{"product_id":"2940014599399","title":"Fort Desolation","description":"CHAPTER ONE.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOR, SOLITUDE IN THE WILDERNESS.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE OUTSKIRTER.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo some minds solitude is depressing, to others it is congenial. It was\u003cbr\u003ethe _former_ to our friend John Robinson; yet he had a large share of it\u003cbr\u003ein his chequered life. John--more familiarly known as Jack--was as\u003cbr\u003eromantic as his name was the reverse. To look at him you would have\u003cbr\u003esupposed that he was the most ordinary of common-place men, but if you\u003cbr\u003ehad known him, as we did, you would have discovered that there was a\u003cbr\u003edeep, silent, but ever-flowing river of enthusiasm, energy, fervour--in\u003cbr\u003ea word, romance--in his soul, which seldom or never manifested itself in\u003cbr\u003ewords, and only now and then, on rare occasions, flashed out in a\u003cbr\u003elightning glance, or blazed up in a fiery countenance. For the most\u003cbr\u003epart Jack was calm as a mill-pond, deep as the Atlantic, straightforward\u003cbr\u003eand grave as an undertaker's clerk and good-humoured as an unspoilt and\u003cbr\u003ehealthy child.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJack never made a joke, but, certes, he could enjoy one; and he had a\u003cbr\u003eway of showing his enjoyment by a twinkle in his blue eye and a chuckle\u003cbr\u003ein his throat that was peculiarly impressive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJack was a type of a large class. He was what we may call an\u003cbr\u003e_outskirter_ of the world. He was one of those who, from the force of\u003cbr\u003enecessity, or of self-will, or of circumstances, are driven to the outer\u003cbr\u003ecircle of this world to do as Adam and Eve's family did, battle with\u003cbr\u003eNature in her wildest scenes and moods; to earn his bread, literally, in\u003cbr\u003ethe sweat of his brow.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJack was a middle-sized man of strong make. He was not sufficiently\u003cbr\u003elarge to overawe men by his size, neither was he so small as to invite\u003cbr\u003eimpertinence from \"big bullies,\" of whom there were plenty in his\u003cbr\u003eneighbourhood. In short, being an unpretending man and a plain man,\u003cbr\u003ewith a good nose and large chin and sandy hair, he was not usually taken\u003cbr\u003emuch notice of by strangers during his journeyings in the world; but\u003cbr\u003ewhen vigorous action in cases of emergency was required Jack Robinson\u003cbr\u003ewas the man to make himself conspicuous.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is not our intention to give an account of Jack's adventurous life\u003cbr\u003efrom beginning to end, but to detail the incidents of a sojourn of two\u003cbr\u003emonths at Fort Desolation, in almost utter solitude, in order to show\u003cbr\u003eone of the many phases of rough life to which outskirters are frequently\u003cbr\u003esubjected.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn regard to his early life it may be sufficient to say that Jack, after\u003cbr\u003ebeing born, created such perpetual disturbance and storm in the house\u003cbr\u003ethat his worthy father came to look upon him as a perfect pest, and as\u003cbr\u003esoon as possible sent him to a public school, where he fought like a\u003cbr\u003eMameluke Bey, learned his lessons with the zeal of a philosopher, and,\u003cbr\u003eat the end of ten years ran away to sea, where he became as sick as a\u003cbr\u003edog and as miserable as a convicted felon.","brand":"Good Reading","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47080245625072,"sku":"2940014599399","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014599399_p0.jpg?v=1763612070","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014599399","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}