Zephyr

“ I must have been lying there for hours, my right leg caught under poor old Zephyr, who had received a piece of shell in the middle of his chest. There was nothing to laugh at in my position, I can tell you; the dead comrades lying around me in piles, not a living soul in sight, and the certainty that I should have to kick the bucket too unless someone came to put me on my legs again. Gently, gently, I tried to free my leg, but it was no use; Zephyr’s weight must have been fully up to that of the five hundred thousand devils. He was warm still. ”

“ The autumn days had turned the leaves of the forest from gold to crimson, the Hermit thrush had ceased its song of the even-tide, and when they were all ready to leave the camp, Zephyr did not seem at all surprised to be taken along with them. She was taken to Aida’s home at first, for her (Aida’s) tall husband had at last come home, braving the dangers of the war-ravaged seas. ”

“ Yet now he had fear for Élise. Firmstone was so far above her. Zephyr shook his head. Marriage was not to be thought of, only a hopeless love on the part of Élise that would bring misery in the end. This was Zephyr's limit, and this made him coldly silent in the presence of Firmstone's advances. Firmstone was not thus limited. Zephyr's silent reticence was quickly fathomed. His liking for the man grew. He spoke calmly and with no trace of resentment.
"Of course, Élise is nothing to me in a way. But to think of a girl with her possibilities being dwarfed and ruined by her surroundings!" ”

“ Unsuspecting Hyacinthus playing a game of quoits with Apollo, Zephyr, unperceived, seized the opportunity basely to cause his rival to become the innocent means of their common favourite’s death: for whilst a quoit thrown by the sun-god whirled through the air, Zephyr treacherously blew it from its course till it struck the head of the ill-fated Hyacinthus, and killed him, to the great sorrow of his innocent slayer. Unable to restore his favourite companion to life, Apollo, as a memorial of him, caused the flower which has since borne his name to spring from his blood. ”

“ At the office-door Zephyr paused.
"Won't you come in?" asked Firmstone.
"I think not, dearly beloved. The spirit moveth me in sundry places. In other words, I've got a hunch. And say, Goggles, don't ask any embarrassing questions, if your grub mysteriously disappears. Just charge it up to permanent equipment account, and keep quiet, unless you want to inquire darkly whether anyone knows what's become of that fellow Zephyr."
"Don't take any risks, Zephyr. A man's a long time dead. You know as well as I the gang you're up against. ”

“ The eagle slowly circles in the air, a menace to all smaller fowl. Zephyr has fled to Cyprus, where he dances with the lazy flowers among the green grass. Boreas drives the mists down from the Alps, and the river, writhing like a serpent in the valley, gathers his tributaries. With strange sounds he rises. The yellow foam is tossed into the air as the wicked turbid stream rolls stone upon stone, and dashing against the dykes, overwhelms Ambra, “beloved of Lorenzo.” The terrified peasants take refuge on the roofs of their cottages, and watch their poor riches being swept away. ”

“ In the evenings, when Sir Philip is away, I ride as near the boundaries of the Chase enclosure as possible, and sometimes I can’t resist taking a jump over and cantering along the roads in the early moonlight. Sometimes, as if he knew we were doing wrong, Zephyr flies so fast his hoofs seem hardly to touch the ground, and I am sure, as we flash by the few country folk trudging along the lonely roads, they think we are wraiths, and go home and make stories about us. ”

“ Zephyr, we can now realise, is of no particular age, or race; he retains his jaded old sprightliness as he favours his capacious nose with a copious pinch of snuff, supplied to that organ from the ball of his thumb, with much apparent gratification. The gentleman who is offering this hero the courtesy of his huge snuff-box is a jolly, jaunty-looking person enough, a compound of splendour and shabbiness ”

“ After the boys and their parents had said good-bye to their camp, and the whistle of their train could be heard far over the hills, she began to take a new course with Zephyr. The little lonesome creature would go often down to the bank, and seem to watch for the coming of a boat and a welcoming [28] warwhoop, but would always come back disappointed. It was at such times that Aida and her mother would have a loving word for Zephyr, and it evidently was at a loss to know what such unusual attention meant. ”

