Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:26:12

Excerpt #1, from Mr. Punch’s Golf Stories, by J. A. Hammerton

…Mister Glenwistle fell into a sort of dream upon the seventh green and ’ad to be rarsed by Chawley. It may ’ave been Eskimo that ’e spoke to the boy when ’e’d touched ’im jently on the arm, but it sounded wuss–much wuss. ’Owever, we comes back at one to the club-’ouse, red umbereller and all, like Robbinson Crewso, and they goes into lunch. Whilst they’re still laying into the grub like winking, I and Chawley Martin, ’aving eaten our own frugil meal, sit down near the ’club-’ouse and begin to polish up their clubs. We fell a-talking about the great science of golf, getting quite ’eated in a little while, and at last Chawley, to illerstrate ’is own mistakin theery, gets upon ’is ’ind legs. ’E takes Mister Glenwistle’s best driver from ’is bag and shows me what ’e calls “a full swing, wif every ounce of weight and rist and mussel crammed into it.” I was afeard ’ow it would be. The length of the club mastered ’im. ’E ’it the onoffending turf a crewel blow, and there was a narsty crack. ’E sits down beside me wif a garsp, and we looks at Mister Glenwistle’s pet driver wif the ’ead ’arf off. “What’s to be done, ’Enery?” ’e ses, after a sort of sickly pawse. Fer my part I’d been thinking ’ard, me brain being better than most. “There’s three courses open to you, Chawley, me lad,” I ses quietly….

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Excerpt #2, from Astounding Stories of Super

…but it seemed that some of the figures were dragging their projectors away. We sailed off toward the opposite crater-rim. I remember passing over the broken wreckage of Grantline’s little space-ship, the Comet. Miko’s bolts momentarily had vanished. We had hit some of his outside projectors; the others were abandoned, or being dragged to safer positions. * * * * * After a mile we wheeled and went back. I suddenly realized that only four platforms were in the re-formed line ahead of us. One was missing! I saw it now, wavering down, close over the ship. A bolt leaped up diagonally from a distant angle on the rocks and caught the disabled platform. It fell, whirling, glowing red–disappeared into the blur of darkness like a bit of heated metal plunged into water. One out of six of our platforms already lost! Three men of our little force gone! But Grantline led us desperately back. Anita caught his signal to break our line. The five platforms scattered, dipping and wheeling like frightened birds–blurring shapes, shifting unnaturally in flight as the Benson curve-angles were altered. Anita now took our platform in a long swoop downward. Her tense,…

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Excerpt #3, from The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu

…distressed and disquieted her by his wild behaviour, and feeling thoroughly ashamed of himself he answered: ‘I am afraid I know very little about these questions of rank and precedence. Such things are too confusing to carry in one’s head. And whatever you may have heard of me I want to tell you for some reason or other I have till this day cared nothing for gallantry nor ever practised it, and that even you cannot be more astonished at what I have done to-night than I myself am.’ With this and a score of other speeches he sought to win her confidence. But she, knowing that if once their talk became a jot less formal, she would be hard put to it to withstand his singular charm, was determined, even at the risk of seeming stiff and awkward, to show him that in trying so hard to put her at her ease he was only wasting his time, with the result that she behaved very boorishly indeed. She was by nature singularly gentle and yielding, so that the effort of steeling her heart and despite her feelings, playing all the while the part of the young bamboo-shoot which though so green and tender cannot be broken, was very painful to her; and finding that she could not longer think of arguments with which to withstand his importunity, she burst into tears; and though he was very sorry for her, it occurred to him that he would not gladly have missed that sight. He longed however to console her, but could not think of a way…

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Excerpt #4, from Famous Adventures and Prison Escapes of the Civil War, by Basil Wilson Duke et al.

…20, on the first range, was occupied by Colonel R.C. Morgan, a brother of General Morgan. That cell had been prepared for General Morgan by opening a hole to the chamber, and when the hour for locking up came, General Morgan stepped into Cell 21, and Colonel Morgan into General Morgan’s cell in the second range. The guard did not discover the exchange, as General Morgan and Colonel Morgan were of about the same physical proportions, and each stood with his back to the cell door when it was being locked. At intervals of two hours every night, beginning at eight, the guards came around to each cell and passed a light through the grating to see that all was well with the prisoners. The approach of the guard was often so stealthily made that a knowledge of his presence was first had by seeing him at the door of the cell. To avoid a surprise of this kind we sprinkled fine coal along in front of the cells, walking upon which would give us warning. By a singular coincidence that might have been a fatality, on the day we had determined upon for the escape General Morgan received a letter from Lexington, Kentucky, begging and warning him not to attempt to escape, and by the same mail I received a letter from a member of my family saying that it was rumored and generally believed at home that I had escaped. Fortunately these letters did not put the officials on their guard. We ascertained from the paper we had…

