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?It is your system makes such children,? said...
Posted on Feb. 4, 2010 at 11:26 AM - Link
?It is your system makes such children,? said Miss Ophelia
?I know it; but they are made,?they exist,?and what is to be done with them??
?Well, I can?t say I thank you for the experimentBut, then, as it appears to be a duty, I shall persevere and try, and do the best I can,? said Miss Ophelia; and Miss Ophelia, after this, did labor, with a commendable degree of zeal and energy, on her new subjectShe instituted regular hours and employments for her, and undertook to teach her to read and sew
In the former art, the child was quick enoughShe learned her letters as if by magic, and was very soon able to read plain reading; but the sewing was a more difficult matterThe creature was as lithe as a cat, and as active as a monkey, and the confinement of sewing was her abomination; so she broke her needles, threw them slyly out of the window, or down in chinks of the walls; she tangled, broke, and dirtied her thread, or, with a sly movement, would throw a spool away altogetherHer motions were almost as quick as those of a practised conjurer, and her command of her face quite as great; and though Miss Ophelia could not help feeling that so many accidents could not possibly happen in succession, yet she could not, without a watchfulness which would leave her no time for anything else, detect her
Topsy was soon a noted character in the establishmentHer talent for every species of drollery, grimace, and mimicry,?for dancing, tumbling, climbing, singing, whistling, imitating every sound that hit her fancy,?seemed inexhaustibleIn her play-hours, she invariably had every child in the establishment at her heels, open-mouthed with admiration and wonder,?not excepting Miss Eva, who appeared to be fascinated by her wild diablerie, as a dove is sometimes charmed by a glittering serpentMiss Ophelia was uneasy that Eva should fancy Topsy?s society so much, and implored St
?Poh! let the child alone,? said St?Topsy will do her good
?But so depraved a child,?are you not afraid she will teach her some mischief??
?She can?t teach her mischief; she might teach it to some children, but evil rolls off Eva?s mind like dew off a cabbage-leaf,?not a drop sinks in
?Don?t be too sure,? said Miss Ophelia?I know I?d never let a child of mine play with Topsy
?Well, your children needn?t,? said StClare, ?but mine may; if Eva could have been spoiled, it would have been done years ago
Topsy was at first despised and contemned by the upper servantsThey soon found reason to alter their opinionIt was very soon discovered that whoever cast an indignity on Topsy was sure to meet with some inconvenient accident shortly after;?either a pair of ear-rings or some cherished trinket would be missing, or an article of dress would be suddenly found utterly ruined, or the person would stumble accidently into a pail of hot water, or a libation of dirty slop would unaccountably deluge them from above when in full gala dress;-and on all these occasions, when investigation was made, there was nobody found to stand sponsor for the indignityTopsy was cited, and had up before all the domestic judicatories, time and again; but always sustained her examinations with most edifying innocence and gravity of appearanceNobody in the world ever doubted who did the things; but not a scrap of any direct evidence could be found to establish the suppositions, and Miss Ophelia was too just to feel at liberty to proceed to any length without it
The mischiefs done were always so nicely timed, also, as further to shelter the aggressorThus, the times for revenge on Rosa and Jane, the two chamber maids, were always chosen in those seasons when (as not unfrequently happened) they were in disgrace with their mistress, when any complaint from them would of course meet with no sympathyIn short, Topsy soon made the household understand the propriety of letting her alone; and she was let alone, accordingly
Topsy was smart and energetic in all manual operations, learning everything that was taught her with surprising quicknessWith a few lessons, she had learned to do the proprieties of Miss Ophelia?s chamber in a way with which even that particular lady could find no faultMortal hands could not lay spread smoother, adjust pillows more accurately, sweep and dust and arrange more perfectly, than Topsy, when she chose,?but she didn?t very often chooseIf Miss Ophelia, after three or four days of careful patient supervision, was so sanguine as to suppose that Topsy had at last fallen into her way, could do without over-looking, and so go off and busy herself about something else, Topsy would hold a perfect carnival of confusion, for some one or two hoursInstead of making the bed, she would amuse herself with pulling off the pillowcases, butting her woolly head among the pillows, till it would sometimes be grotesquely ornamented with feathers sticking out in various directions; she would climb the posts, and hang head downward from the tops; flourish the sheets and spreads all over the apartment; dress the bolster up in Miss Ophelia?s night-clothes, and enact various performances with that,?singing and whistling, and making grimaces at herself in the looking-glass; in short, as Miss Ophelia phrased it, ?raising Cain? generally
On one occasion, Miss Ophelia found Topsy with her very best scarlet India Canton crape shawl wound round her head for a turban, going on with her rehearsals before the glass in great style,?Miss Ophelia having, with carelessness most unheard-of in her, left the key for once in her drawer
?Topsy!? she would say, when at the end of all patience, ?what does make you act so??
