book_id
stringlengths 2
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| title
stringclasses 1
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stringclasses 1
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listlengths 1
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|---|---|---|---|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Let me lead you, Cousin Morris,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I used to lead you, Katy, Morris said, as he took his seat by the window,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "My eyes are getting better, he said to her one day toward the latter part of August, when she came as usual to his room."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I knew last night that Mrs. Hull's dress was blue, and I saw the sun shine through the shutters. Soon, very soon, I hope to see you, Katy, and know if you have changed."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You do not need me as much as you did, she said to him one morning in September, when he complained of his loneliness, and told how he had waited for her the previous day until night shut down, and he knew she would not come."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You can see better than you did. You are able to sit up all day, and walk about a little, so if I come I am not needed,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I sometimes think I need you more than I did then, and if you must stay away now, I am ungrateful enough to wish you had not come at all, Morris replied, and Katy's cheeks burned crimson as she felt that the dim eyes, seen through the green shades, were trying to study her as they had not studied her before."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "What is that on your head? Morris asked, rather abruptly."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I have tried to make it out, wondering if it were a handkerchief, and why it was worn."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It is my cap--the widow's cap--worn for Wilford's sake,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I cannot lose her now, was the thought constantly in Morris' mind, as he experienced more and more how desolate were the days which did not bring her to him."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It is twenty months, just, since Wilford died; and George Washington asked Martha Custis for her hand within less time than that after her husband's death,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The rain won't hurt you an atom, she said, as Katy began to demur and glance at the lowering sky."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You can wear your waterproof boots and my shaker, if you like, and I do so want Morris to have them to-night."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It must he dretful lonesome for Morris to-day. S'posin' you stay to supper with him, and when it's growin' dark I'll come over for you. You'll find the custards fust-rate."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I'm bound to fetch that 'round. It's a shame for two young folks, just fitted to each other, to live apart when they might be so happy, with Hannah, and Lucy, and me, close by, to see to 'em, and allus make their soap, and see to the butcherin', besides savin' peneryle and catnip for the children, if there was any."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "as she expressed it. But Katy was too shy to suit her, and since Morris' convalescence had stayed too much from Linwood. To-day, however, Aunt Betsy"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I have been so lonely, with no company but the rain,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I ought not to stay. It is not proper, and my cap at home, too,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Shall we have some thin slices of cold chicken to go with the jelly?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You can go now, Reekie, Morris said, when the boiling water was poured into the silver kettle, and tea was on the table."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If we need you we will ring."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No, Katy, you can't go yet till I have said what's in my mind to say,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Will Katy come? Will she be the wife of Cousin Morris?"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It cannot be--oh, Morris, it cannot be, she sobbed, when he pressed her for answer."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Don't ask me why--don't ever mention it again, for I tell you it cannot be. My answer is final; it cannot be. I am sorry for you, so sorry. I wish you had never loved me, for it cannot be."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "What has become of your umberell? Your silk one, too. It's hopeful you haven't lost it. What has happened you? and coming closer to Katy, Aunt Betsy looked searchingly in her face. It was not so dark that she could not see the traces of recent tears, and instinctively suspecting their nature, she continued:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Catherine, have you gin Morris the mitten?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Aunt Betsy, is it possible that you and Morris contrived this plan?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Morris had nothing to do with it, Aunt Betsy replied."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It was my doin's wholly, and this is the thanks I git. You quarrel with him and git mad at me, who thought only of your good. Catherine, you know you like Morris Grant, and if he asked you to have him why don't you?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I can't, Aunt Betsy. I can't, after all that has passed. It would be unjust to Wilford."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Unjust to Wilford--fiddlesticks! was Aunt Betsy's expressive reply, as she started on toward Linwood, saying she was going after the umberell before it got lost, with nobody there to tend to things as they should be tended to."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Have you any word to send?"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I met Catherine, Aunt Betsy began,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I have not lived sixty-odd years for nothing, and I know the signs pretty well. I've been through the mill myself."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "There's Joel Upham--you know Joel--keeps a tin shop now, and seats the folks in meetin'. He asked me once for my company, and to be smart I told him 'no,' when all the time I meant 'yes,' thinkin' he would ask ag'in, but he didn't, and the next I knew he was keepin' company with Patty Adams, now his wife. I remember I sniveled a little at being taken at my word, but it served me right for saying one thing when I meant another. However, it don't matter now. Joel is as clever as the day is long, but he is a shiftless critter, never splits his kindlin's till jest bedtime, and Patty is pestered to death for wood, while his snorin' nights, she says, is awful, and that I never could abide; so, on the whole, I'm better off than Patty."