Quick Excerpts, from a Library of 492 Titles

Generated 2022-07-28 13:25:53

Excerpt #1, from The Story of the Barbary Corsairs, by J. D. Jerrold Kelley and Stanley Lane

…remained he enhanced his already unrivalled renown. His first exploit after Prevesa was the recapture of Castelnuovo, which the allied fleets had seized in October, as some compensation on land for their humiliation at sea. The Turkish armies had failed to recover the fortress in January, 1539; but in July Barbarossa went to the front as usual, with a fleet of two hundred galleys, large and small, and all his best captains; and, after some very pretty fighting in the Gulf of Cattaro, landed eighty-four of his heaviest guns and bombarded Castelnuovo, from three well-placed batteries. On August 7th, a sanguinary assault secured the first line of the defences; three days later the governor, Don Francisco Sarmiento, and his handful of Spaniards, surrendered to a final assault, and were surprised to find themselves chivalrously respected as honourable foes. Three thousand Spaniards had fallen, and eight thousand Turks, in the course of the siege. One more campaign and Barbarossa’s feats are over. Great events were happening on the Algerine coasts, where we must return after too long an absence in the Levant and Adriatic: but first the order of years must be neglected that we may see the last of the most famous of all the Corsairs. To make amends for the coldness of Henry VIII., Francis I. was allied with the other great maritime power, Turkey, against the…

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Excerpt #2, from Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman, by Thomas Hardy

…quivered to the same melody; also at the half-empty kettle whining an accompaniment. The conversation at the table mixed in with his phantasmal orchestra till he thought: “What a fluty voice one of those milkmaids has! I suppose it is the new one.” Clare looked round upon her, seated with the others. She was not looking towards him. Indeed, owing to his long silence, his presence in the room was almost forgotten. “I don’t know about ghosts,” she was saying; “but I do know that our souls can be made to go outside our bodies when we are alive.” The dairyman turned to her with his mouth full, his eyes charged with serious inquiry, and his great knife and fork (breakfasts were breakfasts here) planted erect on the table, like the beginning of a gallows. “What—really now? And is it so, maidy?” he said. “A very easy way to feel ’em go,” continued Tess, “is to lie on the grass at night and look straight up at some big bright star; and, by fixing your mind upon it, you will soon find that you are hundreds and hundreds o’ miles away from your body, which you don’t seem to want at all.” The dairyman removed his hard gaze from Tess, and fixed it on his wife. “Now that’s a rum thing, Christianer—hey? To think o’ the miles I’ve…

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Excerpt #3, from All the World Over: Interesting Stories of Travel, Thrilling Adventure and Home

…suddenly opened the door, and found herself confronted by one of the colts. She left Joel to settle matters with the colts, and made her way to Mrs. Marshall and Dolly, carrying the poor lady back to bed in her strong arms, as if she had been a baby. “Don’t you worry about Dolly, ma’am,” she said, confidently, “she’ll sleep it off, and come out all right, and I’ll just take off my things and do for you. I can stop as well as not; our house was burned up, and we just managed to save ourselves, so you see I ain’t got a smitch o’ work to do for myself.” “Your house burned! Oh, Sarah, how hard that is for you and Joel,” said Mrs. Marshall. “Yes’m, it’s a kind of a pity, and I’d got the nicest kind of a chicken pie ready for Thanksgivin’. We never see the fire till it was jest ketchin’ holt of us, and then we got on the colt and raced it down the gully to Dickerman’s pond ahead of the fire. We just made a go of it, and set there till mornin’. Says I, ‘Joel, it’s Thanksgivin’ day; be ye right down thankful?’ And Joel he looked at me and says, kind o’ solemn like, ‘Yes, I be!’ And so be I, ’cause we might ’a been burned in our bed, leastways I might, if Dolly hadn’t been so considerin’ as to let Joel come home.”…

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Excerpt #4, from Middlemarch, by George Eliot

…Brother Solomon, I shall be going, if you’ll drive me.” “I’ve no desire to put my foot on the premises again,” said Solomon. “I’ve got land of my own and property of my own to will away.” “It’s a poor tale how luck goes in the world,” said Jonah. “It never answers to have a bit of spirit in you. You’d better be a dog in the manger. But those above ground might learn a lesson. One fool’s will is enough in a family.” “There’s more ways than one of being a fool,” said Solomon. “I shan’t leave my money to be poured down the sink, and I shan’t leave it to foundlings from Africay. I like Featherstones that were brewed such, and not turned Featherstones with sticking the name on ’em.” Solomon addressed these remarks in a loud aside to Mrs. Waule as he rose to accompany her. Brother Jonah felt himself capable of much more stinging wit than this, but he reflected that there was no use in offending the new proprietor of Stone Court, until you were certain that he was quite without intentions of hospitality towards witty men whose name he was about to bear. Mr. Joshua Rigg, in fact, appeared to trouble himself little about any innuendoes, but showed a notable change of manner, walking coolly up to Mr. Standish and putting business questions with much coolness. He had a high chirping voice and a vile accent. Fred, whom he no longer moved…