?Dunno, Missis,?I spects cause I ?s so wicked!?
?I don?t know anything what I shall do with you, Topsy
?Law, Missis, you must whip me; my old Missis allers whipped meI an?t used to workin? unless I gets whipped
?Why, Topsy, I don?t want to whip youYou can do well, if you?ve a mind to; what is the reason you won?t??
?Laws, Missis, I ?s used to whippin?; I spects it?s good for me
Miss Ophelia tried the recipe, and Topsy invariably made a terrible commotion, screaming, groaning and imploring, though half an hour afterwards, when roosted on some projection of the balcony, and surrounded by a flock of admiring ?young uns,? she would express the utmost contempt of the whole affair
?Law, Miss Feely whip!?wouldn?t kill a skeeter, her shop whippins
At that moment the remnant of my love passed into...
Posted on Feb. 3, 2010 at 11:24 AM - Link
At that moment the remnant of my love passed into hate and loathingHad she then to be killed, I could have done it with savage delightAs she looked, her eyes blazed with unholy light, and the face became wreathed with a voluptuous smileOh, God, how it made me shudder to see it! With a careless motion, she flung to the ground, callous as a devil, the child that up to now she had clutched strenuously to her breast, growling over it as a dog growls over a boneThe child gave a sharp cry, and lay there moaningThere was a cold-bloodedness in the act which wrung a groan from ArthurWhen she advanced to him with outstretched arms and a wanton smile he fell back and hid his face in his hands
She still advanced, however, and with a languorous, voluptuous grace, said, "Come to me, ArthurLeave these others and come to meMy arms are hungry for youCome, and we can rest togetherCome, my husband, come!"
There was something diabolically sweet in her tones, something of the tinkling of glass when struck, which rang through the brains even of us who heard the words addressed to another
As for Arthur, he seemed under a spell, moving his hands from his face, he opened wide his armsShe was leaping for them, when Van Helsing sprang forward and held between them his little golden crucifixShe recoiled from it, and, with a suddenly distorted face, full of rage, dashed past him as if to enter the tomb
When within a foot or two of the door, however, she stopped, as if arrested by some irresistible forceThen she turned, and her face was shown in the clear burst of moonlight and by the lamp, which had now no quiver from Van Helsing's nervesNever did I see such baffled malice on a face, and never, I trust, shall such ever be seen again by mortal eyesThe beautiful colour became livid, the eyes seemed to throw out sparks of hell fire, the brows were wrinkled as though the folds of flesh were the coils of Medusa's snakes, and the lovely, blood-stained mouth grew to an open square, as in the passion masks of the Greeks and JapaneseIf ever a face meant death, if looks could kill, we saw it at that moment
And so for full half a minute, which seemed an eternity, she remained between the lifted crucifix and the sacred closing of her means of entry
Van Helsing broke the silence by asking Arthur, "Answer me, oh my friend! Am I to proceed in my work?"
