A Shopping Expedition
: JewelThe housekeeper warned Jewel not to run out of doors that morning as she
wished to accompany her to the shoe store.
"I'm not going to take you, Anna Belle," Jewel said to her doll. "I
don't like to ask the giantess if I may, and of course, it won't be a
very good time anyway, so you be patient and we'll go out together this
afternoon."
Mrs. Forbes's long widow's veil, a decoration she never
hung low over her black gown as she stepped deliberately down the stairs
from her barn chamber.
"I am going with the little girl, Zeke, to buy her a pair of rubbers,"
she announced to her son.
"Going foot-back? Why don't you have out the 'broom'? One
granddaughter's got as good a right to it as the other, hasn't she?"
"I should say so, but that child, Zeke, in addition to her wonderful
boldness this morning with Mr. Evringham, that I told you about, is
perfectly crazy over horses."
"H'm. That don't surprise me. A young one that can stand up to the
governor wouldn't be afraid of anything in the way of horseflesh."
"So I decided," continued Mrs. Forbes, pulling on her roomy black
gloves, "that it would be better for her to go this morning in the
trolley."
"You did? Well if that ain't a regular step-mother act!" returned
Zeke in protest. "The kid had a bully time coming home from the depot
yesterday. Dick felt good, and he just lit out. I tell you her eyes
shone."
"I like to do what's best for folks in the end," declared Mrs. Forbes
virtuously. "Julia's parents are poor, and likely to be. She's only
going to be here six weeks, and what is the sense of encouraging a taste
she can't ever indulge? No, I'll take her in the trolley. It's a nice
morning, and I shan't mind the walk down to the gate." The speaker
marched with the dignity which was always inseparable from the veil
toward the back door of the house to give some last orders, and Zeke
lounged out with his rake toward the grounds at the front. There he
caught sight of a small figure in hat and jacket waiting on the piazza.
He turned toward it, and Jewel advanced with a smile of recognition.
She had had to look twice to identify her fine plum-colored companion of
yesterday's drive with this youth in shirt sleeves and a soft old hat.
"Well, little girl, how are you getting on?" he asked.
"Pretty well, thank you." Her beaming expression left no doubt that she
was very glad to see him.
"Not particularly flattering if she is," he mused. "Fine ladies not out
of their rooms yet, and ma doin' her duty by her to beat the band."
"Where's your doll?" he asked.
"I didn't bring her. I thought perhaps the--Mrs. Forbes would--would
just as lief she didn't come."
"Ma hasn't played with dolls for quite a spell," agreed Zeke, with a
smile that was sunshine to the child.
"You live out in the barn with the horses, don't you?" she asked
eagerly. "Will you give me permission to go out there some time?"
"Sure. Come any time."
"Mrs. Forbes said I must ask permission," responded the child with
an apprehensive glance behind her to see if her escort were arriving.
"What--what is your name?"
"Forgotten this soon? I told you Zeke."
"I thought you did, but your mother said it was something very
different."
"Ezekiel, perhaps."
"Yes, that's it. I won't forget again. How many horses has grandpa?"
"Two here, but I guess he's got more in the country. You come out to the
barn any time you feel like it. You've heard of a bell cow, haven't you?
Well, we've got the belle horse out there. She beats all creation."
"The one I saw yesterday," eagerly, "the one that runs away all the
time?"
"No. This is Mr. Evringham's riding horse."
Jewel hopped and clapped her hands. "I'll see grandpa ride. Goody! I'll
watch him."
"Go to your paths, Zeke," said a voice, and the veil appeared around the
corner of the house.
Jewel quietly joined her stately companion, and walked away sedately
beside her.
They did not exchange many words on their way to the park gates, for
Mrs. Forbes needed her breath for the rather long promenade, and Jewel
was busy looking at the trees and trim swards and crocus beds beside the
winding road.
Outside the gate they had to wait but a minute before the car came, and
after they had boarded it, the little girl was entertained by looking
out of the window, and often wished for Anna Belle's sympathy in some
novel sight or sound.
A ride of fifteen minutes brought them to the shoe store. Mrs. Forbes
seemed to know the clerk, and Jewel was finally fitted to her guardian's
satisfaction, but scarcely to her own, the housekeeper having selected
the species known as storm rubbers, and chose them as large as would
stay on.
