United States or Switzerland ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
A dozen Indian rowers sat, two and two, in the fore part, with paddles three feet long in the form of spoons; and they kept very regular stroke by singing songs, which were of a somewhat sad and monotonous character. Our craft was so crank that one of us could not venture to lean over on one side unless we gave notice to balance the boat by inclining on the other.
After some minutes spent in wiping greasy pieces of steel which the chauffeur extracted, and subsequent ceaseless grinding on the crank, the engine started again, not without a series of protesting cracks like pistol shots.
But even as we waited with set teeth, our bows ground into the enemy's weather quarter-gallery. For the Richard's rigging was much cut away, and she was crank at best. So we backed and filled once more, passing the Englishman close aboard, himself being aback at the time. Several of his shot crushed through the bulwarks in front of me, shattering a nine-pounder and killing half of its crew.
A hand crank to make the fourth highest-power foghorn on the coast blow! I lost my patience. 'No ma'am, says I, 'a crank ain't necessary. I just put my mouth to the touch-hole, I says, 'and breathe natural and she chirrups. She believed it, too. I cal'late I'll catch thunder from Cap'n Jeth if he finds out what I told her, but I can't help it; there's limits, by Godfreys domino, limits!"
In proof of his words Bumpus speedily drew out the crooked bit of steel in question. "Here you are, Giraffe, like to like!" he sang out gaily, as he tossed his find toward the tall scout. "I s'pose that's as much as calling me a crank," muttered Giraffe; "but then, we'd take anything from you, Bumpus, just now, we feel so good after your splendid work."
But Jagienka was now thinking about something else; turning toward Zbyszko, she asked: "Then you killed the urus?" "Yes." "We must see where the arrow is." "You cannot see it; it disappeared under the shoulder bone." "Be quiet; do not dispute," said Zych. "We all saw him shoot the urus, and we saw something still better; he bent the bow without a crank."
These gifted writers portrayed, with varying technique and with singular differences in their instinctive choice of material, the dominant qualities of an isolated, in-bred race, still proud in its decline; still inquisitive and acquisitive, versatile yet stubborn, with thrift passing over into avarice, and mental power degenerating into smartness; cold and hard under long repression of emotion, yet capable of passion and fanaticism; at worst, a mere trader, a crank, a grim recluse; at best, endowed with an austere physical and moral beauty.
The third was an infernal machine, laid horizontally, to which the victim was bound; the machine then being placed between two beams, in which were scores of knives so fixed that, by turning the machine with a crank, the flesh of the sufferer was torn from his limbs, all in small pieces. The fourth surpassed the others in fiendish ingenuity.
Each of the boys had felt like exploding a dozen times. It was not until an hour after that any of them managed to get to sleep. When they came down in the morning the hotel clerk winked at them. "I'm not saying a word," he whispered. "But it served the old crank right. Even the boss is doing a little smiling, although he got quite a nip himself."
"I suppose these people expect you to go out for nothing," hinted Lieutenant Danvers. "Oh, yes, of course," nodded the shipbuilder. "But one can't be a crank, or a miser, when women are red-eyed and weeping from worry over their missing husbands and sons." There was a suspicion of moisture in Mr.
Word Of The Day