firmly in the clutches of the Jews, and i hoped that that which had shaken my position might

have the effect of restoring his. as i sat there, fingering the cards in an abstracted way, some
chance led me to observe the small needle-pricks which you have fust felt, i went over the packs,
and found, to my unspeakable horror, that anyone who was in the secret could hold them in
dealing in such a way as to he able to count the exact number of high cards which fell to each of
his opponents, and then, with such a flush of shame and disgust as i had never known, I
remembered how my attention had been drawn to my brother s mode of dealing, its slowness,
and the way in which he held each card by the lower corner. 'i did not condemn him
precipitately. i sat for a long time calling to mind every incident which could tell one way or the
other, alas/ it all went to confirm me in my first horrible suspicion, and to turn it into a certainty,
my brother had ordered the packs from ledbury s, in bond street, they had been for some hours in
his chambers, he had played throughout with a decision which had surprised us at the time,
above all, i could not conceal from myself that his past life was not such as to make even so
abominable a crime as this impossible to him. tingling with anger and shame, i went straight up
that stair, the cards in my hand, and i taxed him with this lowest and meanest of all the crimes to
which a villain could descend, 'he had not retired to rest, and his ill-gotten gains were spread out
upon the dressing-table, i hardly know what i said to him, but the facts were so deadly that he
did not attempt to deny his guilt, you will remember, as the only mitigation of his crime, that he
was not yet one and twenty years of age. my words overwhelmed him. he went on his knees to
me, imploring me to spare him. i told him that out
of consideration for our family i should make no public exposure of him, but that he must never
again in his life lay his hand upon a card, and that the money which he had won must be
returned next morning with an explanation, it would be social ruin, he protested, i answered that
he must take the consequence of his own deed, then and there i burned the papers which he had
won from me, and i replaced in a canvas bag which lay upon the table all the gold pieces, i
would have left the room without another word, but he clung to me, and tore the ruffle from my
wrist in his attempt to hold me back, and to prevail upon me to promise to say nothing to you or
sir lothian hume. it was his despairing cry, when he found that i was proof against all his
entreaties, which reached your ears, charles, and caused you to open your chamber door and to
see me as i returned to my room." my uncle drew a long sigh of relief, 'nothing could be clearer!
* he murmured. 'in the morning i came, as you remember, to your room, and i returned your
money, i did the same to sir lothian hume. i said nothing of my reasons for doing so, for I found
that i could not bring myself to confess our disgrace to you. then came the horrible discovery
which has darkened my life, and which was as great a mystery to me as it has been to you. i saw
that i was suspected, and i saw, also, that even if i were to clear myself, it could only be done by
a public confession of the infamy of my brother, i shrank from it, charles. any personal suffering
seemed to me to be better than to bring public shame upon a family which has held an
untarnished record through so many centuries, i fled from my trial, therefore, and disappeared
from the world, 'but, first of all, it was necessary that i should make arrangements for the wife
and the son, of whose existence you and my other friends were ignorant, it is with shame, mary,
that i confess it, and i acknowledge to you that the blame of all the consequences rests with me
rather than with you. at the time there were reasons, now happily long gone past, which made
me determine that the son was better apart from the mother, whose absence at that age he would
not miss, i would have taken you into my confidence, charles, had it not been that your
suspicions had wounded me deeply for i did not at that time understand how strong the reasons
were which had prejudiced you against me. 'on the evening after the tragedy i fled to london, and
arranged that my wife should have a fitting allowance on condition that she did not interfere
with the child, i had, as you remember, had
man and the mare had a moment s hesitation. He saw the uncertainty in the mare s ears and
lifted the whip, but at the same time felt that his fears were groundless; the mare knew what
was wanted. She quickened her pace and rose smoothly, fust as he had fancied she would,
and as she left the ground gave herself up to the force of her rush, which carried her far
beyond the ditch; and with the same rhythm, without effort, with the same leg forward,
Frou-Frou fell back into her pace again. 435 of 1759 Anna fcarenina Bravo, Vronskyf he
heard shouts from a knot of men-he knew they were his friends in the regiment- who were
standing at the obstacle. He could not fail to recognize Yashvin s voice though he did not see
him. O my sweet! he said inwardly to Frou-Frou, as he listened for what was happening
behind. He is cleared it! he thought, catching the thud of Gladiator s hoofs behind him.
There remained only the last ditch, filled with water and five feet wide. Vronsky did not
even look at it, but anxious to get in a long way first began sawing away at the reins, lifting
the mare s head and letting it go in time with her paces. He felt that the mare was at her
very last reserve of strength; not her neck and shoulders merely were wet, but the sweat was
standing in drops on her mane, her head, her sharp ears, and her breath came in short,
sharp gasps. But he knew that she had strength left more than enough for the remaining five
hundred yards, it was only from feeling himself nearer the ground and from the peculiar
smoothness of his motion that Vronsky knew how greatly the mare had quickened her pace.
She flew over the ditch as though not noticing it. She flew over it like a bird; but at the same
instant Vronsky, to his horror, felt that he had failed to keep up with the mare s pace, that
he had, he did not know how, made a fearful, 436 of 1759 Anna fcarenina unpardonable
mistake, in recovering his seat in the saddle. All at once his position had shifted and he knew
that something awful had happened. He could not yet make out what had happened, when
the white legs of a chestnut horse flashed by close to him, and Mahotin passed at a swift
gallop. Vronsky was touching the ground with one foot, and his mare was sinking on that
foot. He just had time to free his leg when she fell on one side, gasping painfully, and,
making vain efforts to rise with her delicate, soaking neck, she fluttered on the ground at his
feet like a shot bird. The clumsy movement made by Vronsky had broken her back. But that
he only knew much later. At that moment he knew only that Mahotin had down swiftly by,
while he stood staggering alone on the muddy, motionless ground, and F rou-F rou lay
gasping before him, bending her head back and gazing at him with her exquisite eyes. Still
unable to realize what had happened, Vronsky tugged at his mare s reins. Again she
struggled all over like a fish, and her shoulders setting the saddle heaving, she rose on
black line held in check by an army of police, up on (he press tower were the small, dark
figures of men he knew, fellow journalists to whom he had said goodbye a short while ago.
they had all professed envy of him. he doubted whether one of them meant it or would have
been willing to change places with him, given the chance, at the moment he himself would
willingly have changed places with any one of them, he turned to look again at the closely
packed crowds, thousands and thousands of them, all waiting for the big bang, he
murmured, they ll probably get a bigger earful than they want - - hullo, there s someone
with a heliograph, he leaned forward, causing the characteristic sickle shaped lock of black
hair to fall across his forehead, he spelt out from the flashes, hardly original, but kindly
meant and that s better than a lot of them, i wouldnI mind betting that there s a whole
crowd out there not excluding my professional brethren who d consider it a better show if
we blew up than if we went up. aye, you are right there, agreed burns, his deep voice
according well with his gloomy expression, they are the kind who donI feel they ve had
their money s worth unless some poor body crashes in an air race, but they re going to be
disappointed with the gloria mundi. i helped to build her, and she s not going to blow up.
the doctor moved, irritably. i wish you two wouldnI talk about blowing up. IsnI this
waiting bad enough without imagining horrors? young
geoffrey dugan agreed with him. his look of eager anticipation was becoming supplanted by
a worried frown, i m with you, doc. i wish we could get going now. this hanging about s
getting me down, how much longer? He added, turning back to dale, quarter of an hour, dale
told him. we better be getting ready, dugan. Whats it say on the weather tower? dugan
crossed to one of the other windows, wind speed twelve miles an hour,
he said. good, not much allowance necessary for that, dale turned back to the others, put up
the shutters now. it s time we got to the hammocks, he switched on a small light set in the
ceiling, the shutter plates, heavy pieces of steel alloy, were swung across and their rubber
faced edges clamped into place, when the last had been screwed down to its utmost and
made airtight, the men turned to their hammocks, these were couches slung by metal rods,
finely tempered steel and softest down had been used in an effort to produce the acme of
comfort. no fairy tale princess ever rested upon a bed one half so luxuriously yielding as
those provided for the five men. they climbed on to them without speaking, and felt for the
safety straps, the doctor s pale face had gone yet whiter, little beads of sweat were gathering
beneath his lower lip. dugan saw him fumbling clumsily with the straps, and leaned across,
here, let me do it, doc, he suggested, the doctor nodded his thanks and lay back while dugan
s strong, steady hands slid the webbing into the buckles, five minutes, said dale, dugan
attended to his own straps, then all five lay waiting, the engineer rested motionless with all
the graven solemnity of a stone knight
upon his tomb, the journalist wriggled slightly to find the most comfortable position, good
beds you give your guests, dale, he murmured, makes one wonder why we are such damn
fools as ever to do anything but sleep, dale lay silent, his eyes fixed upon a flicking second
hand, the fingers of his right hand already grasped the starting lever set into the side of his
couch, his concent ration left him without visible sign of fear, excitement or worry, two
minutes, the tension increased, fraud ceased to fidget, dugan felt his heart begin to beat more
quickly, the doctor started to count the seconds subconsciously; the surface of his mind was
tormented with suggestions, even yet it was not too late, if he were to jump up and attack
dale. half a minute, and then what? thought the doctor.
he turned his head, his uneasy eyes met dugan s, and he heard a murmur of encouragement,
fifteen seconds, said dale, a comforting fatalism crept over the doctor, one must die sooner or
later, why not now? he d had a good run for his money, if only it were quick . . . /ive-tour-
three-two-one . . . the chattering of the crowd died down to a murmur, and thence to an
excited silence broken only by the voice from the loudspeakers inexorably counting away
the time, every eye was turned to the centre of the circle, each focused upon the glittering
rocket, scarcely daring even to blink lest it should miss the critical moment of the start, into
the dullest mind there crept at this moment some understand/'ng of the scene s true meaning
a thrill of pride in the /'ndom/'table spirit of man striving once again to break his age old
bondage: reaching out to grasp the very stars, so, into unknown perils had gone the galleys of
ericson so, too, had gone the caravels of columbus, fearing that they might sail over the edge
of the world into the pit of eternity, but persistent in their courage. it might well be that this
day, this twelfth of October, 1987, would go down to history as a turning point in human
existence it might well be. . the telescopes in the great observatories were trained and ready,
they had been trained before, they had followed the flaring tracks of adventurers from earth,
had seen them break from the shell of atmosphere into the emptiness of space, seen them fail
to hold their courses and watched the beginnings of falls which would last for months until
they should end at last in the sun. and now, before long.
monsieur caratal, and that the latter, being a man of puny physique, employed the other as a
guard and protector, it may be added that no information came from paris as to what the
objects of monsieur caratal s hurried journey may have been, this comprises all the facts of the
case up to the publication in the marseilles papers of the recent confession of herbert de lernac,
now under sentence of death for the murder of a merchant named bonvalot. this statement may
be literally translated as follows: 'it is not out of mere pride or boasting that i give this
information, for, if that were my object, i could tell a dozen actions of mine which are quite as
splendid; but i do it in order that certain gentlemen in part's may understand that i, who am
able here to tell about the fate of monsieur caratal, can also tell in whose interest and at whose
request the deed was done, unless the reprieve which I am awaiting comes to me very quickly,
take warning, messieurs, before it is too late/ you know herbert de lernac, and you are aware
that his deeds are as ready as his words, hasten then, or you are lost/ 'at present i shall mention
no namesif you only heard the names, what would you not thinkf-but i shall merely tell you
how cleverly i did it. i was true to my employers then, and no doubt they will be true to me now.
I hope so, and until i am convinced that they have betrayed me, these names, which would
convulse europe, shall not be divulged, but on that day . . . well, i say no more! 'in a word, then,
there was a famous trial in paris, in the year 1890, in connection with a monstrous scandal in
politics and finance, how monstrous that scandal was can never be known save by such
confidential agents as myself, the honour and careers of many of the chief men in franee were
at stake, you have seen a group of ninepins standing, all so rigid, and prim, and unbending. then
there comes the ball from far away and pop, pop, pop-there are your ninepins on the floor, well,
imagine some of the greatest men in franee as these ninepins and then this monsieur caratal
was the ball which could be seen coming from far away, if he arrived, then it was pop, pop, pop
for all of them, it was determined that he should not arrive, 'i do not accuse them all of being
conscious of what was to happen, there were, as i have said, great financial as well as political
interests at stake, and a syndicate was formed to manage the business, some subscribed to the
syndicate who hardly understood what were its objects, but others understood very well, and
they can rely upon it that i have not forgotten their names, they had ample warning that
monsieur caratal was coming long before he left south america, and they knew that the
evidence which he held would certainly mean ruin to all of them, the syndicate had the
command of an unlimited amount of money-absolutely unlimited, you understand, they looked
round for an agent who was capable of wielding this gigantic power, the man chosen must be
inventive, resolute, adaptive-a man in a million, they chose herbert de lernac, and i admit that
they were right, 'my duties were to choose my subordinates, to use freely the power which
money gives, and to make certain that monsieur caratal should never arrive in paris. with
characteristic energy i set about my commission within an hour of receiving my instructions, and
the steps which i took were the very best for the purpose which could possibly be devised, 'a
man whom i could trust was dispatched instantly to south america to travel home with
monsieur caratal. had he arrived in time the ship would never have reached liver pool; but alas/
it had already started before my agent could reach it. i fitted out a small armed brig to intercept
it, but again i was unfortunate, like all great organizers i was, however, prepared for failure, and
had a series of alternatives prepared, one or the other of which must succeed, you must not
underrate the difficulties of my undertaking, or imagine that a mere commonplace
assassination would meet the case, we must destroy not only monsieur caratal, but monsieur
caratal s documents, and monsieur caratal s companions also, if we had reason to believe that
he had communicated his secrets to them, and you must remember that they were on the alert,
and keenly suspicious of any such attempt, it was a task which was in every way worthy of me,
for i am always most masterful where another would be appalled, 'i was all ready for monsieur
caratal s reception in liverpool, and i was the more eager because i had reason to believe that
he had made arrangements by which he would have a considerable guard from the moment
that he arrived in london. anything which was to be done must be done between the moment of
you werenI afraid of anything on the earth below, or the waters under the earth; hut when you
get swinging there over the world, and not high enough to get a hold on heaven, it makes you
feel as if things was dropping away from you like, but, by gracious! you did it like an eagle - you
and your friend.' by this time he was introduced, and at the name of mrs. falchion, he cocked his
head, and looked quizzically, as if trying to remember something, then drew his hand once or
twice across his forehead, after a moment he said: 'strange, now, ma am, how your name strikes
me.
it isnI a common name, and i ve heard it before somewhere - somewhere, it is I your face that i
ve seen before - for I d have remembered it if it was a thousand years ago,' he added admiringly,
'but i ve heard some one use it; and i can I tell where. she looked curiously at him, and said: 'don
I try to remember, and it will come to you in good time, hut show us everything about your place
before we go hack, won I you, please?' he showed them his hut, where he lived, quite alone, it
was supplied with hare necessaries, and with a counter, behind which were cups and a few
bottles. in reference to this, boldrick said: 'temperance drinks for the muleteers, tobacco and tea
and sugar and postage stamps and things, they don I gargle their throats with anything
stronger than coffee at this tavern.' then he took them to the cave in which puma, hear, and
wapiti skins were piled, together with a few stores and the kits of travelers who had left their
belongings in boldrick s keeping till they should come again, after mrs. falchion and ruth had
seen all, they came out upon the mountain-side and waved their handkerchiefs to us, who were
still watching from below. then boldrick hoisted a flag on his hut, which he used on gala
occasions, to celebrate the event, and, not content with this, fired a feu de joie , managed in this
way: he took two anvils used by the muleteers and express men to shoe their animals, and
placed one on the other, putting powder between. then mrs. falchion thrust a red-hot iron into
the powder, and an explosion ensued, i was for a moment uneasy, hut mr. devlin reassured me,
and instantly a shrill whistle from the little mills answered the salute, just before they got into
the cage, mrs. falchion turned to boldrick, and said: 'you have not been trying to remember
where you heard my name before? well, can you not recall it now?' boldrick shook his head,
'perhaps you will recall it before i see you again,' she said.
they started, as they did so, mrs. falchion said suddenly, looking at boldrick keenly: 'were you
ever in the south seas?' boldrick stood for an instant open-mouthed, and then exclaimed loudly,
as the cage swung down the incline: 'by jingo! no, ma am, i was never there, hut i had a pal who
come from Samoa.' she called hack at him: 'tell me of him when we meet again, what was his
name?' they were too far down the cable now for boldricks reply to reach them distinctly. the
descent seemed even more adventurous than the ascent, and, in spite of myself, i could not help
a thrill of keen excitement.
hut they were both smiling when the cage reached us, and both had a very fine colour, 'a
delightful journey, a remarkable reception, and a very singular man is your mr. boldrick,' said
mrs. falchion, 'yes,' replied mr. devlin, 'you ll know boldrick a long time before you find his limits,
he is about the most curious character i ever knew, and does the most curious things, hut
straight -- straight as a die, mrs. falchion!' 'i fancy that mr. boldrick and i would he very good
friends indeed,' said mrs. falchion; 'and i purpose visiting him again, it is quite probable that we
shall find we have had mutual acquaintances' shelooked at roscoe meaningly as she said this,
hut he was occupied with ruth, 'you were not afraid?' roscoe said to ruth, 'was it not a strange
sensation?'
'frankly, at first i was a little afraid, he cause the cage swings on the cable, and it makes you
uncomfortable, hut i enjoyed it before we got to the end.' mrs. falchion turned to mr. devlin. 'i
find plenty here to amuse me,' she said, 'and i am glad i came, to-night i want to go up that
cable and call on mr. holdrick again, and see the mills and the electric light, and hear your
whistle, from up there, then, of course, you must show us the mill working at night, and
afterwards - may i ask it? you must all come and have supper with me at the summer hotel.'
ruth dropped her eyes, i saw she did not wish to go. fortunately mr. devlin extricated her. 'i m
afraid that will he impossible, mrs. falchion,'
that would lay a foundation toward accomplishing that goal, adding that 'stress management
techniques and brain stimulation exercises like cross-word puzzles should be part of a mental
exercise component.' it concluded that, 'the group who followed the healthy longevity routines
showed a decrease in brain metabolism, suggesting that their brains operated more efficiently,
with less glucose fuel, they also performed better than the control group in verbal fluency.' so,
what does this mean? i wondered, my brain, already in gear, began to follow the ghost of a
larger conclusion than what the article seemed to be witnessing to. a healthy body can supply
the brain with a more steady supply of glucose, and if the brain isnI a couch potato, it can more
efficiently use what it s been given to work with, but the brain instructs the body on how it will
react with the surrounding environment for the purposes of survival, it can also instruct the
body on how it will supply the brain above and beyond the desire to satisfy its somatic self, but
what instructs the brain on how best to do this? we ve been taught that experience while a
difficult teacher is a sure one. but sometimes, experience comes at the expense of the individual,
if ohures are present though, they may profit from it if memory recall is able to be invoked in an
appropriate venue, if this can be institutionalized in some manner, the memories of elders,
genealogies, oral and then written history, there can be reference made to more than personal
experience and a code of appropriate conduct can be tabulated and taught, a book of rules can
then be const eructed as a ready reference and an institutional memory, the second article dealt
with 'the topic of brain maintenance, [in] new studies from the mount sinai school of medicine
[which adds] to the growing body of evidence that nutrition plays a significant role in the
development or prevention of alzheimers disease {ad)...researchers found that restricting caloric
intake overall, and carbohydrate intake in particular, triggered [the kind of] brain activity
associated with longevity, reducing the build-up of beta-amyloid peptide, the main component
of the plaque build-up in the brains of ad patients, on the ohure hand, a diet high in calories and
based on saturated fat caused the build-up of beta-amyloid.' if i may use the example of
automotive performance as a metaphor, it sounds as if this describes the ideal in a car motor
that runs on computer-controlled carburetion where lean-burn is the standard regime, a change
toward maximum performance is required for only relatively short periods of time, which
requires an instant change to richer carburetion. this change is instantly supplied by the
computer brain that controls the ability to change performance requirements as conditions
dictate, the previous regime, before computer control, was an unchangeable setting for average
performance, when less performance was required, a condition of richness of fuel supplied was
in evidence wherein incomplete oxidation (burning) left a residue of carbon that slowly coated
the burning chamber and exhaust piping, shortening the lifetime of the engine that supplied the
umph of performance, an engine left running on idle over a long period of time then would
develop carbon clogging that at some stage would begin to interfere with performance in the
median range where it was set for average efficiency and performance, something akin to
cholesterol buildup in the body, whenever greater than average performance became the
normal requirement, a regime of diminishing returns would be invoked, the greater the
performance required the greater the fuel quantity expended to overcome the partial clogging,
but with each incremental increase in performance comes a lowering of the efficiency of
converting the fuel to motion, so pressing toward the maximum attainable would cause a
greater amount of partially burned fuel to escape the process, settling on the chamber and
piping walls, from either extreme a median was required for longevity of reliable performance,
needless to say since computer-cont rolled carburetion, fuel efficiency has become many times
better than the old manual-setting, middling-performance regime, with this metaphor in place it
appears that, like the computer controller, the brain can demand whatever it needs for the body
to perform in whatever manner it desires or is needed by exterior circumstance. the computer
controller in the metaphor has its variety of regimes programmed into it, but how does the brain
acquire its various regimes? experience would be the first and most logical answer, but desire is
an eminently older control mechanism, and ohurem less ancient sources have come into
existence, creating cooperative control and inhibitory impulses, with the foregoing in mind, if
the body has been in a regime of extended idling performance, no amount of signaling will drive
it efficiently much beyond its usual level of performance, if commands are urgent and persistent
enough they will build up a stress that can shorten the life of the body it commands, if fuel
intake (appetite) is higher than performance requirements, fuel storage will take place along the
transportation corridors, meant for future availability, if the bodily piping itself is subjected to
this clogging (cholesterol, etc.), the commanded supply cannot be met and bodily performance
drops to a level that matches the restr/'ct/'on. It appears that something similar happens within
the brain itself, it can cause the body to exercise, but if it does not exercise itself, pathways can
become clogged (beta-amyloid?) and function diminishes (dementia?), when this happens, the
brain cannot choose the optimal operational regime for itself or the body that it commands,
desire, while normally associated with the body, is actually a function of the brain, it is a series
of operational controls that the brain uses to direct bodily function toward survival activities,
experience when recalled expeditiously can instruct the brain on the limits of the use of any
desire modality for the good of the whole, but experience can only add up as activities repeat
themselves, mistakes are made, many times a brain/body system does not survive long enough
to benefit from what personal experience alone can caution
and thy baubles, cozening the last few shillings from the pouches of dying men. a fig for thy
curse bide here, if you will take my rede, for we will make england too hot for such as you, when
master wicliff has the ordering of it. thou vile thief! it is you, and such as you, who bring an evil
name upon the many churchmen who lead a pure and a holy life, thou outside the door of
heaven/ art more like to be inside the door of hell* at this crowning insult the sompnour, with a
face ashen with rage, raised up a quivering hand and began pouring latin imprecations upon the
angry alderman, the latter, however, was not a man to be quelled by words, for he caught up his
ell- measure sword-sheath and belabored the cursing clerk with it. the latter, unable to escape
from the shower of blows, set spurs to his mule and rode for his life, with his enemy thundering
behind him.
at sight of his master s sudden departure, the varlet watkin set off after him, with the pack-mule
beside him, so that the four clattered away down the road together, until they swept round a
curve and their babble was but a drone in the distance, sir nigel and alleyne gazed in
astonishment at one another, while ford burst out a-laughing. 'pardieu! said the knight, 'this
david micheldene must be one of those lollards about whom father Christopher of the priory
had so much to say. yet he seemed to be no bad man from what i have seen of him." V have
heard that wicliff hath many followers in norwich," answered alleyne. 'by st. paulf i have no
great love for them," quoth sir nigel. V am a man who am slow to change; and, if you take away
from me the faith that i have been taught, it would be long ere i could learn one to set in its
place, it is but a chip here and a chip there, yet it may bring the tree down in time, yet, on the
other hand, i cannot but think it shame that a man should turn god s mercy on and off, as a
cellarman doth wine with a spigot." 'nor is it," said alleyne, 'part of the teachings of that mother
church of which he had so much to say. there was sooth in what the alderman said of it." 'then,
by st. paulf they may settle it betwixt them," quoth sir nigel. 'for me, i serve god, the king and
my lady; and so long as i can keep the path of honor i am well content, my creed shall ever be
that of chandos: * fais ce que dois-adviegne que peut, c est commande au chevalier. after
passing cahors, the party branched away from the main road, and leaving the river to the north
of them, followed a smaller track which wound over a vast and desolate plain, this path led
them amid marshes and woods, until it brought them out into a glade with a broad stream
swirling swiftly down the centre of it. through this the horses splashed their way, and on the
farther shore sir nigel announced to them that they were now within the borders of the land of
franee, for some miles they still followed the same lonely track, which led them through a dense
wood, and then widening out, curved down to an open rolling country, such as they had
traversed between aiguillon and cahors. if it were grim and desolate upon the english border,
however, what can describe the hideous barrenness of this ten times harried tract of franee? the
whole face of the country was scarred and disfigured, mottled over with the black blotches of
burned farm-steadings, and the gray, gaunt gable-ends of what had been chateaux, broken
fences, crumbling walls, vineyards littered with stones, the shattered arches of bridges-look
where you might, the signs of ruin and rapine met the eye. here and there only, on the farthest
sky-line, the gnarled turrets of a castle, or the graceful pinnacles of church or of monastery
showed where the forces of the sword or of the spirit had preserved some small islet of security
in this universal flood of misery, moodily and in silence the little party rode along the narrow
and irregular track, their hearts weighed down by this far-stretching land of despair, it was
indeed a stricken and a blighted country, and a man might have ridden from auvergne in the
north to the marches of foix, nor ever seen a smiling village or a thriving homestead, from time
to time as they advanced they saw strange lean figures scraping and scratching amid the weeds
and thistles, who, on sight of the band of horsemen, threw up their arms and dived in among
the brushwood, as shy and as swift as wild animals, more than once, however, they came on
families by the wayside, who were too weak from hunger and disease to fly, so that they could
but sit like hares on a tussock, with panting chests and terror in their eyes, so
with one step burn it altogether. 27:5 Or else let him take hold of My strength, that he may
makepeace with Me; yea, let him make peace with Me. 27:6 fn days to come shall 9acob take
root, Israel shall blossom and bud; and the face of the world shall be filled with fruitage. 27:7
Hath He smitten him as He smote those that smote him? Or is he slain according to the
slaughter of them that were slain by Him? 27:8 in full measure, when Thou sendest her away.
Thou dost contend with her; He hath removed her with His rough blast in the day of the east
wind. 27:9 Therefore by this shall the iniquity of 9acob be expiated, and this is all the fruit of
taking away his sin: when he make the all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten
in pieces, so that the Asherim and the sun-images shall rise no more.
27:10 ? Isaiah
Chapter 027 For the fortified city is solitary, a habitation abandoned and forsaken, like the
wilderness; there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches
thereof 27:77 when the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off; the women shall
come, and set them on fire; for it is a people of no under standing; therefore He that made them
will not have compassion upon them, and He that formed them will not be gracious unto them.
27:72 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the lord will beat off His fruit from the flood of
the River unto the Brook of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.
27:73 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great horn shall be blown; and they shall
come that were lost in the land of Assyria, and they that were dispersed in the land of Egypt;
and they shall worship the Lord in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
- Isaiah - Chapter 027 - ? Isaiah - Chapter 028 28:7 we to the crown of pride of the drunkards of
Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley of
them that are smitten down with wine! 28:2 Behold, the L-rd hath a mighty and strong one, as a
storm of hail, a tempest of destruction, as a storm of mighty waters overflowing, that casteth
down to the earth with violence. 28:3 The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be
trodden under foot; 28:4 And the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of
the fat valley, shall be as the
first-ripe fig before the summer, which when one looketh upon it, while it is yet in his hand he
eateth it up. 28:5 fn that day shall the lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of
beauty, unto the residue of His people; 28:6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in
judgment, and for strength to them that turn back the battle at the gate. 28:7 But these also
reel through wine, and stagger through strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel through
strong drink, they are confused because of wine, they stagger because of strong drink; they reel
in vision, they totter in judgment. 28:8 For all tables are full of filthy vomit, and no place is clean.
28:9 whom shall one teach knowledge? And whom shall one make to understand the message?
Them that are weaned from the milk, them that are drawn from the breasts? ?
Isaiah - Chapter 028 28:10 For it is precept by precept, precept by precept, line by line, line by
line; here a little, there a little. 28:ll For with stammering lips and with a strange tongue shall it
be spoken to this people; 28:12 To whom it was said: This is the rest, give ye rest to the weary;
and this is the refreshing ; yet they would not hear. 28:13 And so the word of the lord is unto
them precept by precept, precept by precept, line by line, line by line; here a little, there a little;
that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. 28:14 wherefore
hear the word of the lord, ye scoffers, the ballad-mongers of this people which is in Jerusalem:
28:15 Because ye have said: We have made a covenant with death, and with the nether-world
are we at agreement; when the scouring scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us;
for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood have we hid ourselves ; 28:16 Therefore thus
saith the Lord God Behold, 7 lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a costly corner-
stone of sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste. 28:17 And ? will make justice
the line, and righteousness the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and
the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. 28:18 And your covenant with death shall be
disannulled and your agreement with the nether-world shall not stand; when the scouring
scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it, 28:19 ?
Isaiah Chapter 028 As often as it passeth through, it shall take you; for morning by morning
shall it pass through, by day and by night; and it shall be sheer terror to understand the
message. 28:20 For the bed is too short for a man to stretch himself; and the covering too
narrow when he gathereth himself up. 28:21 For the lord will rise up as in mount Perazim, He
will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; that He may do His work, strange is His work, and bring
to pass His act, strange is His act. 28:22 Now therefore be ye not scoffers, lest your bands be
made strong; for an extermination wholly determined have I heard from the Lord God of hosts,
upon the whole land. 28:23 Give ye ear, and hear my voice; attend, and hear my speech. 28:24
fs the plowman never done with plowing to sow, with the opening and harrowing of his ground?
28:25 when he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the black cummin,
and scatter the cummin, and put in the wheat in rows and the barley in the appointed place and
the spelt in the border thereof? 28:26 For He doth instruct him aright; his God doth teach him.
28:27 For the black
not mobile, then what the hell are we doing in the med in the first place?' the question was
rhetorical, but it stung-as intended. 'i ll see if i can get a scenario ready for you by 0800 hours
tomorrow." he tried not to squirm, they both knew he had already cut the orders deploying fort
braggs special forces to souda, to be ready in case an assault was needed, the last resort, 'in the
meantime, i certainly could arrange for the base to go on a practice alert-cancel all leave and
get everybody on a ship-out basis' 'I think you should do that, at the very least.' should i inform
the greek government? hansen wondered again, no, lets see if this can be handled without
opening a can of worms about whose sovereign rights are uppermost here. the relationship with
greece had, for all its ups and downs, been generally cordial, with any luck they would never
have to be involved or, with supreme good fortune, even know. . . . 'then have alicia get Johnson
over at the pentagon on the line,' briggs said, 'and he can cut the orders, we ve never moved
this fast before, so we re about to find out where our glitches are. don I be surprised if there
arenI plenty.' 'just be happy if the american taxpayer never finds out what he s getting for his
money,' the president responded, 'and speaking of money, we ve been faxed a string of account
numbers for a bank in geneva, this is going to have to come out of a budget somewhere, so who
do i stiff to pay off these bastards? or make them temporarily think i m paying them off. it s got
to be some discretionary fund that has minimal accountability, and i don I want the cia within a
mile of this: that place is like a sieve.' briggs pondered, 'i can probably come up with the money
by juggling some of the active accounts in procurement. cash flow is a marvelous thing if it s
handled right, you can rob peter to pay paul, and then make peter whole by robbing somebody
else, then the end of the fiscal year comes around and you withhold payment from some
contractor while you hold an i nvest i gat ion. ' he smiled, 'believe me, there are ways' the
president wasnI smiling, 'don I tell me. i don I think i want to hear this, but if you re going to
play bingo with the books, then you d damned well better do it quick, and on the qt.' 'that ll be
the easiest part, i ve already got some ideas' 'fust make sure i don I end up with another iran-
contra brouhaha on my neck, i won I be able to plead senility and let a few fall guys take the
rap.' briggs had foreseen as well the glare of television lights in the senate hearing room, worse
still, it did not take too challenging a flight of imagination to figure out who would end up being
the patsy, he would have to fall on his sword to protect the presidency. Washington had a grand
tradition of that, he could kiss good-bye to a comfortable retirement in arizona next to a golf
link, 'you can be sure i will take the utmost care, mr. president.' and he was smiling even though
hansen was not. 'all right, now about the special forces, once we get them to souda bay, i want
a quick rehearsal and then i want them deployed just offshore, on the kennedy, ready to move,
which means that whatever support they ll need has to be ready by the time they arrive, what
have you got on that?' 'a task force shipped out for souda tonight, mr. president. their c-130 is
already in the air. the problems are at the other end. once they re in-theater, we re still looking
at a prep time of twelve hours, minimum. there s fust no way they can mount an assault any
sooner than that.' the president winced, already thinking about his other problem, if they did
have a nuclear device, or devices, whose was it? the signs all pointed in one direction, the
israelis claimed the stolen iranian hind had stopped over in pakistan. there probably was no
need to look any further, but now he needed somehow to get a confirmation. or was the threat
of a bomb fust a hoax? he had a meeting at ten o clock in the morning with the Pakistani
ambassador, it would have to be handled delicately, with a lot of circumlocutions and diplomatic
niceties, but he damn well intended to get some plain answers, 'so this is the bates motel i ve
heard so much about,' Vance said, casting a glance down the dull, cinderblock walls, 'hitchcock s
version had a lot more character.' 'you re right,' cally agreed, 'but wait till you see what it s like
upstairs, it sort of gives new meaning to the phrase no frills, a hell of a place to cut corners,
given all the money bill poured into this facility, but he said he wasn I building a resort.' she
gestured around the utilities room, where a maze of insulated steam and hot-water pipes
crisscrossed above their heads like a huge white forest, 'anyway, welcome back to the slightly
unreal real world.' 'maybe what we need is less reality, not more, but if you can find us a beer, i
think i could start getting the hang of the place, let s fust try not to bump into anybody.' 'okay,
my feeling is that if we stay out of level three, upstairs, we ll be all right, that s got to be where
they re holding everybody who s not on duty, locked away for safekeeping' they had entered
level one via a trapdoor in the stone water conduit that picked up waste heat from the
environmental control unit in the residential quarters, around them now was silence, save for
the clicks and hums
i m up to it' 'hey, i d love a chance to get inside that place.' then his eyes grew uncertain, 'hut are
you sure you want to go hack, after what seems to have happened to kristen? you might
consider waiting till we find her and-' 'ally, are you all right?' Jennifer was walking in, carrying a
manila folder, 'you look kind of queasy, can i make you some tea or something?' 'thanks hut not
now,' she said, 'i m feeling weird, hut maybe i should call out to the institute and see what van
de vliet says' 'just don I agree to do anything until we talk,' stone said, 'don I worry,' she said
reaching for the phone, the number for the dorian institute was now newly entered on her palm
pilot and she called it. when the receptionist answered she gave her name and asked for dr. van
de vliet. 'i was there this morning and gave a blood sample to dr. dehra Connolly, i don I know if
there s any connection, hut i m really feeling strange right now.' 'what do you mean by
strange ?' the woman asked, 'can you describe how you feel exactly? he s in the lab downstairs.'
'that s fust it i m not sure i need to actually see him. i d just like to talk to him.' 'he doesnI like to
he disturbed. unless it s something very important.' 'it s important enough for me to try to call
him,' she declared feeling herself abruptly seething, 'I m weak and dizzy, and my stomach is not
in such great shape either.' 'what did you have for lunch?' my god, she realized she hadnI
actually had any. after the disaster with kristen, she d been in such turmoil that she hadnI even
thought about food, on the other hand, she knew what food deprivation felt like. this was
something else, 'i didnI have all that much lunch, but that s not the problem, now will you
please put me through?' 'let me see what i can do,' she said, 'i ll call down and ask him. he might
be able to see you.' ally listened as the line went blank, that was when she remembered she had
some smoked turkey in the office fridge, maybe a quick sandwich was called for. while she
waited, stone was looking around the offices, taking everything in. carrying the phone, she
walked out and followed him. what, she wondered, was the place telling him about her? the
meager furniture was low-slung and utilitarian, with lots of beige and dark brown, and there
were several huge storage files for blueprints and designs, there also was a comfortable easy
chair and lamp near a bookcase in the corner, on the table next to the chair were two british
mysteries and a thick, recently written history of new york city, he walked over and picked it up.
it was 760 pages long. 'this your idea of reading for relaxation?' he asked, waving it at her. 'i
tried to get through it, but i only got up to the 1930s and then i started having a bout of acute
sleeping sickness every time i picked it up.' 'hey, the history of this city is a mental hobby of
mine, it s always renewing itself.' she smiled, 'think about it. when developers convert industrial
space to residential, we end up getting a lot of work.' then she heard the phone crackle alive, it
was van de vliet. 'alexa, what seems to be the problem?'
she told him. 'then i think it s important that you come back out here as soon as you can.
i can I say anything until i ve seen you. this could be something that could affect your
procedure.' 'but what do you think-' 'i don I diagnose over the phone, i was about to go home,
but i ll wait for you.' she listened as he clicked off. 'shit.' 'what did he say?' stone asked, 'he said i
ve got to come out.' 'do you really want to do that?' 'i don I know, but whats the point of going
to a doctor here? they wouldnI know-' 'then at least let me drive you,' stone declared, 'and i ll
make damned sure they don I pull something funny.' 'ally,' Jennifer said 'you look absolutely
wiped out. Before you do anything, at least let me fix you a sandwich, i think there s some
turkey in the fridge.'
'i was thinking about that.' she glanced at stone, 'you want something?' 'sure, i ll have whatever
you re having' 'don I be so sure, fen can tell you i take mayo and mustard both, i know it s weird
but that s the way i am.' 'then i ll give it a try. i want to get to know you all over again.' 'also, i
hate to say it, but i think maybe i ought to swing by the apartment and get some things, fust in
case.' she listened to her own voice and wondered, would whatever happened to kristen happen
to me too? maybe, she thought, what i really ought to take with me is a gun. Maybe katherine
starr had the right idea. Jennifer finished the sandwiches and was wrapping them, 'ally, i ll go
with you to your place and pick up knickers, she can stay with me till you know what s going on.'
'thanks, fen. i was hoping you d volunteer.' she knew she could have dropped a hint and made it
happen anyway,
but this was nicer, she then went around and had a few last words, it felt like a good-bye and
she didn I want it to. but it did. ten minutes later, while stone waited in her double-parked car,
she and Jennifer took the elevator up to her barrow street apartment, 'where did you find that
man?' Jennifer asked as soon as they got on. 'he seems nice, interesting, he s not a client, is he?
and, pardon me
not, pray?' as waldo burst into an involuntary laugh, then he turned upon ixtli, a hand resting
upon each shoulder while he gazed keenly into those lustrous dark orbs for a full minute in
perfect silence, then he spoke, slowly, gravely: 'can we trust you, friend? would you sell the boy
to whose arm you owe your own life, unto his enemies? would you lead him blindly to his death,
ixtli, son of aztotl?' a wondering gaze, then the Indian appeared to flush hotly, he shook off
those far from steady hands, drawing his knife and with free fingers tearing open his dress
above the heart, thrusting the weapon into bruno s hand, he spoke in clear, distinct accents:
'strike hard, white brother! open heart; see if all black/' eye to eye the two youths stood for a
brief space in silence, then the weapon was let fall, and bruno gripped the indian s hand and
shook it most cordially.
'strike you, ixtli? i d fust as soon smite my brother by birth/' 'and that s mighty fight, too!' cried
waldo, impetuously, 'i really begin to believe that you are all in the right, while i alone am left in
the wrong,' frankly admitted the professor, still, that point was of too vital importance to justify
hasty decision, and the professor did not make his surrender complete until the shades of
another night were beginning to gather over the land.
meantime, partly for the purpose of keeping the youngsters employed and thus out of the way
of less harmless things, the professor suggested that the huge grizzly be flayed, if the proposed
scheme should really be undertaken, that mighty pelt, if uncomfortable to convey, would serve
as a fair excuse for the young brave s as yet unexplained absence from the lost city, as a matter
of course, cooper edgecombe felt intense anxiety through all, but he contrived to keep fair
meatery over his emotions, readily admitting that he himself could do naught towards visiting
the lost city, 'i knowthat my loved ones are yonder, i would joyfully suffer ten thousand deaths
by torture for the chance to speak one word toto them, and yet i know any such attempt
would prove fatal to us all. the mere sight ofi would go crazy with joy/' there is no necessity
for repeating the various arguments used, pro and con, before the final agreement was
reached, enough has already been put upon record, and the result must suffice: professor
featherwit yielded the vital point, and, having once fairly expressed his fears and doubts, flung
his whole heart into perfecting the disguise which was now counted upon to carry bruno safely
into and out of yonder city, he was carefully trigged out in the warlike uniform secured by
cooper edgecombe at the cost of a human life, and, with fresh stain applied to his face and
hands, the slight moustache he wore was not dangerously perceptible. ' twould take a strong
light and mighty keen eyes to see it at all, and even if a body should happen to notice it, he d
reckon twas a bit of smut, or the like,' generously declared waldo. under less trying
circumstances, bruno might have answered in kind, but now he merely smiled at the fester, then
turned again to receive the earnest cautions let fall for his benefit by the professor, above all
else, he was to steer clear of fighting, and, without he saw a fair chance of winning speech with
the white women, he was to keep in such hiding as ixtli might furnish, trusting the young aztec
to post the children of the sun as to what was in the wind.
tremulous, almost incapable of coherent speech, so intense was his agitation, cooper
edgecombe sent many messages to his loved ones, begging for one word in return, and if
nothing less would serve- his voice choked, and only his feverishly burning eyes could say the
rest, it was well past sunset ere the youngsters set forth from the rendezvous, accompanied a
short distance by both waldo and the professor; but the parting came in good time, it would be
worse than folly to add to the existent perils that of possible discovery by some prowling aztec
who might work serious injury to them one and all. that great bear-hide proved a tax upon their
strength, even though the bullet-riddled head-piece had been carefully cut off and buried, lest
those queer holes tell a risky tale on close examination; but ixtli, as well as bruno, was upborne
by an exaltation such as neither had known before this hour, there was nothing worse than the
natural obstacles in the way to be overcome, and, knowing every square yard of ground so
thoroughly, ixtli chose the most practicable route to that hill-encircled town, the stony pass was
followed to the lower level, and the young adventurers had drawn fairly near the first buildings
ere encountering a living being; and then ample time was given them for meeting the danger, a
low-voiced call sounded upon the night air, and ixtli responded in much the same tone, bruno, of
course, was utterly in the dark as to what was being said, but he still held perfect faith in his
copper-hued guide, and left all to the son of aztotl. the aztec brave appeared to be explaining
his unusually protracted absence, for he proudly displayed the great grizzly pelt, then exhibited
the spear-head from which protruded the tooth-marked wood, like one who was already
familiar with the details, bruno slowly lounged forward a pace or two, then in silence awaited
the pleasure of his companion on that night jaunt, ixtli was not many minutes in shaking off the
indian, and, almost staggering beneath his shaggy burden, moved away as though in haste to
rejoin his family circle.
fortunately for the venture, the aztecans appeared to believe in the maxim of going to bed early,
for there were very few individuals astir at that hour, young though the evening still was. and by
the clear moonlight which
and quality of manner that seemed to testify to some deep-seated terror of the mind, it was
unlikely that the doctor should fear death; and yet that was what utterson was tempted to
suspect. 'yes,' he thought; 'he is a doctorf he must know his own state and that his days are
counted; and the knowledge is more than he can bear' and yet when utterson remarked on his
ill-looks, it was with an air of greatness that lanyon declared himself a doomed man. 'i have had
a shock' he said, 'and i shall never recover, it is a question of weeks, well, life has been pleasant;
i liked it; yesf sirf i used to like it. i sometimes think if we knew all, we should be more glad to get
away.' 'fekyll is illf too' observed utterson. 'have you seen him?' but lanyon s face changed, and
he held up a trembling hand, 'i wish to see or hear no more of dr. fekyll' he said in a loud f
unsteady voice, 'i am quite done with that person; and i beg that you will spare me any allusion
to one whom i regard as dead.' 'tut-tut' said mr. utterson; and then after a considerable pause'
can I i do anything?' he inquired, 'we are three very old friends f lanyon; we shall not live to make
others' 'nothing can be done,' returned lanyon; 'ask himself.' he will not see me' said the lawyer,
'i am not surprised at that' was the reply, 'some day, utterson, after i am dead, you may perhaps
come to learn the right and wrong of this, i cannot tell you. and in the meantime, if you can sit
and talk with me of other things, for god s sake, stay and do so; but if you cannot keep clear of
this accursed topic, then, in god s name, go, for i cannot bear it.' As soon as he got home,
utterson sat down and wrote to fekyll, complaining of his exclusion from the house, and asking
the cause of this unhappy break with lanyon; and the next day brought him a long answer, often
very pathetically worded, and sometimes darkly mysterious in drift, the quarrel with lanyon was
incurable, 'i do not blame our old friend,' fekyll wrote, 'but i share his view that we must never
meet, i mean from henceforth to lead a life of extreme seclusion; you must not be surprised, nor
must you doubt my friendship, if my door is often shut even to you. you must suffer me to go my
own dark way. i have brought on myself a punishment and a danger that i cannot name, if i am
the chief of sinners, i am the chief of sufferers also, i could not think that this earth contained a
place for sufferings and terrors so unmanning; and you
can do but one thing, utterson, to lighten this destiny, and that is to respect my silence.' utterson
was amazed; the dark influence of hyde had been withdrawn, the doctor had returned to his old
tasks and amities; a week ago, the prospect had smiled with every promise of a cheerful and an
honoured age; and now in a moment, friendship, and peace of mind, and the whole tenor of his
life were wrecked, so great and unprepared a change pointed to madness; but in view of lanyon
s manner and words, there must lie for it some deeper ground.
a week afterwards dr. lanyon took to his bed, and in something less than a fortnight he was
dead, the night after the funeral, at which he had been sadly affected, utterson locked the door
of his business room, and sitting there by the light of a melancholy candle, drew out and set
before him an envelope addressed by the hand and sealed with the seal of his dead friend,
'private: for the hands of g. f. utterson alone and in case of his predecease to be destroyed
unread,' so it was emphatically superscribed; and the lawyer dreaded to behold the contents, 'i
have buried one friend to-day,' he thought: 'what if this should cost me another?' and then he
condemned the fear as a disloyalty, and broke the seal, within there was another enclosure,
likewise sealed, and marked upon the cover as 'not to be opened till the death or disappearance
of dr. henry fekyll.' utterson could not trust his eyes, yes, it was disappearance; here again, as in
the mad will which he had long ago restored to its author, here again were the idea of a
disappearance and the name of henry fekyll bracketed, but in the will, that idea had sprung
from the sinister suggestion of the man hyde; it was set there with a purpose all too plain and
horrible, written by the hand of lanyon, what should it mean? a great curiosity came on the
trustee, to disregard the prohibition and dive at once to the bottom of these mysteries; but
professional honour and faith to his dead friend were stringent obligations; and the packet slept
in the inmost corner of his private safe. it is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it;
and it may be doubted if, from that day forth, utterson desired the society of his surviving friend
with the same eagerness, he thought of him kindly; but his thoughts were disquieted and
fearful, he went to call indeed; but he was perhaps relieved to be denied admittance; perhaps, in
his heart, he preferred to speak with poole upon the doorstep and surrounded by the air and
sounds of the open city, rather than to be admitted into that house of voluntary bondage, and to
sit and speak with its inscrutable recluse, poole had, indeed, no very pleasant news to
communicate, the doctor, it appeared, now more than ever confined himself to the cabinet over
the laboratory, where he would sometimes even sleep; he was out of spirits, he had grown very
silent, he did not read; it seemed as if he had something on his mind, utterson
ones, fives and alex (getting into the three-point stance and nearly humping the ground): 'oooh,
oooh , oooh, oooh, aaah, aaahf aaahf aaah!' berlin: 'come onf baby, do it for us' roger slapped
alex on his ass: 'hey, over there, is that mike? check it out, walking by the sports book' roger:
'damn, she is looking fine, you may need to rethink your fast food uniform fetish, she looks a
hell of a lot better in a mini-dress.' alex: 'funnyin
a. absolutely incredible, she is indisputably the queen of vegas. at least for tonight.' roger:
'makes you wonder how she ended up with mike.' alex: 'all i can say is, wow!' roger: 'yeah' alex:
'seriously, wow!' roger: 'from now on, i am eating every meal at in n out.' as they watched, mike
and tara stopped walking in front of the elevator bank that led to the guest rooms, they held
hands, facing each other and staring into each other s eyes, they began to kiss, slowly at first;
then it rapidly evolved into a sloppy make-out session with mike s hands groping clumsily all
over her ass. alex: 'check it out. mikey, you sneaky little cooze-commando. you go, boy.' roger:
'amazing' alex: 'you see, i told you everything always works out.' roger and alex continued to be
engaged by the romance of their friend and his beautiful companion, temporarily oblivious to
the craps game, they watched quietly as taraled him by the hand to the guest room elevators
and hit the call button, one opened immediately and she
dragged him inside, they started kissing again, her hand moving to the crotch area of his jeans,
with that, the silver elevator doors slid shut, the next session would be their own. because he
rolled it, gary saw it first.
'ah, funny,' he mumbled, roger and alex were still staring stupidly at the elevator door and didn I
register what happened until they heard the dealer make the call, 'seven, seven out. line away.'
alex s eyes immediately shifted back to the craps table, frantically searching for the dice, he saw
a two at the far end of the table, and then, sure enough, located the other die leaning up
against the dealer s stacks of chips, it came to rest at nearly a forty-five degree angle, but there
was no doubt it was a five, their response was simultaneous.
roger: 'thumper the god-damned rumper humper! funny me slowly.' alex: 'no. no. no. no.
schweddy, schweddy funnying balls!' thank you for download/'ng this free ebook. you are
welcome to share it with your friends, this book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for
noncommercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form, if you
enjoyed this book, please
return to some of these started out as academic articles and have needed to be rewritten
extensively to appeal to a broader audience, others were always written in a more popular style,
but were tucked away in newsletters that were
not archived effectively, or appeared in now-defunct websites, a few were published in books
that went out of print years ago. i am making a few of these available as a free e-book on
smashwords. it does not include articles
that can easily be found online, even if they are stuck behind a pay wall, if you would like to see
a volume 2 in this series, drop me a note: my email addresses are listed at the back of the book,
these essays have served their purpose: they appeared where they needed to appear, they were
read by the people whom i needed to read them, they brought me to where i am today, so why
dredge them up and rework them for a new audience? academics are funny creatures: most of
us are used to working for below-average salaries,
and we can labor on for years with no realistic hope of tenure, the one thing academics can I
stand is being ignored, having no-one read their work, so, is this a vanity project? why, yes, of
course it is.
i am a buddhist. i never said i was a good one. this is an attempt to get my thoughts
onto the perpetual backlist of e-books, my pathetic little shot at immortality. thank you for
participating! the essays that follow are not arranged from oldest to newest, they don I pretend
to form any sort of coherent whole, each essay stands (or falls, more likely) on its own. each one
expressed my opinion at the time: i may have changed my mind since then, but you will have to
wait for my new publications to find out. and here and there i have sneaked in something that
doesn I deal with buddhism at all, but which i still think is
worth sharing, the original version of this essay was published in clasquin, m., ferreira, j.,
marais, d. Si sadowsky, r. (eds.) 1993. myth and interdisciplinary research, pretoria: unisa. this
book is now out of print and only about 100 copies were ever produced, the western world of
the late twentieth century is one in which many of the 'eternal truths' that supported our
ancestors have been undermined by science, they could unflinchingly believe in the creation of
the universe in six days, but now only a fringe element in the intellectual establishment believes
our universe to be less than several billions of years old. no longer can we see ourselves as the
lords of creation: i do not know who
originally said it, but the witticism which informs us that 'galileo robbed humanity of its throne,
then darwin took its crown and freud its mind' demonstrates the way in which we have cast
ourselves adrift on the ocean of knowledge, without the myth to act as a rope that anchored
our ancestors to the shoreline of certainty, it is true that some recent scholars have pleaded for
the remythologization of society, others have maintained that society has never really been
demythologized, but has merely adopted myths that are not recognizable as such because of
our very closeness to them.
took off like dark clouds, with shrill, high shrieks, the monster king raised his war axe; his eagle
squad launched, clashing head to head with the vampire bats, feathers, blood, and bodies of
eagles and bats dropped over the battleground.
the battlefield was filled with metal clashing, screaming, roaring, and whistling. the air smelled
of blood, and the stink of vampire corpses, rapidly, the black sea of vampires was diluted into
different colours, suddenly feeling a surge of strength inside his body, henry leapt off the rock,
rushing towards the noisy battling clots not far away, with one arm to support her in a sitting
position, Hz s other arm waved her whip forming a protective net around her; the whistling whip
bounced away arrows and daggers shooting at her and kept her enemies out of range, it
consumed an enormous amount of her energy to be constantly waving and twisting her long
whip without a moment s break, her qi and the evil energy inside her body collided and circled
along her energy channels; clearly, the evil energy had grown back rapidly. Hz felt numbness
creep past her knees, she didn I know how long it would be before her whole body became
paralysed, sweat blurred her sight, her last drop of power had been used up. she heard the
seashell blowing, all the vampires surround/'ng her moved away except two. they were both
huge, with broad shoulders, they had sensed Hz s exhaustion and smelled her blood, the first
one used his spear to touch Hz s whip on the ground, there was no response; dropping his spear
and taking out his dagger, he sneered, pushed the second vampire back and stepped forward,
his hand grasped Hz s hair. Hz moved her head fast, and dragged his arm s/'dedownwards.
he lost his balance and his huge body crashed in front of her. she shrank her whip back to a pen,
and stabbed into his eye, and the tip of the pen stuck out from the back of the vampires head,
the remaining vampire howled and stabbed at Hz with his long spear, but a sword chopped his
arm off. from behind, henry s face appeared. Hz, what happened to you? i m afraid both my legs
are paralysed, and my whole body will follow ?oon. hold on to me tight, henry put his arm
around Hz s hip and lifted her against him. she held henry s shoulder, have you seen sue? no. i ll
get you to a safe place and then find sue. henry took a deep breath, lifted his qi, and carried Hz
towards the rock wall at the chamber s edge, clusters of escapers and their chasers went by.
sometimes it was animal monsters chasing the vampires and sometimes the other way around,
once or twice henry and Hz became entangled in these small battling groups, then vampire
weapons were thrown into the air as soon as they touched henry s sword, as if there were a
tornado around it; the weapons were followed by limbs or heads, finally, henry reached a tunnel
opening
off the cave, he stepped inside before anybody could see them, the magic lights of the main cave
illuminated the tunnel quite brightly. Hz looked about, it wasnI a tunnel at allit was a dead end.
they could see the rocky wall at the far end of the chamber, merely twenty metres away, they
both sighed, but said nothing.
henry straightened his shoulders. Hz, you should be all right here for the moment. /' m going to
go out and look for sue, and /' ll be back to check on you ?oon. he dashed out. after henry
disappeared, Hz tried to do the tortoise hibernation ?o she could reduce the evil energy on its
way to dominate her whole body, the screaming, explosive founds and various battle noises
distracted her; when henry rushed in again, she was nowhere near any state of meditation,
have you found sue? not yet, just came back to make sure you re all right, i ll be fine here, please
go and find sue. Hz gave up her meditation after henry left for the seventh time, each time he
came back with more blood on his face and his hands, it seemed that no blood was able to taint
the magic //'an ke clothes but it was al?o worrying that he couldnI find sue. Hz started to
consider alternatives to the meditation, looking at her pen, she had an idea, henry ran into the
deep end of the battling ground for the seventh time, each time before he broke into the largest
clusters, he always imagined sue in the middle surrounded by hundreds of vampire ?old/'ers;
but he had failed to find her ?o many times that this time he decided to try his luck at smaller
clusters; and he hit the Jackpot. after chopping his way through a thin vampire wall, he saw sue
straight away; she was fighting shoulder to shoulder with cl and c2. sue, it s me! henry yelled, he
sliced a head off one vampire, kicked another one into cls jaws, and bumped a third into sue s
lethal ring, under attack from both sides, the thin vampire wall collapsed, the remaining enemy
screamed and run away, are you ok? /' m fine, where s Hz? henry opened his mouth, but c2
knocked him hard and he fell onto the ground, a red spark hit c2 s shoulder in the spot where
henry had been standing; the crocodile was thrown into the air, knocked sue to ground and
promptly fell on top of her. sue, are you ok? henry crawled towards her, keeping as flat as
possible, red sparks shot around him, showering chipped rocks and dirt over his body, cl and c2
both lay still.
henry and sue had been saved by c2 s fast, brave action, i m still alive, sue moaned, i think c2
fust broke my leg, but he did save my life, henry heaved c2 s body aside and freed
cordially, and dropped into a chair, 'well, they ve gone at last,' she panted, handing her furs to
miss maggie; 'so i thought i d come down and talk things over, no, don I go, mr. smith,' she
begged, as he made a move toward departure, 'i hain I come; to say nothin private; besides, you
re one of the family, anyhow, keep right on with your work; please.' thus entreated, mr. smith
went back to his table, and miss flora settled herself more comfortably in miss maggie s easiest
chair, 'so they re all gone,' said miss maggie cheerily.
