But when they went to tread down the earth, it seemed to her like sacrilege; and, forgetting every thing in one strong emotion, she sprang forward to prevent it. The effort was too much; and, for the first time, she sank back in the arms of the servants in strong hysterics!

Gamboling, sashaying, waving the parchment — bathed in the ever-blondening halo of our father's sweet deathbed blessing.

He waywardly wished for something, and he set about obtaining it like a child in a nursery.

What would have happened if those great Chinese voyages [by Zheng He] had continued? It's one of those questions in counter-factual history about which it is impossible to be sure.