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Excerpt #5, from Our Pirate Hoard, by Thomas A. Janvier

…the churn-wash-boiler, we had a wagon-load. Susan was horrified at the thought of his giving the churn-wash-boiler to the asylum. “Even if they only are allowed to use it as a wash-boiler,” she argued, earnestly, “think what dreadful ideas of untidiness it will put into those destitute red Indian children’s heads!–ideas,” she went on, “which will only tend to make them disgrace instead of doing credit to the position of easy affluence to which your legacy will lift them when they return to their barbaric wilds. If you must give it to them, at least conceal from them–I beg of you, conceal from them–the fatal fact that it ever was meant to be a churn too.” Gregory Wilkinson promised Susan that he would conceal this fact from the destitute red Indian children; and then the train started, and he and the churn-wash-boiler were whisked away. We really were very sorry to part with him. V. Two or three days later I happened to meet Old Jacob as I was coming away from the post-office in Lewes, and I was both pained and surprised to perceive that the old man was partially intoxicated. When he caught sight of me he came at me with such a lurch that had I not caught him by the arm he certainly would have fallen to the ground. At first he…

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Excerpt #6, from A Floating City, and The Blockade Runners, by Jules Verne

…British seas; there was not a ship in sight; the great Ocean route was free; besides no ship of the Federal marine would have a right to attack her beneath the English flag. Followed she might be, and prevented from forcing the blockade, and precisely for this reason had James Playfair sacrificed everything to the speed of his ship, in order not to be pursued. Howbeit a careful watch was kept on board, and in spite of the extreme cold a man was always in the rigging ready to signal the smallest sail that appeared on the horizon. When evening came, Captain James gave the most precise orders to Mr. Mathew. “Don’t leave the man on watch too long in the rigging, the cold may seize him, and in that case it is impossible to keep a good look-out; change your men often.” “I understand, Captain,” replied Mr. Mathew. “Try Crockston for that work; the fellow pretends to have excellent sight; it must be put to trial; put him on the morning watch, he will have the morning mists to see through. If anything particular happens call me.” This said, James Playfair went to his cabin. Mr. Mathew called Crockston, and told him the Captain’s orders. “To-morrow, at six o’clock,” said he, “you are to relieve watch of the…

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Excerpt #7, from The Republic, by Plato

…own. Then, I said, our guardians must lay the foundations of their fortress in music? Yes, he said; the lawlessness of which you speak too easily steals in. Yes, I replied, in the form of amusement; and at first sight it appears harmless. Why, yes, he said, and there is no harm; were it not that little by little this spirit of licence, finding a home, imperceptibly penetrates into manners and customs; whence, issuing with greater force, it invades contracts between man and man, and from contracts goes on to laws and constitutions, in utter recklessness, ending at last, Socrates, by an overthrow of all rights, private as well as public. Is that true? I said. That is my belief, he replied. Then, as I was saying, our youth should be trained from the first in a stricter system, for if amusements become lawless, and the youths themselves become lawless, they can never grow up into well-conducted and virtuous citizens. Very true, he said. And when they have made a good beginning in play, and by the help of music have gained the habit of good order, then this habit of order, in…

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Excerpt #8, from Discoveries Among the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, by Austen Henry Layard

…encamp near it in summer to drink the cool water of this natural reservoir. Leaving the cavern and issuing from the ravine, we came to the edge of a wide crater, in the centre of which rose the remarkable cone of Koukab. All around were evidences of the remains of an extinct volcano, which had been active within a comparatively recent geological period, even perhaps within the time of history, or tradition, as the name of the mound amongst the Arabs denotes a jet of fire or flame, as well as a constellation. I ascended the cone, which is about 300 feet high, and composed entirely of loose lava, scoria, and ashes, thus resembling precisely the cone rising in the craters of Vesuvius and Ætna. It is steep and difficult of ascent, except on one side, where the summit is easily reached even by horses. Within, for it is hollow, it resembles an enormous funnel, broken away at one edge, as if a molten stream had burst through it. Anemonies and poppies, of the brightest scarlet hue, covered its sides; although the dry lava and loose ashes scarcely seemed to have collected sufficient soil to nourish their roots. It would be difficult to describe the richness and brilliancy of this mass of flowers, the cone from a distance having the appearance of a huge inverted cup of burnished copper, over which poured streams of blood. From the summit of Koukab I gazed upon a scene as varied as extensive….

