rhasspy/piper-checkpoints huggingface dataset:
There was turkey and chicken, with delicious gravy and stuffing, and there were half a dozen vegetables, with cranberry jelly, and celery, and pickles; and as for the way these delicacies were served, the Ruggleses never forgot it as long as they lived.
"And you dare come with her, here, and tell me of it, here and mock me with it!
You seem quite cut up about something!"
Reproach me.
"Laura?
"Good bye!
The Socialist Revolutionary paper demanded a Cabinet without either Cadets or Bolsheviki.
It figured in the Armada.
The Red Guards' blood was up.
"Now, my darling, you have done quite enough for one day," said mrs Bird, getting Carol into her little night dress; "I am afraid you will feel worse to morrow, and that would be a sad ending to such a good time."
That was just what Mary wanted to know; but what apparently her father was in no mood to tell.
It was already night at the bottom of the cliff; it was still day at top.
Now, may I close the door and leave you alone?
Here there was doubt and depression.
"But I should say that was a good sign from a girl like her.
"I think so, sir," said Peoria, timidly; "but, anyhow, there was Larry;" and she showed signs of weeping.
She followed him to the door, her eyes blinded by sudden tears; she stood there looking after him. He was so strange, so cold, so hard.
At the other side of the roads, at the entrance of Ringstead Bay, you could just perceive a flotilla of shark fishing boats, which were evidently out of their reckoning.
I'm going to run races with her after dinner."
So the meeting roared on, leader after leader explaining, exhorting, arguing, soldier after soldier, workman after workman, standing up to speak his mind and his heart....
"Where was Jem?
It was unkind of him.
Oh, you would never give it up if you could see it."
The bourgeoisie tried to isolate the revolutionary army.
"They did not move.
The other Ruggleses stood rooted to the floor.
At last she could bear his nervous way no longer, it made her equally nervous and fidgetty.
"Yes, they've given him a sovereign.
The pathway of this creek, full of knots and angles, almost perpendicular, and better adapted for goats than men, terminated on the platform where the plank was placed.
"WHEN THE PIE WAS OPENED, THE BIRDS BEGAN TO SING!"
"In a week the Bolshevik Government will go to pieces; if the Socialist Revolutionaries could only stand aside and wait, the Government would fall into their hands.
So saying, he unlaced her soft twining arms, and kissing her once more, set off on his fierce errand.
Williams offered to mediate if Antonov were released.
In Moscow a truce had been declared; both sides parleyed, awaiting the result in the capital.
Two harvests a year; villages resonant and gay; a stately poverty; all Sunday the sound of guitars, dancing, castanets, love making; houses clean and bright; storks in the belfries.
How pleased I used to be when she would take me into the fields with her to gather herbs! I've tasted tea in China since then, but it wasn't half so good as the herb tea she used to make for me o' Sunday nights.
Everybody must cooperate with the Military Revolutionary Committee, report where there are stores of barbed wire, benzine, guns....
Suddenly Mary started.
It blazed with tall colored candles, it gleamed with glass and silver, it blushed with flowers, it groaned with good things to eat; so it was not strange that the Ruggleses, forgetting that their mother was a McGrill, shrieked in admiration of the fairy spectacle.
I cannot speak!
The compass was well housed in a case perfectly square, and well balanced by its two copper frames placed horizontally, one in the other, on little bolts, as in Cardan's lamps.
I never saw it before, and I thought of the Star in the East, that guided the wise men to the place where Jesus was.
Good night, Mama.
The indistinctness of evening intermixed and blurred them; the mask of shadow was over their faces.
From the top of a little hill outside the town could be seen the golden spires and many coloured cupolas, the sprawling grey immensity of the capital spread along the dreary plain, and beyond, the steely Gulf of Finland.
But then they won't let me be silly in peace and quietness, but will force me to be as wise as they are; now that's not British liberty, I say.
"From first to last, everything was just right.
"Mama, dear, I do think that we have kept Christ's birthday this time just as He would like it.
Then two Mensheviki Internationalists, declaring that the Appeal of the Bolshevik Councillors was a direct incitement to massacre.
I've no right to say what I think; but, if I was you, I would not leave her now without speaking."
That is dishonest.
It was less cold in the creek than out at sea, thanks to the screen of rock rising over the north of the basin, which did not, however, prevent the people from shivering.
"Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do or die."
The supper would be spoilt.
And he was out of sight!
"That's a dear Papa!
"And what does the doctor say?" asked Mary.
The Commissar of the Military Revolutionary Committee, little Vishniak, tried to persuade the girls to remain.
Their coaches, which you can hear grinding the wheels two leagues off, are illuminated, carved, and hung with ribbons.
I cannot be still at home. I must be moving."
Accordingly, they walked upstairs, and Elfrida, the nurse, ushered them into a room more splendid than anything they had ever seen.
Street fighting was slowly gathering way; all attempts at compromise had failed....
there's no harm in that.
Let us return to Portland-that rugged mountain in the sea.
Pigs!" shrilled the girls, indignantly putting on their coats and hats.
To distinguish one from another was difficult; impossible to tell whether they were old or young.
I'm forced to be wise according to their notions, else they parsecute me, and sarve me out."
Frightened, they huddled in the corners, and then, finding themselves safe, gave vent to their spite.
