The Ball and the Cross

Коллекция текстов · novel

The Ball and the Cross
I. A DISCUSSION SOMEWHAT IN THE AIR II. THE RELIGION OF THE STIPENDIARY MAGISTRATE III. SOME OLD CURIOSITIES IV. A DISCUSSION AT DAWN V. TH…
I. A Discussion Somewhat in the Air (1)
The flying ship of Professor Lucifer sang through the skies like a silver arrow; the bleak white steel of it, gleaming in the bleak blue em…
I. A Discussion Somewhat in the Air (2)
Father Michael in spite of his years, and in spite of his asceticism (or because of it, for all I know), was a very healthy and happy old g…
II. The Religion of the Stipendiary Magistrate (1)
The editorial office of The Atheist had for some years past become less and less prominently interesting as a feature of Ludgate Hill. The…
II. The Religion of the Stipendiary Magistrate (2)
“Might I suggest,” he said, “That I, your worship, can settle to some extent this absurd matter myself. This rather wild gentleman promises…
III. Some Old Curiosities
The evening sky, a dome of solid gold, unflaked even by a single sunset cloud, steeped the meanest sights of London in a strange and mellow…
IV. A Discussion at Dawn (1)
The duellists had from their own point of view escaped or conquered the chief powers of the modern world. They had satisfied the magistrate…
IV. A Discussion at Dawn (2)
“Or else?” repeated Turnbull, staring at him with an almost blinding gravity. “Or else we may not want to fight at all,” answered Evan, and…
V. The Peacemaker
When the combatants, with crossed swords, became suddenly conscious of a third party, they each made the same movement. It was as quick as…
VI. The Other Philosopher (1)
Between high hedges in Hertfordshire, hedges so high as to create a kind of grove, two men were running. They did not run in a scampering o…
VI. The Other Philosopher (2)
“Perhaps I express myself a little too lyrically,” he said with an amicable abruptness. “My philosophy has its higher ecstasies, but perhap…
VII. The Village of Grassley-In-The-Hole
At about half past one, under a strong blue sky, Turnbull got up out of the grass and fern in which he had been lying, and his still interm…
VIII. An Interlude of Argument
Morning broke in bitter silver along the grey and level plain; and almost as it did so Turnbull and MacIan came out of a low, scrubby wood…
IX. The Strange Lady (1)
Moonrise with a great and growing moon opened over all those flats, making them seem flatter and larger than they were, turning them to a l…
IX. The Strange Lady (2)
They passed the next mile and a half swiftly and smoothly; yet among the many things which they passed in the course of it was a clump of e…
X. The Swords Rejoined (1)
As they came over the hill and down on the other side of it, it is not too much to say that the whole universe of God opened over them and…
X. The Swords Rejoined (2)
After some ten minutes of foam and frenzy, in which all the senses at once seemed blasted by the sea, Evan found himself laboriously swimmi…
XI. A Scandal in the Village (1)
In the little hamlet of Haroc, in the Isle of St. Loup, there lived a man who—though living under the English flag—was absolutely untypical…
XI. A Scandal in the Village (2)
“Now you know the truth,” he answered, with hard eyes. “I am a cad who has played a crooked trick on a quiet village and a decent woman for…
XII. The Desert Island
Those who happen to hold the view (and Mr. Evan MacIan, now alive and comfortable, is among the number) that something supernatural, some e…
XIII. The Garden of Peace
Up to this instant Evan MacIan had really understood nothing; but when he saw the policeman he saw everything. He saw his enemies, all the…
XIV. A Museum of Souls (1)
The man with the good hat and the jumping elbow went by very quickly; yet the man with the bad hat, who thought he was God, overtook him. H…
XIV. A Museum of Souls (2)
He led them rapidly into a small but imposing apartment, which seemed to be built and furnished entirely in red-varnished wood. There was o…
XV. The Dream of Macian
The system of espionage in the asylum was so effective and complete that in practice the patients could often enjoy a sense of almost compl…
XVI. The Dream of Turnbull
Turnbull was walking rather rampantly up and down the garden on a gusty evening chewing his cigar and in that mood when every man suppresse…
XVII. The Idiot (1)
Evan MacIan was standing a few yards off looking at him in absolute silence. He had not the moral courage to ask MacIan if there had been a…
XVII. The Idiot (2)
“James Turnbull,” said MacIan, in a low and shaken voice, “these people hate us more than Nero hated Christians, and fear us more than any…
XVIII. A Riddle of Faces (1)
Just behind him stood two other doctors: one, the familiar Dr. Quayle, of the blinking eyes and bleating voice; the other, a more commonpla…
XVIII. A Riddle of Faces (2)
The young woman broke again into one of the maddening and mysterious laughs of femininity. Then she composed her features, and replied with…
XIX. The Last Parley
Turnbull walked away, wildly trying to explain to himself the presence of two personal acquaintances so different as Vane and the girl. As…
XX. Dies Irae
As they advanced towards the asylum they looked up at its rows on rows of windows, and understood the Master's material threat. By means of…