The Project Gutenberg EBook of Pebbles on the Shore
by Alpha of the Plough (Alfred George Gardiner)

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Title: Pebbles on the Shore

Author: Alpha of the Plough (Alfred George Gardiner)

Release Date: January 11, 2004 [EBook #10675]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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PEBBLES
ON THE SHORE

Alpha of the Plough

... collecting toys
And trifles for choice matters, worth a sponge;
As children gathering pebbles on the shore

TO
ALL WHO LOVE
THE COTTAGE IN THE
BEECHWOODS

1916

PREFACE

These papers were begun as a part of a causerie in _The Star_, the other
contributors to which--men whose names are household words in contemporary
literature--wrote under the pen names of "Aldebaran," "Arcturus" and
"Sirius." But the constellation, formed in the early days of the war, did
not long survive the agitations of that event, and when "Arcturus" left for
the battlefield it was finally dissolved and "Alpha of the Plough" alone
remained to continue the causerie. This selection from his papers is a sort
of informal diary of moods in a time of peril. They are pebbles gathered on
the shore of a wild sea.

CONTENTS

ON CHOOSING A NAME
ON LETTER-WRITING
ON READING IN BED
ON CATS AND DOGS
"W.G."
ON SEEING VISIONS
ON BLACK SHEEP
THE VILLAGE AND THE WAR
ON RUMOUR
ON UMBRELLA MORALS
ON TALKING TO ONE'S SELF
ON BOSWELL AND HIS MIRACLE
ON SEEING OURSELVES
ON THE ENGLISH SPIRIT
ON FALLING IN LOVE
ON A BIT OF SEAWEED
ON LIVING AGAIN
TU-WHIT, TU-WHOO!
ON POINTS OF VIEW
ON BEER AND PORCELAIN
ON A CASE OF CONSCIENCE
ON THE GUINEA STAMP
ON THE DISLIKE OF LAWYERS
ON THE CHEERFULNESS OF THE BLIND
ON TAXING VANITY
ON THOUGHTS AT FIFTY
THE ONE-EYED CAT
ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF HATS
ON SEEING LONDON
ON CATCHING THE TRAIN
IN PRAISE OF CHESS
ON THE DOWNS
ON SHORT LEGS AND LONG LEGS
ON A PAINTED FACE
ON WRITING AN ARTICLE
ON A CITY THAT WAS
ON PLEASANT SOUNDS
ON SLACKENING THE BOW
ON THE INTELLIGENT GOLF BALL
ON A PRISONER OF WAR
ON THE WORLD WE LIVE IN