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Excerpt #5, from Astounding Stories, August, 1931, by Various

…instruments for space navigation that the ensuing years were to bring. Chet’s accuracy was more the result of that flyer’s sixth sense–that same uncanny power that had served aviators so well in an earlier day. But Chet was glad to see his instruments registering once more as he approached a new world. Even the sonoflector was recording; its invisible rays were darting downward to be reflected back again from the surface below. That absolute altitude recording was a joy to read; it meant a definite relationship with the world. “I’ll hold her at fifty thousand,” he told Harkness. “Watch for some outline that you can remember from last time.” There was an irregular area of continental size; only when they had crossed it did Harkness point toward an outflung projection of land. “That peninsula,” he exclaimed; “we saw that before! Swing south and inland…. Now down forty, and east of south…. This ought to be the spot.” Perhaps Harkness, too, had the flyer’s indefinable power of orientation. He guided Chet in the downward flight, and his pointing finger aimed at last at a cluster of shadows where a setting sun brought mountain ranges into strong relief. Chet held the ship steady, hung high in the air, while the quick-spreading mantle of night swept…

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Excerpt #6, from Best Russian Short Stories, by Leonid Andreyev et al.

…name-day too." The officials naturally at once offered the assistant clerk their congratulations, and accepted the invitation with pleasure. Akaky Akakiyevich would have declined; but all declared that it was discourteous, that it was simply a sin and a shame, and that he could not possibly refuse. Besides, the notion became pleasant to him when he recollected that he should thereby have a chance of wearing his new cloak in the evening also. That whole day was truly a most triumphant festival for Akaky Akakiyevich. He returned home in the most happy frame of mind, took off his cloak, and hung it carefully on the wall, admiring afresh the cloth and the lining. Then he brought out his old, worn-out cloak, for comparison. He looked at it, and laughed, so vast was the difference. And long after dinner he laughed again when the condition of the “cape” recurred to his mind. He dined cheerfully, and after dinner wrote nothing, but took his ease for a while on the bed, until it got dark. Then he dressed himself leisurely, put on his cloak, and stepped out into the street. Where the host lived, unfortunately we cannot say. Our memory begins to fail us badly. The houses and streets in St. Petersburg have become so mixed up in our head that it is very difficult to get anything out…

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Excerpt #7, from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete, by Ulysses S. Grant

…Chattanooga was in our hands. If he should capture Chattanooga, Knoxville with its garrison would have fallen into his hands without a struggle. I have never been able to see the wisdom of this move. Then, too, after Sherman had arrived, and when Bragg knew that he was on the north side of the Tennessee River, he sent Buckner’s division to reinforce Longstreet. He also started another division a day later, but our attack having commenced before it reached Knoxville Bragg ordered it back. It had got so far, however, that it could not return to Chattanooga in time to be of service there. It is possible this latter blunder may have been made by Bragg having become confused as to what was going on on our side. Sherman had, as already stated, crossed to the north side of the Tennessee River at Brown’s Ferry, in full view of Bragg’s troops from Lookout Mountain, a few days before the attack. They then disappeared behind foot hills, and did not come to the view of the troops on Missionary Ridge until they met their assault. Bragg knew it was Sherman’s troops that had crossed, and, they being so long out of view, may have supposed that they had gone up the north bank of the Tennessee River to the relief of Knoxville and that Longstreet was therefore in danger. But the first great blunder, detaching Longstreet, cannot be accounted for in any way I know of. If he had captured Chattanooga, East Tennessee would have fallen without a struggle. It…

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Excerpt #8, from Antiquities of the Jews, by Flavius Josephus

…temple, should be brought out of that temple. He also grew so haughty as to proceed to use them in the midst of his cups, drinking out of them, and blaspheming against God. In the mean time, he saw a hand proceed out of the wall, and writing upon the wall certain syllables; at which sight, being disturbed, he called the magicians and Chaldeans together, and all that sort of men that are among these barbarians, and were able to interpret signs and dreams, that they might explain the writing to him. But when the magicians said they could discover nothing, nor did understand it, the king was in great disorder of mind, and under great trouble at this surprising accident; so he caused it to be proclaimed through all the country, and promised, that to him who could explain the writing, and give the signification couched therein, he would give him a golden chain for his neck, and leave to wear a purple garment, as did the kings of Chaldea, and would bestow on him the third part of his own dominions. When this proclamation was made, the magicians ran together more earnestly, and were very ambitious to find out the importance of the writing, but still hesitated about it as much as before. Now when the king’s grandmother saw him cast down at this accident, 24 she began to encourage him, and to say, that there was a certain captive who came from Judea, a Jew by birth, but brought away thence by Nebuchadnezzar when he had destroyed Jerusalem, whose name was Daniel, a wise man, and…