“ There was no surprise in her face.
"Pierre says she shall not go to school and learn to despise him and me. He says she will learn to be ashamed of us before her grand friends. Do you think she will ever be ashamed of me?" There was a yearning look in the uncomplaining eyes.
Zephyr looked meditatively at the fire, pursed his lips, and, deliberately thrusting his hand into the bosom of his shirt, drew forth his harmonica. ”

“ There were some that death had not released after their two days’ agony; at the faintest sound they would raise their head, turning it eagerly from right to left, then let it fall again upon the ground, while others lay motionless and momentarily gave utterance to that shrill scream which one who has heard it can never forget, the lament of the dying horse, so piercingly mournful that earth and heaven seemed to shudder in unison with it. And Prosper, with a bleeding heart, thought of poor Zephyr, and told himself that perhaps he might see him once again. ”

“ Psyche, to-morrow thy sisters will seek thee once again. This time they will not wait for Zephyr to bear them down, but, trusting themselves to the barren air, they will hurl themselves from the cliff, and be dashed to pieces on the rocks below. Leave them to their fate. 'Twill be due penalty for their crime, and 'tis the only way that we can be saved, beloved. ”

“ When the morning drill was done, the Zephyr used to say to the ripples, "Now you shall have a holiday; go and play together. Love one another. Be as good as you can. Be kind to all the world, and you will be happy." Then she kissed them all lightly, and flew away across the yellow sand and the heather-covered rocks, and they saw her no more until next morning. But they could hear her singing on the cliff one of those songs about the waves she loved so well, and when the chorus came they would join in, for she had taught it to them in the class, and it went this way ”

“ Which deck thy progress through the vaulted skies
The morn awakes, and wide extends her rays,
On ev'ry leaf the gentle zephyr plays;
Harmonious lays the feathered race resume,
Dart the bright eye, and shake the painted plume. ”

“ I dare say that the superintendent at the mill would jump at the chance. I think I shall ask him, anyway." Her manner changed. "Why do they always call him the old man? He is not such a very old man."
"They'd call a baby 'the old man' if he was superintendent. Do they say much about him?" Zephyr asked, meditatively.
"Oh yes, lots. M'sier Mo-reeson"—she made a wry face at the name—"is always talking about that minion of capitalistic oppression that's sucking the life-blood of the serfs of toil. Daddy hates the old man. He's afraid of him. Daddy always hates anyone he's afraid of, except me." ”

“ Nothing could stand before it, all went down; and the work that it left unfinished was completed by bayonet and musket butt. Of the brave men who rode into action that day two-thirds remained upon the battlefield, and the sole end achieved by that mad charge was to add another glorious page to history. And then Zephyr, struck by a musket-ball full in the chest, dropped in a heap, crushing beneath him Prosper’s right thigh; and the pain was so acute that the young man fainted.
Maurice and Jean, who had watched the gallant effort with burning interest, uttered an exclamation of rage. ”

“ It was love of horseflesh, dating from childhood, from the time when he had taken the teams to the fields, that had induced him to enter the cavalry service. 'We've just come from Monthois, ten leagues at a stretch,' he said to Maurice, when he returned, 'and Zephyr needs a feed.' Zephyr was his horse. For his own part he refused to eat anything, and would only accept some coffee. ”

“ Through the still air no Zephyr dares to play,} Lest his soft pinion melt in heat away;} [Pg 38] But if, to mitigate the solar ray,} A lucid cloud should kindly intervene; Then the glad Zephyrs sport beneath the grateful screen. DAVID. How beautiful the thoughts! and how sublime! Rich is the language, and exact the rhyme. ”

“ Zephyr can jump almost anything. He goes out of his way to find jumps, and he is never happier than when he finds something that looks difficult.”
“Aren’t your people afraid lest some accident should befall you when you ride about the park unattended?”
“My people?”
She looked at him in surprise as she spoke, and then in some confusion struck several chords lightly on the harp.
“My father is a great deal away,” she said, in a somewhat constrained tone; “and of course, I do not make mamma nervous by telling her the pranks Zephyr and I enjoy together.”
“You are fond of riding?” ”

“ While the wanton Zephyr sings,
And in the vale perfumes his wings; ”