"They're quite warm, aren't they?" said Jewel, looking down at her shiny
feet and trying to speak cheerfully.
"When you wear them you want to be warm," was Mrs. Forbes's rejoinder.
"I brought my money," said the child, in a low voice.
"No. Your grandfather wishes to make you a present of these." The
housekeeper's tone was final, and she paid for the overshoes, which were
wrapped up, and then she led Jewel out of the store.
Next door was a candy shop with alluring windows.
"I'd like to go in here," said the little girl. "Would you mind?"
"Do you spend your money for candy, Julia?"
"Yes'm. Don't you like it?" Jewel lingered, looking at the pretty
display. Easter had recently passed, and there were bright-eyed little
yellow chickens that especially took her fancy.
"It isn't a question of liking it when people are poor," returned Mrs.
Forbes. "I'm astonished that your mother encourages you to spend money
for candy."
Jewel looked up quickly. "Did you think we were poor?" she asked, with
disconcerting suddenness.
Mrs. Forbes hesitated. "Your mother is a dressmaker, isn't she?"
"Yes, she's just a splendid one. Everybody says so. We couldn't be poor,
you know. She found out about God before I was old enough to talk, so
you see all her poor time came before I can remember."
The housekeeper glanced about her furtively. "Julia, don't you know you
shouldn't use your Creator's name on the street!" she exclaimed, when
she had made certain that no one was listening.
"Why not?" asked the child.
"Why--why--it isn't a proper place. Some one might hear you."
"Well, won't you let me get some candy now? If I knew what kind you
liked, Mrs. Forbes, I'd get it."
"I don't eat candy as a rule. It's not only extravagant, it's very
unhealthy."
The little girl smiled. "How do you suppose your stomach knows what you
put into it?" she asked. "I guess you're just a little--bit--afraid,
aren't you?"
"Odder than Dick's hatband!" quoth Mrs. Forbes again, mentally. "I take
horehound drops sometimes," she said aloud, "for a cold."
"Can't you sneeze a little now?" asked Jewel, amusement twinkling in her
blue eyes. "I do want so much to go in here."
"Don't tempt Providence by making fun of sickness, Julia, or you'll
live to regret it," returned Mrs. Forbes. "I don't mind getting some
horehound drops, but be careful now and don't spend too much. A little
girl's money always burns in her pocket."
"Yes'm," returned the child dutifully, skipping up to the door of the
shop and opening it.
Mrs. Forbes followed slowly, and once inside, fell into conversation
with the girl of whom she bought the cough candy. This gave Jewel
opportunity to buy beside her caramels one of the lovely yellow
chickens, which she designed for a special purpose.
"Now don't you eat that candy before lunch. It will take away your
appetite. It is nearly lunch time now," said Mrs. Forbes as they left
the store.
"And won't you either?" asked the child, offering the open caramel bag
with a spontaneous politeness which somehow made the housekeeper feel at
a disadvantage.
"No, thank you. Stop that car, Julia, and make them wait for me," she
said, making haste slowly.
Once within, it took Mrs. Forbes a minute or two to get her breath, but
she soon noticed that her companion's eyes were fixed upon a man seated
a little way from them across the car. A smile kept coming to the
child's lips, and at last the gentleman himself recognized that he was
an object of interest. He looked at the strange little girl kindly. Her
hand went unconsciously to the small gold pin she wore. The man smiled
and touched one of similar pattern which was fastening his tie. In a
minute more his street was reached, and as he passed Jewel on his way
out of the car, he stooped and gave her ready hand a little pressure.
She colored with pleasure, and Mrs. Forbes swelled with curiosity and
disapproval. She knew the man by sight as a highly respectable citizen.
What was this wild Western child doing now? The car made too much noise
to permit of investigation, so she waited until they had left it and
entered the park gates.
"Julia," she said then, "where did you ever see that gentleman before?"
"I never did," replied the child.
"What do you mean by such bold actions, then? What will he think of
you?"
"He'll think it's all right," returned Jewel. "We have the same--the
same friends."
The housekeeper looked at her. It was beneath her dignity to ask further
questions at present, but some time she meant to renew the subject.
"It's very wrong for a little girl to take any notice of strangers," she
said.
