The Little Nugget

'Taking duty' makes certain definite calls upon a man. He has to answer questions; break up fights; stop big boys bullying small boys; prevent small boys bullying smaller boys; check stone-throwing, going-on-the-wet-grass, worrying-the-cook, teasing-the-dog, making-too-much-noise, and, in particular, discourage all forms of hara-kiri such as tree-climbing, water-spout-scaling, leaning-too-far-out-of-the-window, sliding-down-the-banisters, pencil-swallowing, and ink-drinking-because-somebody-dared-me-to.

To think of a boy growing up in that tainted atmosphere—at his most impressionable age. It means death to any good there is in him.'
My mind was still grappling feebly with the legal aspect of the affair

If you ask an old soldier,' I said, 'he will tell you that

you ask an old soldier,' I said, 'he will tell you that a wound, long after it has healed, is apt to give you an occasional twinge

Was this mere sentimentalism, a four-in-the-morning tribute to the pathos of the flying years, or did she really fill my soul and stand guard over it so that no successor could enter in and usurp her place

And yet there remained something that made for uneasiness, a sort of foreboding at the back of my mind

but, as he had not been sober at the moment, he had missed any intellectual pleasure my acquaintanceship might have afforded him.

On subjects on which one feels deeply it is a relief to speak one's mind

Their position resembles that of the Ancient Mariner. 'Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink.' For 'water' in their case substitute 'money

Mrs Drassilis was a representative of a type I disliked. She was a widow, who had been left with what she considered insufficient means, and her outlook on life was a compound of greed and querulousness