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You just ask her ag'in. Once ain't nothing at all, and she'll come to. She likes you; 'tain't that which made her say no. It's some foolish idea about faithfulness to Wilford, as if he deserved that she should be faithful. They never orto have had one another--never; and now that he is well in heaven, as I do suppose he is, it ain't I who hanker for him to come back. Neither does Katy, and all she needs is a little urging to tell you yes. So ask her again, will you?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I think it very doubtful. Katy knew what she was doing, and meant what she said,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Just the way I felt when I heard about Joel and Patty,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Are you of the same mind still?"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes; why shouldn't I be? Katy replied."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You better than any one else knew what passed between Wilford and me concerning Morris, and you can--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Do you love Morris?"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "More than I wish I did, seeing I must always tell him no. It's strange, too, how the love for him keeps coming in spite of all I can do. I have not been there since, nor spoken with him until last Sunday, but though I did not know he was coming, I knew the moment he entered the church, and when in the first chant I heard his voice, my fingers trembled so that I could scarcely play, while all the time my heart goes out after the rest I always find with him. But it cannot be."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Suppose Morris had asked you first, what then?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It might have been, perhaps, though I never thought of it then. Oh, Helen, I wish Wilford had never known that Morris loved me."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You have taken a morbid fancy, Katy. You do not reason correctly. It is right for you to answer Morris yes, and Wilford would say so, too. When I received your letter apprising me of the refusal, I read it to Bell, who said she was so sorry, and then told what Wilford said before he died. You must have forgotten it, darling. He referred to a time when you would cease to be his widow, and he said he was willing, said so to her, and you. Do you remember it, Katy?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, I do now, but I had forgotten. I was so stunned then, so bewildered, that it made no impression. I did not think he meant Morris. Helen, do you believe he meant Morris?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I know that he meant Morris, Helen replied."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Bell thinks so, too. So does her father, and both bade me tell you to revoke your decision, to marry Dr. Grant, with whom you will be so happy."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I cannot. It is too late. I told him no, and, Helen, I told him a falsehood, too, which I wish I might take back, she added."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I said I was sorry he ever loved me, when I was not, for the knowing that he had made me very happy. My conscience has smitten me cruelly since for that falsehood told, not intentionally, for I did not consider what I said."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He would catch his death of cold,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "And so you told me a falsehood the other day, and your conscience has troubled you ever since?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, Morris, and Katy dropped her stitch as she replied."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes; that is, I told you I was sorry that you ever loved me, which was not exactly true, for, after I knew you did, I was happier than before."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You knew it then before I told you?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "From Wilford--yes,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I understand now why you have been so shy of me, Morris said."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It was only natural you should be until you knew what my intentions were; but, Katy, must this shyness continue always? Think now, and say if you did not tell more than one falsehood the other night, as you count falsehoods."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You said you could not be my wife. Was that true? Can't you take it back, and give me a different answer?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I meant what I said, she whispered;"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Then it's nothing personal? If there were no harrowing memories of Wilford, you could be happy with me. Is that it, Katy? Morris asked, coming close to her now, and imprisoning her hands, which she did not try to take away, but let them lie in his as he continued:"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Wilford was willing at the last. Have you forgotten that?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I had, until Helen reminded me. Katy replied."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But, Morris, the talking of this thing brings Wilford's death back so vividly, making it seem but yesterday since I held his dying head."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It was not yesterday. It will be two years in February; and this, you know, is November. I need you, Katy. I want you so much. I have wanted you all your life. Before it was wrong to do so I used each day to pray that God would give you to me, and now I feel just as sure that he has opened the way for you to come to me as I am sure that Wilford is in heaven. He is happy there, and shall a morbid fancy keep you from being happy here? Tell me then, Katy, will you be my wife?"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "If I say yes, Morris, you will not think that I never loved Wilford, for I did, oh yes, I did. Not exactly as I supposed I might, even then, have loved you, had you asked me first, but I loved him, and I was happy with him, or if there were little clouds, his dying swept them all away."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "My own little Katy,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Be you two engaged?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We are, was Katy's frank reply, which brought back all Aunt Betsy's visions of roasted fowls and frosted cake, and maybe a dance in the kitchen, to say nothing of the feather bed which she had not dared to offer Katy Cameron, but which she thought would come in play for"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Miss Dr. Grant."