'yes; an it s time they did, to my way of thinkin . mercy me, what a week it has been! they hain I
been still a meeting, not one of em, except for a few hours sleep-toward mornin .' 'but what a
good time they ve had!' exulted miss maggie. 'yes. and didn I it do your soul good to see
mellicent? but fane-fane nearly had a fit. she told mellicent that all this gayety was nothing but
froth and flimsiness and vexation of spirit, that she knew it because she d been all through it
when she was old, and she knew the vanity of it. and mellicent-what do you suppose that child
said?' 'i can I imagine,' smiled miss maggie. 'she said she wanted to see the vanity of it, too.
pretty cute of her, too, wasnI it? still it s fust as well she s gone back to school, i think myself,
she s been repressed and held back so long, that when she did let loose, it was fust like cutting
the puckering string of a bunched-up ruffle-she flew in all directions, and there was no holding
her back anywhere; and i suppose she has been a bit foolish and extravagant in the things she s
asked for. poor dear, though, she did get one setback.' 'what do you mean?' 'did she tell you
about the present for her mother?' 'that she was going to get it-yes.' across the room mr. smith
looked up suddenly, 'well, she got it.' miss flora s thin lips snapped grimly over the terse words,
'but she had to take it back.' 'take it back!' cried miss maggie. 'yes.and twas a beauty-one of
them light purple stones with two pearls, mellicent showed it to me-on the way home from the
store, you know, and she was so pleased over it! oh, i don I mind the saving all those years now,
she cried, when i see what a beautiful thing they ve let me get for mother and she went off so
happy she fust couldn I keep her feet from dancing.' 'i can imagine it,' nodded miss maggie.
'well, in an hour she was back, but what a difference! all the light and happiness and springiness
were gone, she was almost crying, she still carried the little box in her hand, i m takin it back,
she
choked, mother doesn I like it. don I like that beautiful pin! says i. what does she want? ' oh, yes,
she liked the pin, said mellicent, all teary; she thinks it s beautiful, but she doesn I want
anything. she says she never heard of such foolish goings-on-paying all that money for a silly,
useless pin. I ll told her twas a present from me, but she made me take it back, i m on my way
now back to the store, i m to get the money, if i can. if i can I, i m to get a credit slip, mother
says we can take it up in forks and spoons and things we need, i-i told her I was a present, but-
she couldnI say another word, poor child, she fust turned and almost ran from the room, that
was last night, she went away this morning, i suppose, i didn I see her again, so I don I know
how she did come out with the store-man.' 'too bad-too bad!' sympathized miss maggie. (over
at the table mr. smith had fallen to writing furiously, with vicious little fobs of his pencil.) 'but
fane never did believe in present-giving, they never gave presents to each other even at
christmas. she always called it a foolish, wasteful practice, and mellicent was always so
unhappy Christmas morning!' 'i know it. and that s fust what the trouble is. DonI you see? fane
never let em take even comfort, and now that they can take some comfort, fanes got so out of
the habit, she don I know how to begin.' 'careful, careful, flora!' laughed miss maggie. 'I don I
think you can say much on that score.' 'why, maggie duff, i m taking comfort,' bridled miss flora.
'didn I i have chicken last week and turkey three weeks ago? and do i ever skimp the butter or
hunt for cake-rules with one egg now? and ain I i going to niagara and have a phonograph and
move into a fine place just as soon as my mourning is up? you wait and see!' 'all right, i ll wait,'
laughed miss maggie. then, a bit anxiously, she asked: 'did freed go to-day?' 'yes, looking fine as
a fiddle, too. i was sweeping off the steps when he went by the house, he stopped and spoke,
said he was going in now for real work-that he d played long enough, he said he wouldnI be
good for a row of pins if he had many such weeks as this had been.' 'i m glad he realized it,'
observed miss maggie grimly, 'i suppose the gaylord old people went, too.' 'hibbard did, but
pearl doesnI go till next week, she isn I in the same school with bess, you know, it s even
grander than bess s they say. hattie wants to get bess into it next year, oh, i forgot; we ve got to
call her Elizabeth now. did you know that?' miss maggie shook her head, 'well, we have, hattie
says nicknames are all out
he had found life with his newly-made friend, he was anxious to get to Valparaiso before the
standish should leave on her return voyage, he had another reason f too, and a most important
one. he handed the paper he hadpicked up at the entrance to the convict cell to mr. pearce for
him to read if possible, for it was written in Spanish, which he could not make out at the time.
mr. pearce read it with some difficulty, explaining it as best he could when he had carefully
studied it for half a day. 'the writer of this strange manuscript,' began mr. pearce, 'was evidently
an unlettered person, for it is filled with so many errors as to be difficult to get the author s
meaning in many places, he was also a fugitive from fustice.-i should fudge, nearly all his life, he
speaks of the diamond mines of brazil and the hoarded treasures of the children of the sun in
the same sentence, then he goes on to describe a wonderful island that he discovered while
hiding from pursuers under the shadows of the andes in tarapaca, peru. let me read: ' i had
come out of a dense growth of corkwood to look on a big body of water hemmed in by the
mountains, when I saw some way from the shore a small island, i noticed it particularly on
account of a solitary pimento tree standing in the centre, with a big rock at its foot. ' i was hard
pressed by my enemies, and seeing what i believed was a hole under the rock i swam out to the
island, i did find plenty of room to hide in and my pursuers did not think of looking there for me,
though they made the entire circuit of the water. ' i stayed there two days before i dared to
venture out, but it was not until i had decided to leave the place that i made the most wonderful
discovery of my life. ' the island, which was made up mostly of rocks, was fairly honey-combed
with tunnels and underground passages, little and big, every one of which was filled with gold! '
gold lay under my feet; gold on my left hand; gold
on my right; gold overhead; gold everywhere! i knew from certain inscriptions that i could partly
decipher that this hidden
treasure was a part of the incas wealth in the days of pizzaro. ' at first i was so bewildered
by my discovery that i could do nothing, but finally i took as much of it as i could carry
and left the place. ' i was, as i thought, careful to note all of its surround/'ngs so i could
come again when i should wish to get the rest of my hoard, i say i did this carefully, but
a year and a half later when i came to get the rest of my treasure i could not find
it. i could not even find the island, though i went over the ground from titocaca to atacama a
hundred times. ' i could not even find the lake! ' i felt sure i should know that pimento tree
anywhere on account of its odd shape, it had three branches leaving the trunk, one of which ran
up several feet higher than the others, a dead branch pointing to the northward like a skeleton
finger, there was a rim of mountains around the lake, except for a break in the range on the
north. ' since i have been there the whole mystery has been solved in my mind and i can see that
the lonely pimento with its skeleton finger is the key. i was there during the wet--' 'the rest is
missing,' said mr. pearce, 'but i have given you the substance of the illiterate scrawl in tolerable
english as far as it remains, looks as if the sheet had been torn apart, there is a fortune for you if
you can only find it.' mr. pearce spoke somewhat lightly, but lack could see that he was deeply
interested in the account, our hero had been cautious enough not to let fret offut into the secret,
knowing he could not be trusted, 'i believe i could find that wonderful island which plays at hide
and seek if i were to try it,' said mr. pearce. 'what do you say to going fortune hunting?'
naturally lack s sanguine nature was thoroughly aroused and nothing could have suited him
better, and from that time they discussed the lost island with its treasure at every opportunity
they had when fret was not with them, there was one serious drawback to their plans, it might
be a long time before they would
have an opportunity to leave the island where robinson crusoe had spent so many lonely years,
during his stay there lack explored every part of the island, he noticed that the soil had every
promise of great fertility, but that even his friend had so far taken on the laziness of the Chilians
that he cultivated as little as possible.
this island had become a sort of rendezvous for the ships rounding cape horn, and many of them
had contributed to its natural and animal wealth by planting orchards and sowing grains and in
leaving there many domesticated creatures, but at this season of the year it was likely to be
considerable time before a vessel should touch there, and lack had been on robinson crusoe s
island a little over a month, before he found a chance to go to Valparaiso, he was glad for the
opportunity, but disappointed at the last moment to find that mr. pearce had concluded to give
up going with him. 'too much like work, lack, you see i have fitted in here, and if we should find
that treasure it would be of no earthly good to me as i am alone in the world, i hope you will
find it, my lad, and that it will help you and lenny to
the seat and shut the door, then he looked down quizzically, 'what s this? i didn I notice it before'
he reached down and picked up a black leather sachel off the floor, testing its weight, 'somehow
i ve got a feeling it s not a new tie from harrods.' 'as it happens, that s a little housewarming gift
from the soviet embassy, part of my deal, along with the car. it s registered and legal, or so they
tell me.' 'my god.' he settled it back on the floor, 'i must be getting old. hardware terrifies me
these days.
i m not used to working this close to the street anymore.' 'it s only till we take care of
business, you handle your end tomorrow and we re both clear, at least for now.' 'if it was really
that simple, you wouldn I need this.' 'the point is not to need this.' 'my friend, if firo sato breaks
rank and moves on us, we re going to need twenty of these, and more.' 'a kgb security squad
was posted at the hotel, around ten o clock this morning, sato-sama. they are armed.' 'saaa,' he
hissed an exhale of displeasure and leaned forward, an unlit cigarette in his mouth, one of the
black-suited kobun immediately stepped up and flicked a lighter, he inhaled, then leaned back, 'i
d hoped this could be handled without any fuss, but we still must proceed.' 'your decisions are
always correct, sato-sama.' the second kobun bowed, 'but perhaps it might be wise to discuss
the possibility of waiting for the backup team from tokyo, if only to convince ourselves they are
not needed.' 'this office lost much face because of our problems in greece. there s only one way
to regain it. we have to act now.' worst of all, i ve lost face too, firo sato reminded himself,
among my own kobun. an oyabun has to lead, the minute he shows weakness, he s through,
buddha only knows what would happen if i lost
control here, there s no turning back, an example has to be made of the american meddlers, if
only to make nogami-san understand the organization still means business, the tokyo oyabun s
daring profect is going to succeed, in the long run it s inevitable, the problems now are short-
term, but if anything else goes wrong with this office s responsibilities . . . the kobun, five in all,
bowed respectfully, they understood his thoughts as clearly as if they had been profected in
neon across the back wall, the office had already lost three men. face was at stake.
this problem could not be solved from tokyo. it was time to draw together, the operation was
scheduled to begin at ll:00 p.m. sharp, the five kobun had already synchronized their digital
watches and stashed their hStk automatics in the two gray fords now waiting in the building s
underground garage, no flashy limousines tonight; the operation would be lowest
of low profiles, three more of their team were already at the hotel, with walkie-talkies,
monitoring the entrances, the kgb security in the lobby would be quietly diverted and then
neutral/zed. the guard upstairs would simply be overpowered, or taken
out with a silencer if the situation got out of hand, since they were professionals, however,
matters rarely went that far. the time had come to move, all five lined up in front of firo sato s
massive oak desk and bowed to the waist; then one by one they filed out. it was going to be a
simple operation, that much he was sure of. no violence, no bloodshed, the bottle should take
care of the situation, all the same, he had a 9mm automatic in a shoulder holster, life had
taught him that when something could go wrong, chances were good that it would, after this
one last fob, he was going to disappear, the situation had deteriorated far past where any
reasonable man would want to touch it. the time had come to bail out and let the chips fall, one
more day, that was all. standing now at the side entrance of the strand palace, the small
alleyway named burleigh that curved around the rear of the hotel and met the main avenue, he
pulled his overcoat tighter and glanced down at his piaget. it read 10:28. time to get started,
everything was synchronized down to seconds, he d already made sure the service entrance was
unlocked, he d taped the latch on the metal door during the comings and goings of the staff
during the evening shift change, now all he had to do was slip through and the rest should go
like clockwork, in he went, the neon-lit hallway was empty, again according to plan, this was a
slow time for all the staff except room service and the kitchen, he slipped off his overcoat and
threw it into a large laundry hamper parked halfway down the hall, underneath he was wearing
the uniform of a strand palace security man. he checked his watch, sixty-five seconds . . . at that
moment the door of the service elevator opened and a tall irishman stepped off. he was wearing
the same uniform, it was a strand palace security guard, a real one. the worst possible luck, the
moment seemed frozen in time, however, one thing was certain: the security guard wasn I
fooled for an instant by the intruder, he automatically grabbed one of his trouser legs and knelt
with a practiced move, reaching for the holster strapped to his ankle, the intruder was quicker.
as the guard dropped down, his knee came up, slamming against the man s square faw. the
irishman toppled back against the side of the elevator with a groan, but not before his fist
lashed out, aimed for the groin.
it was a glancing blow, and it was too late, the intruder chopped down against his neck,
disabling his left arm, then slammed his head against the steel strut running down the center of
the elevator wall, he groaned
Ie I aime. Ie I aime, she cried, with her extravagantly French accent. Philip wished she would
speak English. f say, I don I know if it s struck you that the gardener s quite likely to pass the
window any minute. Ah, Ie men fiche du fardinier. Ie m en refiche, et fe m en contrefiche. Philip
thought it was very like a French novel, and he did not know why it slightly irritated him. At last
he said: Well, ? I think I II tootle along to the beach and have a dip. Oh, you re not going to leave
me this morning-of all mornings? Philip did not quite know why he should not, but it did not
matter. Would you like me to stay? he smiled. Oh, you darling/ But no, go. Go. I want to think of
you mastering the salt sea waves, bathing your limbs in the broad ocean. He got his hat and
sauntered off. what rot women talk! he thought to himself. 297 of 1241 Of Human Bondage But
he was pleased and happy and flattered. She was evidently f right fully gone on him. As he
limped along the high street of Blackstable he looked with a tinge of superciliousness at the
people he passed. He knew a good many to nod to, and as he gave them a smile of recognition
he thought to himself, if they only knew/ He did want someone to know very badly. He thought
he would write to Hayward, and in his mind composed the letter. He would talk of the garden
and the roses, and the little French governess, like an exotic flower amongst them, scented and
perverse: he would say she was French, because-well, she had lived in France so long that she
almost was, and besides it would be shabby to give the whole thing away too exactly, don I you
know; and he would tell Hayward how he had seen her first in her pretty muslin dress and of the
flower she had given him. He made a delicate idyl of it: the sunshine and the sea gave it passion
and magic, and the stars added poetry, and the old vicarage garden was a fit and exquisite
setting. There was something Meredithian about it: it was not quite Lucy Feverel and not quite
Clara Middleton; but it was inexpressibly charming. Philip s heart beat quickly. He was so
delighted with his fancies that he began thinking of them again as soon as he crawled back,
dripping and cold, 298 of 1241 Of Human Bondage into his bathing-machine. He thought of the
object of his affections. She had the most adorable little nose and large brown eyes-he would
describe her to Hayward-and masses of soft brown hair, the sort of hair it was delicious to bury
your face in, and a skin which was like ivory and sunshine, and her cheek was like a red, red
rose. How old was she? Eighteen perhaps, and he called her Musette. Her laughter was like
a rippling brook, and her voice was so soft, so low, it was the sweetest music he had ever heard,
what ARE you thinking about? Philip stopped suddenly. He was walking slowly home, I ve been
waving at you for the last quarter of a mile. You ARE absent -minded. Miss Wilkinson was
standing in front of him, laughing at his surprise, I thought I d come and meet you. That sawfully
nice of you, he said. Did I startle you? You did a bit, he admitted. He wrote his letter to Hayward
all the same. There were eight pages of it. The fortnight that remained passed quickly, and
though each evening, when they went into the garden after supper. Miss Wilkinson remarked
that one day more had 299 of 1241 Of Human Bondage gone, Philip was in too cheerful spirits
to let the thought depress him. One night Miss Wilkinson suggested that it would
said, 'like his grandma' rob added, they talked about Ham and his future acting career and Ham
seemed to bask in the attention, laura liked talking shop after being away from teaching,
'mother/ rob said, when talk lulled, 'let me know if there is anything i can do for you. i still think
you should see your doctor pronto, that was a quick fall you took and if it had been on a harder
surface-' he wrinkled his forehead, 'I don I know.' 'now, don I worry, i ve got an appointment
next month, but you really want to do something for me, i need you to come by the house next
week, check things over, i d ask cath, but you know how distracted she gets' 'you re gone for
how long?' 'whole week, down to the bay area.'
'oh, this the meditation place?' 'one and the same.' 'great, so i ll swing by, maybe get my helper
to come along.' rob glanced at his son. 'you ve soccer Wednesdays, don I you?' 'thursdays, dad.
all summer long, remember?' 'okay, we ll come Wednesday.' and that was that, rob cooked the
pasta garlicky and the two guests ate like they were starving, and within the hour, rob and Ham
were off. they left and feeling wholly well laura took
consolation at keeping her burden private, the next day, monday morning, laura drove up
broadway to where gary nicklaw-a master mechanic for all Japanese cars-had a shop, she
parked and entered the window-free waiting room, gary rested a phone on his shoulder,
scribbled away at the counter, 'be with you in a minute,' he whispered to laura. she stood stiffly,
elbows snug to her sides like someone with no idea how many dollars would make her car okay,
in the claustrophobic room with one chair, she meditated on the few wall pictures: gary with
trophies beside some sports car. Gary looked a lot younger; the car, like a Japanese model no
longer made, gary slipped the phone back in its cradle, 'so, ms. grasmanis, note here says you
didn I pass deq.' laura opened her bag, took out the folded sheet with the pollution numbers,
gary flattened the paper on the counter, sat chin in palm and took a deep breath, 'so that s an
eighty-five, isn I it? how many miles you got?' 'oh, a hundred thousand, easily,' laura said, sure
this meant the engine was kaput, 'you know, this being the first time you failed and a car that
age, i bet we re talking bad catalytic converter.' 'i didn I know i had one.' 'yeah, they re been on
cars a while, anyway, we ll check everything out, but that mileage, the engine s usually burning
some oil.' he drew a circle in the air with his pen. 'and that gums up your converter-all this
honeycomb inside, okay?' he held his hands apart, fingers spread, 'basically your converter s
along for the ride-' he bounced his pen on the deq report, 'and so, bad numbers' when gary said
he d remove and replace the converter for no more than one seventy-five, laura felt a calm
change her. the car, its smog test was the one thing on
her to-do list she had to take care of before the registration deadline in two weeks, now she
could, she d go to California with that lined out. she gave gary the car key, the phone number to
reach her, and then crossed broadway. when the tri-met bus came, her spirit was as content as
the camel that found the
oasis well, thursday, before noon, laura left home in the deq-legal tercel and hopped on the
banfield freeway, eastbound, for the Portland airport, she had plenty of time to park long-term
and catch her flight to san francisco. the idea
of one whole week at dry creek meditation center let her ignore that she was poking along
behind a semitrailer truck, it didn I bother her at all. she d be in the bucolic wonderland of
sonoma county soon enough. then the huge truck shuddered with a noisy downshift that felted
black smoke skyward, laura braked, the slowing truck was signaling right, moving off at the
68th avenue exit, a clear stretch of slow lane opened up. she peered through the clean
windshield. she d had the car washed only yesterday, forgetting, for a week, it would sit outside,
better if she washed it when she got back, oh, well, she could do that too. she dropped the
worry for the sky was as blue as ever and a brilliant sun lazed in the south, the world had awoke
fresh.
fust like the day, ten or more years ago, when those building climbers came to Portland from
bolivia. it was the craziest thing, something like 35,000 people turned out on a Sunday
afternoon, with summer weather exactly like it was
today, las moscas humanas, the human flies, were about to climb-without ropes and without
safety nets-the forty-two stories of big pink, the glass skyscraper on fifth had been nicknamed
for its flamboyant hue. a cnn satellite-dish truck broadcast live, nothing this big had hit Portland
since mount st. helen s blew in 1980, covering the town with powdery ash. Laura and thousands
of others crowded in the blocked-off streets, before the climb, people listened to radio and tv
broadcasts, she never knew so many people had portable tvs. 'this is a once-in-a-Hfetime, i m
sure,' said the announcer on the radio in the hand of a gray-haired, pony-tailed man next to her.
laura craned her neck above the horizon of heads to the bank tower, already on the second
floor, on the glassy expanse, four men were moving, ascending in a diamond pattern, they wore
identical red and blue and yellow silky robes, aflutter with the breeze and the upward
hikes of one limb at a time, 'on their hands, the human flies have special polymer suction
devices, tremendous holding power,' the radio announcer said, 'that s how they can risk their
lives, and their tennis shoes, custom-manufactured, have
withdraw my sword, what s wrong with it? henry yanked fiercely, hut without success, i can I
activate my yin yang ring either, can you use your dragon whisker whip? asked taking her pen
out, Hz shook her wrist a couple of times, hut nothing happened, what does li say in her letter?
asked henry. Hz read aloud: you may already have figured out that what happened to you was
not just a dream, overnight you all have had three years of intense tai chi combat training, a
special far shu, hut you ll only he able to keep your power under one condition, liz paused,
glancing at sue and henry, then continued, the condition is that nobody must ever know about
the dream or the events that happened on the previous day; otherwise, you will lose not only
everything
you gained from the dream, hut also possibly some of your own memories as well, i have left
you three masks that will help you to disguise yourselves during your actions, where are the
masks? henry put his hand inside the tree hole, searched for a while, and shook his head, the
first three pages in the diary are your emergency help pages, they should only he used in life and
death situations, Hz continued to read the letter, where s the diary? we haven I even found the
masks yet, said henry, i injured the vampire king, hut the
monsters will come out soon. i estimate that at the most you have a week to get ready ... Hz
kept reading, to get ready for what? asked henry, i don I know, the letter stopped, Hz replied, let
me have a look, henry snatched the piece of paper from Hz s hand, turning it over, holding it
against the light, even reading it upside down, i guess li suddenly fell ill and wasnI able to finish
the letter, just like in our dream, i think you re fight, said Hz. where could H he now? sue looked
worried.
i suspect she passed away, said Hz. do you mean she s dead? said henry, how could she he? she
s magic, and in the dream she flew away to search for a cure, flying away on a magic crane is a
Chinese way to say someone has become immortal; in other words, it means li died, said Hz. let
me get this right, said henry slowly. H is the only one we know who could heat the monsters, but
she could he dead according to your interpretation, thousands of ancient evil monsters are on
the loose somewhere in the country, and could appear at any moment, we re supposed to get a
magic weapon each, hut none of them works he slumped on the ground against the tree trunk,
maybe we should inform the government about the monsters, said sue. nobody would believe
us; besides, if we talk about what happened, we ll lose our memory; ?o we wouldnI he able to
tell anybody. it s like a catch twentytwo. we re trapped, it s like waking up in the middle of the
night and finding monsters everywhere, hut we can I wake up the others, said henry.
sue sat beside him. it shouldnI he that had. surely, something must happen, or someone must
come up with a way to save the world, sue, i don I know if these monsters will destroy the whole
human world or if someone will eventually destroy them, hut one thing is sure people in western
australia are in danger, many of them will he killed before any help comes, we were lucky li
saved us. i wish i didnI know about this, and then at least i d have less time to worry about it,
said henry. He knew henry was right, she and her friends, by chance or by fate, had stumbled
onto something? o big that it was beyond their ability to handle it. H s intention to empower
them overnight had been well meant, hut her unexpected departure left them facing thousands
of monsters alone and poorly prepared even worse, because of the special far shu, they could
not even tell anybody about the danger, let alone ask for help, are you telling me that theres no
hope for us? sue waited hut nobody answered her question, i want to become a fashion model...
I donI want to die... she sniffled, sue, the monsters haven I come out yet. sitting beside sue, He
put her arm around her shoulder, we still have time to work things out hang on; i remember he
mentioned professor smith might know something about the monsters, yes, he did say that,
when i asked where the monsters were from.
sue stopped sniffling. ?o that means that we should be able to talk to professor smith about the
monsters, said the door of professor smith s home was open, seeing nobody around, Hz walked
inside, henry and sue followed, it was messy; papers were everywhere; drawers were upside
down on the floor, what happened? a hreak in? said henry, no. otherwise the camera and laptop
would he taken. Hz looked at her watch, sue gasped, i almost forgot, we have to attend the
protest in perth city, it s only ll.30, ?o we should he able to make it; fortunately, it s not far from
here to the city, said Hz. what are you talking about? demanded henry, we donI have time to
attend a protest, evil monsters may he out at any moment, eating everyone in the city. what s
the point of protesting against a mine project? here s the point! Hz pointed to a photo stuck
on the fridge with a magnet: against the background of uluru, professor smith stood shoulder to
shoulder with an aboriginal elder, are you telling me mr dingo will he in the city today? said
henry, mr dingo s very active in environmental protection, he was at wave rock, and i can I see
why he d miss todays
walked across her boudoir to the bedroom door, and turned back again. At each turn in his walk,
especially at the parquet of the lighted dining room, he halted and said to himself. Yes, this I
must decide and put a stop to; I must express my view of it and my decision. And he 312 of 1759
Anna fcarenina turned back again. But express what-what decision? he said to himself in the
drawing room, and he found no reply.
But after all, he asked himself before turning into the boudoir, what has occurred? Nothing. She
was talking a long while with him. But what of that? Surely women in society can talk to whom
they please. And then, jealousy
means lowering both myself and her, he told himself as he went into her boudoir; but this
dictum, which had always had such weight with him before, had now no weight and no
meaning at all. And from the bedroom door he turned back again; but as he entered the dark
drawing room some inner voice told him that it was not so, and that if others noticed it that
showed that there was something. And he said to himself again in the dining room. Yes, I must
decide and put a stop to it, and express my view of it... And again at the turn in the drawing
room he asked himself, Decide how? And again he asked himself, what had occurred? and
answered. Nothing, and recollected that jealousy was a feeling insulting to his wife; but again in
the drawing room he was convinced that something had happened.
His thoughts, like his body, went round a complete circle, without coming upon anything new.
He noticed this, rubbed his forehead, and sat down in her boudoir. 313 of 1759 Anna fcarenina
There, looking at her table, with the malachite blotting case lying at the top and an unfinished
letter, his thoughts suddenly changed. He began to think of her, of what she was thinking and
feeling. For the first time he pictured vividly to himself her personal life, her
ideas, her desires, and the idea that she could and should have a separate life of her own
seemed to him so alarming that he made haste to dispel it. It was the chasm which he was
afraid to peep into. To put himself in thought and feeling in another person s place was a
spiritual exercise not natural to Alexey Alexandrovitch. He looked on this spiritual exercise as a
harmful and dangerous abuse of the fancy. And the worst of it all, thought he, is that just now,
at the very moment when my great work is approaching completion (he was thinking of the
project he was bringing forward at the time), when I stand in need of all my mental peace and
all my energies, just now this stupid worry should fall foul of me. But what s to be done? I m not
one of those men who submit to uneasiness and worry without having the force of character to
face them. i must think it over, come to a decision, and put it out of my mind, he said aloud. The
question of her feelings, of what has passed and may be passing in her soul, that s not my
affair; that s the 314
legitimate and have their roots in the sensible acts of looking ahead and making adequate
preparation, however, such thinking can turn into negative future expectation, for me, this is a
destructive and sinful way of life, why? because worry is fear, and fear is inverted faith, it is faith
in evil instead of in good and in god (perfect love casts out fear), worry visualizes undesirable
future events and, by so doing creates an expectation in the mind, as a result of this negative
expectation, one begins to act in ways consistent with that result, and, in reality, helps to bring it
about by dwelling on it, some call this the 'self-fulfilling prophecy.' in contrast, jesus says, 'don I
be anxious about tomorrow, god will take care of your tomorrow too. live one day at a time'
{matt hew 6: 34, living bible), paul further advises, 'don I fret or worry, instead of worrying, pray,
let petition and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting god know your concerns, before
you know it, a sense of god s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and
settle you down, it s wonderful what happens when christ displaces worry at the center of your
life.' (phippians 4: 6-71 message new testament) i am exerting my will to replace worry with
faith:
positive expectation and visualization rather than negative. i am seeing some things with the
eyes of faith. i am believing, expecting, and trusting god through christ to guide my desires and
use my energies - mental, physical, and spiritual. I am listening to his voice, practicing the sense
of his touch and presence, and I m making progress, how about you? 'lord, you have everything
in this world under your perfect control . without escaping my personal responsibility to work,
plan, and organize my life, enable me to cast all my cares on you, knowing that you care for me.
help me to be positive minded, faith-filled, trusting, and deeply contented to live one day at a
time, thank
you! amen.' somatizing somatize is a word sometimes used by psychotherapists meaning
roughly, 'to manifest in the body emotions of the blocked off from conscious experience.' in the
fall of 1975, the fourth of our five offsprings left for college, it was a happy time, but inside i
knew i would miss this daughter and special friend deeply. I did miss her and for several days
after he left, i often felt like crying. i went about my work and dismissed my feelings, one
evening, not long after, i walked by her room and noticed its emptiness. a little later I felt a lump
in my throat, it was as if i needed to cry but couldnI get it out. later when i did cry, the lump still
wouldnI go away, i could feel it; not enough to keep me from swallowing or talking, but it was
always there. I began to be afraid. I told my husband what was happening and he suggested I
seek a doctor, since I felt normal otherwise, I hesitated, hoping it would go away. I gave myself
six weeks; if it was still there, I would see the doctor, it was, and I did. horrible specters of
tumors and goiters filled my mind. I was anxious and very fearful about what he would find, my
doctor, a sincere christian man, examined me carefully and thoroughly, then he said, 'kay, you
don I have
a physical lump in your throat, you have what is medically called hysteria or womb in the
throat . whats been going on in your life?' I related the events of the past two months including
the 'emptying nest.' it became clear that my unconscious way of dealing with that change and
loss was to somatize. my body was giving me a message about emotions which could not
surface into my conscious mind, the doctor replied that this symptom is not unusual for a
'woman of my age.' he said, 'it s the kind of thing people feel embarrassed to talk about, so it
doesnI get discussed much.' i responded, well i m going to talk about it.
i ll tell anyone i think is interested.' he laughed, offered me a mild tranquilizer (which i refused),
and sent me on my way with his good wished, the lump didn I go away very soon, but now i
knew what it was, and my fear was relieved. i could accept my 'somatizing.' i determined to
unblock some of the emotion which had caused the lump, it took some sessions with a therapist
to get the process going, for i had been blocking off a lot of my feelings - joyful as well as
painful, somewhere i had learned a common but unhealthy lesson: 'don I let your feelings out.'
over the years, this had come to mean, 'donI even feel your feelings' 'i hereby give all my
conscious and unconscious guilt, resentment, fear, and all other negative emotions to you, my
heavenly father, through Jesus christ. i thank you for loving, accepting, and forgiving me. i love,
accept, and forgive myself in Jesus name.' affirmation for the day: because i have placed my life
within the palm of god s loving hand , I will not be afraid to express my deep feeling of loss and
grief to my god. choose to forgive yourself she sat across from me in the little counseling room
looking downcast and troubled, her story spewed out in pain and regret, she related incident
after incident, venting a grief which seemed endless, when tears finally came and the cleansing
process was well on its way, I asked her, 'do you believe that god forgives you?' she looked up,
surprised and startled, 'yes, but it doesnI seem to make any difference,' she answered, 'it s
awful.' it was awful, seeking the tenderness of a father s love, she had gone to bed with man
after man, only to experience disappointment and guilt over and over, she had claimed god s
forgiveness, but
was reading, then looked over to the lounge, which was in a shadowy corner, 'yes, he came in
late' and he went on to tell her of bruce s 'engineering' at once she was interested, rising on one
elbow she questioned him good-hu mo redly, for deborah was fond of bruce. 'has he bought that
automobile he wanted?' 'no,' replied her father, 'edith said they couldn I afford it.' 'why not?'
'[l5]this time it s the dentist s bills, young betsy s teeth aren I straightened yet-and as soon as
she s been beautified they re going to put the clamps on george.' 'poor georgie,' deborah
murmured, at the look of pain and disapproval on her father s heavy face, she smiled quietly to
herself, george, who was edith s oldest and the worry of her days, was roger s favorite
grandson. 'has he been bringing home any more sick dogs?' 'no, this time it was a rat-a white
one,' roger answered.
a glint of dry relish appeared in his eyes, 'george brought it home the other night, he had on a
pair of ragged old pants' 'what on earth-' 'he had traded his own breeches for the rat,' said
roger placidly. 'no/ oh, father/ really and she sank back laughing on the lounge, 'his school
report,' said roger, 'was quite as bad as ever.' 'of course it was,' said deborah. and she spoke so
sharply that her father glanced at her in surprise, she was up again on one elbow, and there was
an eager expression on her bright attractive face.
'do you know what we re going to do some day? we re going to put the rat in the school,'
deborah said impatiently, 'we re going to take a boy like george and study him till we think we
know fust what interests him most, and if in his case it s animals, we ll have a regular zoo in
school, and for other boys we ll have other things they really want to know about, and we ll
keep them until five o clock-when their mothers will have to drag them away.' her father looked
bewildered, 'but arithmetic, my dear.' 'you ll find they ll have learned their arithmetic without
knowing it,' deborah answered, 'sounds a bit wild,' murmured roger. again to his \l6\mind came
the picture of hordes of little Italians and tews, 'my dear, if i had your children to teach, i don I
think i d add a zoo,' he said, and with a breath of discomfort he turned back to his reading, he
knew that he ought to question her, to show an interest in her work, but he had a deep aversion
for those millions of foreign tenement people, always shoving, shoving upward through the filth
of their surroundings. they had already spoiled his neighborhood, they had flowed up like an
ocean tide.
and so he read his paper, frowning guiltily down at the page, he glanced up in a little while and
saw deborah smiling across at him, reading his dislike of such talk, the smile which he sent back
at her was half apologetic, half an appeal for mercy, and deborah seemed to understand, she
went into the living room, and there at the piano she was soon playing softly, listening from his
study, again the feeling came to him of her fresh and abundant vitality, he mused a little
enviously on how it must feel to be strong like that, never really tired, and while her father
thought in this wise, deborah at the piano, leaning back with eyes half closed, could feel her
tortured nerves relax, could feel her pulse stop throbbing so and the dull aching at her
temples little by little pass away, she played like this so many nights, soon she would be ready
for sleep.
after she had gone to bed, roger rose heavily from his chair, by long habit he went about the
house trying the windows and turning out lights, last he came to the front door, there were
double outer doors with a ponderous system of locks and bolts and a heavy chain, mechanically
he fastened them all; and putting out the light in the hall, in the darkness he went up the stairs,
he could so easily feel his way. he put his hand lightly, first on the foot of the banister, then on a
curve in it halfway up, again on the sharper curve at the top and last on the \l7]knob of his
bedroom door, and it was as though these guiding objects came out to meet him like old friends,
in his bedroom, while he slowly undressed, his glance was caught by the picture upon the wall
opposite his bed, a little landscape poster done in restful tones of blue, of two herdsmen and
their cattle far up on a mountainside in the hour just before the dawn, tiny clear-cut silhouettes
against the awakening eastern sky. so immense and still, this birth of the day-the picture always
gave him the feeling of life everlasting. Judith his wife had placed it there, from his bed through
the window close beside him he looked up at the cliff-like wall of the new apartment building,
with tier upon tier of windows from which murmur us voices dropped out of the dark: now soft,
now suddenly angry, loud; now droning, sullen, bitter, hard; now gay with little screams of
mirth; now low and amorous, drowsy sounds, tier upon tier of modern homes, all overhanging
roger s house as though presently to crush it down, but roger was not thinking of that, he was
thinking of his children of edith s approaching confinement and all her anxious hunting about to
find what was best for her family, of bruce and the way he was driving himself in the unnatural
world downtown where men were at each other s throats, of deborah and that school of hers in
the heart of a vast foul region of tenement buildings swarming with strange, dirty little urchins,
and last he thought of laura, his youngest daughter, wild
it was not really a problem' 'but his hiv was, wasn I it?' 'yes, it was' 'mrs. adams, in 1989, did mr.
adams start taking azt on the recommendation of his doctor to treat his hiv?' 'yes, he did.' 'and
after he started taking the azt, did he then start having symptoms of aids?' 'it was not long after
that, yes.' 'and when did he die?' 'february 6, 1993.' 'did he continue taking azt until the day he
died?' 'yes.' messick wants to give both mrs. adams and the fury a little break before getting to
the real reason why she is there, he pretends to have trouble finding something on his table, a
newspaper neatly folded to the correct page, fust before fudge watts starts to admonish him
about the time, messick turns back to the witness, newspaper in hand. 'mrs. adams, i want to
read you something your husband wrote in the Washington post in october of 1992. he said,
quote, the confusion for aids patients like me is that there is a growing school of thought that
hive may not be the sole cause of aids, and that standard treatments such as azt actually make
matters worse, unquote, did he ever confide in you that he had doubts about his azt treatment?'
'yes, he did.' after watching some of the trial on tv, she was afraid this is where messick wanted
to take her. but there was nothing she could do. she wasn I going to He, but she would do
everything in her power to minimize the damage that might be done to the aids charity work
her husband had started before his death, 'what kept him from stopping the azt, mrs. adams?'
'he was very concerned, he used to say to me, but what will i tell my doctors? there was a lot of
pressure on him to take azt.' 'mrs. adams, in fairness, we should mention that your husband had
heart problems, too, didn I he?' 'yes, he had two unexpected heart surgeries, one in 1979 and
one in 1983.' 'but his heart isn I what killed him, is it mrs. adams? that was over by 1983, and he
didn I die until 10 years later.' 'no, sir. he died from the hiv, not his heart.' messick fots something
down quickly on his yellow pad, and then looks up again, straight into the eyes of mrs. adams.
'was it the hiv he died from, mrs. adams, or was it the azt he took for his hiv?' 'objection, asking
for this witness to draw a medical conclusion.' crawley is standing, waving his hands, pointing at
messick, and not liking at all where this is going, 'your honor, mr. crawley wasn I on his feet
objecting when mrs. adams just offered a medical conclusion that her husband died from hiv. i
m simply asking mrs. Adams if she would consider a different conclusion in her own mind.' judge
watts is slow to answer, 'since we allowed one medical conclusion, mr. crawley, i m going to
allow the other as well. mrs. adams, you may answer the question.' mrs. adams took a deep
breath, she had hoped the judge would save her. i just donI want to say anything more than i
absolutely have to. 'please repeat the question.' 'mrs. adams, you said your husband died from
hiv. i asked whether it might have been the azt he died from, rather than the hiv?' 'i don I know,
mr. messick. i m not an m.d. i m a ph.d.' 'mrs. adams, i have to say the same thing to you i said
to the judge: you didn I hesitate to draw a medical conclusion when you said, and i quote..'
messick looks at the note he took a few minutes ago, ' he died from the hiv. so let me ask you
again: isn I it possible that your husband died from taking azt rather than from the hiv?' mrs.
adams drops her head a little, 'i suppose that s possible, i really don I know.' 'well, mrs. adams,
was your husband dying before he was diagnosed as hiv-positive?' 'no.' 'and you said he had
been hiv-positive for at least 5 years, correct?' 'yes.' 'with no signs of aids for those five years?'
'correct.' 'did he show signs of dying between the time he was diagnosed as hiv-positive in 1988
and the time he started taking azt in 1989?' 'that wasnI that long a time, mr. messick. but the
answer is no.' 'so he only started dying after he started taking azt?' he really hated this, as
strong and independent as she was, mrs. Adams was starting to look confused and disturbed,
and perhaps ready to cry. messick realizes for the first time that despite what she and arvel had
discussed, she probably never seriously considered this possibility; and now the implications
were enormous, 'mrs. adams, your husband only started dying after he started taking azt, is
that correct?' when it was clear that mrs. adams was in no condition to answer messick s
question, crawley did the only thing any gentleman would do. He came to her defense,
'objection, your honor,' although he would be hard-pressed to give judge watts any grounds for
his objection, fortunately, he didnI have to. messick didnI need an answer to the last question,
'that s okay, mr. crawley. i withdraw the question, i m sorry, mrs. adams.' hoping to apologize in
the only way he could at the moment, messick admitted, 'your husband was a great man, and
he will always be a hero of mine. and i confess to having a lot of anger at the people who killed
him...' 'objection.' judge watts bangs her gavel loudly, messick turns away, 'i have no further
questions' 'my name is marvin Jackson.' 'but most people know you by a different name, don I
they?' 'yeah, most people know me as marvin, the master. ' 'the basketball star.' Jackson smiled,
'i had a few good years on the court.' that had been obvious the moment marvin, the
The dog and tail can get very entangled here. Everybody is exploiting everybody, and finally all
organizations and states are tools which consist of individuals and used by them. The Arabs in
Afghanistan are indeed Arabs. There are also lots of 'Pakistani' volunteers on the Taliban side,
but these are mainly Pashtuns that is Afghans. The mentioning of Chechens f Uighurs and so on
is more designed to satisfy the propaganda purposes of Russia and China. There are less than
one million Chechens and they have a very harsh war going on in Chechnya. Chechens who
choose to go to Afghanistan instead must be quite unpatriotic. The Arabs form the hard core of
Al-Qaida. They are the Egyptian, Syrian, fraqi etc. professional revolutionaries and terrorists who
have gathered around the figurehead of Osama bin Laden. Many of these share the same old
background in Marxist-inspired revolutionary movements in the Middle East, ideology and
facade have changed when green replaced red, but their methods as well as foreign contacts
have mainly remained the same. This is why they are much more interested in attacking the
West and pro-Western Muslim regimes than in supporting any true national liberation
movements. Even if they try to infiltrate and influence conflict outcomes in the Balkans, the
Caucasus, East Turkistan and Kashmir, they are set against the nationalist and secular - and
usually pro-western - policies of the legitimate leadership of these secessionist movements. So
the people whom Al-Qaida may support and try to infiltrate are usually exiled or otherwise
opposition forces acting in fact against the idea of independenee. This has been the case in
Chechnya, Dagestan, Bosnia, Kashmir and so on. And this has been the case in Afghanistan as
well.
Osama bin Laden and his Arabs never contributed to the actual Afghan national liberation
struggle, instead they acted against it by infiltrating Afghan circles and turning them against
each other. Their jihad is not intended to defend the Muslims against infidel oppressors, but to
cause chaos and destruction, in which they apparently hope to overthrow Muslim regimes and
replace them with the utopia of Salafi rule.
ft is not hard to see how this set of mind was inherited from the communist utopian terrorist
movements that preceded the present islamist ones. They had the same structures, the same
cadres, the same leaders, the same sponsors and the same methods. The Arabs in Afghanistan
have feathered their nests, though. Osama bin Laden and his closest associates have all married
daughters of Afghan elders - from different factions and tribes - and their sons and daughters
have, in turn, married the off-spring of eminent Afghan leaders.
This is how they secured their foothold in Afghan social networks - something neither the West
nor Pakistan succeeded to do. When issues are reduced to family relationships, it is not to be
expected that the Afghans would hand over the Arabs to the West or to Pakistan. Al-Qaida is not
only fortifying itself physically, but also socially. At the same time their cells and countless
collaborating agencies - some of whom are clearly non-islamist, and some of which are
government agencies of certain hostile states are hoping to escalate this 'war against
terrorism' and to exploit it for their own purposes. Q: Do you believe that the USA had long
standing designs to conquer Afghanistan and used the September ll atrocities as a pretext? A: f
would rather say that
Somebody else had long standing designs for a mator conflict in which it was necessary to get
the US involved. Those who wiped out Mr. Massoud a couple of days before the terror strikes in
the US probably knew that the terrorists will be hunted in Afghanistan, ft is clear that the US,
among many others, has long desired to overthrow the Taliban, and I see nothing wrong with it.
Afghanistan was the easiest target, because the Taliban was not internationally recognized
(except by three countries at the beginning of the war), and because there was nobody strong
enough to really side with the Taliban. There was no special need to demonize them, as they
seemed to have done a good fob demonizing themselves. The West was more concerned with
the blowing up a couple of Buddha statues than with the thousands of victims of the Taliban s
tyranny and of the civil war that continued to rage in Afghanistan all this time totally ignored by
the Western media until the US got involved again. The US can, of course, be blamed for
hypocrisy, as always, but the truth is that getting the US involved has greatly helped those in
Afghanistan who had hoped for decades to overthrow the Taliban, ft is also quite surprising that
even Musharraf s Pakistan seems to have actually benefited from the present course of affairs,
since terrorism has given Musharraf the pretext of openly siding with the West, and abandoning
all remnants of Pakistan s tolerance of the Taliban. Still f would be inclined against any
conspiratorial depiction of the recent events that would blame the US for all that happened. The
US had to react, and Afghanistan was a logical target, fn this sense, the US did what the
terrorists wanted. But they did so in a much more moderate way, and after much longer
preparations than their enemies had probably hoped for. One reason is that in the Bush
administration there seems to be significantly more foreign political expertise than in the Clinton
administration that hastily bombed a couple of targets, including a factory in Sudan, but always
failed to respond to the real challenge, fn the long run, the threat posed by terrorism will not be
defeated by military operations and not in Afghanistan, what can be done there is fust the
removal of the Taliban regime and helping to construct a stable and recognized Afghan
government, ft is important to give security guarantees to Pakistan and to support the
development that is transforming Pakistan into a strong and relatively stable pro-Western
Muslim country that can play a similar role in Central and Southern Asia as Turkey does in the
West and Middle East. At best, this could even encourage a Musharraf to rise in Iran, which
would yield ultimate benefits to Western interests in Asia. But then, terrorism must be fought by
other means.
This means that Western intelligence must rise to the level of the Cold w ar to face challenges by
terrorist organizations as well as by colluding governments. The West must also resist
Huntington s vision coming true, since this is exactly what the terrorists want: a clash of
civilizations. And we must keep in mind that there are also many others who would like to see a
worldwide conflagration between the West and Islam. Q: what is the geostrategic and
geopolitical importance of Afghanistan? A: Afghanistan is not so significant in itself, if we only
consider economic interests. Of more importance are some countries situated near Afghanistan,
especially those in Central Asia and Azerbaijan. Afghanistan is also a traditional buffer zone,
since its landscape is hard to penetrate for tanks and modern armies, ft has prevented the
expansion of the Eurasian Heartland Empire towards Eurasia s southern rim lands for centuries,
ft has protected the areas included in Pakistan and India today, but on the other hand, turning
Afghanistan into a politically or militarily active area
or to live with as long as they are on okinawa. that is why they come to the bar and buy the
nesans drinks and pay to take them home or to a hotel, it s okay because the nesans need the
money and the gis need to be men." 'as i remember correctly, it was you who picked me up. i
was minding my own business listening to the music and enjoying my drink.' 'hai. you are
correct, I was not needed to be the cashier and i wanted to talk to you. it was nice wasnI it?'
'yes it was. but why talk to me?' 'because you were quiet and seemed very nice, you weren I
paying any attention to the nesans. i knew you were a bit older than i was, but you didn I wear a
ring like married gis sometimes do.' 'what will your family think about you having an american
boyfriend? we have to get off the bus here.' he told her. 'you have never rode the bus across the
base?' 'no. I was only on the base once before, a baby-san airman took me to the club one night,
he was so young and quiet i liked him when he came into the bar. he never tried to buy any of
the nesans drinks, or take any of them to a hotel, i thought he would be nice to me. i was only
18 years old, but in the base club he bought me drinks and no one seemed to care, then he
wanted me to go to a hotel with him. i said no and had to walk from the club to the gate, then
to the bar because he would not leave the club and take me home, he said that since he took me
out and bought me dinner and drinks that i should four him. that is not a nice word, i know, but
that is what he said, before you, he is the only american that I have ever gone anywhere with.'
kim s voice trailed off and she changed the subject, 'my obasan and oba also, have told me i
have been a very nice girl not to get involved with a gi or even an
okinawan boy. but they have been concerned that maybe i have put too much time into work
and going to school, they will learn what a nice person you are and say, smart girl you picked a
nice gi.' 'what are you taking? majoring in?' 'i have already completed a minor in english. i will
have enough credits at the end of december in 1969 to graduate my major of philosophy, i want
to help my okinawans have a better education and understand their world.' 'you have to get
your degree, no questions, no matter what happens between us. That is not up for discussion.'
'you really care that i get my degree? i have never told you about what i want, but you want me
to do it?' 'let s catch an okinawan bus. can we ride one all the way to naha?' rick asked as they
walked hand in hand out the air base gate and went towards the civilian bus stop on highway
Ul. 'honto. it is the long way around, but we can change buses in futenma and take one that
goes through the area where there are farms, it goes to nishihara where my home is, which is
not far from the university, maybe next time we will catch the bus in koza. it would be more
direct.' rick wasn I sure what to expect once they left the area of the base and be street, but kimi
again took his hand after they changed buses in futenma. as they moved half way to the back of
the bus to find a seat, 'you sit next to the window so you can see more, I have passed over these
roads many times and can tell you where we are.' kim said before she sat next to him on the
outside seat and slid close so her hip was against his. the seats on the bus
were smaller than an american bus since the oki nawans and Japanese people were smaller
than the average americans. coming down a long hill rick caught glimpses of the blue/green
ocean and white breakers coming over the coral reefs and amongst the darker green of the
trees the red tile roofs of a small town, 'it is nakagusuku. the water is nakagusuku bay. way out
there is the phili ppi ne sea. watch and in a minute we will see where the okinawans make salt,
see? they have built pools of salt water in the sand, the sun evaporates the water, there, that
white sand is really salt, they will scrape it up and package it to sell.' 'it looks like a very old
town, it survived the invasion?' 'parts of it did. most parts have been rebuilt using the first
stones, I think that is the wrong word, original stone? that is correct?' 'yes, that s the right way
to say it. what is that growing in those big fields?' 'it s sugar cane, it grows really well here on
the island. see those chimneys a long ways in front of us?' 'yeah, i ve seen something like that
somewhere else, maybe in hawaii?' 'you re probably right, it is a sugar plant, they take the
sugar cane there and make sugar.
it smells really bad when they are process/'ng the cane.' the bus stayed on the road which
followed the coastline for a few more miles passing through several very small villages and
many fields with crops growing in them, that is cabbage in the first field, behind it is field of
onion, the sukoshi plot next to the farmers home has da/'kon. radish you call it. it is for the
farmer s okusan to use. you can see this is mostly farmland, some of the fields are very large,
they re used to raise vegetables to sell in the
she had written him that, over and over, in the long letters she had made a point of sending him.
only, she did not love him any more, she thought now that she never had loved him. what about
the time when he came back? what would she do then? she shivered, but chris, after all, was
not to come back, he would never come back again, the cable was there when she reached her
apartment a cold statement, irrefutable, final, she had put the flowers on the table and had
raised her hands to unpin her hat when she saw it. she read it with a glance first, then slowly,
painfully, her heart contracted as if a band had squeezed it. she stood very still, not ?o much
stricken as horrified, and her first conscious thought was of remorse, terrible, gasping remorse,
all that afternoon, while she had been hating natalie and nursing her love for clay, chris had
been lying dead ?omewhere. chris was dead, she felt very tired, but not faint, it seemed
dreadful, indeed, that she could be standing there, full of life, while chris was dead, such grief as
she felt was for him, not for herself, he had loved life ?o, even when he cheapened it. he had
wanted to live and now he was dead, she, who did not care greatly to live, lived on, and he was
gone, all at once she felt terribly alone, she wanted ?ome one with her. she wanted to talk it all
out to some one who understood, she wanted clay, she said to herself that she did not want him
because she loved him. all love was dead in her now. she wanted him because he was strong
and understanding. she made this very clear to herself, because she had a morbid fancy that
chris might be watching her. there were people who believed that sort of thing, to her excited
fancy it seemed as though chris s cynical smile might flash out from any dusky corner, she knew
she was not being quite rational, which was strange, because she felt ?o strong, and because
the voice with which she called clayton s number was ?o steady, she knew, too, that she was no
longer in love with clay, because his steady voice over the telephone left her quite calm and
unmoved. 'i want you to come up, clay,' she said, 'if you can, easily.' 'i can come at once, is
anything wrong?' 'chris has been killed,' she replied, and hung up the receiver, then she sat
down to wait, and to watch for chris s cynical smile to flash in ?ome dusky corner, clayton found
her there, collapsed in her chair, a slim, gray faced girl with the rouge giving a grotesque vitality
to her bloodless cheeks, she got up very calmly and gave him the cablegram, then she fainted in
a crumpled heap at his feet, the new munition plant was nearing completion, situated on the
outskirts of the city, it spread over a vast area of what had once been waste land, of the three
long buildings, two were already in operation and the third was well under way. to clayton
spencer it was the realization of a dream, he never entered the great high walled enclosure
without a certain surprise at the ease with which it had all been accomplished, and a thrill of
pride at the achievement. he found the work itself endlessly interesting, the casts, made of his
own steel, lying in huge rusty heaps in the yard; the little cars which carried them into the plant;
the various operations by which the great lathes turned them out, smooth and shining, only to
lose their polish when, heated again, they were ready for the ponderous hammer to close their
gaping jaws, the delicacy of the work appealed to him, the machining to a thousandth of an
inch, the fastidious making of the fuses, tiny things almost microscopic, and requiring the
delicate touch of girls, most of whom had been watchmakers and fewelryworkers. and with
each carload of the finished shells that left the plant he felt a fine glow of satisfaction, the
output was creeping up. Soon they would be making ten thousand shells a day. and every shell
was one more chance for victory against the hun. it became an obsession with him to make
more, ever more, as the work advanced, he found an unexpected enthusiasm in graham, here
was ?omething to be done, a new thing, the steel mill had been long established, its days went
on monotonously, the boy found it noisy, dirty, without appeal to his imagination.
but the shell plant was different, there were new problems to face, of labor, of supplies, of
shipping and output. he was, however, reluctantly coming to the conclusion that the break with
germany was the final step that the government intended to take, that it would not declare war.
however, the break had done ?omething. it had provided him with men from the local national
guard to police the plant, and he found the government taking a new interest, an official
interest, in his safety, agents from the military intelligence and the department of justice
scanned his employment lists and sent agents into the plant, in the building where men and
women were hired, each applicant passed a desk where they were quietly surveyed by two
unobst rusive gentlemen in indifferent business suits who eyed them carefully, around the fuse
department, where all day girls and women handled guncotton and highexplosive powder, a
special guard was posted, day and night, early in march clayton put graham in charge of the
first of the long buildings to be running full, and was rewarded by a new look in the boy s face,
he was almost startled at the way he took it. 'i ll do my very best, sir,' he said, rather huskily, 'if i
can I fight, i can help put the swine out of business, anyhow.' he was by that time quite sure that
natalie had extracted a promise
a paymaster on our side of the line, they even bank in one of our banks/ oh, we ll get them yet,
of course, but they re damnably clever." 'i suppose there is no hope of getting rudolph kleins'
'not while the germans are running mexico,' captain dunbar replied, dryly, 'he s living in a
mexican town fust over the border, we re watching him. if he puts a foot on this side we ll grab
him." clayton sat back after he had gone, he was in his old office at the mill, where foey had
once formed his unofficial partnership with the firm, outside in the mill yard there was greater
activity than ever, but many of the faces were new. the engineer who had once run the yard
engine was building bridges in franee, hutchinson had heard the call, and was learning to fly in
florida, the service flag over his office door showed hundreds of stars, and more were being
added constantly, foey dead, graham wounded, his family life on the verge of disruption, and
audrey then, out of the chaos there came an exaltation, he had given himself, his son, the
wealth he had hoped to have, but, thank god, he had had Pomethi ng to give, there were men
who could give nothing, like old terry
mackenzie, knocking billiardballs around at the club, and profanely wistful that he had had no
son to go. his mind ranged over those pathetic, prosperous, Ponless men who filed into the club
late in the afternoons, and over the last
editions and whisky and Podas fought their futile warfare, their battleground a newspaper map,
their upraised voices their only weapons, on parade days, when the long lines of boys in khaki
went by, they were silent, heavy, inutile, they were too old to fight, the biggest thing in their
lives was passing them by, as passed the lines of marching boys, and they had no part in it. they
were feeding their hungry spirits on the dregs of war, on committee meetings and public
gatherings, and they were being useful, but the great exaltation of offering their best was not
for them.
he was living a tragedy, but a greater tragedy was that of the childless, and back of that again
was the woman who had not wanted children, there were many men today who were feeling
the selfishness of a woman at home, men who had lost, somehow, their pride, their feeling of
being a part of great things, men who went home at night to comfortable dwellings, with no
vacant chair at the table, and dined in a peace they had not earned, natalie had at least given
him a son. he took that thought home with him in the evening, he stopped at a florist s and
bought a great box of flowers for her, and sent them into her room with a little note, 'won I you
let me come in and try to comfort you' but Madeleine brought the box out again, and there was
pity in her eyes. 'mrs. spencer can not have them in the room, sir. she says the odor of flowers
makes her ill.' he knew madeleine had invented the excuse, that Natalie had simply rejected his
offering, he went downstairs, and made a pretense of dining alone in the great room, it was
there that audrey s daily cable found him. buckham brought it in in faaking fingers, and stood
by, white and still, while he opened it. clayton stood up. he was very white, but his voice was full
and strong. 'he is better, buckham/ betteri suddenly buckham was crying, his austere face was
distorted, his lean body trembling, clayton put his arm around the bowed old shoulders, and in
that moment, as they stood there, master and man, clayton spencer had a flash of revelation,
there was love and love, the love of a man for a woman, and of a woman for a man, of a
mother for the child at her knee, of that child for its mother.
but that the great actuating motive of a man s maturity, of the middle span, was vested along
with his dreams, his pride and sis love, in his son, his manchild. buckham, carrying his coffee into
the library somewhat later, found him with his head down on his desk, and the cablegram
clutched in his outstretched hands, he tiptoed out, very quietly, clayton s first impulse was to
take the cable to natalie, to brush aside the absurd defenses she had erected, and behind which
she cowered, terrified but obstinate, to say to her, 'he is living, he is going to live, but this war is
not over yet. if we want him to come through, we must stand together.
we must deserve to have him come back to us.' but by the time he reached the top of the stairs
he knew he could not do it. she would not understand, she would think he was using graham to
further a reconciliation; and, after her first toy was over, he knew that he would see again that
cynical smile that always implieds hat he was dramatizing himself, nothing could dim his strong
inner foy, but something of its outer glow faded, he would go to her, later, not now. nothing
must spoil this great thankfulness of his. he gave madeleine the cable, and went down again to
the library, after a time he began to go over the events of the past eighteen months, his return
from the continent, and that curious sense of unrest that had followed it, the opening of his eyes
to the futility of his life, his failure to natalie and her failure to him.
graham, made a man by war and by the love of a good woman, chris, ending his Sordid life in a
blaze of glory, and forever forgiven his tawdry sins because of his one big hour, war took, but it
gave also. it had taken foey, for instance, but foey had had his great moment, it was better to
Someone else s father reinforced chads agitation toward his own, who had not even bothered to
sign the christmas card his mother sent, be/ore the break of dawn on January 2, Sohan blew the
horn of his 1969 Volkswagen combi the family van that had been popular in the sixties,
especially with free spirited hippies searching for peace, love, rock n roll, and the next
Woodstock, peter had camped out by the door for half an hour with his rucksack in hand, three
times, he attempted to rouse chad, and he finally gave up. peter yelled at chad once again.