Vivacity profound and superb!
The other Ruggleses stood in horror stricken groups as the door closed behind their commanding officer; but there was no time for reflection, for a voice from above was heard, saying, "Come right up stairs, please!"
"Can I have the shutters open; and won't you turn my bed a little, please?
And she knew such a deal about plants and birds, and their ways!
Kameniev now spoke, describing the proceedings of the reconciliation conference.
Uncle Jack went into convulsions of laughter.
Job, however, did not stand upon ceremony.
Gorky was hopeful; Smolny had made concessions.
It could sail round a lake, and sail round the world-a strange craft with two objects, good for a pond and good for a storm.
"Good night, my precious little Christmas Carol-mother's blessed Christmas child."
The events recorded in the last chapter took place on a Tuesday.
The city had again settled down to normal-shop shutters up, lights shining, and on the streets great crowds of people slowly moving up and down and arguing....
Any one approaching the vessel's moorings would have recognized a Biscayan hooker.
They do not mend their rags, but they embroider them.
Each girl had a blue knitted hood, and each boy a red crocheted comforter, all made by Mama, Carol and Elfrida ("because if you buy everything, it doesn't show so much love," said Carol).
With a few more sorrowful remarks they separated for the night, and Mary was left alone in her house, to meditate on the heavy day that had passed over her head.
Certain indentations in their clothes were visible, and showed that they belonged to the class called in England the ragged.
"Oh, I'm willing to stay alone; but I am not sleepy yet, and I am going to hear the music by and by, you know."
"If thou'rt doing that for me, Mary, thou may'st spare thy labour.
Instead of doing their duty, the Right Socialist Revolutionaries and the Cadets have transformed the Duma into an arena of political attack upon the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, against the revolutionary Government of peace, bread and liberty.
Russia is not a city, but a whole country....
Since that period what is called Roman cement has been made of the Portland stone-a useful industry, enriching the district, and disfiguring the bay.
"For each revolutionist killed," said Trotzky, "we shall kill five counter revolutionists!"
She spoke a bit, but not much; but that were only natural, for mrs Wilson likes to have the talk to hersel, you know.
"Do you want to go and talk with them?"
"When are you going, father?
PORTLAND BILL.
"Poor Carol," laughed the child, merrily, "she can afford to give up these lovely things, for there will still be left Uncle Jack, and Donald, and Paul, and Hugh, and Uncle Rob, and Aunt Elsie, and a dozen other people."
"Very good, indeed!
They are hazardous to enter, fearful to leave.
Frenzied by defeat and their heaps of dead, the Soviet troops opened a tornado of steel and flame against the battered building.
But the switch boards must be operated-the telephone was vital....
Ask Mis' Bird how she's feelin' this evenin', or if mr Bird's havin' a busy season, or somethin' like that.
The Thames was frozen over-a thing which does not happen once in a century, as the ice forms on it with difficulty owing to the action of the sea.
And if I should meet with any mischance, tell her how dear, how very dear, she was to me, and bid her, for the sake of one who loved her well, try and comfort my poor aunt Alice.
The little Ruggleses hung their diminished heads.
I telled thee I were not for eating."
On the top floor the Military Revolutionary Committee was in full blast, striking and slacking not.
Her heart began to despair, too, about Jem.
From now on all that will be changed.
Clem, you and Con hop into bed with Larry while I wash yer underflannins; 'twont take long to dry 'em.
The centre of gravity, however, lay not in composition of such a Government, but in its acceptance of the programme of the Congress of Soviets.
An obstinate north wind blew without ceasing over the mainland of Europe, and yet more roughly over England, during all the month of December, sixteen eighty nine, and all the month of January, sixteen ninety.
"ABOUT ONCE IN SO OFTEN!" Could any words in the language be fraught with more terrible and wearing uncertainty?
She finished her bit of ironing, and began preparing the food she was sure her father needed; for by this time her experience in the degrees of hunger had taught her that his present irritability was increased, if not caused, by want of food.
One after another the various democratic organisations, all over Russia, were cracking and changing.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, I am, yours truly,
I'm come to say good bye; and few folk like to say good bye to them they love."
Now, is there anything more ye'd like to practice?"
The rest, about two hundred, were taken to Peter Paul under escort, in small groups so as to avoid notice.
The peninsula of Portland, looked at geometrically, presents the appearance of a bird's head, of which the bill is turned towards the ocean, the back of the head towards Weymouth; the isthmus is its neck.
I would take what I could get; I think half a loaf is better than no bread.
Our branch has demanded an All Russian Convention, and they refuse to call it...."
Creak, creak, went the stairs.
There were not quite chairs enough for ten, since the family had rarely all wanted to sit down at once, somebody always being out, or in bed, but the wood box and the coal hod finished out the line nicely.
They will massacre us!" they cried, for many of them had given their word at the Winter Palace not to take up arms against the People.
nobody could speak more genteel than that.
Yes, he came down, but more doggedly fierce than before, and made up for his journey, too; with his little bundle on his arm.
"It's all right!" he shouted, grabbing my hands.
"Oh, don't fret," said her mother, good naturedly, "I guess you'll git along.
Sea folk held them at their true value, and esteemed the model a very sorry one, The rigging of the hooker was made of hemp, sometimes with wire inside, which was probably intended as a means, however unscientific, of obtaining indications, in the case of magnetic tension.
