BMTG Daily Dose

Formerly known as the Daily Dose, the Weekly Dose is home to weekly excerpts from a wide variety of important books. These excerpts are near and dear to the hearts of the BMTG membership. Submissions from BMTG members are welcome, as long as the guidelines are followed. Submissions that do not conform to the official guidelines will be rejected without the opportunity to appeal. Excerpts are best when read aloud with a dramatic flair.

2006
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Week of August 29, 2005

Thuvia, Maid of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

        "They see them--they see their bows drawn back--they see their slender arrows speed with unerring precision toward their hearts. And they die--killed by the power of suggestion."

        "But the archers that are slain?" exclaimed Carthoris. "You call them deathless, and yet I saw their dead bodies piled high upon the battlefield. How may that be?"

        "It is but to lend reality to the scene," replied Jav. "We picture many of our own defenders killed that the Torquasians may not guess that there are really no flesh and blood creatures opposing them."

Out of the Fog by C. K. Ober

And then something happened, for, from without, surprising me with its presence, like the discovery of a welcome but unexpected guest, there came into my life a deep, great, overflowing peace. I had never known it before, and therefore I could not by any possibility have imagined it; but, I recognized it as something from God. It was not sensational, it came quietly; as quietly "as the daylight comes when the night is done." It was not emotional, unless it was in itself an emotion. But emotions are transient and this had come to stay.

Week of August 22, 2005

The Journals of Lewis and Clark by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark

[Clark, May 23, 1806]
Our hunters brought us a large hooting owl which differ from those of the atlantic States. The plumage of this owl is an uniform mixture of dark yellowish brown and white, in which the dark brown prodominates. it's Colour may be properly termed a dark Iron gray. the plumage is very long and remarkably Silky and Soft. those have not the long
feathers on the head which give it the appearance of ears, or horns, remarkable large eyes

Lessons in Life by Timothy Titcomb

I owe no grudge to the Shakers. I like their apple sauce, (they ask a thrifty price for it,) and have faith in the genuineness and the generation, under favorable conditions, of their garden seeds; but I object to their style of life and piety, and to every thing outside of Shakerdom which looks like it. I object to this whole idea, (and the Shakers have not monopolized it,) that God takes delight in the voluntary personal mortification of His children, and that He approves of their going about, sad-faced and straight-laced, studiously avoiding all temptation to enjoy themselves.

Week of August 15, 2005

Northwest Passage by Kenneth Roberts

        Crofton spoke up. His voice was shrill. "They tore my brother's arms out of him. They chopped the ends of his ribs away from his backbone and pried 'em out through his skin, one by one. I don't care how many French and Indians there are! I don't care if there's a million of 'em! If there's only two hundred, I can pretty near kill 'em all myself!"
        Nobody said a word.
        Rogers nodded. "That's what happened to Lieutenant Crofton. Lieutenant Phillips had a strip of skin ripped upward from his stomach. They hung him in a tree by it while he was still alive. They chopped up his men with hatchets and threw the pieces up into the pines, so there wasn't any way of putting 'em together again."

The Flight of the Shadow by George MacDonald

        "Can any person without a history be interesting?"
        "Yes," he answered: "a person that was going to have a history might be interesting."
        "Could a person with a history that was not worth telling, be interesting? But I know yours will interest me in the hearing, therefore it ought to interest you in the telling.

Week of August 8, 2005

Wanderings Among South Sea Savages by H. Wilfrid Walker

I watched a "meke-meke" or native dance that evening in which about a dozen girls covered with oil took part. There was a sound of revelry the rest of the night, for there was feasting and dancing in several huts, and discordant chanting and the hum of many voices followed me into my dreams. The next morning I went out shooting pigeons in
some thick pathless woods about two miles away, and I also shot some flying foxes which I gave to my companions, as the Fijians consider them a great delicacy, as do many Europeans. These woods were full of pineapples, which in places barred our way. Many of them were ripe, and I found they possessed a fine flavour.

The Trespasser by D.H. Lawrence

He came out of the shop still smiling, and when Helena turned from the postcards to look at him, the lines of laughter remained over his face like a mask. She glanced at his eyes for a sign; his facial expression told her nothing; his eyes were just as inscrutable, which made her falter with dismay.

Week of August 1, 2005

The Fall of Troy by Quintus Smyrnaeus

On rushed he, as a lion against a stag,
Borne by the steeds and chariot of his sire.
And now full soon his lance had slain his foe,
Him and his charioteer -- but Phoebus poured
A dense cloud round him from the viewless heights
Of heaven, and snatched him from the deadly fray,
And set him down in Troy, amid the rout
Of fleeing Trojans: so did Peleus' son
Stab but the empty air; and loud he cried:
"Dog, thou hast 'scaped my wrath! No might of thine
Saved thee, though ne'er so fain! Some God hath cast
Night's veil o'er thee, and snatched thee from thy death."

The Flaming Forest by James Oliver Curwood

        "He will hurt you badly. He is terrible, like a great beast, when he fights. He loves to fight and is always asking if there is not some one who will stand up to him. I think he would desert even me for a good fight. But you, M'sieu David--"
        "I also love a fight," he admitted, unashamed.
        St. Pierre's wife studied him thoughtfully for a moment. "With these?" she asked then, holding up the gloves.
        "Yes, with those. Bateese may use his fists, but I shall use those, so that I shall not disfigure him permanently. His face is none too handsome as it is."