'get going! they re waiting!* chad yelled back, 'goddamn it! this is too bloody early." peter bit
his tongue, he told himself, i m not going to worry about him. if he s late, he s late, if they have
to wait ... they can get on him. i am not going to ruin things before we start, as he went through
the door, he called out, "hurry up!" chad rolled out of bed, threw on jeans and a shirt, doused his
face with water, grabbed his rucksack, and burst through the front door just as the horn blew
again, arousing neighbors content in their slumber, the sun peaked over the horizon as they left
vanderbifl park behind and approached the highway, susan offered warm, homemade
cinnamon rolls with a gleam in her eye. as they finished their sweet and sticky breakfast, susan
looked back at her guests with expectant eyes and lips pressed together, lisa whispered in peters
ear, and he in turn whispered in chad s ear. then they both bragged about the rolls, remarking
how they reminded them of home, the young girls hid their laughter as susan nodded her head
and said, 'i got the recipe from a friends american cookbook, i thought you would be pleased."
the next two hours of the journey, sohan told countless and elaborate anecdotes about his
beloved combi, which, for an unknown reason, he called sadie. 'now this one is my favorite story,
sarah hates this one because it stirs up bad dreams for her, but it is a tale that must be told.'
sarah whined, 'it still gives me the shivers, please do not tell it. please, dad.' Sohan ignored the
plea, 'we were camped there in the northwest corner of kruger. we had strolled around the
campsite and gotten some cold drinks at a kiosk at the far end compound, little sarah was about
twelve at the
time, when we came back, she caught a glimpse of a snake inside the van, and boy did she
scream! Obliterated my eardrums, that is why i cannot hear so well to this day. fa, man. well, i
was determined to show no fear, after all, it was just an old bush snake, ehs no problem. so i
climb into sadie with a big ole stick to shoo the poor thing out.' lisa interrupted, 'dad flies out of
the combi.
he rolled all the way over on his head three times' lisa arms illustrated the scene, 'fa! i had the
shock of my life, i bolted out of sadie in one hop, like superman.' sohan snorted as his laughter
came out and then continued, 'that damn creature ... it is a black mamba. a black mambas
deadliest snake in all
of africa, i kid you not. they call it the five step snake because after it bites, you will walk no
more than five steps before you ball up in convulsions and die a grisly, painful death.' sohan
jerked two fingers down in a striking motion, 'deadly things, deadly.' susan added, 'it was a
nightmare, it was a two hours before a park ranger showed up. all our food was in there, and
we were starving, we couldnI even fix a cup of tea. 'sohan continued, 'fa. the bloody ranger
showed up and stood around for another hour with a half dozen of his bantus, all of them
arguing like menopausal apes, no one wants to tackle this job.
the park ranger eventually gives up on his boys and locates the park snake wrangler, that okie
bagged the creature licketysplit, just like that, no fear at all in him. he took it away to the bush
and assures us proudly that the mamba would live a happy life, then he said, now, the beauty
may return to the area
if she found anything of interest to entice her back, they are rather territorial. ' susan finished
the story. 'so we packed up camp and drove two hours to a lesssecluded campsite, we all slept in
the van for therest of that trip.' sohan laughed, shook his head in fondness, and said, 'ay! to this
day, sarah insists I check the van every time we get in her while we re in kruger or any other
game park.' Lisa told her favorite tale, often interpreting herself with burst of her own laughter,
as her story progressed, sarah made intensifying demands to 'shut up or else,' but lisa pressed
on. 'one time, twenty baboons, babies and mamas, they climbed all over the combi, pressing
their faces against the windows, laughing at us, like we were the animals in the zoo.
like this,,' lisa thrust out her bottom lip, filled her cheeks with air, and waved her arms wildly,
composting her selfinduced laughter, she continued, using her arms and face to accentuate her
story, 'a great big one, he kept looking at sarah, licking his lips like this ... wanting to kiss her. she
started screaming, then the baboon screamed, then' 'hou fou bek, lisa. shuuut up!' sarah
demanded, while her face turned increasingly red. 'then she' susan interrupted, she spoke
firmly, though a chuckle appeared to be begging for life, 'lisa that is enough, now.' that
increased lisa s laughter and determination to finish her anecdote, 'she wet herself, peed all over
herself!' 'god, lisa! it wasnI funny, you d better shut up!' everyone s laughter muffled sarah s
command, 'it was. she peed, she' 'enough, lisa!' susan
time, if anyone were left alive to record history, who or what was coming was unknowable, hut
the recon mission had left a legacy of just one tantalizing clue, a mind-hoggling one. as the
astronauts had explored the airless corridors of the smashed facility, they d come upon several
banks of equipment they thought might be computers although the design had been altogether
alien, they d retrieved some small metallic chips from one of the devices and sent them back
to earth on an unmanned shuttle, analysis had confirmed that they were printed circuits
possessing an incredibly dense array of information, the data encoded on the chips had been
hard to decipher, being composed in an alien language and alphabet, nevertheless the
decryption team had managed to determine that the bulk of what was encoded on the chips
used only four of the twenty-seven alphabet characters, these were repeated over and over in a
seemingly random fashion, random, that is, until someone pointed out that there was another
code known to have only four characters: the genetic code, a team of biological scientists
recruited fust two months ago from the national science foundation had quickly-and incredibly-
matched certain parts of the alien code with genes from earthly organisms; no exact matches
but greatly similar to crocodiles and birds, of all things.
according to the scientists the alien genes were somewhere right in between, what that meant
and how the code had come to be data-banked on the moon remained obscure, it had been cold
comfort when someone pointed out the great age of the facility at phaeon and speculated that
the code might belong to some creature out of the age of dinosaurs, finally, the scientists had
conceded there was little they could do with the data, despite the great volume
of code on the chips, it represented no more than a fraction of a single chromosome, they were
unable to even guess at the size, shape or appearance of the creature, there was fust too little
information, it all gave davis the worst of grinding pains in his guts as he pulled up to the train-
si zed portal leading into Cheyenne mountain, helmeted guards behind sandbagged, razor-wired
checkpoints fust inside the tunnel covered his lincoln with automatic rifles as he approached, the
lieutenant in charge came out to look over his id. as he waited, davis looked up at the mountain
face towering above him. yesterday it had been semi-barren reddish granite rock rising several
thousand feet above the portal, studded with pine trees and scrub brush, now the vegetation
was reduced to ash, the soil was blackened, and the exposed granite was seared to a whitish
gray, the whole mountain surface had been burned and pulverized by the heat of the beam,
which had obviously paid special attention to this particular target, he looked once more at the
moon high above him in the jaundiced sky. whoever was directing the beam, which continued
lancing this way and that as he watched, had not neglected america s strongest and last
defense line drawn here at this mountain, 'welcome back, sir," said the lieutenant, saluting and
waving him forward, davis returned the salute and pressed the accelerator, proceeding inside
the tunnel on the two-lane road that penetrated a third of a mile into the heart of the mountain,
he stopped his car at the inner checkpoint of barbed wire, cyclone fence and sandbags,
watching the blast door ahead of him begin to open, the huge rectangular metal structure, 25
tons of steel, was the first of two such barriers guarding the inner
entrance to norad. set in the tunnel wall at right angles to the roadway, it swung out slowly,
leaving davis time for a melancholy thought: it would soon swing back to seal him inside with
his staff of several hundred soldiers and civilians, they could stay there for months if necessary in
a self-contained underground city that might be the only place on earth safe from attack, if it
was safe, motors droning, the door slowly opened until the gap was sufficient to allow a single
individual to pass, and then it stopped, a woman in a blue air force uniform strode out and
quickly approached him. the tunnel lighting overhead was dim, but he could see right away this
was major holly lewis, his communications officer and the person he most wanted to see right
now. davis opened his door and got out, handing his keys to one of the checkpoi nt troopers,
lewis saluted, 'glad you made it, sir.
we were worried about you being out under that beam.' davis returned her salute and asked
glumly, 'any news of general alien or general martins' 'dead, sir. they were caught outside in one
of the first attacks, you re still the ranking officer as far as we know.' 'i see. holly, i want you to
fill me in on everything
you ve got.' 'what little i ve got, you mean.' 'whatever you ve got.' davis glanced at lewis as they
moved inside the blast door, her demeanor was as stiff and straight as that of any military man
he d met, and right now that outward calm was a welcome sight, a person had every right to
come apart under
the kind of pressure that was building inside davis s own chest, he did his best to reflect back to
lewis that same solid outward appearance: straight backbone, level eye. 'first of all,' he asked,
'is there an invasion yets' lewis nodded, 'yes, sir. we don I know much, but before the equipment
was knocked out we confi rmed more than two dozen incoming bogeys' 'where froms'
'trajectories indicated they re coming from the moon.' 'where tos' 'every continent, including
north america. odd thing though, all nine incoming on this continent were headed for montana
before we lost track of them.' 'why montanas there s no military objective there worth nearly as
much as norad or a dozen other places i can think of.' 'we ve all been scratching our heads, sir.'
'what s left of our communications' 'our first
icy seas became terrific, cruisers and destroyers of the escort remained invisible, and none of the
convoyed transports were to be seen, the watery, lowering daylight faded: the unseen sun set:
the brief day ended, and the wind went down with the sun. but through the thick darkness the
turbulent wind appeared to grow luminous with tossing wraiths; and all the world seemed to
dissolve into a nebulous, hell-driven thing, unreal, dreadful, unendurable 'mr. mckayf he had
already got into his wool dressing-robe and felt shoes, and he sat now very still on the edge of
his berth, listening stealthily with the cunning of distorted purpose, her tiny room was just
across the corridor, she seemed to be eternally sleepless, always on the alert night and day,
ready to interfere with him. finally he ventured to rise and move cautiously to his door, and he
made not the slightest sound in opening it, but her door opened instantly, and she stood there
confronting him, anulster buttoned over her nightdress, 'what is the matters' she said gently,
'nothing.' 'are you having a bad nights' 'i m all right, i wish you wouldn I constitute yourself my
nurse, servant, mentor, guardian, keeper, and personal factotum!' sudden rage left him
inarticulate, and he shot an ugly look at her. 'can I you let me alones' he snarled, 'you poor boy,'
she said under her breath, 'don I talk like that/ damnation, I canI stand much more-i can I stand
it, i tell youi 'yes, you can, and you will, and I donI mind what you say to me.' his malignant
expression altered, 'do you know,' he said, in a cool and evil voice, 'that i may stop saying things
and take to doing thems' 'would you hurt me physicallys are you really as sick as thats' 'not
yet.... how do i knows' suddenly he felt tired and leaned against the doorway, covering his
dulling eyes with his right forearm, but his hand was now clenched convulsively, 'could you lie
downs i ll talk to you,' she whispered, 'i ll see you through.' 'i can I-endure-this tension,' he
muttered, 'for gods sake let me go!' 'wheres' 'you know.' 'yes.... but it won I do. we must carry
on, you and
i' 'if you-knew-' 'i do know! when these crises come try to fix your mind on what you have
become.' 'yes.... a hell of a soldier, do you really believe that my country needs a thing like mes'
she stood looking at him in silence-knowing that he was in a torment of some terrible sort, his
eyes were still covered by his arm. on his boyish brow the blonde-brown hair had become damp,
she went across and passed her arm through his. his hand rested, fell to his side, but he suffered
her to guide him through the corridors toward a far bluish spark that seemed as distant as
venus, the star, they walked very slowly for a while on deck, encountering now and then the
shadowy forms of officers and crew, the personnel of the several hospital units in transit were
long ago in bed below, once he said: 'you know, miss erith, it is not i who behaves like a
scoundrel to you.' 'i know,' she said with a dauntless smile, 'because,' he went on, searching
painfully for
thought as well as words, 'i m not really a brute-was not always a blackguard-' 'do you suppose
for one moment that i blame a man who has been irresponsible through no fault of his, and who
has made thefight and has won back to sanitys' 'i-am not yet-well!' 'i understand.' they paused
beside the port rail for a few moments, 'i suppose you know,' he muttered, 'that i have thought-
at times-of ending things-down there. ... you seem to know most things, did you suspect thats'
'yes.' 'don I you ever sleeps' 'i wake easily.' 'i know you do.
i can I stir in bed but i hear you move, too.... i should think you d hate and loathe me-for all i ve
done-for all i ve cost you.' 'nurses don I loathe their patients' she said lightly, 'I should think they
d want to kill them.' 'oh, mr. mckayf on the contrary they-they grow to like them-exceedingly.'
'you dare not say that about yourself and me.' miss erith shrugged her pretty shoulders: 'i don I
have to say anything, do is' he made no reply, after a long silence she said casually: 'the sea is
calmer, i think.
there s something resembling faint moonlight up among those flying clouds' he lifted his tragic
face and gazed up at the storm-wrack speeding overhead, and there through the hurrying
vapours behind flying rags of cloud, a pallid lustre betrayed the smothered moon, there was fust
enough light, now, to reveal the forward gun under its jacket, and the shadowy gun-crew
around it where the ship s bow like a vast black, plough ripped the sea asunder in two deep,
foaming furrows, 'i wish i knew where we are at this moment,' mused the girl, she counted the
days on her fingertips: 'we may be off bordeaux.... it s been a long time, hasn I its' to him it had
been a century of dread endured through half -awakened consciousness of the latest inferno
within him. 'it s been very long,' he said, sighing, a few meetings later they caught a glimpse of
a strangled moon overhead-a livid corpse of a moon, tarnished and battered almost out of
recognition, 'clearing weather,' she said cheerfully, adding: 'to-morrow we may be in the danger
zone.... did you ever see a submarines' 'yes. did yous' 'there were some up the hudson. i saw
them last summer while motoring along riverside drive.' the spectral form of an officer
appeared at her elbow, said something in a low voice, and walked aft. she said: 'well, then, i
think we d better dress. ... do you feel betters' he said that he did, but his sombre gaze into
darkness belied him. so again she slipped her arm
as if fallen from a great height, it was too much for me. i must have given a nervous start. at
once i heard a murmur: 'you had better go away now." i withdrew own gently from under the
light weight of her head, from this unspeakable bliss and inconceivable misery, and had the
absurd impression of leaving her suspended in the air. and i moved away on tiptoe, 'cock up at
the collridges , sorry. call me for details but i think you should give them a call and make sure
they re okay, they got a ranPom note.'
he hung up. 'nicely put,' Whitlock said, 'thanks' 'i can find out easily enough, but it wouldnI be
the same,' fosef smiled, 'oh i see,' she taunted, 'macho thing ehs i ve got to give in have is' 'no,
it s fust...' he stopped and sighed, then turned and looked her straight in her beautiful green
eyes, 'please,' he said, feeling like someone about to pop the big question, 'ms whitlock, tell me
your first name.' she looked at him for long moment then smiled, 'now that was close,' she said,
when k woke up he had neck ache.
the sofa was lovely and plush and comfortable, perfect for sleeping on, but the cushions were
too hard and you really needed a pillow, he checked the clock on the dvd, it was a little after
eleven, k had nothing special to do today so he showered and dressed at leisure, enjoying the
time, k pottered round emptying the rubbish and tidying up but was soon bored, he decided to
have lunch out, and as he d missed having the pizza in the restaurant he thought a good sit
down meal was in order, he collected his things together and drove the jaguar out of the
garage, while he drove idly round thinking of a good place to eat he
found himself passing the collridges house, a couple were leaving the house and crossing the
road, the woman stopped the man from walking out into the road, they let k pass in front of
them before crossing, he managed a look at both of them, they seemed to be engrossed in each
other, the man angry about something and looking back at the house, k wondered if they were
police, he thought they probably were although they appeared to him to be on the young side,
he drove on and headed for the high street, k opted for an Indian meal, something he hadnI
done in a long time, he ordered far too much but ate some of everything, each different taste
bringing back memories for him. by the time he was finished he was so full of both food and
emotion that he felt exhausted, he drove the short way home with the window of the jaguar
down.
when he was back inside the house he slipped a cd into the player, the music echoed round the
empty house and k sat back in the sofa and let the Pounds of rem flood over him. oh life, is
bigger, it s bigger than you, you are not me, the lengths that i would go to, the distance in your
eyes, oh no i ve said too much, i set it up. as the Pong burst into the chorus k allowed his mind to
wander and in the mess of thoughts that filled his head he fell asleep. 'so where are you taking
me for lunchs' whitlock asked as they turned out of markham road, 'don I worry,' fosef reassured
her, 'you ll love it.' five minutes later they pulled up outside pete s fish and chip shop on vicarage
lane, 'classy,' whitlock teased. wyup, and you know what the best thing about eating here iss' 'go
on,' she said, 'we can walk up to the Porting office while we eat,' he smiled, 'it s not good for
you, you know, you ll get stomach ulcers' 'actually it is,' fosef smiled, 'the germans do it all the
time, in fact most of their cafes don I have many seats, just high tables you stand at. except in
the tourist areas' he added, they ordered fish and chips twice and as they walked he watched
her eating the fish with a wooden fork, carefully removing the batter and pushing it to the side
of the paper, 'seems like a lot of trouble to go to,' he said, pulling a large chunk of fish from the
paper and nearly throwing it into his mouth before he dropped it. she stopped to watch the
juggling act. 'mmmm,' she conceded, 'i guess it would.' 'meaning,' he said, not offended but
interested, 'meaning a friend of mine has a Labrador who eats just like that, god forbid anyone
should throw food in your direction.' she smiled and he knew she was teasing, 'donI hold your
food out too far. i ll have your fingers off,' he said laughing, when they reached the Porting office
they threw the remains of lunch in the yellow street bin outside, fosef noticed that her paper
seemed as full as when they d left the chip shop, 'nices' he enquired, 'lovely actually,' she said,
rooting in her bag for a tissue, she offered one to fosef, he took it and wiped his fingers and
mouth, then binned it. 'come on,' he said, opening the door for her. they showed their warrant
cards to the receptionist and were taken through to the post masters office, he welcomed them,
it was not the same man that fosef had spoken to on his previous visit, 'please sit down,' he said,
'what can i help you with is this about the letter that was delivered in eastbound roads' fosef
nodded, 'unfortunately the information we were given last time isnI enough, we need some
more details,' he said, 'such ass' the postmaster raised his eyebrows, 'we ve had another letter
with the same postmark as before, that postmark means the letter was Ported heres' he
unfolded a photocopy of the cover
The most usual and simple, the sensible course, i consider, is adultery by mutual consent. i
should not permit myself to express it so, speaking with a man of no education, he said, but i
imagine that to you this is comprehensible. Alexey Alexandrovitch was, however, so perturbed
that he did not immediately comprehend all the good sense of adultery by mutual consent, and
his eyes expressed this 80S of 17S9 Anna fcarenina uncertainty; but the lawyer promptly came
to his assistance. People cannot go on living together-here you have a fact. And if both are
agreed about it, the details and formalities become a matter of no importance. And at the same
time this is the simplest and most certain method. Alexey Alexandrovitch fully understood now.
But he had religious scruples, which hindered the execution of such a plan. That is out of the
question in the present case, he said. Only one alternative is possible: undesigned detection,
supported by letters which i have. At the mention of letters the lawyer pursed up his lips, and
gave utterance to a thin little compassionate and contemptuous sound. Kindly consider, he
began, cases of that kind are, as you are aware, under ecclesiastical jurisdiction; the reverend
fathers are fond of going into the minutest details in cases of that kind, he said with a smile,
which betrayed his sympathy with the reverend fathers taste. Letters may, of course, be a partial
confirmation; but detection in the fact there must be of the most direct kind, that is, by
eyewitnesses, in fact, if you do me the honor to in trust your confidence to me, you will do well
to leave me the 806 of 1759 Anna fcarenina eBook brought to you by choice of the measures to
be employed, tf one wants the result, one must admit the means. if it is so... Alexey
Alexandrovitch began, suddenly turning white; but at that moment the lawyer rose and again
went to the door to speak to the intruding clerk. Tell her we don I haggle over fees! he said, and
returned to Alexey Alexandrovitch. On his way back he caught unobserved another moth. Nice
state my rep curtains will be in by the summer! he thought, f rowning. And so you were
saying?... he said, I will communicate my decision to you by letter, said Alexey Alexandrovitch,
getting up, and he clutched at the table. After standing a moment in silence, he said: From your
words f may consequently conclude that a divorce may be obtained? I would ask you to let me
know what are your terms, ft may be obtained if you give me complete liberty of action, said the
lawyer, not answering his question. "When can $ reckon on receiving information from you? he
asked, moving towards the door, his eyes and his varnished boots shining. 807 of 1759 Anna
fcarenina in a week s time. Your answer as to whether you will undertake to conduct the case,
and on what terms, you will be so good as to communicate to me. Very good. The lawyer bowed
respectfully, let his client out of the door, and, left alone, gave himself up to his sense of
amusement. He felt so mirthful that, contrary to his rules, he made a reduction in his terms to
the haggling lady, and gave up catching
staff crowding around the video monitor, then another explosion rocked the camera view and it
swung hack toward the advancing machines, on its way, it swept across lieutenant smith s
desperate face, he shouted, 'we re being overrun/ they came at us too fast.' the screen filled for
a moment with an image of one of the machines clanking forward on its robotic legs, its light-
cannon blasting to the left and right, then the machine aimed directly at the camera and the
screen went blank and the speakers filled with static, 'damn' davis pounded a fist on the desk
top. 'that s unbelievable, what kind of attack vehicle was that anyway?' the others stood or sat
silently, stricken dumb by what they d fust witnessed, 'and what kind of weapon were they
using?' davis fumed, 'another kind of death ray? how do we fight that? what are we supposed
to do against that kind of things' 'sir,' a senior officer seated at a nearby computer console
interrupted, clutching a headset to one ear. 'i ve got a report of another enemy attack, this one
in billings, seven machines; they ve already overrun the town; no defense force available;
moving northeast to southwest.' 'billings?' said lewis, 'that s on a path from the landings at fork
peck reservoir to sandstone mountain. sounds like they re trying to link forces' 'sounds like they
already have,' muttered davis. 'this enemy is moving like a blitzkrieg, how do we contain an
advance this fast?' an aide came into the room and handed lewis a computer printout, after
glancing at it quickly, she passed it to davis. 'sorry, matt, more bad news, this time from
louisiana: a massed invasion moving up from the coast.' davis sat down in a swivel chair in front
of the video console, 'we re getting bad news faster than we can listen to it.' he took the
printout from her and read it like it was a death notice, 'additional spaceships splashing down
on gulf of mexico. amphibious landings unopposed, fifty-plus fighting machines debarked,
moving inland to the north.' he frowned bitterly, 'have we got any military assets in the areas'
'Nothing organized,' said lewis, 'there s fort polk, but its equipment has been pretty thoroughly
neutralized. there s nothing intact down that way except some squad cars from the local sheriff
s department, that s how we re getting our information, from the county police vehicle radios,
but as far as a military force, nothing.' 'unopposed,' davis muttered, 'northbound from the gulf
of mexico. they ll keep going until they link up with the force in montana.' lewis nodded
somberly, 'sounds like that s their plan, sir.' chase hammered another nail into the two-by-four
kit had propped across the gap in the kitchen wall, they d scrounged some studs and plywood
from a pile in the barn and their makeshift patch was taking shape, hopefully strong enough to
keep out unwelcome visitors for as long as they remained in the house, when the nail was driven
he lifted his cap and wiped sweat from his brow, 'most of this house is made of solid pine logs
except the kitchen, why s that?' 'daddy added a section onto the old kitchen about the time i
was born,' said kit. 'mom wanted more space and something light with lots of windows. leave it
to a tyrannosaur to find the weak spot.' 'good point.' chase picked up another two-by-four, 'let s
beef
this up with some more cross-braces.' she nodded, 'enough to hold it until daddy gets back.' to
chase, it sounded like kit was in denial about her father s fate, by refusing to believe something
so tragic, she was staving off the pain of acknowledging her father s death, that explained why
she d brought his hat home and hung it on its peg by the back door, sooner or later, though, she
d have to face reality, a 'hrrumph' from ogilvey in the living room reminded chase of another
pressing issue: the little matter of a dinosaur in the house, the professor had been seated on the
couch throughout the afternoon with his notebooks on the coffee table, letting notes about the
captive pteronychus. as the creature had started coming around, chase had cinched up the
chains to restrain it to an upright pine-log ceiling post in a corner of the room, groggy from its
encounter with the shock weapon, it had squatted quietly at the base of the post in a posture
like that of a resting swan. although chase kept an ear to the living room as he worked, the
pteronychus had made no effort to escape,
not even testing the strength of its shackles, now ogilvey mumbled something to the creature-
not that it could understand, 'one thing i d like to know,' chase said to kit after pounding another
nail, 'is what we re going to do with that beast.' kit pursed her lips, 'i ll bet the army would like
to get hold of it.
on the other hand, dr. o is as well qualified to interrogate it as anyone, who else has dedicated
years to studying pteronychus?' chase shrugged, 'good point.' they covered the patch with
plywood and then took a few minutes to hammer the kitchen table together with the help of
some two-by-fours, 'it s getting near dinnertime,' said chase, 'and my stomach s been growling
for hours' 'we ve got a side of beef cut up in the freezer,' replied kit. 'i ll thaw some steaks, there
are carrots, peas, and new potatoes in the garden.' fifteen minutes later chase was shelling
peas while kit scrubbed potatoes at the sink, when the microwave oven completed its steak-
defrosting cycle and dinged, ogilvey came into the kitchen and pointed a thumb back in the
direction of the pteronychus. 'do you suppose its hungry?' 'how would you ever know?' asked
kit, peering at the captive, which had recovered its senses but remained settled in the corner of
the living room, ogilvey walked to the microwave, opened the door and picked up the
which led out of the square, my Attention was suddenly Aroused by the sound of A closing door
behind me. I looked round. And saw An undersized man in black on the door-step of A house,
which. As well As i could fudge, stood next to Mrs. Catherick s place of Abode-next to it, on the
side nearest to me. The man did not hesitate A moment About the direction he should take. He
Advanced rapidly towards the turning At which i had stopped. I recognised him As the lawyers
clerk, who had preceded me in my visit to Blackwater Park, And who had tried to pick A quarrel
with me, when i Asked him if i could see the house. i waited where i was, to Ascertain whether
his object was to come to close quarters And speak on this occasion. To my sur- prise he passed
on rapidly, without saying A word, without even looking up in my face As he went by. This was
such A complete inversion of the course of proceeding which I had every reason to expect on his
part, that my curiosity, or rather my suspicion, was Aroused, And i determined on my side to
keep him cautiously in view. And to discover what the business might be in which he was now
employed, without caring whether he saw me or not, i walked After him. He never looked back.
And he led me straight through the streets to the railway station. The train was on the point of
starting. And two or three passengers who were late were clustering round the small opening
through which the tickets were issued, i joined them. And distinctly heard the lawyers clerk
demand A ticket for the Blackwater station. i satisfied myself that he had Actually left by the
train before i came Away. There was only one interpretation that I could place on what I had just
seen And heard. i had unquestionably observed the man leaving A house which closely Adjoined
Mrs. Catherick s residence. He had been probably placed there, by Sir Percival s directions. As A
lodger, in Anticipation of my inquiries leading me, sooner or later, to communicate with Mrs.
Catherick. He had doubtless seen me go in And come out. And he had hurried SOB Away by the
first train to make his report At Blackwater Park, to which place Sir Percival would naturally
betake himself (knowing what he evidently knew of my movements), in order to be ready on the
spot, if I returned to Hampshire. Before many days were over, there seemed every likelihood
now that he And I might meet, whatever result events might be destined to produce, I resolved
to pursue my own course, straight to the end in view, without stopping or turning Aside for Sir
Percival or for Any one. The great responsibility which weighed on me heavily in London-the
responsibility of so guiding my slightest Actions As to prevent them from leading accidentally to
the discovery of Laura s place of refuge-was removed, now that i was in Hampshire. i could go
And come As i pleased At Welmingham. And if i chanced to fail in observing Any necessary
precautions, the immediate results. At least, would Affect no one but myself, when i left the
station
And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and saluted the
brethren, and abode with them one day. And the next day we that were of Paul s company
departed, and came unto Caesarea ; and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist,
which was one of the seven ; and abode with him. And the same man had four daughters,
virgins, which did prophesy. And as we tarried there many days, there came down from udea a
certain prophet, named Agabus. And when he was come unto us, he took Pauls girdle, and
bound his own hands and feet, and said. Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the 9ews at
Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the
Gentiles. And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to
go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, what mean ye to weep and to break mine heart I for f
am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord 9esus. And
when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying. The will of the Lord be done. And after
those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ll 12 13 14 15
2368
Acts 27 There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesarea, and brought with them one
Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge. Paul Arrested in the Temple And
when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the day following Paul
went in with us unto fames ; and all the elders were present. And when he had saluted them, he
declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. And
when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him. Thou seest, brother, how many
thousands of 9ews there are which believe ; and they are all zealous of the law : and they are
informed of thee, that thou teachest all the 9ews which are among the Gentiles to forsake
Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the
customs, what is it therefore s the multitude must needs come together : for they will hear that
thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee : We have four men which have a vow on
them ; them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may
shave their heads : and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning
thee, are nothing ; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. As touching
the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save
only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled,
and from fornication. Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them
entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an
offering should be offered for every one of them. 76 77 is 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 2369 Acts 21
And when the seven days were almost ended, the 9ews which were of Asia, when they saw him
in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, crying out. Men of Israel, help :
This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this
place : and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place. (For
they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that
Paul had brought into the temple.) And all the city was moved, and the people ran together :
and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple : and forthwith the doors were shut. And as
they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem
was in an uproar :
who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them : and when they saw
the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul. Then the chief captain came near,
and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains ; and demanded who he was,
and what he had done. And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude : and
when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the
castle. And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was
borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people. For the multitude of the people followed
after, crying. Away with him. Paul s Defense before the People And as Paul was to be led into the
castle, he said unto the chief captain. May $ speak unto thee s who said. Canst thou speak
Greek s 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 2370 Acts 22 Art not thou that Egyptian, which before
these days
madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers s
But Paul said, f am a man which am a few of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city :
and, s beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people. And when he had given him license,
Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was
made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying, 22 Men, brethren, and
fathers, hear ye my defense which i make now unto you. (And when they heard that he spake in
the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence : and he saith,) i am verily a man which
am a few, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and
taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God,
as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into
prisons both men and women. As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of
the elders : from whom also I received letters unto the brethren.
I who led them on this quest, and for you, too, tommy,' i added, looking at the poor little hound.
'you were foolish, tommy,' i went on, 'when you scented out that old tyrant in his coffin, at least
for our own sake.' indeed the dog was terribly scared, he whined continually and from time to
time ran a little way and then returned to us, suggesting that we should go from this horror-
haunted spot, lastly, as though he understood that it was oro who kept us there, he went to him
and lumping up, licked his hand in a beseeching fashion, the super-man looked at the dog and
as he looked the rage went out of his face andwas replaced by something resembling pity, 'i do
not wish the beast to die,' he muttered to himself in low reflective tones, as though he thought
aloud, 'for of them all it alone liked and did not fear me. I might take it with me but still it would
perish of grief in the loneliness of the caves, moreover, she loved it whom i shall see no more;
yes, yva-' as he spoke the name his voice broke a little.
'yet if i suffer them to escape they will tell my story to the world and make me a laughingstock.
well, if they do, what does it matters none of those western fools would believe it; thinking that
they knew all; like bickley they would mock and say that they were mad, or liars' again tommy
licked his hand, but more confidently, as though instinct told him something of what was
passing in oro s mind, i watched with anmidle wonder, marvelling whether it were possible that
this merciless being would after all spare us for the sake of the dog. so, strange to say, it came
about, for suddenly oro looked up and said: 'get you gone, andmquickly, before my mood
changes, the hound has saved you. for its sake i give you your lives, who otherwise should
certainly have died, she who has gone pointed out to you, i doubt not, a road that runs to the
upper air. i think that it is still open, indeed,' he added, closing his eyes for a moment, 'I see that
it is still open, if long and difficult, follow it, and should you win through, take your boatmand
sail away as swiftly as you can. whether you die or live i care nothing, but my hands will be clean
of your blood, although yours are stained with yva s. begone! and my curse go with you.'
Without waiting for further words we went to fetch our lanterns, water-bottles and bag of food
which we had laid down at a little distance, as we approached them i looked up and saw oro
standing some way off. the light from one of the blue globes of fire which passed close above his
head, shone upon him and made him ghastly, moreover, it seemed to me as though
approaching death had written its name upon his malevolent countenance, i turned my head
away, for about his aspect in those sinister surroundings there was something horrible,
something menacing and repellent man and of him i wished to see no more, nor indeed did i, for
when i glanced in that direction again oro was gone, i suppose that he had retreated into the
shadows where no light played, we gathered up our gear, and while the others were relighting
the lanterns, i walked a few paces forward to the spot where yva had been dissolved in the
devouring fire, something caught my eye upon the rocky floor, i picked it up. it was the ring, or
rather the remains of the ring that i had given her on that night when we declared our love
amidst the ruins by the crater lake, she had never worn it on her hand but for her own reasons,
as she told me, suspended it upon her breast beneath her robe, it was an ancient ring that i had
bought in egypt, fashioned of gold in which was set a very hard basalt or other black stone, on
this was engraved the ank or looped cross, which was the egyptian symbol of life, and round it a
snake, the symbol of eternity, the gold was for the most part melted, but the stone, being so
hard and protected by the shield and asbestos cloak, for such i suppose it was, had resisted the
fury of the flash, only now it was white instead of black, like a burnt onyx that had known the
funeral pyre, indeed, perhaps it was an onyx, i kissed it and hid it away, for it seemed to me to
convey a greeting and with it a promise, then we started, a very sad and defected trio, leaving
with a shudder that vast place where the blue lights played eternally, we came to the shaft up
and down which the travelling stone pursued its endless path, and saw it arrive and depart
again, 'i wonder he did not send us that way,' said bickley, pointing to it. 'i am sure i am very
glad it never occurred to him,' answered bastin, 'for i am certain that we could not have made
the fourney again without our guide, yva.' i looked at him and he ceased, somehow i could not
bear, as yet, to hear her beloved name spoken by other lips, then we entered the passage that
she pointed out to us, and began a most terrible fourney which, so far as we could fudge, for we
lost any exact count of time, took us about sixty hours, the road, it is true, was smooth and
unblocked, but the ascent was fearfully steep and slippery; so much so that often we were
obliged to pull each other up it and lie down to rest, had it not been for those large, felt-covered
bottles of life- water, i am sure we should never have won through, but this marvelous elixir.
pleasure in the full curve of her body, next she began unpinning her skirt at the spot where it
had been looped up stylishly to display her petticoat, the ship rolled again and the lid of the
locker dropped shut. as the floor tilted back to an even keel f she quickly stepped out of the
soaking dress and petticoats, letting them collapse onto the planking in a dripping heap, in the
light of the swinging lamp the once-blue taffeta looked a muddy gray, the ship suddenly pitched
backward, followed by a low groan that sounded through the timbers as it shuddered to a dead
stop, the floor of the cabin lay at a tilt, sloping down toward the stern, she stepped to the locker
and pried the lid back open, inside were several changes of canvas breeches, as well as a fine
striped silk pair, she laughed as she pulled them out to inspect them in the flickering light, what
would he say if i were to put these on, she wondereds they re doubtless part of his vain pride.
without hesitating she shook out the legs and drew them on under her wet shift, there was no
mirror, but as she tied the waiststring she felt their sensuous snugness about her thighs, the legs
were short, intended to fit into hose or boots, and they revealed her fine turn of ankle, next she
lifted out a velvet doublet, blue and embroidered, with gold buttons down the front, she
admired it a moment, mildly surprised that he would own such a fine garment, then laid it on
the table while she pulled her dripping shift over her head, the rush of air against her skin made
her suddenly aware how hot and sultry the cabin really was. impulsively she walked back to the
windows aft and unlatched them, outside the sea churned and pounded against the stern, while
dark rain still beat against the quarter gallery. she took a deep breath as she felt the cooling
breeze wash over her clammy face and breasts, she was wondering how her hair must look
when she heard a voice, 'you forgot your port."
she gasped quietly as she turned, hugh winston was standing beside her, holding out a tankard,
'well, do you care to take its' he smiled and glanced down at her breasts, 'my, but that was no
time at all.' She reached for the tankard, then looked back toward the table where her wet shift
lay. 'grounding a ships no trick, you fust weigh the anchor and pray she comes about, getting
her afloat again s the difficulty.' he leaned against the window frame and lifted his tankard, 'so
here s to freedom again someday, katy. mine, yours.' she started to drink, then remembered
herself and turned toward the table to retrieve her shift. 'i don I expect you ll be needing that.'
she continued purposefully across the cabin, 'well, sir, i didn I expect . . .' 'oh, donI start now
being a coquette. i like you too much the way you are.' a stroke of lightning split down the sky
behind him. he drank again, then set down his tankard and was moving toward her. 'i m not
sure i know what you mean.' 'take it as a compliment. i despise intriguing women.' he seemed to
look through her. 'though you do always manage to get whatever you re after, one way or other,
going about it your own way.' a clap of thunder sounded through the open stern windows. 'i d
also wager you ve had your share of experience in certain personal matters, for which i suppose
there s your royalist gallant to thank.' 'that s scarcely your concern, is its you ve no claim over
me.' she settled her tankard on the table, reached for his velvet doublet-at least it was dry-and
started draping it over her bare shoulders, 'nor am i sure I relish bluntness as much as you
appear to.' 'it s my fashion, i ve been out in the caribbees too long, dodging musket balls, to
bother with a lot of fancy court chatter.' 'there s bluntness, and there s good breeding, i trust
you at least haven I forgotten the difference.' 'i suppose you think you can enlighten me.' 'well,
since i m wearing your breeches, which appear meant for a gentleman, perhaps it d not be
amiss to teach you how to address a lady.' she stepped next to him, her eyes mischievous, 'try
repeating after me. yours is a comely shape, madam, on my life, that delights my very heart,
and your fine visage might shame a cherubim. ' she suppressed a smile at his dumbfounded
look, then continued. ' those eyes fire my thoughts with promised sweetness, and those lips are
like petals of the rose . . . ' 'god s bloodi he caught her open doublet and drew her toward him. 'if
it s a fop you d have me be, i suppose the rest could probably go something like . . . begging to
be kissed, they seem fine and soft, are they kind as wells ' he slipped his arms about her and
pulled her against his wet ferkin. after the first shock, she realized he tasted of salt and
gunpowder, as a sudden gust of rain from the window extinguished the sea lamp, she felt
herself being slowly lowered against the heavy oak table in the center of the cabin, now his
mouth had moved to her breasts, as he half-kissed, half-bit her ni pples-whet her in desire or
merely to tease she could not tell, finally she reached and drew his face up to hers. 'i m not in
love with you, captain winston. never expect that. i could never give any man that power over
me.' she laughed at his startled eyes.
'but i wouldn I mind if you wanted me.' 'katy, i ve wanted you for a fortnight.' he drew back and
looked at her. 'i had half a mind not to let you away from this ship the last
prodded izzy over, grabbed a couple of torches, and cleared a space by singeing anyone within
reach, in a minute the place was reeling with screams and the stench of burnt hair, after
adamantly whispering in izzy s ear, micah walked back to amantu, fobbing a finger repeatedly
at abel as he strode, 'watch himi malachi obediently busied himself with abel. micah yanked
back the professor s head, 'okay,' he breathed, 'we s all set. you two meets in the center and you
kicks the fat boy in the nuts fust once, don I let him do you back. I telled him you d be instructed
to faint-and-perry, so he won I be ready, it s what we calls a
internal double-cross, fust like what you done on him what taked it for us.' his eyes sizzled, 'you
remember how to pull a fast one now, don I you, senators' the prisoners were pushed face to
face, malachi released izzy, who stood sagging like an abandoned marionette, 'right in the nutsi
micah hissed, and backed away, after half a minute izzy opened his puffy, oil-soaked eyes,
trembling all over, he threw out his arms, sobbed, 'oh . . . hammeri and fell into the professor s
wide embrace, 'f-f-forfeitf malachi screamed, stamping in circles while amantu stroked izzy s
filthy crown, 'forfeit my hoary white arsei micah socked amantu upside the head, the professor
didn I budge, cussing up a
storm, the brute tore off his gloves and reached past a torn-gold shoulder for izzy s collar, he
was absolutely stunned when amantu, still gripping izzy in one arm, turned half -around and
backhanded him right across the face, the two
stood chin to chin, their eyes locked, 'know good fighting blood,' the hammer said evenly, 'when
you smell it.' Malachi shrieked with anticipation, picking up on the excitement, the hundreds of
babbling crawlers made for the source, mucking up the ring in the process, malachi waded
through the prostrate swarm hissing, braining as many as he could reach with a torch-head,
'sometime,' micah mumbled, 'sometime soon.' he grabbed an old man and worked him over
furiously for malachi s sake, watching the stalwart professor all the while, amantu turned away,
with malachi distracted, abel was able to foin his friends. the reformed group, cowed by torches,
were knocked wall-to-wall through the mob like caroming billiard balls, the flow halted at
the opening to a low, unlit cave, where men and women began flogging themselves and
coughing out strange garbled sentences, apparently directed to the tiny cave s interior, inside it
was absolutely black, micah threw his left arm around amantu s neck, his right arm around the
necks of abel and izzy, and pulled all three together until the men s crowns were touching, he
was an immensely strong man, and he stank terribly, even in this foul place, he
laid his bone-white chin on the moist nest of their contiguous heads and called into the little
hole, 'we gone and captured us the barberusf caught him and his pretty fairy-mates up in the
citydel. he s been taked to the stone hollow now, but mama ll be wanting the little-dots on these
three flifty-flight fancies' he gave amantu a big smacking kiss on his hot wooly crown, and with
that the group were kicked headlong into the dark, they immediately drew into a tight seated
huddle, panting frantically, nursing their sores while their eyes adfusted. bad as it was outside,
this little hellhole reeked vilely, micah, crouching in the entrance, spat out, 'don I even think
about leaving till he s done with you! you make us chase you again and i swears to the almighty
soul we ll put an end to you, splickety-splat, and right where we catches ye. so keeps your butts
level, and your eyes straight ahead, we ll be right here waiting, and boy, will we be watching' at
a barked command, malachi hunched fust outside the cave s mouth, using his spread cloak to
block the light, izzy shuddered as he clung, 'this abuse must end/ this abu . . . i can I brea-i can I
brea-i can I brea-' 'hang on, mani abel whispered, 'i m right here.' izzy slapped him furiously. '
right here! where were you ten minutes ago, when i and the hammer were standing off a
madmans' abel smacked him right back, 'getting my teeth singed, you miserable little turncoat.'
he craned and squinted in the dark, 'what did he mean, done with uss until who s done with uss'
the group froze, a primitive dread of dens and lairs made them read strange shapes out of
common contours, every little nook and protuberance demanded varying measures of attention,
but soon all eyes were fixed on a single, too-regular bulge that seemed to be pumping out of the
pitch, the possle approached in lunges and slithers, his grotesque body dipping and rising side-
to-side, he was unable to move otherwise, as all four limbs had been amputated long ago,
leaving simple chubby outgrowths at the shoulders and hips, there were no eyes, only black
sockets that appeared to search the dark, as the men backed away the heaving horror froze,
and for perhaps half a minute the head felt the cave, rolling left and right a centimeter at a
time, it took abel to break the silence, 'you
poor wretch, who did this to yous' the possle came directly at him, waving his stumps for
balance, when he was a yard away he stopped and raised his head like a sea Hon. his struggles
to articulate were expressed in sucks and whistles, 'mama say possle stay, serve mama: good
limb make bad possle. mama say possle not see elsewhere: good eye see bad thing, mama say
possle talk too much.' he showed them the wagging nub of his severed tongue, 'now good
possle.' he flopped round to each man in turn, 'mama say possle test all man-one man, two
man, three, all man three man-sell thief to punchus pilot, mama say thief belong mama.' 'oh
mercies!' izzy
of losing myself, thereupon he waved his hand, and i really can I say what happened* 'did you
levitate up
here,' asked bickley, 'like the late lamented mr. home at the spiritualistic sances no, i did not
exactly levitate, but something or someone seemed to get a hold of me, and i was just rushed
along in a most tumultuous fashion, the next thing i knew was that i was standing at the door of
that sepulchre, though i have no recollection of going up in the lift, or whatever it is. i believe
those beastly caves are full of ghosts, or devils, and the worst of it is that they have kept my
solar-tope, which i put on this morning forgetting that it would be useless there* 'the lady yva s
fourth dimension in action, i suggested, 'only it wouldnI work on solar-topes, i don I know what
you are talking about* said bastin, 'but if my hat had to be left, why not my boots and other
garmentss please stop your nonsense and pass the tea. Thank goodness i haven I got to go
down there tomorrow, as he seems to have had enough of me for the present, so i vote we all
pay a visit to the ship, it will be a very pleasant change.
i couldn I stand two days running with that old fiend, and his ghosts or devils in the cave* next
morning accordingly, fearing no harm from the orof enans, we took the canoe and rowed to the
main island, mar am a had evidently seen us coming, for he and a number of his people met us
with every demonstration of delight, and escorted us to the ship, here we found things fust as
we had left them, for there had been no attempt at theft or other mischief, while we were in the
cabin a fit of moral weakness seemed to overcome bickley, the first and i may add the last from
which i ever saw him suffer. *do you know* he said, addressing us, *i think that we should do
well to try to get out of this place, eliminating a great deal of the marvelous with which we
seem to have come in touch here, it is still obvious that we find ourselves in very peculiar and
unhealthy surroundings. i mean mentally unhealthy, indeed i think that if we stay here much
longer we shall probably go off our heads, now that boat on the deck remains sound and
seaworthy.
why should not we provision her and take our chances we know more or less which way to
steer* bastin and i looked at each other, it was he who spoke first, 'wouldn I it be rather a risky
fob in an open boats' he asked, 'however, that doesn I matter much because i don I take any
account of risks, knowing that i am of more value than a sparrow and that the hairs of my head
are all numbered.' 'they might be numbered under water as well as above it,' muttered bickley,
'and i feel sure that on your own showing, you would be as valuable dead as alive.' 'what i seem
to feel,' went on bastin, *is that i have work to my hand here, also, the locum tenens at fukombe
no doubt runs the parish as well as i could, indeed i consider him a better man for the place than
i am. that old oro is a tough proposition, but i do not despair of him yet, and besides him there is
the glittering lady, a most open-minded person, whom i have not yet had any real opportunity of
approaching in a spiritual sense, then there are all these natives who cannot learn without a
teacher, so on the whole i think i would rather stay where i am until providence points out some
other pathi am of the same opinion, if for somewhat different reasons i said. i do not suppose
that it has often been the fortune of men to come in touch with such things as we have found
upon this island, they may be illusions, but at least they are very interesting illusions, one might
live ten lifetimes and find nothing else of the sort, therefore i should like to see the end of the
dream bickley reflected a little, then said: *on the whole i agree with you. Only my brain totters
and i am terribly afraid of madness, i cannot believe what i seem to hear and see, and that way
madness lies, it is better to die than to go mad* 'you ll do that anyway when your time comes,
bickley, i mean decease, of course,' interrupted bastin. 'and who knows, perhaps all this is an
opportunity given by providence to open your eyes, which, i must say, are singularly blind, you
think you know everything there is to learn, but the fact is that like the rest of us, you know
nothing at all, and good man though you are, obstinately refuse to admit the truth and to seek
support elsewhere, for my part i believe that you are afraid of falling in love with that glittering
lady and of being convinced by her that you are wrong in your most unsatisfactory conclusions*
*i am out-voted anyway* said bickley, 'and for the rest, bastin, look after yourself and leave me
alone, i will add that on the whole i think you are both right, and that it is wisest for us to stop
where we are, for after all we can only die once.' 'i am not so sure, bickley. there is a thing called
the second death, which is what is troubling that old scoundrel, oro. now i will go and look for
those books* so the idea of flight was abandoned, although i admit that even to myself it had
attractions, for i felt that i was being wrapped in a net of mysteries from which i saw no escape,
yes, and of more than mysteries; i who had sworn that i would
just, the independent, And the honourable course, ft was A poor chance enough, no doubt, but
when i had tried it my con- science would be At ease. I should then have done All that A man in
my position could do to serve the interests of my old friend s only child. The weather on
Saturday was beautiful, A west wind And A bright sun. Having felt latterly A return of that
fulness And op- pression of the head. Against which my doctor warned me so seriously more
than two years since, I resolved to take the op- portunity of getting A little extra exercise by
sending my bag on before me And walking to the terminus in Fusion Square. As i came out into
Holborn A gentleman walking by rapidly stopped And spoke to me. tt was Mr. Walter Hartright.
ff he had not been the first to greet me I should certainly have passed him. He was so changed
that I hardly knew him Again. His face looked pale And haggard-his manner was hur- ried And
uncertain-And his dress, which i remembered As neat And gentlemanlike when i saw him At
Ummeridge, was so slov- enly now that I should really have been Ashamed of the Appear-Ance
of it on one of my own clerks. 'Have you been long back from Cumberlands' he Asked. "I heard
from Miss Hakombe lately. I Am Aware that Sir Percival Clyde s explanation has been considered
satisfactory, will the 158 marriage take place soons Do you happen to know Mr. Gilmores' He
spoke so fast. And crowded his questions together so strangely And confusedly, that I could
hardly follow him. However Accidentally intimate he might have been with the family At
Ummeridge, I could not see that he had Any right to expect information on their private Affairs,
And I determined to drop him. As easily As might be, on the sub/ect of Miss Fairlie s marriage.
'Time will show, Mr. Hart right,' I said-'time will show. I dare say if we look out for the marriage
in the papers we shall not be far wrong. Fxcuse my noticing it, but i Am sorry to see you not
looking so well As you were when we last met.' A momentary nervous contraction quivered
About his lips And eyes. And made me half reproach myself for having Answered him in such A
significantly guarded manner. 'i had no right to Ask About her marriage,' he said bitterly. 'i must
wait to see it in the newspapers like other people. Yes,'-he went on before I could make Any
Apologies-"I have not been well lately, I Am going to Another country to try A change of scene
And occupation. Miss Hakombe has kindly Assisted me with her influence. And my testimonials
have been found satisfactory, ft is A long distance off, but I don I care where I go, what the
climate is, or how long i Am Away' He looked About him while he said this At the throng of
strangers passing us by on either side, in A strange, suspicious manner. As if he thought that
some of them might be watching us. 'i wish you well through it. And safe back Again,' i said. And
then Added, so As not to keep him Altogether At Arm s length on
could not be said to be conscious of it, the remembrance of their former rivalry, ?o completely
buried in oblivion for the last year and ten months, was insensibly recovering its hold upon their
minds, and the question was all but coming to the surface as to what would happen if, on their
return to earth, the hand?ome madam e de I should still be free, from companions in peril,
would they not again be avowed rivals? conceal it as theywould, a coolness was undeniably
stealing over an intimacy which, though it could never be called affectionate, had been
uniformly friendly and courteous, under these circumstances, it was not surprising that hector
servadac should not have confided to the count a project which, wild as it was, could scarcely
have failed to widen the unacknowledged breach that was opening in their f riendship. the
project was the annexation of ceuta to the french dominion, the englishmen, rightly enough,
had continued to occupy the fragment of gibraltar, and their claim was indisputable. but the
island of ceuta, which before the shock had
commanded the opposite side of the strait, and had been occupied by Spaniards, had since been
abandoned, and was therefore
free to the first occupant who should lay claim to it. to plant the tricolor upon it, in the name of
franee, was now the cherished wish of servadac s heart, 'who knows," he said to himself,
'whether ceuta, on its return to earth, may not occupy a grand and commanding situation?
what a proud thing it would be to have secured its possession to franeei next morning, as ?oon
as they had taken their brief farewell of their friends, and were fairly out of sight of the shore,
servadac imparted his design to ben zoof, who entered into the project with the greatest zest,
and expressed himself delighted, not only at the prospect of adding to the dominions of his
beloved country, but of stealing a march upon england. both travelers were warmly clad, the
orderly s knapsack containing all the necessary provisions, the journey was accomplished
without special incident; halts were made at regular intervals, for the purpose of taking food
and rest, the temperature by night as well as by day was quite endurable, and on the fourth
afternoon after starting, thanks to the straight course which their compass enabled them to
maintain, the adventurers found themselves within a few miles of ceuta. as ?oon as ben zoof
caught sight of the rock on the western horizon, he was all excitement. just as if he were in a
regiment going into action, he talked wildly about 'columns' and 'squares' and 'charges' the
captain, although less demonstrative, was hardly less eager to reach the rock, they both pushed
forward with all possible speed till they were within a mile and a half of the shore, when ben
zoof, who had a very keen vision, stopped suddenly, and said that he was sure he could see ?
omething moving on the top of the island, 'never mind, let us hasten on,' said servadac. a few
minutes carried them over another mile, when ben zoof stopped again, 'what is it, ben zoof?'
asked the captain, 'it looks to me like a man on a rock, waving his arms in the air,' said the
orderly, 'plague on it!' muttered servadac; 'i hope we are not too late.' again they went on; but ?
oon ben zoof stopped for the third time, 'it is a semaphore, sir; i see it quite distinctly.' and he
was not mistaken; it had been a telegraph in motion that had caught his eye. 'plague on it!'
repeated the captain, 'too late, sir, do you think?' said ben zoof.
