“When I returned to partial life my face was wet with tears. How long that state of insensibility had lasted I cannot say. I had no means now of taking account of time. Never was solitude equal to this, never had any living being been so utterly forsaken.”
“Well, I thought I was so tranquil! I need to give up that illusion! There is decidedly no rest to be had in this world.”
“Besides," said Kennedy, "the time when industry gets a grip of everything and uses it to its own advantage may not be particularly amusing. If men go on inventing machinery they'll end up by being swallowed by their own machines. I've always thought that the last day will be brought about by some colossal boiler heated to three thousand atmospheres blowing up the world.""And I bet the Yankees will have had a hand in it," said Joe.”
“But what then? What had he really gained by all this trouble? What had he brought back from this long and weary journey?Nothing, you say? Perhaps so; nothing but a charming woman, who, strange as it may appear, made him the happiest of men!Truly, would you not for less than that make the tour around the world?”
“While there is life there is hope. I beg to assert...that as long as a man's heart beats, as long as a man's flesh quivers, I do not allow that a being gifted with thought and will can allow himself to despair.”
“I say, you do have a heart!""Sometimes," he replied, "when I have the time.”
“Ah!" I cried, springing up. "But no! no! My uncle shall never know it. He would insist upon doing it too. He would want to know all about it. Ropes could not hold him, such a determined geologist as he is! He would start, he would, in spite of everything and everybody, and he would take me with him, and we should never get back. No, never! never!"My over-excitement was beyond all description.”