"The Mayor," he continued, "tells us that we must not make political meetings out of the Duma.
I would work for low wages rather than sit idle and starve.
Still Kerensky did not come...
But, comes the Trades' Union, and says, 'Well, if you take the half loaf, we'll worry you out of your life.
Portland, greatly to the sacrifice of its wildness, exists now but for trade.
They were delighted to meet an American reporter.
To surrender the power.
But this shall not be, for we respect the Duma.
There was no battle.
The officer sighed.
The creek, walled in on all sides by precipices higher than its width, was minute by minute becoming more overshadowed by evening.
Breakfast was on the table promptly at seven o'clock, and there was very little of it, too; for it was an excellent day for short rations, though mrs Ruggles heaved a sigh as she reflected that even the boys, with their India rubber stomachs, would be just as hungry the day after the dinner party as if they had never had any at all.
We won't let them....
Now, look me in the eye.
They were sketches in the night.
Perhaps he and I may have a bit of a trip together then, for, if the Manx boat has sailed when I get into Liverpool, I shall go by a Scotch packet. What's he going to do in Glasgow?--Seek for work?
The Menshevik Yoffe tried to read his party's declaration, but Trotzky refused to allow "a debate about principle."
He did not notice her change of look and of complexion.
A child's cry caught his ear.
The third time brought deserved success, and the pupils took their seats in the row.
CAROL BIRD."
I have always tried to reconcile you with the other parties, but at present I feel for you nothing but contempt!"
No! Margaret's happy, I do think."
Speak up, Sarah Maud."
The sailors and Red Guards were embarrassed.
His thoughts were running on little Tom; on the dead and buried child of happier years.
Gala day!
"No! I'm walking; and I don't think your father will be up to walking."
The hooker was primitive, just like the praam and the canoe; was kindred to the praam in stability, and to the canoe in swiftness; and, like all vessels born of the instinct of the pirate and fisherman, it had remarkable sea qualities: it was equally well suited to landlocked and to open waters.
BARTON'S NIGHT ERRAND.
Abramovitch, for the centre Mensheviki, said that there should be neither conquerors nor conquered-that bygones should be bygones. ...In this were agreed all the left wing parties.
Then he said-
They had just taken refuge in the anchorage of Portland-a sign of bad weather expected and danger out at sea.
The law of compensation had been well applied; he that had necktie had no cuffs; she that had sash had no handkerchief, and vice versa; but they all had boots and a certain amount of clothing, such as it was, the outside layer being in every case quite above criticism.
This thick ice lasted two months.
A courier reported that the Committee of Welcome sent to meet Kerensky at the railway station had been arrested.
"Dunno!" said Cornelius, turning pale.
But the merchant and contraband hookers were very feeble specimens.
mrs Ruggles looked severe.
She had felt his presence as a protection against Harry Carson and his threats; and now she dreaded lest he should learn she was alone.
RUGGLES,--
May be you and father will go together.
"No, no," said Margaret.
I should think so!
mr Clement, will you take some of the cramb'ry?"
Far away still sounded occasional shots, but the city lay quiet, cold, as if exhausted by the violent spasms which had torn it.
So, will you give it to her, Mary, when I'm gone?
Almost all the Portland creeks have sand bars; and in heavy weather the sea becomes very rough, and, to pass in safety, much skill and practice are necessary.
It's very hard to keep up one's heart.
I say, "complete;" but I do not know whether they would be called so in the best society.
Followed him Shingariov, Cadet, who said that there could be no common language with those who were liable to be brought before the Attorney General for indictment, and who must be tried on the charge of treason....
The twisting of the pathway could be distinguished vaguely in the relief of the cliff.
Occasionally an automobile passed in and out, flying the Red Cross flag.
When john heard the words of blessing, he shook his head mournfully, and turned away to retrace his steps.
The matter began to assume a graver aspect; the little Ruggleses stopped giggling and backed into the bed room, issuing presently with lock step, Indian file, a scared and hunted expression in every countenance.
Let us leave him.
Tired, bloody, triumphant, the sailors and workers swarmed into the switchboard room, and finding so many pretty girls, fell back in an embarrassed way and fumbled with awkward feet.
You'll often speak of me to her, Mary?
Hence the disastrous cold weather, which caused that winter to be noted as "memorable to the poor," on the margin of the old Bible in the Presbyterian chapel of the Nonjurors in London.
Before the earliest Ruggles could wake and toot his five cent tin horn, mrs Ruggles was up and stirring about the house, for it was a gala day in the family.
"Clement Ruggles, do you mean to tell me that you'd say that to a dinner party?
Her father's countenance fell back into the deep gloom from which it was but just emerging at the sound of Mary's sweet voice, and pretty pleading.
You other boys clear out from under foot!
The pathways of cliffs ordinarily imply a not very inviting declivity; they offer themselves less as a road than as a fall; they sink rather than incline.
SOME OTHER BIRDS ARE TAUGHT TO FLY.
She would speak.
This was, especially in winter, a lucky exception.
The gold and red epaulettes of officers were conspicuous, the familiar faces of the Menshevik and Socialist Revolutionary intellectuals, the hard eyes and bulky magnificence of bankers and diplomats, officials of the old regime, and well dressed women....