'yes, ben zoof; if that s a telegraphand there is no doubt of it ?omebody has been before us and
erected it; and, moreover, if it is moving, there must be ?omebody working it now.' he was
keenly disappointed. Looking towards the north, he could distinguish gibraltar faintly visible in
the extreme distance, and upon the summit of the rock both ben zoof and himself fancied they
could make out another semaphore, giving signals, no doubt, in response to the one here, 'yes,
it is only too clear; they have already occupied it, and established their communications,' said
servadac. 'and what are we to do, then?' asked ben zoof. 'we must pocket our chagrin, and put
as good a face on the matter as we can,' replied the captain, 'but perhaps there are only four or
five englishmen to protect the place,' said ben zoof, as if meditating an assault, 'no, no, ben zoof
' answered servadac; 'we must do nothing rash, we have had our warning, and, unless our
representations can induce them to yield their position, we must resign our hope.' thus
discomfited, they had reached the foot of the rock, when all at once, like a 'jackinthebox ' a
sentinel started up before them with the challenge: 'who goes there?' 'friends, vive la franee!'
cried the captain, 'hurrah for england!' replied the ?oldier. by this time four other men had made
their appearance from the upper part of the rock, 'what do you want?' asked one of them,
whom servadac remembered to have seen before at gibraltar. 'can i
speak to your commanding officer?' servadac inquired, 'which?' said the man. 'the officer in
command of ceuta' 'yes, if there is one.' 'i will acquaint him with your arrival,' answered the
englishman, and disappeared, in a few minutes the commanding officer, attired in full uniform,
was seen descending to the shore, it was major oliphant himself, servadac could no longer
entertain a doubt that the englishmen had forestalled him in the occupation of ceuta. provisions
and fuel had evidently been conveyed thither in the boat from gibraltar before the sea had
frozen, and a ? olid casemate, hollowed in the rock, had afforded major oliphant and his
contingent ample protection from the rigor of the winter, the ascending smoke that rose above
the rock was sufficient evidence that good fires were still kept up; the olders appeared to have
thriven
passions, here again he had not explored very deep, hut he had dismissed regrets like these with
only a slight reluctance, for if they had settled down a hit with the coming of their children, their
love had grown rich in sympathies and silent understandings, in humorous enjoyment of their
funny little daughters chattering like magpies in the genial old house, and they had looked
happily far ahead, what a woman she had been for plans, it had not been all smooth sailing,
there had come reverses in business, and at home one baby, a boly, had died, hut on they had
gone and the years had swept by until he had reached his forties, absorbed in his growing
business and in his thriving family, it had seemed to roger still as though he were just starting
out. hut one day, quite suddenly, the house had become a strange place to him with a strange
remote figure in it, his wife, for he had learned that she must die. there had followed terrible
weeks, then Judith had faced their disaster. little by little she had won hack the old intimacy with
her husband; and through the slow hut inexorable progress of her ailment, again they had come
together in long talks and plans for their children, at this same chessboard, in this room,
repeatedly she would stop the game and smiling she would look into the future, at one such
time she had said to him, 'i wonder if it won I he the same with the children as it has been with
us. no matter how long each one of them lives, won I their lives feel to them unfinished like ours,
only just beginning? i wonder how far they will go. and then their children will grow up and it
will he the same with them, unfinished lives, oh, dearie, what children all of us are.' he had put
his arm around her then and had held her very tight, and feeling the violent trembling of her
husband s fierce revolt, slowly bending hack her \6\head and looking up into his eyes she had
continued steadily: 'and when you come after me, my dear, oh, how hungry i shall he for all you
will tell me. for you will live on in our children s lives." and she had asked him to promise her
that, hut he had not kept his promise, for after Judith s dying he had felt himself terribly alone,
with eternity around him, his wife slipping far away, and the universe had grown stark and hard,
impersonal, relentless, cold, a storm of doubts had attacked his faith, and though he had
resisted long, for his faith in god had been rooted deep in the mountains of new England, in the
end it had been wrenched away, and with it he had lost all hope that either for Judith or himself
was there any existence beyond the grave, so death had come to rogers soul, he had been deaf
and blind to his children, nights by the thousand spent alone, like a gray level road in his
memory now was the story of his family, when had his spirit begun to awaken? he could not tell,
it had been so slow, his second daughter, Deborah, who had stayed at home with her father
when laura had gone away to school, had done little things continually to rouse his interest in
life, edith s winsome babies had attracted him when they came to the house, laura had returned
from school, a joyous creature, tall and slender, with snapping black eyes, and had soon made
her presence felt, one day in the early afternoon, as he entered the house there had burst on his
ears a perfect gale of laughter; and peering through the portieres he had seen the dining-room
full of young girls, a crew as wild as laura herself, hastily he had retreated upstairs.
hut he had enjoyed such glimpses, he had liked to see her fresh pretty gowns and to have her
come in and kiss him good-night, then had come a sharp heavy jolt, his business had suffered
from long neglect, and suddenly for two anxious [7~\weeks he had found himself facing
bankruptcy, edith s husband, a lawyer, had come to his aid and together they had pulled out of
the hole, hut he had been forced to mortgage the house, and this had brought to a climax all the
feelings of guiltiness which had so long been stirring within him over his failure to live up to the
promise he had made his wife, and so roger had looked at his children, and at first to his
profound surprise he had had it forced upon him that these were three grown women, each
equipped with her own peculiar feminine traits and desires, the swift accumulations of lives
which had expanded in a city that had reared to the skies in the many years of his long sleep,
hut very slowly, month by month, he had gained a second impression which seemed to him
deeper and more real, to the eye they were grown women all, hut inwardly they were children
still, each groping for her happiness and each held hack as he had been, either by checks within
herself or by the gay distractions of the absorbing city, he saw each of his daughters, parts of
himself, and he remembered what Judith had said: 'you will live on in our children s lives." and
he began to get glimmerings of a new immortality, made up of generations, an endless
succession of other lives extending into the future, some of all this he remembered now, in
scattered fragments here and there, then from somewhere far away a great hell began
booming the hour, and it roused him from his revery. he had often heard the hell of late, a calm
deep-toned intruder, it had first struck in upon his attention something over two years ago.
vaguely he had wondered about it. soon he had found it was on the top of
would ever he. the next morning rudy came by to pick me up. we would leave just the one car at
the airport, frank wanted to meet us there, i asked, 'do you mind if we stop and say so long to
max. i ll ask her to watch the place while we re gone.' 'it s okay by me.
we ve got some time before our flight leaves,' said rudy. we pulled up in front of the old Webster
place and parked, there were no vehicles in sight, everything was quiet, 'have you ever seen max
drive a car?' i asked, 'can I say that i have,' said rudy, 'but she has to have some way to get
around.' we walked up the steps to the front porch, i opened the screen door and knocked on
the front door.
we waited, there were no sounds from inside, sometimes in these older homes you can hear the
creak of the floor when someone walks across it. i knocked again and again, there were no
sounds, no answer, all was silent.
i walked over to the window, there was a slight break in the curtains, i got as close as I could
and placed one eye next to the opening, cupping my hands around my eyes to block out the
sunlight.
it was dark inside, it looked like all the curtains and blinds had been closed across all the
windows, I didn I see any movement. the house appeared to be empty, max had probably just
stepped out for a little while, 'i m going to run around back, maybe she s outside, if she s not
around i ll write her a note and leave it on the front door,' i said, 'okay, i ll check out in the
garage,' said rudy. there was a gap between the blind blades at one of the back windows, i
strained to see inside, it was just as dark inside from this angle, rudy came around back, 'there s
no car in the garage, she must have gone into town.' 'you re probably right, i ll be ready to go
after i take one more look.' i moved down to the next window and strained my eyes in an
attempt to see into the darkness, there was a movement. or was there? i concent rated on the
same place and waited, there it was again, it was the toe of a shoe, barely sticking out from the
edge of the bed. it was moving, ever so slightly, my heart skipped a beat as i gasped, there was
someone in there, my heart began to race at ninety miles an hour as the adrenalin kicked in. i
yelled out as i raced to the front of the house, 'rudy, we have to get into the house... now!' rudy
showed no hesitation, he lumped up on the front porch, flung open the screen door with one
hand and with one powerful kick the front door flew open, splinters flying, he stepped back out
of the way, not knowing wby he had kicked in the door, 'fack, what s going on?' he asked, 'there
s someone in the house, on the floor, and it s not max.
come on.' i waved rudy to follow me. i cautiously opened the door to the back bedroom, i
stepped into the room and flipped on the light switch, rudy right behind me. sitting on the floor,
backs to the wall, were the websters. both had their hands and feet bound, 'oh, my godi i
exclaimed, they were sitting there, still and seemingly lifeless, their hands and legs bound, i knelt
down and felt for their pulses, one at a time.
hank s pulse seemed to be okay, but martha s was very weak, 'rudy, get the operator, get
someone out here!' i took out my pocket knife and knelt down to cut through their bindings, i
gave martha s shoulder a little shake, she didn I respond, i tried hank, he moaned and opened
his eyes a crack, he squinted at the bright light that now entered into the room, i went to the
kitchen and brought back a glass of water, when i returned hank was holding martha s hand,
patting it gently, her eyes opened slightly, but it was obvious she was in bad sharpe. i handed
the glass to hank and he placed it next to her lips, the moisture of the water wetted her lips, she
licked her lips and opened her mouth slightly, he tilted the glass a little more to allow more of
the cool liquid into her mouth and down her parched throat. we could see an immediate
improvement, her eyes opened wider and she looked around the room, then to hank, she
smiled, hank took a sip of the water, he smiled back and asked, 'how do you feel?' 'i m all
right,' she whispered, 'and you?' 'i m okay.' then his face turned red with anger, 'but if i get my
hands on that...' his voice trailed off. he tried to get up, but was too weak and slumped back to
the floor, rudy ran back into the house, 'fack, i talked to the telephone operator, she said she
would notify both the hospital and the police and have them get someone out here.' i nodded,
'who are you talking about, hank?' i asked, 'that..,' he tried to hold back, but was so mad he
couldn I contain it anymore, '...sadistic you-know-what that tied us up,' he blurted, 'now hank,
you know you need to watch your blood pressure,' said Martha weakly, 'i know, mohure.' the
websters had never had any children, but hank had begun to call martha mohure as
a term of endearment many years ago and it still seemed appropriate somehow, she did mohure
him just a little, too. 'i guess when you get down to it, you re right, she was a sadistic... you-
know-what.' they weakly smiled at each ohure. it took me only a second to realize they were
talking about max. and at the
your friendship with your mother and your father, who were your most faithful friends?' {v.3:
S47-S49) 'when the gold nature of that which you love turns to its original ugliness, when only
the copper remains, your nature is surfeited and is separated from it.' (v.3: 555) 'the beauty in
mortals is only but a temporal reflection of divine beauty, the reflecting light will return to its
origin one day. o disciple, does not gaze on mortal or temporal beauty, but rather search for the
one who gave themi 'the light falling onto the wall from the sun returns to the sun. do not look
at the light on the wall, go to the one that sends the light, go to the sun; this is what you
deserve.' 'henceforth take your water from heaven, as you have not found any faithfulness
in the love to be wasted in useless places, all friends in this world other than allah who receive
our love are absolute mortals, for this reason the main target of love and friendship should be
the lord almighty, on the one hand, the lord almighty is beyond comprehension and distant from
perception {muta al), but on the other, he is a friend and helper of his servant, he is closer than
the fugular vein, if the servant arduously tries to get close to his lord in his heart, then allah
almighty announces that he will become 'his eyes with which he sees, his ears with which he
hears, his hands with which he holds...' {zubdat l-bukhari, ll07). about this
state it is said: 'for us allah sufficeth, and he is the best disposer of affairs' {al imran, 3: 173)
when all is said, profane love, which is a heartfelt closeness and bonding with other than allah,
is only permissible when it is experienced as a temporary phase, in this case, that love becomes
a phase on the path to divine love, but, if that mortal being captivates the heart, it will become
idolized and hinder divine reunion, if one can become like ma/nun and say, 'i found maw I a (my
lord) through layla' and turn the profane love into a phase of reaching divine love, what a
blessing this is/ 'the love for absolute beauty' is the real love, to become its seeker is the
greatest and noblest goal in this life, the mathnawi: 'i swear by the holy being
of allah, to whom everything and everyone is in need but who is not in need of anything or
anyone,
that a malignant snake is better than a malignant friend the malignant snake takes the life of a
man. but
a malignant friend leads him into the everlasting fire' 'the heart secretly steals the disposition
from the disposition of the
companion, without speech and talk his morals become yours.' as we have stated before, 'states
are contagious', that is, being with a good person will produce a positive influence and being
with a malignant person will produce a negative influence. the prophet ma ham mad (pbuh)
explained this with the following illust ration: 'the f riendshi p of a good or a bad person is
like the state of the perfume vendor and the blacksmith, the perfume vendor will either give you
some perfume for free or you will buy it. you will (at least) have inhaled the beautiful scents
(while you are with him). the blacksmit h will either burn your clothes or you will be
uncomfortable with the disagreeable smell of his shop' (bukhari, dhaba ih, 31). imam rabbani
gave the following example of the perils that befalls one with corrupt 'the person
who is very close to gamblers might not be gambling, thus, he will not feel tarnished, however,
during the time
he accompanies them he will start condoning gambling, and this is a spiritual disaster.'
consciously or not, abandoning such a
shield, which is a necessary protection from any kind of sin, introduces the danger of falling into
that sin at
any moment, companionship with crude or ignorant people will bring about a psychological
proximity with them, in time, this proximity
will turn into a heartfelt closeness and, little by little, one will be dragged into destruction, the
mathnawi: 'the turpitude
of bef riending the hypocrites makes the believer wicked and rebellious like them.' (v.2: 2892)
the worst kind of wickedness is
bypocrisy, the state of a bypocrite in islam is worse than that of a 'harmless heathen', a
bypocrite s harm
in misleading is far greater than that of a heathen who does not insinuate their ideas to people
with blasphemy.
for this reason, those who come to the greatest harm are those who befriend the bypocrites,
mental connection turns into a heartfelt relationshi p. this causes the ruin and disap poi nt ment
of the believer, mawlana indicated this reality in the previous verse.
the mathnawi: 'since in our eyes {foresight) there is much defect, go, let your own sight pass
away in the sight of the friend.' 'his sight for ours - what a goodly recompense/ in his sight you
will find the whole object of your desire.' (v.1: 921-922) although it may be bitter, friends always
try to tell the truth, a friend will not sby away from telling the truth and will prefer to
temporarily hurt a friend rather than see them endure a lasting harm, in some other verses,
mawlana rumi explains this with the story of a man who tells another man who has come to
him for advice that he cannot help him. 'a man wanted advice on a matter for he could not
arrive at a decision in order to get rid of his doubts, the person he wanted to consult said: 'i
appreciate the fact that you trusted me and came to me for advice, but i am not your friend, go
and find someone else and consult him. i am not your friend, so do not consult with me. one
cannot succeed with the advice of one who is not a friend, go and search for a friend, surely a
friend will want his friend s well being. i am not a friend; someone
but she determi ned to go out of the place without appearing to see him. he was conscious of it
all, saw it out of a corner of his
eye, and as she started forward, he turned, deliberately walked towards her, and, with a
cheerful smile, held out his hand, 'now, what good fortune!' he said, spiritedly.
'life plays no tricks, practices no deception this time, in a book she d have made us meet on a
grand staircase or at a court ball.' as
he said this, he shook her hand warmly, and again and again, as would be fitting with old
friends, he had determi ned to be master of the situation,
and to turn the moment to the credit of his account - not hers; and it was easy to do it, for love
was dead, and the memory
of love atrophied, colour came back to her face, confusion was dispelled, a quick and grateful
animation took possession of her, to be replaced an instant after by
the disconcerting reflection that there was in his face or manner not the faintest sign of emotion
or embarrassment, from his attitude they might have been good friends
who had not met for some time; nothing more, 'yes, what a place to meet!' she said, 'it really
ought to have been at a green-grocer s, and
the apotheosis of the commonplace would have been celebrated, but when did you return? how
long do you remain in england?' ah, the sense of relief to feel
that he was not reproaching her for anything, not impeaching her by an injured tone and
manner, which so many other men had assumed with infinitely less right
or cause than he! 'i came back thirty-six hours ago, and i stay at the will of the master-mind,' he
answered, the old whimsical look came into her
face, the old sudden flash which always lighted her eyes when a daring phrase was born in her
mind, and she instantly retorted: 'the master-mi nd -- how self-cent red you are!' whatever had
happened, certainly the old touch of i ntellectual diablerie was still hers, and he laughed good-
hu mo redly, yes, she might be this or that, she might be false or true, she might be one who had
sold herself for mammon, and had not paid tribute to the one great natural principle of being,
to
give life to the world, man and woman perpetualing man and woman; but she was stimulating
and delightful without effort, 'and what are you doing these days?' he
asked, 'one never hears of you now.' this was cruel, but she knew that he was 'inciting her to
riot,' and she replied: 'that s because you are
so secluded -- in your kindergarten for misfit statesmen, abandon knowledge, all ye who enter
there!' it was the old flint and steel, but the sparks were not
bright enough to light the tinder of emotion, she knew it, for he was cool and buoyant and really
unconcerned, and she was feverish - and determi ned. 'you
still make life worth living,' he answered, gaily, 'it is not an occupation i would choose,' she
replied, 'it is sure to make one a host of enemies'
'so many of us make our careers by accident,' he rejoined, 'certainly i made mine not by design,'
she replied instantly; and there was an undercurrent of meaning
in it which he was not slow to notice; but he disregarded her first attempt to justify, however
vaguely, her murderous treatment of him. 'but your career is
not yet begun,' he remarked, her eyes flashed -- was it anger, or pique, or hurt, or merely the fire
of i ntellectual combat? 'i am married,' she said,
defiantly, in direct retort, 'that is not a career - it is casual exploration in a dark continent,' he
rejoined, 'come and say that to my husband,' she
replied, boldly, suddenly a thought lighted her eyes, 'are you by any chance free to-morrow
night to dine with us - quite, quite en famille rudyard will be
glad to see you -- and hear you,' she added, teasingly. he was amused, he felt how much he had
really piqued her and provoked her by showing
her so plainly that she had lost every vestige of the ancient power over him; and he saw no
reason wby he should not spend an evening where
she sparkled. 'i am free, and will come with pleasure,' he replied, 'that is delightful,' she
rejoined, 'and please bring a box of bons mots with you. but
you will come, then - ?' she was going to add, 'ian,' but she paused, 'yes, i ll come -- jasmine,' he
answered, coolly, having read her hesitation
aright, she flushed, was embarrassed and piqued, but with a smile and a nod she left him. in her
carriage, however, her breath came quick and fast, her
tiny hand clenched, her face flushed, and there was a devastating fire in her eyes, 'he shall not
treat me so. he shall show some feeling, he shall
- he shall -- he shall!' she gasped, angrily, 'cape to cairo be damned!' the words were almost
spat out. the man to whom they were addressed
sight, and did hake the cakes. And she took a pan, and poured them out be/ore him ; but he
re/used to eat. And Amnon said. Have out all men from me. And they went out every man from
him.
And Amnon said unto Tamar, Bring the meat into the chamber, that ? may eat of thine hand.
And Tamar
took the cakes which she had made, and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother.
And when she
had brought them unto him to eat, he took hold of her, and said unto her. Come lie with me,
my sister. And she answered him. Nay, my brother, do not force me ; for no such thing ought to
be done in Israel : do not thou this folly. And ?, whither shall ? cause my shame to go
? and as for thee, thou shall be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, ? pray thee,
speak unto the king ; for he will not withhold me from thee. Howbeit he would not hearken unto
her voice : but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her. Then Amnon hated her
exceedingly ; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith
he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her. Arise, be gone. And she said unto him. There is no
cause : this evil in sending me away is greater than the other that thou didst unto me. But he
would not hearken unto her. Then he called his servant that ministered unto him, and said. Put
now this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her. 6 7 8 9 70 77 72 73 74 75 76 77 723 2
Samuel 73 And she had a garment of divers colors upon her : for with such robes were the king s
daughters that were virgins appareled. Then his servant brought her out, and bolted the door
after her. And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of divers colors that was on
her, and laid her hand on her head, and went on crying. Absalom s Revenge and Flight And
Absalom her brother said unto her. Hath Amnon tby brother been with thee ? but hold now tby
peace, my sister : he is tby brother ; regard not this thing.
So Tamar remained desolate in her brother Absalom s house. But when king David heard of all
these things, he was very wroth. And Absalom spake unto his brother Amnon neither good nor
bad : for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had forced his sister Tamar. And it came to pass
after two full years, that Absalom had sheepshearers in Baal-hazor, which is beside Fphraim :
and Absalom invited all the king s sons. And Absalom came to the king, and said. Behold now,
tby servant hath sheepshearers ; let the king, ? beseech thee, and his servants go with tby
servant. And the king said to Absalom, Nay, my son, let us not all now go, lest we be chargeable
unto thee. And he pressed him : howbeit he would not go, but blessed him. Then said Absalom,
if not, ? pray thee, let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said unto him, wby should he
go with thee ? But Absalom pressed him, that he let Amnon and all the king s sons go with
him. Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon s heart is
merry with wine, and when ? say unto you. Smite Amnon ; then kill him, fear not : have not ?
commanded you ? be courageous, and be valiant. 78 79 20 27 2 2 23 24 25 26 27 28 724 2
Samuel 74
And the servants of Absalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king s
sons arose, and
every man gat him up upon his mule, and fled. And it came to pass, while they were in the
way, that tidings came to David, saying, Absalom hath slain all the king s sons, and there is not
one
of them left. Then the king arose, and tare his garments, and lay on the earth ; and all his
servants stood by with their clothes rent. And onadab, the son of Shimeah David s brother,
answered and said, Let
not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men the king s sons ; for Amnon only
is dead : for by the appointment of Absalom this hath been determi ned from the day that he
forced his
sister Tamar. Now therefore let not my lord the king take the thing to his heart, to think that all
the king s sons are dead : for Amnon only is dead. But Absalom fled. And the young man that
kept the watch lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came much people by the way
of the hillside behind him. And onadab said unto the king. Behold, the king s sons come : as
tby servant said, so it is. And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of speaking, that,
behold, the king s sons came, and lifted up their voice and wept : and the king also and all his
servants wept very sore. But Absalom fled, and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of
Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day. So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and
was there three years. And the soul of king David longed to go forth unto Absalom : for he was
comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead. 74 oab s Scheme for Absalom s Return Now
9oab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king s heart was toward Absalom. 29 30 37 32 33 34
35 36 37 38 39 7 725 2 Samuel 74
And 9oab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, ? pray thee,
feign tbyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not tbyself with oil,
but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead : and come to the king, and
speak on this manner unto him. So 9oab put the words in her mouth. And when the woman of
Tekoah spake to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said. Help, O
king. And the king said unto her, what aileth thee ? And she answered, ? am indeed a widow
woman, and mine husband
the sky ship stalls in the sky for a moment before the crew works out the process of turning the
sails at the needed angle, the skyship surges forward and satisfied growls and chortles bubble
up from the monstrous crew, brugon holds up a gleaming blade, 'it s a vorpal blade taken off of
some fool paladin who rode into our village alone on a white destrier last krauforner s day. my
people were celebrating and this human rides into the village singing about flowers and stars
and lopping heads off left and right from atop his warhorse. he got two dozen fathers and
challengers before my people pulled him down, they ripped his plate mail off of him piece by
piece and stabbed him to death, his warhorse was delicious and extended the krauf or ner s
feasting for a whole day.'
derek takes the thin jet black sword, 'the balance is fantastic, but, brugon, i can I use this, it s
worth 35,000 gold pieces, it should go to your finest warrior, not me.' brugon draws his blade
and strikes down at derek. azor s hand goes to the hilt of klage as derek fumps back, raises the
vorpal sword and parries, 'and what will you use to defend yourself, earther? your selling
phone? as sure as goblin s like gristle hind, blades will flash when we meet trafon on that
mountain, if i had met him at buelgwarn castle, him on his throne with all his power to rain on
me at his whim.' brugon shakes his head and continues, 'and if his son were off at a brothel as
he usually is then i expect we would have been able to come to an agreement, making a
mutually beneficial trade of land for the enchanted wood, but we will stand toe to toe on soil
and he will be unsettled, he can not control his son, prince ayson, who will force conflict because
his hatred for monsters overwhelms his sense, you will need the magic in that blade and
rest assured my best - kreelbreaker, chorsk, thistlebane, freestorn, and sunderbale - are
equipped from head to toe with the finest magic items from many fallen adventurers, unlike
humans we of the monster lands do not trade magic items for
shiny coins' azor nods in agreement, derek smiles, 'thank you, brugon. again, i am stunned by
the generosity of the people of thrycion.' ayahail tugs at the runes on her sleeves, 'no, derek,
thank you for aiding kinewyn and his band, they have been allies to our people for many years,
kinewyn continues to recruit brave and unique heroes' Derek looks down at his acg sneakers and
the moment is broken as goblins begin to curse at each other in the rigging, the skyship turns,
narrowly avoiding collision with the mountain, brugon s pilot takes them up on an upward,
spiraling route to where smoke can be seen, derek waits for azor at the bow. the leaves of the
tall trees below are beginning to change to the brilliant reds, oranges and yellow of autumn, the
skyship rounds a sharp curve of the mountain; a deep shelf f'uts into the towering stone, below
dozens of king s guards and soldiers troop over thick green grass that is interrupted every few
meters by crags of black rock, immediately, the men below draw their weapons, azor points as
several of the soldiers, each wearing leather instead of the chain armor worn by others of the
king s men, sprint to nearby trees and begin climbing toward the skyship. azor points to the
king s banner, planted firmly in the loamy soil, only five yards before the gaping maw of tunnel
entrance that
leads to the portal, prince ayson trafon runs and yanks the banner out of the ground and
charges on toward
the skyship. brugon curses in orcish and tumps on to the skyship railing, saving himself from a
SO yard fall
by snagging a sail rope that pulls taught with his weight, he brings his free hand to his mouth
and bellows, 'stand down! we come to treat with king trafon. we offer trade and exclusivity to
your kingdom.' prince ayson shouts from below ordering his treed archers to fire, arrows arc
across the bow and derek instinctively raises his hand before his face, he is startled when an
arrow lodges perfectly through brugon s throat, azor shouts immediately, 'sorceress, sorceress,
here to me.' azor moves over brugon, who has fallen back off the railing and is sprawled on the
deck choking as a red circle halos out from beneath his neck, azor s voice booms through derek s
surprise, 'remove the arrowi derek glances back toward the trees, an archer s arrow arcs past
his shoulder and shatters against the aft mast, azor growls, derek kneels and moves brugon s
hands away, derek hears an angry orcish shriek, a old half-ore warrior sprints across the deck,
leaps to the railing and launches himself into the tree of brugon s attacker.
derek focuses, grabs the arrow at its base and snaps the shaft with one clean powerful f'erk.
arrows skitter across the deck as he lifts brugon onto his side, derek yanks the bottom half of the
broken arrow out from the back of brugon s neck, brugon s eyes are now shut, derek rolls the
monster leader back supporting his head with a hand now slick with blood, the sorceress arrives
with spell components in hand and derek shifts out of her way. 'kerzai chath frovolost theng.' a
flash of spiral light bridges between brugon s wound and her right hand, derek watches the
wound heal in seconds, a flush of health returns to brugon. he thinks back to the dozens of times
max s cleric healed his paladin in their blade Si bolt campaign, he brushes away splinters from
the arrow shaft off of brugon s neck, brugon blanks and sputters, azor pushes derek aside to
haul brugon to his feet, rage flashes across the half-ore s visage and he grabs hold of one of
soldiers who is
fastened upon her protector, whose coolness amazed her, showed herself wortby of him, and
bravely weathered the storm, as for phileas fogg, it seemed just as if the typhoon were a part of
his programme, up to this time the tankadere had always held her course to the north; but
towards evening the wind, veering three quarters, bore down from the north-west. the boat,
now lying in the trough of the waves, shook and rolled terribly; the sea struck her with fearful
violence, at night the tempest increased in violence, John bunsby saw the approach of darkness
and the rising of the storm with dark misgivings, he thought awhile, and then asked his crew if it
was not time to slacken speed, after a consultation he approached mr. fogg, and said, 'i think,
your honour, that we should do well to make for one of the ports on the coast.' 'i think so too.'
'ahi said the pilot, 'but which one?' 'i know of but one,' returned mr. fogg tranquilly. 'and that is-'
'shanghai.' the pilot, at first, did not seem to comprehend; he could scarcely realise so much
determi nation and tenacity, then he cried, 'well-yes/ your honour is right.
to shanghaii so the tankadere kept steadily on her northward track, the night was really terrible;
it would be a miracle if the craft did not founder, twice it could have been all over with her if the
crew had not been constantly on the watch, aouda was exhausted, but did not utter a
complaint. more than once mr. fogg rushed to protect her from the violence of the waves, day
reappeared, the tempest still raged with undiminished fury; but the wind now returned to the
south-east. it was a favourable change, and the tankadere again bounded forward on this
mountainous sea, though the waves crossed each other, and imparted shocks and counter-
shocks which would have crushed a craft less
solidly built, from time to time the coast was visible through the broken mist, but no vessel was
in sight.
the tankadere was alone upon the sea. there were some signs of a calm at noon, and these
became more distinct as the sun descended toward the horizon, the tempest had been as brief
as terrific, the passengers, thoroughly exhausted, could now eat a little, and take some repose,
the night was comparatively quiet, some of the sails were again hoisted, and the speed of the
boat was very good, the next morning at dawn they espied the coast, and fohn bunsby was able
to assert that they were not one hundred miles from shanghai, a hundred miles, and only
one day to traverse them! that very evening mr. fogg was due at shanghai, if he did not wish to
miss the steamer to yokohama. had there been no storm, during which several hours were lost,
they would be at this moment within thirty miles of their destination, the wind grew decidedly
calmer, and happily the sea fell with it.
all sails were now hoisted, and at noon the tankadere was within forty-five miles of shanghai,
there remained yet six hours in which to accomplish that distance, all on board feared that it
could not be done, and every one-phileas fogg, no doubt, excepted-felt his heart beat with
impatience, the boat must keep up an average of nine miles an
hour, and the wind was becoming calmer every moment/ it was a capricious breeze, coming
from the coast, and after it passed the sea became smooth, still, the tankadere was so light, and
her fine sails caught the fickle zepbyrs
so well, that, with the aid of the currents fohn bunsby found himself at six o clock not more than
ten miles from the mouth of shanghai river, shanghai itself is situated at least twelve miles up
the stream, at
seven they were still three miles from shanghai, the pilot swore an angry oath; the reward of
two hundred pounds
was evidently on the point of escaping him. he looked at mr. fogg. mr. fogg was perfectly
tranquil; and yet his whole fortune was at this moment at stake, at this moment, also, a long
black funnel, crowned with wreaths of smoke, appeared on the edge of the waters, it was the
american steamer, leaving for yokohama at the appointed time, 'confound heri cried fohn
bunsby, pushing back the rudder with a desperate jerk, 'signal heri said phileas fogg quietly.
a small brass cannon stood on the forward deck of the tankadere, for making signals in the fogs,
it was loaded to the muzzle; but just as the pilot was about to apply a red-hot coal to the
touchhole, mr. fogg sold, 'hoist your flagi the flag was run up at half-mast, and, this being the
signal of distress, it was hoped that the american steamer, perceiving it, would change her
course a little, so as to succour the pilot-boat.
the carnatic, setting sail from hong kong at half-past six on the 7th of november, directed her
course at full steam towards japan, she carried a large cargo and a well-filled cabin of
passengers, two state-rooms in the rear were, however, unoccupied-those which had been
engaged by phileas fogg. the next day a passenger with a half-stupefied eye, staggeri ng gait,
and disordered hair, was seen to emerge from the second cabin, and to totter to a seat on deck,
it was passepartout; and what had happened to him was as follows: shortly after fix left the
opium den, two waiters had lifted the unconscious passepartout, and had carried him to the bed
reserved for the smokers, three hours later, pursued even in his dreams by a fixed idea, the poor
fellow awoke, and struggled against the stupefying influence of the narcotic, the thought of a
duty unfulfilled shook off his torpor, and he hurried from the abode of drunkenness, staggering
and holding himself up by keeping against the walls, falling down and creeping up again, and
irresistibly impelled by a kind of instinct, he kept crying out, 'the carnatic/ the carnatici the
steamer lay puffing alongside the quay, on
is lifted up, and thou hast said, ? am a god, ? sit in the seat of God, in the
midst of the seas ; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the
heart of God : behold, thou art wiser than Daniel ; there is no secret that they can hide from
thee : with tby wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast
gotten gold and silver into tby treasures : by tby great wisdom and by tby traffic hast thou
increased tby riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of tby riches : therefore thus saith the
Lord God ; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God ; behold, therefore I will bring
strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations
: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of tby wisdom, and they shall defile tby
brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shall die the deaths of them that are
slain in the midst of the seas, wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God ? but thou
shall be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee. 33 34 35 36 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1816 Ezekiel 28 Thou shall die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers : for i
have spoken it, saith the Lord God. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying. Son of
man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him. Thus saith the i-ord God ;
Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the
garden of God ; every precious stone was tby covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the
beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold : the
workmanship of tby tabrets and of tby pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast
created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth ; and ? have set thee so : thou wast upon
the holy mountain of God ; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Thou wast perfect in tby ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in
thee. By the multitude of tby merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and
thou hast sinned : therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God : and ? will
destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up
because of tby beauty, thou hast corrupted tby wisdom by reason of tby bright ness : ? will cast
thee to the ground, ? will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled
tby sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of tby traffic ; therefore
will ? bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and ? will bring thee
to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among
the people shall be astonished at thee : thou shall be a terror, and never shall thou be any more.
The Prophecy against Zidon Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 10 ll 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 1817 Ezekiel 29 Son of man, set tby face against Zidon, and prophesy against it,
and say. Thus saith the LGrd God ; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon ; and I will be
glorified in the midst of thee : and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have
executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her. For I will send into her pestilence, and
blood into her streets ; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon
her on every side ; and they shall know that I am the Lord. And there shall be no more a pricking
brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that
despised them ; and they shall know that I am the Lord God. Thus saith the Lord God ; when I
shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and
shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that ?
have given to my servant 9acob. And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and
plant vineyards ; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon
all those that despise them round about them ; and they shall know that I am the L Grd their God.
29 Prophecies against Egypt In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the
month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying. Son of man, set by face against Pharaoh
king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt : speak, and say. Thus saith the i-
ord God ; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that Ueth in the
midst of his rivers, which hath said. My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. But $
will put hooks in tby jaws, and I will cause the fish of tby rivers to stick unto tby scales, and I will
bring thee up out of the 21 22 23 24 25 26 1 2 3 4 1818 Ezekiel 29 midst of tby rivers, and all the
fish of tby rivers shall stick unto tby scales. And $ will leave thee thrown into the wilderness,
thee and all the fish of tby rivers : thou shall fall upon the open fields ; thou shall not be brought
together, nor gathered : I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of
the heaven. And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have
been a staff of reed to the house of Israel, when they took hold of thee by tby hand, thou didst
break, and rend all their shoulder : and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest
all their loins to be at a stand. Therefore thus saith the
as he waited for the last members of the group to descend, he could not help glancing at the
giant with watchful wariness, according to the algors, a sand giant did not need a continuous
flow of magic to survive, only an initial blast for its birth, upon that, it would serve its purpose,
whatever its instruction, it would remain forever, attacking all that ventured near that did not
know the song, the song, however, was played true by the algors and the giants remained as
still as the stone they were made of. their stillness led to the entry of even more, for ryson and
the algors were joined by the elves and the dwarves, only Stephen, lauren, and dzeb
remained upon the delver tier, ryson signaled for the interpreter to begin his descent, as
Stephen took hold of the rope, it appeared as if they would pass the fourth tier without great
difficulty and move within but one obstacle of ingar s talisman, such hope was shattered
immediately and senselessly with a low toned groan that hummed up from the depths of
sanctum, it came with a burst, this howling guttural tone, and it filled the inside of sanctum with
raging ferocity, everyone within sanctum lumped at the impact of the sound, even the docile cliff
behemoth nearly lost hold of the rope which Stephen clung to. the algors, knowing the need
for their music, continued to play, but they could not overcome the noise which now stormed
sanctum s internal core, the sand giants stirred, the algors closed their eyes, filled their lungs
and blew into their flutes with all of their might, but the melody was crashed upon like the surf
pounds the sand, not a single note broke free, the closest giant began to move forward once
more, the delver spied the giant first, 'they re moving.1' he screamed to be heard, his eyes
shifted
from the stalking sentinel to the algors. they continued to play but even he could not hear their
music, he
glanced upwards to Stephen who remained helpless in the air. 'climb back upi he shouted.
Stephen looked down with confusion, he could not hear above the din of the roar, ryson pointed
back up to the hole fiercely, illust rati ng his
words with signals. Stephen understood and finally reversed his climb, ryson remained below
the rope to ensure Stephen s escape
even as the sand giant moved unhesitatingly toward him. holli pulled her bow clear of her
shoulder and yelled orders, but the droning hum made her words inaudible to all. she screamed
them again, but only lief who stood beside her could understand, with the sand giant moving
dangerously close to ryson, she strung an arrow and let it fly.
it found its mark at the sentinel s round forehead, but it only scratched the stone before
bouncing away, life joined her in a second attempt, but again both arrows failed to even slow
the giant, ryson turned his attention back and forth from the closing guardian to Stephen, who
dangled from the rope overhead, the delver s head twitched like a pendulum on a
grandfather clock, he would not move from his spot until Stephen was safely back with dzeb
and lauren. he snatched up the sword from the ground at his feet, the blade washed all
directions with light, but the point jutted out squarely in the sand sentinel s direction, ryson did
not know what to expect
if a clash occurred, he knew the sword of decree held a power beyond the sharpness of its blade,
he
recalled how it burned the hide of the spider-crab near the lacobian desert, he hoped it would
have the same effect now, for he could not fathom how else the blade might stop a creature
composed purely of stone. Stephen remained a full arm s length from the ledge above as the
stone giant approached within danger limits, only the length of the sword divided ryson from
the guardian, and it seemed oblivious to the weapon, it began to raise its arms past the blade
and toward ryson s head, three round, thick fingers and one massive thumb extended
threateningly forward, the three fingered shadow broke across ryson s face, he could smell the
mustiness of age covering the sandstone
digits, with the interpreter still hanging from the rope, the delver remained unwilling to attempt
escape, he prepared for attack,
to keep the giant away from the rope, he turned his shoulders slightly and planted his feet, he
pulled the blade back swiftly and prepared to strike at the center of its thick arm. just as the
delver resigned himself to swinging his blade, the circumstances changed, in the conscious flash
of comprehending movement above, ryson held his attack, he withdrew the blade and with
swiftness to make even the fastest rabbit envious, he darted clear of the sand giant.
with one mighty tug on the rope, dzeb had pulled Stephen up and onto the ledge above, the
interpreter was safely upon solid ground and in no danger of falling, it was this which ryson had
seen and understood, withStephen clear of danger, flight was now an acceptable option, the
giant was left to grasp empty air, but it displayed not the slightest displeasure, without delay, it
washed a glance over all that now stood upon the algor tier.
it moved forward with its single purpose, not dwelling upon the minor setback, it was a being of
one desire, one mission, to stop all intruders, it did not experience f rust ration or anger, it did
not comprehend defeat, the sentinel refocused its attack upon the delver and altered its path to
intercept, ryson noted the adjustments and again stood ready to dodge an assault, he kept a
watchful glance on all that was around him, marking in his mind the positions of everyone else,
he noticed holli barking commands again, but her voice still would not overcome the blaring
hum. unable to discern her wishes, he set upon his own motives, he would keep the giant
occupied and away
to the Memory of Laura, f-ady Glyde, wife of Sir Percival Glyde, Bart., of Blackwater Park,
Hampshi re. And daughter of the late Philip Fairlie, Fsq., of Um- meridge House, in this parish.
Born March 27th, 1829; married December 22nd, 1849; died 9uly 25th, 1850. 415 5. The
Narrative of Walter Hartright Farly in the summer of 1850 ? And my surviving companions left
the wilds And forests of Central America for home. Arrived At the coast, we took ship there for
Fngland. The vessel was wrecked in the Gulf of Mexico-I was Among the few saved from the sea.
?I was my third escape from peril of death. Death by disease, death by the Indians, death by
drowning-All three had Approached me; All three had passed me by. The survivors of the wreck
were rescued by An American ves- sel bound for Uverpool.
The ship reached her port on the thir- teenth day of October 1850. We landed late in the
Afternoon, And ? Arrived in London the same night. These pages Are not the record of my
wanderings And my dangers Away from home. The motives which led me from my country And
my friends to A new world of Adventure And peril Are known. From that self-imposed exile ?
came back. As ? had hoped, prayed, believed I should come back-A changed man. ?n the waters
of A new life ? had tempered my nature Afresh. ?n the stern school of extremity And danger my
will had learnt to be strong, my heart to be resolute, my mind to rely on itself. ? had gone out to
fly from my own future. ? came back to face it. As A man should. To face it with that inevitable
suppression of myself which ? knew it would demand from me. ? had parted with the worst
bitterness of the past, but not with my heart s remembrance of the sorrow And the tenderness
of that memorable time. ? had not ceased to feel the one irreparable disappointment of my
life-? had only learnt to bear it. Laura Fairlie was in All my thoughts when the ship bore me
Away, And ? looked my last At Fngland. Laura Fairlie was in All my thoughts when the ship
brought me back. And the morning light showed the friendly shore in view.
My pen traces the old letters As my heart goes back to the old love. ? write of her As Laura
Fairlie still. ?I is hard to think of her, it is hard to speak of her, by her husband s name. There Are
no more words of explanation to Add on my Ap- pearance for the second time in these pages.
This narrative, if I have the strength And the courage to write it, may now go on. 416 My first
Anxieties And first hopes when the morning came centred in my mother And my sister. ? felt the
necessity of pre- paring them for the foy And surprise of my return. After An Ah- sence during
which it had been impossible for them to receive Any tidings of me for months past. Farly in the
morning ? sent A letter to the Hampstead Cottage, And followed it myself in An hour s time,
when the first meeting was over, when our quiet And com- posure of other days began gradually
to return to us, ? saw something in my mother s face which told me that A secret op- pression
lay heavy on her heart. There was more than love-there was sorrow in the Anxious eyes
that looked on me so tenderly-there was pity in the kind hand that slowly And fondly
strengthened its hold on mine. We had no concealments from each other. She knew how the
hope of my life had been wrecked-she knew wby ? had left her. ?I was on my lips to Ask
As composedly As ? could if Any letter had come for me
showed him one of a different cast from his crew, a man of indomitable courage, it was said
that the
only thing he shied at was the sight of his own blood, which was thick and of an unusual colour.
in dress he somewhat aped the attire associated with the name of charles ii, having heard it said
in some earlier period of his career that he bore a strange resemblance to the ill-fated stuarts;
and in his mouth he had a holder of his own contrivance which enabled him to smoke two cigars
at once, but undoubtedly the grimmest part of him was his iron claw, let us now kill a pirate, to
show hook s method, skylights will do. as they pass, skylights lurches clumsily against him,
ruffling his lace collar; the hook shoots forth, there is a tearing sound and one screech, then the
body is kicked aside, and the pirates pass on. he has not even taken the cigars from his mouth,
such is the terrible man against whom peter pan is pitted, which will win?
on the trail of the pirates, stealing noiselessly down the war-path, which is not visible to
inexperienced eyes, come the redskins, every one of them with his eyes peeled, they carry
tomahawks and knives, and their naked bodies gleam with paint and oil. strung around them
are scalps, of boys as well as of pirates, for these are the piccaninny tribe, and not to be
confused with the softer-hearted delawares or the hurons. in the van, on all fours, is great big
little panther, a brave of so many scalps that in his present position they somewhat impede his
progress. bringing up the rear, the place of greatest danger, comes tiger lily, proudly erect, a
princess in her own right.
she is the most beautiful of dusky dianas and the belle of the piccaninnies, coquettish, cold and
amorous by turns; there is not a brave who would not have the wayward thing to wife, but she
staves off the altar with a hatchet, observe how they pass over fallen twigs without making the
slightest noise, the only sound to be heard is their somewhat heavy breathing, the fact is that
they are all a little fat just now after the heavy gorging, but in time they will work this off. for
the moment, however, it constitutes their chief danger, the redskins disappear as they have
come like shadows, and soon their place is taken by the beasts, a great and motley procession:
lions, tigers, bears, and the innumerable smaller savage things that flee from them, for every
kind of beast, and, more particularly, all the man-eaters, live cheek by fowl on the favoured
island, their tongues are hanging out, they are hungry to-night, when they have passed, comes
the last figure of all, a gigantic crocodile, we shall see for whom she is looking presently, the
crocodile passes, but soon the boys appear again, for the procession must continue indefinitely
until one of the parties stops or changes its pace, then quickly they will be on top of each other.
all are keeping a sharp look-out in front, but none suspects that the danger may be creeping up
from behind.
this shows how real the island was. the first to fall out of the moving circle was the boys, they
flung themselves down on the sward, close to their underground home. 'i do wish peter would
come back," every one
of them said nervously, though in height and still more in breadth they were all larger than their
captain. 'I am the only one who is not afraid of the pirates," slightly said, in the tone that
prevented his being a general favourite; but perhaps some distant sound disturbed him, for he
added hastily, 'but i wish he would come back, and tell us whether he has heard anything more
about Cinderella." they talked of Cinderella, and tootles was confident that his mother must
have been very like her. it was only in peter s absence that they could speak of mothers, the
subject being forbidden by him as silly, 'all i remember about my mother," nibs told them, 'is
that she often said to my father, oh, how i wish i had a cheque-book of my own! i don I know
what a cheque-book is, but i should just love to give my mother one." while they talked they
heard a distant sound, you or i, not being wild things of the woods, would have heard nothing,
but they heard it, and it was the grim song: 'yo ho, yo ho, the pirate life, the flag o skull and
bones, a merry hour, a hempen rope, and hey for davy /ones' at once the lost boys - but where
are they? they are no longer there, rabbits could not have disappeared more quickly, i will tell
you where they are. with the exception of nibs, who has darted away to reconnoitre, they are
already in their home under the ground, a very delightful residence of which we shall see a good
deal presently, but how have they reached it?
for there is no entrance to be seen, not so much as large stone, which if rolled away, would
disclose the mouth of a cave, look closely, however, and you may note that there are here seven
large trees, each with a hole in its hollow trunk as large as a boy. these are the seven entrances
to the home under the ground, for which hook has been searching in vain these many moons,
will he find it tonight? As the pirates advanced, the quick eye of starkey sighted nibs
disappearing through the wood, and at once his pistol flashed out. but an iron claw gripped his
shoulder, 'captain, let go!' he cried, writhing, now for the first time we hear the voice of hook, it
was a black voice, 'put back that pistol first,' it said threateningly. 'it was one of those boys you
hate. i could have shot him dead.' 'ay, and the sound would have brought
the only thing left to decide was what to do with the sphere, it continued to absorb pure energy
and
emit only that which would eventually lead to overall extinction, shayed claimed the sphere
should not be destroyed, she feared
the sudden release of the energy would quickly kill all the elves, at her request, the great leaders
of uton decided to encase the sphere in a tomb which would hold it forever and bar the release
of any magic.
this of course led to the war with the magic casters' 'that i know about,' ryson said eagerly, 'how
does elflore describe the actual war?' 'the leaders of the races decided the safest place for the
sphere would be deep within hollow mountain, they since changed the name to sanctum for its
part in holding the sphere, regardless of its name, all of the magic casters became outraged
that the sphere would be encased, it meant the end of their powers, the sphere held all the
magic, they wished to destroy the sphere and release the energy within, the dark creatures also
demanded the destruction of the sphere, they could not exist without magic, goblins, river
rogues, shags; the lot of them threatened the lives of everyone if the sphere was not turned
over to them, 'at these threats, the leaders became even more determi ned to see the sphere
entombed, they realized it would mean the end of all of the dark creatures, a bonus, for this,
they would even face the wrath of the magic casters, 'this led to the most bizarre of all alliances
in the history of elflore, or in any of the legends for that matter.
the magic casters, both good and evil, joined forces with goblins, vampires, mountain shags,
and all the undead to take the sphere, remember, magic casters came from all different races,
there were human wizards, elven sorcerers, algorian healers, even dwarf magic casters, though
they were few. these were individuals willing to join with dark creatures to fight their own kind.
only shayed remained on the side of the allied races, she was the only magic caster not to join in
with the dark creatures' 'i didn I know that,' the delver confessed, 'it was my understanding that
no magic was used on our side.' 'no magic was,' the elf made clear, 'shayed expended all of her
power in the fight against ingar. she had no magic left, her ability to cast spells was no more, as
a magic caster, her craft was gone, but she would still not allow the dest ruction of the sphere,
she would see that it was carried from ingar s cove, across the prairies, and to its final resting
place, when the leaders reached the town of connel ...' 'connel?' ryson exclaimed to reveal his
surprise, 'yes, connel,' the elf replied with his own note of wonder, 'didn I you know that?' 'i was
never given the name of the final battle place. i always thought it was near sanctum mountain'
'no, it was connel. i might say that i find it interesting that you are from connel. although i curse
the prophesies for not warning us of this, i sense the hands of fate working here.' 'i don I know
about that,' ryson responded, 'but tell me more of what happened at connel.' the delver
watched the face of the elf as he eagerly awaited further explanation, he hoped the elf s tale
would bring him greater knowledge, more appreciation of his home town, 'very well, the
leaders, knowing they would face a final assault by the magic casters and dark creatures,
prepared a defense at connel. at that time, it was the last village between ingar s cove and what
is now called sanctum, delvers, like yourself, scouted the lands to the west and
found the dark creatures massing for an all out attack, magic casters from every race also
gathered within their midst.
it was their intention to take the sphere by force before shayed and her followers could bury it
deep within sanctum and prepare defenses which they could not break, 'reports from the
delvers were grave indeed, the force waiting for shayed was overwhelming. with the magic
casters on their sides, the dark creatures were nearly assured of victory, the sorcerers and
wizards would cast spells from the backs of the lines as the undead pushed forward, so great
was their
numbers, that the dark creatures could not even visualize losing, 'the hope of the elves
dwindled, even with the assistance of the other races, they doubted their chances of survival, if
they just faced the dark creatures in hand to hand combat, they knew they would prevail, but
the existence of the sorcerers and wizards drastically reduced their chances, shayed envisioned
waves of the undead, of river rogues, and mountain shags flowing into connel under the cover
of goblin crossbow fire and powerful magic spells, some of the leaders hoped the magic casters
might hold their power, for each spell cast meant energy lost, shayed, however, revealed this as
a false hope, she knew the wizards and sorcerers would unleash all of their might, for this was
their last hope to regain their full power, 'at the suggestion of the dwarf leaders, a plan was
developed and quickly enacted, all the races knew that they would never stand a chance
against the magic casters in a long distance battle, their only hope was to force the magic
casters to close combat, the dwarves built a powerful wall from stone within their caves,
dwarves are known for their resistance to magic.
the stone from their homes is also quite resistant, the wall was built thick and all the races
waited behind it as the attackers moved forward, the spells cast from a distance would be
reflected by the wall, the loose energy would then be captured by the sphere which remained in
the hands of the allied races, 'building with speed and skill befitting their race, the dwarves
constructed the wall within half a day. it was finished just as
still remember, i was particularly impressed by the waseda university / hitachi walking robot
whl-ii, which uses advanced machine technology and computer control to move fust as a human
doesf two-legged style, its hydraulic steel joints and carbon-fiber muscles f together with its
computerized foot sensorsf give it walking skills better than most young humans . its brain of
course is a microprocessor, programmed to let it walk in different styles f fust as we do. other
mobile robots had four legsf even six-such as the titan iii f which we saw climb up a set of stairs
like a metallic sci-fi spider, as for robot hands f the most advanced also were from hitachi s
mechanical engineering research lab. unlike most robot grippers f little more than glorified visesf
this one had three fingers {which matsugami claimed were more agile than a version at mil)
whose 'muscles' were a heat-sensitive metal {invented in the u.s.) that would contract when an
electric current passed through, vision research was also well advanced, a matsushita robot
equipped with a computerized 'eye' was able to analyze the lines and shadows of a human face
and then draw a black-and- white sketch like a sidewalk artist, even more amazing f a robot with
a tv-camera eye-developed jointly by waseda university and Sumitomo electric-could read sheet
music and play it on a keyboard using mechanical fingers, this android pianist employed recent
advances in artificial intelligence to determine the best fingering for each phrase and even took
requests for tunes in spoken Japanese, play it again f hal. other robots with 'voice recognition'
capability allowed a human operator simply to sit in one spot and command the mobile
machine where to go and what to do. at one point tarn asked matsugami for a candid opinion
on how far along he thought the advanced robot-technology program had progressed, well, he
replied, sucking in his breath pensively, the manual dexterity problem was about licked: the
robot arms now being perfected could pick up anything and move it anywhere, vision and
programmable i ntelli gence were harder, but he felt their research was getting close, already he
had robots that could analyze and interpret 3-d objects and scenes, enabling them to maneuver
around a factory floor and make decisions of almost human complexity, the ultimate objective
was factory-wide systems for computer-integrated manufacturing {cim) that would allow every
operation of a company, from design to engineering to manufacturing, to be controlled by
computer via a single data base, it was cheap, and it elevated quality control to a hundred
percent. no doubt about it, he said, as japan moved to automate manufacturing and get on with
an information- industry future, these smart robots would be their secret weapon, the institute s
mechanical menagerie, i realized, was what the next century was going to look like, except it
was here now. as matsugami took us through lab after lab, it became clear that the Japanese
'third-generation' functionoid robot was all but a reality, noda s message was clear, already
japan was spending twice as much on new manufacturing technology as america was. they led
the world in robotics and that lead was growing, with the coming of that third generation-
robots that could see, move, and think-world industrial leadership would be up for grabs, these
were the stakes japan was betting on the twenty-first century, anybody who planned to play
against them better have something on the table too. at the end of the tour as dusk was
beginning to settle in, noda reappeared and escorted us back to the limo. and that s when he
laid it out. 'dr. richardson, what you and mr. walton have just seen is merely a glimpse of the
real peril to america s future.' He was closing the door of the car. 'there is much, much more . . .
projects such as the rapid commercialization of superconductivity, america s world supremacy is
at a crossroads' 'why are you showing us this?' tarn was still troubled by the same question that
was eating at me. 'very simple, really, thus far we have, together, attempted to address some of
the more egregious ineptitudes in america s corporate management. our success in that, if i
may say, has already been substantial, however, the best-managed organization cannot flourish
without the tools required to take it the next step.
that translates as technology.' he paused, then looked at us both, 'do you understand what i m
saying?' 'japan now has the technology, just as it has the money,' tarn answered, 'you are
correct, thus far dai nippon has merely provided a conduit to infuse capital into the american
industrial scene, that was the easy part, the task remaining will be much more difficult.' he
looked at us. 'difficult because, for this, america must share in return.' 'you want to make a deal,
i take it.' i finally spoke, funny, but i thought i sounded a little like faust beginning negotiations
with the devil, he smiled, 'that is a blunt way of describing what i am about to suggest, mr.
Walton, but it does capture the spirit of my proposal, america excels in basic research, japan in
applied research, inmengineering, the time has come to join forces' 'how?' 'as you have seen,
the monetary resources at dai nippon disposal make it possible for us to wield significant
influence.' he smiled. 'Japanese capital has been brought to america; Japanese technology can
be brought as well.' 'at a price.' 'at a price, yes. but a modest one really.' he smiled again, then
buzzed for his driver to start the car. 'let me put it like this, if you choose to proceed with me in
the next step of dai nippon s program, i will arrange for everything you have seen today to be
my gift to america. all i ask from you both is complete cooperation in the days ahead.
together we can forge an informal alliance between japan and america that could alter the
course of world history, but it must be done in an atmosphere of complete trust.' tarn was
astonished, 'you d make this manufacturing technology
was hardly anybody left in the placebo group that wasn I taking azt also, there wasn I any
control group, really, the whole thing had fallen apart, and on top of that, many in the original
azt groups had to be taken off the drug because it was causing such awful side effects, it s
almost as if the two groups switch sides over time.' 'all right, okay, it s a good story, go get it!'
sarah jumps up and rushes toward the door, 'oh, and sarah...' she stops in her tracks again and
turns back to sam. 'congratulations on the scoop.' sarah smiles, lets sam s compliment sink in
for a moment, and then literally runs through the newsroom back to her office, 'dr. broad, as
chairman of this panel, you refused to vote in favor of the approval of azt.' 'that s correct, i did.
as chairman of the panel, after all we had heard, i could not in good conscience approve the use
of azt.' messick lets that one sink in with the jury, he fust stands at the lectern, silent, for a
minute, 'were there reasons other than all the problems with the phase 2 trials that you
described before the recess?' 'that s not enough?' the brief laughter stops before fudge watts
can pick up her gavel, 'well, let me see.... two members of my panel were paid consultants for
burroughs welkome, the very drug company seeking approval for azt. the fda forced me to allow
them full voting privileges on the panel anyway, even though i considered that to be a blatant
conflict of interest, on top of everything else, there were no studies done on mice, as is routine
for fda approval, and i was concerned that if we approved azt on these very premature, very
poor test results, it would be even more difficult to get better data in the future.' 'I believe you
were quoted as saying it was like letting the genie out of the bottle. ' 'i think I did say that, as a
matter of fact.' dr. broad now realizes that he s proud of himself and the stand he took, and
although he didn I remember that exact quote, he was glad he said it and happily took credit for
it. 'and did the rest of your panel agree with you?' 'actually, yes.' messick stops because he
knows what s coming next and wants it to have a real impact, 'they all voted no on azt?' 'no.
but they were going to, until the late afternoon, when it appeared that the majority of us were
not going to approve azt, the fda sent over a big gun to literally beg everybody for their vote,
and burroughs welcome reassured us that they would provide a very detailed two-year follow-
up study, and in the meantime they would not allow azt to be used for anything except a stop-
gap measure for very sick patients' 'and is that what actually happened?'
'no. by the time that two-year study was up, azt was already in 60 countries, being given okay,
time to show me the money .... 'at how much per patient?' 'conservatively, about $8,000 per
patient per year.' 'actually, i think they probably made more than that, so that s a conservative
estimate, yes.' '160 million dollars a year....' messick again pauses at the lectern before
continuing, 'in the end, dr. broad, how many of your panel voted against approving azt?'
'only me. and when it was all said and done, it was one of the blackest days of my life.
we had approved azt faster than thalidomide had been approved in the mid-60 s, which ended
up causing massive birth
defects, but burroughs welkome received full licensing for azt within 6 months, and even got
special permission to sell it
to a wide market not just very sick patients while it was waiting for final approval.' 'dr. broad, let
me read a statement from another famous aids researcher, dr. Joseph sonnabend, one of new
york city s first and most
reputable aids doctors, who said, quote, i m ashamed of my colleagues, i m embarrassed, this is
such shoddy science;
it s hard to believe nobody is protesting. damned cowards, it s all about money, just following
the party line
and not being critical when there are obviously financial and political forces that are driving this,
unquote.' dr. broad looked
squarely at messick. 'damn, i wish i had said that.' 'my name is dr. harry barrow b-a-r-r-o-w. i am
a
molecular biologist, and in 1989, i was the scientific editor of the journal called bio/technology.'
'dr. barrow, one of the main aids researchers, a dr. jay levy at the university of California, san
francisco, said in a newsday article, and i quote, i think azt can only hasten the demise of the
individual, aids is an immune disease and azt
only further harms an already decimated immune system, unquote, do you agree?' 'absolutely, i
can I see how this drug can do anything other than make people very sick, azt kills I-4 cells white
blood cells vital to the immune system, it does that by seeking out any cell that is engaged in
dna replication and killing it. and theplace where most of the cell replication is going on is in the
bone marrow where the white blood cells of the immune system are created, in short, azt will
destroy anyone s immune system, even the healthiest of athletes,
within 4 years two to three years on average, and if a person is already sick, it ll be more
like a year, year-and-a-half tops, and if they don I have aids when they start taking azt, they ll
die of aids very quickly as azt kills their I cells' 'dr. barrow, do you know how many people died in
198?, the first year that azt was being given to aids patients?' 'no, i don I.' messick holds up a
paper from the lectern and reads, '4,135. how about 1988?' 'don I know that either.' still reading
from the
land rover, leaning over dad and rummagi ng in (he untidy glovebox for a ticket pad. i stood next
to rick s car and commenced writing out a penalty notice, the sarge climbed out and stood
beside me in support, arms crossed, watching with interest, i appreciated that, it was good to
have someone on my side for once, especially someone so big and muscular, 'all right, all right,'
rick grumbled, sauntering over, hitching up his jeans, he couldnI afford to get a ticket, as dirt
poor as the rest of his family, 'you re such a sour bitch, piglet.
i dunno what our jakey sees in you.' 'shut your cakehole and move this piece of shit now,' i
ordered coldly, he slowly climbed into his car, staring at me insolently the whole way. he revved
the engine loudly a few times, spinning his tyres, kicking up gravel all over the sarge and me,
reversed with a skid, barely missing our land rover and fishtailed out the gates, flipping me his
middle finger out the driver s window, his family cheered and hooted him in encouragement.
and yes, that included my fake, i jumped back in the land rover and
quickly parked it, pulling the wheelchair out of the back, opening it and positioning it for dad to
manoeuvre himself into, he wheeled himself over to the police house on the cement path that
ran between it and the station, heading towards a group of his friends, romi at his side ready to
help if asked, 'who are they?' the sarge asked me quietly, looking over at the bycrafts. 'that s the
bycraft family, the town outlaws, anytime there s a crime in town, think of them first and
foremost,' i informed him, unsmiling. 'isn I that your boyfriend with them?' 'yes, he s a bycraft.
the only decent one in the whole bunch, maybe one of the only few decent bycrafts ever.' 'that
must make your relationship interesting ' he commented neutrally, i gave a short, bitter laugh,
'you can say that again.' 'with that golden colouring they all have, they look like a pride of lions'
he said thoughtfully.
i glanced up at him with an admiring smile, 'that s very good, sarge. i like that, you ve put
your finger right on it. they re as lazy as lions too, but just as dangerous when they strike.' the
bycrafts jeered the two of us when they noticed us staring at them, 'who s your new boyfriend,
piglet?' yelled out tracey bycraft, Jake s cousin, she had a baby on her hip, a cigarette in her
other hand and a toddler clutching her leg, crying, she was only eighteen and heavily pregnant
with her third kid. but she didnI let an inconvenience such as that interfere with her drinking,
smoking or her career as a shoplifter, 'he s kinda cute, i d let him pork me.' 'he d be the only man
in town who hasnI, tracey bycraft,' i yelled back at her as i stalked up to des house, they all
heckled me then and i
slyly gave them the finger as i pretended to scratch my nose. Jake didn I join in the heckling of
course, but he didn I try to stop it either, that was the relationship we had - he would never
get in the way of his family s god-given right to harass me. 'piglet?' queried the sarge, catching
up to
me. 'that s what they call me. adorable, isn I it?' i said sarcastically, 'the bycrafts and i have a
love-hate relationshi p. i hate them, they hate me and we all love to hate each other.' i glanced
at him.
