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The first table of contents lists all the titles included in this volume.
This book contains the following works, classified by author: In a Grove by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa The Innocence of Father Brown by Gilbert Keith Chesterton The Man Who Knew Too Much by Gilbert Keith Chesterton The Wisdom of Father Brown by Gilbert Keith Chesterton The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle His Last Bow by Arthur Conan Doyle A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle The Spider by Hanns Heinz Ewers The Man Who Ended War by Hollis Godfrey Desperate Remedies by Thomas Hardy The Seven Secrets by William Le Queux The Czar's Spy by William Le Queux The Confessions of Arsène Lupine by Maurice Leblanc The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective by Catherine Louisa Pirkis The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe The Lady, or the Tiger? By Frank R. Stockton Tom Sawyer, Detective by Mark Twain An Antarctic Mystery by Jules Verne The Technique of the Mystery Story by Carolyn Wells Raspberry Jam by Carolyn Wells The Master Criminal by Fred Merrick White
In a Grove
The Innocence of Father Brown
The Man Who Knew Too Much
The Wisdom of Father Brown
The Moonstone
The Woman in White
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
The Valley of Fear
The Sign of the Four
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
His Last Bow
A Study in Scarlet
The Spider
The Man Who Ended War
Desperate Remedies
The Seven Secrets
The Czar's Spy
The Confessions of Arsène Lupin
The Phantom of the Opera
The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective
The Black Cat
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
The Lady, or the Tiger?
Tom Sawyer, Detective
An Antarctic Mystery
The Technique of the Mystery Story
Raspberry Jam
The Master Criminal
In a Grove
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
The Testimony of a Woodcutter Questioned by a High Police Commissioner
The Testimony of a Traveling Buddhist Priest Questioned by a High Police Commissioner
The Testimony of a Policeman Questioned by a High Police Commissioner
The Testimony of an Old Woman Questioned by a High Police Commissioner
Tajomaru's Confession
The Repentance of a Woman Who Has Come to Kiyomizu Temple
The Story of the Murdered Man, as Told Through a Medium
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
(Translator: Takashi Kojima)
Published: 1922
Categorie(s): Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Short Stories
Yes, sir. Certainly, it was I who found the body. This morning, as usual, I went to cut my daily quota of cedars, when I found the body in a grove in a hollow in the mountains. The exact location? About 150 meters off the Yamashina stage road. It's an out-of-the-way grove of bamboo and cedars.
The body was lying flat on its back dressed in a bluish silk kimono and a wrinkled head-dress of the Kyoto style. A single sword-stroke had pierced the breast. The fallen bamboo-blades around it were stained with bloody blossoms. No, the blood was no longer running. The wound had dried up, I believe. And also, a gad-fly was stuck fast there, hardly noticing my footsteps.
You ask me if I saw a sword or any such thing?
No, nothing, sir. I found only a rope at the root of a cedar near by. And … well, in addition to a rope, I found a comb. That was all. Apparently he must have made a battle of it before he was murdered, because the grass and fallen bamboo-blades had been trampled down all around.
A horse was near by?
No, sir. It's hard enough for a man to enter, let alone a horse.
The time? Certainly, it was about noon yesterday, sir. The unfortunate man was on the road from Sekiyama to Yamashina. He was walking toward Sekiyama with a woman accompanying him on horseback, who I have since learned was his wife. A scarf hanging from her head hid her face from view. All I saw was the color of her clothes, a lilac-colored suit. Her horse was a sorrel with a fine mane. The lady's height? Oh, about four feet five inches. Since I am a Buddhist priest, I took little notice about her details. Well, the man was armed with a sword as well as a bow and arrows. And I remember that he carried some twenty odd arrows in his quiver.
Little did I expect that he would meet such a fate. Truly human life is as evanescent as the morning dew or a flash of lightning. My words are inadequate to express my sympathy for him.
The man that I arrested? He is a notorious brigand called Tajomaru. When I arrested him, he had fallen off his horse. He was groaning on the bridge at Awataguchi. The time? It was in the early hours of last night. For the record, I might say that the other day I tried to arrest him, but unfortunately he escaped. He was wearing a dark blue silk kimono and a large plain sword. And, as you see, he got a bow and arrows somewhere. You say that this bow and these arrows look like the ones owned by the dead man? Then Tajomaru must be the murderer. The bow wound with leather strips, the black lacquered quiver, the seventeen arrows with hawk feathers—these were all in his possession I believe. Yes, Sir, the horse is, as you say, a sorrel with a fine mane. A little beyond the stone bridge I found the horse grazing by the roadside, with his long rein dangling. Surely there is some providence in his having been thrown by the horse.
Of all the robbers prowling around Kyoto, this Tajomaru has given the most grief to the women in town. Last autumn a wife who came to the mountain back of the Pindora of the Toribe Temple, presumably to pay a visit, was murdered, along with a girl. It has been suspected that it was his doing. If this criminal murdered the man, you cannot tell what he may have done with the man's wife. May it please your honor to look into this problem as well.
Yes, sir, that corpse is the man who married my daughter. He does not come from Kyoto. He was a samurai in the town of Kokufu in the province of Wakasa. His name was Kanazawa no Takehiko, and his age was twenty-six. He was of a gentle disposition, so I am sure he did nothing to provoke the anger of others.
My daughter? Her name is Masago, and her age is nineteen. She is a spirited, fun-loving girl, but I am sure she has never known any man except Takehiko. She has a small, oval, dark-complected face with a mole at the corner of her left eye.
Yesterday Takehiko left for Wakasa with my daughter. What bad luck it is that things should have come to such a sad end! What has become of my daughter? I am resigned to giving up my son-in-law as lost, but the fate of my daughter worries me sick. For heaven's sake leave no stone unturned to find her. I hate that robber Tajomaru, or whatever his name is. Not only my son-in-law, but my daughter … (Her later words were drowned in tears.)
I killed him, but not her. Where's she gone? I can't tell. Oh, wait a minute. No torture can make me confess what I don't know. Now things have come to such a head, I won't keep anything from you.
Yesterday a little past noon I met that couple. Just then a puff of wind blew, and raised her hanging scarf, so that I caught a glimpse of her face. Instantly it was again covered from my view. That may have been one reason; she looked like a Bodhisattva. At that moment I made up my mind to capture her even if I had to kill her man.
Why? To me killing isn't a matter of such great consequence as you might think. When a woman is captured, her man has to be killed anyway. In killing, I use the sword I wear at my side. Am I the only one who kills people? You, you don't use your swords. You kill people with your power, with your money. Sometimes you kill them on the pretext of working for their good. It's true they don't bleed. They are in the best of health, but all the same you've killed them. It's hard to say who is a greater sinner, you or me. (An ironical smile.)
But it would be good if I could capture a woman without killing her man. So, I made up my mind to capture her, and do my best not to kill him. But it's out of the question on the Yamashina stage road. So I managed to lure the couple into the mountains.
It was quite easy. I became their traveling companion, and I told them there was an old mound in the mountain over there, and that I had dug it open and found many mirrors and swords. I went on to tell them I'd buried the things in a grove behind the mountain, and that I'd like to sell them at a low price to anyone who would care to have them. Then … you see, isn't greed terrible? He was beginning to be moved by my talk before he knew it. In less than half an hour they were driving their horse toward the mountain with me.
When he came in front of the grove, I told them that the treasures were buried in it, and I asked them to come and see. The man had no objection— he was blinded by greed. The woman said she would wait on horseback. It was natural for her to say so, at the sight of a thick grove. To tell you the truth, my plan worked just as I wished, so I went into the grove with him, leaving her behind alone.
The grove is only bamboo for some distance. About fifty yards ahead there's a rather open clump of cedars. It was a convenient spot for my purpose. Pushing my way through the grove, I told him a plausible lie that the treasures were buried under the cedars. When I told him this, he pushed his laborious way toward the slender cedar visible through the grove. After a while the bamboo thinned out, and we came to where a number of cedars grew in a row. As soon as we got there, I seized him from behind. Because he was a trained, sword-bearing warrior, he was quite strong, but he was taken by surprise, so there was no help for him. I soon tied him up to the root of a cedar. Where did I get a rope? Thank heaven, being a robber, I had a rope with me, since I might have to scale a wall at any moment. Of course it was easy to stop him from calling out by gagging his mouth with fallen bamboo leaves.
When I disposed of him, I went to his woman and asked her to come and see him, because he seemed to have been suddenly taken sick. It's needless to say that this plan also worked well. The woman, her sedge hat off, came into the depths of the grove, where I led her by the hand. The instant she caught sight of her husband, she drew a small sword. I've never seen a woman of such violent temper. If I'd been off guard, I'd have got a thrust in my side. I dodged, but she kept on slashing at me. She might have wounded me deeply or killed me. But I'm Tajomaru. I managed to strike down her small sword without drawing my own. The most spirited woman is defenseless without a weapon. At least I could satisfy my desire for her without taking her husband's life.
Yes … without taking his life. I had no wish to kill him. I was about to run away from the grove, leaving the woman behind in tears, when she frantically clung to my arm. In broken fragments of words, she asked that either her husband or I die. She said it was more trying than death to have her shame known to two men. She gasped out that she wanted to be the wife of whichever survived. Then a furious desire to kill him seized me. (Gloomy excitement.)
Telling you in this way, no doubt I seem a crueler man than you. But that's because you didn't see her face. Especially her burning eyes at that moment. As I saw her eye to eye, I wanted to make her my wife even if I were to be struck by lightning. I wanted to make her my wife … this single desire filled my mind. This was not only lust, as you might think. At that time if I'd had no other desire than lust, I'd surely not have minded knocking her down and running away. Then I wouldn't have stained my sword with his blood. But the moment I gazed at her face in the dark grove, I decided not to leave there without killing him.
But I didn't like to resort to unfair means to kill him. I untied him and told him to cross swords with me. (The rope that was found at the root of the cedar is the rope I dropped at the time.) Furious with anger, he drew his thick sword. And quick as thought, he sprang at me ferociously, without speaking a word. I needn't tell you how our fight turned out. The twenty-third stroke … please remember this. I'm impressed with this fact still. Nobody under the sun has ever clashed swords with me twenty strokes. (A cheerful smile.)
When he fell, I turned toward her, lowering my blood-stained sword. But to my great astonishment she was gone. I wondered to where she had run away. I looked for her in the clump of cedars. I listened, but heard only a groaning sound from the throat of the dying man.
As soon as we started to cross swords, she may have run away through the grove to call for help. When I thought of that, I decided it was a matter of life and death to me. So, robbing him of his sword, and bow and arrows, I ran out to the mountain road. There I found her horse still grazing quietly. It would be a mere waste of words to tell you the later details, but before I entered town I had already parted with the sword. That's all my confession. I know that my head will be hung in chains anyway, so put me down for the maximum penalty. (A defiant attitude.)
That man in the blue silk kimono, after forcing me to yield to him, laughed mockingly as he looked at my bound husband. How horrified my husband must have been! But no matter how hard he struggled in agony, the rope cut into him all the more tightly. In spite of myself I ran stumblingly toward his side. Or rather I tried to run toward him, but the man instantly knocked me down. Just at that moment I saw an indescribable light in my husband's eyes. Something beyond expression … his eyes make me shudder even now. That instantaneous look of my husband, who couldn't speak a word, told me all his heart. The flash in his eyes was neither anger nor sorrow … only a cold light, a look of loathing. More struck by the look in his eyes than by the blow of the thief, I called out in spite of myself and fell unconscious.
In the course of time I came to, and found that the man in blue silk was gone. I saw only my husband still bound to the root of the cedar. I raised myself from the bamboo-blades with difficulty, and looked into his face; but the expression in his eyes was just the same as before.
Beneath the cold contempt in his eyes, there was hatred. Shame, grief, and anger … I don't know how to express my heart at that time. Reeling to my feet, I went up to my husband.
Takejiro, I said to him,
since things have come to this pass, I cannot live with you. I'm determined to die … but you must die, too. You saw my shame. I can't leave you alive as you are.
This was all I could say. Still he went on gazing at me with loathing and contempt. My heart breaking, I looked for his sword. It must have been taken by the robber. Neither his sword nor his bow and arrows were to be seen in the grove. But fortunately my small sword was lying at my feet. Raising it over head, once more I said,
Now give me your life. I'll follow you right away.
When he heard these words, he moved his lips with difficulty. Since his mouth was stuffed with leaves, of course his voice could not be heard at all. But at a glance I understood his words. Despising me, his look said only,
Kill me. Neither conscious nor unconscious, I stabbed the small sword through the lilac-colored kimono into his breast.
Again at this time I must have fainted. By the time I managed to look up, he had already breathed his last—still in bonds. A streak of sinking sunlight streamed through the clump of cedars and bamboos, and shone on his pale face. Gulping down my sobs, I untied the rope from his dead body. And … and what has become of me? Only that, since I have no more strength to tell you. Anyway, I hadn't the strength to die. I stabbed my own throat with the small sword, I threw myself into a pond at the foot of the mountain, and I tried to kill myself in many ways. Unable to end my life, I am still living in dishonor. (A lonely smile.) Worthless as I am, I must have been forsaken even by the most merciful Kwannon. I killed my own husband. I was violated by the robber. Whatever can I do? Whatever can I … I … (Gradually, violent sobbing.)
After violating my wife, the robber, sitting there, began to speak comforting words to her. Of course I couldn't speak. My whole body was tied fast to the root of a cedar. But meanwhile I winked at her many times, as much as to say
Don't believe the robber. I wanted to convey some such meaning to her. But my wife, sitting dejectedly on the bamboo leaves, was looking hard at her lap. To all appearance, she was listening to his words. I was agonized by jealousy. In the meantime the robber went on with his clever talk, from one subject to another. The robber finally made his bold brazen proposal.
Once your virtue is stained, you won't get along well with your husband, so won't you be my wife instead? It's my love for you that made me be violent toward you.
While the criminal talked, my wife raised her face as if in a trance. She had never looked so beautiful as at that moment. What did my beautiful wife say in answer to him while I was sitting bound there? I am lost in space, but I have never thought of her answer without burning with anger and jealousy. Truly she said, …
Then take me away with you wherever you go.
This is not the whole of her sin. If that were all, I would not be tormented so much in the dark. When she was going out of the grove as if in a dream, her hand in the robber's, she suddenly turned pale, and pointed at me tied to the root of the cedar, and said,
Kill him! I cannot marry you as long as he lives.
Kill him! she cried many times, as if she had gone crazy. Even now these words threaten to blow me headlong into the bottomless abyss of darkness. Has such a hateful thing come out of a human mouth ever before? Have such cursed words ever struck a human ear, even once? Even once such a … (A sudden cry of scorn.) At these words the robber himself turned pale.
Kill him, she cried, clinging to his arms. Looking hard at her, he answered neither yes nor no … but hardly had I thought about his answer before she had been knocked down into the bamboo leaves. (Again a cry of scorn.) Quietly folding his arms, he looked at me and said,
What will you do with her? Kill her or save her? You have only to nod. Kill her? For these words alone I would like to pardon his crime.
While I hesitated, she shrieked and ran into the depths of the grove. The robber instantly snatched at her, but he failed even to grasp her sleeve.
After she ran away, he took up my sword, and my bow and arrows. With a single stroke he cut one of my bonds. I remember his mumbling,
My fate is next. Then he disappeared from the grove. All was silent after that. No, I heard someone crying. Untying the rest of my bonds, I listened carefully, and I noticed that it was my own crying. (Long silence.)
I raised my exhausted body from the foot of the cedar. In front of me there was shining the small sword which my wife had dropped. I took it up and stabbed it into my breast. A bloody lump rose to my mouth, but I didn't feel any pain. When my breast grew cold, everything was as silent as the dead in their graves. What profound silence! Not a single bird-note was heard in the sky over this grave in the hollow of the mountains. Only a lonely light lingered on the cedars and mountains. By and by the light gradually grew fainter, till the cedars and bamboo were lost to view. Lying there, I was enveloped in deep silence.
Then someone crept up to me. I tried to see who it was. But darkness had already been gathering round me. Someone … that someone drew the small sword softly out of my breast in its invisible hand. At the same time once more blood flowed into my mouth. And once and for all I sank down into the darkness of space.
The Innocence of Father Brown
Gilbert Keith Chesterton
The Blue Cross
The Secret Garden
The Queer Feet
The Flying Stars
The Invisible Man
The Honour of Israel Gow
The Wrong Shape
The Sins of Prince Saradine
The Hammer of God
The Eye of Apollo
The Sign of the Broken Sword
The Three Tools of Death
Gilbert Keith Chesterton
Published: 1911
Categorie(s): Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Short Stories
Between the silver ribbon of morning and the green glittering ribbon of sea, the boat touched Harwich and let loose a swarm of folk like flies, among whom the man we must follow was by no means conspicuous—nor wished to be. There was nothing notable about him, except a slight contrast between the holiday gaiety of his clothes and the official gravity of his face. His clothes included a slight, pale grey jacket, a white waistcoat, and a silver straw hat with a grey-blue ribbon. His lean face was dark by contrast, and ended in a curt black beard that looked Spanish and suggested an Elizabethan ruff. He was smoking a cigarette with the seriousness of an idler. There was nothing about him to indicate the fact that the grey jacket covered a loaded revolver, that the white waistcoat covered a police card, or that the straw hat covered one of the most powerful intellects in Europe. For this was Valentin himself, the head of the Paris police and the most famous investigator of the world; and he was coming from Brussels to London to make the greatest arrest of the century.
Flambeau was in England. The police of three countries had tracked the great criminal at last from Ghent to Brussels, from Brussels to the Hook of Holland; and it was conjectured that he would take some advantage of the unfamiliarity and confusion of the Eucharistic Congress, then taking place in London. Probably he would travel as some minor clerk or secretary connected with it; but, of course, Valentin could not be certain; nobody could be certain about Flambeau.
It is many years now since this colossus of crime suddenly ceased keeping the world in a turmoil; and when he ceased, as they said after the death of Roland, there was a great quiet upon the earth. But in his best days (I mean, of course, his worst) Flambeau was a figure as statuesque and international as the Kaiser. Almost every morning the daily paper announced that he had escaped the consequences of one extraordinary crime by committing another. He was a Gascon of gigantic stature and bodily daring; and the wildest tales were told of his outbursts of athletic humour; how he turned the juge d'instruction upside down and stood him on his head,
to clear his mind; how he ran down the Rue de Rivoli with a policeman under each arm. It is due to him to say that his fantastic physical strength was generally employed in such bloodless though undignified scenes; his real crimes were chiefly those of ingenious and wholesale robbery. But each of his thefts was almost a new sin, and would make a story by itself. It was he who ran the great Tyrolean Dairy Company in London, with no dairies, no cows, no carts, no milk, but with some thousand subscribers. These he served by the simple operation of moving the little milk cans outside people's doors to the doors of his own customers. It was he who had kept up an unaccountable and close correspondence with a young lady whose whole letter-bag was intercepted, by the extraordinary trick of photographing his messages infinitesimally small upon the slides of a microscope. A sweeping simplicity, however, marked many of his experiments. It is said that he once repainted all the numbers in a street in the dead of night merely to divert one traveller into a trap. It is quite certain that he invented a portable pillar-box, which he put up at corners in quiet suburbs on the chance of strangers dropping postal orders into it. Lastly, he was known to be a startling acrobat; despite his huge figure, he could leap like a grasshopper and melt into the tree-tops like a monkey. Hence the great Valentin, when he set out to find Flambeau, was perfectly aware that his adventures would not end when he had found him.
But how was he to find him? On this the great Valentin's ideas were still in process of settlement.
There was one thing which Flambeau, with all his dexterity of disguise, could not cover, and that was his singular height. If Valentin's quick eye had caught a tall apple-woman, a tall grenadier, or even a tolerably tall duchess, he might have arrested them on the spot. But all along his train there was nobody that could be a disguised Flambeau, any more than a cat could be a disguised giraffe. About the people on the boat he had already satisfied himself; and the people picked up at Harwich or on the journey limited themselves with certainty to six. There was a short railway official travelling up to the terminus, three fairly short market gardeners picked up two stations afterwards, one very short widow lady going up from a small Essex town, and a very short Roman Catholic priest going up from a small Essex village. When it came to the last case, Valentin gave it up and almost laughed. The little priest was so much the essence of those Eastern flats; he had a face as round and dull as a Norfolk dumpling; he had eyes as empty as the North Sea; he had several brown paper parcels, which he was quite incapable of collecting. The Eucharistic Congress had doubtless sucked out of their local stagnation many such creatures, blind and helpless, like moles disinterred. Valentin was a sceptic in the severe style of France, and could have no love for priests. But he could have pity for them, and this one might have provoked pity in anybody. He had a large, shabby umbrella, which constantly fell on the floor. He did not seem to know which was the right end of his return ticket. He explained with a moon-calf simplicity to everybody in the carriage that he had to be careful, because he had something made of real silver
with blue stones in one of his brown-paper parcels. His quaint blending of Essex flatness with saintly simplicity continuously amused the Frenchman till the priest arrived (somehow) at Tottenham with all his parcels, and came back for his umbrella. When he did the last, Valentin even had the good nature to warn him not to take care of the silver by telling everybody about it. But to whomever he talked, Valentin kept his eye open for someone else; he looked out steadily for anyone, rich or poor, male or female, who was well up to six feet; for Flambeau was four inches above it.
He alighted at Liverpool Street, however, quite conscientiously secure that he had not missed the criminal so far. He then went to Scotland Yard to regularise his position and arrange for help in case of need; he then lit another cigarette and went for a long stroll in the streets of London. As he was walking in the streets and squares beyond Victoria, he paused suddenly and stood. It was a quaint, quiet square, very typical of London, full of an accidental stillness. The tall, flat houses round looked at once prosperous and uninhabited; the square of shrubbery in the centre looked as deserted as a green Pacific islet. One of the four sides was much higher than the rest, like a dais; and the line of this side was broken by one of London's admirable accidents—a restaurant that looked as if it had strayed from Soho. It was an unreasonably attractive object, with dwarf plants in pots and long, striped blinds of lemon yellow and white. It stood specially high above the street, and in the usual patchwork way of London, a flight of steps from the street ran up to meet the front door almost as a fire-escape might run up to a first-floor window. Valentin stood and smoked in front of the yellow-white blinds and considered them long.
