Here are the quotations for this week (April 11th to 17th):
 
1. 'Well, there we lay - engines stopped, rollin' to the swell, all dark, yards cock-billed, an' that merry tune yowlin' from the upper bridge. We fell in on the foc'sle, leavin' a large open space by the capstan, where our sail-maker was sittin' sewin' broken firebars into the foot of an old 'ammick.'
 
2. The sea … drummed tackily to gather my attention, coughed, spat, cleared its throat, and, on the eve of that portentous communication, retired up stage as a multitude whispering. Anon, I caught the tramp of armies afoot, the hum of crowded cities awaiting the event, the single sob of a woman, and a dry roaring of wild beasts...
 
3. Very far to the west an elongated blur of red, low down, shows us the North Banks Mark Boat. There are specks of fire round her rising and falling - bewildered planets about an unstable sun - helpless shipping hanging on to her light for company's sake. No wonder she could not quit station...
 
 
The sources of last week's extracts (April 4th to 10th) are as follows:
 
1.  (...From a drawer in the table he took a well-worn catapult, a handful of buckshot, and a duplicate key of the study...)  This is from "Slaves of the Lamp" Part I, in Stalky & Co..
 
2.  (...After two hours of rooting through this desolation at an average rate of five miles an hour, his eyes were cheered by the sight of one white buoy in the coffee-hued midstream...)  This is from "Judson and the Empire" in Many Inventions
 
3.  (...''Between two and three that Sunday morning—dark an’ blowin’ from the north—I was woke up by an explosion an’ people shoutin’ “Raid!” ')  This is from "A Friend of the Family" in Debits and Credits.
 
Since last week we have made various refinements to our NRG entry on "The Muse Among the Motors", which have become a major collective endeavour.
 
Good wishea to all, John R
 

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