"Yes'm," replied Jewel, "but he was--different."
Mrs. Forbes maintained silence henceforth until they reached home. "You
may hang your hat and jacket in the closet under the stairs whenever
you don't wish to go to your room," she said when she parted with her
companion at the piazza, "but don't wander away anywhere before lunch."
"No'm. Thank you for taking me, Mrs. Forbes."
"You're welcome," returned that lady, and the long black veil swept
majestically toward the barn.
Sweet and rippling music was proceeding from the house. Jewel tiptoed
across the piazza to a long window, from whence she could see the
interior of the drawing-room.
"It is the enchanted maiden," she said to herself, and sank down softly
by the window, listening eagerly to the melodious strains and smooth
runs which flowed from beneath the slender fingers. One piece followed
another in quick succession, now gay, now grave, and the listener
scarcely stirred in her enjoyment.
At last, suddenly, in the midst of a Grieg melody, the player ceased,
and crossing her arms upon the empty music rack, bowed her head upon
them in such an attitude of abandon that Jewel's heart leaped in
sympathy.
"Oh cousin Eloise! What makes her so sorry?" she thought. The child's
intuition had been strong to perceive the nature of her aunt Madge. "It
must be such an awful thing to have your own mother an error fairy. That
must be the reason. I wish I could tell her"--Jewel jumped to her feet,
but just as she was determining to go to her cousin, the soft-toned gong
pealed its mellow summons, and she saw Eloise rise from the piano in
time to meet her mother, who at that moment entered the room.
Jewel went into the house, hung up her hat and jacket, and deposited her
packages. By the time she reached the dining-room her aunt and cousin
were already seated. Mrs. Evringham put up her lorgnette as she greeted
the child. Eloise nodded a grave good-morning, and Mrs. Forbes began to
serve the luncheon.
Jewel looked in vain for any trace of excitement or tears on her
cousin's lovely face. Eloise did not address her or any one. Mrs.
Evringham did the talking. After a question as to how Jewel had spent
the morning, and without listening to the child's reply, she began to
talk to her daughter of a drive she wished to take that afternoon.
Jewel discerned that Mrs. Forbes was not kindly disposed toward the
mother and daughter, and that they ignored the housekeeper; that Eloise
was languid and out of sympathy with her mother, and that Mrs. Evringham
was impatient with her, often to the verge of sharpness. The child was
glad when luncheon was over; but before going upstairs she brought her
small bag of caramels and offered them to the ladies.
Mrs. Evringham gave a little laugh of surprise and looked at Eloise, who
took one with a sober "Thank you."
"I don't believe I could, child," said aunt Madge, glancing with
amusement at the striped bag. "Keep them for yourself."
"You'll have some, won't you, Mrs. Forbes?" asked Jewel, and the
housekeeper so strongly disapproved of Mrs. Evringham's manner that she
accepted.
"Perhaps you would like to try some of our candy, Julia," said Mrs.
Evringham, as the child followed her aunt and cousin upstairs.
Jewel paused while aunt Madge brought from her room into the hall a
large box, beribboned and laced, full of a variety of confections.
"How pretty!" exclaimed the child.
"This is from your friend, Dr. Ballard," said her aunt. "He sent it to
the charming little girl, Eloise."
Jewel, running on up to her room eating the creamy chocolate, wondered
still more why her cousin should seem so sorry, with so much to make her
happy.
"Now, Anna Belle, the time has really come," she said happily to her
doll, as she took her in her arms and began putting on her jacket and
hat. "We're going away from Castle Discord to seek our fortunes. We're
going to leave the giantess, and leave the impolite error fairy, and
leave the poor enchanted maiden, and go to find the ravine and the
brook. Wait till I put on my oldest shoes, for we shall have to climb
deep, deep down to get near to father."
At last she was ready, and when she had closed the heavy house door
behind her, and had run down the driveway to the park road, a delicious
sense of freedom possessed her.
"There goes the little Westerner," observed Mrs. Evringham, looking from
her window. "It's a good thing she knows how to amuse herself."
"A good thing, indeed," returned Eloise. "There is no one here to do
anything for her."
"She has wonderful assurance for such a plain little monkey," went on
Mrs. Evringham.
"She has extremely good breeding," returned her daughter, coming to the
window and following Jewel's retreating figure with her eyes, "and a
charming face when she smiles."