The most incredible thing about miracles is that they happen. A few clouds in heaven do come together into the staring shape of one human eye. A tree does stand up in the landscape of a doubtful journey in the exact and elaborate shape of a note of interrogation. I have seen both these things myself within the last few days. Nelson does die in the instant of victory; and a man named Williams does quite accidentally murder a man named Williamson; it sounds like a sort of infanticide. In short, there is in life an element of elfin coincidence which people reckoning on the prosaic may perpetually miss. As it has been well expressed in the paradox of Poe, wisdom should reckon on the unforeseen.
Aristide Valentin was unfathomably French; and the French intelligence is intelligence specially and solely. He was not
a thinking machine; for that is a brainless phrase of modern fatalism and materialism. A machine only is a machine because it cannot think. But he was a thinking man, and a plain man at the same time. All his wonderful successes, that looked like conjuring, had been gained by plodding logic, by clear and commonplace French thought. The French electrify the world not by starting any paradox, they electrify it by carrying out a truism. They carry a truism so far—as in the French Revolution. But exactly because Valentin understood reason, he understood the limits of reason. Only a man who knows nothing of motors talks of motoring without petrol; only a man who knows nothing of reason talks of reasoning without strong, undisputed first principles. Here he had no strong first principles. Flambeau had been missed at Harwich; and if he was in London at all, he might be anything from a tall tramp on Wimbledon Common to a tall toast-master at the Hotel Metropole. In such a naked state of nescience, Valentin had a view and a method of his own.
In such cases he reckoned on the unforeseen. In such cases, when he could not follow the train of the reasonable, he coldly and carefully followed the train of the unreasonable. Instead of going to the right places—banks, police stations, rendezvous—he systematically went to the wrong places; knocked at every empty house, turned down every cul de sac, went up every lane blocked with rubbish, went round every crescent that led him uselessly out of the way. He defended this crazy course quite logically. He said that if one had a clue this was the worst way; but if one had no clue at all it was the best, because there was just the chance that any oddity that caught the eye of the pursuer might be the same that had caught the eye of the pursued. Somewhere a man must begin, and it had better be just where another man might stop. Something about that flight of steps up to the shop, something about the quietude and quaintness of the restaurant, roused all the detective's rare romantic fancy and made him resolve to strike at random. He went up the steps, and sitting down at a table by the window, asked for a cup of black coffee.
It was half-way through the morning, and he had not breakfasted; the slight litter of other breakfasts stood about on the table to remind him of his hunger; and adding a poached egg to his order, he proceeded musingly to shake some white sugar into his coffee, thinking all the time about Flambeau. He remembered how Flambeau had escaped, once by a pair of nail scissors, and once by a house on fire; once by having to pay for an unstamped letter, and once by getting people to look through a telescope at a comet that might destroy the world. He thought his detective brain as good as the criminal's, which was true. But he fully realised the disadvantage.
The criminal is the creative artist; the detective only the critic, he said with a sour smile, and lifted his coffee cup to his lips slowly, and put it down very quickly. He had put salt in it.
He looked at the vessel from which the silvery powder had come; it was certainly a sugar-basin; as unmistakably meant for sugar as a champagne-bottle for champagne. He wondered why they should keep salt in it. He looked to see if there were any more orthodox vessels. Yes; there were two salt-cellars quite full. Perhaps there was some speciality in the condiment in the salt-cellars. He tasted it; it was sugar. Then he looked round at the restaurant with a refreshed air of interest, to see if there were any other traces of that singular artistic taste which puts the sugar in the salt-cellars and the salt in the sugar-basin. Except for an odd splash of some dark fluid on one of the white-papered walls, the whole place appeared neat, cheerful and ordinary. He rang the bell for the waiter.
When that official hurried up, fuzzy-haired and somewhat blear-eyed at that early hour, the detective (who was not without an appreciation of the simpler forms of humour) asked him to taste the sugar and see if it was up to the high reputation of the hotel. The result was that the waiter yawned suddenly and woke up.
Do you play this delicate joke on your customers every morning? inquired Valentin.
Does changing the salt and sugar never pall on you as a jest?
The waiter, when this irony grew clearer, stammeringly assured him that the establishment had certainly no such intention; it must be a most curious mistake. He picked up the sugar-basin and looked at it; he picked up the salt-cellar and looked at that, his face growing more and more bewildered. At last he abruptly excused himself, and hurrying away, returned in a few seconds with the proprietor. The proprietor also examined the sugar-basin and then the salt-cellar; the proprietor also looked bewildered.
Suddenly the waiter seemed to grow inarticulate with a rush of words.
I zink, he stuttered eagerly,
I zink it is those two clergy-men.
What two clergymen?
The two clergymen, said the waiter,
that threw soup at the wall.
Threw soup at the wall? repeated Valentin, feeling sure this must be some singular Italian metaphor.
Yes, yes, said the attendant excitedly, and pointed at the dark splash on the white paper;
threw it over there on the wall.
Valentin looked his query at the proprietor, who came to his rescue with fuller reports.
Yes, sir, he said,
it's quite true, though I don't suppose it has anything to do with the sugar and salt. Two clergymen came in and drank soup here very early, as soon as the shutters were taken down. They were both very quiet, respectable people; one of them paid the bill and went out; the other, who seemed a slower coach altogether, was some minutes longer getting his things together. But he went at last. Only, the instant before he stepped into the street he deliberately picked up his cup, which he had only half emptied, and threw the soup slap on the wall. I was in the back room myself, and so was the waiter; so I could only rush out in time to find the wall splashed and the shop empty. It don't do any particular damage, but it was confounded cheek; and I tried to catch the men in the street. They were too far off though; I only noticed they went round the next corner into Carstairs Street.
The detective was on his feet, hat settled and stick in hand. He had already decided that in the universal darkness of his mind he could only follow the first odd finger that pointed; and this finger was odd enough. Paying his bill and clashing the glass doors behind him, he was soon swinging round into the other street.
It was fortunate that even in such fevered moments his eye was cool and quick. Something in a shop-front went by him like a mere flash; yet he went back to look at it. The shop was a popular greengrocer and fruiterer's, an array of goods set out in the open air and plainly ticketed with their names and prices. In the two most prominent compartments were two heaps, of oranges and of nuts respectively. On the heap of nuts lay a scrap of cardboard, on which was written in bold, blue chalk,
Best tangerine oranges, two a penny. On the oranges was the equally clear and exact description,
Finest Brazil nuts, 4d. a lb. M. Valentin looked at these two placards and fancied he had met this highly subtle form of humour before, and that somewhat recently. He drew the attention of the red-faced fruiterer, who was looking rather sullenly up and down the street, to this inaccuracy in his advertisements. The fruiterer said nothing, but sharply put each card into its proper place. The detective, leaning elegantly on his walking-cane, continued to scrutinise the shop. At last he said,
Pray excuse my apparent irrelevance, my good sir, but I should like to ask you a question in experimental psychology and the association of ideas.
The red-faced shopman regarded him with an eye of menace; but he continued gaily, swinging his cane,
Why, he pursued,
why are two tickets wrongly placed in a greengrocer's shop like a shovel hat that has come to London for a holiday? Or, in case I do not make myself clear, what is the mystical association which connects the idea of nuts marked as oranges with the idea of two clergymen, one tall and the other short?
The eyes of the tradesman stood out of his head like a snail's; he really seemed for an instant likely to fling himself upon the stranger. At last he stammered angrily:
I don't know what you 'ave to do with it, but if you're one of their friends, you can tell 'em from me that I'll knock their silly 'eads off, parsons or no parsons, if they upset my apples again.
Indeed? asked the detective, with great sympathy.
Did they upset your apples?
One of 'em did, said the heated shopman;
rolled 'em all over the street. I'd 'ave caught the fool but for havin' to pick 'em up.
Which way did these parsons go? asked Valentin.
Up that second road on the left-hand side, and then across the square, said the other promptly.
Thanks, replied Valentin, and vanished like a fairy. On the other side of the second square he found a policeman, and said:
This is urgent, constable; have you seen two clergymen in shovel hats?
The policeman began to chuckle heavily.
I 'ave, sir; and if you arst me, one of 'em was drunk. He stood in the middle of the road that bewildered that—
Which way did they go? snapped Valentin.
They took one of them yellow buses over there, answered the man;
them that go to Hampstead.
Valentin produced his official card and said very rapidly:
Call up two of your men to come with me in pursuit, and crossed the road with such contagious energy that the ponderous policeman was moved to almost agile obedience. In a minute and a half the French detective was joined on the opposite pavement by an inspector and a man in plain clothes.
Well, sir, began the former, with smiling importance,
and what may—?
Valentin pointed suddenly with his cane.
I'll tell you on the top of that omnibus, he said, and was darting and dodging across the tangle of the traffic. When all three sank panting on the top seats of the yellow vehicle, the inspector said:
We could go four times as quick in a taxi.
Quite true, replied their leader placidly,
if we only had an idea of where we were going.
Well, where are you going? asked the other, staring.
Valentin smoked frowningly for a few seconds; then, removing his cigarette, he said:
If you know what a man's doing, get in front of him; but if you want to guess what he's doing, keep behind him. Stray when he strays; stop when he stops; travel as slowly as he. Then you may see what he saw and may act as he acted. All we can do is to keep our eyes skinned for a queer thing.
What sort of queer thing do you mean? asked the inspector.
Any sort of queer thing, answered Valentin, and relapsed into obstinate silence.
The yellow omnibus crawled up the northern roads for what seemed like hours on end; the great detective would not explain further, and perhaps his assistants felt a silent and growing doubt of his errand. Perhaps, also, they felt a silent and growing desire for lunch, for the hours crept long past the normal luncheon hour, and the long roads of the North London suburbs seemed to shoot out into length after length like an infernal telescope. It was one of those journeys on which a man perpetually feels that now at last he must have come to the end of the universe, and then finds he has only come to the beginning of Tufnell Park. London died away in draggled taverns and dreary scrubs, and then was unaccountably born again in blazing high streets and blatant hotels. It was like passing through thirteen separate vulgar cities all just touching each other. But though the winter twilight was already threatening the road ahead of them, the Parisian detective still sat silent and watchful, eyeing the frontage of the streets that slid by on either side. By the time they had left Camden Town behind, the policemen were nearly asleep; at least, they gave something like a jump as Valentin leapt erect, struck a hand on each man's shoulder, and shouted to the driver to stop.
They tumbled down the steps into the road without realising why they had been dislodged; when they looked round for enlightenment they found Valentin triumphantly pointing his finger towards a window on the left side of the road. It was a large window, forming part of the long facade of a gilt and palatial public-house; it was the part reserved for respectable dining, and labelled
Restaurant. This window, like all the rest along the frontage of the hotel, was of frosted and figured glass; but in the middle of it was a big, black smash, like a star in the ice.
Our cue at last, cried Valentin, waving his stick;
the place with the broken window.
What window? What cue? asked his principal assistant.
Why, what proof is there that this has anything to do with them?
Valentin almost broke his bamboo stick with rage.
Proof! he cried.
Good God! the man is looking for proof! Why, of course, the chances are twenty to one that it has nothing to do with them. But what else can we do? Don't you see we must either follow one wild possibility or else go home to bed? He banged his way into the restaurant, followed by his companions, and they were soon seated at a late luncheon at a little table, and looked at the star of smashed glass from the inside. Not that it was very informative to them even then.
Got your window broken, I see, said Valentin to the waiter as he paid the bill.
Yes, sir, answered the attendant, bending busily over the change, to which Valentin silently added an enormous tip. The waiter straightened himself with mild but unmistakable animation.
Ah, yes, sir, he said.
Very odd thing, that, sir.
Indeed? Tell us about it," said the detective with careless curiosity.
Well, two gents in black came in, said the waiter;
two of those foreign parsons that are running about. They had a cheap and quiet little lunch, and one of them paid for it and went out. The other was just going out to join him when I looked at my change again and found he'd paid me more than three times too much. 'Here,' I says to the chap who was nearly out of the door, 'you've paid too much.' 'Oh,' he says, very cool, 'have we?' 'Yes,' I says, and picks up the bill to show him. Well, that was a knock-out.
What do you mean? asked his interlocutor.
Well, I'd have sworn on seven Bibles that I'd put 4s. on that bill. But now I saw I'd put 14s., as plain as paint.
Well? cried Valentin, moving slowly, but with burning eyes,
and then?
The parson at the door he says all serene, 'Sorry to confuse your accounts, but it'll pay for the window.' 'What window?' I says. 'The one I'm going to break,' he says, and smashed that blessed pane with his umbrella.
All three inquirers made an exclamation; and the inspector said under his breath,
Are we after escaped lunatics? The waiter went on with some relish for the ridiculous story:
I was so knocked silly for a second, I couldn't do anything. The man marched out of the place and joined his friend just round the corner. Then they went so quick up Bullock Street that I couldn't catch them, though I ran round the bars to do it.
Bullock Street, said the detective, and shot up that thoroughfare as quickly as the strange couple he pursued.
Their journey now took them through bare brick ways like tunnels; streets with few lights and even with few windows; streets that seemed built out of the blank backs of everything and everywhere. Dusk was deepening, and it was not easy even for the London policemen to guess in what exact direction they were treading. The inspector, however, was pretty certain that they would eventually strike some part of Hampstead Heath. Abruptly one bulging gas-lit window broke the blue twilight like a bull's-eye lantern; and Valentin stopped an instant before a little garish sweetstuff shop. After an instant's hesitation he went in; he stood amid the gaudy colours of the confectionery with entire gravity and bought thirteen chocolate cigars with a certain care. He was clearly preparing an opening; but he did not need one.
An angular, elderly young woman in the shop had regarded his elegant appearance with a merely automatic inquiry; but when she saw the door behind him blocked with the blue uniform of the inspector, her eyes seemed to wake up.
Oh, she said,
if you've come about that parcel, I've sent it off already.
Parcel? repeated Valentin; and it was his turn to look inquiring.
I mean the parcel the gentleman left—the clergyman gentleman.
For goodness' sake, said Valentin, leaning forward with his first real confession of eagerness,
for Heaven's sake tell us what happened exactly.
Well, said the woman a little doubtfully,
the clergymen came in about half an hour ago and bought some peppermints and talked a bit, and then went off towards the Heath. But a second after, one of them runs back into the shop and says, 'Have I left a parcel!' Well, I looked everywhere and couldn't see one; so he says, 'Never mind; but if it should turn up, please post it to this address,' and he left me the address and a shilling for my trouble. And sure enough, though I thought I'd looked everywhere, I found he'd left a brown paper parcel, so I posted it to the place he said. I can't remember the address now; it was somewhere in Westminster. But as the thing seemed so important, I thought perhaps the police had come about it.
So they have, said Valentin shortly.
Is Hampstead Heath near here?
Straight on for fifteen minutes, said the woman,
and you'll come right out on the open. Valentin sprang out of the shop and began to run. The other detectives followed him at a reluctant trot.
The street they threaded was so narrow and shut in by shadows that when they came out unexpectedly into the void common and vast sky they were startled to find the evening still so light and clear. A perfect dome of peacock-green sank into gold amid the blackening trees and the dark violet distances. The glowing green tint was just deep enough to pick out in points of crystal one or two stars. All that was left of the daylight lay in a golden glitter across the edge of Hampstead and that popular hollow which is called the Vale of Health. The holiday makers who roam this region had not wholly dispersed; a few couples sat shapelessly on benches; and here and there a distant girl still shrieked in one of the swings. The glory of heaven deepened and darkened around the sublime vulgarity of man; and standing on the slope and looking across the valley, Valentin beheld the thing which he sought.
Among the black and breaking groups in that distance was one especially black which did not break—a group of two figures clerically clad. Though they seemed as small as insects, Valentin could see that one of them was much smaller than the other. Though the other had a student's stoop and an inconspicuous manner, he could see that the man was well over six feet high. He shut his teeth and went forward, whirling his stick impatiently. By the time he had substantially diminished the distance and magnified the two black figures as in a vast microscope, he had perceived something else; something which startled him, and yet which he had somehow expected. Whoever was the tall priest, there could be no doubt about the identity of the short one. It was his friend of the Harwich train, the stumpy little cure of Essex whom he had warned about his brown paper parcels.
Now, so far as this went, everything fitted in finally and rationally enough. Valentin had learned by his inquiries that morning that a Father Brown from Essex was bringing up a silver cross with sapphires, a relic of considerable value, to show some of the foreign priests at the congress. This undoubtedly was the
silver with blue stones; and Father Brown undoubtedly was the little greenhorn in the train. Now there was nothing wonderful about the fact that what Valentin had found out Flambeau had also found out; Flambeau found out everything. Also there was nothing wonderful in the fact that when Flambeau heard of a sapphire cross he should try to steal it; that was the most natural thing in all natural history. And most certainly there was nothing wonderful about the fact that Flambeau should have it all his own way with such a silly sheep as the man with the umbrella and the parcels. He was the sort of man whom anybody could lead on a string to the North Pole; it was not surprising that an actor like Flambeau, dressed as another priest, could lead him to Hampstead Heath. So far the crime seemed clear enough; and while the detective pitied the priest for his helplessness, he almost despised Flambeau for condescending to so gullible a victim. But when Valentin thought of all that had happened in between, of all that had led him to his triumph, he racked his brains for the smallest rhyme or reason in it. What had the stealing of a blue-and-silver cross from a priest from Essex to do with chucking soup at wall paper? What had it to do with calling nuts oranges, or with paying for windows first and breaking them afterwards? He had come to the end of his chase; yet somehow he had missed the middle of it. When he failed (which was seldom), he had usually grasped the clue, but nevertheless missed the criminal. Here he had grasped the criminal, but still he could not grasp the clue.
The two figures that they followed were crawling like black flies across the huge green contour of a hill. They were evidently sunk in conversation, and perhaps did not notice where they were going; but they were certainly going to the wilder and more silent heights of the Heath. As their pursuers gained on them, the latter had to use the undignified attitudes of the deer-stalker, to crouch behind clumps of trees and even to crawl prostrate in deep grass. By these ungainly ingenuities the hunters even came close enough to the quarry to hear the murmur of the discussion, but no word could be distinguished except the word
reason recurring frequently in a high and almost childish voice. Once over an abrupt dip of land and a dense tangle of thickets, the detectives actually lost the two figures they were following. They did not find the trail again for an agonising ten minutes, and then it led round the brow of a great dome of hill overlooking an amphitheatre of rich and desolate sunset scenery. Under a tree in this commanding yet neglected spot was an old ramshackle wooden seat. On this seat sat the two priests still in serious speech together. The gorgeous green and gold still clung to the darkening horizon; but the dome above was turning slowly from peacock-green to peacock-blue, and the stars detached themselves more and more like solid jewels. Mutely motioning to his followers, Valentin contrived to creep up behind the big branching tree, and, standing there in deathly silence, heard the words of the strange priests for the first time.
After he had listened for a minute and a half, he was gripped by a devilish doubt. Perhaps he had dragged the two English policemen to the wastes of a nocturnal heath on an errand no saner than seeking figs on its thistles. For the two priests were talking exactly like priests, piously, with learning and leisure, about the most aerial enigmas of theology. The little Essex priest spoke the more simply, with his round face turned to the strengthening stars; the other talked with his head bowed, as if he were not even worthy to look at them. But no more innocently clerical conversation could have been heard in any white Italian cloister or black Spanish cathedral.
The first he heard was the tail of one of Father Brown's sentences, which ended:
… what they really meant in the Middle Ages by the heavens being incorruptible.
The taller priest nodded his bowed head and said:
Ah, yes, these modern infidels appeal to their reason; but who can look at those millions of worlds and not feel that there may well be wonderful universes above us where reason is utterly unreasonable?
No, said the other priest;
reason is always reasonable, even in the last limbo, in the lost borderland of things. I know that people charge the Church with lowering reason, but it is just the other way. Alone on earth, the Church makes reason really supreme. Alone on earth, the Church affirms that God himself is bound by reason.
The other priest raised his austere face to the spangled sky and said:
Yet who knows if in that infinite universe—?
Only infinite physically, said the little priest, turning sharply in his seat,
not infinite in the sense of escaping from the laws of truth.
Valentin behind his tree was tearing his fingernails with silent fury. He seemed almost to hear the sniggers of the English detectives whom he had brought so far on a fantastic guess only to listen to the metaphysical gossip of two mild old parsons. In his impatience he lost the equally elaborate answer of the tall cleric, and when he listened again it was again Father Brown who was speaking:
Reason and justice grip the remotest and the loneliest star. Look at those stars. Don't they look as if they were single diamonds and sapphires? Well, you can imagine any mad botany or geology you please. Think of forests of adamant with leaves of brilliants. Think the moon is a blue moon, a single elephantine sapphire. But don't fancy that all that frantic astronomy would make the smallest difference to the reason and justice of conduct. On plains of opal, under cliffs cut out of pearl, you would still find a notice-board, 'Thou shalt not steal.'
Valentin was just in the act of rising from his rigid and crouching attitude and creeping away as softly as might be, felled by the one great folly of his life. But something in the very silence of the tall priest made him stop until the latter spoke. When at last he did speak, he said simply, his head bowed and his hands on his knees:
Well, I think that other worlds may perhaps rise higher than our reason. The mystery of heaven is unfathomable, and I for one can only bow my head.
Then, with brow yet bent and without changing by the faintest shade his attitude or voice, he added:
Just hand over that sapphire cross of yours, will you? We're all alone here, and I could pull you to pieces like a straw doll.
The utterly unaltered voice and attitude added a strange violence to that shocking change of speech. But the guarder of the relic only seemed to turn his head by the smallest section of the compass. He seemed still to have a somewhat foolish face turned to the stars. Perhaps he had not understood. Or, perhaps, he had understood and sat rigid with terror.
Yes, said the tall priest, in the same low voice and in the same still posture,
yes, I am Flambeau.
Then, after a pause, he said:
"Come, will you give me that