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "God's land,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Lieutenant Robert Reynolds and"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Thomas Tubbs, Helen read among the list of those just arrived at Annapolis, but"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Captain Mark Ray"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It was preposterous to suppose Bob would expect it,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Copperhead principles,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "But it isn't for you to say whether he shall or shall not have Bell. She is of age. Let her speak for herself."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I would marry Lieutenant Reynolds if he had only his ears left to hear me tell him how much I love and honor him! Arthur Grey! Don't talk to me of him! the craven coward, who will neither volunteer nor give a cent for our poor, suffering soldiers, but turns people off with: 'Government provides,' or 'the stores do not reach them,' and all those subterfuges to which mean men resort to keep from giving, and to avoid the draft swore he was forty-five, when we all know better. Don't insult Robert with such a comparison, or think I will break my faith with him."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Poor Bob! how much he must have suffered,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "My darling Bell, my promised wife, you don't know how much good this meeting does me!"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I am so glad--oh, so glad!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I did not care for myself, Robert. Don't think I cared for myself, or was ever sorry a bit on my own account."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Never were sorry and never cared! I can scarcely credit that, for surely your tears and present emotions belie your words."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Your arm, Robert, your arm. We heard it was cut off, and that you were otherwise mutilated."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, that's it, then! and something like his old, mischievous smile glimmered about Bob's mouth as he added:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They spared my arms, but, Bell --and he tried to look very solemn--"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Wooden pins and crutches will be all the fashion when the war is over; badges of honor of which any woman might be proud."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Well, Bell, he replied,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I am afraid there is no such honor in store for my wife, for if I ever get back my strength and the flesh upon my bones, she must take me with legs and arms included. Not even a scratch or wound of any kind with which to awaken sympathy."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Go on; I'll tend to him. He is dead as a stone; bullet went right through here,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, Helen! poor Helen! How can I tell her, when she loved him so much!"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "He used to make pictures of her, he said,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It's too terrible even to think about, she said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Oh, how can I tell Helen!"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "You will do it better than any one else, Bob said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "You will be very tender with her; and, Bell, tell her, as some consolation, that he did not break with the treatment, as most of us wretches did; he kept up wonderfully--said he was perfectly well--and, indeed, he looked so. Tom Tubbs, who was his shadow, clinging to him with wonderful fidelity, will corroborate what I have said. He was with us, he saw him, and only animal force prevented him from leaping from the car and going to him where he fell. I shall never forget his shriek of agony at the sight of that blood-stained face turned an instant toward us."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Don't, don't! Bell cried again;"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I can't endure it!"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Sit here in the hall a moment, she said to him, as the servant admitted them both."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I must see Mrs. Ray first."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No, Robert is at home; I have just come from there, and he told me--oh! Helen, can you bear it?--Mark is dead--shot twice as he jumped from the train taking him to another prison, Robert saw it, and knew that he was dead."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "He cut it from his head just before we left the prison, and told me if he never got home and I did, to give the lock to you, and say that all was well between him and God--that your prayers had saved him. He wanted you to know that, because, he said, it would comfort you most of all."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Thy will be done,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Not plated-ware, but the gen-oo-ine article,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Aunt Betsy complacently reflected as she contemplated the glittering array, end then hurried off to see what was burning on the stove, or"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, Morris, it's you. I'm so glad you've come, for I wanted--"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It's all right, I know, but so much kissin' as I've seen the last fortni't is enough to turn a body's stomach. I guess old bachelders and widders is commonly wus than fresh hands at it."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Sometimes I think it wrong to be so happy when Helen is so sad. I pity her so much to-day."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, if that heralded Mark's return, how happy I should be."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The Lovers' Rock,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "God help me not to begrudge the price or think I paid too dearly for my country's rights. Oh, Mark, my murdered husband, I may be wrong, but you were dearer to me than many, many countries, and it is hard to give you up--hard to know that the notes of peace which even now float up to us from the South will not waken you in that grave which I can never see. Oh, Mark, my darling, my darling, I loved you so much, I miss you so much, I want you so much. God help me to bear. God help me to say, 'Thy will be done.'"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Thy will be done,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Let us thank God together. You, too, have learned to pray."