‘Me vewy sorry,’ she wrote. ‘Me all messy with sorrowness. O poor parson, your Helper is vewy miserable. May things be as before? Will ‘oo forget and forgive, and let everything be nicey-nicey again? Fvom your wicked little Helper who hates herself.’ ‘What docket shall I put on them?’ she asked.{270} ‘No, but we must try to be friends now.’ The boys swung their hats and gave the three cheers. A lamp-stand with three lamps. One was octagonal, and on the top of an upright stick; the others were oval, and hung at the ends of a horizontal bar of metal. Each lantern bore an inscription in Japanese. It was painted on the paper of which all the lanterns were composed; and as the light shone through, the letters were plainly to be seen. They were more visible than readable to our friends, as may be readily inferred. HANDCART FOR A QUARTETTE. HANDCART FOR A QUARTETTE. My thanks were few and awkward, for there still hung to the missive a basting thread, and it was as warm as a nestling bird. I bent low--everybody was emotional in those days--kissed the fragrant thing, thrust it into my bosom, and blushed worse than Camille. "Oh, I don't doubt you have; though I didn't know but it might be Charlie Toliver or something." "No, except that it was through--" "You tell me I risked my life to save yours; I risked more than life, and I risked it for more than to save yours. Yet I did not save your life; you saved it, yourself, and--" here her low tone thrilled like a harp-string--"you risked it--frightfully--at that bridge--merely to save the promise you made me that you need not have made at all--oh, you needn't shake your head; I know." "I don't know." The thin voice sounded like someone shouting in the distance. "How should I know? It's all so difficult. But don't make it more difficult than you can help. Keep smiling—laughter—such a jolly little world." The flowing tide of satin and silks and lace sweeping up the staircase swept young Gordon Bruce along. He passed through the glittering rooms faint with the perfume of roses. There was a dim corridor full of flowers and shaded lights. Gordon Bruce looked anxiously about him. A glad light came into his eyes.
Lawrence modestly disclaimed the compliment. As a strong romantic writer he found a fascination in crimes of this kind; indeed, he boasted that practically all his living dramas were founded on life. He had a wonderful faculty for tracing the motive of a crime Many a useful hint had he given to Scotland Yard. "Get on," the manager said impatiently, "Get on." A liveried servant looking into the darkened room murmured that Dr. Bruce had arrived. Bruce came in with his softest professional manner. He was sorry to hear that anything was wrong, he asked a great many pertinent questions. His keen intellect had not quite come back to him, he was still suffering from the effects of the drug. He had been robbed just at the moment when everything seemed to be going in his favour. His vanity was touched. Hetty laughed. It was past eleven, and Lawrence was going down to his club for an hour. The little girl had been a bit more fretful than usual. A pair of spring calipers will illustrate this principle. The points are always steady, because the spring acting continually in one direction compensates the loose play that may be in the screw. In a train of tooth wheels there is always more or less play between the teeth; and unless the wheels always revolve in one direction, and have some constant resistance offered to their motion, 'backlash' or irregular movement will take place; but if there is some constant and uniform resistance such as a spring would impart, a train of wheels will transmit the slightest motion throughout. I also met there a compatriot, who had got permission to go to The Netherlands, but declined to leave. She was Mrs. de Villers, née Borret. On August 27th I wrote about her to De Tijd:— "Louvain, The first result of this separation between man and the world was a complete breach with the old physical philosophy, shown, on the one hand, by an abandonment of speculative studies, on the other, by a substitution of convention for Nature as the recognised standard of right. Both consequences were drawn by Protagoras, the most eminent of the Sophists. We have now to consider more particularly what was his part in the great drama of which we are attempting to give an intelligible account. I. Dear Daddy,
