Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 03
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Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 03
Literature -- Collections
"What's the row?" asked that learned individual, advancing leisurely
from the refreshment table, where he had been cramming himself with tea
and cakes.
"Leda's fainted!" shrieked Calliope, who rushed past with her
vinaigrette in hand.
"_Gammon_!" growled the Abernethy of heaven, as he followed her.
"Poor Leda!" said Venus, as her cavalier adjusted her shawl. "These
fainting fits are decidedly alarming. I hope it is nothing more serious
than the weather."
"I hope so, too," said Ganymede. "Let me put on the scarf. But people
will talk. Pray heaven it be not a second edition of that old scandal
about the eggs!"
"_Fi done_! You odious creature! How can you? But after all, stranger
things have happened. There now, have done. Good-night!" and she stepped
into her chariot.
"_Bon soir_" said the exquisite, kissing his hand as it rolled away.
"'Pon my soul, that's a splendid woman. I've a great mind--but there's
no hurry about that. _Revenons à nos oeufs._ I must learn something more
about this fainting fit." So saying, Ganymede re-ascended the stairs.
A HIGHLAND TRAMP
From "Norman Sinclair"
When summer came--for in Scotland, alas! there is no spring, winter
rolling itself remorselessly, like a huge polar bear, over what should
be the beds of the early flowers, and crushing them ere they
develop--when summer came, and the trees put on their pale-green
liveries, and the brakes were blue with the wood-hyacinth, and the ferns
unfolded their curl, what ecstasy it was to steal an occasional holiday,
and wander, rod in hand, by some quiet stream up in the moorlands,
inhaling health from every breeze, nor seeking shelter from the gentle
shower as it dropped its manna from the heavens! And then the long
holidays, when the town was utterly deserted--how I enjoyed these, as
they can only be enjoyed by the possess-ors of the double talisman of
strength and youth! No more care--no more trouble--no more task-work--no
thought even of the graver themes suggested by my later studies!
Look--standing on the Calton Hill, behold yon blue range of mountains to
the west--cannot you name each pinnacle from its form? Benledi,
Benvoirlich, Benlomond! Oh, the beautiful land, the elysium that lies
round the base of those distant giants! The forest of Glenfinlas, Loch
Achray with its weeping birches, the grand defiles of the Trosachs, and
Ellen's Isle, the pearl of the one lake that genius has forever
hallowed! Up, sluggard! Place your knapsack on your back; but stow it
not with unnecessary gear, for you have still further to go, and your
rod also must be your companion, if you mean to penetrate the region
beyond. Money? Little money suffices him who travels on foot, who can
bring his own fare to the shepherd's bothy where he is to sleep, and who
sleeps there better and sounder than the tourist who rolls from station
to station in his barouche, grumbling because the hotels are
overcrowded, and miserable about the airing of his sheets. Money? You
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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