text:
The Bon Secours Hospitals in Cork and Galway, both accredited by Joint Commission International (JCI), were jointly awarded the All-Ireland Safety Award for Medical Services in a presentation 4 October 2013 in Galway.
It was the fourth consecutive year that the Cork hospital won the award and the first year for the Galway-based hospital. Kieran McNamara, Health & Safety Manager, Cork, and Margaret McHugh, Quality & Risk Manager, Galway, accepted the award for their respective organizations (see photo). Both hospitals' safety submissions were assessed by an independent panel of international and national health and safety experts representing the National Irish Safety Organisation and the Northern Ireland Safety Group.
The Bon Secours Hospital, Dublin, also accredited by JCI, was recognized at the event with a Highly Commended Award.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Plenari was founded by the directors of Information Tools Australia (Henry Cheang and Andrea Collier) through the acquisition of an Australian-based software company specialising in software for the electronic data collection of market research.
At that time Henry and Andrea saw a need for a complete end-to-end software offering for market research that was fully integrated, powerful and easy to use. Therefore the decision was made to integrate the data collection engine with the superior analysis engine from Information Tools (www.infotools.com). This integrated product is now known as Plenari.
Plenari currently has a dedicated team of over 30 members and has its head office situated in Sydney, Artarmon.
Through its wide selection of products, Plenari services a diverse portfolio of clients of different industries and sizes, including: automotive, financial, media, entertainment, agencies, health, and government.
If you would like to contact us to find out more about Plenari and discuss your research needs, please click here.