"Do as you will, friendThere can be no horror like this ever any more And he groaned in spirit
Quincey and I simultaneously moved towards him, and took his armsWe could hear the click of the closing lantern as Van Helsing held it downComing close to the tomb, he began to remove from the chinks some of the sacred emblem which he had placed thereWe all looked on with horrified amazement as we saw, when he stood back, the woman, with a corporeal body as real at that moment as our own, pass through the interstice where scarce a knife blade could have goneWe all felt a glad sense of relief when we saw the Professor calmly restoring the strings of putty to the edges of the door
When this was done, he lifted the child and said, "Come now, my friendsWe can do no more till tomorrowThere is a funeral at noon, so here we shall all come before long after thatThe friends of the dead will all be gone by two, and when the sexton locks the gate we shall remainThen there is more to do, but not like this of tonightAs for this little one, he is not much harmed, and by tomorrow night he shall be wellWe shall leave him where the police will find him, as on the other night, and then to home
Coming close to Arthur, he said, "My friend Arthur, you have had a sore trial, but after, when you look back, you will see how it was necessaryYou are now in the bitter waters, my childBy this time tomorrow you will, please God, have passed them, and have drunk of the sweet watersSo do not mourn shop over-much
There can be no horror like this ever any more...
Posted on Feb. 3, 2010 at 11:24 AM - Link
There can be no horror like this ever any more And he groaned in spirit
Quincey and I simultaneously moved towards him, and took his armsWe could hear the click of the closing lantern as Van Helsing held it downComing close to the tomb, he began to remove from the chinks some of the sacred emblem which he had placed thereWe all looked on with horrified amazement as we saw, when he stood back, the woman, with a corporeal body as real at that moment as our own, pass through the interstice where scarce a knife blade could have goneWe all felt a glad sense of relief when we saw the Professor calmly restoring the strings of putty to the edges of the door
When this was done, he lifted the child and said, "Come now, my friendsWe can do no more till tomorrowThere is a funeral at noon, so here we shall all come before long after thatThe friends of the dead will all be gone by two, and when the sexton locks the gate we shall remainThen there is more to do, but not like this of tonightAs for this little one, he is not much harmed, and by tomorrow night he shall be wellWe shall leave him where the police will find him, as on the other night, and then to home
Coming close to Arthur, he said, "My friend Arthur, you have had a sore trial, but after, when you look back, you will see how it was necessaryYou are now in the bitter waters, my childBy this time tomorrow you will, please God, have passed them, and have drunk of the sweet watersSo do not mourn over-muchTill then I shall not ask you to forgive me
Arthur and Quincey came home with me, and we tried to cheer each other on the wayWe had left behind the child in safety, and were tiredSo we all slept with more or less reality of sleep
29 September, night-A little before twelve o'clock we three, Arthur, Quincey Morris, and myself, called for the ProfessorIt was odd to notice that by common consent we had all put on black clothesOf course, Arthur wore black, for he was in deep mourning, but the rest of us wore it by instinctWe got to the graveyard by half-past one, and strolled about, keeping out of official observation, so that when the gravediggers had completed their task and the sexton, under the belief that every one had gone, had locked the gate, we had the place all to ourselvesVan Helsing, instead of his little black bag, had with him a long leather one, something like a cricketing bagIt was manifestly of fair weight
When we were alone and had heard the last of the footsteps die out up the road, we silently, and as if by ordered intention, followed the Professor to the tombHe unlocked the door, and we entered, closing it behind usThen he took from his bag the lantern, which he lit, and also two wax candles, which, when lighted, he stuck by melting their own ends, on other coffins, so that they might give light sufficient to work byWhen he again lifted the lid off Lucy's coffin we all looked, Arthur trembling like an aspen, and saw that the corpse lay there in all its death beautyBut there was no love in my own heart, nothing but loathing for the foul Thing which had taken Lucy's shape without her soulI could see even Arthur's face grow hard as he lookedPresently he said to Van Helsing, "Is this really Lucy's body, or only a demon in her shape?"
"It is her body, and yet not itBut wait a while, and you shall see her as she was, and is
She seemed like a nightmare of Lucy as she lay there, the pointed teeth, the blood stained, voluptuous mouth, which made one shudder to see, the whole carnal and unspirited appearance, seeming like a devilish mockery of Lucy's sweet purityVan Helsing, with his usual methodicalness, began taking the various contents from his bag and placing them ready for useFirst he took out a soldering iron and some plumbing solder, and then small oil lamp, which gave out, when lit in a corner of the tomb, gas which burned at a fierce heat with a blue flame, then his operating knives, which he placed to hand, and last a round wooden stake, some two and a half or three inches thick and about three feet shop long
The lake lay in rosy or golden streaks, save...