"Very well. Look out for yourself, then. I thought last night, once or
twice, at dinner, that she was rather entertaining to her grandfather."
"She has her doll," said Eloise wistfully. "Where can she be going? I
wish I were going with her."
Mrs. Evringham laughed. "Well, you are bored. Pshaw, my dear! Lie
down and get a little beauty sleep. Then we will go driving and see
that charming spot Dr. Ballard told us about. I'm sure he will call
to-night."
More
-
A Mystery To Be Solved At Any Price
That study of his was a museum, and nothing else. Specimens of everything known in mineralogy lay there in their places in perfect order, and correctly named, divided into inflammable, metallic, and lithoid minerals. How well I knew all these bit... A Narrow Escape From Destruction-i Give Some Particulars About Mars And Martian Discovery
Things now went on quietly and, in fact, rather monotonously for several days; and then we met with another rather startling experience. We were all sitting together in our living-room on the 9th of September, whiling away the time in a ga... A Natural Grave
THE single shot from our opponents was quickly replied to by myself and my companions, and we had the satisfaction of seeing half-a-dozen Arabs fall backward from the path and disappear in the soft sand. Instantly the rattle of musketry was deafen... A New Face
As Professor Maxon and von Horn rushed from the workshop to their own campong, they neglected, in their haste, to lock the door between, and for the first time since the camp was completed it stood unlatched and ajar. The professor had been eng... A New Star
That very night, the startling news so impatiently awaited, burst like a thunderbolt over the United States of the Union, and thence, darting across the ocean, ran through all the telegraphic wires of the globe. The projectile had been detected,... A Night Of Fifteen Days
The Projectile being not quite 30 miles from the Moon's north pole when the startling phenomenon, recorded in our last chapter, took place, a few seconds were quite sufficient to launch it at once from the brightest day into the unknown realms of ... A Nocturnal Evasion
Promptly at the appointed time, Copernicus Droop might have been seen approaching the white cottage. Still nursing a faint hope, he walked with nervous rapidity, mumbling and gesticulating in his excitement. He attracted but little attention. His ... A Note Of Invitation
The next day was the 9th of November. I awoke after a long sleep of twelve hours. Conseil came, according to custom, to know "how I passed the night," and to offer his services. He had left his friend the Canadian sleeping like a man who had neve... A Novel Proposal Of Captain Nemo's
On the 28th of February, when at noon the Nautilus came to the surface of the sea, in 9 deg. 4' N. lat., there was land in sight about eight miles to westward. The first thing I noticed was a range of mountains about two thousand feet high, the sha... A Parley
I TURNED again and went on down towards the sea. I found the hot stream broadened out to a shallow, weedy sand, in which an abundance of crabs and long-bodied, many-legged creatures started from my footfall. I walked to the very edge of the salt ... A Parley At Aldershot
Lord Kitchener had probably never had so bitter an experience as he had when the Auriole began to slow down over the plain of Aldershot. Never could he, or any other British soldier, have dreamt six months ago that the German, Austrian, French and... A Pearl Of Ten Millions
The next morning at four o'clock I was awakened by the steward whom Captain Nemo had placed at my service. I rose hurriedly, dressed, and went into the saloon. Captain Nemo was awaiting me. "M. Aronnax," said he, "are you ready to start?" "... A Pendent World
The Mahars set me free as they had promised, but with strict injunctions never to approach Phutra or any other Mahar city. They also made it perfectly plain that they considered me a dangerous creature, and that having wiped the slate clean in so f... A Place In The Sun
Mayhem, the man of many bodies, had been given some weird assignments in his time, but saving The Glory of the Galaxy wasn't difficult--it was downright impossible! The SOS crackled and hummed through subspace at a speed whic... A Plagiarist Of Dreams
Being unable to sleep, I arose early to get the refreshment of a morning walk. I passed quietly through the next room, where the doctor was still sleeping soundly, out into the courtyard. I was scarcely outside when I heard a familiar, excited bar... A Play To The Death
Clear and sweet a trumpet spoke across The Fields of Jetan. From The High Tower its cool voice floated across the city of Manator and above the babel of human discords rising from the crowded mass that filled the seats of the stadium below. It calle... A Prisoner
