| 1 |
behind every man now alive stand thirty ghosts for that is the ratio by which the dead outnumber the living since the dawn of time roughly a hundred billion human beings have walked the planet earth. |
| 2 |
now this is an interesting number for by a curious coincidence there are approximately a hundred billion stars in our local universe the milky way so for every man who has ever lived in this universe there shines a star. |
| 3 |
the two babies were already whimpering for food but became silent when moonwatcher snarled at them one of the mothers defending the infant she could not properly feed gave him an angry growl in return he lacked the energy even to cuff her for her presumption. |
| 4 |
now it was light enough to leave moonwatcher picked up the shriveled corpse and dragged it after him as he bent under the low overhang of the cave once outside he threw the body over his shoulder and stood upright the only animal in all this world able to do so. |
| 5 |
there were about thirty of them and they could not have been distinguished from the members of moonwatchers own tribe as they saw him coming they began to dance shake their arms and shriek on their side of the stream and his own people replied in kind. |
| 6 |
the night wore on cold and clear without further alarms and the moon rose slowly amid equatorial constellations that no human eye would ever see in the caves between spells of fitful dozing and fearful waiting were being born the nightmares of generations yet to be. |
| 7 |
late that night moonwatcher suddenly awoke tired out by the days exertions and disasters he had been sleeping more soundly than usual yet he was instantly alert at the first faint scrabbling down in the valley. |
| 8 |
it was a rectangular slab three times his height but narrow enough to span with his arms and it was made of some completely transparent material indeed it was not easy to see except when the rising sun glinted on its edges. |
| 9 |
a few licks and attempted nibbles quickly disillusioned him there was no nourishment here so like a sensible manape he continued on his way to the river and forgot all about the crystalline monolith during the daily routine of shrieking at the others. |
| 10 |
in the last light of day looking round anxiously for early hunters they drank hastily at the stream and started the climb up to their caves they were still a hundred yards from the new rock when the sound began. |
| 11 |
another manape came to life and went through the same routine this was a younger more adaptable specimen it succeeded where the older one had failed on the planet earth the first crude knot had been tied. |
| 12 |
the grids and the moving dancing patterns had gone instead there was a series of concentric circles surrounding a small black disk obeying the silent orders in his brain he pitched the stone with a clumsy overarm throw it missed the target by several feet. |
| 13 |
the water of the stream was nowhere more than a foot deep but the farther oneear moved out into it the more uncertain and unhappy he became very soon he slowed to a halt and then moved back with exaggerated dignity to join his companions. |
| 14 |
it was a slow tedious business but the crystal monolith was patient neither it nor its replicas scattered across half the globe expected to succeed with all the scores of groups involved in the experiment. |
| 15 |
she stayed behind because she thought it would be worth while trying the door of the wardrobe even though she felt almost sure that it would be locked to her surprise it opened quite easily and two mothballs dropped out. |
| 16 |
lucy felt a little frightened but she felt very inquisitive and excited as well she looked back over her shoulder and there between the dark tree trunks she could still see the open doorway of the wardrobe and even catch a glimpse of the empty room from which she had set out. |
| 17 |
at the bottom of one small valley mr tumnus turned suddenly aside as if he were going to walk straight into an unusually large rock but at the last moment lucy found he was leading her into the entrance of a cave as soon as they were inside she found herself blinking in the light of a wood fire. |
| 18 |
it was a little dry clean cave of reddish stone with a carpet on the floor and two little chairs one for me and one for a friend said mr tumnus and a table and a dresser and a mantelpiece over the fire and above that a picture of an old faun with a grey beard. |
| 19 |
and really it was a wonderful tea there was a nice brown egg lightly boiled for each of them and then sardines on toast and then buttered toast and then toast with honey and then a sugartopped cake. |
| 20 |
the journey back was not at all like the journey to the fauns cave they stole along as quickly as they could without speaking a word and mr tumnus kept to the darkest places lucy was relieved when they reached the lamppost again. |
| 21 |
the others did not know what to think but lucy was so excited that they all went back with her into the room she rushed ahead of them flung open the door of the wardrobe and cried now go in and see for yourselves. |
| 22 |
for the next few days she was very miserable she could have made it up with the others quite easily at any moment if she could have brought herself to say that the whole thing was only a story made up for fun. |
| 23 |
there was no answer and edmund noticed that his own voice had a curious sound not the sound you expect in a cupboard but a kind of openair sound he also noticed that he was unexpectedly cold and then he saw a light. |
| 24 |
the queen let another drop fall from her bottle on to the snow and instantly there appeared a round box tied with green silk ribbon which when opened turned out to contain several pounds of the best turkish delight. |