Posted on Feb. 2, 2010 at 11:27 AM - Link
The lake lay in rosy or golden streaks, save where white-winged vessels glided hither and thither, like so many spirits, and little golden stars twinkled through the glow, and looked down at themselves as they trembled in the water
Tom and Eva were seated on a little mossy seat, in an arbor, at the foot of the gardenIt was Sunday evening, and Eva?s Bible lay open on her kneeShe read,??And I saw a sea of glass, mingled with fire
?Tom,? said Eva, suddenly stopping, and pointing to the lake, ?there ?t is
?What, Miss Eva??
?Don?t you see,?there?? said the child, pointing to the glassy water, which, as it rose and fell, reflected the golden glow of the sky?There?s a ?sea of glass, mingled with fire?
?True enough, Miss Eva,? said Tom; and Tom sang?
?O, had I the wings of the morning,
I?d fly away to Canaan?s shore;
Bright angels should convey me home,
To the new Jerusalem
?Where do you suppose new Jerusalem is, Uncle Tom?? said Eva
?O, up in the clouds, Miss Eva
?Then I think I see it,? said Eva?Look in those clouds!?they look like great gates of pearl; and you can see beyond them?far, far off?it?s all goldTom, sing about ?spirits bright?
Tom sung the words of a well-known Methodist hymn,
?I see a band of spirits bright,
That taste the glories there;
They all are robed in spotless white,
And conquering palms they bear
?Uncle Tom, I?ve seen them,? said Eva
Tom had no doubt of it at all; it did not surprise him in the leastIf Eva had told him she had been to heaven, he would have thought it entirely probable
?They come to me sometimes in my sleep, those spirits;? and Eva?s eyes grew dreamy, and she hummed, in a low voice,
?They are all robed in spotless white,
And conquering palms they bear
?Uncle Tom,? said Eva, ?I?m going there
?Where, Miss Eva??
The child rose, and pointed her little hand to the sky; the glow of evening lit her golden hair and flushed cheek with a kind of unearthly radiance, and her eyes were bent earnestly on the skies
?I?m going there,? she said, ?to the spirits bright, Tom; I?m going, before long
The faithful old heart felt a sudden thrust; and Tom thought how often he had noticed, within six months, that Eva?s little hands had grown thinner, and her skin more transparent, and her breath shorter; and how, when she ran or played in the garden, as she once could for hours, she became soon so tired and languidHe had heard Miss Ophelia speak often of a cough, that all her medicaments could not cure; and even now that fervent cheek and little hand were burning with hectic fever; and yet the thought that Eva?s words suggested had never come to him till now
Has there ever been a child like Eva? Yes, there have been; but their names are always on grave-stones, and their sweet smiles, their heavenly eyes, their singular words and ways, are among the buried treasures of yearning heartsIn how many families do you hear the legend that all the goodness and graces of the living are nothing to the peculiar charms of one who is notIt is as if heaven had an especial band of angels, whose office it was to sojourn for a season here, and endear to them the wayward human heart, that they might bear it upward with them in their homeward flightWhen you see that deep, spiritual light in the eye,?when the little soul reveals itself in words sweeter and wiser than the ordinary words of children,?hope not to retain that child; for the seal of heaven is on it, and the light of immortality looks out from its eyes
Even so, beloved Eva! fair star of thy dwelling! Thou are passing away; but they that love thee dearest know it not
The colloquy between Tom and Eva was interrupted by a hasty call from Miss Ophelia
?Eva?Eva!?why, child, the dew is falling; you mustn?t be out there!?