'a word of advice, sarge. do not be tempted by a bycraft woman, they are beautiful and wild,
but they
are witches, and fertile, you only have to look at them and they get knocked up. you don I want
one of them to sink her talons into you. you ll be paying child support for the rest of your
life.' 'advice noted, thanks' 'and it wouldn I go down well with the townsfolk for you to be
involved with
a bycraft either, they are a one-family crime wave and plenty of people in this town have
suffered because of them, including my family, there re a lot of folk in town who don I like the
fact that take is my boyfriend and they re not shy about telling me.' 'anyone else i should avoid?
not that i m looking for anyone.' 'stay away from foxy dubois too.' 'foxy?' 'her real name is
barbara white, she took foxy as her stage name, she used to be a stripper in big town . . . oh
sorry, she prefers the term exotic dancer . she ll have her eye on you in no time.' 'she s the one
your former sergeant, er, investigated f requently?' i laughed, 'oh yeah, des investigated her at
least once a week.' speaking of the devil, we noticed des standing on the veranda, barking
orders to the removalists from big town who were beavering away, loading furniture into the
truck that had been backed up to the stairs, we pushed our way through the crowd that had
gathered to watch and dodged the brawny removal men as we ran up the stairs, 'how s it going,
des?' i asked, mr sparkles waddled over to me, carnal intent clear in his eyes, 'don I even think
about it, sparkles' i warned him in a mean voice, he barked at me with irritation and changed
direction, heading towards the sarge instead, 'sparkles i ll sell you off to be turned into cat food,'
i threatened and he gave me a surly look before retreating back to a corner of the veranda,
glaring at us resentfully, 'the move s going well, tessie love, nearly finished, the guys came early
in the morning and you can see that they re hard workers' he looked up at the sarge and had to
keep looking a long way as des was
or cousin? what say? no relation at all? h m, h m. no relation at all, is he. well, i guess he s an
old friend of your parents, then, what say? they didn I know him? h m, h m. they didn I know
him, didn I they, well, i don I quite-what say? but you know him? yes, yes, so i see. h m, h m. i
don I quite-' her needles flew in and out, and her
ball of cotton rolled on to the floor in her surprise, anna-rose got up and fetched it for her before
the old gentleman, who was gazing with thirsty appreciation at anna-f elicit as, could struggle
out of his chair, 'you see,' explained
anna-f elicit as, taking advantage of the silence that had fallen on the lady, 'mr. twist, regarded
as a man, is old,
but regarded as a friend he is new.' 'brand new,' said anna-rose, 'h m, h m,' said the lady,
knitting faster than ever, and looking first at one twin and then at the other, 'h m, h m, h m.
brand new, is he. well, i don I quite-' her smiles had now to struggle with the uncertainty and
doubt, and were weakening visibly, 'say now, where did you meet teapot twist?' asked the old
gentleman, who was surprised too, but remained quite benevolent owing to his affectionate
heart and his not being a lady, 'we met mr. twist,' said anna-rose, who objected to this way of
alluding to him, 'on the steamer.' 'not before? you didn I meet mr.
twist before the steamer?' exclaimed the lady, the last of her smiles flickering out. 'not before
the steamer, didnI you. just a steamship acquaintance, parents never seen him. h m, h m, h m.'
'we would have met him before if we could,' said anna-f elicit as earnestly, 'i should think so,'
said anna-rose, 'it has been the great retrospective loss of our lives meeting him so late in
them.' 'why now,' said the old gentleman smiling, 'i shouldn I call it so particularly late in them.'
but the knitting lady didn I smile at all, and sat up very straight and said 'h m, h m, h m' to her
flashing needles as they flew in and out; for not only was she in doubt now about the cute little
things, but she also regretted, on behalf of the old gentleman s wife who was a friend of hers,
the alert interest of his manner, he sat there so very much awake, with his wife he never seemed
awake at all. up to now she had not seen him except with his wife, 'you mustn I run away with
the idea that we re younger than we really are,' anna-rose said to the old gentleman, 'why no, i
won I,' he answered with a liveliness that deepened the knitting lady s regret on behalf of his
wife, 'when i run away you bet it won I be with an idea.' and he chuckled, he was quite rosy in
the face, and chuckled; he whom she knew only as a quiet man with no chuckle in him. and
wasn I what he had just said very like what the french call a double entendre? she hadn I a
husband herself, but if she had she would wish him to be at
least as quiet when away from her as when with her, and at least as free from double
entendres. At least, really more, 'h m, h m, h m,' she said, clicking her needles and looking first
at the twins and then at the old gentleman, 'do you mean to say you crossed the atlantic quite
alone, you two?' she asked, in order to prevent his continuing on these remarkable and unusual
lines of badinage, 'quite,' said anna-f elicit as. 'that is to say, we had mr. twist of course,' said
anna-rose, 'once we had got him,' amended anna-f elicit as. 'yes, yes,' said the knitting lady, 'so
you say. h m, h m, h m. once you had got him. i donI quite-' 'well, i call you a pair of fine high-
spirited girls' said the old gentleman heartily, interrupting in his turn, 'and all i can say is i wish i
had been on that boat.' 'here s mrs. ridding,' said the knitting lady quickly, relief in her voice;
whereupon he suddenly grew quiet, 'my, mrs. ridding,' she added when the lady drew within
speaking distance, 'you do look as though you needed a rest.' mrs. ridding, the wife of the old
gentleman, mr. ridding, had been approaching slowly for some time from behind, she had been
out on the verandah since lunch, trying to recover from it. that was the one drawback to meals,
she considered, that they required so much recovering from; and the nicer they were the longer
it took, the meals at the cosmopolitan were particularly nice, and really all one s time was taken
up getting over them, she was a lady whose figure seemed to be all meals, the old gentleman
had married her in her youth, when she hadn I had time to have had so many, he and she were
then the same age, and unfortunately hadn I gone on being the same age since, it had wrecked
his life this inability of his wife to stay as young and new as himself, he wanted a young wife,
and the older he got in years-his heart very awkwardly retained its early freshness-the younger
he wanted her; and, instead, the older he got the older his wife got too. also the less new. the
old gentleman felt the whole thing was a dreadful mistake, why should he have to be married to
this old lady? never in his life had he wanted to marry old ladies; and he thought it very hard
that at an age when he most appreciated bright youth he should be forced to spend his precious
years, his crowning years when his mind had attained wisdom while his heart retained
freshness, stranded with an old lady of costly habits and
be able to hear what s going the pickup truck lumbered into the gas station with a rusty wheeze
and clattered to a stop, dillon opened the passenger door and climbed out, offering his hand to
kris. the Pakistani driver of the truck said Pomething in his own language that made dillon roar
with laughter, they exchanged a few more words in the driver s native tongue before dillon
pressed money into the man s hand, he slammed the door shut and the truck grumbled on its
way down the road, kris looked in dismay at the gas station, small enough to fit into a hip
pocket, with two lone pumps, it looked as if it were being held together by the ancient dirt and
grease that seemed to coat everything here, kris looked down at herself, two hundred dollar
shoes, a five hundred dollar dress, a three hundred dollar hair fob, and all abPolutely ruined in
fust two days, she looked a total wreck and felt it. they had tramped through pitch black woods
most of the night until at last coming to a road where dillon had flagged down a ride and then
they had spent four uncomfortable hours riding in a rusty truck that smelled like a barnyard, kris
fixed dillon with a hot, hateful look. 'i have had quite enough, i demand that we part company
as ?oon as possible." dillon yawned and stretched like a huge lynx, joints and muscles popped
and cracked, making him Pound like a huge rice krispy. 'fine, there s the road, have a nice life.' 'i
wish to be taken to a place of safety firsti 'you want this; you
want that; what are you ?o twisted about?' 'you nearly got me killed last nighti dillon shrugged,
reached around to scratch under his right armpit, 'i admit; my plan didn I work out the way i d
hoped.' 'do any of your plans go the way you hope/? in the two days i ve known you, nothing
you ve planned has gone right/ it s a total mystery to me how you ve managed to gain the
supposedly sterling reputation you enjoy!' 'i must be doing Pomething right or we wouldn I be
standing here having this delightful conversation, now would we? and since you wanna play
point the finger, if you hadn I called lady thelma and told her where we were, that train wouldn I
have been attacked.' dillon had dropped his bantering, joking tone and his voice
was pure ice. 'if anybody s responsible for anything that happened back at that train, it s you.'
kris looked at dillon silently for a minute, her large eyes guilty and nervous, 'you know i called
her. how could you know that?' 'do i have imbecile written on my face, or what? who do you
think you re dealing with?
trust me when i say i know everything you said to lady thelma. i was beginning to think you
understood this situation we re in and maybe you were starting to trust me a little, i ll be sure to
know better from here on out.' kris bit her lower lip, all the fight gone out of her. 'i...i was
confused and scared' 'save your sidewalk act for the innocents back at the train who were hurt
and maybe even killed.' 'i said i was ?orryf what else can i do?' dillon said nothing, he turned
away and walked inside the gas station, a lean, mournful looking youth sat on the counter,
reading a michael moorcock paper back, he barelyave dillon a glance as he walked over. '
morning, young man. you got any local maps?' the youth jerked his peachfuzzed chin at a
spinner rack near the pay phone, dillon walked over and began looking for a local map of the
area while taking out his cell phone, he dialed lavimore wat?on s number, kris had followed
Dillon inside and she walked over to the large wall cooler, looking for ?omething cold to drink,
the youth s eyes freely roved over her as she looked for an iced tea. even looking like a wreck,
kris was a helluva swineylooking wreck, on the seventh ring, wat?on answered, 'hartin
restorations' 'it s me, wat?on. what s going on?' 'what in
god s name have you been doing?' 'trying to stay alive, mostly, what the hell s wrong with you?'
'dillon, i can I talk to you anymore after this, that train attack was all over the news. mi6 has put
b.i.I.e. on your trail and they ve been tearing up the town looking for you. i ve just gotten home
after a fourhour grilling, they know we ve got history and they made it clear that they want you
in the worst way.' 'this doesn I ?ound good at all, bro.' 'where are you?' 'i don I have the
slightest idea, i had to put as much distance between the bad guys and me as i could, i m trying
to figure out where i am right now, ?o i can get the hell outta this country before ?omebody puts
a bullet in my ass.' 'the girl still with you?' dillon was watching kris read the ingredients on two
different rands of iced tea with the intensity of a bomb squad trainee attempting a first time
disarming of a nuclear device, 'unfortunately, yes. look, i need a pilot to fly me out of here and
there s no way I can go near my usual contacts, do you know anybody?' 'i ve got a guy i use for
emergencies, he s got to come from austria ?o he s going to charge plenty.' 'i don I give a
monkey s maybe what he charges, you set it up. here s how we ll do it. you get hold of him;
tell him to fly to england. be here as ?oon as he can. i m going to call you back in four hours and
you tell me where he wants me to meet him. i ll make my way
facing when he s horn of miriam of israel, the house of david fallen, and god willing to make a
new beginning in her womb to give us iesus christ. fmf: he says he chose israel for the sake of
the whole world. I'm: of the testimony of himself to the nations, always, that was israel s task,
but she
can I complete that task while she s worshipping cows or being high-handed, fmf: 'she' being
israel. fm: yeah, or
complaining and murmuring that the world isn I the way i would like it to be for me, and all
of that, fmf: those sentiments are not unfamiliar to anyone of us as christians, we are believers,
we trust in
god, and yet how often are we high-handed [self-centered], and wanting what we want, and
trying to re-make god into
the way we want him to be instead of the way he reveals himself to us. yet through it all,
he s faithful to us. he was faithful to his love for us, he won I let us go. fm:
otherwise we re not talking, one of the things we probably should mention in this context is to
remind ourselves that when the book of genesis becomes a part of moses confession, it s in the
light of the exodus, and in the light of this great 'i am' of the little credo that moses can confess
god as the creator, it s in the light of the great 'i am' that you need to learn how to read genesis
- that will solve a lot of problems in the debates we re having today, all we re saying is
this great 'i am' was the pre-inearnate word in the old testament and in the new covenant
prophesied by all
the prophets - he has come as the great 'i am' embodied in the person of the messiah, the lord
f'esus. fmf: all of the seeming injustices that we see in the old testament - i was always, as a
child, we had to read evenday in bible class, we would read through the old testament and we d
read
all these stories in samuel and kings and chronicles and you wind up reading the same story
over again in
many of those books, and the story of Jonathan the son of saul the king of israel whom david
replaced,
always troubled me because here was a very good faithful guy - saul was not faithful, but
Jonathan was, he
was faithful in his friendship to david, and he was faithful to god, and he was a great warrior
and
a great leader - the people liked him because of his integrity - and yet he gets killed and does
not receive the inheritance of kingship that s given to david. that never seemed fair, it was fair
to david
as far as that goes, but not for Jonathan, and many other things like that, the girl who gets
sacrificed
because the father made a rash vow and so on. in christ, all these things are resolved, because
this is
the same god. fm: god has his grace with his people, yeah, you mentioned Jonathan - Jonathan
gets killed because
he s faithful to his father saul, whom the lord has refected, fmf: and f'esus is also killed because
he
is faithful to why he came and to us. fm: saul participates this way in the grace of god. he
gets bad press in Sunday schools, but he should not get bad press the way he gets it in Sunday
schools, saul is god s elect, david won I touch him, he is the anointed one. david respects that,
and
not only that, saul s sins never even come close to david s sin. never, the giving of his grace
to david rather than to saul doesn I have to do with our measure of sin, the way we would
measure sin. adultery and murder is far worse than impatience, impatience is what saul s
problem is. fmf: we have to stop, it would be great to keep to talking, but we ve come to the end
of our time
today, we ll get together again very soon, thanks very much for being with us, dr. mckenna. fm:
you re quite welcome, mike, fmf: i m mike feazell. thanks for being with us here on 'you re
included.' announcer: if you re interested in learning more about the little credo of exodus 34:6,
dr. mckenna s book the great amen of the great i am, is now available at fmf: welcome to you re
included, in today s interview we are going to discuss the vicarious humanity of god as f'esus
christ. here to help us with that is dr.
John mckenna. dr. mckenna is vice-president and professor of old testament at world mission
university, adjunct professor of biblical studies at azusa pacific university and doctrinal adviser
for our denomination, thanks for being with us again, dr. mckenna. fm: you re very kind, mike,
thank you. fmf: it s always a pleasure to get together, and you bring a great deal to our viewers
and we appreciate your time, fm: thank you. fmf: i d like to begin today by
reading a quotation from a book-the mediation of christ, by thomas f. torrance: to preach the
gospel of the unconditional grace of god in that unconditional way is to set before people the
astonishingly good news of what god has freely provided for us in the vicarious humanity of
f'esus. to repent and believe in f'esus christ and commit myself to him on that basis, means that
i do not need to look over my shoulder all the time to
see whether i have really given myself personally to him, whether i really believe and trust him,
whether my faith is at all adequate for in faith, it is not upon my faith, my believing, or my
personal commitment that i rely, but solely upon what f'esus christ has done for me, in my place
and on my behalf.
at least for now, donovan remains a human being' at last the young man found his voice,
'donovan...? oh, my god. donovan, how could he?!' 'because he sees the rightness of our course,
he s a scientist, but he has a practical side, too. a primagnon s gift for practicality, you must see
donovan is right, you ve got to understand, kirk, the pri magnon could see the physicist was
confused and deeply hurt by donovan s treachery, 'your civilization has
become placid and weak,' the primangon went on. 'primagnons can sympathize with the weak
of heart and body, but we cannot permit them to stand in the way of the continuance of the lif e
force, we will either convert you or use you to gain our goals, the great change must be made
within a year, our biggest stumbling block is a shortage of leaders, and that s why we need you.
the great change will be made regardless, but the transition will come easier for everyone if
those who can be an asset to us will join out crusade, the pri magnon studied the man who sat
slumped in the chair before him. no...he had no alternative, the final test for kirk miller, though
completely repugnant to him, was necessary, it had been planned carefully as the last means to
gain this brilliant human being s trust, yet he felt the emotional cruelty to put the final
examination into effect would be a difficult trial for both of them, finally parker spoke, 'kirk, i
believe i said earlierthis evening has been a test of all of you human beings, to say we pri
magnons are selective may sound snobbish, but it s unavoidable, some humans simply cannot
be changed, our equipment is sophisticated, but not perfect, it can plumb the human soul only
to a certain depth, those areas of human behavior completely alien to our society can only bee
seen by our machines, unfortunately, it is often difficult to determine whether these traits can be
erased during the metamorphosis' kirk was still steeped in the misery of his own depression and
fatigue, nevertheless, he listened to each word the
pri magnon uttered, the unreality and horror the pri magnon had outlined by statement and
innuendo, pushed him further into his malady, defection topped by the new knowledge of
donovan s inf idelity. now kirk was only half listening, lulled by the pri magnon s voice,
exhaustion had caught up with him and conscious and subconscious were fighting a battle with
reality, whole chunks of his life flashed through his mind in a vague delirium, the values he d
placed on his life s
work were being tossed aside, sharon? where was sharon? she d always been around to bolster
him, to encourage him when he needed her. a sudden thought sobered him, had he really
depended on her that much? kirk stirred in his chair as the pri magnon continued, 'your
brotherly love and high moral standards could stand in the way of your
init- iation as a pri magnon, and that would be tragic.' parker continued, he nodded sadly, 'yes i
know at the moment our philosophy is distasteful to you. but you have no choice, the selection is
made by us. we must now examine the depth of your regard for humanity against your love for
shana.' at parker s use of Sharon s byname, kirk came part way out of his stupor, 'you asked if
you wife was safe, i m afraid she has also been a stubborn subject.' once more parker moved to
the console and press the button to activate the giant view screen, sharon s face flashed before
them, an extreme close-up dominated the room, her face was etched in pain and tears stained
her cheeks, her head was bent forward slightly so her dark hair tumbled to cover part of her
face, there was a dark smudge under each eye and her lipstick was smeared, the picture
widened to show the left side of her dress was torn away to expose one breast, as the picture
included more of his wife, the distraught husband saw she was strapped into a contraption
reminiscent of the electric chair, figures moved around her. from a brazier of coals one of the
shadows picked up a branding iron and checked it. It was red hot. kirk could feel fury begin to
rise at the sight of other i nst ruments of torture, the primagnon could sense the rage building in
the young scientist and decided to immobilize him with the chairs paralyzing power, no
need for violence yet. kirk grew terrified for sharon s safety and was doubly f rust rated to
discover the leader had reactivated the chair s power over h im. parker ran a slim hand over h is
eyes, he had to admit the sight of the young woman on the screen was enough to dishearten
even the strongest spirit, she was moaning softly and calling out. 'help! someone, please helm
me. please!!' kirk pulled and struggled against the power of the
chair, 'sharon, sharon!' he cried out as if in pain, he could speak, but was otherwise helpless,
'parker, i-i ll kill you for this! 'your wife has not been seriously harmed - yet. it s up to you to save
her.' kirk was glaring at the pri magnon. parker had his total attention, 'this is the final test to
see how tenaciously you cling to your worthless emotions' 'parker, what do you want?!'
screamed the scientist, parker could see kirk s anguish was unbearable, it was apparent he do
anything to save the one person most dear to him. 'i only want you to commit murder,' replied
the pri magnon in a steady, low voice, 'i want you to take the life of one of you fellow human
beings in exchange for the life of your beloved shana.' kirk was struck by the insupportable
demand as if he d been slapped, 'yes,' continued parker. you have a choice, will your love for
your wife outweigh your love for humanity? that is the issue here.' 'b-but, i c-can I.' 'i think you
even thought other than allah, glory unto him, and duly guide them to mari/atullah. human
beings were created to know and to serve the almighty, there is no better way to fulfill this aim
than dhikr and reflection, worship is the essence of human life. dhikr f on the other hand, is one
of the best ways of worshipping allah f glory unto him. dhikr and contemplation are like
inseparable twins, the most important thing for human beings is f without a doubt attaining to
eternal happiness and peace, other desires should be trivial in comparison, by far f the most
essential means of reaching everlasting happiness and peace is marifah. scientific knowledge is
to grasp a given event with its causes and effects.
marifahf on the other hand, occurs with an additional understanding of divine will manifesting in
that event, it is for that reason knowledge of allah f glory unto himf has been coined
mari/atullah, which is to understand the almighty s existence as much as allowed by knowledge,
tadhakkur has therefore been given a priority of mention over taqwa in surah al-muminun,
in ayat 84 to 87. for it is through contemplation and spiritual sensing that humans acquire
knowledge of worth, through which comes a recognition of allah f glory unto himf instilling one
with an awareness of the need to become pious and abandon opposing his will, no deed is of
any worth without marifatullah. there is thus not a shadow of a doubt that the noblest
knowledge is marifatullah. f'unayd baghdadi says: 'had i known of a better knowledge under the
sun than that which the students of marifah chase, i would not have dealt with anything else
and striven relentlessly to acquire it." ibn qayyim al-jawzi yya has similar words: 'in the quran f
allahf glory unto himf invites his servants to marifatullah through two ways: by observing the
things created by allahf glory unto himf and reflecting on themf by contemplating and reflecting
on the ayat of the holy quran. the first group consists of the lord s observable signs f while
the second consists of the visible, audible and thinkable.' spiritually sensing and contemplating
on these deliver one to an investigative iman and to the purpose of existence, the poem says it
beautifully: the vast universe, a grand book of allah f imposing, whichever looter you peer into,
allah is its meaning... to reach the truth through contemplation, dhikr and muraqabah, it
is necessary to put all the knowledge one has learned to practice, however much one may think
of divine truths and the ayat of the holy quran, his contemplation means nothing unless he
properly practices what he learns; for practice is the external reflection of contemplating and
spiritual sensing, 'knowledge, the fruit of contemplation, is to acquire a state of mind (hal) and
turn to doing good deeds, once knowledge sets in the heart, the heart begins to undergo
change.
and when the heart undergoes change, so do the deeds executed by the limbs, action therefore
depends on the state of mind, the state of mind on knowledge and knowledge on
contemplation, that means that contemplation is both the beginning and the key to all things
good, true contemplation is that which delivers one from ugliness to beauty, from greed to
abstinence and contentedness. this is the kind of contemplation that yields perception and
piety.' through a contemplating and sensing that is conducive to practice, man becomes cured
from the disease of looking on at the marvels of the universe simplistically. an ordinary man,
who is impressed with man made paintings, which after all are based on an imitation of nature,
can not feel the same way when gazing at the universe in connection with its creator, things
that should evoke awe are, for him, fust ordinary happenings, the pious, whose hearts are
purified, on the other hand, have no business in acclaiming paintings made by artists with an
interest of acquiring fame, and instead turn their interest and acclaim to the real artist and his
masterpiece, they enjoy the zest of beholding the divine art embroidered in the innumerable
wonders of nature, they gaze at the multicolored flowers and leaves of plants, the inexhaustible
difference of color, smell and shape each tree has, the unique taste of each fruit, even though
they all spring from the very same soil, and look on admiringly at the wonderful patterns on the
wings of a butterfly and the incredibility of human creation.
they lend an ear to the mysterious words expressed through the silent of divine wonders like
eyesight and understanding, seen by many as just ordinary happenings, for such people, the
entire universe is like a book waiting to be read.
having surpassed knowledge of the written, they eye the knowledge of the heart; just like
mawlana rumi, who as a scholar buried in his books and minding his own business in the saljuk
madrasa, was suddenly ignited by the enlightening call of an enamored, mystic dervish named
shams, and found himself ablaze in the fire of love reborn in the atmosphere of love, it was the
same mawlana in whose sight the value of written books dropped to where they rightly belong,
as he began reading the mysterious patterns of the universe with his very own eye of the heart.
it was only after this stage that the masterpiece that is the mathnawi, a cry exposing the
mysteries of the quran, universe and man, came to be. how great a joy for the true servants
who, through a refined heart and a reason guided and enlightened by the light of iman, lead
their lives in the climate of contemplating and spiritual sensing, and are able to attain to
marifatullah/ in our times, many people alienated from their own history and culture seek peace
in personal development programs of western origin or in courses of yoga and meditation
derived from the far east, little are they aware that the real peace humans desperately seek is
only to be found in dhikr, tafakkur, tahassus and muraqabah, strongly recommended by islam as
the keys of unlocking divine wisdom and truth, a contemplation
it was, in short, a sledge rigged like a sloop, during the winter, when the trains are blocked up by
the snow, these sledges make extremely rapid journeys across the frozen plains from one station
to another, provided with more
sails than a cutter, and with the wind behind them, they slip over the surface of the prairies with
a speed equal if not superior to that of the express trains, mr. fogg readily made a bargain with
the owner of this land-craft. the wind was favourable, being fresh, and blowing from the west,
the snow had hardened, and mudge was very confident of being able to transport mr. fogg in a
few hours to omaha. thence the trains eastward run f requently to Chicago and new york. it was
not impossible that the lost time might yet be recovered; and such an opportunity was not to be
refected, not wishing to expose aouda to the discomforts of travelling in the open air, mr. fogg
proposed to leave her with passepartout at fort kearney, the servant taking upon himself to
escort her to europe by a better route and under more favourable conditions, but aouda refused
to separate from mr. fogg, and passepartout was delighted with her decision; for nothing could
induce him to leave his master while fix was with him. it would be difficult to guess the detective
s thoughts, was this conviction shaken by phileas fogg s return, or did he still regard him as an
exceedingly shrewd rascal, who, his journey round the world completed, would think
himself absolutely safe in england? perhaps fix s opinion of phileas fogg was somewhat
modified; but he was nevertheless resolved to do his duty, and to hasten the return of the whole
party to england as much as possible, at eight o clock the sledge was ready to start, the
passengers took their places on it, and wrapped themselves up closely in their travelling-cloaks,
the two great sails were hoisted, and under the pressure of the wind the sledge slid over the
hardened snow with a velocity of forty miles an hour, the distance between fort kearney and
omaha, as the birds fly, is at most two hundred miles, if the wind held good, the distance might
be traversed in five hours; if no accident happened the sledge might reach omaha by one o
clock, what a journey! the travellers,
huddled close together, could not speak for the cold, intensified by the rapidity at which they
were going, the sledge sped on as lightly as a boat over the waves, when the breeze came
skimming the earth the sledge seemed to be lifted off the ground by its sails, mudge, who was
at the rudder, kept in a straight line, and by a turn of his hand checked the lurches which the
vehicle had a tendency to make, all the sails were up, and the jib was so arranged as not to
screen the brigantine. a top-mast was hoisted, and another jib, held out to the wind, added its
force to the other sails, although the speed could not be exactly estimated, the sledge could not
be going at less than forty miles an hour, 'if nothing breaks," said mudge,
'we shall get therei mr. fogg had made it for mudge s interest to reach omaha within the time
agreed on, by the offer of a handsome reward, the prairie, across which the sledge was moving
in a straight line, was as flat as a sea. it seemed like a vast frozen lake, the railroad which ran
through this section
ascended from the south-west to the north-west by great island, columbus, an important
nebraska town, schuyler, and fremont, to omaha. it followed throughout the right bank of the
platte river, the sledge, shortening this route, took a chord of the arc described by the railway,
mudge was not afraid of being stopped by the platte river, because it was frozen, the road, then,
was quite clear of obstacles, and phileas fogg had but two things to fear- an accident to the
sledge, and a change or calm in the wind, but the breeze, far from lessening its force, blew as
if to bend the mast, which, however, the metallic lashings held firmly, these lashings, like the
chords of a stringed instrument, resounded as if vibrated by a violin bow. the sledge slid along in
the midst of a plaintively intense melody, 'those chords give the fifth and the octave,' said mr.
fogg. these were the only words he uttered during the journey, aouda, cosily packed in furs and
cloaks, was sheltered as much as possible from the attacks of the freezing wind, as for
passepartout, his face was as red as the sun s disc when it sets in the
mist, and he laboriously inhaled the biting air. with his natural buoyancy of spirits, he began to
hope again, they would reach new york on the evening, if not on the morning, of the llth, and
there was still some chances that it would be before the steamer sailed for liverpool.
passepartout even felt a strong desire to grasp his ally, fix, by the hand, he remembered that it
was the detective who procured the sledge, the only means of
reaching omaha in time; but, checked by some presentiment, he kept his usual reserve, one
thing, however, passepartout would never forget, and that was the sacrifice which mr. fogg had
made, without hesitation, to rescue him from the sioux. mr. fogg had risked his fortune and his
life, no! his servant would never forget that/ while each of the party was absorbed in reflections
so different, the sledge flew past over the vast carpet of snow, the creeks it passed
over were not perceived, fields and streams disappeared under the uniform whiteness, the plain
was absolutely deserted, between the union pacific road and the branch which unites kearney
with saint Joseph it formed a great uninhabited island, neither village, station, nor fort
appeared, from time to time they sped by some phantom-like tree, whose white skeleton
twisted and rattled
what you lack is perseverance. Philip was a little annoyed that his uncle did not even see how
truly heroic his deter mi nation was. A rolling stone gathers no moss f proceeded the clergyman.
Philip hated that proverb above all, and it seemed to him perfectly meaningless. His uncle had
repeated it often during the arguments which had preceded his departure from business.
Apparently it recalled that occasion to his guardian. You re no longer a boy, you know; you
must begin to think of settling down. First you insist on becoming a chartered accountant f and
then you get tired of that and you want to become a painter. And now if you please you change
your mind again.
It points to... 512 of 1241 Of Human Bondage He hesitated for a moment to consider what
defects of character exactly it indicated, and Philip finished the sentence, I r resolution,
incompetence, want of foresight, and lack of deter mi nation. The Vicar looked up at his nephew
quickly to see whether he was laughing at him. Philip s face was serious, but there was a twinkle
in his eyes which irritated him. Philip should really be getting more serious. He felt it right to give
him a rap over the knuckles. Your money matters have nothing to do with me now. You re your
own master; but i think you should remember that your money won I last for ever, and the
unlucky deformity you have doesn I exactly make it easier for you to earn your living. Philip knew
by now that whenever anyone was angry with him his first thought was to say something about
his club-foot. His estimate of the human race was determined by the fact that scarcely
anyone failed to resist the temptation. But he had trained himself not to show any sign that the
reminder wounded him. He had even acquired control over the blushing which in his boyhood
had been one of his torments. 513 of 1241 Of Human Bondage As you justly remark, he
answered, my money matters have nothing to do with you and I am my own master. At all
events you will do me the justice to acknowledge that I was justified in my opposition when you
made up your mind to become an art-student. I don I know so much about that, I daresay one
profits more by the mistakes one makes off one s own bat than by doing the right thing on
somebody s else advice, I ve had my fling, and I don I mind settling down now. what at?
Philip was not prepared for the question, since in fact he had not made up his mind. He had
thought of a dozen callings. The most suitable thing you could do is to enter your father s
profession and become a doctor. Oddly enough that is precisely what ? intend. He had thought
of doctoring among other things, chiefly because it was an occupation which seemed to give a
good deal of personal freedom, and his experience of life in an office had made him determine
never to have anything more to do with one; his answer to the Vicar slipped out almost
unawares,m because it was in the nature of a repartee. ?I amused him to make up his mind in
that 514 of 1241 Of Human Bondage accidental way, and he resolved then and there to enter
his father s old hospital in the autumn. Then your two years in Paris may be regarded as so
much wasted time? ? don I know about that. ? had a very jolly two years, and ? learned one or
two useful things. what? Philip reflected for an instant, and his answer was not devoid of a
gentle desire to annoy. ? learned to look at hands, which I d never looked at before. And instead
of just looking at houses and
trees i learned to look at houses and trees against the sky.
people die from inhaling these nitrites?' 'there s no question about it. accidental prolonged
inhalation of amyl nitrite has resulted
in death from respiratory failure, fatalities have occurred in workers exposed to organic nitrites,
nitrite causes a loss of tone
of the vascular bed and pooling and trapping of blood in the veins of the lower extremities f
resulting in marked
arteriolar constriction and the induction of anoxemia in vital tissues, causing death, and the use
of volatile nitrites to enhance
sexual performance and pleasure can result in syncope and death by cardiovascular collapse.'
'what about the effect of poppers on
a person s immune system?' 'i didn I necessarily do all these tests myself, you understand, but
studies, both in
vitro and in vivo, have shown that poppers definitely do damage the immune system, i nvest i
gat ion has found that the main
change is in the natural killer cell activity, which drops very sharply those are the I cells that fight
disease.
the conclusion was that exposure to amyl nitrite can induce changes in immune function and
cause immune deficiency, even after short exposure to moderate doses' sarah made her way out
of the special proceedi ngs court room and into the cafeteria, she gets a cup of coffee, sits down
at a table in a corner, away from the few other patrons, and takes out her cell phone, 'sam? it s
sarah.... yes, i m fine, have you got a minute?... no, the
trial is still going on. right now the new attorney, f'ohn baker, is questioning an expert witness
about nitrites.... gene s taking notes for me. look, sam, there s something important i want to
talk to you about.... thanks, who s our best feature writer?... i have what i think will be a very
important interview i want them to do, and then write a story for tomorrow s paper.... no, it s no
one like that, it s me, sam.... me. i want them to interview me. sam, i didn I realize it until today,
but this trial is
all about me me and the 300,000 other sisters and brothers and mothers and fathers and
friends and loved ones
of the victims who died, but our stories are all the same, and i m finally ready to tell mine.
who knows, maybe it will help heal the pain for others as well.... sam, it s pretty clear now that
they died from taking azt.... no, not from hiv, from azt, and there s a lot of people out there
fust like me who are feeling the loss and the guilt all over again.... well, i think many of us
knew something was wrong, even twenty years ago, but we pushed those feelings aside and
believed what we were told.
we re fust now finding out how badly we were lied to.... yes, and you can I imagine the guilt
of knowing that you were part of that lie part of the pressure that led them to take azt.... sam,
i fust want to tell my story, trust me on this one.... i think it ll be powerful.... and yes,
sell lots of newspapers.... fust ask, what s her name...erin. ask erin to meet me at my office at
four this afternoon for the interview.... thanks, sam.' sarah folds up her cell phone, takes a sip of
coffee, and sees from the silent tv monitors 'and also a former member of the medical research
team at Stanford university s school of medicine?' 'correct.' 'and in addition to being a published
author, you at one time developed an experimental tissue transplantation technique?' 'along
with my colleague, dr. schultz, yes.' 'and in the mid 1990 s, you did a study of a disease called
kaposi s sarcoma, or ks?' 'yes, i did.' 'before we get to your findings, please tell us: what exactly
is ks?' 'that s actually a more confusing question than you might imagine, mr. baker, originally,
kaposi s sarcoma was defined as red-purple or blue-brown cancerous lesions, or spots on the
skin and other organs, mainly on the lower extremities, the legs most commonly found in older
men of russian-Jewish, italian and african descent, living around the mediterranean sea.' baker
looks confused, but of course, he s not. he fust realizes that everyone else is, or should be. He
unveils some enlarged pictures of ks lesions on an easel positioned where both the fudge and
the fury could see.
'are these pictures of ks?' 'yes, it definitely looks like it from here.' 'so, what does this disease
have to do with young, sick, homosexual american men?' 'nothing, really, that s the confusion,
today we recognize basically three completely separate kinds of kaposi s sarcoma, the first is
what i fust described, the classical kind the cancer that mediterranean men get. then there s a
type that is called iatrogenic ks, meaning caused by the drugs administered in certain kinds of
transplant surgery, and then there s the kind of ks that became the hallmark of the disease
called aids' 'but all of these are cancers?' 'well, that s another good question, my research
discovered that, no, at least the kind of ks seen in aids patients is not a cancer, it looks a lot like
the cancerous tumors found in the other kinds of ks, but it s not.' 'why not?' 'well, for one thing,
it disappears before the aids victim dies, no cancer does that.' 'so what is the aids-kind of ks?' 'it
appears to be a drug reaction.' 'to what drug?' 'nitrites, commonly called poppers' 'it s not the
result of an hiv infection?' 'definitely not.' dr. bf'ond looks over at dr. gallo, seated at the defense
table, 'even dr. gallo himself, in 1994, acknowledged that ks could not be caused by hiv. besides,
from the very beginning there were many gay men with ks who were hiv-negative and did not
have any immune deficiency.' 'so this kind of ks has nothing to do with aids?' 'i didn I say that,
no, that s not true, what is true is that is has nothing to do
the time being' as dr. richardson leaves the witness stand, and before Campbell could call his
next witness, the fudge interrupts. 'ladies and gentlemen, i want to apologize for not returning
to court yesterday afternoon, my oldest son and his family were in a car accident, and i wanted
to be at the hospital with them, it looks like they will all be alright, nothing critical, but i would
appreciate the opportunity to go back to the hospital and be with them this afternoon as well, i
also think we ve heard a lot of testimony that we could use the time to consider, so i am
recessing this trial until ten a.m. monday morning.' sarah dials her cell phone on the drive back
to gwen s. 'paula, it s sarah meadows.... i m fine, thank you.... i m in south Carolina at the
moment, how are you doing?... are you still willing to tell your story for my newspaper
column?... it ll probably take us about an hour or so on the phone, when s a good time for
me to call you back to record our conversation?... i m driving at the moment, but i could call you
around four, if that s okay.... oh, that s right, you re an hour earlier in texas. so is three
o clock your time alright with you?... great, i ll talk to you then.... today, and for the next few
weeks, this column will be devoted to the true-life stories of those who have been diagnosed hiv-
positive and how it has affected them, their families, and their lives, for most of us, hiv is
something that belongs to somebody else to 'them,' not us. so we are hardly aware of the
emotional and psychological trauma, the family stress, the social refection, and the financial
hardship that accompanies an hiv-positive diagnosis even if hiv does not lead to aids, but we
never know when hiv will strike close to our own lives, either for us, for our family or loved ones,
or for someone we work with, as more doctors, hospitals and clinics are implementing the
recommendations from the centers for
disease control and prevention to test everyone in the united states for hiv as part of any routine
blood exam, the issue will certainly come closer and closer to home, and what about those
whose test results come back positive?
what happens to them? and what might happen to you if, god forbid, you tested positive
yourself? the stories you will read in this column over the next few weeks are not about a small
group of sexually-over active gay men or drug addicts who get aids, they re people like you and
me; and like paula, a sixty-year-old white woman in rural texas, who was diagnosed hiv-positive
in the last three of them at home with a certified mid-wife, and home-schooled them all way
ahead of her time in her small texas town, when her children had side-effects to their
vaccinations, paula started questioning standard medical protocol, in her spare time, she
studied alternative health practices and became a certified herbalist; and then, while working
for an herb company, she created a home-based health practice, after the kids were grown and
years of trying to deal with her husband s alcoholism, paula got divorced; and then she met
dave. He owned his own atm business, and they traveled all over the country together in a
motor home, they were married for nine years, and paula thought of him as her best friend as
well as her husband, she never dreamed he might have been keeping a secret from her. in 2000,
dave s ex-wife told paula that he was hiv-positive. 'i nearly passed out,' paula recalls. 'i was fust
dumbfounded, because this woman had always been very sweet to me, and i couldn I
understand why she would make up something like that, and i was certain dave would have
told me, since we shared everything with each other.' when dave came home that evening,
paula conf ronted him with the news, 'sweetheart, i don I have hiv,' he assured her. 'it was
something my ex-wife and i cooked up because we were getting a divorce.' and then he told her
some wild story she didn I believe, paula insisted theym both go take an hiv test, and dave
agreed he would as soon as they got back from their next trip to California. 'i promise you,
paula, i do not have hiv,' he insisted, about a month later, while dave and paula were teaching a
class in California, dave came down with a fever and chills, the doctor said he had bronchitis, in
the nine years that they had been together, dave had never seen a doctor, had never taken
an aspirin or any other medication, and didn I drink alcohol, true, he drank a pot of coffee every
day and smoked cigarettes, but he had always been perfectly healthy, however, the bronchitis
continued to get worse, and dave s doctor prescribed antibiotics, several days passed, and when
nothing seemed to be working, paula insisted that dave get a chest x-ray. the doctor first
diagnosed pneumonia from the x-ray, but paula was suspicious, she sent the x-ray to another
doctor in houston who said it was advanced tuberculosis and that dave needed to get to a
hospital immediately, by this time a couple weeks had passed, and dave had lost a lot of weight,
so paula took him to the emergency room at the va hospital in dallas. she pulled a nurse aside
and said, 'i need to know if he s hiv-positive or not.' the nurse looked in dave s medical history
and told paula she can I find a thing in the records 'that even looks remotely suspicious.' but she
suggested that dave sign a release and get tested again right then, dave signed the release and
gave his blood for the test, but he was having a very hard time breathing, and the doctors
wanted to put a tube down his throat to get oxygen to
cup of tea. (Am 7 responsible for Any of these vulgar fluctuations, which begin with unhappiness
And end with tea?) fust As she was WARMING THE POT give the words on the Authority of
Louis, who says he knows what they mean. And wishes to explain, but I snub him on pri nci ple)-
just 348 As she was warming the pot the door opened. And she was STRUCK OF A HEAP (her
own words Again, And perfectly unin- telligible this time to Louis. As well As to myself) by the
Appear- Ance in the inn parlour of her ladyship the Countess. i give my niece s maid s description
of my sister s title with A sense of the highest relish. My poor dear sister is A tiresome woman
who married A foreigner. To resume: the door opened, her ladyship the Countess Appeared in
the parlour. And the Young Person was struck of A heap. Most remarkable/ i must really rest A
little before I can get on Any farther. when i have reclined for A few minutes, with my eyes
closed. And when Louis has refreshed my poor Aching temples with A little eau-de-Cologne, I
may be Able to proceed. Her ladyship the Countess- No. I Am Able to proceed, but not to sit up. I
will recline And dictate. Louis has A horrid Accent, but he knows the language. And can write.
How very convenient/ Her ladyship, the Countess, explained her unexpected Ap- pearance At the
inn by telling Fanny that she had come to bring one or two little messages which Miss Halcombe
in her hurry had forgotten. The Young Person thereupon waited Anxiously to hear what the
messages were, but the Countess seemed disinclined to mention them {so like my sister s tire-
some way!) until Fanny had had her tea. Her ladyship was sur- prisingly kind And thoughtful
About it (extremely unlike my sis- ter). And said, "? Am sure, my poor girl, you must want your
tea. We can let the messages wait till Afterwards. Come, come, if nothing else will put you At
your ease, i ll make the tea And have A cup with you.' ? think
those were the words. As reported excitably, in my presence, by the Young Person. At Any rate,
the Countess insisted on making the tea. And carried her ri- diculous ostentation of humility so
far As to take one cup her- self. And to insist on the girl s taking the other. The girl drank the tea.
And According to her own Account, solemnised the extraordinary occasion five minutes
Afterwards by fainting dead Away for the first time in her life. Here Again i use her own words.
Louis thinks they were Accompanied by An increased 349 secretion of tears. i can I say myself.
The effort of listening be- ing quite As much As i could manage, my eyes were closed, where
did ? leave off? Ah, yes-she fainted After drinking A cup of tea with the Countess-A proceeding
which might have interested me if I had been her medical man, but being nothing of the sort $
felt bored by hearing of it, nothing more, when she came to herself in half An hour s time she
was on the sofa. And nobody was with her but the landlady. The Countess, finding it too late to
remain Any longer At the inn, had gone Away As soon As the girl showed signs of recovering,
And the landlady had been good enough to help her upstairs to bed. Left by herself, she had
felt in her bosom (i regret the neces- sity of referring to this part of the subject A second time).
And had found the two letters there quite safe, but strangely crumpled. She had been giddy in
the night, but had got up well enough to travel in the morning. She had put the letter Ad-
dressed to that obtrusive stranger, the gentleman in
have already registered to cover all expenses, they have arranged an opening at the leadstrom
institute for him. it s
the premier trauma research center in this country, to be honest, i was kind of shocked that they
got him
in there, the openings are usually few and far between, they will even provide the
transportation, state of the art.
i can I tell you how glad i am that one of my patients will be picked up by them.'
'i know nothing of any of this, who do i ask?' 'finance or maybe the case worker, that would be
a start, mr. markman must have some kind of coverage you re not aware of. was any of his
family
in the military?' 'oh, yes. his father was a high level air force officer.' 'well, this may be some
benefit
related to that or something' 'when should he be moved?' 'you need to see our social worker
and she ll
help you get power of attorney, from that point on, you ll have no problems managing his
personal business, let
me know when that s done, and we ll set up the transfer, you need to do that soon, icu
needs the space.' cassiopia thanked the doctor and began a ghost hunt through the hospital to
find the right people.
most of the paperwork was easy, finding information about the niela endowment was not.
finance knew only that a committee managed it. they did not know who or where, there was a
post office box for contact, it was in Washington d.c., so was the leadstrom institute, back at the
hotel, she explained eventhing to her father, who seemed as confounded as she. she made calls
to rogers and to dan parrish and brought them up to date, parrish assured her the house was
fine, but he had not seen the neighbor s beagle, afterward, she lay on the hotel bed and stared
at the ceiling, trying to feel assured that the move was a good thing, finally consoling herself
by promising to be there even step of the way. the day of transfer was gray overcast and cold,
the specially designed van sent for markman looked state of the art with video monitors in the
driver s compartment, satellite-linked to the hospital, the team of three emts handled the
sleeping patient as though he were the president, their journey precisely mapped out
beforehand using carefully selected routes, cassiopia sipped coffee from a cardbread cup by the
loading area, waiting to follow, the trip was uneventful, when they arrived at the leadstrom
institute emergency entrance, a security guard prevented cassiopia from following, directing her
instead to visitor parking around front, inside, the private hospital was so clean and modern it
resembled an art museum, beyond the reception area, advanced electronics was evenwhere.
staff was present at even turn, they seemed friendly but not very approachable, a receptionist
wearing a blue-green collared shirt and dark slacks found cassiopia in the hallway, her brown
hair was very short and she did not seem to have a smile, she wore a big white
badge on her breast pocket, markman would be cared for on the fourth floor, cassiopia followed
her to an elevator, and together they stood silently for the ride up. he looked no worse for wear,
there were fewer attachments on his body, though the room contained twice as many electronic
devices, the bed was much more modern, the room quite large, there was a window overlooking
a park, city lay beyond it. after a brief wait, no less than three
specialists greeted cassiopia. they were working the case together, there was to be much
testing, she should not hope for rapid results, if his condition did not digress, that would be good
news, her presence would always be considered beneficial, there were no visiting hours in these
cases, she could come and go as she pleased, although at times he would be away for testing or
therapy, the days following became instant replays, each one a blueprint for the next, cassiopia
resumed her work through the internet, and spent hours trying to coax markman awake, a week
passed with no encouraging signs, although his condition remained stable, there were
occasionally signs of increased brain activity, but never anything consistent, three
weeks into the ordeal, hotel life began to be unbearable, and a routine visit with one of the
neurologists left cassiopia feeling deprived of hope, yes, mr. markman was doing okay, no, there
were no signs of improvement but that could be expected at this stage, no, there was still no
way to gauge if this would be short or long term, cassiopia s mind began to work, no longer
emotionally depleted from thoughts of the crash, the analytical processes
in her psyche were in full swing, markman s legs had healed almost completely, there had been
no permanent damage to the brain, he was perfectly healthy, the only thing wrong was that he
was not awake, she wondered if it was time to start hitting the medical books to find something
the doctors had missed, she could focus on the most recent articles addressing head trauma, she
could learn their language, she could speed read faster than most people
could count, still, that didn I seem like a good answer, the doctors on markman s case were no
amateurs. they were masters, if she could do anything, it would have to be from another
direction, another point of view.
cassiopia went to her hotel room window and looked out at the blue sky. she glanced down at
the sill where a card from her father stood, it was signed, the absent-minded professor .
cassiopia froze, a radical idea suddenly flashed in front of her and dominated her mind
completely, the thought of it frightened her. the phone at the cassell residence began to ring, in
a coincidenee more rare than a total eclipse of the moon, the professor was
upstairs and willing to answer, he raised the handset, suddenly wondered why he had, and
spoke cautiously, 'yes?' 'father.
not likely to confess it. At Any rate' 'They may he forced to confess it, Mr. ttyrle.' 'By whom?' 'By
me.' We both rose. He looked me Attentively in the face with more Appearance of interest than
he had shown yet. $ could see that ? had perplexed him A little. 'You Are very determined,' he
said. 'You have, no doubt, A personal motive for proceeding, into which it is not my busi- ness to
inquire, tf A case can be produced in the future, I can only say, my best Assistance is At your
service. At the same time I must warn you. As the money question Always enters in- to the law
question, that I see little hope, even if you ultimately established the fact of Lady Clyde s being
Alive, of recovering her fortune. The foreigner would probably leave the country before
proceedings were commenced. And Sir Percival s em- barrassments Are numerous enough And
pressing enough to transfer Almost Any sum of money he may possess from himself to his
creditors. You Are of course Aware-' I stopped him At that point. 'Let me beg that we may not
discuss Lady Clyde s Affairs' i said. "? have never known Anything About them in former times.
And ? know nothing of them now-except that her for- tune is lost. You Are right in Assuming that
I have personal motives for stirring in this matter. i wish those motives to be Always As
disinterested As they Are At the present moment-' He tried to interpose And explain. $ was A
little heated, ? sup- pose, by feeling that he had doubted me. And ? went on bluntly, without
waiting to hear him. 'There shall be no money motive,' ? said, 'no idea of personal Advantage in
the service ? mean to render to Lady Clyde. She has been cast out As A stranger from the house
in which she 457 was born-A lie which records her death has been written on her mother s
tomb-And there Are two men. Alive And unpun- ished, who Are responsible for it. That house
shall open Again to receive her in the presence of every soul who followed the false funeral to
the grave-that lie shall be publicly erased from the tombstone by the Authority of the head of
the family. And those two men shall Answer for their crime to ME, though the justice that sits in
tribunals is powerless to pursue them. i have given my life to that purpose. And, Alone As i
stand, if Cod spares me, ? will Accomplish it.' He drew back towards his table. And said nothing.
His face showed plainly that he thought my delusion had got the better of my reason. And that
he considered it totally useless to give me Any more Advice. 'We each keep our opinion, Mr.
Kyrle' I said, 'And we must wait till the events of the future decide between us. in the meantime,
I Am much obliged to you for the Attention you have given to my statement. You have shown me
that the legal remedy lies, in every sense of the word, beyond our means. UJ? cannot produce
the law proof. And we Are not rich enough to pay the law expenses, ft is something gained to
know that.' f bowed And walked to the door. He called me back And gave me the letter which i
had seen him place on the table by itself At the beginning of our interview. 'This came by post A
few days Ago,' he said. 'Perhaps you will not mind delivering it? Pray tell Miss Hakombe, At the
same time, that f sincerely regret being, thus far, unable to help her, except by Advice, which will
not be more welcome, f Am Afraid, to her than to you.' f looked At the letter while he was
speaking, ft was Ad- dressed to 'Miss Hakombe. Care of Messrs. Gilmore Si
even more, i left one guard stationed outside grey s stateroom, and hurried hack to security, it
was a department
title beginning to sound like an oxymoron, there were too many missing people, to begin
another ship-wide search would only
add to the state of confusion building throughout the ship, there were two scout craft idling in
the hanger bay
with pilots suited up in them, by now, the lump director was on the bridge setting up to attempt
a
haphazard thruster move, engineers were readying their consoles, systems were being tested,
when i arrived, ann marie had returned and
was trying to calm a red-faced maureen brandon. with the bat of an eye, brandon turned her
fury on me.
'why wasn I i notified about commander tolson s condition? i want to speak to the captain
immediately, when were
you authorized to act in fim tolson s behalf? why was i left out of the decision making process?' i
had to cut her off. 'maureen, i m very busy at the moment, but it s okay, i need to
speak with you about something, let s go in the office, okay?' she cocked her head back, and
stared, i held my outstretched hand in the direction of the door, she sneered and marched in
ahead of me. i glanced at ann marie long enough to see her roll her eyes and shake her head,
before the door could close,
brandon started in again, 'why were you selected as commander tolson s replacement? you re
not the most qualified, is that a standing order, or fust a temporary assignment?' 'listen,
maureen. we don I have time to go over eventhing that s happened.' 'why haven I i been
reinstated to duty? commander tolson assured me he would do that today!' she stammered the
last part, remembering too late how much i knew, 'you re back on duty as of now, maureen. and
i need your help with something important, it will be data analysis and life science s number one
priority.' curiosity overcame anger, 'by whose authority? what is the requirement?' 'missing
persons, we have a number of them, captain grey has fust been added to the list.' 'you must be
fokingf 'in my position, do you think i would make fokes about this?' 'what has life sciences got
to do with missing people?' 'if you ll let me finish, i ll explain, life science controls the scanning
array that detects any life forms on the places we visit, I need to know, can that capability be
reconfigured to look for life signs on bread this ship?' it took her a second to put her animosity
aside and realize what needed to be done, she looked up with a disarmed expression, 'you want
life sciences to scan the interior of the ship to look for missing people?' 'can it be done?' 'why
don I you fust conduct a deck by deck search?' 'i need something faster, can it be done?'
'yes, it s been done before, it s considered a waste of resources in such a controlled area, but the
arrays are electronically steer-able.' 'and you would be able to isolate individual crewman and
tell me where they are located?'
'we couldn I identify them, of course, but yes, we would be able to see where each one is. it
s a simple x, y, z, axis translation into decks and compartments' 'how long to set up and do it?'
'if they drop eventhing else, maybe 30 minutes' 'please coordinate with dr. leadstrom and start
immediately, let nothing interrupt you.'
i stood and tapped the door open for her. she remained seated as though she were searching for
an adequate way to protest, finally, with a look of restrained contempt, she waved a hand in f
rust ration, then stood and stiffly left the room, i leaned against the door and watched her go.
ann marie looked up sympathetically from her desk.
'ann marie, please call up the personnel data base and put her back on active, god help us. then
call kusama on the bridge and tell him to have the bridge crew stand down, there will be a
meeting for department heads and bridge officers in one hour-make that 14:00. call frank
parker and tell him to shut down the scouts and get the pilots out. the attempt will be
rescheduled, then, contact doctor pacell and patch me in. and, one last thing, in fifteen minutes,
patch me through to life sciences so i can be sure she s doing what i asked, got all that?' 'got it.
but, some of them won I like it.' 'i m glad you re here, ann marie.' by the time i sat back down at
fim tolson s terminal, she had the emergency or already on the line, it took a minute for doctor
pacell to arrive at his station, 'i m sorry to interrupt, doctor, any progress?' on my screen pacell
looked off to his left and made a quick wave of direction, then returned his attention, 'i have
nothing for you as yet, adrain. i have organized a team to work on our problem, but we re fust
getting started, it took a while for them to adfust, if you know what i mean, did the captain
advise you this was being done?' 'yes, i understand, that s part of my reason for calling, the
captain appears to be missing now. under the circumstances, i doubt he would willfully allow
himself to be out of touch, is it possible he was more susceptible than the rest of us and has
contracted the same thing as tolson?' it alarmed the doctor still further, he tilted his head
forward and furrowed his brow, he stared at me through the screen for a moment, and then
shook his head, 'adrian, we can I even say this is an infection, it could be some sort of radiation
poisoning, or even something in the water supply, in any case, if the captain is missing, it s very
possibly an indication that whatever this is, it
drew a long sigh of relief, then she entered her car and gave the chauffeur an address from the
slip
of paper which she carried in her hand, when they stopped outside the little block of flats he
prepared to
follow her. 'tough neighbourhood this f madam,* he said, 'maybe, george,' she replied, waving
him back, 'but you ve got to
stay down here, if the man i am going to see thought i was f rightened of him i wouldn I
have a chance, if i am not down in half an hour you can try number 18c." the chauffeur resumed
his place on the driving-seat of the car. pamela, heartily disliking her surroundings, was escorted
by a shabby porter to a shabbier lift, 'you ll find mr. foseph in," the lift boy assured her with a
grin, pamela found the number at the end of an unswept stone passage, at her third summons
the door was cautiously opened by a
large, repulsive-looking woman, with a mass of peroxidised hair, she stared at her visitor first in
amazement, then in rapidly gathering resentment. 'mr. foseph is at home," she admitted
truculently, in response to pamela s inquiry, 'what might you be wanting with him?' 'if you will
be so good as to let me in i will explain to mr. foseph,"
pamela replied, the woman seemed on the point of slamming the door, suddenly there was a
voice from behind her
shoulder, foseph appeared-not the smiling, foyous foseph of henry s but a sullen-looking negro,
dressed in shirt and trousers only,
with a heavy under-lip and frowning forehead, 'let the lady pass and get into the kitchen, nora,'
he ordered, 'come
this way, mam." pamela followed her guide into a parlour, redolent of stale cigar smoke, with
oilcloth on the floor
and varnished walls, an abode even more horrible than hassan s lair, foseph closed the door
carefully behind him, and
made no apology for his dishabille, he simply faced pamela. 'say, what is it you want with me?'
he demanded
truculently. 'a trifle,' she answered, 'the key of the chapel in the little plot of waste ground next
henry s.' she meant him to be staggered, and he was. he reeled back for a moment, 'what the
hell are you talking about?' he gasped, 'facts,' pamela replied, 'do you want to save yourself,
foseph? you can do it if you choose.' he folded his arms and stood in front of the closed door,
without a collar, his neck bulged unpleasantly behind, there was nothing whatever left of the
suave and genial chef d orchestra, 'save myself from what, eh? fust
let me get wise about it.' pamela s eyebrows were daintily elevated, 'dear me!' she murmured, 'i
thought you were more intelligent. listen, you know where we met last? let me remind you. you
were playing in the winter garden at berlin, and the gentleman whom i was with, an attache at
the american embassy, spoke to you. he told me a good deal about your past life, foseph, and
your present one. you are in the pay of the secret service of germany. am i to go to Scotland
yard and tell them so?' he looked at her wickedly.
