The Fever of Life

Oh, wonderful! wonderful! and thrice wonderful was the soul of Vicar Clendon seeing that in this mummified body, battered by the assaults of sixty years, it still kept itself fr...

"We are told in stories olden Dragons watched the apples golden, Quick to send a thief to Hades. Now no fruit the world-tree ladens, Apples gold are dainty maidens, And the drag...

"The deeds we do, though done in heedless ways, May have the shaping of our future lives; And, stretching forth their long arms from the past, May alter this and that in such st...

"But when a millionaire comes to woo, The dragon inspires him not with fear. Her sole idea of love that is true Is measured by so many pounds a year."

"Fashion for the nonce surrenders Giddy Mayfair's faded splendours, And with all her sons and daughters Hastens to health-giving waters; Rests when curfew bells are ringing, Ris...

Such a poor room it was, with a well-worn carpet, shabby furniture, a dingy mirror over the fireplace, and a mean sordid look everywhere. The bright sunshine, pouring in through...

"Those who went forth in brave array Return again at the close of day, With tattered banners that flaunted gay, And swords now broken that once could slay; Their march is sad an...

"The marble statue of an antique god May win our admiration for a time, Seeing it lacks not any outward grace, But stands a type of flesh idealised. Yet as we gaze in silent won...

I. "The present becomes the future. Yes! but the present does not again become the past; Time goes forward forever--we cannot return on his footsteps, For the laws of the univer...

Who's sure of Life's game, When Fate interferes? For praise or for blame, Who's sure of life's game? A sentence--a name, Turns joy into tears, Who's sure of Life's game, When Fa...

"Oh, I have seen the Southern Cross In Southern skies burn clear and bright, And I have seen the ocean toss Beneath its gleam in waves of white. Its beauty brought me no delight...

Signor Ferrari was a gentleman who knew how to make himself thoroughly comfortable; and, in order to do so, squandered his earnings in a most spendthrift fashion. At present he...

What fools are they who think God ever sleeps, Or views their follies with a careless eye. Fortune may heap her favours on their heads. Blithe Pleasure lull them with her jingli...

"Oh, I was the husband and you were the wife; We met, and we married, and parted. Our meeting was happy, our marriage was strife: Our parting left each broken-hearted. Our heart...

"Oh, what becomes of our prodigal sons When worried by troublesome debts and duns. When fatherly loving is quite worn out, And how to exist is a matter of doubt? Well, some go w...

"A deed's to be done. There is sin in the doing. Oh, see how the mother her child is pursuing! She smites him unknowing. Oh, mother, blind mother, Thy son thou hast slain--not t...

It was a great idea, and one which had never entered the brains of the detectives employed in the case, so Maxwell looked upon it as an earnest of success. He told no one about...

'Tis very easy to make love; A smile--a pressure of the hand. A reference to the stars above, A "fly with me to some far land," A sigh as soft as coo of dove, A kiss--the rest s...

Mrs. Belswin was not a rich woman. When she left her husband she took no money, naturally supposing that Silas P. Oates, who played the part of co-respondent in the divorce case...

"If you'd be a healthy sinner, Eat with judgment when at dinner, And remember with a shiver Man is governed by his liver; Viands rich and wine in plenty Spoil life's _dolce far...

"If you are my friend, I set you this task. Aid me to an end, If you are my friend, Your comradeship lend. This secret unmask. If you are my friend I set you this task."

"You say 'twas I! Indeed, sir, 'tis not so; My hands are innocent of this man's blood. Nay, never fear! I pardon what you say; Your judgment is misled by false report. Why! if y...

The diamond scarf-pin had been found on the terrace of Thornstream by Mrs. Belk, so the man to whom it belonged must have been there on the night of the murder, and the owner th...

She smiles she laughs! she talks of this and that-- To all appearances a very woman. Ah! but that phrase bears deep interpretation-- "A very woman" is a treacherous thing; Her s...

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth-- That, as I take it, is Bible-truth. You have robbed me of my good name; I will bring you to want and shame. Both are wicked, so both sha...

"The wisest of plans A letter upsets, The penny post bans The wisest of plans Tho' woman's tho' man's, And then one regrets The wisest of plans A letter upsets."

"'Tis ill work fighting in the dark, Though skilled you be in use of lance; A random thrust may stretch you sark, Though guided but by fickle chance. 'Tis wisest, then, to fight...

"I stand outside in the bitter night, And beat at the fast-closed door; 'Oh, let me in to the kindly light, Give back to me days of yore.' But an angel says, with a frowning bro...

"When things to outward view are smooth, 'Tis wisest to disturb them not. Restrain the prying eye of youth When things to outward view are smooth; For should ye seek to learn th...

"Who hath slain this man by guilt and fraud Bears on his brow, deep-seared and broad, The blood-red stain Which is mark of Cain, Unseen by man but beheld by God."

"'Tis very hard to play the game of life; For tho' you keep your eye upon the board, And move your puppets in well-thought-out ways, Just when the winning seems within your gras...

"Out of the night, and into the light, Comes the doer of evil deeds. Out of the light, and into the night, With a sin on his soul he speeds. But the hemp is sown, and the tree i...

Living at Thornstream was hardly very pleasant after the interview between Sir Rupert and his daughter. Everything went on just the same, but this very calmness was a foreboding...

'Neath the shining southern cross, News of gain and news of loss, Silver veining hidden rocks Changes hourly shares and stocks: By the magic power of shares, Paupers turn to mil...

"De Mortuis"--you know the phrase, I think; A kindly saying, such as poor humanity Mutters at times when talking of the dead; Therefore, I pray you, speak not any ill Of this po...

"If two ladies talk together, Be it fine or rainy weather, Subjects three you'll find they handle-- Love, sans diamonds and a carriage, Prospects of a wealthy marriage, Or the l...