text:
Alerts & Reminders Archives
16 Function Knife (TSA) - December 2017
We have changed the 16 Function Knife in our line to a 14 Function Knife. Below are the features on the new knife. Please let us know if you have any questions!
Functions Include:
- Knife Blade
- Wood/Rope Saw
- Hook Disgorger
- Fish Scaler
- Can Opener
- Scissors
- Bottle Opener
- Slotted Screwdriver
- Tent Reamer
- Nail File
- Nail Cleaner
- Cork Screw
- Sturdy Reamer
- Phillips Screwdriver
Auto Kit Orders (SKAK and SKUK) - December 2017
All Auto Kit orders will be packed in the replacement BBP (pictured in the below alert) until after March 2018. If you have a customer that would specifically like the auto kit in our standard auto bag (BAB), please let me know and we can hold the order. We suggest letting your customers know the backpack ends up being a better deal to them in the end.
Multi-Pocket Backpack (BBP) - December 2017
Please note all kits that come in our normal two tone backpack (BBP) will be placed in the backpack pictured below until further notice. If you have a customer that would specifically like our red and grey two tone backpack, please let us know and we can hold the order.
Items out of Stock - December 2017
Please note the below items are out of stock for individual purcahse until further notice. Kits that include these items will still receive them.
T10 - 10 in 1 Multi-Tool Compass (Discontinued)
LCFR - Flashlight with Am/Fm Radio, Siren, and Cell Phone Charger
FA107 - 107 Piece First Aid Kit
BBP - Multi-Pocket Backpack
BCB||Red - Red Children's Multi-Pocket Backpack (Discontinued)
FAMM - 100 Motion Sickness Packs (Discontinued)
LCGD - Auto Guardian Flashlight
Guardian 2 person 96 Hour Food Storage Kit (FS4D) - November 2017
Please note we have discontinued the FS4D as it was only brought back for a limited time. Please adjust your websites to reflect this.
Important updates from Guardian. PLEASE READ. - October 2017
Compact Multi-Function Shovel (TCS) - December 2017
Our Compact Multi-Function shovel is currently being replaced with a 3 in 1 shovel. Below are the details, if you have a customer that would specifically like our standard shovel, please let us know and we can hold the order.
Camo Wheel Bags (BWB-CM) - October, 2017
We have discontinued the Camo Wheel Bag, please adjust your website to reflect this.
Waterproof Flashlight (LCWF) - 1/11/2017
Please note we have discontinued the Waterproof Flashlight (LCWF) and we are out of stock of this item.
4 Person Deluxe Survival Kit (SKX4) - December 20th, 2016
Please note that the SKX4 only has (1) 16 Multi-Function knife included and the description has been updated both on the website and the product chart.
2015-2016 Holiday Cut Off Dates
Please keep all cut off dates in mind for holiday deliveries.
- Monday 12/12/2016 will be the last day to submit orders to be shipped on 12/16/2016 to guarantee arrival before Christmas Day via regular UPS Ground.
Safety Vests (TSV) - October 18, 2016
Please note all safety vests currently being shipped will be lime green instead of the orange one pictured.
Marine Safety Kit (SYMS) - August 19, 2016
We have temporarily removed the Marine Safety Kit (SYMS) from the website to replace the tow rope included in the kit. Once we have it relisted on the website we will update the alert.
Wise Food Storage Buckets - July 21, 2016
Currently Wise's lead time has been extended to 2 weeks for Fruit , Veggie and Meat buckets. Please keep this in mind when ordering. As soon as they are back to normal it will be announced in Alerts and Reminders.
Guardian 72 Hour Food Storage Kit (FS3D) - April 7th, 2016
The FS3D will no longer be available for purchase on the website. We are currently working on repalcing the food in the kit as Wise has discontinued the food portion.
Free Survival Knife for the Holidays - November, 24, 2015
Please note we will be promoting the free survival knife (TSK) for orders over $75 till the end of the year.
2017-2018 Holiday Schedule
Please see our 2015-2016 Holiday schedule below and make note of our hours.
New Years Day - Closed (1/2/2017)
Martin Luther King Day - Closed (1/16/2017)
Presidents' Day - Closed (2/20/2017
Memorial Day - Closed (5/29/2017)
Independence Day - Closed (7/4/2017)
Labor Day - Closed (9/4/2017)
Veterans Day - Closed (11/7/2017)
Thanksgiving - Closed (11/23/2017)
November 24th 2017 - 9am to 1pm MST
Christmas Eve - Closed (Sunday)
Christmas Day - Closed (12/25/2017)
New Years Eve - Closed (Sunday)
New Years Day - Closed (1/1/2018)
Guardian 2 Person Bucket Survival Kit - October 27, 2015
Please be aware that we have made a change to the OK2P (2 Person Bucket Survival Kit), the weigth has been updated to 19 lbs due to the dimensional weight UPS charges. Please update your sites and stores to reflect this. Thanks!
New Products, Liquidated Products, and Discontinued Products - September 29, 2015
We have recently added some new items to our product line, as well as discontinued some items. Please download our most recent product chart from your Dashboard to update your listings. The discontinued items are listed below.
- Wise Favorites Retail Box (FSBX)
- Cook in the Pouch Sampler Food Kit (FSSA)
- Cook in the Pouch 72 Hour Meal Kit (FS72)
- Guardian 72 Hour Food Storage Kit (FS3D)
- 125 Piece First Aid Kit (FAR125)
WISE FOOD ORDERS- September 9, 2015
Please be aware that Wise is currently at a 3-4 week lead time for all food products. Due to the stock market crash there has been a huge spike in demand for these items. We will post an alert once they are back to normal lead times. Thank you for your patience.
Labor Day- September 7, 2015
We will be closed for Labor Day, Monday, September 7, 2015. We will continue normal business hours the following day.
Red Backpacks (BBP) - August 28, 2015
Currently we do not have any red backpacks (BBP) for individual sale. We are still fulfilling orders for kits in the red basg but non can be purchased by themselevs. We will post them back to the website as soon as they are available again.
Independence Day - July 3rd, 2015
We will be closed July 3rd, 2015 in honor of Independence Day. We will continue normal business hours Monday, July 6th.
5 Gallon Water Jug (FWW5) - May 26, 2015
The 5 Gallon Water Jugs have been discontinued and will be repalced by collapsible water jugs shortly.
Holiday Closure - May 25, 2015
We will be closed for Memorial Day, May 25th, 2015. We will continue normal business hours the following day.
Auto Kits & Bags - May 11, 2015
All Auto Kits are currently being packed and shipped in a red backpack. The backpack's have a higher retail value but currently do not come with the fold out mat. We will post an alert as soon as the normal aut bags are back in stock.
5 Gallon Water Jugs (FWW5) - April 2, 2015
We have recently taken the water jugs (FWW5) off of the website until a better shipping method for them can be created. If you have any questions please feel free to email firstname.lastname@example.com.
107 Piece First Aid Kits - March 10, 2015
The 107 Piece First Aid Kit is currently out of stock. We will post an alert as soon as we have them back in the warehouse.
Preparedness Seeds - March 10, 2015
We are currently out of stock of the Everlasting Garden Seeds as well as the Fruit Garden Seeds. They will be back on the site we hope the first week of April.
Changes to the Auto Kit - February 25, 2015
Please be aware that we have changed the auto kit from receiving six bungee cords to three bungee cords now. The product chart has been updated as well as the website. Please make the necessary changes to your websites.
It's a Disaster Book (TBK) - February 17, 2015
We have discontinued the Disaster book, please make note of this for your websites.
Presidents Day - February 16, 2015
Please note we will be closed for Presidents Day, February 16, 2015. We will continue normal business hours the following day.
UPS SHIPPING - February 3, 2015
All shipping carriers have switched to a dimensional shipping model starting in 2015. We have been testing the increase and it has come out to roughly a 5% increase for shipping charges due to many of the larger packages. Starting this Monday, February 9th, shipping will increase by 5%; we suggest you adjust your shipping calculators to reflect this change to your customers
NEW PRODUCT CHART and FIRST AID KITS - Janurary 27, 2015
Please download our new product chart as we have made changes to some of the First Aid Kit's in the survival kits. We no longer carry the 65 - Piece First Aid Kit. Currently we do not have 107 - Piece First Aid Kit for individual sale. They will be available again on the website after March. Any kit that includes a 107 piece will be substituted with (2) 37 piece first aid kits.
SHIPPING STOVES (TPS) - December 29, 2014
We are no longer able to ship the stoves and fuel tablets (TPS) express shipping. These are only able to go ground. Any kit that contains a stove will be removed if being shipped outside of the continential US.
WHEEL BAGS (BWB) - December 2nd, 2014
Currently we are replacing our wheel bag with a different duffle bag unti the 1st of the year. This is is the same bag as our original, but without wheels. All kits that come in the wheel bag will be packed into the current duffle bag. We have updted the images to reflect the replacement bag. Please make note of this for your customers.
WISE LEAD TIME - December 1st, 2014
Currently Wise is at a lead time of 3 to 3 1/2 weeks. We will be posting tracking for Wise orders as tracking is sent to us. We have put a sense of urgency on all of our orders with Wise. We apprciate your patenice and value your business.
Survival Knife and Swiss Army Knife (TSA & TSK)
Due to legal reasons we are no longer able to sell our 2 knives individually, both the TSA and TSK. Please be sure to remove these from your site. They are however still included in the kits.
Current LEAD TIME - October 16, 2014
Due to the Ebola ourbreak and the holiday season around the corner our lead time has extended to 7 business days. We will be back to our normal 3-5 business days after the holidays. Please keep in mind all Wise orders currently have a lead time of 10 business days.
Auto Kits & Bags - October 7, 2014
All Auto Kits are currently being packed in our smaller size backpacks (BCB).
No bags will be avialble individually for sale until after the first of the year.
Hunters Kits (SKHK)
Currently all hunters kits will be shipped in our old camo bags, these will not be digita camo bags. These bags also will not have the orange pull out flag. We will hvae our regular digital camo bags back on the website after the 1st of the year.
Labor Day
We will be closed for Labor Day, September 1st, 2014. We will resume normal business hours the next day.
July 4th, 2014
We will be closed Friday the 4th of July, 2014.
Wise Long term Food Storage
Beginning Friday, May 30th 2014 a price increase will be applied to select Wise Long Term Food Storage items. We will have an updated product chart to reflect the new costs. Please be sure to update your websites and download our new product chart.
Memorial Day 2014
We will be closed May 26, 2014 for Memorial Day. We will continue our normal business hours the following day.
Millenium Energy Bars
April 23, 2014 - Due to an increase in cost of the ingredients for the Millenium Energy Bars we have increased the cost of these to $132.50 for a case of 144 and $5.70 for the 6 pack of Cherry Bars.The MAP prices for both of the listed items will now be as follows.
Case of Millenium Energy Bars - MAP $200
6 Pack of Cherry Bars - MAP $9
Heartbleed Virus
April 14, 2014 - With the recent discovery of the virus Heartbleed we reccommed that resellers reset their passwords. Although we have been ensured our website is safe and secure we still advise all resellers tot ake precaution.
Wise 60 Serving Bucket has now been discontinued
Effective March 17, 2014 we will no longer carry the Wise 60 Serving Grab n Go Bucket. Please be sure to remove this from your listings.
Discontinued Product: Wise Real Eggs
2/24/14-We will no longer be supplying Wise Food Company's Real Eggs (FSEG). This will be taken off the site within 24 hours.
Announcing - 20% BELOW MAP!
Starting today until February 25, 2014 you will be able to advertise all Wise Food products for up to 20% below MAP. It is a great opportunity to use this for promotion and special group discounts.
*Offer ONLY available until February 25, 2014!
FWPF - Water Filtration Bottle 2/18/2014
We will no longer sell the Seychelle Water Bottles. We now carry our Guardian Standard Water Filtration Bottle. Please see updated image and description.
Terms and Conditions Update
2/18/14-There has been a new addition to Terms and Conditions on orders placed with discounts applied.
Holiday Schedule
02/14/14-We will be closed on Monday February 17th for presidents day. We will reopen on February 18th at 9:00 AM Mountain Time.
Holiday Schedule
01/17/14-We will be closed on January 20th for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We will reopen on January 21st.
Holiday Schedule
12/23/13- We will be closed on December 24th and December 25th for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We will also be closing at 1:00PM (Mountain Standard Time) on Tuesday December 31st for New Years Eve, and Closed on Wednesday January 1st, for New Years Day.
Product Update
12/17/2013-We will no longer be supplying the Reflective Dog Vest in the Guardian Dog Survival Kit. We will be updating our site within 24-48 hours.
International Shipment Update-To Canada
12/17/13-We will no longer be shipping any of our Preparedness Seeds to Canada due to Canadian Cusoms rules and regulations.
International Shipment Update
12/10/13-We have added information about international shipping to our Terms and Conditions page. Please be sure to read through it.
10/11/2013 Closed for Columbus Day
Guardian Offices will be closed Monday October 14th for Columbus Day. We will reopen at 9am MST on Tuesday October 15th and all inquirires will be responded to at that time.
9/13/2013 Product Update
All hygiene kits now contain 8 wet naps instead of 9. These wet naps are more durable and are higher quality.
8/26/13 Closed for Labor Day
In honor of Labor Day, Guardian will be closed on Monday, September 2nd, 2013. We will re-open on Tuesday, September 3rd, 2013.
6/25/13 Closed for Fourth of July
In celebration of Independence Day, Guardian will be closed on July 4th, 2013. Normal business hours will resume Friday the Fifth.
5/30/13 Family Road Guardian and Millennium Bars
Please also note these has been a pricing increase on our Case of Cherry Millennium Bars. The new price is $125 a case.
5/17/2013 Shipping Wise Products Internationally
We are unable to ship Wise products internationally with the exception of a few products. Please email us at firstname.lastname@example.com for a more extensive list of Wise items we are able to ship internationally.
5/8/2013 Closed May 27th, 2013 Memorial Day
Our offices will be closed all day, Monday, May 27th, in honor of Memorial Day.
4/29/2013New Wise Fire Products
We have recently added a new line of Wise Fire products to our Guardian line. The buckets come in several different sizes and are great for any emergency or camping situation.
2/14/2013 Closed February 18th, 2013 Presidents Day
Our offices and warehouse will be closed Monday, February 18th, in honor of Presidents Day.
1/9/2013 UPS Cancellation Fees
All orders that are cancelled while in transit are subject to both the $12 UPS accessory fee and the cost of returning the item to our warehouse.
1/9/2013 "Survival Kit" Stitching On Bags Discontinued
All backpacks no longer have the "survival kit" stitching on the bags. We're done this to eliminate any safety concerns regarding the embroidery potentially making people 'targets' in a time of distress.
12/10/2012 Survival Kit Lead Time
Due to the holiday season lead times on all kit orders will now be 5-7 business days. This is only a temporary change and we are working hard to ensure all orders are shipping in a timely manner.
12/6/2012 Wise Food Products Lead Time
For the holiday season we are currently experiencing an extended lead time on all Wise Food Storage products. These products will now be shipping out in 5-10 business days. This is only temporary and we expect normal lead time in January.
12/4/2012 PSAG No Longer Aavailable
Effective immediatly, the PSAG Ancient Grains Can of Seeds, is no longer available as per discontinued.
12/4/2012 LCLT Back In Stock
Starting immediatly, we will have the LCLT Emergency Dynamo Lantern and Radio, in stock and available for orders.
11/26/2012 Update on Dropshipping fees
Starting on 11/26/2012 all orders under $20 will have a $3 drop shipping free.
11/12/2012 Closed on Veteran's Day
In honor of Veteran's Day Guardian Survival Gear's offices and warehouse will be closed Monday, Novemer 12th. Business hours will resume on Tuesday, November 13th as usual.
11/9/2012 Price Change on LCFR
Our LCFR, 4-1 Dynamo Radio Flashlight has now had a price increse. This product is now available for the price of $9.35.
11/06/2012 Include PO numbers on your packing slips
When placing orders you can now include your own PO numbers on the packing slip by inlcuding them in the "Additional Info" section of your customer's shipping information. This line will show as a PO on your customer's packing slip.
10/16/2012 Temporarily Extended Lead Times on Certain products
Due to some changes in inventory, we currently have temporarily extended lead times on the following products; PSAG, PSCC, PSFR, PSMD, LCFR, and TCS.
The dynamo flashlight with army knife product has been permenantly discontinued.
Our Garden Can of preparedness seeds is temporarily out of stock. In the next three weeks, the garden can will be back in stock.
Our LCLT Emergency Dynamo Lantern will be back in stock in a few weeks. In the mean time we have an emergency lantern with radio available. Unlike the LCLT, this lantern is battery powered. It is available while supplies last at the price of $7.50.
8/31/2012 Closed on Labor Day
The Guardian Survival Gear corporate office and warehouse will be closed on Monday September 3rd, 2012 for Labor Day.
8/07/2012 Refunds/ Returns
Orders returned to Guardian are subject to a 20% restocking fee.
8/07/2012 LCLT is Out of Stock
Our item LCLT is currently out of stock. Be sure to check the Alerts and Reminders section to see when we will have this item available again.
8/06/2012 Weight Changes
Please download an updated product chart as some of our product weights have been adjusted to more accurately reflect their updated status. The weight difference will affect shipping costs so it is very important that weights are kept up to date.
The new sunscreen packets are available on the website at the updated price of $20 per 100 packets.
7/06/2012 New Wise Product
Wise's new Ultimate 7-day emergency is now available to order on the site. The SKU is FS7D and the cost is $97 including shipping!
6/29/2012 Custom Packing Slips
As a reminder all of our orders are blind drop shipped with the exception of Wise Food orders. All orders containing Wise Food products will be labeled with the address of Wise Foods. We will not be able to include custom packing slips in any Wise food orders.
6/01/2012 Sale on FS72
The FS72 cook in pouch food storage item is being offered for a limited time at the reduced cost of $23 (including shipping) with the purchase of any other Guardian survival kit. If you would like to purchase this item with another kit, you can find it under the SKU FS72A in the quick order tab, or under Long term food storage.
5/24/2012 Shipping Outside of the Continental US
We are not able to ship the following items form their respective kits out of the continental U.S. (Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Catalina): FSDK & FSEK - Fuel Tablets, SKAK & SKUK - Fix-a-Flat Tire Pressure Repair.
We also will now be charging an additional $35.00 for orders of Wise Food Storage that we ship to Alaska or Hawaii. This is a fee that you are able to pass onto your customers as well, but you will want to make them aware of this before they place their orders.
4/6/2012 Refused International Shipments
It is now policy that any international shipment that is refused upon delivery will not be eligible for a refund. In any instance where Guardian is forced to pay for duty, taxes, or return shipping costs that have not been paid, we will invoice you for the stated amount and put your Guardian on hold until it is paid in full. On this note, please make any international customers aware that importing fees for 1 survival kit can be anywhere from $25 - $250.
3/12/2012 UPS Shipping Changes
UPS charges a $10 fee if they have to adjust anything on the shipping label of each order they deliver. From this moment going forward, if an order was submitted with an incorrect address and Guardian's UPS Account is charged for it, we will be passing the $10 fee onto our resellers. Your cooperation with this is much appreciated.