Mama says dinner will be at half past five, and the Christmas tree at seven; so you may expect them home at nine o'clock.
There is no danger to us.
"It's a fine clear night, and I shall set off betimes, and get in afore the Manx packet sails. Where's your father going?
The result depends upon Petrograd.
These Biscay hookers, even to the poorest, were gilt and painted. Tattooing is part of the genius of those charming people, savages to some degree.
"Now, Sarah Maud," said mrs Ruggles, her face shining with excitement, "everything is red up an' we can begin.
He was effusively polite.
Biscay is Pyrenean grace as Savoy is Alpine grace.
She feared he had ceased to love her; and she-she only loved him more and more for his seeming neglect.
"Telegram from the front.
With no wind from the sea, the water of the creek was calm.
The children took their places according to age, Sarah Maud at the head and Larry on the coal hod, and mrs Ruggles seated herself in front, surveying them proudly as she wiped the sweat of honest toil from her brow.
Without taking offence the officer replied, "Yes, I know; but what can we do?" He shrugged.
These little ports (ports more in appearance than fact) are of small advantage.
This was too much for the boys.
Albert Rhys Williams was in the Telephone Exchange.
Now, can you remember?"
An ox was roasted whole on the ice.
"Quick!"
Smolny thrilled with the boundless vitality of inexhaustible humanity in action.
Mary took her sewing after he had gone, and sat on, and sat on, trying to listen to Job, who was more inclined to talk than usual. She had conquered her feeling of impatience towards him so far as to be able to offer him her father's rejected supper; and she even tried to eat herself.
All the little Ruggleses shouted, "Yes, marm," in chorus.
"That's a lady;" cried her mother.
"Now that we've won the power and are sweeping all Russia," he declared, "all they ask of us are three little things: one.
"I wanted to get you something to eat first," answered she, gently.
They have no intellectuals....
A plank thrown from on board on to a low and level projection of the cliff, the only point on which a landing could be made, placed the vessel in communication with the land.
Your supper is all ready.
"You just stop your gruntin', peter Ruggles; that was all right.
"First rate!
That plaguing question again.
mr peter, do you speak for white or dark meat?"
"But it's not a fortnight since you came.
The pick bites meanly, the wave grandly; hence a diminution of beauty.
Smolny was almost deserted, except for the guards, who were busy at the hall windows, setting up machine guns to command the flanks of the building.
Won't yer, Peory?"
I want them every one, please, from Sarah Maud to Baby Larry.
There was beginning to be felt that deep and sombrous melancholy which might be called anxiety for the absent sun
A row of seats was formed directly through the middle of the kitchen.
A leaden weight seemed to hang over her; a sort of presentiment of evil, or perhaps only an excess of low spirited feeling in consequence of the two departures which had taken place that afternoon.
The Government intends to put the telephones under control of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs. Your wages will be immediately raised to one hundred and fifty rubles, and your working hours reduced.
They formed a busy and confused group, in rapid movement on the shore.
"And then, too," said the officer, "that brings up the question of admitting the Cadets into the new Government-and for the same reasons.
There were Papa's stout top boots; Mama's pretty buttoned shoes next; then Uncle Jack's, Donald's, Paul's and Hugh's; and at the end of the line her own little white worsted slippers.
Two wheels in two pulleys at the end of the rudder corrected this defect, and compensated, to some extent, for the loss of strength.
Don't try to keep me," said he, evidently fearing the strength of his own resolution, if hard pressed by entreaty.
"Our debates are now in the streets," he cried.
Her father was coming down at last.
"That's what Mama said.
She wondered how long Job Legh would sit.
These measured strokes have worked away the creek where the Biscay hooker was moored.
The Cadets think they are using us; but it is really we who are using the Cadets.
And to a place so mysteriously distant as Glasgow seemed to be to her!
This thought was, to let her write down, just as I told her, a description of how a little girl lived in her own room three years, and what she did to amuse herself; and we sent it to a magazine and got twenty five dollars for it.
Dark figures were crossing and recrossing each other on this tottering gangway, and in the shadow some people were embarking.
WILKIE,--
But there are men somewhere-didn't you see the babies?"
I wish she had been able to go to Burton once afore she died."
Terry studied it as we progressed.
He went up to Job, and, more civilly than Mary expected, wished him good bye.
"Yes, we all thought it very funny, and I smiled at them from the window when I was well enough to be up again.
Excepting the movement of embarkation which was being made in the creek, a movement visibly scared and uneasy, all around was solitude; no step, no noise, no breath was heard.
"Is peter the oldest?"
He's going to Glasgow, by way of Liverpool."
Then there was a torrent of soft talk tossed back and forth; no savage sing song, but clear musical fluent speech.
The Butcher would gladly have talked till next day, But he felt that the lesson must end, And he wept with delight in attempting to say He considered the Beaver his friend.
Do tell us, Margaret!" said Mary, placing her in a chair, and loosening her bonnet strings.
"That large and interesting brood of children in the little house at the end of the back garden?"
THE BEAVER'S LESSON
Then he put down his glass and turned to us, drawing a long breath.
"Yes; isn't it nice to see so many together?
Come in, and eat some supper; you look so ghastly; dear father, do!"