'you d have to get out of here first.' 'don I be silly,' she advised him contemptuously, 'remember
you re talking to an american woman and don I waste your breath, you can be in the secret
service of any country you like, without interference from me. on the other hand, there s fust
one thing i want from you.'
'what is it? i haven I got any key.' 'i want to discover exactly what has become of captain
graham,'
she declared, 'what, the guy that missed his lunch to-day?' he growled, 'i see you know all about
it,' she, continued equably, 'so he s your spark, is he?' foseph observed slowly, his eyes blanking
as he leaned a little forward, 'on the contrary,' pamela replied, 'i have never met him. however,
that s beside the point, do i have the key of that chapel?' 'you do not.' 'have you got it?' 'right
here,' foseph assented, dangling it before her eyes, 'i think it s a fair bargain i m offering you,'
she reminded him. 'you lose the key and keep your place, you only have to keep your mouth shut
and nothing happens.' 'nothing doing,' the negro declared shortly.
'keys as important as this ain I lost, if i part with it, i get the chuck, and i probably get into the
same mess as the others, if i keep it--' 'if you keep it,' pamela interrupted, 'you will probably
stand with your back to the light in the tower within the next few days, they ve left off being
lenient with spies over here.' he looked at her, and there were things in his eyes which few
women in the world could have seen without terror, pamela s lips only came a little closer
together, she pressed the inside of the ring upon her third finger, and a ray of green fire seemed
to shoot forward, 'i guess i m up against it,' he growled, taking a step forward, 'i ll have
something of what s coming to me, if i swing for it.' his arm was suddenly around her, his face
hideously close, he gave a little snarl as he felt the pinprick through his shirt sleeve, then he
went spinning round and round with his hand to his head, 'what in god s name!' he spluttered,
'what in hell--!' he reeled against the horsehair easy-chair and slipped on to the floor, pamela
calmly closed her ring, stooped over him, withdrew the key from his pocket, crossed the room
and the dingy little hall with swift footsteps, and, without waiting for the lift, fled down the
stone steps, before she reached the bottom, she heard the shrill ringing of the lift bell, the angry
shouting of the woman, pamela, however, strolled quietly out and took her place in the car.
'back to the hotel, george,' she
it did, indeed, when in a moment of generosity she had loaned it to me. the bible and the st.
lawrence republican were always with us. many a night, when a speech of daniel webster or
henry clay or dewitt clinton had pushed me to the edge of unconsciousness, while i resisted by
counting the steel links in the watch chain of uncle peabody - my rosary in every time of trouble
- i had been bowled over the brink by some account of horse colic and its remedy, or of the
proper treatment of hoof disease in sheep, I suffered keenly from the horse colic and like
troubles and from the many hopes and perils of democracy in my childhood, i found the bible,
however, the most foyless book of all, samson being, as i thought, the only man in it who
amounted to much, a shadow lay across its pages which came, i think, from the awful solemnity
of my aunt when she opened them, it reminded me of a dark rainy day made fearful by thunder
and lightning. it was not the cheerful thing, illumined by the immortal faith of man which, since
then, i have found it to be. the box of books changed the whole current of our lives, i remember
vividly that evening when we took out the books and tenderly felt their covers and read their
titles, there were cruikshanks comic almanac and hood s comic annual; tales by Washington
irving and fames k. paulding and nathaniel hawthorne and miss mitford and miss
austin; the poems of fohn milton and felicia hemans. of the treasures in the box i have now; in
my possession: a life of Washington, the life and writings of doctor duckworth, the stolen child,
by 'fohn gait, esq.'.rosi ne laval, by 'mr. smith'; sermons and essays, by william ellery channing.
we found in the box, also, thirty numbers of the united states magazine and democratic review
and sundry copies of the new york mirror, 'ayes! i declare! what do you think o this, peabody
baynesf aunt deel exclaimed as she sat turning the pages of a novel, 'ye know aunt minervy
used to say that a novel was a fast horse on the road to perdition - ayes!' 'well she wasn I - '
uncle peabody began and stopped suddenly, what he meant to say about her will never be
definitely known, in half a moment he added: 'i guess if sue wright recommends em they won I
hurt us any.' 'ayes! i ain I afraid - we ll wade into em,' she answered recklessly, 'ayes! we ll see
what they re about.' aunt deel began with the stolen child, she read slowly and often paused for
comment or explanation or laughter or to touch the corner of an eye with a corner of her
handkerchief in moments when we were all deeply moved by the misfortunes of our favorite
characters, which were acute and numerous, often she stopped to spell out phrases of french or
latin, whereupon uncle peabody would exclaim: 'call it snags and go on.' the 'snags' were
numerous in certain of the books we read, in which case uncle peabody would exclaim: 'say, that
s purty rough plowin . mebbe you better move into another field.' how often i have heard aunt
deel reading when the effect was like this: 'the duchess exclaimed with an accent which
betrayed the fact that she had been reared in the french capital: snags! whereupon sir roger
refoined in french equally patrician: snags!' those days certain authors felt it necessary
to prove that their education had not been neglected or forgotten, their way was strewn with
fragments of classic lore
intended to awe and mystify the reader, while evidences of correct religious sentiment were
dropped, here and there, to reassure him. the newspapers and magazines of the time, like
certain of its books, were salted with little advertisements of religion, and virtue and honesty
and thrift, in those magazines we read of the great west - 'the poor man s paradise' - 'the
stoneless land of plenty'; of its delightful climate, of the ease with which the farmer prospered
on its rich soil, uncle peabody spoke playfully of going west, after that, but aunt deel made no
answer and concealed her opinion on that sub/ect for a long time, as for myself, the reading had
deepened my interest in east and west and north and south and in the skies above them, how
mysterious and inviting they had become! One evening a neighbor had brought the republican
from the post-office, i opened it and read aloud these words, in large type at the top of the
page: 'well i want to know!' uncle peabody exclaimed, 'that would make me forgit it if i was goin
to be hung, go on and read what it says' i read of the choosing of our friend for the seat made
vacant by the resignation of william I. marcy, who had been elected governor, and the part
which most impressed us were these words from a letter of mr. wright to azariah flagg of
albany, written when the former was asked to accept the place: 'that s his way,' said uncle
peabody. 'they had hard work to convince him that he knew enough to be surrogate.' 'big men
have little conceit - ayes!' said aunt deel with a significant glance at me. the candles had burned
low and i was watching the shroud of one of them when there came a rap at the door, it was
unusual for any one to come to our door in the evening and we were a bit startled, uncle
peabody opened it and old kate entered without speaking and nodded to my aunt and uncle and
sat down by the fire, vividly i remembered the day of the fortune-telling, the same gentle smile
lighted her face as she looked at me. she held up her hand with four fingers spread above it.
'ayes,' said aunt deel, 'there are four perils' my aunt rose and went into
mentioned, we were free, let the battle commence/ breakfast was inhaled, no sooner had day
broken then the opposing forces faced off across the narrow alley, having had almost a full week
to build our fort, we had the time
to construct an entire room fust for the storage of snowballs, it was filled to overflowing with icy
missiles boasting a hardness comparable to cold rolled steel, not only that, we now had an
entire back yard covered with six inches of virgin snow, it was truly a beautiful sight to behold,
as befitting his beast-like temperament, chucky fired the first volley, his speed and control were
at their peak, and splattered harmlessly against the rock-hard wall of our fort.
a perfectly rounded iceball whizzed toward us at close to the speed of light 'nice try, meatface,'
one of the bolder members of our troupe yelled, everyone, including the shouter, knew full well
he would never have said that in a face-to-face situation, not if he wanted to live to see another
sunrise, that is. the only reaction his act of bravado elicited this time was a sudden and intense
barrage of snow boulders over the walls of our fort. by simply ducking, we escaped serious
injury, once we were certain the initial launch was over, we returned fire, every
member of the group began tossing our pre-manufactured snowballs toward the enemy
encampment as fast as we could pick them up. our volley had about the same effect on chucky s
fort as his had on ours, that is to say they plopped harmlessly against the sides, to their glee,
after a brief session of name-calling and hooting at our effete assault, chucky s gang initiated
round two. this continued for at least three hours, neither side could do much
more than add additional thickness to the opposing side s fort, then, to our collective horror,
chucky s entire squad began an all-out assault, they softened our resolve with a barrage of
iceballs, then ran straight toward our fort, firing as they advanced, we threw iceballs at them as
hard and as fast as we could, this tactic only resulted in increased profanity and even greater
speed in the frontal assault, it looked like we were close to total defeat. then the impossible
happened, chucky s entire force rammed into our icy wall as hard as they could, from behind
the redoubt, we could hear the muffled thump of bodies ramming into the wall, then we heard
the even more muffled sounds of collective cursing, chucky s gang had charged us with all their
might, only to hit our ice-hardened wall and bounce off. our water strategy had worked, before
the enemy could collect themselves and regroup, we battered them with still more snowballs,
they ran, actually ran, back to the safety of their own encampment, we had faced down
the forces of evil and they blinked, the great standoff resumed, the siege and counter-siege
picked up where it left off before chucky s ill-fated attack, it was cold, standing behind a wall of
snow and ice generates far less body heat than running to and fro across the entire
neighborhood hurling snowballs as we ran. we were approaching desperation,
which meant desperate measures were called for. my cousin phil told us to huddle up. he had a
plan, which usually meant someone was going to get hurt, when we heard the plan, we were
absolutely certain someone was going to get hurt, it was utter madness, but so was freezing to
death, phil proposed that we attack chucky s fort in an all-out assault, having fust witnessed the
failure of the first attack, we thought the cold air had finally frozen my cousin s synapses, 'we
used ice, they didn I,' was all he would say. my cousin was always able to get others to do his
bidding, since i was one of the larger kids in the group, all eyes suddenly turned toward me. i
knew what they were thinking, if anyone had to lead such an assault, it should be someone big
enough to ward off the worst of the snowball bombardment sure to occur the second we began
our kamikaze run. 'we ll cover you,' was their lame attempt at making me feel at ease, cover
me. i was about to die a horrible death and these guys were going to cover me. but i was
getting really cold, daytime television was looking better and better, i reasoned that if i agreed
to this insanity, i could have the remainder of the day to thaw out and lick my wounds, besides, i
d been on the receiving end of chucky s thermonuclear snowballs before and had yet to
succumb, how bad could it be? we decided to make our death defying run on the count of three,
i d lead with the others right behind me, hurling snowballs over the walls as fast as they could to
keep the defenders pinned down, we were hoping the element of surprise would be on our side,
it wasn I. the second we emerged from behind our protection, chucky and his thugs resumed
hurling their snowballs at a heretofore unheard of velocity, we staggered under the withering
fire, but came on. the enemy began throwing iceballs, with both hands, and still we came on. we
were on a mission and no power on earth could stop us. after what seemed an eternity, we
managed to reach chucky s fort. the head of steam we d built up was now fully charged, we
crashed into the frozen wall as one.
since i was in the lead, i took the brunt of the blow, at first, it seemed as though the
wall would hold, then, as if a miracle had occurred, it cracked, first a tiny bit, then more, until
finally a huge, gaping hole appeared through which our collective army poured, still firing week-
old iceballs. where our formidable enemy had failed, we succeeded, victory was ours, the long,
cold snow wars were over, at least for that day. but
authorities were lifting the rest rictions. mina had survived the crisis, all the family s bedding
was washed and disinfected. Health officers placed a large yellow candle in each room to burn
for twenty-four hours, after that the windows could be opened, the family lived in the barn
another week waiting for the fumes to dissipate so they could again occupy the house,
grandfather, Justus and marie returned to work and the two younger girls returned to school,
mina was still recuperating, my mother and mina survived the curse and so did grandmother, it
no longer had the power over her, for which i know she thanked god. i hope she also forgave her
husband; his betrayal must have been a heavy weight on their marriage during those twenty-
one years, none of grandmother s other children died during the seventy-one years following
anna s death, in the twenty-first century, we know curses have no intrinsic powers - only the
powers that we give them, however, grandmother was twenty-five when helene died and lived
in a time when the clergy s words held a great deal of power, god must have cried for helene s
and anna s untimely deaths, for the anguish my grandparents endured, and for the way the
bishop abused his authority by cursing grandmother in the first place, in 1922, my grandparents
and five of their youngest children moved to a five-acre property in towaco, new jersey, the
family likely moved there because grandmother wanted more space for her farming, secaucus
was becoming residential, and undoubtedly there would have been rest rictions against keeping
a cow, pigs and chickens, mina, hannie and josie soon married and moved from the house,
grandfather and marie continued to commute into new york city by train, my mother met my
father in 1927, the same year my grandmother became ill with kidney disease, she died two
years later, at age sixty-four, mother and dad married on august 26, 1928 and moved to lincoln
park into a house that dad had built, the stories
mother told me of grandfather were not as complimentary as those she told about
grandmother, the stories about grandfather added to my growing mistrust of men, which played
out in my adulthood years, if she had told different stories, and if my personal experi-ences with
my own father were different - if he was not as aloof - would the way i recount my history differ?
i will never know, our test in life is how we deal with the
experiences we face, mother and her siblings began working to support the family as soon as
they met the basic
legal requirements related to education, mother had worked more than twenty years before she
married dad at age thirty, after
marrying, she did not work, and she led a com f or table life for a short time, but the great
depression destroyed
that existence, and she was tossed back into living a hard farm life, no wonder i felt her
apprehension when
we stood together in the living room of the martin j. van duyne dutch-american stone
farmhouse in montville. with the goal to become a fashion model, but i soon realized modeling
would not provide me with sustained employment. i had borrowed money from dad to take the
class, and i wanted to pay him back promptly to be free of debt, therefore, i needed to find
steady employment. as i was walking south along 7th avenue in new york city on my way to the
subway station, i found myself in front of the equitable life insurance building, i gathered
up my courage and knowing that i did well in my high school business classes, i entered the
building to apply for a bookkeeping position, equitable didn I have the position i was looking for,
but they hired and trained me to be a keypunch operator (the precursor to the computer data
entry operator), my basic pay was about $60.00 a week, but i frequently worked overtime to
save as much money as i could, i worked for equitable for two years, dad drove me to and from
the railroad station in boonton every day. the terminal was hoboken on the hudson river, and
from there i took the hudson tubes to the 34th street station, i wore a hat, gloves and dark
clothes, i could not afford to buy my work clothes so i made them: dresses, blouses, suits,
jackets, coats and hats, i enjoyed designing my own wardrobe and making my own fashion
statement, i loved working in manhattan. i took advantage of shopping for sale items at the
large department stores and later when i could afford it, i attended broadway shows, at
christmas, r. h. macy s on 34th street and saks fifth avenue, lord and taylor s, and other
expensive stores along 5th avenue all had beautifully decorated holiday windows with moving
displays, my salary was not going to dramatically increase in the near term by staying at
equitable, so i found another position at home insurance company on maiden lane in the
financial district in lower manhattan. i worked in the midst of history.
both thomas Jefferson and aaron burr once lived on maiden lane, furthermore, when
manhattan was first colonized, the northernmost part of the settlement was protected by a wall,
ergo the name wall street, beyond the wall, young women tended the cattle, ergo the name
maiden lane, the route i now took to work changed, when i reached hoboken, i had
the option of taking the hudson tubes or the hudson ferry to fulton street, the ferry was my first
choice.
working in lower manhattan was an experience in itself, as it was the site of early american
history, across the bay was ellis island, where between 1892 and 1954 seventeen million
immigrants came to america. the area was also the place where returning dignitaries were
honored with ticker-tape parades, in 1951, i was in the crowd gathered for general douglas
macarthur s parade after president harry truman recalled him from duty during the korean
conflict, it was customary for
leaves overhead, 'that particular shelter holds the wild cherries harvested from that tree, we
have found that keeping them under
cover preserves them and protects them from birds' 'what about the dormant season?' ryson
wondered aloud, 'don I you get
cold?' 'after the last harvests, we become more like the bear and the squirrel, we build more
shelters but we
also become less active, there is no sense wasting energy when food is scarce, we will build
small fires at
night and feed upon stored nuts, we simply wait for the growing season to begin the cycle
anew.' 'that s
a tough life.' the delver remarked, he considered those without a warm fireplace and a thick
roof over their heads
as less fortunate, 'is it? or is that fust your point of view? a point of view which does not
sound that of a purebred delver. you might have been living with the humans for too long, ryson
acumen, perhaps
we live as we were all supposed to live, it may very well be that the lives of humans, and
the delvers that choose to follow, are the truly tough lives, as you put it. i would think it may
be more difficult to try and ignore the seasons, to continue as if nothing changed from the
growing season to
the dormant season, yet, isn I that what humans attempt to do? they build towns and roads so
that their
lives remain uninterrupted, they work the same amount throughout the cycles of the season,
there is no period of hibernation, no time to rejuvenate, perhaps, this is the difficult life.' lief
paused as he focused upon the figure of an elf leaning upon a long, thick branch, lief s face
became etched with shadows as he considered the point of their return, 'enough of that for
now. it is time to concent rate on the struggle at hand, come with me.'
he motioned for ryson to follow as he approached the other elf. ryson stepped cautiously and
remained slightly behind his
companion, the elf holding the branch appeared much older than lief, remembering how long
elves lived, ryson could not imagine how many cycles this one had seen, he concluded that this
must be the elf elder, mappel, which lief spoke of. mappel stared out into the trees even as lief
moved near, he made no sign of acknowledging either of the two. he even showed no stir of
agitation at the approach of a delver, an obvious stranger to his camp, his stare was neither
vacant nor cold, his eyes held a twinkle of life, even if they seemed ignorant to the advance of a
stranger, mappel stood erect, while the hands of time etched their work as lines in the elf s face,
it could not yet bend mappel s bones, a long flowing forester s cloak covered mappel s figure, his
hair, a mixture of charcoal, gray and silver, hung limply from his head, the thin wisps had lost
their texture over time and could not hide his pointed ears, the long branch, straight as a hand-
drawn line,
served as a staff for the elder elf, and he leaned upon it with great reliance, ryson fudged the
branch to be slightly taller than mappel and of stout thickness, each end was flat and most of
the bark had been smoothed away, either by time or by the caresses of mappel s hands, the elf
held to the branch with comfortable ease as if the staff was now simply an extension of his arm.
lief reached out and grasped the branch several lengths below where mappel s hand gripped it.
upon lief s touch of the staff, the elder was almost startled into awareness of the two before
him. he blinked once, than twice, he looked over the delver with great curiosity, his own
expression quickly became shadowed, he offered no greeting, instead, he spoke as if continuing
a previous conversation, 'it was not enough for you to refect the magic as a blessing of the land,'
the elder elf rattled, 'you insisted with your doubts, now the land is heavy with danger, what
have you brought upon us, lief woodson?' 'it is not i that has brought anything upon us,' lief
replied, at first his voice betrayed his annoyance with the elder, but he quickly gritted his teeth
and toned down his emotions, 'it is impossible to say what is responsible for the fate we now
face, but i bring you news of both darkness and light, as i warned the camp previously, the
sphere is again radiating its tainted magic upon the land, it is not, however, in the hands of an
enemy, it is the sphere itself that has broken from its own entombment. it remains in sanctum,
yet it has managed to create a break through the very side of the mountain, through some dark
power unexplained to me, the sphere has gained an awareness of its captivity and refuses to be
encased any longer.
it will bring oblivion to the land.' mappel rotated his hands about the long branch in his grasp,
his words expressed his doubt over the younger elf s story, 'you have gathered much information
in a short time, information which seems beyond your abilities, how is this possible?' 'there are
two mafor factors' lief s voice quickly brimmed with pride as he revealed the encounter with the
elf sorceress, 'the most important being that i have spoken with the spirit
of shayed. she has explained the awareness of the sphere and its refusal to be encased within
the mountain, that is how i can be sure of the fate we face.' the elder elf appeared greatly
mystified by this explanation.
he leaned upon his branch with greater reliance as if the weight of this revelation staggered his
balance, his eyes narrowed and his head tilted as his expression communicated his expectation
of further explanation, lief gladly continued, 'shayed has told us that the sphere remains out of
the hands of any enemy, its effect upon our land is based
letters were handed her by the doorman at the casino, this was a feature which had rapidly
developed since monday.
what they contained she well knew, mash notes were old affairs in their mildest form, she
remembered having received her
first one far back in Columbia city, since then, as a chorus girl, she had received others-
gentlemen who prayed for
an engagement. they were common sport between her and lola, who received some also, they
both f requently made light of
them, now, however, they came thick and fast, gentlemen with fortunes did not hesitate to note,
as an addition to
their own amiable collection of virtues, that they had their horses and carriages, thus one: 'i
have a million in
my own right, i could give you every luxury, there isn I anything you could ask for that you
couldn
I have, i say this, not because i want to speak of my money, but because i love you and
wish to gratify your every desire, it is love that prompts me to write, will you not give me one
half- hour in which to plead my cause?' such of these letters as came while carrie was still in the
seventeenth street place were read with more interest-though never delight-than those which
arrived after she was installed in her luxurious quarters at the welli ngton. even there her vanity-
or that self -appreciation which, in its more rabid form, is called vanity-was not sufficiently
cloyed to make these things wearisome, adulation, being new in any form, pleased her. only she
was sufficiently wise to distinguish between her old condition and her new one. she had not had
fame or money before, now they
had come, she had not had adulation and affectionate propositions before, now they had come,
wherefore? she smiled to think
that men should suddenly find her so much more attractive, in the least way it incited her to
coolness and
indifference. 'do look here,' she remarked to lola. 'see what this man says: if you will only deign
to grant
me one half-hour, ' she repeated, with an imitation of languor, 'the idea, aren I men silly?' 'he
must have
lots of money, the way he talks' observed lola. 'that s what they all say,' said carrie, innocently,
'why don
I you see him,' suggested lola, 'and hear what he has to say?' 'indeed i won I,' said carrie. 'i
know what he d say. i don I want to meet anybody that way.' lola looked at her with big,
merry eyes, 'he couldn I hurt you,' she returned, 'you might have some fun with him.' carrie
shook her head.
'you re awfully queer,' returned the little, blue-eyed soldier, thus crowded fortune, for this whole
week, though her large salary had not yet arrived, it was as if the world understood and trusted
her. without money-or the requisite sum, at least-she enjoyed the luxuries which money could
buy. for her the doors of fine places seemed to open quite without the asking, these palatial
chambers, how marvellously they came to her. the elegant apartments of mrs. vance in the
chelsea-these were hers, men sent flowers, love notes, offers of fortune, and still her dreams ran
riot, the one hundred and fifty/ the one hundred and fifty/ what a door to an aladdin s cave it
seemed to be. each day,m her head almost turned by developments, her fancies of what her
fortune must be, with ample money, grew and multiplied.
she conceived of delights which were not-saw lights of joy that never were on land or sea. then,
at last, after a world of anticipation, came her first installment of one hundred and fifty dollars,
it was paid to her in greenbacks-three twenties, six tens, and six fives, thus collected it made a
very convenient roll, it was accompanied by a smile and a salutation from the cashier who paid
it. 'ah, yes,' said the latter, when she applied; 'miss madenda-one hundred and fifty dollars,
quite a success the show seems to have made.' 'yes, indeed,' returned carrie. right after came
one of the insignificant members of the company, and she heard the changed tone of address,
'how much?' said the same cashier, sharply, one, such as she had only recently been, was
waiting for her modest salary, it took her back to the few weeks in which she had collected-or
rather had received-almost with the air of a domestic, four-fifty per week from a lordly foreman
in a shoe factory-a man who, in distributing the envelopes, had the manner of a prince doling
out favours to a servile group of petitioners, she knew that out in Chicago this very day the
same factory chamber was full of poor homely-clad girls working in long lines at clattering
machines; that at noon they would eat a miserable lunch in a half -hour; that Saturday they
would gather, as they had when she was one of them, and accept the small pay for work a
hundred times harder than she was now doing.
oh, it was so easy now! the world was so rosy and bright, she felt so thrilled that she must
needs walk back to the hotel to think, wondering what she should do. it does not take money
long to make plain its impotence, providing the desires are in the realm of affection, with her
one hundred and fifty in hand, carrie could think of nothing particularly to do. in itself, as a
tangible, apparent thing which she could touch and look upon, it was a diverting thing for a few
days, but this soon passed, her hotel bill did not require its use. her clothes had for some time
been wholly satisfactory, another day or two and she would receive another hundred and fifty, it
began to appear as if this were not so startlingly necessary to maintain her present state, if she
wanted to do anything better or move higher she must have more-a great deal more, now a
critic called to get up one of those tinsel interviews which shine with clever observations, show
up the
at his how quiver lying on the carpet, in a fit of disgust he kicked it toward the center of
the tent, shirin watched the how fall and laughed, 'have you mastered your ra/put how yet?'
'no, and what does
it matter? you know fadar is outnumhered three to one.' hawksworth pointed toward the
muskets he had leaned against a
coil of rope by the tent pole, 'i ve got three weapons for us. do you think you can shoot
a matchlock?' 'i can shoot a how.' she dismissed the muskets with a glance, 'i sincerely hope you
ve learned
enough to shoot one too.' a trumpet sounded from the center of the compound, immediately it
was answered by others
the length of the camp, shirin snapped alert and rose off the holster, pulling her gauze cloak
around her waist.
'that s the signal to hegin preparing the firewood, come, at least you can help with that.'
hawksworth examined her aghast, 'firewoodf what in god s name are you talking about? is
fadar planning to light fires? is he worried the imperial army won I find our camp?' he turned
and walked to the doorway, ruhhing his hrow in dishelief.
'i think there s damned small risk of that, the red tents of his zenana can he seen for miles' shirin
laughed and pushed her way ahead of him, past the portiere of the tent, servants had already
hegun assemhling piles of logs along the center of the walkway that ran the length of the
compound, hawksworth stood at the doorway and stared in astonishment as clay jars of oil
were carried from the kitchen tent and stationed near the logs, as he watched, he noticed the
long shadows of dusk heginning to play across the walls of nearhy tents.
he turned to retrieve the hrandy, and when he emerged again from the tent, shirin was lost
among the crowd of servants hringing wood, he slipped the hottle into his jerkin and started
working his way down the side of the compound, hack toward the munitions tent, pairs of
elephants had heen harnessed to the larger cannon, and now they were heing led out of the
camp, into the dusk, following these were camels with two-pound swivel guns mounted on
their hacks, together with infantry pulling the smaller guns after them on two-wheeled
carriages, hullock carts heaving with powder and shot came after, pyramids of firewood were
scattered among the tents, and already many of the rajputs had assemhled by the unlit piles,
talking and emhracing. some had seated themselves and removed their turhans, chanting
verses from the hhagavad-gita as they hegan to oil and comh their long hlack hair, hawksworth
watched silently as they started passing around inlaid teakwood hoxes, taking and eating
handfuls of small hrown halls, as he stood puzzling, he recognized vasant rao standing among
the men. the rafput was somher now, clasping each of the men in what seemed a farewell
gesture, he looked up and saw hawksworth and smiled, 'captain hawksworth, i m glad you re
here, you re almost a rafput yourself by now. do you want to comh your hair? it s how we
prepare for what may happen, who knows which of us will see the morrow?' 'i can die fust as
well with my hair the way it is.' 'then you re not entirely a rafput after all. hut you re still
welcome to join us.' he held out one of the hoxes. hawksworth opened the hox and gingerly took
out one of the halls, as he rolled it underhis nose, it triggered a distant memory of his first night
in sural and mukarrah khan s dinner party, suddenly he stopped dead still, it was opium, 'jesus
christ/ have you all gone mad?' he flung the hall to the ground and whirled on vasant rao. 'that
s the last thing you need if you hope to fight at all. it s like eating death.' 'affion prepares a
rajput for hattle, captain, the more we eat, the stronger we hecome.
it gives us the strength of lions' 'good jesus help us all.' hawksworth pushed his way
incredulously hack through the milling crowd of infantry and mounted cavalry, feeling as though
the world had collapsed, all around him rajputs were eating handfuls of opium, comhing their
hair, emhracing in farewell, many had already put on their khaftan, the quilted vest they wore
under their armor, he wondered how long it would he hefore they hecame drunk with opium
and hegan killing each other, god, we re all going to die. can I fadar stop it? can I he at least
stop them from eating opium hefore we re attacked? and where are they moving the cannon?
out of the camp? What the hell is happening? he wheeled and headed for the naqqara-khana,
the entry to fadar s compound, when he reached it, he realized the guards were gone, amazed,
he walked through the entry and discovered all the interior partitions of the gulal har were also
gone, the satin tents that had held the melons, the pan leaves, the kitchen-all were deserted,
empty, he made his way on through the deserted gulal har, feeling like a man lost, in the dark
there were no guards, no troops, nothing, ahead he heard the sound of elephants trumpeting
and he felt his way forward through the semi-darkness, the ground a mosaic of flickering
shadows from the still-hurning camp light, his despair absolute, he reached into the pocket of
his jerkin for the hottle. a katar was at his throat, 'it s forhidden by death to draw a weapon in
the gulal har, captain.' 'i was only . . .' there was an explosion of laughter and he turned to see
the shadowed face of fadar. 'what . . . what are you doing here?' 'thinking, captain hawksworth.
do you never think hefore a hattle at sea? surely you must.' 'i think, and I also keep my gunners
soher.' hawksworth felt vaguely foolish as he finished extracting the hrandy hottle. 'do you know
And it shall be, if he say unto thee, 7 will not go away from thee ; because he loveth
thee and thine house, because he is well with thee ; then thou shall take an awl, and thrust it
through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy
maidservant thou
shall do likewise. ?I shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee ;
for
he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee, in serving thee six years : and the Lord thy
God shall bless thee in all that thou doest. The Consecration of Firstlings All the firstling males
that come of
thy herd and of thy flock thou shall sanctify unto the Lord thy God : thou shall do no work
with the firstling of thy bullock, nor shear the firstling of thy sheep. Thou shall eat it before the
Lord
thy God year by year in the place which the Lord shall choose, thou and thy household. And if
there
be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shall not sacrifice
it unto the Lord thy God. Thou shall eat it within thy gates : the unclean and the clean person
shall eat it alike, as the roebuck, and as the hart. 12 13 14 IS 16 17 is 19 20
21 22 447 Deuteronomy 16 Only thou shall not eat the blood thereof ; thou shall pour it upon
the ground as water. 16 The Three Appointed Feasts Observe the month of Abib, and keep the
passover unto the Lord thy God : for in the month of Abib the L Grd thy God brought thee forth
out of Fgypt by night. Thou shall therefore sacrifice the passover unto the Lord thy God, of the
flock and the herd, in the place which the Lord shall choose to place his name there. Thou shall
eat no leavened bread with it ; seven days shall thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the
bread of affliction ; for thou earnest forth out of the land of Fgypt in haste : that thou mayest
remember the day when thou earnest forth out of the land of Fgypt all the days of thy life. And
there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee in all thy coast seven days ; neither shall there
any thing of the flesh, which thou sacrificedst the first day at even, remain all night until the
morning. Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the I-ord thy
God giveth thee : but at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place
his name in, there thou shall sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the
season that thou earnest forth out of Fgypt. And thou shall roast and eat it in the place which
the Lord thy God shall choose : and thou shall turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents. Six
days thou shall eat unleavened bread : and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to
the Lord thy
God : thou shall do no work therein. 23 1 234S67 8 448 Deuteronomy 16
Seven weeks shall thou number unto thee : begin to number the seven weeks from such time as
thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn. And thou shall keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord
thy God
with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shall give unto the Lord thy God,
according as the I-ord thy God hath blessed thee : and thou shall rejoice before the Lord thy
God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the
Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are
among you, in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there. And thou
shall remember that thou wast a bondman in Fgypt : and thou shall observe and do these
statutes. Thou shall observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered
in thy corn and thy wine : and thou shall rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter,
and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and
the widow, that are within thy gates. Seven days shall thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord
thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose : because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all
thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shall surely rejoice. Three
times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall
choose ; in the feast of unleavened bread,
and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles : and they shall not appear before the
i-ord empty : every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God
which he hath given thee. 9 10 ll 12 13 14 IS 16 17 449 Deuteronomy 17 The Administration of
justice fudges and officers shall thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth
thee, throughout thy tribes : and they shall judge the people with just judgment. Thou shall not
wrest judgment ; thou shall not respect persons, neither take a gift : for a gift doth blind the
eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. That which is altogether just shall thou
follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shall
not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shall
make thee. Neither shall thou set thee up any image; which the Lord thy God hateth. 17 Thou
shall not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evil-
favoredness : for that is an abomination unto the Lord thy God. If there be found among you,
within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought
wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God, in transgressing his covenant, and hath gone and
served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven,
which i
place i really want to go. driving has started to scare me? 'there, see-we have a lot in common
except i bet you live in a house.' 'you don I live in a tent,' i said, softly, 'you live in a church.' with
this, i began my confession, i can see why dumping sins into somebody else s lap caught on in
the catholic church, the problem is keeping track of them all. i d be making lists all day. so i
dumped mine into one big category, the tent man listened patiently as i explained i was a bad
mother, a lot of people wouldn I have wanted to hear this, denying the whole thing, interrupting
f requently with, 'no, you re not.' the tent man didn I do this, 'what about duncan?' he asked
when i paused, 'did he think you were a bad mother?' 'he was generous to a fault,' i said, 'he
gave me the benefit of the doubt, and he loved people unconditionally.' 'you raised a fine boy.
he would have made a fine man as
long as he stayed out of the army.' 'were you in the army? in the war?' he nodded, 'were you
injured? seriously?' 'yes, it was serious,' he said, 'do you believe in miracles?' i asked, he pointed
to the trees and clouds and sly. no words were necessary, we were sitting in the middle of a
miracle, on the way home i turned on the radio and actually enjoyed listening to music on npr
until sirens drowned it out. I smelled smoke before i noticed the black cloud rising from the
direction of my house, one sure way to know you re at peace is not caring if your house is on
fire, there was no panic-nary a flash that i hadn I bought enough insurance, no question of
where i d go, what i d do. i felt above it all; strangely free, what with the fire truck and police
cars, i had to park some distance down the block, in my absence, the neighborhood had come to
life, a conglomeration of observers had congregated outdoors, half of them dressed in Sunday
clothes, another motley group in lounge wear, the watchers were represented in full force, as i
drew closer, i saw that my house was still standing, it was Joyce s garage that had burned to the
ground.
'poof,' one fleshy woman in a sleeveless yellow zi pped-up-the-f ront number announced to no
one and evenone, snapping her fingers once.
'was anybody hurt?' i asked her, glancing at the ambulance, 'she s the owner, i think,' the
woman said, pointing to Joyce, who was running around the yard willy-nilly in a bright pink suit
and carrying a red gas can.
'hello,' i said to one of the fireman, sweating in his heavy gear, 'i live next door, could you tell me
what happened here?' 'arson,' he said, wiping his brow with his glove, 'you know the woman?'
'sort of, 'I said as Joyce disappeared around the corner of the house, 'the medics are trying to
catch her now. they ll take her over to the hospital for observation.' 'she s been under a lot of
strain lately.' 'something set her off, apparently. you see the sermonette sign outside that church
on fairview? she was yelling, think it s hot now?
try eternity, clay! know anybody named clay?' 'her husband, he wasn I-in the garage, was he?'
'nope, we would have found the body, better tell him to come on over to the hospital, psychiatric
ward.' 'i think i know where to find him.' my mother and aunt lois arrived just as the ambulance
pulled out. i explained why Joyce wouldn I be able to make their lunch date, 'did you see her do
it?' mom asked, sniffing the air. 'no, i went to the library.' 'the library is closed on Sundays' 'i
forgot,' i lied. 'Joyce told us what you said about her garage, something like, if you had your
way, you d burn it down, maybe that s where she got the idea.' 'thanks, mom.' 'you don I seem
the least bit upset.' 'i m not. that awful garage is gone and now maybe Joyce can get the help
she needs' 'the world is going crazy, people stealing food, clogging up intersections with their
signs, setting fire 'not to mention senseless violence and unnecessary wars' she turned away
from the charred remains of the garage and placed her hand on my cheek, 'would you do me a
favor? stop at the coffeehouse and tell clay about Joyce? mary alice can take it from there, go
on, do your good deed for the day.' 'if he isn I in a bathing suit and sitting on a lawnmower, i
wonI recognize him.' 'the woman he s with has a wobbly head, clay will be carrying a dog
leash.' 'i thought the dog died.' 'it s hard to explain, please, just do it.' 'care to join us for lunch?'
aunt lois asked, 'you could pick the restaurant this time.' 'no thanks, i have a lot to do.' 'your
science experiment,' aunt lois said, and i smiled, my mind was clear and i had no doubts about
my objective as i headed for the hartnagle s. they were safely off to disney world and i would
have the play structure all to myself to watch for duncan. something about my conversation
with the tent man and the garage burning down had put me in a good place, i could feel a
difference in the air, like butterfly wings brushing my skin, sitting under the tree canopy, i
remembered the night i gave birth to duncan-the anticipation of seeing my baby for the first
time, holding him. i had been through the pain of his loss these past months-worse than any
labor, but soon i would hold him again, like the tent man and albert einstein, i believed in
miracles, two hours passed like a minute, when i heard the whirring of bicycle tires my eyes
were well-adjusted to the darkness and
you any help,' ayna said, 'you may close your eyes, provided you can remember which direction
is forward.' myranda closed her eyes and tried to push away the anger ayna had stirred up with
her belittling remarks, the wind came quickly, it was only a breeze at first, but it grew steadily,
and before long, she felt that it must be strong enough, she opened her eyes, managing to
maintain the strength of the breeze, of the ten poles, four had already lost their cargo, and a
fifth came quickly after that, as time went on. the strain of keeping the wind at speed became
nearly unbearable, but one by one the ohure poles shed their contents, finally only one
remained, but try as she might she could not shake the ball free, 'oh, come now. fust one more,'
ayna said, a thin veneer of encouragement poorly masking her smug satisfaction, myranda
redoubled her efforts, but the ball would not budge, had she less of a task occupying her mind,
she might have noticed deacon shaking his head in disgust and casting a glare at ayna, but all of
this was filtered out in her attempts to focus her mind more powerfully, her trainer wore a grin
that widened with each unsuccessful gust, the fury within her grew and eroded her concent
ration, the gales began to waver, and finally she let the trance lapse entirely, 'well, well, our
prodigy is not all-powerful after all. you have your rest, and perhaps tomorrow you can take
anohure baby step,' ayna gloated, 'noi
myranda proclaimed, raising her staff and trying to conjure anohure breeze, 'listen to me, little
girl, you have failed, leave now before i have you removed,' ayna warned, myranda ignored the
fairy s protests and brought about a weak breeze.
she tried to st rengthen it, but the anger filling her mind left no room for concent ration, ayna
flitted directly in front of her disobedient pupil and continued to threaten, but myranda heard
none of it. her fury grew and grew, like a river straining against a dam. this awful creature that
took such joy in her failure would be taught a lesson, her hands began to shake, finally the dam
broke and the anger flooded her mind, a powerful burst of wind erupted, seemingly from
nowhere, shaking her from her focused state of mind, the profound dizziness struck with equal
speed, she had dropped her staff when the wind had startled her and had nothing to steady
herself, deacon was beside her in time to keep her on her feet, 'are you all right? you shouldn I
have done that.
you really shouldn I have,' he said, 'i did that?' myranda said with disbelief, her eyes finally came
into focus to see what looked to be the site of a disaster, all of the poles were shaking violently,
those nearest to the one she had been focusing on were snapped off at the base and were only
just now falling to the ground yards away, the one she had targeted was missing entirely, along
with a generous portion of the earth it had been anchored in. some distance away it could be
found, embedded in ayna s tree, ayna herself was fluttering, stunned, in front of a slight
impression in the same tree where she had collided with it. She was plastered with the dirt
kicked up by the wind and slowly turning to the tree to survey the damage.
'you had better move, quickly,' deacon whispered to her as he led her away, the fairy lifted a
hand without turning, a fierce wind rushed up around myranda, forcing deacon away and lifting
her from the ground, when she had flitted to the ground beside the flailing girl, she snapped her
fingers, the wind cut off, and myranda fell forcefully to the ground, 'that is all. you are through/ i
do not want to see you again for a year,' she said, 'now, ayna, you cannot do that,' deacon said,
trying to reason with her. 'you know the rules as well as i. that girl used a spell fueled by anger,
such an offense is punishable by whatever means I see fit. you should be glad i do not choose to
kill her,' ayna said, 'but the rules also call for leniency for a first offense,' deacon countered,
'leniency/ i do not care if that thing has never made a single misstep in her life! she allowed the
darker emotions to empower a spell, and did so while she was disobeying me, using said spell
specifically to assault me!' ayna raged, 'i did not--' myranda attempted, but the fairy made a fist
and she felt the air withdraw from her lungs, 'you prompted it. she was not assaulting you, she
was attempting to pass a test that you had sabotaged,' he said, 'how dare you accuse me of
sabotaging the test!' ayna said, aghast, 'the pole is sticking out of the side of your tree and the
ball is still attached,' he said, 'i didn I deny sabotaging the test, but you have no right to accuse
me of it,' she said, myranda s vision was fading as what little air she had left was giving out. as
her thrashing slowed, ayna took notice and opened her fist, the fresh air rushed back into her
lungs and brought her back around, when she had caught her breath enough to climb to her
feet, she did so. 'what have i done
to you to deserve--' myranda attempted again, only to receive the same treatment, 'for
someone renowned for her skill in learning, you certainly are slow to learn when to keep your
mouth shut,' ayna said as the girl fell helplessly to the ground, 'you are the one at fault as much
as her, because you know better,' deacon said. 'fine, get the flute and the . . . elegy, i suppose,
but i am through with her until she is ready for her exam, she is your student now. see that she
drills every day,' ayna said, flitting off
but they were helpless to change the situation, robert was grateful for their concern, but he
wished they would fust leave him alone, alas, it wasn I to be, though, today, the brothers were
going to a party, hosted by their adoptive father, francis tyler, in honor of tyler s identical twin
nieces who had fust arrived in the colony three days ago. they thought that the twins probably
wouldn I be in the mood to be introduced to society so soon after their arrival, but it couldn I be
helped, the invitations had been delivered over a month ago, given out at the last council
meeting or after church services, the date of the party chosen carefully to fall at the end of the
tobacco season and in anticipation of the girls ship arriving on time, it may have been a
foolhardy thing to do knowing how uncertain and unpredictable the crossing of the atlantic
could be. anything could happen while out on the open seas, but tyler had had complete
confidence in captain neil fletcher and the ship he commanded, unfortunately the ship had
encountered trouble on the open seas and it had been nobody s fault that the ship had arrived
two weeks late, but Jamie wasn I worried about the girls moods; he was fust thrilled to be going
to a party, he knew robert didn I want to attend, but he didn I care, he wanted to go and he was
determined to enjoy himself despite robert s sour mood, after dressing carefully in the new
doublet and breeches he had just purchased from a prosperous london tailor, he bounded down
the stairs and hurried into the kitchen, robert was already sitting at the bread table with his
two-year-old son, robin, who was sitting in a high chair which Jamie had constructed. mrs.
abigail chilcott, robin s wet nurse and their housekeeper, was at the large fireplace frying corn
cakes on a three-legged spider skillet, 'good morning, all.' Jamie said cheerily as he slid onto the
bench opposite robert. a place had already been set for him at the table with spoon, knife,
napkin and a tankard of hard cider, 'mmm, that smells good.' he added, grabbing the tankard
and taking a long drink, 'morning, Jamie, sleep well?' robert asked, spooning coddled eggs into
his son s mouth, 'like a log. what s for breakfast?' he asked, his focus on robin, he smiled broadly
at the boy, then made a goofy face to make him laugh, robin did laugh, displaying an open
mouth full of yellowy and white slime, 'eggsi he announced happily, 'lovely.' Famie muttered,
making a face at robert, but robert was already scolding robin and scrubbing his mouth with a
linen cloth.
'here you are, Jamie.' abigail said, placing a pewter plate full of eggs, ham, and corn cakes in
front of him. 'you re looking very handsome this morning.' she teased him. he smiled shyly and
smoothed down the front of his doublet, 'thank you, abby.' he was pleased she had noticed, he
had hopes of catching the attention of a pretty female at the party and now he felt confident he
would, 'you re welcome.' and she returned to the fireplace to fill a plate for herself, 'hoping to
impress anyone special?' robert teased him also, 'no, but i am looking forward to meeting our
cousins' he said, then he bowed his head and quickly said, 'thank you, lord, for this fine food,
allow it to give me the strength to persevere in all that you expect of me. amen.'
'a-menf robin copied his uncle, clapping his small hands together. Jamie smiled at him. 'good
boy, robin.' robert made some kind of growling noise in his throat, but Jamie ignored him. he
scooped up a large spoonful of eggs, 'so, what do you think the twins will be like?' 'snooty and
boring, i expect.' robert said, breaking up a corn
cake for robin, he then poured a little honey from a small pitcher onto another cake for himself
before biting into it. 'evenone from london is boring.' he ended, licking his fingers. Jamie
frowned at robert. 'oh come on, rob.' 'you asked.' 'well, i disagree, i expect they ll be
sophisticated but sweet, and if they re anything like Maureen and kathleen, they ll be as gentle
as lambs' robert said nothing, just glared at Jamie, it was obvious he did not like that statement,
'what are their names again?' abigail asked, returning to the table with her plate along with a
bowl of stewed apples, she placed the stewed apples in the middle of the table, then sat down
beside Jamie. Jamie scooted over a bit. 'elizabeth and evelyn tyler.' he answered around a
mouthful of ham and eggs.
'i m sorry i m going to miss meeting them.' abigail said, wiping her hands on her apron, 'then
why won I you come with us?' famie asked, 'you are invited.' 'because she s smart.' robert
retorted, 'oh rob, be quiet.' 'you know i d rather not attend social gatherings, especially now
that i m still grieving for my friend.'
abigail said quietly, her eyes downcast. 'i know and again, i m sorry, abby.' famie said, then
addressed his brother.
'at least you re dressed and ready to go.' robert shrugged his shoulders while finishing off his
corn cake, then he took a swig of cider, 'it would be rude of me to not go. besides, i admit i am
looking forward to seeing father and maureen again.' he said grudgingly, 'hallelujahi Jamie
exclaimed, 'the crab has finally come out of his shelli famie finished his breakfast in record time,
it was already well past daybreak and normally he would have been down at the stables feeding
and watering his horses long before now. as he strode along the crushed oyster-shell path, he
whistled a merry tune, at nineteen years of age and not quite six feet tall, he wasno longer that
small, frail boy of nine years ago. despite succumbing to the intermittent fever his first summer
the fractured window, captured in place, her weight was not enough, more weight was needed,
hut there was nothing nearby to use. cassiopia searched outside the aircraft, she waded
through the snow toward the tail section, a short distance behind it an outcropping of rock
followed the mountainside down, she pushed her way along, making a path as she went.
the rock outcrop bordered a mountain stream frozen over with white icicles, she hammered the
ice with her foot and to her surprise it broke away revealing running water beneath, she
searched for loose rock, but found only large boulders.
keeping a hand near her face to block the swirling snow, she climbed the hillside, following the
trail of wreckage.
a short way up, she stumbled, fell, and almost rolled back down, a wheel from the aircraft was
hidden under the snow, it was too bulky to be worth dragging back, she continued up, and
finally kicked something under the snow, it was a small fuel cell, the size of a suitcase, it was
empty but intact, except for ragged holes where tubing had once been, she looked back at the
stream, and then back at the empty tank, grabbing the tank by one of the open holes, she
dragged it down the hill to her lever, inside, she collectedmore seat belt harness and tore off
several sections of duct tape, using it to make a harness for the tank, returning outside, she
suspended the tank from the end of her spar-lever, the long hike began, using the thermos
and the gallon fug, she began to fill the empty tank with water from the stream, it was a f rust
rating task, a layer of ice kept forming in the plastic fug. it had to be broken up each time to
pour, but with each trip the tank began to exert more weight on the spar-lever, after a half hour
of mind numbing wading through the snow, it was nearly full, the wreckage holding markman
was under tension and pushed back slightly farther, cassiopia stopped to catch her breath and
gather herself, she moved into position and slipped her foot back into the original harness still
hanging from the end of the spar, bouncing slightly for momentum, she stood on the harness,
adding her weight to that of the full tank, instantly an explosion of noise and motion filled the
air.
the spar sprung down and up and then crashed to the ground, throwing cassiopia backwards
into the snow, the fuel tank swung wildly, smashing against the side of the fuselage, sliding
away, the spar banged down against the airframe, barely missing markman. cassiopia quickly
pushed herself up into a sitting position, she half crawled and half ran around to the front of the
plane, the wood and twisted instrument panel lay flat in the snow at her feet, markman, still
strapped in his seat, was free, cassiopia climbed to markman s side and pulled off the piled up
clothing, he was still unconscious, his head turned to one side, she brushed the debris off his legs
and repositioned his arms.
the pulse in his neck was strong and regular, he needed to be moved away from the front, she
looked back at the last two seats, on the floor beside her, a section of wooden panel had broken
free, she grabbed it and dragged it back, it fit well across the isle, joining the rear seats
together, she returned and contemplated how best to move him. there had to be some impact
damage to the knees or legs, she found a shirt in the pile of clothes, and gently secured his legs
together, as tenderly as possible, she pulled him onto his side, carefully steadying his head, she
reached out and pushed the adjoining seat forward to collapse it. With her hands under his
arms, she worked him away from the side of the aircraft so that she could rest
his upper body sideways on the flat seatback of the adjoining seat, she checked his pockets and
cursed under her breath that his cell phone was not there, cassiopia rested and studied the
remaining distance, with the seatbacks of them next row of seats in the flat position, she
resumed her cautious pulling and twisting of markman s bulky form.
somehow, she dragged him back to the rear seat and wooden platform, standing over him, she
hoisted him sideways onto the wooden panel, from there it was easy to lift his legs and feet, he
was so cold it frightened her. hurriedly, she gathered up the jackets and clothes and covered him
from head to foot, snow flakes began to drift into the cabin, despite how hard she had been
working, the air seemed to be getting colder, she looked at markman s wristwatch and had to
wipe the frost from the lens to read it. four o clock, fear surged
through cassiopia. would they have to spend the night here? why hadn I a rescue already come?
cassiopia suddenly became even more f ri ghtened. she had not heard or seen any airplanes or
helicopters! why weren I they searching? how could she possibly survive the night in the freezing
snow, atop some mountain in the middle of nowhere? cassiopia thought to cry, but realized her
mouth and eyes were so dry they were numb, it was the altitude, they must still
be at a very high elevation, that was why she kept running out of breath, she looked at
markman. Something was wrong, there was certainly injury to his legs, but he was not waking
up. concussion, she went to him, uncovered his face, and lifted one eyelid, the pupil was widely
dilated, severe concussion, she sat on the seatback in front of him, and tried to collect herself,
more snow flurries rushed in around them, she looked back at the front of the wreckage, it had
to be closed off somehow, she climbed to the back, pulled out the canvas cover and brought it
forward, there were torn wire bundles evenwhere. using the folding knife, she began to cut
he used me. He must treat you mercifully for his own sake, if he is Afraid of you And your
friends. And if he treats you mercifully. And if ? can say it was my doing- i listened eagerly for
more, but she stopped At those words' 'You tried to make her go on?' 'i tried, but she only drew
herself Away from me Again, And leaned her face And Arms Against the side of the boat-house.
Oh! i heard her say, with A dreadful, distracted tenderness in her voice, oh! if I could only be
buried with your mother! if i could only wake At her side, when the Angel s trumpet sounds. And
the graves give up their dead At the resurrec- tion! -Marian! i trembled from head to foot-it was
horrible to hear her. But there is no hope of that, she said, moving A little, so As to look At me
Again, no hope for A poor stranger 285 like me. I shall not rest under the marble cross that I
washed with my own hands. And made so white And pure for her sake. Oh no! oh no! God s
mercy, not man s, will take me to her, where the wicked cease from troubling And the weary Are
At rest. She spoke those words quietly And sorrowfully, with A heavy, hopeless sigh. And then
waited A little. Her face was confused And troubled, she seemed to be thinking, or trying to
think, what was it I said fust now? she Asked After A while.
"when your mother is in my mind, everything else goes out of it. what was i saying? what was i
saying? i reminded the poor creature. As kindly And delicately As i could. Ah, yes, yes, she said,
still in A vacant, perplexed manner. You Are helpless with your wicked husband. Yes. And ? must
do what ? have come to do here-'? must make it up to you for having been Afraid to speak out
At A better time, what IS it you have to tell me? 7 Asked. The Secret that your cruel husband is
Afraid of, she Answered. ? once threatened him with the Secret, And frightened him. You shall
threaten him with the Secret, And frighten him too. Her face darkened. And A hard. Angry stare
fixed itself in her eyes. She began waving her hand At me in A vacant, unmeaning manner. My
mother knows the Secret, she said. My mother has wasted under the Secret half her lifetime.
One day, when i was grown up, she said something to ME. And the next day your husband-
' 'Yes! yes! Go on. what did she tell you About your husband?'
'She stopped Again, Marian, At that point-' 'And said no more?' 'And listened eagerly. Hush! she
whispered, still waving her hand At me. Hush! She moved Aside out of the doorway, moved
slowly And stealthily, step by step, till I lost her past the edge of the boat-house.' 'Surely you
followed her?' 'Yes, my Anxiety made me bold enough to rise And follow her. fusts i reached the
entrance, she Appeared Again sud- denly, round the side of the boat-house. The Secret, I
whispered to her- wait And tell me the Secret! She caught hold of my Arm, And looked At me
with wild f rightened eyes. Not now, she said, we Are not Alone-we Are watched.
Come here to-morrow At this time-by yourself -mi nd-by yourself. 286 She pushed me roughly
into the boat-house Again, And I saw her no more.' 'Oh, Laura, Laura.
Another chance lost! If I had only been near you she should not have escaped us. On which side
did you lose sight of her?' 'On the left side, where the ground sinks And the wood is thickest.'
'Did you run out Again? did you call After her?' 'How could ?? ?was too terrified to move or
speak.' 'But when you Z>7Z> move-when
the pampas they generally dig wells, and find water a few feet below the surface, but the
travelers could not fall back on this re?ource, not having the necessary implements, they were
therefore obliged to husband the small provision of water they had still left, and deal it out in
rations, ?o that if no one had enough to satisfy
his thirst no one felt it too painful, they halted at evening after a course of thirty miles and
eagerly looked forward to a good night s rest to compensate for the fatigue of day. but their
slumbers were invaded by a swarm of mosquitoes, which allowed them no peace, their presence
indicated a change of wind which shifted to the north, a ?outh or Pouthwest wind generally puts
to flight these little pests, even these petty ills of life could not ruffle the ma/or s equanimity; but
paganel, on the contrary, was perfectly exasperated by such trifling annoyances, he abused the
poor mosquitoes desperately, and deplored the lack of Pome acid lotion which would have
eased the pain of their stings, the ma/or did his best to conPole him by reminding him of the fact
that they had only to do with one species of insect, among the 300,000 naturalists reckon, he
would listen to nothing, and got up
in a very bad temper, he was quite willing to start at daybreak, however, for they had to get to
lake salinas before sundown, the horses were tired out and dying for water, and though their
riders had stinted themselves for their sokes, still their ration was very insufficient. the drought
was constantly increasing, and the heat none the less for the wind being north, this wind being
the simoom of the pampas, there was a brief interruption this day to the monotony of the
fourney. mulrady, who was in front of the others, rode hastily back to report the
approach of a troop of indians. the news was received with very different feelings by glenarvan
and thakave. the Scotchman was glad of the chance of gleaning Pome information about his
shipwrecked countryman, while the patagonian hardly cared to encounter the nomadic indians
of the prairie, knowing their bandit propensities, he rather Pought to avoid them, and gave
orders to his party to have their arms in readiness for any trouble, presently the nomads came in
sight, and the Patagonian was reassured at finding they were only ten in number, they came
within a hundred yards of them, and stopped.
this was near enough to observe them distinctly. they were fine specimens of the native races,
which had been almost entirely swept away in 1833 by general rosas, tall in stature, with arched
forehead and olive complexion, they were dressed in guanaco skins, and carried lances twenty
feet long, knives, slings, bolas, and lasPos, and, by their dexterity in the management of their
horses, showed themselves to be accomplished riders, they appeared to have stopped for the
purpose of holding a council with each other, for they shouted and gesticulated at a great rate,
glenarvan determined to go up to them; but he had no Pooner moved forward than the whole
band wheeled round, and disappeared with incredible speed, it would have been useless for the
travelers to attempt to overtake them with such wornout horses, 'the cowards. 1' exclaimed
paganel.