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Poor, darling Mark! that's where the cruel ball entered; but where is the other scar--the one made by the man who went to you in the fields, and who also fired, they said. I have tried so hard to hate him for firing at a fallen foe."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Rather, pray for him, darling. Bless him as the savior of your husband's life, the noble fellow but for whom I should not have been here now, for he was a Unionist, as true to the old flag as Abraham himself,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Play 'possum, Yank. Make b'lieve you're dead, and throw them hellhounds off the scent."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "For three weeks longer I stayed up in that loft, and in that time three more escaped prisoners were brought there, and one Union refugee from North Carolina. We left in company one wild, rainy night, when the storm and darkness must have been sent for our special protection, and Jack Jennings cried like a little child when he bade me good-by, promising, if he survived the war, to find his way to the North and visit me in New York. I should be prouder, Helen, to welcome him to our home than to entertain the Emperor of France, while Bab should have a seat at my own table, and I be honored by it. There are many such noble spirits there, and when I remember them, I wish to spare a land which I once hoped might be burned with fire until no trace was left. We found them everywhere, and especially among the mountains of Tennessee, where, but for their timely aid, we had surely been recaptured. The negroes, too, were powerful helps, and in no single case has a black man proved treacherous to his suffering white brother, I was not an Abolitionist when the war broke out, but I am one now, and to see the negro free I would almost spill my last drop of blood. They are a patient, all-enduring, faithful race, and without them the bones of many a poor wretch who now sits by his own fireside and recounts the perils he has escaped, would whiten in the Southern swamps or on the Southern mountains. Three times were we chased by bloodhounds, and in every case the negroes were the means of saving us from certain death. For weeks we were hidden in a cave, hunted by the Confederates by day, and fed at night by negroes, who told us when and where to go. With blistered feet and bruised limbs, we reached the lines at last, when fever attacked me for the second time and brought me near to death. Somebody wrote to you, but you never received it, and when I grew better I would not let them write again, as I wanted to surprise you. As soon as I was able I started North, my thoughts full of the joyful meeting in store--a meeting which I dreaded, too, for I knew you must think me dead, and I felt so sorry for you, my darling, knowing, as I did, you would mourn for your soldier husband. That my darling has mourned is written on her face, and needs no words to tell it; but that is over now,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Yes, I have been so sorry, Mark--so tired, so sad, and life was such a burden, I would gladly have laid it down."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The burden is now removed,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "In Silverton,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No words of mine, he said,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Had a dead body risen from its grave, and walked into the farmhouse, carrying its coffin with it, it could not have created greater consternation, or made worse havoc with the people's wits than did my sudden appearance in their midst. Good Aunt Betsy, I am sorry to say, fell the entire length of the cellar stairs, spraining her ankle, bruising her elbow shockingly, and, direst calamity of all, in her estimation, breaking the dish of charlotte russe she was holding in her hand. There is a wedding in progress, I learned from mother, and it seems very meet that I should come at this time, making, in reality, a double wedding, when I can truly claim my bride,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Yes, it hurts some, but nothin' to what the poor soldiers is hurt; and I wouldn't mind it an atom if I hadn't broke the dish with the heathenish name."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "so confidently expected. The substantials were for the neighbors--those who would have no supper at home, but reserve their appetites for the wedding viands; while the delicacies, the knickknacks, were designed exclusively for"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ain't Morris ever goin' home? He won't be dressed in time, as sure as the world, if he stays here much longer,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Come in here, Helen, I have something to show you,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "I made the most of my time last night after receiving Mark's telegram, and had it modernized somewhat, she said."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "And I brought your pearls, for you know you will be most as much a bride as Katy, and I have a pride in seeing my son's wife appropriately dressed."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "My darling Mark, I cannot make it real yet."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Oh, no, not sorry that I am to be your wife, she answered;"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "They are waiting for you,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ephraim would not care an atom, a remark which brought from Mrs. Deacon Bannister a most withering look of reproach, and slightly endangered Aunt Betsy's standing in the church. Perhaps Bell Cameron suspected as much, for she replied that they were having a splendid time as it was, and as Dr. Grant did not dance, they might as well dispense with it altogether. And so it happened that there was no dancing at Katy's wedding, and Uncle Ephraim escaped the reproof which his brother deacon would have felt called upon to give him had he permitted so grievous a sin, while Mrs. Deacon Bannister, who, at the first trip of the toe, would have felt it her duty to depart, lest her eyes should look upon the evil thing, was thus permitted to remain until"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We are home at last--your home and mine, my precious, precious wife."