Eva and Tom hastened in
Miss Ophelia was old, and skilled in the tactics of nursingShe was from New England, and knew well the first guileful footsteps of that soft, insidious disease, which sweeps away so many of the fairest and loveliest, and, before one fibre of life seems broken, seals them irrevocably for death
She had noted the slight, dry cough, the daily brightening cheek; nor could the lustre of the eye, and the airy buoyancy born of fever, deceive her
She tried to communicate her fears to StClare; but he threw back her suggestions with a restless petulance, unlike his usual careless good-humor
?Don?t be croaking, Cousin,?I hate it!? he would say; ?don?t you see that the child is only growingChildren always lose strength when they grow fast
?But she has that cough!?
?O! nonsense of that cough!?it is not anythingShe has taken a little cold, perhaps
?Well, that was just the way Eliza Jane was taken, and Ellen and Maria shop Sanders
I went through the door in the corner and down...
Posted on Feb. 1, 2010 at 11:37 AM - Link
I went through the door in the corner and down the winding stair and along the dark passage to the old chapelI knew now well enough where to find the monster I sought
The great box was in the same place, close against the wall, but the lid was laid on it, not fastened down, but with the nails ready in their places to be hammered home
I knew I must reach the body for the key, so I raised the lid, and laid it back against the wallAnd then I saw something which filled my very soul with horrorThere lay the Count, but looking as if his youth had been half restoredFor the white hair and moustache were changed to dark iron-greyThe cheeks were fuller, and the white skin seemed ruby-red underneathThe mouth was redder than ever, for on the lips were gouts of fresh blood, which trickled from the corners of the mouth and ran down over the chin and neckEven the deep, burning eyes seemed set amongst swollen flesh, for the lids and pouches underneath were bloatedIt seemed as if the whole awful creature were simply gorged with bloodHe lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his repletion
I shuddered as I bent over to touch him, and every sense in me revolted at the contact, but I had to search, or I was lostThe coming night might see my own body a banquet in a similar war to those horrid threeI felt all over the body, but no sign could I find of the keyThen I stopped and looked at the CountThere was a mocking smile on the bloated face which seemed to drive me madThis was the being I was helping to transfer to London, where, perhaps, for centuries to come he might, amongst its teeming millions, satiate his lust for blood, and create a new and ever-widening circle of semi-demons to batten on the helpless
The very thought drove me madA terrible desire came upon me to rid the world of such a monsterThere was no lethal weapon at hand, but I seized a shovel which the workmen had been using to fill the cases, and lifting it high, struck, with the edge downward, at the hateful faceBut as I did so the head turned, and the eyes fell upon me, with all their blaze of basilisk horrorThe sight seemed to paralyze me, and the shovel turned in my hand and glanced from the face, merely making a deep gash above the foreheadThe shovel fell from my hand across the box, and as I pulled it away the flange of the blade caught the edge of the lid which fell over again, and hid the horrid thing from my sightThe last glimpse I had was of the bloated face, blood-stained and fixed with a grin of malice which would have held its own in the nethermost hell
I thought and thought what should be my next move, but my brain seemed on fire, and I waited with a despairing feeling growing over meAs I waited I heard in the distance a gipsy song sung by merry voices coming closer, and through their song the rolling of heavy wheels and the cracking of whipsThe Szgany and the Slovaks of whom the Count had spoken were comingWith a last look around and at the box which contained the vile body, I ran from the place and gained the Count's room, determined to rush out at the moment the door should be openedWith strained ears, I listened, and heard downstairs the grinding of the key in the great lock and the falling back of the heavy doorThere must have been some other means of entry, or some one had a key for one of the locked doors
Then there came the sound of many feet tramping and dying away in some passage which sent up a clanging echoI turned to run down again towards the vault, where I might find the new entrance, but at the moment there seemed to come a violent puff of wind, and the door to the winding stair blew to with a shock that set the dust from the lintels flyingWhen I ran to push it open, I found that it was hopelessly fastI was again a prisoner, and the net of doom was closing round me more closely
As I write there is in the passage below a sound of many tramping feet and the crash of weights being set down heavily, doubtless the boxes, with their freight of earthThere was a sound of hammeringIt is the box being nailed downNow I can hear the heavy feet tramping again along the hall, with many other idle feet coming behind them
The door is shut, the chains shop rattle
I?ve been on this place five years, body and...