THE BARRISTER'S DREAM
DEAR mr
Terry watched them, we all did for that matter, till they disappeared among the houses.
Mama says she supposes that ever so many other children have been born on that day.
"BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER."
"I'm come to bid you good bye," said the sailor, and would in his sociable friendly humour have gone on speaking.
As they caught at it, he fired again-we heard a cry-.
"They expected it.
I think it is the loveliest song in the world, but it always makes me cry; doesn't it you?
"The fact of Desertion I will not dispute; But its guilt, as I trust, is removed (So far as related to the costs of this suit) By the Alibi which has been proved.
Trade is as bad there as here, folk say."
"Baby Larry."
"What do they want with us anyhow?
"That's father's step.
You can get by railway for three and sixpence."
She took it with a gracious nod of acknowledgment, and passed it on to those behind her.
Then, one day, 'Cary,' my pet canary, flew out of her cage, and peter Ruggles caught her and brought her back, and I had him up here in my room to thank him."
The Witnesses proved, without error or flaw, That the sty was deserted when found: And the Judge kept explaining the state of the law In a soft under current of sound.
But we were two to one against him and he loyally stood by us.
"She would may be have found all sadly changed," said Mary, though her heart echoed Will's feeling.
She wondered if he disliked Will being there; or if he were vexed to find that she had not got further on with her work.
I am the little sick girl who lives next door to the church, and, as I seldom go out, the music on practice days and Sundays is one of my greatest pleasures.
They pointed to it again, and to the outlying country, in different directions-but we pretended we did not know where it was, and in truth we were not quite sure and gave a rather wild indication of its whereabouts.
Look, boys!"
She sobbed a little; and they let her give that ease to her heart. Then she went on-
"The method employed I would gladly explain, While I have it so clear in my head, If I had but the time and you had but the brain- But much yet remains to be said.
Hark! that's her!"
We stopped in our tracks.
Mary left off ironing, and came and stood near the fire place.
I often wonder where they are, Uncle Jack, and whether it is a dear thought to them, too, or whether I am so much in bed, and so often alone, that it means more to me.
Stay one moment!"
They had no weapons, and we had, but we had no wish to shoot.
"Now, don't laugh-that's Peoria!"
It felt that, in spite of all possible pains, It had somehow contrived to lose count, And the only thing now was to rack its poor brains By reckoning up the amount.
Mary looked at him to see if he spoke jestingly.
"Inhabitants evidently arboreal," I grimly suggested.
"How did you ever learn all their names?"
"You must ask Margaret, not me, Will; she's never named your name to me." His countenance fell.
The Judge left the Court, looking deeply disgusted: But the Snark, though a little aghast, As the lawyer to whom the defense was entrusted, Went bellowing on to the last.
"It's too pretty to be true." "Plenty of palaces, but where are the homes?" "Oh there are little ones enough-but-." It certainly was different from any towns we had ever seen.
Again his gift was accepted and, as before, passed out of sight.
Susan was thankful for 'TRUNKS,' of all things in the world; Cornelius, for 'horse cars;' Kitty, for 'pork steak;' while Clem, who is very quiet, brightened up when I came to him, and said he was thankful for 'HIS LAME PUPPY.' Wasn't that pretty?"
Just think!"
Now I'm going to give this whole Christmas to the Ruggleses; and, Uncle Jack, I earned part of the money myself."
It was trimmed underneath some twenty feet up, and stood there like a huge umbrella, with circling seats beneath.
They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care; They pursued it with forks and hope; They threatened its life with a railway share; They charmed it with smiles and soap.
Mary could not help laughing outright, in spite of her depression, at the idea of Margaret as an angel; it was so difficult (even to her dress making imagination) to fancy where, and how, the wings would be fastened to the brown stuff gown, or the blue and yellow print.
Here is she still in a back street o' Manchester, never likely to see her own home again; and I, a sailor, off for America next week.
"But it knows any friend it has met once before: It never will look at a bribe: And in charity meetings it stands at the door, And collects-though it does not subscribe.
Instantly each of us was seized by five women, each holding arm or leg or head; we were lifted like children, straddling helpless children, and borne onward, wriggling indeed, but most ineffectually.
To Glasgow, did you say?
Carol and Elfrida, her pretty German nurse, had ransacked books, and introduced so many plans, and plays, and customs and merry makings from Germany, and Holland, and England and a dozen other places, that you would scarcely have known how or where you were keeping Christmas.
He then turned to her, and in a short cold manner, bade her farewell.
But the Judge said he never had summed up before; So the Snark undertook it instead, And summed it so well that it came to far more Than the Witnesses ever had said!
The days flew by, as they always fly in holiday time, and it was Christmas eve before anybody knew it.
Then Terry, wholly in his element, made a polite speech, with explanatory gestures, and proceeded to introduce us, with pointing finger.
Only I wonder as Margaret is not come back."
All together, now-"
ANONYMOUS.
For terror, perhaps-there was none.
grandfather; it's now I feel how hard it is to have lost my sight.
"No," he said, faintly and mournfully.
"This won't do!" said Terry to us, quickly.
So the Snark found the verdict, although, as it owned, It was spent with the toils of the day: When it said the word "GUILTY!" the Jury all groaned, And some of them fainted away.
p s--The reason I like 'Carol, brothers, carol,' is because the choir boys sang it eleven years ago, the morning I was born, and put it into Mama's head to call me Carol.