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How To Teach Your Children To Do Good Deeds As A Part Of Life
4th Aug 2017 , Wannathankyou
Too often today it seems like a good deed is seen as a way to create an advantage for the person doing the deed. It isn't always about help or simply being a caring human being; it is about leveraging the situation for an advantage.
If this is the case, is it truly a good deed? In the definition of the term, it is not; rather it is a self-serving act that simply had a positive impact for another. Teaching children the difference between a selfless good deed and a calculated action is an important part of preparing children to be great people throughout life.
A Child's Perspective
The wonderful thing about children is that they are very willing to help others, to be kind and to genuinely care for others. It is up to parents to continue to provide recognition for children in these acts of kindness,practicing gratitude and, provide them with the motivation to retain this perspective of helping others because it is the right thing to do.
There are several ways that parents can provide motivation for kids to keep helping others and performing those good deeds that come so naturally to the little ones. Thankfully, this practice is something that can be a defining part of the family and one that everyone will be able to take part in and value.
Practicing Gratitude
One of the easiest ways to teach children about doing the good deed and practicing gratitude is, to model it in the family. When kids hear Mom and Dad says "thanks" or "thank you" to each other, to strangers and to the kids themselves it becomes a part of the child's vocabulary as well.
However, it shouldn't just stop there. Mom and Dad, as well as other adults in the family, can also show children the power of being kind to others. This can include acts of kindness such as:
- Holding or opening the door for someone.
- Helping a person with a task they are struggling with.
- Helping an elderly person to cross the road, load or unload their groceries or even reach an object on the shelf in the grocery store.
- Volunteering for a community project that supports people in the community.
- Sharing their gifts and talents to help someone out who is in need.
The benefits of this type of modeling create an attitude focused on helping others for children. This is a wonderful gift to give a child and a gift that will help your kids to be wonderful, appreciative, and kindful. Click here to know Why Kindness Matters in our life.


