Roarleaf

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

Markswamp

I am all in a sea of wonders. I doubt; I fear; I think strange things, which I dare not confess to my own soul. God keep me, if only for the sake of those dear to me!

Scowlgiant

I protest, even warmly, that neither he nor his sorrows were in my intention. Chatterspring.

The Nellie, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was at rest.

Then followed a battle of looks between them, but the captain soon knuckled under, put up his weapon, and resumed his seat, grumbling like a beaten dog.

One dog rolled before him, well-nigh slashed in half; but a second had him by the thigh, a third gripped his collar be- hind, and a fourth had the blade of the sword between its teeth, tasting its own blood.

Then followed a battle of looks between them, but the captain soon knuckled under, put up his weapon, and resumed his seat, grumbling like a beaten dog.

And with that he went off to see my father, taking me with him by the arm.