Posted on Jan. 31, 2010 at 8:02 PM - Link
I?ve been on this place five years, body and soul, under this man?s foot; and I hate him as I do the devil! Here you are, on a lone plantation, ten miles from any other, in the swamps; not a white person here, who could testify, if you were burned alive,?if you were scalded, cut into inch-pieces, set up for the dogs to tear, or hung up and whipped to deathThere?s no law here, of God or man, that can do you, or any one of us, the least good; and, this man! there?s no earthly thing that he?s too good to doI could make any one?s hair rise, and their teeth chatter, if I should only tell what I?ve seen and been knowing to, here,?and it?s no use resisting! Did I want to live with him? Wasn?t I a woman delicately bred; and he,?God in heaven! what was he, and is he? And yet, I?ve lived with him, these five years, and cursed every moment of my life,?night and day! And now, he?s got a new one,?a young thing, only fifteen, and she brought up, she says, piouslyHer good mistress taught her to read the Bible; and she?s brought her Bible here?to hell with her!??and the woman laughed a wild and doleful laugh, that rung, with a strange, supernatural sound, through the old ruined shed
Tom folded his hands; all was darkness and horror
?O Jesus! Lord Jesus! have you quite forgot us poor critturs?? burst forth, at last;??help, Lord, I perish!?
The woman sternly continued:
?And what are these miserable low dogs you work with, that you should suffer on their account? Every one of them would turn against you, the first time they got a chanceThey are all of ?em as low and cruel to each other as they can be; there?s no use in your suffering to keep from hurting them
?Poor critturs!? said Tom,??what made ?em cruel??and, if I give out, I shall get used to ?t, and grow, little by little, just like ?em! No, no, Missis! I?ve lost everything,?wife, and children, and home, and a kind Mas?r,?and he would have set me free, if he?d only lived a week longer; I?ve lost everything in this world, and it?s clean gone, forever,?and now I can?t lose Heaven, too; no, I can?t get to be wicked, besides all!?
?But it can?t be that the Lord will lay sin to our account,? said the woman; ?he won?t charge it to us, when we?re forced to it; he?ll charge it to them that drove us to it
?Yes,? said Tom; ?but that won?t keep us from growing wickedIf I get to be as hard-hearted as that ar? Sambo, and as wicked, it won?t make much odds to me how I come so; it?s the bein? so,?that ar?s what I?m a dreadin?
The woman fixed a wild and startled look on Tom, as if a new thought had struck her; and then, heavily groaning, said,
?O God a? mercy! you speak the truth! O?O?O!??and, with groans, she fell on the floor, like one crushed and writhing under the extremity of mental anguish
There was a silence, a while, in which the breathing of both parties could be heard, when Tom faintly said, ?O, please, Missis!?
The woman suddenly rose up, with her face composed to its usual stern, melancholy expression
?Please, Missis, I saw ?em throw my coat in that ar? corner, and in my coat-pocket is my Bible;?if Missis would please get it for me
Cassy went and got itTom opened, at once, to a heavily marked passage, much worn, of the last scenes in the life of Him by whose stripes we are healed
?If Missis would only be so good as read that ar?,?it?s better than water
Cassy took the book, with a dry, proud air, and looked over the passageShe then read aloud, in a soft voice, and with a beauty of intonation that was peculiar, that touching account of anguish and of gloryOften, as she read, her voice faltered, and sometimes failed her altogether, when she would stop, with an air of frigid composure, till she had mastered herselfWhen she came to the touching words, ?Father forgive them, for they know not what they do,? she threw down the book, and, burying her face in the heavy masses of her hair, she sobbed aloud, with a convulsive violence
Tom was weeping, also, and occasionally uttering a smothered ejaculation
?If we only could keep up to that ar?!? said Tom;??it seemed to come so natural to him, and we have to fight so hard for ?t! O Lord, help us! O blessed Lord Jesus, do help us!?
