Nor must it be overlooked that we are not dealing here with uncertainties; the mettle of the girls has been proved.

Warlocks and witches in a dance; Nae cotillion, brent new frae France, But hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, and reels, Put life and mettle in their heels.

His object was to feel the temper of his men, and rouse their mettle by a few words of encouragement.

You may judge then, of our mettle from that fact.

MATELOT Comme un matelot s'embarquait pour un voyage de long cours, un de ses amis lui dit: "Je m'étonne que vous osiez vous mettle en mer, sachant que votre père, a péri dans un naufrage, et que votre grand-père et votre bisaïeul ont éprouvé le même sort.

I have been in these waters too long, and these latitudes take the mettle out of a man when he has reached my age.

All eyes turned to the old "Die-Hard" Battalion which had now proved its mettle on land and sea.

This struggle tested both commanders' mettle to the utmost.

This accounted for the stubbornness of the assault, it being the custom, when reinforcements arrived, to send them out at once to try their mettle with the besiegers.

There's not a handsom wench of any mettle Within an hundred miles, but her intelligence Reaches her, and out-reaches her, and brings her As confidently to Court, as to a sanctuary: What had his mouldy brains ever arriv'd at, Had not she beaten it out o'th' Flint to fasten him?

Nor does he who wishes a cart horse choose the same conformation or give the same training as to a horse intended for the saddle or the carriage: for as the one desires mettle for military service, the other prefers a gentle disposition for use on the road.

On the other hand, a few days had put a lot of real mettle into Muskwa, and though he was only a third as large as Pipoonaskoos, and his feet were sore, and his back ached, he landed on the other cub like a shot out of a gun.

This time the French have borne the burden of the onslaught, but Rheims is still held, the Americans are pouring in to France at the rate of 250,000 a month, and have proved their mettle at Cantigny, a small fight of great importance, as it "showed their fighting qualities under extreme battle conditions," in General Pershing's words, and earned the praise of General Debeney for the "offensive valour" of our Allies.