It was just one of those occasions when nothing is expected and everything is welcome and surprising; when, from the unpremeditated air generally assumed, all preparation startles and pleases; when even ladies are not ashamed to eat, and formality appears quite banished.

But to startle The Corner, where gold strikes were events of every twenty-four hours, just nowwhere robberies were common gossip, and where the killings now averaged nearly three a dayto startle The Corner was like trying to startle the theatrical world with a sensational play.

I'm truly sorry man's dominion Has broken Nature's social union, An' justifies that ill opinion Which makes thee startle At me, thy poor, earth-born companion, An' fellow-mortal!

What he sees startles and at the same time robs him of all volition.

A quick dashing startles you, and you see a Scallop rising to the top of the water with zigzag jerks, and immediately sinking to the sand again, on the side opposite that whence it started.