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The Social Security Administration (SSA) Office of the Chief Actuary (OCA) has projected that the Social Security wage base will increase by at least $3,500 in 2012. It has been $106,800 since 2009. The projections, which extend through 2020, were included as part of the annual report to Congress by the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund programs.
Background. The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) imposes two taxes on employers, employees, and self-employed workers—one for Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI; commonly known as the Social Security tax), and the other for Hospital Insurance (HI; commonly known as the Medicare tax).
In general, the FICA tax rate for employees and employers is 7.65% each—6.2% for OASDI and 1.45% for HI. For self-employed workers, the FICA tax is 15.3%—12.4% for OASDI and 2.9% for HI. However, the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (2010 Tax Relief Act, P.L. 111-312) reduced the employee OASDI tax rate under the FICA tax by two percentage points, to 4.2%, for remuneration received during 2011. As a result, for 2011, employees will pay only 4.2% Social Security tax on wages up to $106,800. The employer tax rate for Social Security remains unchanged at 6.2%. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the estimated budgetary effects of this reduction are approximately $67.2 billion in 2010 and $44.4 billion in 2011.
The maximum amount of compensation subject to the OASDI tax is known as the wage base. (No such maximum exists for HI.) For 2009 through 2011, the wage base has remained at $106,800. The wage base has two primary functions: it caps the amount of earnings that are subject to OASDI tax, and it also caps the amount of earnings that are later used to calculate the benefits that the worker will receive.
Projected increases through 2020. The SSA provides three kinds of forecasts for Social Security wage bases: intermediate, low cost, and high cost. The SSA intermediate forecasts through 2020 are as follows:
2012 — $110,700
2013 — $114,900
2014 — $120,000
2015 — $125,400
2016 — $130,800
2017 — $135,900
2018 — $141,300
2019 — $146,700
2020 — $153,300
The wage base is also projected to be $110,700 in 2012 under the low cost forecast. It would be $110,400 under the high cost forecast. The wage base would reach $159,900 in 2020 under the high cost forecast.
Actual annual increases to the wage base are announced in October of the preceding year and are based on then-current economic conditions. As a result, the OCA's forecasts, especially the longer-range ones, are subject to change. However, the OCA correctly projected last year that the Social Security wage base would remain at $106,800 in 2011.
Other issues raised in SSA's report. In addition to projecting increased wage bases, the SSA also provided general conclusions and observations regarding the long-term viability of Social Security. Based on a number of factors, notably including the aging of the "baby boom" population and the increase in life expectancy, the SSA projected that Social Security should be able to fully pay scheduled benefits until the trust funds are exhausted in 2036. (Last year's report projected that the funds would be exhausted in 2037.) After 2036, the amount of non-interest income is projected to cover approximately 77% of the cost of Social Security.
The SSA also notes two other alternatives to eliminate Social Security's shortfall—namely, increasing taxes or reducing benefits. The scheduled benefits could be paid for by raising payroll taxes beginning in 2036, initially to 16.4% and slowly increasing until approximately 16.9%. Alternatively, benefits could be reduced to match the scheduled tax rates, starting with a 23% reduction in 2036 and gradually increasing to 26%.
Impact of raising or eliminating the wage base. According to a 2010 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, although the wage base has risen at the same rate as average wages since'82, the actual percentage of covered earnings that are subject to OASDI tax has dropped from 90% in'82 to 85% in 2005, and is projected to further decline to 83% for 2014. This decrease is attributable to greater earnings inequality. Although the percentage of the population with incomes below the wage base has remained fairly consistent at approximately 94% since the'80s, the earnings of those above the wage base have risen faster than the average.
According to the CRS, if the wage base were to be eliminated in 2013, this change would result in approximately 21% of beneficiaries paying additional payroll taxes at some point during their lives. For individuals affected by this increase, their total lifetime payments would grow by 3%, and benefits received would grow by 2%, as compared to current law.
CRS further noted that raising or eliminating the wage base could reduce the long-term Social Security deficit. For instance, if the wage base were eliminated for contribution purposes, but retained for benefit calculation purposes, Social Security would remain solvent for 75 years.
References: For the FICA tax rate and wage base, see FTC 2d/FIN ¶H-4687; United States Tax Reporter ¶35,014.07; TaxDesk ¶541,002; TG ¶9501.


