still their fugitive. I did not look back; I did not feel afraid or sorry or glad-one thought of home, of the bright faces. awaiting my return, and of their tears if they never should see me, and then all the energies of body and mind were exerted for escape. I was an expert on the ice. Many were the days that I had spent on my good skates, never thinking that they would thus prove my only means of safety. Every half minute a furious yelp from my fierce attendants made me but too certain that they were in close pursuit. Nearer and nearer they came at last I heard their feet pattering on the ice-I even heard their very panting and felt their snuffing breath! Every nerve and muscle in my frame was stretched to the utmost tension. The 7. The trees along the shore seemed to dance in an uncertain light, and my brain turned with my own breathless speed; yet still my pursuers kept close at my heels, till an involuntary motion on my part turned me out of my course. wolves, unable to stop, and as unable to turn on the smooth ice, slipped and fell, still going on far ahead. Their tongues were lolling out; their white tusks were gleaming from their bloody mouths; their dark shaggy breasts were fleeced with congealed foam and, as they passed me, their eyes glared and they howled with fury. The thought flashed on my mind that by this trick of turning aside whenever they came too near, I might avoid them, for, by the formation of their feet, they are unable to run on ice except in a straight line. 8. I immediately acted upon this plan. The wolves having regained their feet sprang directly toward me. The race was renewed for twenty yards up the stream; they were already close on my back, when I glided round and dashed directly past them. A fierce yell greeted my evolution, and the wolves, slipping on their haunches, slid onward, presenting a perfect picture of helplessness and baffled rage. Thus I gained nearly a hundred yards at each turning. This was repeated two or three times, every moment the animals becoming more excited the more they were baffled. 9. At one time, by delaying my turning too long, my san guinary antagonists came so near that they threw their white foam over my dress as they sprang to seize me, and their teeth clashed together like the spring of a fox-trap! Had my skates failed for one instant-had I tripped on a stick, or had my foot been caught in a fissure of the ice, the story I am now telling would never have been told. I thought over all the chances. But soon I came opposite the house, and my hounds-I knew their deep voices-roused by the noise, bayed furiously from their kennels. I heard their chains rattle; how I wished they would break them! The wolves, however, taking the hint, stopped in their mad career and, after a few moments, turned and fled. I watched them until their forms disappeared over a neighboring hill. Then, taking off my skates, I wended my way to the house. WHITEHEAD. ... SELECT ETYMOLOGIES.-Abyss: Gr. abus'sos, bottomless; fr. a priv. and bus'sos, depth. . . . Antagonist: Gr. antagōnis'tēs; fr. anʼti, against, agōnis'tēs, a combatant; fr. ag'ōn (ȧywv), contest. Appall: fr. the L. ad and pallidus, pale; pal'leo, I look pale; h., pale, pallid, etc. . . . Confess: L. confiteor, confes'sus, to fully acknowledge; fr. con and fat'eor, I confess.... Congeal: L. con'gelo; fr. con and gel'u, icy coldness; h., gelatine, etc. Crescent: L. cres'cens, p. pr. of cres'co, I increase. Explore: L. explo'ro, explora'tum, to search out; ex, out, and plo'ro, I cry aloud; h., deplore, im-plore, etc. . . . Fissure: L. fissu'ra; fr. fin'do, fis'sum, to cleave. ... ... ... Object: L. objec'tus: v. EJECT. . . . Pilgrim : fr. the L. peregri'nus, foreign; fr. per, through, ag'er, ag'ri, territory; h., agrarian, agri-culture, per-egrinate, etc.: v. COLONY. Prosper: L. pros'per or prosperus, agreeable to one's hope; fr. pro, for, and spe'ro, I hope; spēs, hope; h., despair (lit., to lose hope), de-sperate, etc. . . . Rencounter: F. rencontre, an accidental meeting; fr. L. re, again, and contra, against. Reverberate: L. rever'bero, reverbera'tum, to beat back; fr. re, back, and ver'bero, I lash; fr. ver'ber, a lash. Sanguinary: fr. the L. san'guis, blood; h., consanguinity, sanguine. . Sequester: L. seque'stro, sequestra'tum, to give up for safe-keeping; fr. seques'ter, a depositary. Tension: L. ten'sio, a stretching; fr. ten'do, ten'tum and ten'sum, to stretch; h., at-tend, at-tention, con-tend, dis-tend, ex-tend, in-tend, in-tense, in-tent, ostensible (os - ob, in front, against), os-tentatious (stretching forward as if for display), por-tend, pre-tend, sub-tend, super-intend, tend, tendency, tender, tendon, tendril, tense, tent (a thing stretched), etc. Velocity: L. velo'citas; fr. velox, veloc'is, swift. . . . Voluntary: L. volunta'rius; fr. volun'tas, will; fr. vol'o, vel'le, to will: v. BENEVOLENT. . . . Zone: L. zo'na, a belt or girdle. LXXXIX. THE TRIAL SCENE. FROM "THE MERCHANT OF VENICE." In the play of "The Merchant of Venice," Antonio, the merchant, consents to go surety for his friend Bassanio in the sum of three thousand ducats borrowed from Shylock. On failure to repay this sum at the time specified, Antonio agrees to forfeit to Shylock a pound of flesh to be cut from his (Antonio's) body. A bond to this effect is signed at the notary's. Losses come upon Antonio, and the bond is forfeit. Then follows, in the fourth act of the play, the following famous trial scene, in itself a perfect drama. The fact of so unamiable a character as Shylock being represented as a Jew must not be received as prompting to sectarian prejudices. It is remarked by Campbell that, while for dramatic purposes Shakspeare lends himself to the prejudices of Christians against Jews, he draws so philosophical a picture of the energetic Jewish character that he traces the blame of its faults to the iniquity of those who would persecute a man for opinion's sake. Present the GRAND DUKE, SENATORS, ANTONIO, BASSANIO, GRATIANO, SALERIO, and others Duke. What, is Antonio here? Ant. Ready, so please your grace. Duke. I am sorry for thee; thou art come to answer A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch Uncapable of pity, void and empty From dram of mercy. any Ant. I have heard Your grace hath ta'en great pains to qualify His rigorous course; but since he stands obdurate, Out of his envy's reach, I do oppose My patience to his fury; and am armed The very tyranny and rage of his. Duke. Go one, and call the Jew into the court. Enter SHYLOCK. Duke. Make room, and let him stand before our face. |