| 25 |
but edmund secretly thought that it would not be as good fun for him as for her he would have to admit that lucy had been right before all the others and he felt sure the others would all be on the side of the fauns and the animals but he was already more than half on the side of the witch. |
| 26 |
it was the sort of house that is mentioned in guide books and even in histories and well it might be for all manner of stories were told about it some of them even stranger than the one i am telling you now. |
| 27 |
snow had drifted in from the doorway and was heaped on the floor mixed with something black which turned out to be the charred sticks and ashes from the fire someone had apparently flung it about the room and then stamped it out. |
| 28 |
the top of the dam was wide enough to walk on though not for humans a very nice place to walk because it was covered with ice and though the frozen pool was level with it on one side there was a nasty drop to the lower river on the other. |
| 29 |
within seconds the whole class was standing on their stools while neville who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs. |
| 30 |
his next present also contained candy a large box of chocolate frogs from hermione this only left one parcel harry picked it up and felt it it was very light he unwrapped it something fluid and silvery gray went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds. |
| 31 |
the next morning in defense against the dark arts while copying down different ways of treating werewolf bites harry and ron were still discussing what theyd do with a sorcerers stone if they had one. |
| 32 |
then he handed the list to malfoy who read aloud the name hermione granger harry was relieved he was safe but malfoys sneer showed that he would milk the situation for all it was worth. |
| 33 |
behind his back people were laughing and jeering harry took his seat as far from malfoy as possible trying to pretend he hadnt heard anything oh yes theyre definitely on the way out interjected ron grinning as he reached for a chocolate frog harry was already halfway out of the classroom when he realized what hed done neville would never forget it. |
| 34 |
how did it go said ron as they reached the end of the line for madam puddifoots tearoom i think she might be starting to take the hint said harry nothing to eat or drink in her place for ages. |
| 35 |
at first the side chamber had seemed like a natural resting place in which to leave his body later it had been his shelter against the rain to every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven a time to be born and a time to die a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted. |
| 36 |
once upon a time in a certain country there lived a king whose palace was surrounded by a spacious garden filled with the loveliest flowers and shrubs now it happened one day that the queen was sitting in the garden enjoying the fragrance of the flowers when a sharp wind began to blow and the sky became black with clouds. |
| 37 |
the moment they entered the open door a great fire was kindled that roared and crackled as if it would burn the building down in a few moments the king and his followers were dancing about the room to the strangest music they had ever heard while the hall seemed to be filled with the most wonderful flowers whose fragrance was so sweet that it would make any man faint with delight. |
| 38 |
in january there came bitterly hard weather the earth was like iron and nothing could be done in the fields many meetings were held in the big barn and the pigs occupied themselves with planning out the work of the coming season. |
| 39 |
from now onwards animal farm would engage in trade with the neighbouring farms not of course for any commercial purpose but simply in order to obtain certain materials which were urgently necessary the needs of the windmill must override everything else he said. |
| 40 |
the animals were shocked beyond measure to learn that even snowball could be guilty of such an action there was a cry of indignation and everyone began thinking out ways of catching snowball if he should ever come back. |
| 41 |
napoleon stood sternly surveying his audience then he uttered a highpitched whimper immediately the dogs bounded forward seized four of the pigs by the ear and dragged them squealing with pain and terror to napoleons feet. |
| 42 |
meanwhile through the agency of whymper napoleon was engaged in complicated negotiations with frederick and pilkington the pile of timber was still unsold of the two frederick was the more anxious to get hold of it but he would not offer a reasonable price. |
| 43 |
but when the animals saw the green flag flying and heard the gun firing again seven times it was fired in all and heard the speech that napoleon made congratulating them on their conduct it did seem to them after all that they had won a great victory. |
| 44 |
the farm had had a fairly successful year but was still short of money there were the bricks sand and lime for the schoolroom to be purchased and it would also be necessary to begin saving up again for the machinery for the windmill. |
| 45 |
mr bucket was the only person in the family with a job he worked in a toothpaste factory where he sat all day long at a bench and screwed the little caps on to the tops of the tubes of toothpaste after the tubes had been filled. |
| 46 |
i willy wonka have decided to allow five children just five mind you and no more to visit my factory this year these lucky five will be shown around personally by me and they will be allowed to see all the secrets and the magic of my factory. |
| 47 |