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Excerpt #9, from The Story of the Great War, Volume 1, by Churchill, Miller, and Reynolds

…which patrolled the mountains of the territory assigned to them. Numbering all the way from ten men to fifty each, these bands protected the villages from the bandits and even hunted them down. And, naturally, when the terrorist bands of the Greek Church became active, they were confronted by the armed bands of the committee. It is notable that when the existence of the Macedonian Committee and its small local armed forces first became known to the outside world, it was not the Turkish Government which showed most animosity. In fact, for a long time the Turks rather treated the committee much as they had treated the brigands; that is, let them alone, so long as they did not cross their path, and the committee did not set out to molest the Turks. It was the Greek Church, and the Greek and Serbian Governments that became most excited. Both the Greeks and the Serbians had been making every effort to arouse a “spirit of nationalism” of their own brand among the Macedonians. The committee was distinctly going to counteract their influence and efforts by arousing a spirit of nationality among the Macedonians which was neither Serbian nor Bulgarian nor Greek. And when the Bulgarian Government understood this thoroughly it showed itself equally unfriendly. For Prince Ferdinand and his clique dreamed of the Greater Bulgaria which they…

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Excerpt #10, from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete, by Suetonius

…acquaintance, and looking at him with admiration, he said he was extremely like the boy he had seen in his dream. Some give a different account of Catulus’s first dream, namely, that Jupiter, upon several noble lads requesting of him that they might have a guardian, had pointed to one amongst them, to whom they were to prefer their requests; and putting his fingers to the boy’s mouth to kiss, he afterwards applied them to his own. Marcus Cicero, as he was attending Caius Caesar to the Capitol, happened to be telling some of his friends a dream which he had the preceding night, in which he saw a comely youth, let down from heaven by a golden chain, who stood at the door of the Capitol, and had a whip put into his hands by Jupiter. And immediately upon sight of Augustus, who had been sent for by his uncle Caesar to the sacrifice, and was as yet perfectly unknown to most of the company, he affirmed that it was the very boy he had seen in his dream. When he assumed the manly toga, his senatorian tunic becoming loose in the seam on each side, fell at his feet. Some would have this to forbode, that the order, of which that was the badge of distinction, would some time or other be subject to him. Julius Caesar, in cutting down a wood to make room for his camp near Munda [250], happened to light upon a palm-tree, and ordered it to be preserved as an omen of victory. From the root of this tree there put…

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Excerpt #11, from The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins

…to return to us the next day. They had called on Mr. Murthwaite, the Indian traveller, at his present residence, near the town. At Mr. Franklin’s request, he had kindly given them the benefit of his knowledge of the language, in dealing with those two, out of the three Indians, who knew nothing of English. The examination, conducted carefully, and at great length, had ended in nothing; not the shadow of a reason being discovered for suspecting the jugglers of having tampered with any of our servants. On reaching that conclusion, Mr. Franklin had sent his telegraphic message to London, and there the matter now rested till tomorrow came. So much for the history of the day that followed the birthday. Not a glimmer of light had broken in on us, so far. A day or two after, however, the darkness lifted a little. How, and with what result, you shall presently see. CHAPTER XII The Thursday night passed, and nothing happened. With the Friday morning came two pieces of news. Item the first: the baker’s man declared he had met Rosanna Spearman, on the previous afternoon, with a thick veil on, walking towards Frizinghall by the foot-path way over the moor. It seemed strange that anybody should be mistaken about Rosanna, whose shoulder marked her out…

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Excerpt #12, from A Doll’s House : a play, by Henrik Ibsen

…happen, not for all the world. MRS LINDE. I will go at once and see Krogstad. NORA…. Don’t go to him; he will do you some harm. MRS LINDE. There was a time when he would gladly do anything for my sake. NORA…. He? MRS LINDE. Where does he live? NORA…. How should I know—? Yes [feeling in her pocket], here is his card. But the letter, the letter—! HELMER. [calls from his room, knocking at the door]. Nora! Nora [cries out anxiously]. Oh, what’s that? What do you want? HELMER. Don’t be so frightened. We are not coming in; you have locked the door. Are you trying on your dress? NORA….

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