Genre Fiction. Page - 249

nd albeit they all leade us with a common accord to despise povertie, and other accidental! crosses, to which

Omnes eodem cogimur, omnium Versatur urna, serius, ocius Sors exitura, et nos in aeternum Exilium impositura cymbae, [Footnote: Hor. I. iii. Od. iii. 25.]

All to one place are driv'n, of all Shak't is the lot-pot, where-hence shall Sooner or later drawne lots fall, And to deaths boat for aye enthrall.

And by consequence, if she makes us affeard, it is a continual subject of torment, and which can no way be eased. There is no starting-hole will hide us from her, she will finde us wheresoever we are, we may as in a suspected countrie start and turne here and there: quae quasi saxum Tantalo semper impendet.[Footnote: Cic. De Fin. I. i.] "Which evermore hangs like the stone over the head of Tantalus:" Our lawes doe often condemne and send malefactors to be executed in the same place where the crime was committed: to which whilest they are going, leade them along the fairest houses, or

gover the fire.

'Good evening, mother. I see you have lived long in this world; doyou know anything about the three bulrushes?'

'Yes, indeed, I've lived long and been much about in the world, butI have never seen or heard anything of what you ask. Still, if youwill wait till to-morrow I may be able to tell you something.'

Well, he waited till the morning, and quite early the old womanappeared and took out a little pipe and blew in it, and in a momentall the crows in the world were flying about her. Not one wasmissing. Then she asked if they knew anything about the threebulrushes, but not one of them did.

The prince went on his way, and a little further on he found anotherhut in which lived an old man. On being questioned the old mansaid he knew nothing, but begged the prince to stay overnight, andthe next morning the old man called all the ravens together, butthey too had nothing to tell.

The prince bade him farewell and set out. He wandered so far thathe crossed seven kingdoms, an

but howsomever they say he was very jealous, and behaved very ill to the poor lady, and locked her up, and there she was brought to bed, and the child was taken from her, and so she died, and 'twas said the child died, and so every body believes 'tis their ghosts that make such dismal noises in the castle, for soon after my Lord the Count went away, Joseph who worked under the gardener, was ordered to take care of the house; and I lived then under the cook, so we married: all the other servants were discharged, and so we have lived here ever since. My Lord came here once or twice, but the ghosts made such a noise he could not stay. Several gentry have slept here at times, but no body would stay a second night, and so we have all to ourselves by day, and the ghosts, or what they be, have got all the rooms by night and then they be quiet enough.' 'Pray,' interrogated the lady, 'can I walk through the rooms and examine the opposite wing?' 'To be sure, madam, you can, if you be so bold, but neither I nor Joseph e

The Queen of Spades A.S. Pushkin
The Cloak N.V. Gogol
The District Doctor I.S. Turgenev
The Christmas Tree And The Wedding F.M. Dostoyevsky
God Sees The Truth, But Waits L.N. Tolstoy
How A Muzhik Fed Two Officials M.Y. Saltykov
The Shades, A Phantasy V.G. Korolenko
The Signal V.N. Garshin
The Darling A.P. Chekhov
The Bet A.P. Chekhov
Vanka A.P. Chekhov
Hide and Seek F.K. Sologub
Dethroned I.N. Potapenko
The Servant S.T. Semyonov
One Autumn Night M. Gorky
Her Lover M. Gorky
Lazarus L.N. Andreyev
The Revolutionist M.P. Artzybashev
The Outrage A.I. Kuprin

the young shopman had thrown her up she was getting more and more into the habit of drinking. It was not so much the flavour of wine that tempted her as the fact that it gave her a chance of forgetting the misery she suffered, making her feel more unrestrained and more confident of her own worth, which she was not when quite sober; without wine she felt sad and ashamed. Just at this time a woman came along who offered to place her in one of the largest establishments in the city, explaining all the advantages and benefits of the situation. Katusha had the choice before her of either going into service or accepting this offer--and she chose the latter. Besides, it seemed to her as though, in this way, she could revenge herself on her betrayer and the shopman and all those who had injured her. One of the things that tempted her, and was the cause of her decision, was the woman telling her she might order her own dresses--velvet, silk, satin, low-necked ball dresses, anything she liked. A mental picture of herse

adily enough, for, unfortunately, my professional duties were not onerous.