On the threshold I was desired to take off my shoes, because I was going into the presence of a holy man. As I crossed the forecourt fresh and ferocious shouts rang out; a curtain was lifted, and in a room scarcely lighted by a tiny window, the air thick with smoke, I could just make out a number of men, all standing, very excited, gesticulating wildly, and once more they shouted their savage cry. “I don’t know,” Jeff spoke dubiously, uncertainly. “We’ve gone over all the things we can think of that might go wrong—but——” “You’ve twisted things that happened to fit what you wanted to believe,” argued Larry. “Well, then, let that go. But—he chews gum and there’s gum stuck all over in this amphibian—he’s been here, nights——” “Did you think of that?” 205 The automobile contest generally follows a course where watchers have vantage points for gathering. He traced the wires down into the metal, asbestos-lined sheathing cable, and was still not enlightened about the discovery. It was not necessary to have two wires. One was heavy enough for the hundred-and-ten volt current that came in from the mains. “How?” Dick amended. Behind the other pilot sat one of the Sky Patrol, at the mercy of a devilishly minded adversary, and he was as helpless to save himself as Larry and Dick were to aid him! The Indians who came round talked with her amicably enough, mainly by signs. She played with the children too, and one day there appeared among them her protégé of the post, who thereafter became a camp follower. But there was no night alarm, and at daybreak it began to be apparent to the troops that they had been led directly away from all chance of one. They made[Pg 121] fires, ate their breakfast, resaddled, and took their way back to the settlements, doubling on their own trail. They came upon signs of a yet larger band, and it was more probable than ever that the valley had been in danger.
"Yes," answered Forbes, "she was very much admired." He looked a little unhappy. But his mind was evidently made up, and he went on doggedly: "Look here, Morely, old chap, I am going to tell you what I think, and you may do as you jolly well please about it afterward—kick me off the ranch, if you like. But I can see these things with a clearer eye than yours, because I am not in love, and you are, dreadfully so, you know, not to say infatuated. I came near to being once upon a time, and with your wife, too. I thought her the most beautiful woman I had ever known, and I do yet. I thought, too, that she was a good deal unhappier with Landor than she herself realized; in which I was perfectly right. It's plainer than ever, by contrast. Of course I understand that she is part Indian, though I've only known it recently. And it's because I've seen a good deal of your Apaches of late that I appreciate the injustice you are doing her and Cairness Junior, keeping them here. She is far and away too good for all this," he swept the scene comprehensively with his pipe. "She'd be a sensation, even in London. Do you see what I mean, or are you too vexed to see anything?" GREAT SEAL OF GEORGE III. "They're coming again," called out Capt. McGillicuddy. "Lieut. Bowersox, look out there for the left. Men, if we haven't stopped them when we've fired out last shot, we'll fix bayonets and charge them. We must keep them off this hill or die right here." Nothing more was needed for the crowd that had followed up the squad, anticipating a raid. Bottles, demijohns and kegs were smashed, the cigars and tobacco snatched up, and the place thoroughly wrecked in a few minutes. "So's Si. I sinserely hoap that you are injoyin' the An irregular volley burnt out in the blackness beyond. The bullets sang around much closer than before, and several of them struck near Si, one landing in the leaves and moss directly in front of him, and throwing a wet sprinkle in his face.