“ Only a self-reliant mind is capable of distinguishing between that which is an essential part and that which seems to be. So it happened that Firmstone, when for the second time he met Zephyr at the Devil's Elbow, listened impatiently to the latter's comments on the loss of the safe. ”

“ But Psyche’s eldest sister meanwhile, hearing a vague report of what had happened—and of Psyche’s exile from her enchanted palace—and being seized with envious desire and maddening lust to obtain all these riches and the embraces of a god, conceived{36} the idea of supplanting Psyche; and secretly leaving her husband, hurried to the top of the rock, and in greedy and ungoverned haste threw herself down, expecting Zephyr as usual to receive her. ”

“ The very sight of two such exquisitely beautiful creatures of his own creation, embodying both philosophy and love in league towards one accomplishment, proved eminently effective. Their anthropomorphous paternal progenitor, as usual, listened to their request and granted it, his reason for so doing being markedly paternal in its character. In order to keep peace in the family while strangers were looking on, Zeus directed Neptune to cease his uproarious behavior, and sent Zephyr to take the place of Boreas. ”

“ You're heavier calibre and longer range than the whole crowd. But I am with you, and there are others. The gang haven't landed their plunder yet, and, what's more, they aren't going to, either. I'll see to that. You just restez tranquille, and give your mind to other things. This little job is about my size."
Firmstone made no reply to Zephyr. He knew his man, knew thoroughly the loyal sense of honour that, though sheltered in humourous, apparently indifferent cynicism, was ready to fight to the death in defence of right.
"I think we might as well go back to the mill. ”

“ The zephyrs are nooning in their sylvan bowers, while the heat has to be endured peaceably as possible—like all other things, it terminates. The great orb of day has performed his duty well—resembling a successful conqueror, he descends triumphantly, in his chariot of fire, beneath the briny waves—a golden train of glory is left behind him, while the charming blue sky and sunset are mirrored upon the sea, each alternate wave being a reflection from the sunbeams. ”

“ The fact is, his change of life had quite muddled Zephyrin, who, with his staring round eyes and solemn swagger, looked like a goose. Despite his epaulets he retained his rustic awkwardness and heaviness; the barracks had taught him nothing as yet of the fine words and victorious attitudes of the ideal Parisian fire-eater. “Yes, madame,” Rosalie would wind up by saying, “you don’t need to disturb yourself; it is not in him to play any tricks!” ”

“ The southwest wind carries an ornament which was always placed at the stern of every ancient ship, for it was an important wind to the sailors of Greece. Zephyrus, the welcome west wind, has a lap filled with spring flowers.
The gentle Zephyrus married Flora, goddess of the springtime. Together they wander joyously over all lands, bringing happiness to the people. The south wind wakes the flowers, and as Zephyrus and Flora pass, violets, pansies, daffodils, and roses lift their pretty heads, and fill the land with beauty and fragrance. ”

“ On every side is represented the figure of a wind, with proper attributes, characterising the nature of it, in very good basso rilievo, and their names written above them in Greek characters. The god Zephyrus is represented as a beautiful young man, gliding gently along with an imperceptible motion, with his bosom full of flowers. They are all drawn with wings, and flying on with more or less rapidity, according to the violence of each wind in those parts. This structure is known to be the same which Vitruvius mentions, but it is entirely unnoticed by Pausanias [73] . ”

“ He tells Luna and M'sieu Mo-reeson"—another wry face—"to 'look hout.' He talks to the men, tells them that the 'hol' man ees sleek, ver' sleek, look hout, da's hall, an' go slow,' and a lot of things. I'm awfully hungry, Zephyr, and I don't want to go down for breakfast. Haven't you got something good in your pack? ”

“ And such certainty did the vengeful gods put in her heart that she held out her arms, and calling aloud:
“Bear me to him in thine arms, Zephyrus! Behold I come, my lord!” she sprang from the high cliff on which she stood, into space. And the ravens that night feasted on her shattered body. So also did it befall the younger sister, deluded by the Olympians to her own destruction, so that her sin might be avenged.
For many a weary day and night Psyche wandered, ever seeking to find her Love, ever longing to do something by which to atone for the deed that had been her undoing. ”