The Green Curve and Other Stories |
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Common terms and phrases
all-fours appearance army attack bandoliers Basutoland Beelzebub Blaythwate bridge bugler Cannon Street Captain centre Chief of Staff close colour-sergeant coloured Commander convoy course curve dark Donkerstad dust enemy enemy's eyes face feel Field-Marshal fighting fire Fitten flash force front garrison Glen Tilt gray guns hand head heard hill hollow horses James knew light listen looked matter miles mind minutes night noise officer once Orle Oudtshoorn parapet pile-driver plumb-bob Quartermaster-Sergeant rails railway rattle reply rifle round RUDYARD KIPLING sappers seemed seen sentry sergeant shell shooting shout showed side silence Simkin sleeper smoke soldiers sound spot stood stopped tarpaulin tell Theron thing thought toothbrush moustache train trucks turned veldt VEUVE CLICQUOT voice wagon wait whistle whole wind wire Wolfe yards
Popular passages
Page 133 - The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor. A dreadful sound is in his ears: in prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him.
Page 169 - And lately, by the Tavern Door agape, Came shining through the Dusk an Angel Shape Bearing a Vessel on his Shoulder; and He bid me taste of it; and 'twas — the Grape!
Page 283 - Play up! play up! and play the game! " This is the word that year by year, While in her place the School is set, Every one of her sons must hear, And none that hears it dare forget. This they all with a joyful mind Bear through life like a torch in flame, And falling fling to the host behind — " Play up! play up! and play the game!
Page 120 - Hush ye, hush ye, little pet ye, Hush ye, hush ye, do not fret ye, The Black Douglas shall not get ye.
Page 76 - I can't see anything except the flashes which appear just where the trenches are," replied a second. " Yes, of course, that's their game ! D'you see that red and white farm ? " " Yes." " Above that there's some water." " Yes." " Above that, still more to the left, on that hump covered with " " Yes, yes, I have them now ; I should say there were more than twenty. They don't seem to be entrenched either ; but it is hard to tell on that background.
Page 74 - The few fleecy clouds floating lazily in the sky here and there cast vague shadows, which slowly moved over hill and dale. The white walls and shining roofs of the homesteads dotted about stood out gleaming in the sunlight, and these, with the patches of woodland, caught the eye and assisted in some estimation of distance, otherwise impossible upon the variegated background with its network of hedges.
Page 87 - He is unshaven, and his face is pale and drawn ; he appears worn out as he sips slowly from the cup of his flask, but as his senior approaches, he rises, salutes and listens attentively to his somewhat lengthy instructions. He is an exceptionally slight man, and his general air of fatigue is explained by the fact that he has been observing from the balloon for the past three hours : the dark rings under his eyes show where the constant strain has most told. In spite of this he is again to go up in...
Page 86 - ... the hills where something seems to excite his apprehension, for he converses earnestly with the staff officer. After a moment's conference, the latter beckons up an orderly to whom he gives a message, with the result that four range-finders commence to take the range of the poplar-tree, the top half of which is visible above that hill on the east The wind increases. The distant balloons are already gradually descending, and a message shortly comes down from the observer above that it is too windy...
Page 199 - Well have they done their duty even against the eleven-inch shell, until the end came. Now, some of the openings facing the rear or gorge of the fortress are sealed to the top with fallen earth and pulverized rock, some are only partially closed by the landslide from the parapet over them, their cracked arches still standing. With a sickening feeling thought turns to the men within them at the moment of the cataclysm, possibly snatching a few moments' rest, the majority, in all probability, sick...
Page 83 - ... all the more brilliantly. The two farthest off are coming down — there is no doubt about it — and at last the nearer one seems lower. Yes, it is ! Down, down it sinks. When it is quite close to the ground he waves to a signaller behind the road, who passes on the message, and so back it goes to the waiting brigade. He crawls behind the hedge, to watch, for a moment, the range-takers, who have been up here for the past half-hour, and who have taken and checked and rechecked the range to the...