Will gone; her father gone-and so strangely too!
"Talk of civilization," he cried softly in restrained enthusiasm.
There was that in his manner which left no doubt of his desire to get rid of the visitor, and Will accordingly shook hands with Mary, and looked at john, as if doubting how far to offer to shake hands with him.
This was Jeff, always an enthusiast; but we could agree with him fully.
But the Barrister, weary of proving in vain That the Beaver's lace making was wrong, Fell asleep, and in dreams saw the creature quite plain That his fancy had dwelt on so long.
"Well, I have what I call a 'window school.' It is too cold now; but in warm weather I am wheeled out on my little balcony, and the Ruggleses climb up and walk along our garden fence, and sit down on the roof of our carriage house.
"What a perfect road!
She was born in Peoria; that's all."
"No, really, Uncle dear.
He was interested in john Barton's mission to Glasgow, and wanted to hear all about it; so he sat down, and made himself comfortable, in a manner that Mary saw was meant to be stationary.
"Food bearing, practically all of them," they announced returning.
"It's like an exposition."
"I vote to go in," Jeff urged.
That brings them quite near, and I read to them and tell them stories; On Thanksgiving Day they came up for a few minutes, it was quite warm at eleven o'clock, and we told each other what we had to be thankful for; but they gave such queer answers that Papa had to run away for fear of laughing; and I couldn't understand them very well.
But, bless you! she goes along as steadily as can be; rather slow, to be sure, and her head a bit on one side as if she were listening.
He had come to pay a visit, and was not to be daunted from his purpose.
Here was evidently a people highly skilled, efficient, caring for their country as a florist cares for his costliest orchids.
While the Beaver confessed, with affectionate looks More eloquent even than tears, It had learned in ten minutes far more than all books Would have taught it in seventy years.
The house was built for mr Carter's coachman, but mr Carter lives in Europe, and the gentleman who rents his place doesn't care what happens to it, and so this poor Irish family came to live there.
"It might teach some of us a lesson, mightn't it, little girl?"
"mr Vandyck Jennings"--I also tried to make an effective salute and nearly lost my balance.
It was not often he came, but when he did pay visits, Mary knew from past experience they were any thing but short.
The Jury had each formed a different view (Long before the indictment was read), And they all spoke at once, so that none of them knew One word that the others had said.
She didn't remember then that my other name would be Bird, because she was half asleep, and couldn't think of but one thing at a time.
john Barton came in.
Fit the Sixth
It was built mostly of a sort of dull rose colored stone, with here and there some clear white houses; and it lay abroad among the green groves and gardens like a broken rosary of pink coral.
"Well, you see, it could not be my own, own Christmas if Papa gave me all the money, and I thought to really keep Christ's birthday I ought to do something of my very own; and so I talked with Mama.
Rash Advances
She did not like putting down her work, and crying before him, and yet she had never in her life longed so much to be alone in order to indulge in a good hearty burst of tears.
"You boil it in sawdust: you salt it in glue: You condense it with locusts and tape: Still keeping one principal object in view- To preserve its symmetrical shape."
Again they laughed delightedly, and the one nearest me followed his tactics.
I have written a letter to the organist, and asked him if I might have the two songs I like best.
Her blindness almost appears a blessing sometimes; she was so downhearted when she dreaded it, and now she seems so calm and happy when it's downright come.
But by what train?"
Then the Snark pronounced sentence, the Judge being quite Too nervous to utter a word: When it rose to its feet, there was silence like night, And the fall of a pin might be heard.
By the time we had reached about as far as three men together dared push, they had left the main trunk and moved outward, each one balanced on a long branch that dipped and swayed beneath the weight.
The proof is complete, If only I've stated it thrice."
"There's no smoke," he added after a little.
"'tis the note of the Jubjub!
But, you see, I got a letter this afternoon from Jack Harris, to tell me our ship sails on Tuesday next; and it's long since I promised my uncle (my mother's brother, him that lives at Kirk Christ, beyond Ramsay, in the Isle of Man) that I'd go and see him and his, this time of coming ashore.
He stepped forward, with his brilliant ingratiating smile, and made low obeisance to the women before him.
Such friends, as the Beaver and Butcher became, Have seldom if ever been known; In winter or summer, 'twas always the same- You could never meet either alone.
"We've got to decide quick," said Terry.
"And why shouldst thou know?" replied he, gruffly.
And when quarrels arose-as one frequently finds Quarrels will, spite of every endeavour- The song of the Jubjub recurred to their minds, And cemented their friendship for ever!
They dropped from the ends of the big boughs to those below, fairly pouring themselves off the tree, while we climbed downward as swiftly as we could.
In his genial way he proceeded to say (Forgetting all laws of propriety, And that giving instruction, without introduction, Would have caused quite a thrill in Society),
We stood like so many pointers, and then used our glasses, swiftly, carefully.
"Mother of Mike, boys-what Gorgeous Girls!
"They don't kill birds, and apparently they do kill cats," Terry declared.
"As to temper the Jubjub's a desperate bird, Since it lives in perpetual passion: Its taste in costume is entirely absurd- It is ages ahead of the fashion:
Fit the Fifth
Six of them stepped forward now, one on either side of each of us, and indicated that we were to go with them.