"Good man!" he cried, wringing my hand in his impetuous way. "We start now."

"What, to-night?

"To-night! I had thought of turning in, I must admit. I have not dared to sleep for forty-eight hours, except in fifteen-minute stretches. But there is one move that must be made to-night and immediately. I must warn Sir Crichton Davey."

"Sir Crichton Davey--of the India--"

"Petrie, he is a doomed man! Unless he follows my instructions without question, without hesitation--before Heaven, nothing can save him! I do not know when the blow will fall, how it will fall, nor from whence, but I know that my first duty is to warn him. Let us walk down to the corner of the common and get a taxi."

How strangely does the adventurous intrude upon the humdrum; for, when it intrudes at all, more often than not its intrusion is sudden and unlooked for. To-day, we may seek for romance and fail to find it: unsought, it

istaken or misinformed, and I rather think that I have in one or two rare instances observed its information to be not strictly accurate with reference to myself. Indeed, I have, now and again, been more surprised by printed news that I have read of myself, than by any printed news that I have ever read in my present state of existence. Thus, the vigour and perseverance with which I have for some months past been collecting materials for, and hammering away at, a new book on America has much astonished me; seeing that all that time my declaration has been perfectly well known to my publishers on both sides of the Atlantic, that no consideration on earth would induce me to write one. But what I have intended, what I have resolved upon (and this is the confidence I seek to place in you), is, on my return to England, in my own person, in my own Journal, to bear, for the behoof of my countrymen, such testimony to the gigantic changes in this country as I have hinted at to-night. Also, to record that wherever I ha

I've about concluded that he ain't comin'. An' so I come over to Dry Bottom to find a man."

"You've found one," smiled the stranger.

Stafford drew out a handful of double eagles and pressed them into the other's hand. "I'm goin' over to the Two Diamond now," he said. "You'd better wait a day or two, so's no one will get wise. Come right to me, like you was wantin' a job."

He started toward the hitching rail for his pony, hesitated and then walked back.

"I didn't get your name," he smiled.

The stranger's eyes glittered humorously. "It's Ferguson," he said quietly.

Stafford's eyes widened with astonishment. Then his right hand went out and grasped the other's.

"Well, now," he said warmly, "that's what I call luck."

Ferguson smiled. "Mebbe it's luck," he returned. "But before I go over to work for you there's got to be an understandin'. I c'n shoot some," he continued, looking steadily at Stafford, "but I ain't runnin' around the country shootin' men witho

arent unconcern of any suggestion counter tohis own. He thought slowly and he spoke seldom, but when he had oncespoken the matter, so far as he was concerned, was done with. LadyAngela apparently was used to him, for she rose at once. She did notshake hands, but she nodded to me pleasantly. Colonel Ray handed herinto the wagonette, and I heard the quicker throbbing of the engine asit glided off into the darkness.

It was several minutes before he returned. I began to wonder whether hehad changed his mind, and returned to Rowchester with Lady Angela. Thenthe door handle suddenly turned, and he stepped in. His hair was tossedwith the wind, his shoes were wet and covered with mud, and he wasbreathing rather fast, as though he had been running. I looked at himinquiringly. He offered me no explanation. But on his way to thechair, which he presently drew up to the fire, he paused for a fullminute by the window, and shading the carriage lamp which he stillcarried, with his hand, he looked steadily ou

igh priced. Well, there is any quantity of swamp land available, and we have experimented like mad with reeds and rushes. We've found one particular variety which grows very rapidly, has a strong, woody fiber, and makes the finest pulp in the world. I turned the kid loose with the company's bank roll this spring, and he secured options on two thousand acres of swamp land, near to transportation and particularly adapted to this culture, and dirt cheap because it is useless for any other purpose. As soon as the patents are granted on our process we're going to organize a million dollar stock company to take up more land and handle the business."

"Come over here and sit down," invited Princeman, somewhat more than courteously.

"Wait a minute until I send for McComas. Here, boy, hunt Mr. McComas and ask him to come out on the porch."

The new guest was reaching for pencil and paper as they gathered their chairs together. The two girls had already started hesitantly to efface themselves. Half-w