We had gone perhaps ten miles when the ground began to rise very rapidly. We were, as I was later to learn, nearing the edge of one of Mars' long-dead seas, in the bottom of which my encounter with the Martians had taken place. In a short time... A Prisoner With Power
As I entered and saluted, Lorquas Ptomel signaled me to advance, and, fixing his great, hideous eyes upon me, addressed me thus: "You have been with us a few days, yet during that time you have by your prowess won a high position among us. Be t... A Prize For Edie
The Committee had, unquestionably, made a mistake. There was no doubt that Edie had achieved the long-sought cancer cure ... but awarding the Nobel Prize was, nonetheless, a mistake ... The letter from America arrived too late... A Prophet Of Evil
Standing at Dom Gillian's side Quinton Edge bent down and whispered a few words in his ear, inaudible even to those who stood nearest. And yet the people knew that woe had fallen upon Doom. Like flame upon flax the voiceless signal leaped from hea... A Question Of Courage
I smelled the trouble the moment I stepped on the lift and took the long ride up the side of the "Lachesis." There was something wrong. I couldn't put my finger on it but five years in the Navy gives a man a feeling for these things. From... A Rainy Morning
The next morning it rained so heavily that Mr. Evringham was obliged to forego his ride. Wet weather was an unmixed ill to him. It not only made riding and golf miserable, but it reminded him that rheumatism was getting a grip on one of his shoulder... A Rapid Recovery
When I returned to the consciousness of existence, I found myself surrounded by a kind of semiobscurity, lying on some thick and soft coverlets. My uncle was watching his eyes fixed intently on my countenance, a grave expression on his face, a tea... A Realized Hope
One afternoon Mr. Evringham did not return from the city at the usual time. Jewel, watching for him, was surprised after a while to see him walking up from the gate. "Why, what's happened?" she asked. "Zeke went for you." "Yes; but he found he ... A Repellent Sight
The cruiser Vanator careened through the tempest. That she had not been dashed to the ground, or twisted by the force of the elements into tangled wreckage, was due entirely to the caprice of Nature. For all the duration of the storm she rode, a hel... A Revelation
To the general population of the colony the arrival of the stranger was a matter of small interest. The Spaniards were naturally too indolent to be affected in any way by an incident that concerned themselves so remotely; while the Russians felt t... A Revised Calendar
All previous hypotheses, then, were now forgotten in the presence of the one great fact that Gallia was a comet and gravitating through remote solar regions. Captain Servadac became aware that the huge disc that had been looming through the clouds... A Risk For Love
"Ey, ey, he is a craven and he called me 'doddering fool'!" The speaker was I-Gos and he addressed a knot of chieftains in one of the chambers of the palace of O-Tar, Jeddak of Manator: "If A-Kor was alive there were a jeddak for us!" "Who says t... A Romance!
IT is a curious story, full of exciting adventures, extraordinary discoveries, and mysteries amazing. Strange, too, that I, Richard Scarsmere, who, when at school hated geography as bitterly as I did algebraic problems, should even now, while j... A Royal Salute
"Then I take your bishop, major," said Colonel Murphy, as he made a move that he had taken since the previous evening to consider. "I was afraid you would," replied Major Oliphant, looking intently at the chess-board. Such was the way in whic... A Russian Comrade
Hermann Heideck lived in a dak bungalow, one of those hotels kept going by the Government, which afford travellers shelter, but neither bed nor food. On returning home from the camp he found his servant, Morar Gopal, standing at the door ready to ... A Salute Of Bullets
THE low booming was, however, not repeated, and by this my companion apparently became reassured, for shortly afterwards he threw himself down near me to snatch a few hours' repose before dawn. I suppose I, too, must have slept for some time, unti... A Scientist Rises
"The face of the giant was indeed that of a god...." On that summer day the sky over New York was unflecked by clouds, and the air hung motionless, the waves of heat undisturbed. The city was a vast oven where even the sounds of the coil... A Search For Algeria
The Dobryna, a strong craft of 200 tons burden, had been built in the famous shipbuilding yards in the Isle of Wight. Her sea going qualities were excellent, and would have amply sufficed for a circumnavigation of the globe. Count Timascheff was h... A Second Enigma
Upon re-embarking, the bewildered explorers began to discuss the question whether it would not now be desirable to make their way back to Gourbi Island, which was apparently the only spot in their new world from which they could hope to derive the... A Shifting Reef