"Have to use bait," grinned Terry.
We made one more effort to be let go, urgent, but not imploring.
Then a scream, shrill and high, rent the shuddering sky, And they knew that some danger was near: The Beaver turned pale to the tip of its tail, And even the Butcher felt queer.
He tried again, this time bringing out a circlet of rhinestones, a glittering crown that should have pleased any woman on earth.
The indictment had never been clearly expressed, And it seemed that the Snark had begun, And had spoken three hours, before any one guessed What the pig was supposed to have done.
We had heard something: something not in the least like a birdsong, and very much like a suppressed whisper of laughter-a little happy sound, instantly smothered.
"We can't fight them, of course," Jeff urged.
It can't be the same ones," I urged.
But the valley grew narrow and narrower still, And the evening got darker and colder, Till (merely from nervousness, not from goodwill) They marched along shoulder to shoulder.
We held a consultation.
"You must know-" said the Judge: but the Snark exclaimed "Fudge!" That statute is obsolete quite! Let me tell you, my friends, the whole question depends On an ancient manorial right.
The broad green fields and closely cultivated gardens sloped away at our feet, a long easy slant, with good roads winding pleasantly here and there, and narrower paths besides.
He suggested, by signs, that we all go down together; but again they shook their heads, still merrily.
"Now for a rush, boys!" Terry said.
As a matter of fact they were quite right.
Each thought he was thinking of nothing but "Snark" And the glorious work of the day; And each tried to pretend that he did not remark That the other was going that way.
I guess we'll have to go in."
But it was no use grumbling, and Terry refused to admit any mistake. "Nonsense," he said.
Then the Butcher contrived an ingenious plan For making a separate sally; And had fixed on a spot unfrequented by man, A dismal and desolate valley.
I could already see it happen-the dropped necklace, the sudden clutching hand, the girl's sharp cry as he seized her and drew her in.
Presently there lay before us at the foot of a long hill the town or village we were aiming for.
"The rest, splendid hardwood.
Or any for pure ornament?"
But the very same plan to the Beaver occurred: It had chosen the very same place: Yet neither betrayed, by a sign or a word, The disgust that appeared in his face.
This was Alima, a tall long limbed lass, well knit and evidently both strong and agile. Her eyes were splendid, wide, fearless, as free from suspicion as a child's who has never been rebuked.
Yet they were not old women.
He thought of his childhood, left far far behind- That blissful and innocent state- The sound so exactly recalled to his mind A pencil that squeaks on a slate!
The others moved a bit farther out, holding firmly, watching.
"There they go!"
It's a truck farm!"
"In one moment I've seen what has hitherto been Enveloped in absolute mystery, And without extra charge I will give you at large A Lesson in Natural History."
"There are short stumps of branches left to climb on.
"Those big white ones are public buildings evidently," Terry declared. "This is no savage country, my friend.
See the flowers, will you?"
When the verdict was called for, the Jury declined, As the word was so puzzling to spell; But they ventured to hope that the Snark wouldn't mind Undertaking that duty as well.
So carried and so held, we came into a high inner hall, gray and bare, and were brought before a majestic gray haired woman who seemed to hold a judicial position.
He dreamed that he stood in a shadowy Court, Where the Snark, with a glass in its eye, Dressed in gown, bands, and wig, was defending a pig On the charge of deserting its sty.
They had stood at ease, waiting while we conferred together, but never relaxing their close attention.
"It couldn't have been far off," said Terry excitedly.
We began to explain, to make signs pointing away toward the big forest-indicating that we would go back to it-at once.
The Beaver had counted with scrupulous care, Attending to every word: But it fairly lost heart, and outgrabe in despair, When the third repetition occurred.
They had just the aspect of sturdy burghers, gathered hastily to meet some common need or peril, all moved by precisely the same feelings, to the same end.
Their attitude was not the rigid discipline of soldiers; there was no sense of compulsion about them.
Jeff drew a long breath.
The Beaver brought paper, portfolio, pens, And ink in unfailing supplies: While strange creepy creatures came out of their dens, And watched them with wondering eyes.
Not more than ten or fifteen miles we judged it from our landing rock to that last village.
"'tis the voice of the Jubjub!" he suddenly cried. (This man, that they used to call "Dunce.") "As the Bellman would tell you," he added with pride, "I have uttered that sentiment once.
"There's no noise," I offered; but Terry snubbed me-"That's because they are laying low for us; we'd better be careful how we go in there."
The Bellman, who was almost morbidly sensitive about appearances, used to have the bowsprit unshipped once or twice a week to be revarnished, and it more than once happened, when the time came for replacing it, that no one on board could remember which end of the ship it belonged to.
She made a timid reach with her right hand for the gay swinging thing-he held it a little nearer-then, swift as light, she seized it from him with her left, and dropped on the instant to the bough below.
If we pursued further, the boughs would break under the double burden.
"Sure there are no medicinal ones?
Yet still, ever after that sorrowful day, Whenever the Butcher was by, The Beaver kept looking the opposite way, And appeared unaccountably shy.
But through the glasses we could identify our pretty tree climbers quite plainly, at least by costume.
The Bellman looked scared, And was almost too frightened to speak:
They were girls, of course, no boys could ever have shown that sparkling beauty, and yet none of us was certain at first.