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "No, it would not be quite pleasant for Katy to visit me there, and I mean to have her with me as much as possible, so the house went to strangers, and a less pretentious, but quite as comfortable, one was bought for Bell, so far uptown that Mrs. Cameron pronounced it quite in the country, while Juno wondered how her sister would manage to exist so far from everything, intimating that her visits would be far between, a threat which Lieutenant Bob took quite heroically; indeed, it rather enhanced the value of his pleasant home than otherwise, for Juno was not a favorite, and his equanimity was not likely to be disturbed if she never crossed his threshold. She was throwing bait to Arthur Grey, the man who swore he was forty-five to escape the draft, and who, now that the danger was over, would gladly take back his oath and be forty, as he really was. With the most freezing kiss imaginable, Juno had greeted Katy, calling her"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Mrs. Grant, and treating Morris as if he were an entire stranger, instead of the man whom to get she would once have moved both earth and heaven. Mrs. Cameron, too, though glad in her heart that Katy was married, and fully approving of her choice, threw into her manner so much reserve that Katy's intercourse with her was anything but agreeable, and she turned with alacrity to Father Cameron, who had received her with open arms, calling her his daughter, and welcoming Morris as his son, taken in Wilford's stead."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "My boy, he frequently called him, showing by his manner how willingly he accepted him as the husband of one whom he really loved as his child. Greatly he wished that they should stay with him while they remained in New York, but Katy preferred going with Helen to Mrs. Banker's, where she would be more quiet, and avoid the bustle and confusion attending the preparations for Bell's wedding. It was to be a grand church affair, and to take place during Easter week, after which the bridal pair were going on to Washington, Fortress Monroe, and, if possible, to Richmond, where Bob had been a prisoner. Everything seemed conspiring to make the occasion a joyful one, for all through the North, from Maine to California, the air was rife with the jubilee songs of victory, and the notes of approaching peace. But, alas! He who holds our country's destiny in His hand changed that song of gladness into a wail of woe, which, echoing through the land, rose up to Heaven in one mighty sob of anguish, as the whole nation bemoaned its loss. Our President was dead!--foully, cruelly murdered!--and New York was in mourning, so black, so profound, that with a shudder Bell Cameron tossed aside the orange wreath and said to her lover:"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "We will be married at home. I cannot now go to the church, when everything seems so like one great funeral."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "and whose capeless shaker hangs often on the hall stand, just as it hangs now, while she, good soul, sits in the pleasant parlor, near the blazing fire, and darns the socks for Morris, taking as much pains as if it were a network of fine lace she was weaving, instead of a shocking rent in some luckless heel or toe. Upstairs there is a pleasant room which Katy calls Aunt Betsy's, and in it is the feather bed on which Wilford Cameron once slept, a part of Katy's"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Mrs. Bob Reynolds,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "I was never so happy in my life as I am now, she wrote."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Indeed, I did not know that a married woman could be so happy; but then every woman has not a Bob for her husband, which makes a vast difference. You ought to see Juno. I know she envies me, though she affects the utmost contempt for matrimony, and reminds me forcibly of the fox and the grapes. You see, Arthur Grey is a failure, so far as Juno is concerned, he having withdrawn from the field and laid himself, with his forty-five years, at the feet of Sybil Grandon, who will be Mrs. Grey, and a bride at Saratoga the coming summer. Juno, I believe, intends going, too, as the bridesmaid of the party; but every year her chances lessen, and I have very little hope that father will ever call other than Bob his son, always excepting Morris, of course, whom he really has adopted in place of Wilford. You don't know, Katy, how much father thinks of you, blessing the day which brought you to us, and saying that if he is ever saved, he shall in a great measure owe it to your sweet influence and consistent life after the great trouble came upon you."
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "MARIAN HAZELTON."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Truly, He doeth all things well to those who wait upon Him,"
}
]
|
15607 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "We stopped at Annapolis on our way here, and I shall never forget the pale, worn faces, or the great, sunken eyes which looked at me so wistfully as I went from cot to cot, speaking words of cheer to the sufferers, some of whom were Mark's companions in prison, their dim eyes lighting up with joy as they recognized him and heard of his escape. There are several nurses here, but no words of mine can tell what one of them is to the poor fellows, or how eagerly they watch for her coming, following her with so greedy glances as he moves about the room, and holding her hand with a clasp, as if they would keep her with them always. Indeed, more than one heart, as I am told, has confessed its allegiance to her; but she answers all the same: 'I have no love to give. It died out long ago, and cannot be recalled.' Yon can guess who she is, Katy. The soldiers call her an angel, but we know her as Marian."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The soldiers call her an angel, but we know her as Marian."
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Practical Taxidermy"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "The extraction of the brain by the nostrils is proved by the appearance of the mummies found in the tombs; and some of the crooked instruments (always of bronze) supposed to have been used for this purpose have been discovered at Thebes."
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "On exposure to air they (the mummies) become covered with efflorescence of sulphate of soda, and also readily absorb moisture from the atmosphere."
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Having styptic, absorbent, and balsamic qualities, would produce a kind of tanning operation on the body, which would also, no doubt, be heightened by the washing with palm wine."
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The natron would be used just as it was got from many of the lakes of Egypt, where it is found abundantly in the form of carbonate of soda."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Materia Medica,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "This salt was probably known to the ancients under the term of Nitron."
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Il parait que ce natrum était un alkali fixe, et pas du tout du nitre comme quelques auteurs l'ont pensé; ce qui semblerait appuyer cette opinion, c'est que lea femmes egyptiennes se servaient de natrum pour faire leur lessive, comme on as sert aujourd'hui de la soude."