The year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and puzzling phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten. Not to mention rumours which agitated the maritime population and excited the public mind, even in the interior o... A Shopping Expedition
The housekeeper warned Jewel not to run out of doors that morning as she wished to accompany her to the shoe store. "I'm not going to take you, Anna Belle," Jewel said to her doll. "I don't like to ask the giantess if I may, and of course, it won'... A Sledge-ride
Formentera was at once recognized by Servadac and the count as the name of one of the smallest of the Balearic Islands. It was more than probable that the unknown writer had thence sent out the mysterious documents, and from the message just come ... A Spaceship Named Mcguire
The basic trouble with McGuire was that, though "he" was a robot spaceship, nevertheless "he" had a definite weakness that a man might understand.... No. Nobody ever deliberately named a spaceship that. The s... A Spaceship Named Mcguire
The basic trouble with McGuire was that, though "he" was a robot spaceship, nevertheless "he" had a definite weakness that a man might understand.... No. Nobody ever deliberately named a spaceship that. The s... A Spy's Startling Story
WE remained fully two hours in the noisome Treasure-chamber of the Sanoms, the early history of which was lost in the mist of legendary lore, then after careful and minute examination of the rifled chests, worked our way to the base of the shaft, ... A Story Of The Days To Come
I--THE CURE FOR LOVE The excellent Mr. Morris was an Englishman, and he lived in the days of Queen Victoria the Good. He was a prosperous and very sensible man; he read the Times and went to church, and as he grew towards middle age an e... A Story Of The Stone Age
I--UGH-LOMI AND UYA This story is of a time beyond the memory of man, before the beginning of history, a time when one might have walked dryshod from France (as we call it now) to England, and when a broad and sluggish Thames flowed thro... A Strange Awakening
My first sensation was one of sudden and intense cold--a chill that shot through my body and engulfed it like a charge of electricity. For a moment I was conscious of nothing else. Then I knew that I was sinking in cold water, and that I was fight... A Strange Experiment
Soon after my arrival in London, I called on Brande, at the address he had given me in Brook Street. He received me with the pleasant affability which a man of the world easily assumes, and his apology for being unable to pass the evening with me ... A Strange Promise
BY the light of the flambeaux the sleek, black, oily-looking natives managed their clumsy craft, which, dipping suddenly now and then, shipped great seas, compelling us to hang on for life. The sails creaked and groaned as they bent to the wind, s... A Strange World
I WAS UNCONSCIOUS LITTLE MORE THAN AN INSTANT, for as I lunged forward from the crossbeam to which I had been clinging, and fell with a crash to the floor of the cabin, the shock brought me to myself. My first concern was with Perry. I was horr... A Struggle Against The Impossible
For a long time Barbicane and his companions looked silently and sadly upon that world which they had only seen from a distance, as Moses saw the land of Canaan, and which they were leaving without a possibility of ever returning to it. The proje... A Submarine Forest
We had at last arrived on the borders of this forest, doubtless one of the finest of Captain Nemo's immense domains. He looked upon it as his own, and considered he had the same right over it that the first men had in the first days of the world. ... A Sunrise
A MONTH after this, on the evening of the 20th of August, Simon Ford and Madge took leave, with all manner of good wishes, of four tourists, who were setting forth from the cottage. James Starr, Harry, and Jack Ryan were about to lead Nell's ste... A Suspicious Fishing-smack
A raw north wind swept over the island of Walcheren and the mouth of the West Schelde, ruffling into tiny waves the water of the broad stream, which in the twilight looked like a shoreless sea. Only those acquainted with the ground knew that the f... A Task For Loyalty
Long and loud was the applause that rose above the Field of Jetan at Manator, as The Keeper of the Towers summoned the two Princesses and the victorious Chief to the center of the field and presented to the latter the fruits of his prowess, and then... A Telegraphic Dispatch
The great works undertaken by the Gun Club had now virtually come to an end; and two months still remained before the day for the discharge of the shot to the moon. To the general impatience these two months appeared as long as years! Hitherto t... A Telepathic Telegram
I left the room and hurried outside without any positive plan for my movements. My brain was in such a whirl I could form no connected train of thought. These men, whose conversation was a jargon fitting only for lunatics, had proved that they cou... A Third Machine