the reason for this was that the toothpaste factory the place where mr bucket worked suddenly went bust and had to close down quickly mr bucket tried to get another job but he had no luck in the end the only way in which he managed to earn a few pennies was by shovelling snow in the streets. |
| 48 |
the sun was shining brightly on the morning of the big day but the ground was still white with snow and the air was very cold outside the gates of wonkas factory enormous crowds of people had gathered to watch the five lucky ticket holders going in the excitement was tremendous. |
| 49 |
the children and their parents were too flabbergasted to speak they were staggered they were dumbfounded they were bewildered and dazzled they were completely bowled over by the hugeness of the whole thing they simply stood and stared. |
| 50 |
the watchers below could see the chocolate swishing around the boy in the pipe and they could see it building up behind him in a solid mass pushing against the blockage the pressure was terrific something had to give something did give and that something was augustus. |
| 51 |
charlie put the mug to his lips and as the rich warm creamy chocolate ran down his throat into his empty tummy his whole body from head to toe began to tingle with pleasure and a feeling of intense happiness spread over him. |
| 52 |
click went the machine and the whizzer stopped whizzing and now there came a sort of sucking noise and very quickly all the blue frothy mixture in the huge basin was sucked back into the stomach of the machine there was a moment of silence then a few queer rumblings were heard. |
| 53 |
they watched the little squirrel as he tapped the walnut shell with his knuckles he cocked his head to one side listening intently then suddenly he threw the nut over his shoulder into a large hole in the floor. |
| 54 |
mr wonka suddenly exploded with excitement but my dear boy he cried out that means youve won he rushed out of the lift and started shaking charlies hand so furiously it nearly came off oh i do congratulate you he cried. |
| 55 |
the guest who was staying in room of nightingales bed and breakfast which gate nightingale privately thought of as the heman room because it was almost unrelievedly masculine stopped in the doorway of the dining room then almost immediately stepped back out of sight. |
| 56 |
they were only four little more than babies and utterly dependent on her they had already lost their father and even though they didnt remember him they had certainly felt his absence in their lives and would feel it more keenly as they grew older. |
| 57 |
if he turned down the job his body would turn up either in little pieces or not at all but if he took it bandini would have to figure he downloaded the flash drive onto his own computer before turning it in knowledge was power no matter which world you lived in. |
| 58 |
the road had been steadily climbing but shortly after they turned onto the narrow onelane road it began winding downhill the way down was even steeper than going up had been toxtel shifted into a lower gear but still had to ride the brakes. |
| 59 |
investigator marbury was due at eleven so as soon as the morning crowd was gone cate rushed to get the kitchen and dining room cleaned up the climbers had each grabbed a muffin and left early eager for another day on the rocks. |
| 60 |
he thought theyd be lucky to get five hours out of them given that daylight hours were shrinking daily it was a given each man would have to change battery packs at least once a shift and probably twice if the weather turned cold. |
| 61 |
he broke out in a fine sheen of sweat waiting for her knowing that at any second another round could rip through the walls as if they were made of paper so far the shots had been placed about head high designed to catch people who were standing. |
| 62 |
teague assessed the situation he was behind solid cover surrounded by rocks his head lower than the boulder in front of him he had to risk turning on the flashlight so he could locate the rifle he could minimize the risk though by covering most of the lens. |
| 63 |
before continuing his search he worked his way to the feed store pressed against the back of the building he darted his head around for quick looks as he studied the stairs leading up to his place and the angles that would expose him to rifle fire. |
| 64 |
there was something spooky about the place today but it could have been the grayness of the morning and the low clouds that made him feel sort of hemmed in the empty road was somehow wrong he froze staring the road was empty completely so. |
| 65 |
late this afternoon she moved out of the old place into the new one the moving was accomplished with a minimum of difficulty she managed to get everything into the two suitcases and was able to carry them herself for the three blocks that separate the old place from the new one. |
| 66 |
was he deranged was he a sex maniac he seemed so harmless yet it was that kind who often went berserk in the end she pictured those ragged fingers at her throat tearing at her clothes though she could not think of herself as screaming. |
| 67 |
the organ was a hammond owned by the woman downstairs a native when her husband and nubile child were home she shouted at them the rest of the time she ran the vacuum cleaner or picked out hymn tunes and old favourites on the organ with two fingers singing to herself. |
| 68 |
but the thought of louise out there in the windswept institution grounds with nothing and no one she knew bothered him in twinges like a mental neuralgia goading him finally into the section of the city that passed for downtown he would buy her a gift. |
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