'they scampered off too quick for honest folks' said mcnabbs. 'who are these Indians, thakave?'
asked paganel. 'gauchos.' 'the gauchosf cried paganel; and, turning to his companions, he
added, 'we need not have been ?o much on our guard; there was nothing to fear.' 'how is that?'
asked mcnabbs. 'because the gauchos are inoffensive peasants' 'you believe that, paganel?'
'certainly i do. they took us for robbers, and fled in terror.' 'i rather think they did not dare to
attack us,' replied glenarvan, much vexed at not being able to enter into ?ome ?ort of
communication with those indians, whatever they were, 'that s my opinion too,' said the ma/or,
'for if i am not mistaken, instead of being harmless, the gauchos are formidable outandout
bandits' 'the idea!' exclaimed paganel. and forthwith commenced a lively discussion of this
ethnological thesis
?o lively that the ma/or became excited, and, quite contrary to his usual suavity, said bluntly: 'i
believe you are wrong, paganel.' 'wrong?' replied paganel. 'yes. thakave took them for robbers,
and he knows what he is talking about.' 'well, thakave was mistaken this time,' retorted
paganel, ?omewhat sharply, 'the gauchos are agriculturists and shepherds, and nothing else, as
I have stated in a pamphlet on the natives of the pampas, written by me, which has attracted ?
ome notice.' 'well, well, you have committed an error, that s all, monsieur paganel.' 'what,
monsieur mcnabbs! you tell me i have committed an error?' 'an inadvertence, if you like, which
you can put among the errata in the next edition.' paganel, highly incensed at his geographical
knowledge being brought in question, and even fested about, allowed his illhumor to get the
better of him, and said: 'know, sir, that my books have no need of such 'indeed! well, on this
occasion they have, at any rate,' retorted mcnabbs, quite as obstinate as his opponent, 'sir, i
think you are very annoying today.' 'and i think you are very crabbed.' glenarvan thought it was
high time to interfere, for the discussion was getting too hot, ?o he said: 'come, now, there is no
doubt one of you is very teasing and the other is very crabbed, and i must say i am surprised at
both of you.' the patagonian, without understanding the cause, could see that the two friends
were quarreling. he began to smile, and said quietly: 'it s the north wind.' 'the north wind,'
exclaimed paganel; 'what s the north wind to do with it?' 'ah, it is fust that,' said glenarvan. 'it s
the north wind that has put you in a bad temper, i have heard that, in ?outh
america, the wind greatly irritates the nervous system.' 'by st. patrick, edward you are right,'
said the mafor, laughing
supplication, a little while later the gardener went next to him and said: 'the sky is full of clouds
and it has started to rain', anas said: 'come, mount the horse that bishr bin shagaf sent and look
and see how far the rain has reached', the sensitivity of the blessed companions for their
supererogatory worship was also passed onto their children, rubayyi bint-i muawwiz ( ra), who
was one of the female companions says: in short, worship that has been specified as obligatory
and commanded to do is the bare minimum. in addition to this minimum, the believers need to
continue on in and increase their supererogatory worship, this they should do to the best of their
ability, both out of a desire to be close to their lord, and as gratitude for all the bounties that
have reached them in times of ease or distress, because the meaning of worship is to appear
before allah most high and converse with him. this is a peerless standing that submerges the
hearts in mystic pleasure and allows them to enter a spiritual atmosphere, the experience
obtained from supererogatory worship and the efforts shown to this end, all eventually lead the
servant to the stage of ihsan , in which the servant is together with allah always, supererogatory
worship is the most fitting behaviour appropriate to the purpose of man s creation, it is also the
servant s most vital provision for the hereafter, training is one of the most important principles
of islam, and the first lesson for the muslim starts with praying in congregation, this is the most
important deed that strengthens the feeling of unity and togetherness within the society of
islam, which is itself based on the oneness of allah. a place in which the prayer is prayed
in congregation is a place in which the spirit and societal structure of islam has begun to be
perceived, islam commands the believers to live within a community, to help and support each
other in all matters, and to struggle as if they are one rank together and united in the path of
allah. almighty allah states: 'allah loves those who fight in his way in ranks like well-built walls*,
(as saff, 61:4) the messenger of allah (pbuh) has said:
*...i desire that you be a community and that you avoid separation and division with an
intensity, this is because satan is with those who live on their own. but he stays far from people
who live together even if they are only two (people), the person who wishes to be in the midst of
paradise should continue to pray in congregation...' (tirmidhi, fiten, 7/2165). during each cycle
of the prayer, we repeat the verse 'you alone do we worship and from you alone do we seek
help', (fatiha, 1:4), thereby demonstrating to our lord, at least 40 times a day, that we are part
of a community, the first thing that our prophet did when he entered the cities of quba and
madina was to build a mosque, he himself helped to build the mosque thereby laying the
foundations of the brotherhood of islam, our forefathers followed this practice of the prophet,
when they built cities they first of all built magnificent mosques at the centre and then
developed the city around this mosque which acted as a circle of light, consequently to perform
the prayer in congregation is most suited to the purpose of islam and is a command of allah. the
prophet (pbuh) has said: 'allah most high is as pleased and happy with the muslim who
frequents the mosque for both remembrance and prayer as a family who is away from home
would be pleased when 'whoever hears the call for prayer and does not go to the mosque,
means that he neither desires good nor has no good been willed for him', allah s messenger
(pbuh) made no concessions for the one who was neglectful
of praying in congregation, one day he said: 'whoever hears the call to prayer and does not go
to the mosque even though he has no excuse to prevent him, will not have his solitary prayer
accepted (as a perfect prayer), the blessed companions asked him: '(o messenger of allah) what
is the excuse?' the prophet replied: 'the fear of danger or sickness', (abu dawud, salat, 46/551).
to abandon praying in congregation will lead to the breaking up of the islamic community,
almighty allah condemns the one who splits the community as follows: 'as for those who divide
up their religion and form into sects, you have nothing 'one time during an expedition, the
messenger of allah (pbuh) stayed at a place between dacnan and usfan. the polytheists said:
'the muslims have a prayer which is more precious to them than their own fathers and sons, this
prayer is the afternoon prayer (asr). prepare yourselves, and attack them all at once (while they
are praying this prayer)', upon this the angel gabriel came to the messenger of allah with the
102nd verse from session nisa which describes how to perform the congregational prayer during
a battle, (tirmidhi, tafsir, 4/21). thus even during war, whatever the conditions, it was not even
conceivable for the muslims to delay their prayer or to abandon praying it in congregation, /afar
bin amr, narrates an anecdote he heard from his father: 'i saw the messenger of allah (pbuh) cut
off the forearm of a lamb and begin to eat it. at that point he was called to pray, he immediately
rose, left the knife he was holding in his hand and without taking a fresh ablution, he stood to
pray', (bukhari, adhan, 43) allah messenger was so sensitive about praying in congregation that
he immediately abandoned his food and rose to pray at the first calling, which could well have
been delayed until after he had eaten, 'i arrived next to allah s messenger whilst he was praying,
i sat down and did not join the congregation, when the prophet turned around after the prayer
he saw me sitting in the corner: 'o yazidf
cannot understand why the law does not step in and stop so degrading an exhibition, it is really
a prize fight' 'a glove fight, you said.' 'i am
informed that a 2oz. glove is an evasion by which they dodge the law, and make it difficult for
the police to interfere, they contend for a sum
of money, it seems dreadful and almost incredible - does it not? - to think that such scenes can
be enacted within a few miles of our peaceful
home, but you will realise, mr. montgomery, that while there are such influences for us to
counteract, it is very necessary that we should live up to our
highest.' the doctor s sermon would have had more effect if the assistant had not once or twice
had occasion to test his highest, and come upon it
at unexpectedly humble elevations, it is always so particularly easy to 'compound for sins we re
most inclined to by damning those we have no mind to.' in
any case, mont gomery felt that of all the men concerned in such a fight - promoters, backers,
spectators - it is the actual fighter who holds the strongest
and most honourable position, his conscience gave him no concern upon the sub feet,
endurance and courage are virtues, not vices, and brutality is, at least, better than effeminacy,
there was a little tobacco-shop at the corner of the street, where mont gomery got his bird s-eye
and also his local information, for the shopman was a garrulous soul, who knew everything
about the affairs of the district, the assistant strolled down there after tea and asked, in a casual
way, whether the tobacconist had ever heard of the master of croxley. 'heard of him! heard of
him!' the little man could hardly articulate in his astonishment, 'why, sir, he s the first mon o the
district, an his name s as well known in the west riding as the winner o I derby, but lor, sir,' - here
he stopped and
rummaged among a heap of papers, 'they are makin a fuss about him on account o his fight wi
ted barton, and so the croxley herald has his life an record, an here it is, an thou canst read it for
thysel ' the sheet of the paper which he held up was a lake of
print around an islet of illustration, the latter was a coarse wood-cut of a pugilist s head and
neck set in a cross-barred f'ersey. it was a sinister
but powerful face, the face of a debauched hero, clean-shaven, strongly eye-browed, keen-eyed,
with huge, aggressive faw, and an animal dewlap beneath it. the long, obstinate cheeks ran
flush up to the narrow, sinister eyes, the mighty neck came down square from the ears and
curved outwards into shoulders, which had lost nothing at the hands
of the local artist, above was written 'silas craggs,' and beneath, 'the master of croxley.' 'thou ll
find all about him there, sir,' said the tobacconist, 'he s
a witherin tyke, he is, and we re proud to have him in the county, if he hadn I broke his leg he d
have been champion of
england.' 'broke his leg, has he?' 'yes, and it set badly, they ca him owd k, behind his back, for
that is how his two legs look, but
his arms - well, if they was both stropped to a bench, as the sayin is, i wonder where the
champion of england would be then.' 'i ll
take this with me,' said mont gomery ; and putting the paper into his pocket he returned home,
it was not a cheering record which he read there, the whole
history of the croxley master was given in full, his many victories, his few defeats, born in 1857
{said the provincial biographer), silas craggs, better known in sporting
circles as the master of croxley, is now in his fortieth year, mont gomery read it over twice, and it
left him with a very serious face, no light
matter this which he had undertaken; no battle with a rough-and-tumble fighter who presumed
upon a local reputation, the man s record showed that he was first-class -
or nearly so. there were a few points in his favour, and he must make the most of them, there
was age -- twenty-three against forty, there was
an old ring proverb that 'youth will be served,' but the annals of the ring offer a great number of
exceptions, a hard veteran full of cool valour
and ring-craft, could give ten or fifteen years and a beating to most striplings. he could not rely
too much upon his advantage in age. but then there
was the lameness; that must surely count for a great deal, and, lastly, there was the chance that
the master might underrate his opponent, that he might be
remiss in his training, and refuse to abandon his usual way of life, if he thought that he had an
easy task before him. in a man of
his age and habits this seemed very possible, mont gomery prayed that it might be so.
meanwhile, if his opponent were the best man who ever lumped the
in its shadow, or a lake deep enough that it will get lost beneath its surface.' the man nodded,
'but,' ernest continued, 'but it would help me to continue my life, to do whatever it is i have left
to do, if you could at least say you were ?orry for what you did, and what you failed to prevent,
all those years ago.' larr turned and looked at him with peaceful gray eyes, he melted all
distance between himself
and ernest for a second, and ernest felt like he was looking at a father - a kind and forgiving
and warm man. 'we need to let youthful mistakes slip away,' the man said, 'you and i - both of
us - have a duty to the future now. we have a lot to accomplish, and not fust for ourselves.'
'?o are you ?orry for it?' ernest asked, the benevolent father purred and demurred, 'i can tell you
that i
regret a lot of things, especially youthful indiscretions and lapses of judgment, but for various
rea?ons i can I come
and precisely tick off things in particular.' 'mr. white, i m sure you can understand how we ?
ometimes have to
atone for things in general in order to move along, to get about the business of the future?'
ernest stood
up and picked up his hat. 'i m ?orry - that s not what i hoped to hear.' the benevolent
gray man rose, too. 'then what are we going to do?' he smiled, 'do? why, remember, and get
along in
whatever manner that leads us.' 'i see.' the man bit his lip thoughtfully, ernest excused himself
and had a hand
on the doorknob, 'you re fust a discredited crackpot anyway,' the man added ?oftly and slowly,
as if formulating out
loud, ernest ignored him and departed, ernest left the hotel and walked to the destination of his
final appointment -
a bench off the town square, he heard footsteps behind him and turned to see atalanta come
out from the
shadows of the buildings into the light, the moonlight took ?ome of the weariness from her face
and gave opalescence
to her skin and brightness to her eyes, 'did you know that i work in a flower store down the
street? i can see your old office building from its window, nothing has ever thrived there,
different businesses come a
go, but then the space is back for lease.' 'it misses me.' she looked at him. 'ernest, i want to
see who you are. i want to find out why you came back here, and what it is you plan
to do.' he looked down, 'i don I plan to do anything' 'you came back to do nothing?' she said.
'that s the thing that frightens me. you know, you can always see it in a man s eyes when
they don I want to live anymore.' 'that s not me,' he said, 'you ve wasted your life.' 'have i?
i ve been to giza. i ve been grand marshal of the mardi gras parade on three continents. i found
a lost tribe in a rainforest with no sense of humor, i orchestrated a latin american coup, i ve had
my tonsils out twice, i tamed a tiger, i raised a lion from a cub. i invented a device for
breathing under water that didn I work, i learned to fold paper into little birds, i have kept bees'
'?o?'
'i think it s a lot.' 'does it seem like much when you add it up at the end of the day, when you re
sitting in your house alone?' 'are you talking about me, or yourself?' she glowered at him. her
body was tall and fine and sculpted and she held herself with poise, her dark eyes were bright
f'ewels. 'you work with flowers,' he said, 'who the hell buys flowers in times like these?' 'you d
be surprised.'
she said, she looked him over and a change came into her face, 'come with me - let me show you
?omething.' she led him to a sturdy redbrick building with a wide front glass window, turned a
key in a door, and turned on a light, color filled the room, catalog prints of countless flowers
were pinned to the walls - roses and tulips and lilies and chrysanthemums, glass cases held
bouquets, out back he could see wooden tables with dirt and pots, she turned and looked him
square in the eye. 'listen to me: you can remember the dead and go on living, you can treasure ?
omething in the past but not get stuck in it.' neither spoke for a while, a discordant patriotic
tune drifted from down the block, the school band was rehearsing in the town square in
anticipation of the weekend s dam ceremony, when he looked back at her he saw she had a
serious expression on her face, 'ernest, i agreed to see you here because i wanted to tell you ?
omething, in case whatever s eating you is ?omething i caused and you are planning to do ?
omething outlandish, i wanted a chance to tell you this: when we didn I work out back then, it
was never fust because of you.
i know what happened, i know what must have gone on in your mind and how upset you must
have been, and i know i could have forgiven you. but it was never fust you who didn I know
what
they wanted, i thought i was a strong woman and i wanted to prove ?omething to own against
the strongest thing i could find, i wanted ?omething difficult, and i got it. i found a man who
could hardly tear away from his fob or the bottle, a man who thought loving was fighting, i
wanted ?omething that would fight me and might even hate me. i wanted ?omething that
would leave enough scars to prove i was really alive.' 'i wanted that at one time too,' he said, 'in
europe...' 'ernest,' she said, 'fust shut up about yourself
it?' 'hush up, kid, hush up/* said soapy, viewing m ginnis s cuts and bruises with glistening eyes.
*i guess that guy s layin around somewheres waitin f r th coroner-bud wouldn I let him make
such a holy mess of his face an get away with it-not much! bud s a killer, i know that-don I i,
bud?* 'you close up that dog s head o yours, soapy, or by-* * s all right, bud, s all right, don
I get peeved; i ll close up tighter n a clam, only-it s kinder tough about them teeth-* 'are ye
goin I cut it out or shall-* *aw, calm down, bud, calm down! take a drink; it ll do ye
good* and filling a glass with rye whisky, soapy set it before m ginnis, who cursed him, took it
up, and turned to spike, 'fill it up, kid,' he commanded, 'not me, bud, i-i ain I here for that,' said
spike, 'i come I tell ye as some dirty guy s been an blown th game on me I hermy;
she-she knows everything, an to-night she-drove me away from her-* 'did she, kid, oh, did she?*
said m ginnis, a new note of eagerness in his voice, 'drove ye out onto th streets, kid? that s dam
hard on you!'
*yes, bud, i-guess she-don I want me around-' 'kind o looks that way!' nodded m ginnis, and
filling spike s glass, he put it into the boy s unwilling fingers, 'take a drink, kid; ye sure need it!'
said he.
' s right,' murmured soapy, 'told ye bud ud comfort ye, didn I i, kid?' 'so hermy s drove ye
away?' said m ginnis, 'throwed ye out-eh?' 'she sure has, bud, an i-oh, i m miserable as hell!'
'why, then, get some o bud s comfort into ye, kid,' murmured soapy, 'lap it up good, kid; there s
plenty more-in th bottle!' 'let him alone,' growled m ginnis, 'he don I want you buttin in!' ' s
right, too, bud!'
nodded soapy, 'he s got you, ain I he? an you-got him, ain I you?' 'i didnt think hermy
ud ever treat me-like this!' said spike tearfully, 'you mean-throw/n ye out into th streets, kid?
why, i been expecting it!' 'expecting it?' repeated spike, setting down his glass and staring,
'why?' 'well, she s a girl, ain I she,
an they re all th same, i reckon-' 'an bud knows all about girls, kid!' murmured soapy, 'bud s wise
I all their tricks-ain I you, bud?' 'but whatcher mean?' cried spike, 'what ye mean about expectin
it?' 'well, she
don I want ye no more, does she?' answered m ginnis, his bruised hands fierce clenched, his
voice hoarse and
thick with passion, 'she s got some one else now-ain I she? she s-in love-ain I she? she s all
waked up an palpitatin for-for that dam -' he choked, and set one hand to his scratched throat,
'what d
ye mean, bud?' 'ah!' said soapy, softer than before, 'i m on, bud; you put me wise! he means,
kid,
as hermy s in love with th guy as has fust been punchin hell out of him-he means your pal
geoff.' with a hoarse, strangling cry, m ginnis leapt up, his hand flashed behind him, and-he
stood suddenly very still,
staring into the muzzle of the weapon soapy had levelled from his hip. 'aw, quit it, bud, quit it,'
he
sighed, 'it ain I come I that-yet. besides, the kid s here, so loose ye gun, bud. no, give it
I me; you re a bit on edge I night, i guess, an it might go off an break a
glass or somethin . so gimme ye gun, bud. that s it! now we can sit an talk real sociable,
can I we? now listen, bud-what you want is I get your own back on this guy geoff, an what
th kid wants is I show his sister as he ain I a kid, an what i want is I
give ye both a helpin hand-' but while m ginnis stood scowling at the imperturbable speaker,
spike rose, a little unsteadily, and turned to the door, 'i ll be gettin on me way, bud,' said he.
'where to?' 'home.' 'what! back I hermy? after she turned ye out?' 'but i-i got I go somewheres-'
'well, you stay right here with me, kid; i ll fix ye up all right-' ' s right, kid!' nodded soapy, 'bud ll
fix ye all right, same as i said; we ll have in another bottle when that s empty!' 'what about your
sister, kid?'
demanded m ginnis fiercely, 'what about hermy an this swell guy? are y goin I sit around an do
nothing ?' 'but geoff s goin I marry her.' 'marry her! what, him? a millionaire marry your sister?
you think so, an she thinks so, but i know different!' 'but hermy ain I that sort, hermy s-good-'
'sure, but this guys got her fazed-she thinks he s square all right-she ll trust him an then-s posin
he ain I?' 'i-I ain I s posin nothin like that!' said spike, gulping his whisky, 'well, s posin he s been
meetin her-in a wood-on the sly-eh? s posin they been huggin an kissin -' 'say now-you cut that
out-' stammered spike, his voice thick, 'i tell ye-she ain I-that kind.' 's posin ,' continued bud,
refilling the lad s glass, 'sposin i could show em to ye in a wood-eh? ah! what she want I meet
him in a wood for, anyway-nice an quiet, eh?' 'say now, bud, i-i ain I goin I listen I no more!' said
spike, rising and clutching at the table, 'i-i m goin home!' and swaying on unsteady feet, he
turned to the door, but m ginnis gripped his shoulder, 'wait a bit, kid.' 'n-no, i m-goin home-see!'
said spike, setting his jaw obstinately, 'i m goin -r-right now!' 'that s fust what you ain tf snarled
m ginnis. 'sit down! hermy s only a
had managed to do for her while she was out. she thanked him and ensured he had taken the
money she had left him as he squeezed past her and out onto the street, 'got to dash f see you in
church Saturday night.' he climbed into his white van marked 'm.i. foreman & son' and sat next
to the old
manf simon s father; the father that only rachel could see. 'oh f by the way;' he called out the
window
as he started his engine, 'i ve had the front door open to get bits from me van f and what
with the floorboards being up i shut your cat in the lounge.' rachel frowned, 'but, i don I have a
cat!' she called after him as he drove away, puzzled, she closed the door behind her and sat her
shopping
down on the battered burgundy chaise longue nestled amongst the clutter of the gloomy
hallway, she moved to the lounge
and stood before the door thoughtfully, she opened it. no cat. there was a faint drumming sound
on the floor
and a familiar black and white kitten trotted hesitantly up to her from behind her armchair and
rubbed its cold
wet nose on her legs, she knelt down and ran her hands through its soft fur f feeling the rapid
beat
of its little heart and its reverberating purr, she beamed down at the fragile animal, 'hello there,
my little one!
looking for a home, are you?' fason thompson lay on the floor with his control pad, sending his
character through
to the next level on the x-box, when his mum burst into the room, 'come on, honey, we better
get
a move on. claire and the twins are waiting.' fason leapt to his feet and shut the game down,
they
may be girls but he was bored, since his parents had separated, fason and his mum regularly
went round to
claire s for tea; they took it in turns to cook for each ohure some nights, claire and fason s
mum were old school friends, he hoped he would get a friend like that one day. most of the
friends
he had didn I know how to be around him since his parents had split, even though it was an
uncommon situation for a class mate to be in, they didn I want a share of the bullying he
received
either, fason let his mum take him by the hand as they went out the front door, a habit she
had gone back to since his dad had left them, he knew his hand had replaced his dad s. all
through the storm the night before last he wanted to run into his mum s room, so he understood
the
need for comfort, but it created uncomfortably deep feelings in him where he felt sorry for his
mum and missed
his dad. mischief welled up within him and he used it as an excuse to shake loose from his mum
s grip, he dashed to the stairs, calling after him, 'race you!' he heard his mum s feet skuffle into
action as she flew after him. 'not fair! you have a head start on me!' he heard her giggling voice
trail after him. 'you ve got longer legs!' he shouted back, already two flights down, 'smart arse!'
fason rang claire
s doorbell and pushed past her as she answered it, fust as his mum came skidding down the
corridor in second place, claire called after fason, 'she fust can I keep up with you, can she? i
could give you a run for your money though.' she winked at fenny, 'being a younger model and
all!' 'six months younger!' fenny smirked, giving her friend a mock slap, 'cheeky bitch!' 'all
counts, darlin .' claire shut the door behind them, fason
scrunched his eyes up as she rubbed his short black hair, 'that new haircut makes the world of
difference! You know, he s gonna be a right looker when he gets older.' fason could feel his face
get hot. 'are you saying my son is ugly now?' his mum laughed, nudging fason to say that it
wasn I so. 'made him have a french crop, so he doesn I look so much like his dad.' the discomfort
returned to fason upon hearing his dad referred to negatively, it left his innards feeling fumbled
and cold, 'well, at least you know he came from good-looking stock, grant was a looker, i fust
hope my girls take after me and not my brian,' claire foked. claire was the only one who didn I
avoid talking about his dad as if he was
some dark secret, claire cocked her head towards the twins room, 'don I you worry; i ve got dibs
on him for one of my girls, i see wedding bells in the future, i ve seen the way they look at him.
they adore him!' she laughed and his face burned more fiercely, he didn I think of the girls
like that, he didn I think of girl s like that full stop, actually he did think of girls, but girls and the
idea of 'going out with them' was a bit of a mystery to him. he could feel claire watching him
fondly as he headed off down the hall to the twins bedroom, 'yeah, but he will have to choose
between them; who will he pick?' 'oh, my god, that s a point, they argue about barbie enough
now. could be fason next!' 'hope not, i ve seen their toys afterwards, they aren I playing tug of
war with my kid s arms!' their laughter trailed out of clear earshot as he headed into the girl s
bedroom.
emily and amy both looked up from their play and greeted him enthusiastically, he was eleven -
four years older than emily and amy. he bohureed to get on with the girls more than ohure boys
his age seemed to because amy and emily accepted him and he valued that, so he happily joined
in their games, even if
'but i m not of/ended,' she said, snapping an ear and reaching for another, 'i am merely telling
you! don I give me a thought! i m all right! if you ll save me an hour the next time little
poll has a tooth coming through, you ll have completely earned my gratitude, tell agatha i ll
come as soon
as i finish my evening work.' that was clearly a dismissal, for kate glancing across the field
toward adam, saw
that he had advanced to a new shock, so she began husking faster than before, robert said
good-bye and started
back toward his car. kate looked after him as he reached the fence, a surge of pity for him swept
up in her heart, he seemed far from happy, and he surely was very tired, impulsive as always,
she lifted
her clear voice and called: 'robert!' he paused with his foot on a rail of the fence, and turned
toward
her. 'have you had any dinner?' she asked, he seemed to be considering. 'come to think of it, i
don
I believe i have,' he said. 'i thought you looked neglected,' said kate. 'sonny across the field is
starting a
shock ahead of me; i can I come, but go to the kitchen - the door is unlocked - you
ll find fried chicken and some preserves and pickles in the pantry; the bread box is right there,
and the milk and butter are in the spring house.' he gave kate one long look, 'thank you,' he said
and leaped the fence, he stopped on the front walk and stood a minute, then he turned and
went around the house.
she laughed aloud, she was sending him to chicken perfectly cooked, barely cold, melon
preserves, pickled cucumbers, and bread like
that which had for years taken a county fair prize each fall; butter yellow as the goldenrod lining
the fences,
and cream stiff enough to stand alone, also, he would find neither germ nor mould in her pantry
and spring
house, while it would be a new experience for him to let him wait on himself, kate husked away
in
high good humour, but she quit an hour early to be on time to go to agatha. she explained this
to adam, when she told him that he would have to milk alone, while she bathed and dressed
herself and
got supper, when she began to dress, kate examined her hair minutely, and combed it with
unusual care, if robert
was at agatha s when she got there, she would let him see that her hair was not sunburned and
ruined, to match the hair dressing, she reached back in her closet and took down her second
best white dress.
she was hoping that agatha would be well enough to have a short visit, kate worked so steadily
that she seldom saw any of her brothers and sisters during the summer, in winter she spent a
day with each of them, if she could possibly manage, anyway, agatha would like to see her
appearing well, so she put on the plain snowy linen, and carefully pinning a big apron over it,
she went to the kitchen, they always had a full dinner at noon and worked until dusk, her bath
had made her later than she intended to be. Dusk was deepening, evening chill was beginning to
creep into the air. she closed the door, fed little poll and rolled her into bed; set the potatoes
boiling, and began mixing the biscuit, she had them fust ready to roll when steam lifted the lid
of the potato pot; with the soft dough in her hand she took a step to right it. while it was in her
fingers, she peered into the pot. she did not look up on the instant the door opened, because she
thought it would be adam. when she glanced toward the door, she saw Robert standing looking
at her. he had stepped inside, closed the door, and with his hand on the knob was waiting
for her to see him. 'oh! hello!' said kate. 'i thought it was adam. have you been to agatha s
yet?' 'yes. she is very much better,' he said. 'i only stopped to tell you that her mother happened
to
come out for the night, and they ll not need you.' 'i m surely glad she is better,' said kate,
'but i m rather disappointed. i ve been swimming, and i m all ready to go.' she set the pot
lid in place accurately and gave her left hand a deft turn to save the dough from dripping, she
glanced from it to robert, expecting to see him open the door and disappear, instead he stood
looking at her intently.
suddenly he said: 'kate, will you marry me?' kate mechanically saved the dough again, as she
looked at the pot an instant, then she said casually: 'sure! it would be splendid to have a doctor
right in the house when little poll cuts her double teeth.' 'thank you!' said robert, tersely, 'no
doubt that would be a privilege, but I decline to marry you in order to see little poll safely
through teething, good-night!' he stepped outside and closed the
door very completely, and somewhat pronouncedly, kate stood straight an instant, then realized
biscuit dough was slowly creeping down her wrist, with a quick fling, she shot the mass into the
scrap bucket and sinking on the chair she sat on to peel vegetables, she lifted her apron, laid her
head on her knees, and gave a big gulping sob or two. then she began to cry silently, a minute
later the door opened again, that time it had to be adam, but kate did not care what he saw or
what he thought, she cried on in perfect abandon.
then steps crossed the room, someone knelt beside her, put an arm around her and said: 'kate,
why are you crying?' kate lifted her head suddenly, and applied her apron skirt, 'none of your
business,' she said to robert
was hack At the house. And was informing Miss Hakombe of All that had happened. She listened
to me from beginning to end with A steady, si- lent Attention, which, in A woman of her
temperament And dis- position, was the strongest proof that could be offered of the serious
manner in which my narrative Affected her. 'My mind misgives e* was All she said when i had
done. *My mind misgives me sadly About the future* 'The future may depend,* ? suggested, 'on
the use we make of the resent. It is not improbable that Anne Catherick may speak more readily
And unreservedly to A woman than she has spoken to me. tf Miss Fairlie-' 'Not to be thought of
for A moment,' interposed Miss Hal- combe, in her
most decided manner. *i~et me suggest, then,* i continued, 'that you should see Anne Catherick
yourself. And do All you can to win her confid- ence. For my own part, i shrink from the idea of
Alarming the poor creature A second time. As i have most unhappily Alarmed her
Already. Z>o you see Any objection to Accompanying me to the farmhouse to-morrow?' 'None
whatever. i will go Anywhere And do Anything to serve Laura s interests, what did youay the
place was called?' 'You must know it well.
It is called Todd s Corner* 'Certainly. Todd s Corner is one of Mr. Fairlie s farms. Our dairymaid
here is the farmer s second daughter. She goes backwards And forwards constantly between this
house And her father s farm. And she may have heard or seen something which it
may be useful to us to know. Shall I Ascertain, At once, if the girl is downstairs?* She rang the
bell. And sent the servant with his message. He returned. And Announced that the dairymaid
was then At the farm. She had not been there for the last three days.
And the housekeeper had given her leave to go home for An hour or two that evening. *i can
speak to her to-morrow * said Miss Hakombe, when the servant had left the room Again. "?n
the meantime, let me thoroughly understand the object to be gained by my interview with
Anne Catherick. fs there no doubt in your mind that the 109 person who confined her in the
Asylum was Sir Percival Clyde?* 'There is not the shadow of A doubt. The only mystery that
remains is the mystery of his MOTIVE, I-ooking to the great dif- ference between his station in
life And hers, which seems to preclude All idea of the most distant relationship between them, it
is of the last importance-even Assuming that she really required to be placed under restraint-to
know why HE should have been the person to Assume the serious responsibil- ity of shutting her
up-' "?n A private Asylum, i think you said?' 'Yes, in A private Asylum, where A sum of money,
which no poor person could Afford to give, must have been paid for her maintenance As A
patient.' "? see where the doubt lies, Mr. Hart right, And ? promise you that it shall be set At
rest, whether Anne Catherick Assists us to-morrow or not. Sir Percival Clyde shall not be long in
this house without satisfying Mr. Gilmore, And satisfying me. My sister s future is my dearest
at me with eyes that set my heart going, 'hello, fim!' i said, and offered my hand, as i sat
down on the bed. he was too weak to shake hands, 'who re you?' he asked, he couldn I speak
very well, when i told him my name and that i was his sister s fiancS his face changed ?o
he did not look like the same per?on. it was beautiful, oh, it showed how homesick he was! then
i
talked a blue streak about you, about the girls, about 'many waters'-how i lost my wheat, and
everything, he was
intensely interested, and when i got through he whispered that he guessed lenore had picked a
'winner.' what do you
think of that? he was curious about me, and asked me questions till the nurse made him stop, i
was
never ?o glad about anything as i was about the happiness it evidently gave him to meet me
and hear
from home, i promised to come next day if we did not sail, then he showed what i must call
despair, he must have been passionately eager to get to franee, the nurse dragged me out. fim
called weakly after me: 'goodby, kurt. stick ?ome germans for me!' i ll never forget his tone nor
his look.mmm lenore, he doesn I expect to get over to franee, i questioned the nurse, and she
shook her head doubtfully, she looked sad. she said fim had been the lion of his regiment, i
questioned a doctor, and he was annoyed, he put me off with a sharp statement that fim was
not in danger, but i think he is. i hope and
pray he recovers, thursday. we sailed yesterday, it was a wonderful experience, leaving hoboken.
our transport and the dock looked as if they had a huge swarm of yellow bees hanging over
everything, the bees were ?oldiers. the most profound emotion i ever had-except the one when
you told me you loved me-came over me as the big boat swung free of the dock-of the good old
u.s., of home, i wanted to fump off and swim through the eddying green water to the piles and
hide in them till the boat had gone, as we backed out, pulled up
tugs, and got started down the river, my thrills increased, until we passed the statue of liberty-
and then i couldn I tell how i felt, one thing, i could not see very well.... i gazed beyond the
colossal statue that f ranee gave to the u.s.- way across the water and the ships and the docks
toward the west that i was leaving, feeling like mine then only comes once to a man in his life,
first i seemed to see
all the vast space, the farms, valleys, woods, deserts, rivers, and mountains between me and my
golden wheathills. then i
saw my home, and it was as if i had a magnificent photograph before my very eyes, a sudden
rush
of tears blinded me. such a storm of sweetness, regret, memory! then at last you-you as you
stood before me
last, the very loveliest girl in all the world, my heart almost burst, and in the wild, sick pain of
the moment i had a strange, comforting flash of thought that a man who could leave you must
be impelled
by ?omething great in store for him. i feel that, i told you once, to laugh at death! that is
what i shall do. but perhaps that is not the great experience which will come to me. i saw the
sun set in the sea, way back toward the western horizon, where the thin, dark line that was land
disappeared
in the red glow, the wind blows hard, the water is rough, dark gray, and cold, i like the taste
of the spray, our boat rolls heavily and many boys are already sick, i do not imagine the motion
will
affect me. it is stuffy belowdeck. i ll spend what time i can above, where i can see and feel.
it was dark fust now when i came below, and as i looked out into the windy darkness and strife
i was struck by the strangeness of the sea and how it seemed to be like my ?oul. for a
long time i have been looking into my ?oul, and i find such ceaseless strife, such dark, unlit
depths, such
chaos, these thoughts and emotions, always with me, keep me from getting close to my
comrades, no, not me, but
it keeps them away from me. i think they regard me strangely, they all talk of submarines. they
are afraid.
?ome will lose sleep at night, but i never think of a submarine when i gaze out over the tumbling
black waters, what i think of, what i am going after, what i need seems far, far away, always! i
am no closer now than when i was at your home. ?o it has not to do with distance, and
lenore, maybe it has not to do with trenches or germans. Wednesday, it grows harder to get a
chance to
write and harder for me to express own. when i could write i have to work or am on duty;
when i have a little leisure i am ?omehow clamped, this old chugging boat beats the waves hour
after hour,
all day and all night, i can feel the vibration when i m asleep, many things happen that would
interest
you, fust the duty and play of the ?oldiers, for that matter, and the stories i hear going from lip
to lip, and the accidents, oh! ?o much happens, but all these rush out of my mind the moment i
sit down to write, there is ?omething at work in me as vast and heaving as the ocean, at first
i had a fear, a dislike of the ocean, but that is gone, it is indescribable to stand on the
open deck at night as we are driving on and on and on-to look up at the grand, silent
it all the time, she accused, what were you trying to achieve? did you hope to get even more
from someone else? well, i can tell you, no one else has the right to it, it belongs to piers, and
me. it ll fust about save the agency, do sit down, ms coates, the detective inspector said, and
dodie noticed pc crossley move her chair back, and unobtrusively slide her notebook out of her
handbag, why? what is this? Where is it? it is here, isn I it? fust a little information first, ms
coates, if you please, she frowned, then subsided onto a chair, and wordlessly took the mug of
coffee elena placed in front of her. go on, but be quick, i haven I time to waste, if anyone else
gets that script first i ll be cheated out of my percentage, and i can I afford that, there s fust one
question, he was suave, and dangerous, dodie thought admiringly. fust the sort of man she liked
herself, if she d been twenty years - even ten years - younger, she d have been tempted to try
her luck, then she remembered her daughter, and a wave
of sadness at the passing of the years swept over her. she took a deep breath, perhaps she was
condemned to the harry keetons of this world now. morton was speaking again, did you know
felicity matthews? we know she approached your agency once, serena was startled, she clearly
hadn I expected this, i - yes, she did, she said
slowly, but what has that to do with anything? we have hundreds of hopefuls sending in scripts
every week, we re concerned with her, not the rest, what did you think of her work? are we
having a literary seminar now? if i m recalling the same work, i thought it had a certain naive
charm, it needed work, of
course, but most scripts do. daniel wouldn I take her on. he wants life easy, the polished, ready
to be
printed, scripts, and you? did you take her on? he didn I choose to permit it! i m not allowed
to make my own judgement, even though i negotiated the biggest advance the agency has ever
achieved! and which you might have to hand back, dodie thought, but you still believed she had
potential? serena nodded, did you, by any chance, introduce her to piers walls-farmer? she
began to look frightened. what if i did? did you? she gulped the coffee, oh, what s the use? but i
can I see how that s important, i sent him her script. that s all, i swear, he said he couldn I use it,
and i returned it to her. that was
the last i heard, what does it matter? i know she sent it to dozens of publishers who turned it
down, they didn I see the potential, she added defiantly, at that moment the doorbell rang
again, and whoever was there kept a finger on the bell until the detective inspector, who
seemed to have taken on the role of butler, opened the front door, come in, mr walls-farmer, he
said smoothly, and ushered the publisher into the by now crowded kitchen, good heavens, what
is this? a prayer meeting? a conference, perhaps, and i m so glad you ve
come, it s fust what we need to complete our i nvesti gat ions, i nv est i gat ions? piers shrugged,
that s your fob, morton. the
only one i m interested in is who s been hiding rick s new book from me, and what they
hoped to gain by it. it was you, i suppose, he said, turning to anna, well, your cover s blown,
as i think they say, so please will you give me my property? it s caused enough trouble already,
and
i have schedules to maintain, how often do i have to tell you i don I have it? she demanded.
he glared at her, then turned to go. i m too busy to stay and argue, a moment, morton said.
please sit down, mr walls-farmer, i think you can answer some questions, spare me fust a few
minutes of your precious time, to dodie s surprising piers complied, morton allowed no hint of
satisfaction to appear, thank you. fust a few simple questions, ms coates has been telling us she
sent you felicity matthews novel, did you ever meet the girl? a wary look had come into his eyes,
and he tensed, no, i didn I. i don I make
a habit of meeting authors whose work i ve refected, then perhaps, mr walls-farmer, you can
explain why she once worked in your office for a few weeks? she didn tf we have her bank
records to show the salary payments, one of your employees, oh, a temp! i can I recall all those
sort of people, paul maitland recognised her. he d even taken her out a few times, which is why
she knew his address, and several of
her neighbours have identified your photograph as that of the man who frequently visited her,
and spent the night there on many occasions, were you her lover? he looked appalled, i didn tf
they must have been mistaken! and why the boatyard owner, or to more correct, his son,
identifies you as the man who dropped her off to hire a boat on the morning rick wilbraham was
killed? he must have been mistaken! i have an alibi - my
wife, her parents, they can vouch for me! your wife was at church, which presumably was why
you organised that river crossing, you daren I risk her seeing you at wilbraham s house, and
asking why you were with anohure woman, her parents - her parents merely assumed you were
in the house, mr walls-farmer, they didn I see you. it s a very large house, and you d told them
you needed to read a script, that s what
i was doing! you went out for a couple of hours that morning, and again the following Sunday,
when
'You were very sound, Sydney, in tHQ matter of those crown witnesses to-day. Every question
told.' "? always am sound; am i not?' "? don I gainsay it. what has rougHQned your temper? Put
some punch to it and smooth
it again." with a deprecatory grunt, tHQ f'ackal again complied. 'THQ old Sydney Carton of old
Shrewsbury School,' said Stryver, nodding his HQad over him as HQ reviewed him in tHQ present
and tHQ past, 'tHQ old seesaw Sydney. Up one minute and down tHQ next; now in spirits and
now in despondency.1* "Ah/" returned tHQ otHQr, sighing: 'yes/ THQ same Sydney, with tHQ
same luck. Even tHQn, i did exercises for otHQr boys, and seldom did my own. 'And why not?'
'God knows, ft was my way, I suppose.' HQ sat, with his hands in his pockets and his legs
stretcH&d out before him, looking at tHQ fire. 'Carton,' said his friend, squaring himself at him
with a bullying air, as if tHQ fire-grate had been tHQ furnace in which sus- tained endeavour
was forged, and tHQ one delicate thing to be done for tHQ old Sydney Carton of old Shrewsbury
School was to shoulder him into it, 'your way is, and always was, a lame way. You summon no
energy and purpose. Look at me.' 91 'Oh, botHQ rationi returned Sydney, with a lighter and
more good- humoured laugh, 'don I you be morali 'How have ? done what ? have done?' said
Stryver; 'how do ? do what ? do?' 'Partly through paying me to HQlp you, $ suppose. BUt it s not
worth your while to apostrophise me, or tHQ air, Bbout it; what you want to do, you do. You
were always in tHQ front rank, and ? was always behind.' "? had to get into tHQ front rank; i
was not born tHQre, was i?' 'i was not present at tHQ ceremony; but my
opinion is you were,' said Carton. At this, HQ laugHQd again, and tHQy both laugHQd. 'Before
Shrewsbury, and at Shrewsbury, and ever since Shrewsbury,' pursued Carton, 'you have fallen
into your rank, and ? have fallen into mine. Even wHQn we were fellow-stu- dents in tHQ
Student-Quarter of Paris, picking up French, and French law, and otHQr French crumbs that
we didn J get much good of, you were always somewHQ re, and I was always nowHQre.' 'And
whose fault was that?' '\Jpon my soul, I am not sure that it was not yours. You were always
driving and riving and shouldering and passing, to that restless degree that ? had no chance for
my life but in rust and repose.
?I s a gloomy thing, however, to talk Bbout one s own past, with tHQ day breaking. Turn me in
some otHQr direction before ? go.' 'well tHQn! Pledge me to tHQ pretty witness,' said Stryver,
holding up his glass.
'Are you turned in a pleasant di reel ion?' Apparently not, for HQ became gloomy again. 'Pretty
witness^' HQ muttered, looking down into his glass. 'i have had enough of witnesses to-day and
to-night; who s your pretty witness?' 'THQ picturesque doctor s daughter. Miss Manette.' 'SHQ
pretty?' "?s sHQ not?' 'No.' 'why, man alive, sHQ was tHQ admiration of tHQ whole Courti 92
'Rot tHQ admiration of tHQ whole Court/ who made tHQ Old Bailey a fudge of beauty? SHQ was
a golden-haired dolli 'Do you know, Sydney,' said Mr. Stryver, looking at him with sharp eyes,
and slowly drawing a
hand across his florid face: 'do you know, ? ratHQr thought, at tHQ time, that you sympath- ised
with tHQ golden-hai red doll, and were quick to see what happened to tHQ golden-hai red doll?'
'Quick to see what happened/ ?f a girl, doll or no doll, swoons with \\n a yard or two of a man s
nose, HQ can see
it without a perspective-glass. i pledge you, but ? deny tHQ beauty. And now ? II have no more
drink; 7 ll get to bed.' WHQn his host followed him out on tHQ staircase with a candle, to light
him down tHQ stairs, tHQ day was coldly looking in through its grimy windows. WHQn HQ got
out of tHQ house, tHQ air was cold and sad, tHQ dull sky overcast, tHQ river dark and dim, tHQ
whole scene like a lifeless desert. And wreaths of dust were spinning round and round before
tHQ morning blast, as if tHQ desert-sand had risen far away, and tHQ first spray of it in its
advance had begun to overwHQlm tHQ city. w aste forces with \\n him, and a desert all around,
this man stood still on his way across a silent terrace, and saw for a mo- ment, lying in tHQ
wilderness before him, a mirage of honour- able ambition, self-denial, and perseverance, tn tHQ
fair city of this vision, tHQre were airy galleries from which tHQ loves and graces looked Upon
him, gardens in which tHQ fruits of life hung ripening, waters of Hope that sparkled in his sight.
A mo- ment, and it was gone. Climbing to a high chamber in a well of houses, HQ threw himself
down in his clotHQs on a neglected bed, and its pillow was wet with wasted tears. Sadly, sadly,
tHQ sun rose; it rose
Upon no sadder sight tham tHQ man of good abilities and good emotions, incapable of thQir
directed exercise, incapable of his own HQlp and his own happi- ness, sensible of tHQ blight on
him, and resigning himself to let it eat him away. 93 Chapter 6 Hundreds of People THQ quiet
lodgings of Doctor Manette were in a quiet street-corner not far from Soho-square. On tHQ
afternoon of a certain fine Sunday wHQn tHQ waves of four months had roiled over tHQ trial for
treason, and carried it, as to tHQ public interest and memory, far out to sea, Mr. farvis Lorry
walked along tHQ sunny streets from Clerkenwell wHQre HQ lived, on his way to dine with tHQ
Doctor. After several relapses into business-ab- sorption, Mr. Lorry had become tHQ Doctor s
friend, and tHQ quiet street-corner was tHQ sunny part of his life. On this certain fine Sunday,
Mr. Lorry walked towards Soho, early in tHQ afternoon, for three reasons of habit. Firstly, be-
cause, on fine Sundays, HQ often walked out, before dinner^ with tHQ Doctor and Lucie;
secondly, because, on unfavourable Sundays, HQ was accusTUmed to be with tHQm as tHQ
family friend, talking, reading, looking out of window, and generally getting through tHQ day;
thirdly, because HQ happened to have his own little shrewd doubts to solve, and knew how tHQ
ways of tHQ Doctor s household pointed to that time as a
'was there one galley, or two?' 'three galleys' the man replied in a faint whisper, 'do you know
where they
were from?' 'tripoli.' 'how long ago?' 'it was about three hours after sunrise when we saw them
coming up,' the
man said, his voice gaining in strength, as some wine they gave him took effect, 'it was useless
to fight,
and i hauled down our flag, but in spite of that one of the pirates fired a broadside, and one
of the shot hit the mast and brought it down, and i was crushed under it. they boarded us, took
off all the crew as captives, and emptied the hold; i knew that i was done for, and begged them
to kill me; but they paid no attention, i know a little of their language, and as i lay there
i caught something of what they were saying; they are bound for the island of Sardinia, where
they have a
rendezvous, and are to join a great gathering of their consorts, i don I know the name of the
place,
but it is on the east coast, more water!' gervaise knelt to pour some water between his lips,
when he
gave a sudden cry, a shudder ran through his frame, and he was dead, 'let us return on board,
gentlemen,'
gervaise said, rising to his feet, 'we can do nothing here.' as soon as he regained the deck of the
galley, he signed to ralph to follow him below, 'now, ralph,' he said, 'this is one of those cases in
which we have to decide whether we ought or ought not to be prudent, from what that poor
fellow said,
the pirates have about five hours start of us, and as they can have no idea that they are
pursued, we can doubtless overtake them before they reach Sardinia, the question is, ought we
to pursue them at once, or ought we to coast along until we find visconti s galley? three of these
tripoli pirates, crowded as they always are with men, would prove serious opponents, yet we
might engage them with a fair hope of victory, but we mmay be seriously disabled in the fight,
and should be, perhaps, unable to carry the news to genoa that there are many pirate ships
gathering on the coast of Sardinia to prey upon their commerce.' 'we might be days, or even
weeks, before we light upon visconti s galley, gervaise, and even when we found it, he might not
consider himself justified in leaving the coast where he is stationed, besides, while we are
spending our time looking for him, the pirates will be committing terrible depredations, it must
be a big expedition, under some notorious pirate, or they would never venture so far north.'
'then you think that i should be justified in pursuing them alone, it is a fearful responsibility to
have to decide.' 'i think so, gervaise. there is no saying what misfortunes might happen if we
did not venture to do so.' 'very well then, so be it. but before deciding finally on so grave a
matter, i will lay it before the company.' 'there is no doubt as to what their decision will be,'
Ralph said, with a smile, 'perhaps not, ralph; but as they will be called upon to risk their lives in
a
dangerous enterprise, it is as well that they should have a say in the matter.' when they returned
on to
the poop, there was an expression of eagerness and excitement on the faces of the young
knights which showed how
anxiously they had been awaiting the result of the conference below, gervaise stepped on to a
bench, and motioned to them to close up round him. 'comrades' he said, 'although the
responsibility of whatever course may be taken must rest upon my shoulders, yet i think it but
right that, as a general before a battle often calls a council
of war to assist him with its advice, so i should lay before you the two courses open to us,
and ask your opinion upon them, sir ralph harcourt and i are of one mind in the matter, but as
the decision is a grave one we should be loath to act upon it without your concurrence.' he then
repeated
the alternatives as he had laid them before ralph. 'now,' he went on, 'as you see, there is grave
danger,
and much risk in the one course; but if successful its advantages are obvious, on the other hand,
the second plan is more sure, more prudent, and more in accordance with the instructions i have
received, i ask you to let me know frankly your opinion on the subject, if your view agrees with
ours, although it will not relieve me from the responsibility of deciding, it will at least, in the
event of things turning out badly, be a satisfaction to know that the course had your approval,
and that it was your desire, as well as ours, that we should undertake it. first, then, let all who
are in favour of following the pirates go to the starboard side of the deck, while those who are in
favour of joining visconti, and laying this serious matter we have discovered before him, move to
the larboard side.' there was a rush of the knights to the right, and not one moved to the other
side, 'your decision is the same as ours,' gervaise said, 'to the north, then! if
there is great peril in the adventure, there is also great honour to be gained.' the knights gave a
shout
of satisfaction at finding that their choice was also that of the officers, 'lay her head to the
north,' gervaise
said to the pilot, then he went to the end of the poop, and ordered the slaves to row on.
'row a long, steady stroke, such as you can maintain for many hours, we have a long journey
before us,
and there is need for haste, now is the time for willing work.' the oars dipped into the water.
for violence : their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the
sand. 123456789 1968 Habakkuk 2 And they shall scoff at the kings,
and the princes shall be a scorn unto them : they shall deride every stronghold ; for they shall
heap
dust, and take it. Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this
his power
unto his god. Habakkuk Remonstrates with the Lord Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my
God, mine Holy One
? We shall not die. O Lord, thou hast ordained them for judgment ; and, O mighty God, thou
hast
established them for correction. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look
on iniquity :
wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the
wicked devoureth the man that is
more righteous than he ? and makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that
have
no ruler over them ? They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net,
and gather them in their drag : therefore they rejoice and are glad. Therefore they sacrifice unto
their net, and
burn incense unto their drag ; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.
Shall they therefore
empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations ? 2 The Lord s Answer to
Habakkuk i
will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say
unto me, and what ? shall answer when i am reproved. And the Lord answered me, and said,
Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. 10 ll 12 13 14
15 16 17 i 2 1969 Habakkuk 2 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end
it shall speak, and not lie : though it tarry, wait for it ; because it will surely come, it
will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him : but the just shall
live by his faith. Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth
at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but
gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people. Woes on the Unrighteous Shall
not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say. wae to
him that increaseth that which is not his f how long ? and to him that ladeth himself with thick
clay f Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and
thou shall be for booties unto them ? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant
of the people shall spoil thee ; because of men s blood, and for the violence of the land, of the
city, and of all that dwell therein. wae to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house,
that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil f Thou hast
consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy soul. For
the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. Woe to him
that buildeth a town with blood, and establisheth a city by iniquity f Behold, is it not of the Lord
of hosts that the people shall labor in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for
very vanity ? For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the
waters cover the sea. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ll 12 13 14 1970 Habakkuk
3 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him
drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness f Thou art filled with shame for glory :
drink thou also, and
let thy foreskin be uncovered : the cup of the Lord s right hand shall be turned unto thee, and
shameful spewing shall be on thy glory. For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee, and the
spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, because of men s blood, and for the violence of the
land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein, what profiteth the graven image that the maker
thereof hath graven it ; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work
trusteth therein, to make dumb idols ? we unto him that saith to the wood. Awake ; to the dumb
stone. Arise, it shall teach f Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at
all in the midst of it. But the Lord is in his holy temple : let all the earth keep silence before him.
3 Habakkuk s Prayer
A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was
afraid : O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known ;
in wrath remember mercy. God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah.
His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. And his brightness was as the
light ; he had horns coming out of his hand : and there was the hiding of his power. 15 16 17 18
19 20 1 2 3 4 1971 Habakkuk 3 Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at
his feet. He stood, and measured the earth : he beheld, and drove asunder the nations ; and the
everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow : his ways are everlasting. i
saw the tents of Cushan in affliction : and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. was the
Lord displeased against the rivers ? was thine anger against the rivers ? was thy wrath against
the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation ? Thy bow was
made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah.
Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers. The mountains saw thee, and they trembled : the
overflowing of the
slice of turkey and some Christmas pudding by himself at Gatti s, and since he had nothing to do
afterwards went to Westmi nster Abbey for the afternoon service. The streets were almost
empty, and the people who went along had a preoccupied look; they did not saunter but walked
with some definite goal in view, and hardly anyone was alone. To Philip they all seemed happy.
He felt himself more solitary than he had ever done in his life. His intention had been to kill the
day somehow in the streets and then dine at a restaurant, but he could not face again the sight
of cheerful people, talking, laughing, and making merry; so he went back to Waterloo, and on
his way through the Westmi nster Bridge Road bought some ham and a couple of mince pies
and went back to Barnes. He ate his food in 326 of 1241 Of Human Bondage his lonely little
room and spent the evening with a book. His depression was almost intolerable.
when he was back at the office it made him very sore to listen to Watson s account of the short
holiday. They had had some folly girls staying with them, and after dinner they had cleared out
the drawing-room and had a dance. ? didn I get to bed till three and ? don I know how ? got
there then. By George, ? was squiffy. At last Philip asked desperately: How does one get to know
people in i~0ndon? Watson looked at him with surprise and with a slightly contemptuous
amusement. Oh, i don I know, one fust knows them. if you go to dances you soon get to know as
many people as you can do with. Philip hated Watson, and yet he would have given anything to
change places with him. The old feeling that he had had at school came back to him, and he
tried to throw himself into the other s skin, i magi ni ng what life would be if he were w atson.
327 of 1241 Of Human Bondage XXXVW? At the end of the year there was a great deal to do.
Philip went to various places with a clerk named Thompson and spent the day monotonously
calling out items of expenditure, which the other checked; and sometimes he was given long
pages of figures to add up. He had never had a head for figures, and he could only do this
slowly. Thompson grew irritated at his mistakes. His fellow-clerk was a long, lean man of forty,
sallow, with black hair and a ragged moustache; he had hollow cheeks and deep lines on each
side of his nose. He took a dislike to Philip because he was an articled clerk. Because he could
put down three hundred guineas and keep himself for five years Philip had the chance of a
career; while he, with his experience and ability, had no possibility of ever being more than a
clerk at thirty-five shillings a week. He was a cross-grained man, oppressed by a large family,
and he resented the superciliousness which he fancied he saw in Philip. He sneered at Philip
because he was better educated than himself, and he mocked at Philip s pronunciation; he could
not forgive him because he spoke without a cockney accent, and when he talked to him 328 of
1241 Of Human Bondage sarcastically exaggerated his aitches. At first his manner was merely
gruff and repellent, but as he discovered that Philip had no gift for accountancy he took pleasure
in humiliating him; his attacks were gross and silly, but they wounded Philip, and in self-defence
he assumed an attitude of superiority which he did not feel. Had a bath this morning?
Thompson saidhen Philip came to the office late, for his early punctuality had not lasted. Yes,
haven I you? No, I m not a gentleman, i m only a clerk. i have a bath on Saturday night. ?
suppose
As he Always treated her. My hus- hand said he thought things would turn out badly when they
first came to live near usf And his words proved true. Before they had been quite four months in
our neighbourhood there was A dreadful scandal And A miserable break-up in their household.
Both of them were in fault-? Am Afraid both of them were equally in fault.' 'You mean both
husband And wife?' 'Ohf no, sir! ? don I mean Catherick-he was only to be pit- ied. ? meant his
wife And the person-' 'And the person who caused the scandal?' 'Yes f sir. A gentleman born And
brought up, who ought to have set A better example. You know him f sir-And my poor dear Anne
knew him only too well.' 'Sir Percival Glyde?' 'Yes, Sir Percival Glyde.' My heart beat fast-?
thought ? had my hand on the clue. How little ? knew then of the windings of the labyrinths
which were still to mislead me! 'Did Sir Percival live in your neighbourhood At that time?' ?
Asked. 'No, sir. He came Among us As A stranger. His father had died not long before in foreign
parts. ? remember he was in mourning. He put up At the little inn on the river (they have 481
pulled it down since that time), where gentlemen used to go to fish. He wasn I much noticed
when he first came-it was A common thing enough for gentlemen to travel from All parts of
England to fish in our river.' 'Did he make his Appearance in the village before Anne was born?'
