And the way they hurled those fossils in their anger was a sin—
Till the skull of an old mammoth caved the head of Thompson in.'"
Mr. Gooch then showed me Bob Acres' dueling pistols. They gave no signs of having been used, and it is doubtful if they would have been very deadly at forty paces—Bob's favorite fighting distance. Here was also the cross-bow, with which the Ancient Mariner killed the albatross. I found, hanging from a hook, two curious weapons which resembled light darts, or spears. My host reached them down for me, and I looked them over closely. Their composition was apparent—the halves of a pair of scissors had been tied to two wands.
"They look much more harmless than Bob Acres' pistols, do they not? As a matter of fact, they were used in a duel, and one of them killed its man. The duel was fought in Edinburgh Castle between two French prisoners,—one of whom was St. Ives."
"And the lasso that hangs above them?"
"Employed in a tournament by a Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court,—until Merlin stole it. This is the sword with which Sergeant Troy displayed his dexterity before Bathsheba Everdene. And this blade you have heard celebrated in song a good many times—it is the Sword of Bunker Hill. And with this Miles Standish stirred the posset. Here is the revolver with which Sherlock Holmes used to amuse himself in his room on Baker street—sitting in his chair, and making a patriotic 'V. R.' in bullet pocks on the wall, much to the annoyance of the good Dr. Watson. These daggers are rather odd—four of them, and two swords, you see. They came from 'The Critic' where the two Nieces draw their two daggers to strike Whiskerandos, the two Uncles point their swords at Whiskerandos, and he draws two daggers and holds them to the two Nieces' bosoms. So they would have stood forever, if the Beefeater hadn't come in and commanded them, in the queen's name, to drop their weapons. There's the Beefeater's halberd, too. Doubtless you've wondered at this naval gun. It fired the shot that did the business for the 'Haliotis,' and gave Kipling a chance to air his knowledge of engines and machinery in general. You can read about it in 'The Devil and the Deep Sea' This sword is in its sheath, you see,
'His sword was in its sheath,
His fingers held the pen,
When Kempenfelt went down
With twice four hundred men.'
"I've plenty of swords—here's the one that pierced the Master of Ballantrae, when he and his brother fought together by candle-light. This pretty little pair of scissors? They helped in the Rape of the Lock. This stone-headed club is my oldest specimen—it belonged to Ab—you know his story, no doubt? And the big axe was carried by the Executioner when the Queen of Hearts went about shouting, 'Off with their heads!'"
"That is a beautiful dagger," I remarked.