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Excerpt #9, from The 1992 CIA World Factbook, by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

…80,387,283 (July 1992), growth rate 0.5%!((MISSING)1992) Birth rate: 11 births/1,000 population (1992) Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1992) Net migration rate: 5 migrants/1,000 population (1992) Infant mortality rate: 7 deaths/1,000 live births (1992) Life expectancy at birth: 73 years male, 79 years female (1992) Total fertility rate: 1.4 children born/woman (1992) Nationality: noun - German(s); adjective - German Ethnic divisions: primarily German; small Danish and Slavic minorities Religions: Protestant 45%!,(MISSING) Roman Catholic 37%!,(MISSING) unaffiliated or other 18%!(NOVERB) Languages: German…

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Excerpt #10, from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

…murdered child had been afterwards found. The woman asked her what she did there; but she looked very strangely, and only returned a confused and unintelligible answer. She returned to the house about eight o’clock; and when one inquired where she had passed the night, she replied, that she had been looking for the child, and demanded earnestly, if any thing had been heard concerning him. When shewn the body, she fell into violent hysterics, and kept her bed for several days. The picture was then produced, which the servant had found in her pocket; and when Elizabeth, in a faltering voice, proved that it was the same which, an hour before the child had been missed, she had placed round his neck, a murmur of horror and indignation filled the court. Justine was called on for her defence. As the trial had proceeded, her countenance had altered. Surprise, horror, and misery, were strongly expressed. Sometimes she struggled with her tears; but when she was desired to plead, she collected her powers, and spoke in an audible although variable voice:— “God knows,” she said, “how entirely I am innocent. But I do not pretend that my protestations should acquit me: I rest my innocence on a plain and simple explanation of the facts which have been adduced against me; and I hope the character I have always borne will incline my judges to a favourable interpretation, where any circumstance appears doubtful or…

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Excerpt #11, from Ten Months in a German Raider: A prisoner of war aboard the Wolf, by Cameron

…The Wolf and the Hitachi now steamed to the southernmost group of the Maldive Islands, arriving there on September 27th. The vessels tied up alongside of each other and coal and cargo were transferred from the Hitachi to the Wolf. The cargo of the Hitachi Maru was valued at over a million and a half pounds sterling, chiefly copper, tin, rubber, thousands of tons of silk, tea and hides. It always seemed uncanny to me that these “deep-sea vultures” seemed to be able to capture a vessel loaded with any particular kind of cargo they wanted. About a month before this capture, I heard the officers talking among themselves and one of them remarked, “Now the next ship we get should be loaded with copper and rubber and tin.” Sure enough the Hitachi had what they wanted. It seemed a pity to me to see the thousands of bales of silk goods, ladies’ blouses and silk kimonos being dumped from one hold to another and trampled on. When the Hitachi was finally sunk there were a couple of thousand tons of expensive Japanese lingerie and other ladies’ wear and miscellaneous department store merchandise sunk with her. The mermaids must have had “some” bargain sale. It was the intention of Nerger to pick up, if possible, a vessel that could furnish him with enough coal to take both the Hitachi and Wolf back to Germany. At this time there was a lot of talk…

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Excerpt #12, from A Lad of Grit: A Story of Adventure on Land and Sea in Restoration Times

…months of inaction the prospect of a fight acted like magic. The officers held a consultation, and as it was well known that a Barbary corsair had been committing several acts of exceptional violence, hopes were entertained that the stranger would prove to be that particular vessel. Our captain showed himself to be a tactician as well as a fighter. “If this be the Algerine,” he said, “her speed will enable her to make off when she finds out who we are. It remains, therefore, to trick and entice her to us. See that all our ordnance is run in and the ports closed. Keep nearly all the men out of sight, and run the flag of Sicily up to the peak. And you, Master Bennet,” he added, addressing our newly made master, “lay me the Gannet close alongside the stranger and your duty will be done. Now, gentlemen, to your stations, and God save His Majesty King Charles!” The work of transforming the man-of-war into a seemingly peaceful merchantman was quickly performed, and long before the corsair (for such there was no doubt she was) came within range the Gannet was floundering along with yards badly squared, for all the world like a helpless trader, her course having been previously altered as if she were intent on running away. But on board everything was different. At each of her guns on the…

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