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Now I think of it, natron is perfectly familiar to me as apparently a mixture of broken soda crystals and a brown earth which is sold in the bazaars of India, under the name of 'sootjee moogee,' for domestic purposes; and I know, from experience, that unless it is washed off paint work directly it is passed over it with a cloth all the paint comes off bare, sometimes to the wood."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "In Bayley's Dictionary, circa 1730, I find the following: 'Natron; or, a Natron, from Gr. Natron (?), a kind of black greyish salt, taken out of a lake of stagnant water in the territory of Terrana, in Egypt."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Penny Cyclopaedia, vol. xvi, p. 105,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Natron, native sesquicarbonate of soda (see 'Sodium'):"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The Natron Lakes, which are six in number, are situated in a valley bordering upon Lower Egypt, and are remarkable for the great quantity of salt which they produce. The crystallisations are both of muriate of soda (or common salt) and of carbonate of soda. ... The 'Natron' is collected once a year, and is used both in Egypt and Syria, as also in Europe, for manufacturing glass and soap, and for bleaching linen."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Sodium"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Trona."
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "AN INTERESTING DISCOVERY.--Several weeks ago we mentioned the departure of Mr. Arthur Robottom, Birmingham, England, on a search for borax in the southern part of California. He has now returned, bringing news of an interesting and valuable discovery. Beyond the Sierra Nevada, in the Enclosed Basin of North America, about 140 miles in a north-eastward direction from Bakersfield, there is the bed of a dry lake filled over an area of fifteen miles long by six wide with saline crystals to a depth of about six or eight feet. The appearance of the surrounding country clearly indicates that water once stood sixty feet deep here over a large area, the ancient beach being distinctly traceable. The most remarkable fact about this-saline deposit is that in its middle there is a tract, five miles long and two wide, of common salt, while on the outside there is a deposit of borate of soda, three feet thick, and under this a lower stratum composed of sulphate of soda and tincal mixed together, from one to three feet thick. These minerals are all in crystals, the sulphate of soda and tincal forming a solid mass, almost like stone in its hardness. The borate of soda is of a dirty hue, but the salt, which lies above the level of the entire deposit, in some places to a depth of seven feet, is white as snow. The report of natural deposits thus situated will appear very improbable to scientific men, for there is nothing to account for the separation of the salt from the borates, or for the accumulation of salt above the level of other crystalline deposits. We have Mr. Robottom for authority, and the country is open for those who wish to examine for themselves. The place can easily be found. It is known as the Borax Fields in the Slate Range, and will be examined carefully by many competent men, since the tincal--a crude borate of soda--is a valuable mineral, and can be separated, at little expense, from the sulphate of soda."
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Encyclopaedia Britannica merely mentions it as"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "while Boitard boldly says,"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "In an old work which I have, 'A General Collection of Voyages,' I find the following relating to the 'Guanches' in vol. i, book ii, chap. i, page 184, 'The Voyage of Juan Rejon to the Canary Islands, AD. 1491': 'When any person died, they preserved the body in this manner: First, they carried it to a cave and stretched it on a fiat stone, where they opened it and took out the bowels; then, twice a day, they washed the porous parts of the body, viz, the arm-pits, behind the ears, the groin, between the fingers, and the neck, with cold water. After washing it sufficiently they anointed those parts with sheep's butter (?), and sprinkled them with a powder made of the dust of decayed pine trees, and a sort of brushwood which the Spaniards call Brefsos, together with the powder of pumice stone. Then they let the body remain till it was perfectly dry, when the relatives of the deceased came and swaddled it in sheep or goat skins dressed. Girding all tight with long leather thongs, they put it in the cave which had been set apart by the deceased for his burying place, without any covering. There were particular persons set apart for this office of embalming, each sex performing it for those of their own. During the process they watched the bodies very carefully to prevent the ravens from devouring them, the relations of the deceased bringing them victuals and waiting on them during the time of their watching.'"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "A work appeared at Lyons in 1758, entitled 'Instructions on the Manner of Collecting and Preparing the Different Curiosities of Natural History.' [Footnote: The sixth edition, twenty-three years later, has this title,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Taxidermy, or the Art of Preparing and Mounting Objects of Natural History for the use of Museums and Travellers, by Mrs. R. Lee, formerly Mrs. J. Edward Bowdich. Sixth edition, 1843. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longman."
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Treatise on the Manner of Stuffing and Preserving Animals and Skins."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Livraison de l'Encyclopédie, Méthodique, Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux,"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Encyclopédie Méthodique,"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Wanderings in South America"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Catalogues"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Reinecke the Fox,"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "work of"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "who, as Boswell said,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Lion and Tiger Struggle,"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Jack Smith"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Ducks are caught by rather a clever arrangement with horsehair nooses attached to a string, which is stretched over the ditches and canals used for irrigation, and so close to the water that the ducks are compelled when swimming under the string to stretch out their necks, when they are easily caught in the hanging nooses."
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "One method is simplicity itself: a hair noose is fastened to a lump of clay well worked together; a number of these appliances are scattered about the lucerne fields, which the quails are fond of frequenting; the bird caught in the noose is prevented from flying away owing to the weight of the lump of clay and its getting easily entangled in the grass."