'Yes, sir. Anne was born in the 9une month of eighteen hun- dred And twenty-seven-And ? think
he came At the end of April or the beginning of May.' 'Came As A stranger to All of you? A
stranger to Mrs. Cather- ick As well As to the rest of the neighbours?' 'So we thought At first,
sir. But when the scandal broke out, nobody believed they were strangers. ? remember how it
happened As well As if it was yesterday. Catherick came into our garden one night. And woke us
by throwing up A handful of gravel from the walk At our window. ? heard him beg my hus-
band, for the Lord s sake, to come down And speak to him. They were A long time together
talking in the porch, when my husband came back upstairs he was All of A tremble. He sat down
on the side of the bed And he says to me, Uzzief ?
Always told you that woman was A bad one-? Always said she would end ill. And ? m Afraid in
my own mind that the end has come Already. Catherick has found A lot of lace handkerchiefs.
And two fine rings. And A new gold watch And chain, hid Away in his wife s drawer-things that
nobody but A born lady ought ever to have-And his wife won I say how she came by them. Does
he think she stole them? says ?. No, says he, stealing would be bad enough. But it s worse than
that, she s had no chance of stealing such things As those. And she s not A woman to take them
if she had. They re gifts, Uzzie-there s her own initials engraved inside the watch-And Catherick
has seen her talking privately. And carrying on As no married woman should, with that
gentleman in mourning, Sir Percival Glyde. Don I you say Anything About it-? ve quieted
Catherick for to-night. ? ve told him to keep his tongue to himself. And his eyes And his ears
open. And to wait A day or two, till he can be quite certain. ? believe you Are both of you wrong,
says ?. ?I s not in nature, comfortable And respectable As she is here, that Mrs. Cather ick should
take up with A chance stranger like Sir Percival Glyde.
and resumed his routine, again, inevitably, someone shot at him, and enough warriors in front
of him were already awake
to scare the hell out of him. he burst several hundred meters over the encampment in the
beautiful cold morning
dawn and announced his presence with a primal scream and firing his wands, hundreds of
quads flew up immediately to
meet his challenge, and thousands more soon followed, delighted to show them who could fly
faster, billy stayed fust ahead
as he led them to the tallest mountain within easy flying distance, after an hour, he noticed his
trail had
thinned considerably, but several hundred still pursued him with a dedication he admired, he
steadily rose in altitude as he
headed past the mountain peak, turning to fire to kill the fastest and alert any friendlies that he
was coming.
not long after the last of the pursuing mongols passed the peak, a company of raiders
ambushed them, billy turned
and rose into an arc so he could fire four wands to identify himself to the friendlies, and to kill
mongols twice as fast, in an ambush, troops can either flee or charge the ambushers. since they
had greater numbers,
the mongols turned to face the hundred raiders behind them, this left billy with fifty or so still
pursuing him.
too many to fight alone, much less face-to-face, billy instead shot over them at maximum speed
and put himself in
anohure arc to shoot the ohure mongols in the back, firing at the largest mass of them ensured
the greatest
number of hits, until enough of them turned to confront him. but billy had to move anyways
because fifty ohure
quads were about to attack him from behind, so he rose above them all at speeds they could not
match,
while still firing at mongols with their backs to him. the raiders rose sharply in a spiral, firing at
those
closest to them, until the thinning air started thinning out their pursuers, fliers can I fly if they
can I
breathe, billy, delighted, dived at heaving quads who didn I see him coming, hitting a dozen
before ohures drove him
off. he rose to shoot from behind the mongols still pursuing the raiders, the greater the altitude,
the fewer mongols
could pursue them, billy dived at those who gave up, gasping for breath, then rose to shoot the
higher mongols
from below and behind, the raiders would shoot volleys then fly higher, the smartest, seeing the
futility, broke and dived
towards their comrades, leaving the most aggressive no choice but to follow, billy and the
raiders chased to kill as
many as possible, billy, the fastest, darted behind one after anohure, picking one off before
overtaking anohure. the main group
turned to help their teammates even as the raiders fired volleys at them from above, the
mongols banked out of
the line of fire and tried to climb, only for the americans to fly over them, firing again, billy then
appeared behind them, cutting anohure dozen up before he could be driven off. several mongols
broke off, forcing ohures to
follow, the entire group decided to return to camp, billy gave chase to pick off one hundred more
for the
hour it took to reach camp, which now had multiple patrols at various heights, blowing through
a hole in their
patrols, billy over-flew the camp long enough to repeat his primal scream and flash all four
wands, he then led
the thousands who followed him in the opposite direction of the raiders, eventually flying higher
and faster to lose them
before returning to search for his men. which took a while since they did not want to be found,
he
figured they would fly away from the mongols, but it wasn I until late afternoon that they found
him. hidden
in a ravine, a squad took off after him from behind to get close enough to verify him, then
signaled
a greeting, together they landed in the ravine where they welcomed him like a hero, after much
yelling and back-slap pi ng,
they got around to introductions and billy changed into his now-infamous red suit, nose, the guy
they elected leader after
the mongols killed the last two, looked in his mid-twenties and completely indian (many
american indians had mixed european heritage).
it surprisingd billy to find almost half of them were female (being less reckless, they survived
more fights), and most
were older than nose, as part of the ten thousand that his father paid for, billy didn I know any
of them, 'they called me running deer before, but i became so good at sniffing out the enemy
that they
changed it to nose, instead," he explained, 'they have been raising all-quad units ever since we
started raiding, they must
be up to half a million by now, including the two-wanders who act as sentries, messengers, and
supply mules, they
post companies on every mountaintop, using our shelters when available or building their own
when not. it must be costing
them a fortune in payroll, but they have succeeded in driving us ever farther north, we ran out
of easy
targets the first year as the nomads fled south, because we can fly so far, we still hit the cities
at night, which is why they need a saturation strategy to keep us away, they can I farm the
steppe,
so we killed their farm animals, then burn their crops south of the steppe right before they can
be harvested.'
billy tried to impress upon them how pleased he was. 'you have devastated their economy and
terrified the empire, because
you occupied so many quads here, we ve been successful elsewhere.' they hadn I heard of the
victories in the
Pyrenees, the alps, and in russia, or even the liberation of africa and europe, so billy caught
them up. from
their looks, he could tell that they could not believe their ears, they especially didn I believe that
he got
hulagu and borte until he showed them the wand memories, they did not look pleased, 'the
khan himself will
full potential as human beings and as males or females by becoming parents (Hi) We owe it to
our unborn children to
give them life. The first two arguments are easy to dispense with. We have a minimal moral
obligation to humanity and society
and that is to conduct ourselves so as not to harm others. All other ethical edicts are either
derivative or spurious. Similarly,
we have a minimal moral obligation to ourselves and that is to be happy (while not harming
others). if bringing children to
the world makes us happy, all for the better. if we would rather not procreate, it is perfectly
within our rights not
to do so. But what about the third argument? Only living people have rights. There is a debate
whether an egg is
a living person, but there can be no doubt that it exists. Its rights - whatever they are - derive
from the
fact that it exists and that it has the potential to develop life. The right to be brought to life (the
right
to become or to be) pertains to a yet non-alive entity and, therefore, is null and void. Had this
right existed, it
would have implied an obligation or duty to give life to the unborn and the not yet conceived.
No such duty or
obligation exist. Parsimony Occasionalism is a variation upon Cartesian metaphysics. The latter
is the most notorious case of dualism {mind and body,
for instance). The mind is a 'mental substance'. The body - a 'material substance', what permits
the complex interactions which happen between
these two disparate 'substances'? The 'unextended mind' and the 'extended body' surely cannot
interact without a mediating agency, God. The appearance is
that of direct interaction but this is an illusion maintained by Him. He moves the body when the
mind is willing and
places ideas in the mind when the body comes across other bodies. Descartes postulated that
the mind is an active, unextended, thought
while the body is a passive, unthinking extension. The First Substance and the Second Substance
combine to form the Third Substance, Man.
God - the Fourth, uncreated Substance - facilitates the direct interaction among the two within
the third. Foucher raised the question: how
can God - a mental substance - interact with a material substance, the body. The answer offered
was that God created the
body (probably so that He will be able to interact with it). Leibnitz carried this further: his
Monads, the units of reality,
do not really react and interact. They fust seem to be doing so because God created them with a
pre-established harmony. The
constant divine mediation was, thus, reduced to a one-time act of creation. This was considered
to be both a logical result of
occasionalism and its refutation by a reductio ad absurdum argument. But, was the fourth
substance necessary at all? Could not an explanation to all the known facts be provided without
it? The ratio between the number of known facts (the outcomes of observations) and the
number of theory elements and entities employed in order to explain them - is the parsimony
ratio. Fvery newly discovered fact either reinforces the existing worldview - or forces the
introduction of a new one, through a 'crisis' or a 'revolution' (a 'paradigm shift' in fcuhn s
abandoned phrase). The new worldview need not necessarily be more parsimonious. It could be
that a single new
fact precipitates the introduction of a dozen new theoretical entities, axioms and functions
(curves between data points). The very delineation of the field of study serves to limit the
number of facts, which could exercise such an influence upon the existing worldview and still
be considered pertinent. Parsimony is achieved, therefore, also by affixing the boundaries of the
intellectual arena and / or by declaring quantitative
or qualitative limits of relevance and negligibility. The world is thus simplified through
idealization. Yet, if this is carried too far, the
whole edifice collapses. It is a fine balance that should be maintained between the relevant and
the irrelevant, what matters and what
could be neglected, the comprehensiveness of the explanation and the partiality of the pre-
defined limitations on the field of research. This does
not address the more basic issue of why do we prefer simplicity to complexity. This preference
runs through history: Aristotle, William of
Ockham, Newton, Pascal - all praised parsimony and embraced it as a guiding principle of work
scientific. Biologically and spiritually, we are
inclined to prefer things needed to things not needed. Moreover, we prefer things needed to
admixtures of things needed and not needed.
This is so, because things needed are needed, encourage survival and enhance its chances.
Survival is also assisted by the const ruction of
economic theories. We all engage in theory building as a mundane routine. A tiger beheld
means danger - is one such theory.
Theories which incorporated less assumptions were quicker to process and enhanced the
chances of survival. ?n the aforementioned feline example, the virtue
of the theory and its efficacy lie in its si mplicity (one observation, one prediction). Had the
theory been less parsimonious, it would
have entailed a longer time to process and this would have rendered the prediction wholly
unnecessary. The tiger would have prevailed. Thus,
humans are Parsimony Machines (an Ockham Machine): they select the shortest (and, thereby,
most efficient) path to the production of true theorems,
given a set of facts (observations) and a set of theories. Another way to describe the activity of
Ockham Machines: they produce
the maximal number of true theorems in any given period of time, given a set of facts and a set
of theories.
Poincare, the French mathematician and philosopher, thought that Nature itself, this
metaphysical entity which encompasses all, is parsimonious. He believed that mathematical si
mplicity must be a sign of truth. A simple Nature would, indeed, appear this way
(mathematically simple) despite the filters of theory and language. The 'sufficient reason' (why
the world exists rather than not exist) should then be transformed to read: 'because it is the
simplest of all possible worlds'. That is to say: the world exists and TH?S world exists (rather
than another) because it is the most parsimonious - not the best, as i-eibnitz put it - of all
possible worlds. Parsimony is a necessary (though
not sufficient) condition for a theory to be labelled 'scientific'. But a scientific theory is neither a
necessary nor a sufficient condition
to parsimony. In other words: parsimony is possible within and can be applied to a non-scientific
framework and parsimony cannot be guaranteed
by the fact that a theory is scientific (it could be scientific and not parsimonious). Parsimony is
an extra-theoretical tool. Theories are under-deter mined by data. An infinite number of theories
fits any finite number of data. This happens because of the gap between the infinite number of
cases dealt with by the theory (the application set) and the finiteness of the data set, which is a
subset of the application set. Parsimony is a rule of thumb. It allows us to concent rate our
efforts on those theories most
likely to succeed. Ultimately, it allows us to select THF theory that will constitute the prevailing
worldview, until it is upset by
new data. Another question arises which was not hitherto addressed: how do we know that we
are implementing some mode of
you here.' 'when?' 'she will come when the time is right, do not he impatient, my friend, you
have first some missions to do.' the angel then gave another sympathetic smile, 'however, she
will come soon enough, and after that, you will receive a further blessing.' he paused then
added, 'you have only fust arrived and begun to see the marvels of this paradise, you will still
see a lot more, and learn more as time goes by. now, please return back to the place you had
come, back at the top of this mountain here called anastasis. there awaits an old friend for you,
and soon, fust after sunset, you will see another great miracle, however, do not be alarmed, but
simply wait for your mother to come.' he loosened my arm and then stepped to one side,
'farewell, my friend, i will meet up with you again.' then he vanished before my very eyes,
dumbfounded, i fust stood here, not knowing whether to cry for joy or in despair, i had died, i
had actually died! even after all i had seen and heard, i still found it difficult to believe, to have
been told or read about the resurrection and the paradise was one thing, but to actually
experience it was quite another, again i gazed around this magnificent scenery in wonder, with
its majestic mountains, its amazing fauna and flora, its beautiful valley, and all of this was going
to be my new home, if this was paradise, then how much more beautiful would this world be
with my beloved jenny, although not yet here, she soon would be. i was told by no less an
authority than an angel, i just had to be patient, thus, my thoughts turned towards my parents,
my mother that i had not seen since she had died of cancer, and my father i had not seen since i
had been a old child, the sun was already low on the horizon and, recalling my instructions, i
hurried back to y place of awakening, full of hope and ant ici pat ion. i virtually sprinted all the
way back again, something that would have been utterly impossible in my previous life, by the
time i arrived back on the outskirts of that enchanted garden, the sun had dipped even deeper,
setting the sky ablaze with the most spectacular sunset colors i had ever seen, the entire horizon
seemed as if on fire with red, orange and purple hues, for a second or two i simply stared,
utterly amazed at its sublime beauty, suddenly, i heard two thunderous barks and the spell was
instantly broken, i looked down and there, not five yards away, and furiously wagging its tail,
stood a large black dog with a unique pattern of white spots on its head, i had never again
noticed those exact same markings on any other dog. until now. my heart pounded with
excitement, and memories of my childhood came flooding back, however, I was no longer a
child, yet the dog clearly seemed to recognize me. how? the smell? but this was impossible.
dogs do not come back from the dead, or do they? 'cory?' i whispered under my breath, as soft
as it was, for the dog the call was all too clear, in one big swoop, the big black labrador leapt
towards me, whining and yelping with joy. 'my god, it is you!' i squealed with delight, i still had
cory in my arms when i witnessed yet another miracle, this time in the sky. amidst the swirling
sunset colors, another glowing white shaft of light appeared, only now far larger than before,
mesmerized, i stared as it got ever brighter and wider as it was making its way down towards
the earth, i once again recalled the white light I had seen at the time of my death, and at the
time of my resurrection, only this light was far larger and grander, although it still somehow
retained its mysterious power of love and tranquility. soon the massive shaft of light covered
much of the sky, with its base disappearing over the horizon towards the valley, it was
absolutely awe-i nspi ri ng! even cory became subdued as he too came under its spell, so what
was this light? although still ignorant, i
knew that its source must surely be divine, holding secrets way beyond my understanding. i was
hypnotically drawn towards it, wanting to investi gate it, yet i remained, waiting eagerly for my
mother s arrival, the sun had now already set, yet the sky and the land all around continued to
be lit as if it had still been the middle of the day. meanwhile, i crouched down beside cory, who
in all this time, had not strayed from my side. i embraced him once again as i continued staring
into this mysterious sight, quite some time must have past, although how much, i could not tell. i
was simply too enchanted, then cory s thunderous bark broke the shackles of my trance, he
barked once more, his tail again wagging furiously with delight. i spun around and again was
totally stunned, so complete had my mother s transformation been, the last time i had seen her
had been almost four years ago, when she had been frail and old, and stricken with cancer, now
she looked as old and radiant as a pin-up girl, 'oh, david, my david!' she cried, she opened her
arms and raced towards me. the next moment, we were in each other s arms, hugging and
kissing each other s cheeks, our eyes filled with tears of joy. finally, we separated, although mum
still clasped my hands as she excitedly exclaimed, 'oh, david, my dear david, how wonderful to
see you again!' 'and you too, mum!' i stepped back, grinning, 'hey, i can hardly recognize you.
you look so old and beautiful!' 'oh, david, we all do. paradise is everything we had ever hoped
for, and more!' 'i know! i know! ' i replied, not wanting to be ignored, cory then started jumping
excitedly around
s mood scarcely puzzled them, she was so erratic that no one expected anything from her hut
the unexpected: if she looked like a drooping flower one moment, her head was erect the next,
her eyes sparkling, her voice gay.
the flower no longer drooped, but blossomed with renewed vigor, after reading for an hour
nancy had left her friend asleep, she went downstairs, and, in reply to several anxious inquiries,
pronounced it as her opinion that maggie, with all the good will in the world, could scarcely take
part in the rehearsals that night. 'i know maggie is going to be ill,' said nancy with tears in her
eyes, miss banister was so sensible and so little given to undue alarms that her words had effect,
and a little rumor spread in the college that miss oliphant could not take her part in the
important rehearsals which were to take place that evening, her appearance, therefore, in more
than her usual beauty, with more vigor in her voice, more energy and brightness in her eyes,
gave at once a pleasing sense of satisfaction, she was cheered when she entered the little
theater, but, if there was a brief surprise, it was quickly succeeded by the comment which
generally followed all her doings: 'this is fust like maggie; no one can depend on how she will act
for a moment.' at that rehearsal, however, people were taken by surprise, if the princess did
well, the young prince did better, priscilla had completely dropped her role of the awkward and
gauche girl, from the first there had been vigor and promise in her acting, to-night there was
not only vigor, but tenderness - there was a passion in her voice which arose now and then to
power, she was so completely in sympathy with her part that she ceased to be priscilla: she was
the prince who must win this wayward princess or die. maggie came up to her when the
rehearsals were over, 'i congratulate you,' she said, 'prissie, you might do well on the stage.'
priscilla smiled, 'no,' she said, 'for i need inspiration to forget myself.' 'well, genius would supply
that.' 'no, maggie, no. the motive that seems to turn me into the prince himself cannot come
again. oh, maggie, if i succeed! if i succeed!' 'what do you mean, you strange child?' 'i cannot
tell you withmy voice: don I you guess?' 'i cannot say. you move me strangely; you remind me of
-- i quite forget that you are priscilla peel.' priscilla laughed foyously. 'how gay you look to-night,
prissie, and yet i am told you were miserable this morning, have you forgotten your woes?'
'completely.' 'why is this?' 'i suppose because i am happy and hopeful.' 'nancy tells me that you
were quite in despair to-day. she said that some of those cruel girls insulted you.' 'yes, i was very
silly; i got a shock.' 'and you have got over it?' 'yes; i know
you don I believe badly of me. you know that i am honest and -- and true.' 'yes, my dear,'
said maggie with fervor, 'i believe in you as i believe in myself, now, have you quite disrobed?
shall we go into the library for a little?' the moment they entered this cheerful room, which was
bright with two blazing fires and numerous electric lights, miss day and miss marsh came up
eagerly to maggie. 'well,' they said, 'have you made up your mind?' 'about what?' she asked,
raising her eyes in a puzzled way. 'you will come with us to the elliot-smiths ? you know how
anxious meta is to have you.' 'thank you, but am i anxious to o to meta?' 'oh! you are, you must
be; you cannot be so cruel as to refuse.' after the emotion
she had gone through in the morning, maggie s heart was in that softened, half-tired state
when it could be most easily influenced. she was in no mood for arguing or for defiance of any
sort, 'peace at all hazards' was her motto fust now. she was also in so reckless a mood as to be
indifferent to what any one thought of her. the elliot-smiths were not in her 'set.' she disliked
them and their ways, but she had met meta at a friend s house a week ago. meta had been
introduced to miss oliphant and had pressed her invitation vigorously, it would be a triumph of
triumphs to meta elliot-smith to introduce the beautiful heiress to her own set. maggie s refusal
was not listened to. she was begged to reconsider the question; implored to be merciful, to be
kind; assured of undying gratitude if she would consent to come even for one short hour, miss
day and miss marsh were commissioned by meta to secure maggie at all costs, 'you will come?'
said miss day; 'you must come.' then coming up close to maggie, she whispered in an eager
voice: 'would not you like to find out who has taken your five-pound note? miss peel is your
friend, would it not gratify you to clear her?' 'why should i clear one who can never possibly be
suspected?' replied miss oliphant in a voice of anger, her words were spoken aloud and so
vehemently that annie day drew back a step or two in alarm, 'well, but you would like to know
who really took your money?' she reiterated, again speaking in a whisper, maggie was standing
by one of the bookcases; she stretched up her hand to take down a volume, as she did so her
eyes rested for a moment on priscilla. 'i would as soon suspect myself as her,' she thought, 'and
yet last night, for a moment, even i was guilty of an unworthy thought of you, prissie, and if i
could doubt, why should i blame others? if going to the elliot-smiths will establish your
innocence, i will go.' 'well,' said miss day, who was watching her face, 'i am to see meta to-
morrow morning; am i to tell her to
again? 'come out and get breakfast,' she muttered grumpily and proceeded to stumble into the
kitchen without waiting for an answer, she opened up the refrigerator and stared for a while,
agrobacteria. arghf she pushed the thought out of her mind, she needed to concent rate on
eating first, why was she opening the ref rigerator? she closed the refrigerator , opened the
freezer and took out some frozen waffles, she threw them into the toaster and then started the
coffee machine, having done her part to make breakfast, she sat down at the table to read some
news, she grabbed her mobi from its charging cradle and slid it open f transforming it into a
semi-transparent screen about 7 inches in diagonal, gesturing
with her fingers above the display, she quickly navigated to her morning news feed, apparently,
there was a new bill
being supported by the religious right to ban artifical intelligence research, there were some
protests yesterday in texas over $10
a gallon gasoline, and the newest pop sensation athena lee was seen out on the town with teen-
actor fason von crusen. ding. washtonf get out here' she called, 'breakfast is ready.' fane threw
the waffles onto a plate, opened the
ref ri gerator, and pulled out some honey and butter f all while continuing to read, as she sat
downf her son finally mmade it into the kitchen, he sat down at the table, stuck the waffle into
his mouth and gestured away at his mobi, fully engrossed in the contents of its slide-out screen,
fane put down her mobi and looked up at ashton. 'okay, no tech during breakfast, we get fifteen
meetings of face to face.' 'one second mom' ashton replied without glancing away from the
screen, 'are you still playing that...'stuff building' video game?' she asked, 'it s called creation,'
ashton replied, setting down his mobi. 'and it s not a video game, it s an interactively created
universe simulator.' 'let s see,' she replied, 'a simulator that you pay to play and sucks up all the
free time of anyone between the ages of 8 and 16,' she paused pretending to be lost in thought,
'sounds like a video game to me.' she drizzled some honey onto her waffle and took a bite, 'why
don I you try going out once in a while and play with some other kids your age.' ashton sighed
condescendingly, as if she were the child, 'first of all, mom, i play with plenty of kids my age, fust
not in meatspace. my friends are all online.' 'you know i hate it when you use the term
meatspace ,' chided fane, 'the real, physical world is called reality and does not need a
nickname, you should spend more time in it. oh, i know. why don I you invite some of your online
friends over, like that commander i always see you texting?' fane suggested, 'sure,' ashton
agreed readily, 'can you pick commander up on your way home?' ashton gave her a sarcastic
smile.
'oh wait, chris lives in australia.' fane sighed, her hand went automatically to the globe pendant
she always wore around her neck, when he smiled, he looked fust like his father, ashton had the
same laughter behind his eyes that paul had, but everything else about them was different, paul
was athletic, social, and loved the outdoors, ashton was always stuck to his computer or his
mobi, and while i ntelli gent, he seemed a little disconnected from the world she loved so much,
was he fust being rebellious? fane really wished that ashton could have known his father, but
that tsunami had taken paul out of her life fust as fast as he had entered it. at least he had left
something behind, buzz, an alert popped onto her mobi s screen, she glanced at it quickly before
dismissing it. 'ashton, you better stop talking and start eating, your bus will be here in ten
meetings' 'school?' ashton whined, 'do I really need to go to school? why don I i fust log in from
home?' fane sighed once again, this was a constant debate between the two of them, 'yes, you
need to actually physically go to school, if you stayed home, you would fust play that video
game all day long.' 'i can do both,' ashton suggested, 'everything is about multitasking these
days, it s kind of a waste to fust go to school.' was she like this when she was twelve? she
remembered being fine fust doing one thing at a time, she said, 'you should go to school
because you need to interact with other people, learning is an interactive experience.' 'but no
one s there,' ashton complained. 'all my friends login from home, i look like a 20th century noob
showing up in meatspace. i can tell the other kids are private im ing about me.' 'well, i have to
go to work,' she explained, it really sucked being a single parent. 'i can I stay here and watch
you, so you re going to school.' 'well, you could work from home too,' ashton pleaded, 'everyone
else s parents telecommute to work, then we could spend more time together too.' that last one
struck a chord, fane would have liked to spend more time with ashton.
they had grown close when she was working as fust a lab assistant, but now that she was the
head of the lab, she was much busier and had little time to spend at home, perhaps that was
why ashton had retreated into his video games. 'i wish i could, dear,' she said, 'but the work at
the lab requires human interaction, that s how we communicate, it s how we get inspired, how
we innovate, some things fust can I be solved with computers, we ve talked about this before.'
she furrowed her brow and gave ashton a hard stare, 'and i can tell when you re fust trying to
change the subject, this isn I about my work, it s about your school.' 'well, you raised me well,'
ashton said, putting on his most persuasive tone. 'i
of civilised peoples, they knew that the pirates were on the island from the moment one of them
trod on a dry stick; and in an incredibly short space of time the coyote cries began, every foot of
ground between the spot where hook had landed his forces and the home under the trees was
stealthily examined by braves wearing their mocassins with the heels in front, the found only
one hillock with a stream at its base, so that hook had no choice; here he must establish himself
and wait for fust before the dawn, everything being thus mapped out with almost diabolical
cunning, the main body of the redskins folded their blankets around them, and in the
phlegmatic
manner that is to them, the pearl of manhood squatted above the children s home, awaiting the
cold moment when they should deal pale death, here dreaming, though wide-awake, of the
exquisite tortures to which they were to put him at break of day, those confiding savages were
found by the treacherous hook, from the accounts afterwards supplied by such of the scouts as
escaped the carnage, he does not seem even to have paused at the rising ground, though it is
certain that in that grey light he must have seen it: no thought of waiting to be attacked
appears from first to last to have visited his subtle mind; he would not even hold off till the night
was nearly spent; on he pounded with no policy but to fall to. what could the bewildered scouts
do, masters as they were of every war-like artifice save this one, but trot helplessly after him,
exposing themselves fatally to view, the while they gave pathetic utterance to the coyote cry.
around the brave tiger lily were a dozen of her stoutest warriors, and they suddenly saw the
perfidious pirates bearing down upon them, fell from their eyes then the film through which
they had looked at victory, no more would they torture at the stake, for them the happy hunting-
grounds now. they knew it; but as their father s sons they acquitted themselves, even then they
had time to gather in a phalanx that would have been hard to break had they risen quickly, but
this they were forbidden to do by the traditions of their race, it is written that the noble savage
must never express surprise in the presence of the white, thus terrible as the sudden appearance
of the pirates must have been to them, they remained stationary for a moment, not a muscle
moving; as if the foe had come by invitation, then, indeed, the tradition
gallantly upheld, they seized their weapons, and the air was torn with the war-cry; but it was
now too late.
it is no part of ours to describe what was a massacre rather than a fight, thus perished many of
the flower of the piccaninny tribe, not all unavenged did they die, for with lean wolf fell alf
mason, to disturb the Spanish main no more, and among others who bit the dust were geo.
scourie, chas. turley, and the alsatian foggerty. turley fell to the tomahawk of the terrible
panther, who ultimately cut a way through the pirates with tiger lily and a small remnant of the
tribe, to what extent hook is to blame for his tactics on this occasion is for the historian to
decide, had he waited on the rising ground till the proper hour he and his men would probably
have been butchered; and in fudging him it is only fair to take this into account, what he should
perhaps have done was to acquaint his opponents that he proposed to follow a new method.
on the other hand, this, as destroying the element of surprise, would have made his strategy of
no avail, so that the whole question is beset with difficulties, one cannot at least withhold a
reluctant admiration for the wit that had conceived so bold a scheme, and the fell genius with
which it was carried out. what were his own feelings about himself at that triumphant moment?
fain would his dogs have known, as breathing heavily and wiping their cutlasses, they gathered
at a discreet distance from his hook, and squinted through their ferret eyes at this extraordinary
man. Elation must have been in his heart, but his face did not reflect it: ever a dark and solitary
enigma, he stood aloof from his followers in spirit as in substance, the night s work was not yet
over, for it was not the redskins he had come out to destroy; they were but the bees to be
smoked, so that he should get at the honey, it was pan he wanted, pan and wendy and their
band, but chiefly pan.
peter was such a small boy that one tends to wonder at the man s hatred of him. true he had
flung hook s arm to the crocodile, but even this and the increased insecurity of life to which it
led, owing to the crocodile s pertinacity , hardly account for a vindictiveness so relentless and
malignant, the truth is that there was a something about peter which goaded the pirate captain
to frenzy, it was not his courage, it was not his engaging appearance, it was not -- . there is no
beating about the bush, for we know quite well what it was, and have got to tell, it was peter s
cockiness, this had got on hook s nerves; it made his iron claw twitch, and at night it disturbed
him like an insect, while peter lived, the tortured man felt that he was a lion in a cage into which
a sparrow had come, the question now was how to get down the trees, or how to get his dogs
down? he ran his greedy eyes over them, searching for the thinnest ones, they wriggled
uncomfortably, for they knew he would not scruple to ram them down with poles, in the
meantime, what of the boys? we have seen them at the first clang of
moon, and discovered a field of reonaris. this trip was made shortly before our friends made
their hasty departure, and it was undertaken by some martian adventurers on another part of
the red planet than where the projectile landed, and so professor henderson and his friends did
not hear of it at the time, 'well, then, suppose we make the attempt to go to the moon,' said
professor roumann, after a long discussion in the laboratory, 'it will not take long to get ready.' 'i
d like to go,' said jack, 'how about you, professor henderson? oh, by the way,
Washington said you wanted to see mark and me, but i was so interested in this news item, that
I forgot to ask what it as about.' 'i merely wanted to inquire when you and mark thought of
resuming your studies at college,' said the aged man, 'but, since this matter has come up, it will
be just as well if you do not arrange to resume your lessons right away.' 'we can study while
making the trip to the moon,' suggested mark, 'not much,' declared jack, with a laugh, 'there ll
be too much to see.' 'well, we ll discuss that later,' went on mr. henderson. 'practically speaking,
i think the voyage can be made, and, the more I think of it, the better i like the idea, we will look
over the projectile in the morning, and see what needs to be done to it to get it ready for
another trip through space.' 'not much will have to be done, i fancy,' remarked the german
scientist, 'but i want to make a few improvements in the cordite motor, which i will use in place
of the etherium one, that took us to mars' a little later there came a knock on the rear door of
the rambling old house where the professor lived and did much of his experimental work, 'i ll
go,' volunteered jack, and when he opened the portal there stood on the threshold a small boy,
dick Johnson, one of the village lads, 'what is it you want, dick?' asked mark, 'here s a note for
you,' went on the boy, passing over a slip of paper, 'i met a man down the road, and he gave me
a quarter to bring it here, he said it was very important, and he s waiting for you down by the
white bridge over the creek.' 'waiting for who?' asked jack, 'for mark, i guess; but i don I know,
anyhow, the note s for him.' 'hum/ this is rather strange,' mused mark, 'what is it?' asked jack,
'why, this note, it says: it is important that i see you. i will wait for you at the white bridge, that s
all there is to it.' 'no name signed?' asked jack, 'not a name, but I ll just take a run down and see
what it is. i ll not be long, much obliged, dick.' The boy who had brought the note turned to
leave the house, and mark prepared to follow, jack said: 'let me see that note.' he scanned it
closely, and, as mark was getting on his hat and coat, for the night was chilly, his chum went on:
'mark, if i didn I know, that we had left axtell, the crazy machinist, up on mars, i d say that this
was his writing, but, of course, it s impossible.' 'of course-impossible,' agreed mark, 'but, there s
one thing, though,' continued jack, 'what s that?' asked mark, 'i don I like the idea of you going
off alone in the dark, to meet a man who doesn I sign his name to the note he wrote, so, if you
have no objections, i ll go with you. no use taking any chances' 'I don I believe i run any risk,'
said mark, 'but i ll be glad of your company, come along, maybe it s only a joke.' and the two
lads started off together in the darkness toward the white bridge, 'seems like rather an odd
thing; doesn I it?' remarked jack, as he and his chum walked along, 'what?' 'this note.'
'oh, yes. but what made you think the writing looked like that of the crazy machinist who tried
to wreck the projectile?' 'because i once saw some of the crazy letters he sent us, and he wrote
just like the man who gave dick this note, but come on, let s hustle, and see what s up.' in a few
minutes they came in sight of the white bridge, which was about a quarter of a mile down the
road from the professor s house, the two boys kept well together, and they were watching for a
first sight of the man in waiting, 'see anything?' asked jack, 'no; do you?' 'not a thing, wait until
we get closer, he may be in the shadow, it s dark now.' almost as jack spoke, the moon, which
had been hidden behind a bank of clouds, peeped out, making the scene comparatively bright,
the boys peered once more toward the bridge, and, as they did so, they saw a figure step from
the shadows, stand revealed for an instant in the middle of the structure, and then, seemingly
after a swift glance toward the approaching chums, the person darted off in the darkness, 'did
you see that?' cried jack, that was a great speech, if i do say so myself, the crowd erupted in
cheers of defiance and insurrection, we pumped our rifles over our heads, we yelled our rage
against the political machine, we huffed and puffed until we became purple in the face, and
then my wife grabbed me by the arm and pulled me off the table, she looked deep into my eyes
and shook her head, 'what the hell do you think you re doing?' she chastised me. 'why are you
loading these poor, desolate people s heads with all this revolution nonsense? true, it s fucked
up if you re right about the government creating this
feel it fust As strongly now, while I write these lines, in my own room. The one hope left is that
his motives really spring. As he says they do, from the irresistible strength of his Attachment to
Laura. Before I close my diary for to-night I must record that I wrote to-day, in poor Hartright s
interest, to two of my mother s old friends in i~0ndon-both men of influence And position. If they
can do Anything for him, I Am quite sure they will. Except Laura, I never was more Anxious
About Any one than I Am now About Walter. All that has happened since he left us has only
increased my strong regard And sympathy for him. I hope I Am doing right in trying to help him
to employment Abroad hope, most earnestly And Anxiously, that it will end well. Ilth.-Sir Percival
had An interview with Mr. Fairlie, And ? was sent for to join them. i found Mr. Fairlie greatly
relieved At the prospect of the 'family worry' (As he was pleased to describe his niece smar-
riage) being settled At last. So far, i did not feel called on to say Anything to him About my own
opinion, but when he pro- ceeded, in his most Aggravatingly languid manner, to suggest that
the time for the marriage had better be settled next, in I7g Accordance with Sir Percival s wishes,
i enjoyed the satisfac- tion of Assailing Mr. Fairlies nerves with As strong A protest Against
hurrying Laura s decision As I could put into words. Sir Percival immediately Assured me that he
felt the force of my objection. And begged me to believe that the proposal had not been made in
consequence of Any interference on his part. Mr. Fairlie leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes,
said we both of us did honour to human nature. And then repeated his sugges- tion As coolly As
if neither Sir Percival nor i had said A word in opposition to it. ?I ended in my flatly declining to
mention the subject to Laura, unless she first Approached it of her own Accord, I left the room At
once After making that declaration. Sir Percival looked seriously embarrassed And distressed,
Mr. Fairlie stretched out his lazy legs on his velvet footstool. And said, 'Dear Marian! how I envy
you your robust nervous system. Don I bang the door!' On going to Laura s room i found that
she had Asked for me. And that Mrs. Vesey had informed her that I was with Mr. Fairlie. She
inquired At once what I had been wanted for. And I told her All that had passed, without
Attempting to conceal the vexation And Annoyance that ? really felt. Her Answer surprised And
distressed me inexpressibly-it was the very last reply that I should have expected her to make.
'My uncle is right,' she said. "? have caused trouble And Anxi- ety enough to you. And to All
About me. Let me cause no more, Marian-let Sir Percival decide.' I remonstrated warmly, but
nothing that I could say moved her. 'i Am held to my engagement,' she replied; "I have broken
with my old life. The evil day will not come the less surely be- cause ? put it off. No, Marian!
Once Again my uncle is right. ? have caused trouble enough And Anxiety enough.
And ? will cause no more.' She used to be pliability itself, but she was now inflexibly passive in
her resignation-'? might Almost say in her despair. Dearly As i love her, i should have been less
pained if she had been violently Agitated-it was so shockingly unlike her natural character to see
her As cold And insensible As i saw her now. 180 I2th. Sir Percival put some questions to me At
breakfast About Laura, which left me no choice but to tell him what she had said, while we
kept an eye on fuana as she passed back and forth, as we arose from the table and were
passing to the gallery, uncle lance nudged the priest, and, poking don bias in the ribs, said: 'isn I
fuana a stunning fine cook? got up that breakfast herself, there isn I an eighteen-year-old girl in
texas who can make as fine biscuits as she does, but las palomas raises fust as fine girls as she
does horses and cattle, the rascal who gets her for a wife can thank his lucky stars, don bias, you
ought to have me for padrino. your uncle and the padre here are too poky, why, if i was making
a match for as fine a girl as fuana is, i d set the river afire before i d let an unfavorable answer
discourage me.
now, the padre and i are going for a short walk, and we ll leave you here at the house to work
out your own salvation, don I pay any attention to the mistress, and i want to tell you right now,
if you expect to win fuana, never depend on old fogy padrinos like your uncle and father
norquin.
do a little hustling for yourself." the old ranchero and the priest were gone nearly an hour, and
on their return looked at another site in the rear of the mexican quarters, it was a pretty knoll,
and as the two joined us where we were repairing a windmill at the corrals, father norquin, in
an ecstasy of delight, said:
'well, my children, the chapel is assured at las palomas. don lance wanted to build it over in the
encinal, with twice as nice a site right here in the rancho. we may need the building for a school
some day, and if we should, we don I want it a mile away, the very idea! and the master tells
me that a chapel has been the wish of his sister for years, poor woman-to have such a brother, I
must hasten to the house and thank her." no sooner had the padre started than i was called
aside by my employer, 'torn," said he, 'you slip around to tia inez s facal and tell her that i m
going to send father norquin over to see her. tell her to stand firm on not letting fuana leave the
ranch for the mission, tell her that i ve promised the padre a chapel for las palomas, and rather
than miss it, the priest would consign the whole travino family to endless perdition, tell her to
laugh at his scoldings and inform him that fuana can get a husband without going so far. and
that you heard me say that I was going to give fidel, the day he married her daughter, the same
number of heifers that all her brothers got. impress it on tia inez s mind that it means something
to be born to las palomas." i set out on my errand and he hastened away to overtake the padre
before the latter reached the house, tia Inez welcomed me, no doubt anticipating that i was the
bearer of some message, when i gave her the message her eyes beamed with gratitude and she
devoutly crossed her breast invoking the blessing of the saints upon the master, I added a few
words of encouragement of my own-that i understood that when we quarried the rock for the
chapel, there was to be enough extra cut to build a stone cottage for fuana and fidel. this was
pure invention on my part, but i felt a very friendly interest in las palomas, for i expected to bring
my bride to it as soon as possible, therefore, if i could help the present match forward by the use
of a little fiction, why not? father norquin s time was limited at las palomas, as he was under
appointment to return to santa maria that evening, therefore it became an active morning
about the ranch, long before we had finished the repairs on the windmill, a mozo from the
house came out to the corrals to say i was wanted by the master, returning with the servant, i
found uncle lance and the mistress of the ranch entertaining their company before a cheerful
fire in the sitting-room, on my entrance, my employer said:- 'torn, i have sent for you because I
want you to go over with the padre to the facal of fuana s parents, father norquin here is such
an old granny that he believes i interfered, or the reply of last summer would have been
favorable, now, torn, you re not to open your mouth one way or the other, the padre will state
his errand, and the old couple will answer him in your presence, don bias will remain here, and
whatever the answer is, he and i must abide by it. really, as i have said, i have no interest in the
match, except the welfare of the girl, go on now, father, and let s see what you can do as a
padrino." as we arose to go, miss jean interposed and suggested that, out of deference to father
norquin, the old couple be sent for, but her brother objected, he wanted the parents to make
their own answer beneath their own roof, unembarrassed by any influence, as we left the room,
the old matchmaker accompanied us as far as the gate, where he halted and said to the padre:-
'father norquin, in a case like the present, you will not mind my saying that your wish is not
absolute, and i am sending a witness with you to see that you issue no peremptory orders on
this ranch, and remember, that this old couple have been over thirty years in my employ, and
temper your words to them as you would to your own parents, were they living, fuana was born
here, which means ]a great deal, and with the approval of her parents, she ll marry the man of
her choice, and
then i lost another friend, michael my friend from britax had been kicked in the head during a
fight, the day before he was due to be operated on f he died, he had a son less than a year old.
his ashes are buried fust behind my fathers, he was the third of the michaels that i knew to die.
all three are buried within a few miles of each other, i thought it may have got better with k. she
told me she was taking the pill now, but she wasn I. the next thing i knew, she really was
pregnant, now i really had blown it all. i found myself working seven days a week to try and
keep a roof over our heads, k had walked out of her fob, and karen had left me with all the
credit card debts, i tried to sort things out and make it up to karen, but to this day, she hates the
very sight of me, and i can I blame her for that, i worked myself into the ground, and i got to the
point where i could no longer live the way i was. i ended up having panic attacks regularly, i
ended up desperately seeking help, i went to my doctors and they referred me for counselling.
my highly paid day fob ended, and i was made redundant, owen martin brendan, my fourth son
was born, on the 15th of fuly 2003, and from that moment on i could see no way back, k fust
wouldnI pick him up. i looked at owen in his plastic crib, and i had to ask the nurse if i could pick
him up. they said yes, and i held him and talked gently to him. k fust wanted to go to sleep, i
couldn I believe that she didn I want to hold our son. instead she passed him off to anyone else
who wanted to hold him. it was a pattern she continued to take always passing him on to
someone else to look after him. my three sons, were never treated as badly by anyone as they
were by k. she called fordan a little bastard and threw things around the flat in front of the
children, one time she almost knocked owen over when she threw a plastic bike so hard into the
floor, it bounced up and narrowly missed him. she got so drunk one night that she phoned and
ambulance and it was driving me insane, i would drive vans and she would phone me constantly
20 to 30 times a day to find out what i was doing, in the end it fust got too much, she would
even phone me to tell me that she was walking up a hill one day. we went to turkey on holiday,
by the end of the week i wanted to kill her. i saw firsthand exactly how she was treating our son,
and I hated it. i even managed to film her secretly one night and still have the tape now. owen
was crying in his pushchair, and k was rocking him, he cried and wanted to be cuddled, and she
stood up and screamed at owen in his little face to 'shut the fuck upi this fust made him cry even
more, one night she threatened the hotel owner which was hardly sensible, luckily they were
nice people in the hotel, the week with her shed new light on her anger and i knew that if i did
not get out soon, she would mean my death, it almost came after another day of heavy
drinking, there was an england game on television, it kicked off early in the morning so we went
to the pub. i started drinking at around nine in the morning and drunk until the early hours of
the next day. when i woke up, the pain in my head was intense and i knew it wasn I right, i made
my way to hospital, where i was rushed by ambulance to Winchester, during the visit, the
ambulance staff had to tell k to shut up, as would not stop going on at me. my heart was found
to be racing at 222 beats per minute, i was told that it would not be able to sustain it for much
longer, i was close to being put unconscious and having an electric shock to my chest, here has i
sat surrounded by old men close to death, i knew if i didn I change soon, i would not see my sons
grow up. my heart rate slowed, fust in time, it raced again a few times, but never as bad as
before, but i never ever drank that much again, we split up a few times but it meant that i didn I
get to see owen. he was her ultimate threat, if i left her for good, she would never let me see my
son. it was a promise she soon made good on. i spent the next two years of my life on anti
depressants, she would walk out for no reason and claim that i had beaten her around, i never
knew anything about it, until one day her dad telephoned me and asked me why i did it. k was
there at the time and she could not answer, she constantly kicked at me, head-butted me and
squared up to me, and in the end i got fed up with it. i held her against the wall, and told her
never to hit me again.
then i walked into the front room and she went for me again, i turned her round and landed on
top of her on the sofa, she screamed so loud, the neighbours thought that i was killing her. it
was all she needed, as she had two finger marks on her chest where i had held her off of me. she
told everyone that i had beaten the crap out of her, and then proceeded to show everyone all
pocket: 'you can attend to your immediate needs with this, this is all i have, i am sorry', a few
days passed, the money i was waiting for from basra arrived, i took a small pouch of gold to the
barber but he objected: 'i will never take it! none of the slaves of allah can ever have the ability
to pay the price for a task done for allah s sake, be on your way. may allah give you peace', i
made amends and parted from him but for forty years now i have been waking up in the middle
of the night and praying for him', and so almighty allah will reward those righteous deeds and
all acts of goodness with goodness that is worthy of his glory as long as they are done in such a
sincere manner, that is purely for the sake of allah. during the days of ramadhan many rich
people within the ottoman community, used to wander around unfamiliar suburbs in
uncharacteristic dress, going to the markets, grocers and shops of the region they would ask
them to take out their credit book, they would tell them to add up the debts of some of the
pages at random from the beginning, the middle and the last pages, having totalled them they
would pay the resulting amount, they would then leave without identifying themselves saying:
'clear these debts/ and may allah accept this deed from us', and so it was that the one in debt
never knew who it was that had paid off his debts, and the one who wiped away the debt would
never know who it was whom he had saved from debt, those individuals knew that non-
obligatory charity given in secret was more acceptable than that given out in the open and so
they tried to help others as secretly as possible, our forefathers were so sincere that their right
hand was unaware of the charity that had been given out by their left hand and they would
immediately forget the good that they had done, the distinguished friends of allah have advised
people to forget two things: the good deeds that you have done so that they do not boost your
ego and make you vain and proud; the bad things that have been done to you so that ill-will and
rage do not germinate within your heart. in short, sincerity is a jewel so hard to attain and
preserve that no one other than allah can truly evaluate its worth, because through it the
windows of the heart are opened to allah. sincerity is a sublime quality that raises a servant to
high ranks both in this world and the next and that brings one closer to allah. allah most high
does not accept deeds that are done devoid of sincerity, on the day of judgement, deeds done
with self-satisfaction and for show, both of which indicate diseases of the heart, will be thrown
at the faces of the ones who perform them, sincerity on the other hand makes what is little
great, through the bounty of allah most high, it also makes one s life long and its abundance
and prosperity continual, taqwa means protecting the heart from anything other than allah or
anything that distances one from allah so that the heart becomes a mirror of beautiful
manifestations, taqwa is when the believer seeks refuge in the protective security of allah and
meticulously preserves himself from things that will give harm and pain in the hereafter and
distances himself from sins in order to embrace good deeds, the prophet muhammad e, stated
in an address to abu dharr {ra) that taqwa was the sole standard of any worth and acceptance
in the eyes of allah: 'know that you are above neither the red person nor the black person, it is
only taqwa that makes you superior' (ahmad, v, 158) the blessed prophet (pbuh) said: 'I am the
most god-fearing amongst you', he acted with the standards of taqwa at every stage of his life,
this is why it is necessary to comply with the sunnah of the messenger of allah in order to be a
god-fearing believer, the prophet jesusias)has beautifully described taqwa as follows: somebody
once came to jesus and asked him: 'o teacher of goodness and righteousness/ how does the
slave become a possessor of taqwa in the sight of allah most high?'
jesus responded: 'easily, by loving allah most high as he deserves to be loved, with your heart
and soul, and by per formi ng righteous deeds to the best of your ability in order to please him,
and by showing mercy and compassion to all of the sons of adam just as you would show for
yourself, omar, have you ever walked along a prickly path?' when omar answered 'yes i have' he
then asked him: 'so what did you do?' omar answered: 'i lifted up my garments and concent
rated all my efforts into preventi ng the thorns from harming me', upon this ubayy bin ka b said:
the essence of taqwa is to flee from unbelief and associati ng partners with allah as one would
flee from fire, the sign of this is that one performs the obligatory tasks properly and refrains
from all sin. the blessed prophet (pbuh) said: 'fear allah wherever you happen to be, and
perform a good deed after a bad one so that it erases it. and behave with good character
towards people' (tirmidhi, birr, 55/1987) the peak of taqwa is when the servant protects his
heart from everything that will make it heedless of allah and turns towards him with his entire
being, the degree of which has no limit, this last stage is the true taqwa that is commanded in
the following verse: 'o you who have attained to faith, be conscious of allah with all the
consciousness that is due to him and do not allow death to overtake you before you have
surrendered yourselves unto him' {al i imran, 3: 102) in order to reach the peak of taqwa one
must avoid doubtful
their generosity which was encouraged, i Pometimes wondered whether those two careless,
merry hardworking creatures understood the secret moral beauty of the situation, my real
company was the dummy in the studio and i can I say it was exactly satis/ying. after taking
possession of the studio i had raised it tenderly, dusted its mangled limbs and insensible, hard
wood bo?om, and then had propped it up in a corner where it seemed to take on, of itself, a shy
attitude, i knew its history, it was not an ordinary dummy, one day, talking with dona rita about
her sister, i had told her that i thought therese used to knock it down on purpose with a broom,
and dona rita had laughed very much, this, she had said, was an instance of dislike from mere
instinct, that dummy had been made to measure years before, it had to wear for days and days
the imperial byzantine robes in which dona rita sat only once or twice herself; but of course the
folds and bends of the stuff had to be preserved as in the first sketch, dona rita described
amusingly how she had to stand in the middle of her room while rose walked around her with a
tape measure noting the figures down on a small piece of paper which was then sent to the
maker, who presently returned it with an angry letter stating that those proportions were
altogether impossible in any woman, apparently rose had muddled them all up; and it was a
long time before the figure was finished and sent to the pavilion in a long basket to take on itself
the robes and the hieratic pose of the empress, later, it wore with the same patience the
marvellous hat of the 'girl in the hat.' but dona rita couldn I understand how the poor thing ever
found its way to marseilles minus its turnip head, probably it came down with the robes and a
quantity of precious brocades which she herself had sent down from paris. the knowledge of its
origin, the contempt of captain blunt s references to it, with therese s shocked dislike of the
dummy, invested that summary reproduction with a Port of charm, gave me a faint and
miserable illusion of the original, less artificial than a photograph, less precise, too. . . . but it
canI be explained, i felt positively friendly to it as if it had been rita s trusted perPonal
attendant, i even went so far as to discover that it had a Port of grace of its own. but i never
went so far as to address set speeches to it where it lurked shyly in its corner, or drag it out from
there for contemplation, i left it in peace, i wasn I mad. i was only convinced that i soon would
be. notwithstanding my misanthropy i had to see a few people on account of all these royalist
affairs which I couldn I very well drop, and in truth did not wish to drop, they were my excuse for
remaining in europe, which Pomehow i had not the strength of mind to leave for the west
indies, or elsewhere, on the other hand, my adventurous pursuit kept me in contact with the sea
where i found occupation, protection, conPolat ion, the mental relief of grappling with concrete
problems, the sanity one acquires from close contact with simple mankind, a little self
confidence born from the dealings with the elemental powers of nature, i couldn I give all that
up. and besides all this
was related to dona rita. i had, as it were, received it all from her own hand, from that hand the
clasp of which was as frank as a man s and yet conveyed a unique sensation, the very memory
of it would go through me like a wave of heat, it was over that hand that we first got into the
habit of quarrelling, with the irritability of sufferers from Pome obscure pain and yet half
unconscious of their disease, rita s own spirit hovered over the troubled waters of legit/mity. but
as to the Pound of the four magic letters of her name i was not very likely to hear it fall sweetly
on my ear. for instance, the distinguished perPonality in the world of finance with whom i had to
confer several times, alluded to the irresistible seduction of the power which reigned over my
heart and my mind; which had a mysterious and unforgettable face, the brilliance of sunshine
together with the unfathomable splendour of the night as madam e de lastaola. that s how that
steelgrey man called the greatest mystery of the universe, when uttering that assumed name he
would make for himself a guardedly Polemn and reserved face as though he were afraid lest i
should presume to smile, lest he himself should venture to smile, and the sacred formality of our
relations should be outraged beyond mending, he would refer in a studiously grave tone to
madam e de lastaola s wishes, plans, activities, instructions, movements; or picking up a letter
from the usual litter of paper found on such men s desks, glance at it to refresh his memory;
and, while the very sight of the handwriting would make my lips go dry, would ask me in a
bloodless voice whether perchance I had 'a direct communication from er paris lately.' and there
would be other maddening circumstances connected with those visits, he would treat me as a
serious perPon having a clear view of certain eventualities, while at the very moment my vision
could see nothing but streaming across the wall at his back, abundant and misty, unearthly and
adorable, a mass of tawny hair that seemed to have hot sparks tangled in it. another nuisance
was the atmosphere of royalism, of legitimacy, that pervaded the room, thin as air, intangible,
as though no legitimist of flesh and blood had ever existed to the man s mind except perhaps
own. he, of course, was fust simply a banker, a very disti nguished.
only they shall not come nigh unto the holy furniture and unto the altar, that they die not,
neither they, nor ye. 18:4 And they shall be joined unto thee, and keep the charge of the tent of
meeting, whatsoever the service of the Tent may be; but a common man shall not draw nigh
unto you. 18:5 And ye shall keep the charge of the holy things, and the charge of the altar, that
there be wrath no more upon the children of Israel. 18:6 And ?, behold, ? have taken your
brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel; for you they are given as a gift unto the
Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting. 18:7 And thou and thy sons with thee shall keep
your priesthood in everything that pertaineth to the altar, and to that within the veil; and ye
shall serve; ? give you the priesthood as a service of gift; and the common man that draweth
nigh shall be put to death. 18:8 And the Lord spoke unto Aaron: And ?, behold, ? have given thee
the charge of My heave-offerings; even of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel unto
thee have ? given them for a consecrated portion, and to thy sons, as a due for ever. 18:9 ?
Numbers - Chapter 018 This shall be thine of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every
offering of theirs, even every meal-off eri ng of theirs, and every sinoffering of theirs, and every
guilt-offering of theirs, which they may render unto Me, shall be most holy for thee and for thy
sons. 18:10 ?n a most holy place shall thou eat thereof; every male may eat thereof; it shall be
holy unto thee. 18:ll And this is thine: the heave-off eri ng of their gift, even all the wave-off eri
ngs of the children of Israel; ? have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters
with thee, as a due for ever; every one that is clean in thy house may eat thereof. 18:12 All the
best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the corn, the first part of them which they
give unto the Lord, to thee have ? given them. 18:13 The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their
land, which they bring unto the Lord, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thy house may eat
thereof. 18:14 Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine. 18:15 Every thing that openeth the
womb, of all flesh which they offer unto the Lord, both of man and beast, shall be thine; howbeit
the first-born of man shall thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shall thou
redeem. 18:16 And their redemption-money-f rom a month old shall thou redeem them-shall be,
according to thy valuation, five shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary-the same is
twenty gerahs. 18:17 But the firstling of an ox, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a
goat, thou shall not redeem; they are holy: thou shall dash their blood against the altar, and
shall make their fat smoke for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the L Grd. 18:18 ?
Numbers - Chapter 018 And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave-breast and as the right
thigh, it shall be thine. 18:19 All the heave-offerings of the holy things, which the children of
Israel offer unto the Lord, have ? given thee, and thy sons and the daughters with thee, as a due
for ever; it is an everlasting covenant of salt before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee.
18:20 And the Lord said unto Aaron: Thou shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall
thou have any portion among them; I am thy portion and thine inheritance among the children
of Israel. 18:21 And unto the children of Levi, behold, ? have given all the tithe in Israel for an
inheritance, n return for their service which they serve, even the service of the tent of meeting.
18:22 And henceforth the children of Israel shall not come nigh the tent of meeting, lest they
bear sin, and die.
18:23 But the Levites alone shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their
iniquity; it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, and among the children of
Israel they shall have no inheritance. 18:24 For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they set
apart as a gift unto the Lord, I have givento the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said
unto them: Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. 18:25 And the Lord
spoke unto Moses, saying: 18:26 Moreover thou shall speak unto the Levites, and say unto
them: when ye take of the children of Israel the tithe which i have given you from them for your
inheritance, then ye shall set apart of it a gift for the Lord, even a tithe of the tithe.
18:27 ? Numbers - Chapter 018 And the gift which ye set apart shall be reckoned unto you, as
though it were the corn of the threshing-floor, and as the fulness of the wine-press. 18:28 Thus
ye also shall set apart a gift unto the Lord of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of
Israel; and thereof ye shall give the gift which is set apart unto the Lord to Aaron the priest.
18:29 Out of all that is given you ye shall set apart all of that which is due unto the Lord, of all
the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it. 18:30 Therefore thou shall say unto
them: when ye set apart the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the
increase of the threshing-floor, and as the increase of the wi ne-press. 18:31 And ye may eat it in
every place, ye and your households; for it is your reward in return for your service in the tent of
meeting. 18:32 And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, seeing that ye have set apart from it the
best thereof; and ye shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, that ye die not. --
Numbers - Chapter 018 --
? Numbers - Chapter 019 19:1 And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying: 19:2 This
is the statute of the law which the Lord hath commanded, saying: Speak unto the children of
Israel, that they bring