I confess that at first this letter dumfounded me. "Ohs!" and "Ahs!" slipped from my open mouth. The old servant stared at me, not knowing what to think. "Oh, sir! is it bad news?" I answered for I kept few secrets from this faithful soul... A Transmutation Of Muddles
An experienced horse-trader, bargain-haggler, and general swapper has a very special talent for turning two headaches into one aspirin pill.... The rugged little stellar scout ship flared down to the surface of Kappa Orionis VII about a mile ... A Vanished Continent
The next morning, the 19th of February, I saw the Canadian enter my room. I expected this visit. He looked very disappointed. "Well, sir?" said he. "Well, Ned, fortune was against us yesterday." "Yes; that Captain must needs stop exactly at... A Vigil In The Night
Although Lennard had always recognised the possibility of such a catastrophe as that which John Castellan threatened, and had even taken such precautions as he could to prevent it, still this direct menace, coming straight from the man himself, br... A Visit To The Panchronicon
At precisely eight o'clock that evening, a knock was again heard at the door of the Wise home, and Droop was admitted by the younger sister. She did not speak, and her face was invisible in the dark hall. The visitor turned to the right and entere... A Voyage
The sun was up when Felix awoke, and as he raised himself the beauty of the Lake before him filled him with pleasure. By the shore it was so calm that the trees were perfectly reflected, and the few willow leaves that had fallen floated without dr... A Voyage Of Discovery
It would be altogether impossible for me to give any idea of the utter astonishment which overcame the Professor on making this extraordinary discovery. Amazement, incredulity, and rage were blended in such a way as to alarm me. During the whol... A Walk On The Bottom Of The Sea
This cell was, to speak correctly, the arsenal and wardrobe of the Nautilus. A dozen diving apparatuses hung from the partition waiting our use. Ned Land, on seeing them, showed evident repugnance to dress himself in one. "But, my worthy Ned,... A Woman's Courage
Thus ended this memorable seance. That conversation threw me into a fever. I came out of my uncle's study as if I had been stunned, and as if there was not air enough in all the streets of Hamburg to put me right again. I therefore made for the bank... A Woman's Treachery
According to the agreement with Heideck, Brandelaar, on his return from Dover, was to put in at Flushing, and the Major had instructed the guardships at the mouth of the West Schelde to allow the smack to pass unmolested without detention. But he ... A World Called Crimson
When the starship Star of Fire collided with a meteor swarm six parsecs stellar north of the galactic hub in the year A.D. 2278, it lost its atmosphere within forty-five minutes. At first it was thought that every man, woman and child of the fou... Aboard The Lindner
James Medart was looking forward to his arrival in the Kingdom Systems. Another new culture to study, this time a group whose ancestors had fled the early Empire in an attempt to escape religious persecution. From Captain DeLayne's reports, that... Accident Or Incident?
The next day, the 22nd of March, at six in the morning, preparations for departure were begun. The last gleams of twilight were melting into night. The cold was great, the constellations shone with wonderful intensity. In the zenith glittered tha... Accidental Death
The most dangerous of weapons is the one you don't know is loaded. The wind howled out of the northwest, blind with snow and barbed with ice crystals. All the way up the half-mile precipice it fingered and wrenched away at groaning ice-slabs. ... Adrift Over Strange Regions
Presently Ghek pushed aside a door that opened from the stairway, and before them Tara saw the moonlight flooding the walled court where the headless rykors lay beside their feeding-troughs. She saw the perfect bodies, muscled as the best of her fat... Adumbrations
It was about this time that the warnings of coming events began to fall about us thick and fast. Ernest had already questioned father's policy of having socialists and labor leaders at his house, and of openly attending socialist meetings; and fat... Advanced Chemistry
There is a lot of entertainment and also a great deal of truth in this story. We recommend it highly. Professor Carbonic was diligently at work in his spacious laboratory, analyzing, mixing and experimenting. He had been employed for more th... Aegri Somnia
The following day 10th January, the Nautilus continued her course between two seas, but with such remarkable speed that I could not estimate it at less than thirty-five miles an hour. The rapidity of her screw was such that I could neither follow n...