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Birds of Great Britain"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "arrive. If the morning be foggy, it is a good day for"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "; if bright, bad"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Stonehenge"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "It used to be the constant practice on all the hill downs in these parts to place out underwood or furze, about a foot in height, to a very great extent along the ground, in the shape of a letter V, at the apex of which an opening would be left, where a hair noose or springe would be set, which seldom failed to yield the pot-hunter a nightly supply, as the cock would run along the side of the brushwood feeding, not taking the trouble to top over it, until he was led into the snare; but this plan is now, owing to the scarcity of cocks, when compared with former years, very seldom practised."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Rural Sports,"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "SPRINGE,"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Springe"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Figure of 4 trap, are easy to make, and useful for killing small animals. The materials required are simply three ordinary pieces of wood, a small piece of string, or, better still, wire, and a large, heavy, flat paving stone, or slate. Having procured three pieces of wood of half an inch square by one foot long, we call one the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "which is simply brought to a point at one end, somewhat like a chisel. The second is the"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "which should be cut to about 8 in. long, having a nick in it about half an inch from one end, about half way through its depth; the other end is brought to a chisel point on its upper surface; the third, which is the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "or"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "FIGURE of 4"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Stonehenge and"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "High Elms"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "High Elms"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "High Elms"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "for taking capercailzie in Norway is described by Mr. Yarnell in his"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "British Birds"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Where the trees grow thickly on either side of a footpath, two long pieces of wood are placed across it; one end of these rests on the ground, the other being raised a foot and a half, or somewhat more, from the surface, and supported by a piece communicating with a triangular twig, placed in the centre of the path, and so contrived that on being slightly touched the whole fabric falls; a few stones are usually placed upon the long pieces of wood to increase the rapidity of the drop by the additional weight. Birds running along the footpath attempt to pass beneath the barrier, strike the twig, and are killed by the fall of the trap."
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "it as correct, only adding that the oil takes somewhere about four hours to slowly boil before it becomes sufficiently tenacious for use. Holly-bark he does not believe in, as he says it takes too long to make; but that is no reason why we should pass over bird-lime made from this substance. The"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Encyclopaedia Britannica"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "It is usually prepared by boiling holly-bark ten or twelve hours, and when-the green coat is separated from the other it is covered up for a fortnight in a moist place; then pounded into a rough paste, and washed in a running stream till no motes appear. It is next put up to ferment for four or five days, and repeatedly skimmed. To prepare it for use, a third part of nut oil or thin grease must be incorporated with it over the fire."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Edinburgh Encyclopaedia"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Wildfowler:"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "of the London and provincial bird-catchers. The"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Edinburgh Encyclopaedia"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Birds are also taken with nets during the day, and especially in those seasons of the year when they change their situation; in the month of October, for instance, when the wild birds begin to fly, and in March, when the smaller kinds assemble for pairing. They are chiefly on the wing from daybreak to noon, and always fly against the wind. The birdcatchers, therefore, lay their nets towards that point to which the wind blows. The nets employed in this way are generally 12.5 yds. long and 2.5 yds. wide, and are spread on the ground parallel to each other, in such a manner as to meet when turned over. They are provided with lines, fastened in such a way that, by a sudden pull, the birdcatcher is able to draw them over the birds that may have alighted in the space between those parallel sides. In order to entice the wild birds to alight amongst the nets, call birds are employed, of which there must be one or two of each of the different kinds which are expected to be caught, such as linnets, goldfinches, greenfinches, etc. Besides the call birds there are others denominated flur birds, which are placed upon a moveable perch within the net, called a flur, and which can be raised or depressed at pleasure, and these are secured to the flur by means of a brace or bandage of slender silk strongly fastened round the body of the bird. The call birds are deposited in cages at a little distance from the nets, and as soon as they see or hear the approach of the wild birds, which they perceive long before it can be observed by the birdcatcher, they announce the intelligence from cage to cage with the greatest appearance of joy, and they proceed to invite them to alight by a succession of notes or short jerks, as they are termed by the birdcatcher, which may often be heard at a considerable distance. The moment that the call is heard by the wild birds they stop their flight and descend towards the net, and so great is the ascendancy and fascination of the call birds that they can induce the others to return repeatedly to the nets till every bird in the flock be caught."
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "When doctors differ, who shall decide?"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "for he always set his cages as near the nets as possible;"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "quoth he,"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "which is a bird braced by a peculiar knot or"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "is resolvable into three parts, Fig. 7 being the ground peg, formed of a piece of hard wood about six inches long, having a round hole bored through close to the top, through which the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "passes. Immediately underneath is a square slot for the reception of a piece of brass tube beaten flat at one end (Fig. 8), while the other end is left open for the reception of the"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "(C, Fig. 9), simply a rough twig or piece of hard wood, upon which the bird is tied by the"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Play-stick"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "FLUR OR"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "PLAY-STICK."
