| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Ebb-Tide by Stevenson & Osbourne: let him look out! He struck me the first night aboard, and I
never took a blow yet but wot I gave as good. Let him knuckle
down on his marrow bones and beg my pardon. That's my last
word.'
'I stand by the Captain,' said Herrick. 'That makes us two to
one, both good men; and the crew will all follow me. I hope I
shall die very soon; but I have not the least objection to
killing you before I go. I should prefer it so; I should do it
with no more remorse than winking. Take care--take care, you
little cad!'
The animosity with which these words were uttered was so
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Tono Bungay by H. G. Wells: denied her countenance and presence. Usually she did something
"for his good" to him, made him go to church, made him give up
smoking or gambling, smartened him up. Quite at the end of the
story came a marriage, and after that the interest ceased.
That was the tenor of Marion's fiction; but I think the
work-table conversation at Smithie's did something to modify
that. At Smithie's it was recognised, I think, that a "fellow"
was a possession to be desired; that it was better to be engaged
to a fellow than not; that fellows had to be kept--they might be
mislaid, they might even be stolen. There was a case of stealing
at Smithie's, and many tears.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Tom Sawyer, Detective by Mark Twain: and 'most everybody in the house busted out wailing,
and crying, and saying, "Oh, it's awful--awful--
horrible! and there was a most tremendous excitement,
and you couldn't hear yourself think; and right in the
midst of it up jumps old Uncle Silas, white as a sheet,
and sings out:
"IT'S TRUE, EVERY WORD--I MURDERED HIM IN COLD BLOOD!"
By Jackson, it petrified them! People rose up wild all
over the house, straining and staring for a better look
at him, and the judge was hammering with his mallet
and the sheriff yelling "Order--order in the court--order!"
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