tenser life of active business, possess no such stern, mindfilling, soul-moving excitement as that of war. 51. No team has shown greater staying qualities than were shown this year by our team.

Exercise 49.-Smoothness (see sections 182-188). Improve the smoothness of the following sentences, but in doing so be careful not to destroy clearness by misplacing modifiers and not to weaken too much the forcefulness of the sentence-end: 1. The examinations for entrance to Annapolis will be as easy as, if not easier than, those of last year. 2. It is a quarter to ten; they had not thought that that hour would ever come. 3. Our obligation to remedy the present situation in regard to immigration is, I suppose, admitted by all. 4. Mr. Monks beckoned Mr. and Mrs. Bumble up the ladder and fell into a fit of trembling at the lightning. 5. I am perfectly positive that that man is the guilty one. 6. Generally speaking, a prudent general will, in the face of odds, avoid a general engagement. 7. Every ancient oak for miles around is either designated by his name or associated with some adventure with which he was related. 8. What, therefore, may I ask, shall we say, if, when our advice is taken, it turns out, contrary to our expectations, to be for the worst? 9. He has been, if you will allow me to say so, inconsiderate. 10. The national debt is at least as great as, if not greater than, any nation ought to bear. 11. At this moment the Earl, attended by a great retinue of his attendants resplendent in the blue and silver of their master, arrived. 12. It was now that the most beautiful song of the whole concert was, in a silence as still as death, sung. 13. In India innocent infants are thrown into the Ganges. 14. He wore a rusty, dusty, moth-eaten Eton jacket. 15. Nero must have been a hero to somebody, for somebody put violets on his grave; but who it was is a mystery of history. 16. He did not dare to go home with wet hair. 17. His secretary writes exceedingly carelessly and

clumsily. 18. My opponent in the debate now broke in in interruption of what I was saying. 19. Maybe you may be allowed to come after all. 20. He was actuated by his loyalty to and admiration for his college. 21. Which kind of sandwich do you prefer? 22. Calcium gives a bright white light. 23. He took out his purse to reimburse me for my expenses. 24. I gave orders that the engine should be put in order. 25. The orders are ordinarily posted up in a conspicuous place, in order that all may have a chance in advance to know what is coming. 26. When the wind changed, the fire turned and burned in the opposite direction. 27. I shall never forget that heart-breaking leave-taking. 28. But you, if I do not misunderstand you, believe, as I do, in the duty of doing one's best. 29. My business career ended that year. 30. To two tunes I have made up my mind never to listen again. 31. I can can fruit better than my mother can. 32. She whispered only loud enough for those very near her to hear her. 33. This scene is truly rural. 34. Do you see that that that that that sentence contains is an adjective? 35. I did not know the conjugation on my last examination. 36. The Y. M. C. A. is now able to say that the last cent of its debt has been paid off. 37. I do not know how I knew, but I could feel that there was some sort of trouble-discontent, if not actual mutiny-brewing. 38. The delegation received with approbation his announcement that the matter would receive his careful consideration. 39. I recall my study of history very mistily. 40. Jackson was, unlike Jefferson, a true son of the people, who distrusted, with the instinctive apprehension of a democrat, an aristocrat. 41. Darwin is credited with having made the greatest single contribution to the theory of evolution. 42. I gradually grew aware that that man there was staring at me. 43. The Senate is empowered by the Constitution to advise upon and consent to all treaties which are under negotiation by the administration. 44. No hour seems longer than, and surely none seems

so dark as, the hour which just precedes the dawn. 45. Personally I prefer a private performance to a public one. 46. He laughed and lightly laid his left hand on the ledger. 47. If, as you suppose, the factory must close, you as well as I must both of us and for the same reason suffer. 48. Then again men are only human beings, not mere machines, and after a certain number of hours of excessive work have elapsed will collapse. 49. My understanding of the meaning of the duty of children to their parents is the obedience which is prompted by loyalty and love rather than the submission necessitated by an inferior position. 50. I declare to you that I only asked him to allow me to proceed to the bridgehead, to prevent the enemy's crossing, if I could, the river.