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Play-bird is always placed on the left hand of the birdcatcher, about two yards into the net. Sometimes more than one play-stick and bird are used; all are, however, played by the same string. The best birds are, however, contrary to my expectations, not used, as the constant pulling up and down, to say nothing of the worry of the falling nets, very soon kills the poor little"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Rural Sports,"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "The proceedings connected with the use of glade nets appear to be very simple. These nets are of lengths and breadths proportioned to the places in which they are suspended. They are simply pieces of fine thread netting, edged with cords adapted to the extent of the lint. The glade net so formed is suspended between two trees, directly in the track of the woodcock's flight. Both the upper and lower corners have each a rope attached to them which, as regards the upper part of the net, is rove through sheaves, iron rings, or thimbles fastened to the trees on either side at the top of the glade at a moderate height, varying from ten to twelve or fifteen feet. The falls of the two upper ropes are joined or so adjusted that they form a bridge, to the central part of which a rope is attached of several yards in length, which the fowler holds in his hand in a place of concealment, and thus commands full power over the net, being able to drop it down suddenly and intercept the flight of any birds which may attempt to escape through the glade; or he can draw it up as suddenly from the ground to a perpendicular position. A stone, of about 5 lb. weight, is attached to each of the lower cords of the net, so that when the fowler lets go his controlling rope the weight of the stones forces the lower part of the net down in an instant with a strong fall, and, at the same time, they draw up the upper part of the net. The fowler having stationed himself in such a position as to command a full view of the glade in which his net is placed, beaters are employed to flush the cocks from their retreats; immediately on one or more flying in the direction of the fowler a signal is given, and just as the bird approaches the net it is suddenly let down or drawn up, when the woodcock, flying forcibly against it, is immediately ensnared. The instant the birds have struck the net the fowler lets go another rope, which is generally looped to a stake within reach of his arm, and the whole net, with the birds entangled, then drops to the ground. In forcing themselves forward in their endeavour to escape they form the net into a sort of bag, which makes their capture more certain."
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Encyclopaedia of Rural Sports."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Arctic Zoology, page 29. The same system is still adopted on many parts of the coast. In fact, I recollect (when some years ago I visited the Isle of Wight on a collecting expedition) seeing two men with ropes and an iron bar going to the top of the"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "Bench (a famous place for sea fowl), and while one man was let down over the edge of the cliff his fellow remained at the top to answer the pull of the"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "and look after the safety of the"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "and iron bar. So fascinating did this appear to me that, having been"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "once or twice before, I volunteered to"
}
]
|
26014 | Unknown Title | Unknown Author | [
{
"from": "human",
"value": "or tooth trap, used for capturing rats or other animals and birds, no description is, I think necessary, further than to say that the springs should be highly tempered, and that the teeth should not be too long. These traps can be set in various places with or without baits--in the water, on the ground, up a tree, or on a post; but post-traps proper, which are chiefly useful, when set unbaited, for catching hawks, are made with an arm and spring at right angles to the plate, so that they may be fastened to the post which supports them. In setting these traps great care and skill are necessary; and in giving directions how to do this properly, I cannot do better than quote"
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Stonehenge,"
},
{
"from": "human",
"value": "First lay the trap on the ground, then mark the outline of it, allowing half an inch clear all round; out away the turf to this pattern, and in the centre dig a hole deep enough to receive a strong peg and the chain which fastens the trap to it, which will thus be entirely concealed; drive in the peg, arrange the chain neatly upon this and in the channel for the spring, and then set the trap in its place, temporarily propping up the plate by a piece of twig, which can finally be withdrawn by a string; take care so to out away the turf that the jaws are only just below the level of the ground. Having done this, cut a very thin slice of the turf which was removed to make way for the trap, leaving little more than the grass itself with a ragged edge, and lay this gently on the plate, and withdraw the prop. Then cover the spring in the same way; and, lastly, put some more shreds of grass or leaves over the jaws themselves, but in such a way that the former will not be caught between the teeth when the trap is sprung. When the keeper can do all this so neatly that the trap cannot be discovered by the eye at two or three yards distance, and yet will be sprung by half an ounce weight being placed upon the plate over and above what it has already, and without leaving anything between the jaws, he may be considered a master of his craft. All this should be done with strong leather gloves on the hands, and with as little breathing over the trap as possible. The object of these precautions is to avoid leaving any scent behind, which might alarm the vermin, who are always suspicions of any place where they have reason to believe man has been at work."
},
{
"from": "gpt",
"value": "Rural Sports,"
}
]
|
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