2. I think it was Hans, our Eskimo hunter, who thought he saw a broad sledge track. The drift had nearly effaced it, and we were some of us doubtful at first whether it was not one of those accidental rifts which the gales make in the surface snow. But, as we traced it on to the deep snow among the hummocks, we were led to footsteps; and, following these with religious care, we at last came in sight of a small American flag fluttering from a hummock, and lower down a little banner hanging from a tent pole hardly above the drift. It was the camp of our disabled comrades; we reached it after an unbroken march of twenty-one hours.—E. E. Kane: Arctic Explorations.
Hans, our Eskimo hunter, found what seemed to be the faint traces of a sledge, and this led us to footsteps. Following these with great care, we came at length to the camp of our disabled comrades.
Exercise 67.—Condense the following paragraphs, making your sentences pleasing to the ear:—
1. In order to begin at the beginning of the story, let us suppose that we go into a country garden one fine morning in May, when the sun is shining brightly overhead, and that we see hanging from the bough of an old apple tree a black object which looks very much like a large plum pudding. On approaching it, however, we see that it is a large cluster or swarm of bees clinging to each other by their legs; each bee with its two fore legs clinging to the hinder legs of the one above it. In this way as many as twenty thousand bees may be clinging together, and yet they hang so freely that a bee, even from quite the center of the swarm, can disengage herself from her neighbors and pass through to the outside of the cluster whenever she wishes.—Arabella Buckley: Fairyland of Science.
2. This warning stopped all speech, and the hardy mariners, knowing that they had already done all in the power of man to insure their safety, stood in breathless anxiety, awaiting the result. At a short distance ahead of them the whole ocean was white with foam, and the waves, instead of rolling on in regular succession, appeared to be tossing madly about. A single streak of dark billows, not half a cable's length in width, could be discerned running into this chaos of water; but it was soon lost to the eye amid the confusion. Along this narrow path the vessel moved more heavily than before, being brought so near the wind as to keep her sails touching. The pilot silently proceeded to the wheel, and with his own hands undertook the steering of the ship. No noise proceeded from the frigate to interrupt the horrid tumult of the ocean; and she entered the channel among the breakers in dead silence.—James Fenimore Cooper: The Pilot.
28. Method in Condensation.—The length of any piece of writing depends upon the purpose for which it is intended. For instance, the answer to the question, "Who was Abraham Lincoln?" might, according to the circumstances, be given in a paragraph, in a page, or in a chapter; or it might be expanded into a work of many volumes. If you were required, in preparation for a written lesson in history or geography, to read several pages, you would not be expected to write all you had read, but to be able to condense; that is, to omit details and select the most important points. The ability to decide which points are the important ones, and which may be omitted with least loss to the passage, will be of great value to you in all your serious reading and study.
The following suggestions will help you in condensing:—
1. Read the whole passage through carefully.
2. Pick out the things so important that they must be retained. As a rule, the more important the point, the greater the space the author allots to it. Drop the minor points.
3. Arrange the facts you decide to retain in order of importance, and in condensing the passage give most space to the most important points.
Read, for example, the following narrative, and notice the condensation printed below it:—