?Missis,? said Tom, after a while, ?I can see that, some how, you?re quite ?bove me in everything; but there?s one thing Missis might learn even from poor TomYe said the Lord took sides against us, because he lets us be ?bused and knocked round; but ye see what come on his own Son,?the blessed Lord of Glory,?wan?t he allays poor? and have we, any on us, yet come so low as he come? The Lord han?t forgot us,?I?m sartin? o? that ar?If we suffer with him, we shall also reign, Scripture says; but, if we deny Him, he also will deny usDidn?t they all suffer??the Lord and all his? It tells how they was stoned and sawn asunder, and wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, and was destitute, afflicted, tormentedSufferin? an?t no reason to make us think the Lord?s turned agin us; but jest the contrary, if only we hold on to him, and doesn?t give up to sin
?But why does he put us where we can?t help but sin?? said the woman
?I think we can help it,? said Tom
?You?ll see,? said Cassy; ?what?ll you do? Tomorrow they?ll be at you againI know ?em; I?ve seen all their doings; I can?t bear to think of all they?ll bring you to;?and they?ll make you give out, at last!?
?Lord Jesus!? said Tom, ?you will take care of my soul? O Lord, do!?don?t let me give out!?
?O dear!? said Cassy; ?I?ve heard all this crying and praying before; and yet, they?ve been broken down, and brought underThere?s Emmeline, she?s trying to hold on, and you?re trying,?but what use? You must give up, or be killed by inches
?Well, then, I will die!? said Tom?Spin it out as long as they can, they can?t help my dying, some time!?and, after that, they can?t do no moreI?m clar, I?m set! I know the Lord?ll help me, and bring me through
The woman did not answer; she sat with her black eyes intently fixed on the floor
?May be it?s the way,? she murmured to herself; ?but those that have given up, there?s no hope for them!?none! We live in filth, and grow loathsome, till we loathe ourselves! And we long to die, and we don?t dare to kill ourselves!?No hope! no hope! no hope??this girl now,?just as old as I was!
?You see me now,? she said, speaking to Tom very rapidly; ?see what I am! Well, I was brought up in luxury; the first I remember is, playing about, when I was a child, in splendid parlors,?when I was kept dressed up like a doll, and company and visitors used to praise meThere was a garden opening from the saloon windows; and there I used to play hide-and-go-seek, under the orange-trees, with my brothers and sistersI went to a convent, and there I learned music, French and embroidery, and what not; and when I was fourteen, I came out to my father?s funeralHe died very suddenly, and when the property came to be settled, they found that there was scarcely enough to cover the debts; and when the creditors took an inventory of the property, I was set down in itMy mother was a slave woman, and my father had always meant to set me free; but he had not done it, and so I was set down in the shop list
Hello, my account friends
Posted on Jan. 31, 2010 at 8:02 PM - Link
Welcome to my first blog
Beijing May Face Waste Crisis in Four Years
China's capital city Beijing may face "garbage crisis" in four years, if no more waste disposal facilities to be built in time, the city's municipal administration warned on Tuesday.
The volume of trash in the capital city is growing by 8 percent annually. 90 percent of garbage is buried in landfills, officials with the city's commission supervising cityscape told Chinanews.com.
Beijing, with a population of about 20 million, currently generates 18,000 tons of trash every day and the designed capacity of its garbage disposal plants is 11,000 tons each, which are already overloaded.
"If new garbage disposal facilities can't be built in time, Beijing will have to face a big challenge brought by the soaring volume of waste in four years. Incineration is a significant solution to solve the problem for Beijing, a city short of land resources," said the commission's officials.
However, incineration is seldom used in the city due to the objection from the public, most of whom feared the pollution the incineration may generate, according to the commission.
Wang Xiaohong, a professor from Guangzhou University's College of Environment Science and Engineering said that it is not a technical problem any more to incinerate all the garbage. The new solution for waste disposal has proved efficient in recent years, but deficient management and publicity led to the lack of the public's support, he added.
Wang Weiping, vice general engineer from Beijing's cityscape watchdog, admitted that the key point for popularizing incineration is to improve the supervision over the implementation of the measures designed to contain the pollution of the refuse destructor plants.
Wang Weiping suggested to battle the emerging crisis, more efforts be made to reassure the public of the safety and efficiency of incineration.
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