This we admitted.
Let's get ahead."
We stole near, cautiously.
A Billiard marker, whose skill was immense, Might perhaps have won more than his share- But a Banker, engaged at enormous expense, Had the whole of their cash in his care.
Even a peaceful detention was not to our minds, and when we named it imprisonment it looked even worse.
The helmsman used to stand by with tears in his eyes; he knew it was all wrong, but alas!
"Good thing to have a botanist on hand," I agreed.
But Terry showed no such consciousness.
They were not young.
While, for those who preferred a more forcible word, He had different names from these: His intimate friends called him "Candle ends," And his enemies "Toasted cheese."
Fit the First
They were not, in the girl sense, beautiful.
This was charming, no doubt; but they shortly found out That the Captain they trusted so well Had only one notion for crossing the ocean, And that was to tingle his bell.
Now open your mouth and speak.
Then he produced another tribute, a broad soft scarf of filmy texture, rich in color and pattern, a lovely thing, even to my eye, and offered it with a deep bow to the tall unsmiling woman who seemed to head the ranks before him.
Then, softly and slowly, she drew nearer.
They were not old.
It strongly advised that the Butcher should be Conveyed in a separate ship: But the Bellman declared that would never agree With the plans he had made for the trip:
Under the soft brilliant blue of that clear sky, in the pleasant shade of those endless rows of trees, we walked unharmed, the placid silence broken only by the birds.
But at length he explained, in a tremulous tone, There was only one Beaver on board; And that was a tame one he had of his own, Whose death would be deeply deplored.
Look at those faces!"
He had forty two boxes, all carefully packed, With his name painted clearly on each: But, since he omitted to mention the fact, They were all left behind on the beach.
As we neared the center of the town the houses stood thicker, ran together as it were, grew into rambling palaces grouped among parks and open squares, something as college buildings stand in their quiet greens.
"Its habit of getting up late you'll agree That it carries too far, when I say That it frequently breakfasts at five o'clock tea, And dines on the following day.
He held it up, swung it, glittering in the sun, offered it first to one, then to another, holding it out as far as he could reach toward the girl nearest him.
And then, turning a corner, we came into a broad paved space and saw before us a band of women standing close together in even order, evidently waiting for us.
The last of the crew needs especial remark, Though he looked an incredible dunce: He had just one idea-but, that one being "Snark," The good Bellman engaged him at once.
This country suits me all right.
The first is the taste, Which is meagre and hollow, but crisp: Like a coat that is rather too tight in the waist, With a flavour of Will o'-the wisp.
We met their laughter cordially, and doffed our hats to them, at which they laughed again, delightedly.
I have said it thrice: What I tell you three times is true."
Terry, with his clear decided practical theories that there were two kinds of women-those he wanted and those he didn't; Desirable and Undesirable was his demarcation.
"We have sailed many weeks, we have sailed many days, (Seven days to the week I allow), But a Snark, on the which we might lovingly gaze, We have never beheld till now!
There it was, about four miles off, the same town, we concluded, unless, as Jeff ventured, they all had pink houses.
To climb like that! to run like that! and afraid of nothing.
And that, after all, Is the thing that one needs with a Snark."
"Let us take them in order.
We stopped a moment and looked back.
THE LANDING
Call this a forest?
And now here they were, in great numbers, evidently indifferent to what he might think, evidently determined on some purpose of their own regarding him, and apparently well able to enforce their purpose.
He would answer to "Hi!" or to any loud cry, Such as "Fry me!" or "Fritter my wig!" To "What you may call um!" or "What was his name!" But especially "Thing um a jig!"
Women like to be run after.
THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK
The crew was complete: it included a Boots- A maker of Bonnets and Hoods- A Barrister, brought to arrange their disputes- And a Broker, to value their goods.
But the principal failing occurred in the sailing, And the Bellman, perplexed and distressed, Said he had hoped, at least, when the wind blew due East, That the ship would not travel due West!
We saw short hair, hatless, loose, and shining; a suit of some light firm stuff, the closest of tunics and kneebreeches, met by trim gaiters. As bright and smooth as parrots and as unaware of danger, they swung there before us, wholly at ease, staring as we stared, till first one, and then all of them burst into peals of delighted laughter.
Speak or die!"
These towering trees were under as careful cultivation as so many cabbages.
Then the bowsprit got mixed with the rudder sometimes: A thing, as the Bellman remarked, That frequently happens in tropical climes, When a vessel is, so to speak, "snarked."
Terry soon found that it was useless, tore himself loose for a moment, pulled his revolver, and fired upward.
"Under which king, Bezonian?
You see, I come from California, and there's no country lovelier, but when it comes to towns-!
The men of this country must be good sprinters!"
He had bought a large map representing the sea, Without the least vestige of land: And the crew were much pleased when they found it to be A map they could all understand.
And though by dress we could not be sure of all the grown persons, still there had not been one man that we were certain of.
One could see he was wise, The moment one looked in his face!
The place had an odd look, more impressive as we approached.
Terry had come armed with a theory.
"The third is its slowness in taking a jest. Should you happen to venture on one, It will sigh like a thing that is deeply distressed: And it always looks grave at a pun.
"They're all women, in spite of their nondescript clothes; nice women, too; good strong sensible faces.