"No, no," said Sandy Baker, desperately. "It's just that blame fool Pete. Come on! Come on! We've got to. We were ordered to. Le's make a rush for it, like the men in the Indian stories done when they was sent for water." "... I ... can't...." He managed to get two words out before the whirlpool sucked him down again, the reasonless, causeless whirlpool of grief and terror, his body shaking, his mouth wide open and calling in broken sounds, the tears as hot as metal marking his face as his eyes squeezed shut. But Dara could not die. But the planet had natives on it already. The natives were called Alberts, and here is a picture of them. Aren't they funny-looking? Reuben could not understand how his sons could care so little about that which was all things to him. He had brought them up to his ambitions—they were not like Naomi, thrust into them in later, less-impressionable years. He had not been weak with them, and not been cruel—yet only Pete was at all satisfactory. However, he was not the man to sit down and despair before his obstacles. He made the best of things as they were—ground[Pg 138] work out of his lads, since he could not grind enthusiasm, and trusted to the future to stir up a greater hope. He somehow could not believe that his boys could go through all their lives not caring for Odiam. "Wot's that—in themselves?" Rose did not talk much, but she ate heartily—she must be as healthy as she looked. Once or twice during the meal Reuben caught himself staring at her lips—they were extraordinarily red, and at the end of the meal the juice of her pudding had stained them purple. He sat on a stool at the foot of Brindle's stall, and watched her as she lay there, slobbering her straw. His face was grim and furrowed, lines scored it from nose to mouth and across the forehead; his hair was damp and rough on his temples, his eyes were dull with sleeplessness. Chapter 13 "What! Sudley Castle?" asked Black Jack and Turner, at once.Xi extends condolences over Hong Kong building fire, urges all-out rescue efforts to minimize losses
(Xinhua) 08:02, November 27, 2025
BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday extended condolences over a deadly residential building fire in Hong Kong, which killed at least 13 people.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, expressed sympathy to the families of the victims and those affected by the disaster. He urged all-out efforts to extinguish the fire and minimize casualties and losses.
In the wake of the fire, Xi attached great importance to the accident and immediately sought updates on the rescue efforts and casualties.
Xi instructed the director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to convey his condolences and sympathies to HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee.
He required the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the CPC Central Committee and the liaison office to support the HKSAR government in making all-out efforts to put out the fire, do everything possible in search and rescue, treat the injured, and comfort the victims' families.
(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Du Mingming)
China releases white paper on arms control in new era
(Xinhua) 10:19, November 27, 2025
BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's State Council Information Office on Thursday released a white paper titled "China's Arms Control, Disarmament, and Nonproliferation in the New Era."
The white paper said that China plays a constructive role in international arms control, disarmament, and nonproliferation, and actively offers its initiatives and solutions.
China has been and will always be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order, it said.
The white paper was released to comprehensively present China's policies and practices on arms control, disarmament, and nonproliferation, and its position on security governance in emerging fields such as outer space, cyberspace, and artificial intelligence.
It was also to restate China's commitment to safeguarding world peace and security, and to call on countries around the world to work together for international arms control.
The white paper noted that China is committed to upholding the international arms control regime with the United Nations (UN) at its core. It works to promote global governance in arms control, supports all efforts to build a world of lasting peace and common security, and serves as a key promoter of international arms control.
It also noted that as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has actively safeguarded the authority and effectiveness of the international arms control regime, played a constructive role in multilateral arms control in the nuclear, biological, chemical and other fields, and conscientiously performed its duties prescribed by international arms control treaties, making its due contribution to international arms control.
Emerging fields such as outer space, cyberspace, and AI represent new frontiers for human development. They create a new focus of strategic security, and new territories of global governance, the white paper pointed out.
China proposes that with the universal participation of all countries, the UN should play a pivotal role in fostering a global governance framework and standards for emerging fields based on broad consensus, while increasing the representation and voice of developing countries, it added.
The white paper stressed that China continues to build its domestic nonproliferation capacity, actively participating in the international nonproliferation process, promoting international cooperation on peaceful uses of science and technology, and facilitating the improvement of global nonproliferation governance.
Chinese modernization follows the path of peaceful development, and China's growth contributes to the growth of the world's peaceful forces. China stands ready to work with all peace-loving countries to build an equal and orderly multipolar world and promote universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. It will consolidate and develop the UN-centered international arms control regime, work with all parties to build a community with a shared future for humanity, and create a brighter future for all, according to the white paper.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said the atmosphere of the phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday was "positive, friendly, and constructive."
At a regular press briefing on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning confirmed that the U.S. side had initiated the call. She noted that since the start of President Trump's second term, the two leaders have maintained frequent communication.
Mao said the two heads of state exchanged views on issues of mutual concern, stressing that such communication is vital for the stable development of China鈥揢.S. relations.
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