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The Labour-led coalition have wasted no time in chucking away tens of thousands of pounds of your money on their personal vanity projects.
At a meeting of the Policy & Resources Committee meeting on 7th September, Cllr Gavin Callaghan (Lab, Pitsea North-West), the de facto leader of the coalition, pushed through a scheme to spend tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money filming himself at council meetings.
Presumably, this is a bid to discourage some of his coalition colleagues from being unruly and acting irresponsibly. However, meetings are already audio-recorded and any residents can review these at leisure.
Residents should be as mad as hell that Councillor Callaghan and his coalition partners are wasting taxpayers' money on this vanity project, just so that some conceited councillors can post clips of themselves to social media and try to use it to increase their political profile and get the publicity they want. £35,000 is a heck of a lot of money just so that Councillor Callaghan can grandstand and then watch it back afterwards. This money should be put to use to practically improve the lives of our residents.
If returned to administration, the Conservatives will scrap this self-indulgent facility and return to the cheaper, more cost-effective audio-recordings.
Cllr Kevin Blake
Conservative Councillor for Burstead
Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group


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Community Projects!
Hey, there!
Thanks for checking out our projects.
Shows you're interested in services to others.
Here, we share upcoming & ongoing community projects we volunteer for, and organizations we partner with to touch, & change the lives of people around us.
We also share projects and campaign "Zoe" carry out.
All in the bid to impact our world.
Only a life lived in service to others is a life worth living. - Albert EinsteinFind yourself in the service of others. - Mahatma Gandhi