Exercise 50.-Conciseness (see sections 189-192). Increase the conciseness of the following sentences: 1. Antony sent a message to Octavius, and the message contained the news of Cæsar's death. 2. The gate-keeper's lodge was covered by old English ivy, which grew all over it. 3. But all these years the inaudible and noiseless foot of time had been passing over the inmates of that house. 4. They greatly feared the consequences that would follow. 5. The Prime Minister is reported to have said that England and her colonies were all the time being united more closely together. 6. Although personally I have no experience myself, I can tell what others of experience have told me. 7. He wore a long black coat, which by its appearance looked to be very old. 8. We are at peace with the whole world; we are maintaining amicable relations with all mankind. 9. This story which I call to mind is not clear in my memory as to whether I read it, made it up, or had it told to me as an actual experience. 10. Presently we came, after a short interval of time, to a diminutive rivulet. 11. During the progress of the conflagration a number of the city's paid fire-fighters were prostrated by the intense heat of the devouring element. 12. A vast concourse of citizens

had been assembled since the first faint flush of rising day to behold the murderer launched into eternity to meet his welldeserved reward. 13. By a little inquiry on my part I found that he was a Nihilist. 14. I yesterday had occasion to be the witness of a very interesting incident. 15. The present system of forecasting the weather, as now in use, was developed in 1870. 16. She did not look to see where she was going to. 17. After the appetizing banquet had been done full justice, the more youthful members of the gathering, male and female, indulged for an extended period in the bewildering mazes of the dance. 18. From this mammoth station trains start every few minutes for their destinations. 19. My temper is easily aggravated by a number of vexing trifles that are really very small of themselves. 20. The true purpose of punctuation is to make perfectly clear and plain to the eye the structure of the sentence where it occurs. 21. He delivered the address orally from the stage, in a firm clear voice. 22. He was almost universally admired and respected by all who knew him. 23. Sir Kay therefore decided to treat the new scullion relentlessly and without mercy. 24. As I had expected to have to explore the forest all alone with no one to help me, his offer to accompany me on my rambles was very welcome indeed. 25. We set out about six a.m. on a bright August morning, with prospects for a long and interesting ride. 26. The people who act the parts in a dramatic performance wish those who witness the piece to applaud it. 27. At last the owner of the factory where the men were employed, and the men themselves, having settled the dispute, effected a compromise and reached an amicable understanding not wholly unsatisfactory to both parties to the dispute. 28. The argument which I shall bring next to the attention of the honorable judges and the audience, is based upon such economic objections to the proposed measure as I trust I may be able to prove to you are not altogether unfounded. 29. The same nation which had in the past repeatedly shown itself acqui

escent in bearing the burdens of a taxation amounting to millions of dollars, upon the proviso that the governmental income so derived should be expended upon the public defense that same nation, I say, evinced an indignant unwillingness to consent in the disbursement of a single cent as tribute to any foreign power. 30. According to my sober convictions, the crisis with which we are now confronted is a crisis which the students of our history will consider the most serious that our nation has yet experienced in all her history.

Exercise 51.-Narration (see sections 194-207). Suggest a good method of creating suspense before the climax, in each of the following narratives: 1. A graveyard ghost. 2. Skating on thin ice. 3. A fire. 4. A slippery street. 5. April fool! 6. Lost in the woods. 7. A boat race. 8. An Indian attack. 9. A lost umbrella. 10. Arrested by mistake.

Exercise 52.-Description (see sections 208-213). Suggest (a) the details appropriate to each of the following descriptions, and (b) the best order of arrangement in each case. 1. A haunted house. 2. Our old swimming hole. 3. A railway station. 4. The view from a mountain top. 5. The scene of the murder. 6. The appearance of Abraham Lincoln. 7. A prisoner on trial for his life. 8. A sunset on a lake. 9. A scene at a fire. 10. A quaint village.

Exercise 53.-Exposition (see sections 214-223). Suggest an appropriate method of paragraphing each of the following expositions: 1. How to make an ice-boat. 2. The manufacture of maple sugar. 3. A water pistol. 4. A fountain pen. 5. The value of the Panama Canal. 6. Learning to swim. 7. Aircraft in modern warfare. 8. The character of the President. 9. The probable future of the United States. 10. The annual Mississippi flood.