws thrown open, and it looked startling enough in its grey, glistening armour as it menaced the lad, who stood aghast—but only to be brought to a knowledge of his position by the attack which followed. ”

“ It is astonishing what tricks the wind will play in certain corries, and as a result what mistakes even a good stalker will make in a forest which is new to him. Moreover, any one stalking by himself, unless he has experience, may easily make another kind of mistake. He may think that he has missed a stag when he has in fact killed him. Any one who has had experience in shooting deer knows that a stag when shot through the heart will [7] sometimes gallop for forty or fifty yards or even further and then fall down dead. ”

“ There are no doubt rare instances of a wounded stag attempting to attack a man. [30] I myself have never known such an instance, and, although I have often asked old stalkers whether they have ever known of anything of the kind, I have only once met with any one who has had such a personal experience. The head stalker of a well-known forest recently told me that on two occasions he had known of wounded stags attacking a man. ”

“ They will often apparently gaze at a man in full view of them and appear not to see him unless he moves. The very slightest movement is enough. But although the wind in the corries often plays curious tricks in warning a stag that is apparently safely up wind of the stalker, it is doubtful whether it ever plays tricks against the stag and sends him back into the arms of the stalker, as a splash from a ball in the water does sometimes. ”

“ With a bound I was upon him, and I had struck at his heart; struck so truly and so terrible a blow, that the hilt of the dagger struck his ribs with a thud like the blow of a cudgel. The blood seemed to leap out at me, even as the blow fell. With spasmodic reaction he tumbled forwards; fell without a sound, and so quickly that had not I, fearing lest the noise of his falling might betray me, caught him, he would have dropped like a stricken bullock.
Never before did I understand the pleasure of killing a man. ”

“ Now, in my intense desire to probe into the dream life of Joe Slater, I sought these instruments again; and spent several days in repairing them for action. When they were complete once more I missed no opportunity for their trial. At each outburst of Slater's violence, I would fit the transmitter to his forehead and the receiver to my own; constantly making delicate adjustments for various hypothetical wave-lengths of intellectual energy. ”

“ Lecky’s statement, that the "repugnance" of butchers to their daily work has "ceased." We must take into consideration the fact that the ranks of slaughter-men are habitually made up from the dregs of the population, persons in whom one could hardly expect to find the sentiment of pity strongly developed ”

“ And the muzzle of that rifle had an unpleasant way of following any one of the trio who made a move in the saddle. They were men of parts, seasoned fighters in a fighting land, but they were men of sense. They rode away.
Some miles farther down the river John Slaughter was biding the arrival of two half-breeds and a pair of rustlers who had announced their intention to get him, when a vaquero whom he had summoned to help him receive the guests showed symptoms of reluctance. While the vaquero was talking the invaders came into view, riding fast. ”

“ They're as sharp as a pair of hatchets," said an unfortunate neighbour who had the ill-luck to encounter the gyrations of these offensive and weapon-like appendages to the trunk of Nicholas Slater, who, in his great ardour and distress at the floundering and abortive attempts of the scholar, threw them about in all directions, to the constant jeopardy and annoyance of those more immediately within their sphere of operation. ”

“ Trevor looked at it with astonishment, and Peter walked round and round it till, stopping short near the builder, he remarked—
“Well, Master Stalker, that’s a rum house! I’ll be bold to ask, are we to be shut up all winter, so that we don’t want a door to go in and out at? And is it so dark that we don’t want a window to see out of?”
“Wait a bit, and you’ll see what we’ll do, lad,” answered Stalker, laughing. “Light enough, day and night, when the snow’s on the ground; and you’ll be as much out of doors as in doors when the sky’s clear.” ”

“ Stalkenberg was that year particularly full, for its size—you might have put it in a nutshell; and it derived its importance, name, and most else belonging to it, from its lord of the soil, the Baron von Stalkenberg. A stalwart old man was the baron, with grizzly hair, a grizzled beard, and manners as loutish as those of the boars he hunted. He had four sons as stalwart as himself, and who promised to be in time as grizzled. They were all styled the Counts von Stalkenberg, being distinguished by their Christian names—all save the eldest son, and he was generally called the young baron. ”

“ There are few forms on which the mantle of romance hangs more ungracefully than upon that of the uncouth Schalken—the boorish but most cunning worker in oils, whose pieces delight the critics of our day almost as much as his manners disgusted the refined of his own ”

“ In the ninth round the Slasher came up to the scratch slowly. His seconds had done their best for him, but his strength was going. It is very exhausting to dash about a grassy ring and hurl ponderous blows at nothing. Once more he tried, but he couldn’t get near Sayers. But now he was too tired to keep running after his opponent, and Sayers stood his ground. The next time the mighty fist shot out he ducked under it again and sent in a smashing blow on the Slasher’s face. ”

“ It was not until I laid my hand on his shoulder that he raised his head—and the face he showed me threw me back like a blow on the chest.
His mouth and nose had come apart, and crept like a thick vine up his right cheek—which was no longer a cheek. A chunk of bluish red flesh swelled up there, covered by skin stretched to bursting and shining from being drawn so tight. The whole right side of his face seemed more like an exotic fruit than a human countenance, while from the left side, from out of grey twitching misery, a sad, frightened eye looked up at me. ”