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Be Who You Are
If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body.
1 Cor 12:12, 17-20
I like scriptures that talk about the body of Christ. I like to think about how different we all are as members of Christ's body. When we accept Jesus and God fills us with the Holy Spirit, we become necessary like a unique piece of the puzzle that He can use for His purpose. I like to think about how important every piece of the puzzle is and how we need each other to complete the picture. The power of God flows when we all work together. Whether it's working together in the church, the community, the workplace or in our homes, I've noticed that healthy teamwork is vital to the health of the project.
My faith in Jesus soared in the late 70's when I developed an appetite for God's Word. It was exciting to find my identity in Christ and serve Him. Some of my leaders in the Women's groups wanted to mold me in their uniqueness, not mine, thinking my gifts should be identical to theirs. That feels like when we wear clothes that are not our style or wear someone else's shoes that do not fit. The big lesson I had to learn was to please God and not people. It goes two ways because I also learned that when I focused on Him, I wasn't envious of other's gifts measuring myself by the wrong yardstick.
I'm a fan of Christian meetings with lots of giftedness flowing in the speakers, worship, prayer ministry and helpful workers. Big events with big names are wonderful and it's exciting to part of them. But I like, also, small groups gathering for discussions of the Bible, Christian books, prayer and encouragement. I call them every day people expressing their faith.
I enjoy bloggers who write about their love for the Lord, and their desire to serve Him. I'm amazed at their distinct styles. Talk about diversity! I know the blog address for a good Biblical study, prayer, family life or creative ways to serve Jesus. So many servants of God in Christian bloggerland are there to encourage, inspire, pray, teach - you name it. And I think the Lord is pleased. I'm thinking He wants us to relax and be ourselves wherever we are and however He uses us.


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....at which point i re-heated it with some smashed-up spaghetti noodles and simmered until they were soft. oh yeah, and i made KILLER AWESOME YEAST ROLLS to go with it, using my new favorite bread recipe. it's actually so great i'm going to devote the next post to it. geeah i love bread.
sorry. before grilling, dan rubbed a bit of butter on each one, and wrapped them individually in some foil, dumping the marinade in there as well. we put them on the grill for about 40 minutes (well before the lamb chops!), and they could've gone for even a bit longer. but let me tell you what...that was the best cabbage idea i had ever heard! i have never described cabbage as luscious, but. that was some luscious cabbage. next time i will have a significant quantity of goat cheese to schmear on there, but it was perfect just by itself.
those are some organic new potatoes plain ol' boiled, and some delicious texas farmer's market lamb chops. all due respect to my colorado peeps, but i'm sorry, texas grassfed lamb is just thicker and richer than ya'll's hard workin', low-oxygen mountain lamb that i had previously grilled!
one last note about the grilled cabbage: LOOK AT THAT COLOR. it's practically pornographic. i think we should all resolve to eat more purple things.
more soon! especially about bread! stay tuned!


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Make Store Samples Earn Their Keep
We all know store samples help to sell patterns, fabric and notions…but with a little help, they can do double, even triple duty.
Here's an idea to add to their merchandising power--
Make a sample our latest pattern the Stow & Sew hanging organizer. PIX
Hang it next to the interfacings, stabilizers and battings, fill it to show off how visible and reachable they are, then add a few other products. Pin on a Stow & Sew pattern so customers know this is something they can make themselves.
A fun adaptation is to use chalk fabric to trim out the front pockets which allows you to label each pockets. Or how about using mesh for the pockets so contents are easily seen?
Stow & Sews are easy to personalize with decorative buttons and ribbons.
Great for stash busting...the pockets are even more interesting when made from various "leftovers".
Fall Market is Just Around the Corner


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Sleeveless top
Sleeveless top in floral-print viscose georgette with lacework
Product details
Main material: 100% Viscose Lining: 52% Acetate, 48% Cupro Lacework: 87% Cotton, 13% Polyamide Care: dry cleaning only Fit: fitted, spaghetti straps - Slips on Colour: brown multicolour Item code: CHC19SHT163482ZA
Revealing a romantic floral print, this viscose georgette top is cut with spaghetti straps and a scalloped hem. Delicate horse-motif lacework at the chest creates contrast while elevating the feminine mood.
Shipping & Returns
Return Service:
We provide free pick up for your returns: you have 15 days from delivery to follow our quick and easy return procedure.
For additional information, please consult the Return Policy.
May we help?
Call us at +44 (0)2078113950
Contact us by filling out our form


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Sheer Tank
A versatile, silky sheer underpinning.
Sheer Top
- Imported Italian fabric: 80% polyamide, 20% elastane
- Sleeveless sheer underpinning
- Wear under the sheer Nancy Blouse
- Machine wash gentle
- Available in black
- Style # 182-04-32
Special Order (*)
We are a small company and sometimes the size you want may be out of stock but we have enough fabric still to sew a garment for you. It takes approximately 3 weeks for a custom order to be cut and sewn from date of order. If your size is not in stock, hit "add to cart" to order your size and proceed to checkout. The quality is worth waiting for!!


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As the Regional Director of eCommerce, Japan Korea & Micronesia region, he is responsible for driving all eCommerce and digital initiatives for the hotels within the region, as well as supporting outbound travel from Japan to the rest of the world. His primary objective is to achieve the region's revenue budget, primarily through driving rooms revenue through Web Direct channels, but is also responsible for managing OTA and other partner relationship, and driving other business such as dining and weddings through online channels. Prior to Hilton, he worked in various industries all in ecommerce related roles, most recently at Lenovo Japan.
Regional Director, eCommerce, Japan, Korea & Micronesia, Hilton Worldwide


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King David - The Temple
The Temple
King David bought the land on Mount Moriah from Arauna, after God made clear to him that he should to have The Temple build there, 2 Samuel 24:16-25. He made prepabr /emrations to build the Temple, w/phile God did not allow him to build it. But he did contribute to the necessary building materials and finances, and encourage the people to do the same, 1 Chronicles 29.
Why not build it? Because he had to much blood on his hands as 1 Chronicles 22:8 tells us. They say and it's written: live by the sword, die by the sword, Matthew 26:52. But King David did not die by the sword as 1 Kings 2:10-11 (1 Chronicles 29:28) tells us. For God gave him who was a ruler the sword, Romans 13:4:
4 For the one in authority is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. ...
To contribute he gave away riches and encouraged the people of his kingdom to do so themselves, 1 Chronicles 29:
2 With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God ...
3 Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: ...
Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the LORD today?"
6 Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king's work gave willingly.
In doing this, King David also followed lets say the above mentioned guide lines God gave for the future kings of Israel. He also realized that whatever he had actually belonged to God. By the way God did tell him he would give him a son, Salomon (= peace) to build the Temple.
1 Chronicles 29 continuous:
10 David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,
"Praise be to you, LORD, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.
11 Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all. 13 Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.
14 "But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this?
Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.


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Going on sale soon, We figured we would talk about the redesigned 2019 Nissan Altima. With it's almost record breaking sales last year, Nissan decided to go against popular opinion and focus on the redesign of a sedan, not a crossover or truck but a sedan.
It's Not Your Average Altima Inside
– Elegant and Simple
– High Tech Infotainment Via, Nissan Connect, Apple Car Play, and Android Auto
– Standard Safety Tech with, Forward Collision Alert, Automatic Emergency Braking, and Driver Alertness Monitor
– Nissan Safety Shield 360 with Blind Spot Monitoring, Automatic High Beams, and Rear Cross Traffic Alert
Redesigned Exterior
– Sleek New Grill Design
– Longer Wheelbase
Let's Talk About Power
– Redesigned 2.5L 4 Cylinder with more power than ever
– Brand New 2.0L Variable Compression Turbo Motor
– Optional AWD Offered for the first time


text: A beautiful new pergola adds value to a high-end home A family-owned business New French doors lead to a brand new deck A 1970s bathrooms gets new tile, shower, toilet Hard at work! A sturdy and beautiful deck that will last for years to come A completely refurbished kitchen. Beautiful and cost-conscious!