A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, Edward Payson Roe [top young adult novels TXT] 📗
- Author: Edward Payson Roe
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Half Our Duty. Since Our Tasks Are Beyond Our Strength And Ability, We
Are Equally Bound To Receive Such Human Aid As God Sends Us, And, Chief
Of All, To Ask Daily, And Sometimes Hourly, That His Strength Be Made
Perfect In our Weakness. But There Are Some Lessons Which Are Only
Learned by Experience. I Shall Feel Deeply Grieved if You Do Not Come Or
Send For Me In any Emergency Or Time Of Special Need. In parting, I Have
One Favor To Ask, And I Think I Have A Right To Ask It. I Wish You To Go
And See Your Mother, And Spend At Least An Hour With Her Before She
Returns Home. As A Matter Of Manly Duty, Be Kind And Gentle. Remember
How Deeply You Have Wounded her, And That You Are Under The Most Sacred
Obligations To Endure Patiently All Reproaches And Expressions Of Grief.
If You Will Do This You Will Do Much To Regain My Respect, And It Will
Be A Most Excellent Step Toward A Better Life. You Can Gain Society'S
Respect Again Only By Doing Your Duty, And Nothing Can Be Duty More
Plainly Than This."
After A Moment'S Hesitation He Said, "I Do Not Think An Interview With
Mother Now Will Do Either Of Us Any Good; But, As You Say, You Have A
Right To Ask This, And Much More, Of Me. I Will Go To Her Hotel And Do
The Best I Can; But Somehow Mother Don'T Understand Human Nature--Or, At
Least, My Nature--And When I Have Been Doing Wrong She Always Makes Me
Feel Like Doing Worse."
"If You Are To Succeed in your Endeavor You Are Not To Act As You Feel.
_You Are To Do Right._ Remember That In your Effort To Win The Position
You Wish In this City, You Start With At Least One Friend To Whom You
Can Always Come. Good-By," And Mrs. Arnot Returned home Weary And Sad
From The Day'S Unforeseen Experiences.
In Answer To Laura'S Eager Questioning, She Related what Had Happened
Quite Fully, Veiling Only That Which A Delicate Regard For Others Would
Lead Her To Pass In silence. She Made The Young Girl Womanly By Treating
Her More As A Woman And A Companion Than As A Child. In mrs. Arnot'S
Estimation Her Niece Had Reached an Age When Her Innocence And
Simplicity Could Not Be Maintained by Efforts To Keep Her Shallow And
Ignorant, But By Revealing To Her Life In its Reality, So That She Might
Wisely And Gladly Choose The Good From Its Happy Contrast With Evil And
Its Inevitable Suffering.
The Innocence That Walks Blindly On Amid Earth'S Snares And Pitfalls Is
An Uncertain Possession; The Innocence That Recognizes Evil, But Turns
From It With Dread And Aversion, Is Priceless.
Mrs. Arnot Told Laura The Story Of The Young Man'S Folly Substantially
As He Had Related it To Her, But She Skilfully Showed how One
Comparatively Venial Thing Had Led to Another, Until An Act Had Been
Committed which Might Have Resulted in years Of Imprisonment.
"Let This Sad And Miserable Affair Teach You," Said She, "That We Are
Never Safe When We Commence To Do Wrong Or Act Foolishly. We Can Never
Tell To What Disastrous Lengths We May Go When We Leave The Path Of
Simple Duty."
While She Mentioned haldane'S Resolution To Regain, If Possible, His
Good Name And Position, She Skilfully Removed from The Maiden'S Mind All
Romantic Notions Concerning The Young Man And Her Relation To His
Conduct.
Laura'S Romantic Nature Would Always Be A Source Both Of Strength And
Weakness. While, On The One Hand, It Rendered her Incapable Of A Sordid
And Calculating Scheme Of Life, On The Other, It Might Lead To Feeling
And Action Prejudicial To Her Happiness. Mrs. Arnot Did Not Intend That
She Should Brood Over Haldane Until Her Vivid Imagination Should Weave A
Net Out Of His Misfortunes Which Might Insnare Her Heart. It Was Best
For Laura That She Should Receive Her Explanations Of Life In very Plain
Prose, And The Picture That Her Aunt Presented of Haldane And His
Prospects Was Prosaic Indeed. He Was Shown To Be But An Ordinary Young
Man, With More Than Ordinarily Bad Tendencies. While She Commended his
Effort In itself, She Plainly Stated how Wanting It Was In the True
Elements Of Success, And How Great Were Her Fears That It Would Meet
With Utter Failure. Thus The Affair Ended, As Far As Laura Was
Concerned, In a Sincere Pity For Her Premature Lover, And A Mild And
Natural Interest In his Future Welfare--But Nothing More.
Mr. Arnot Uttered an Imprecation On Learning That His Wife Had Gone
Security For Haldane. But When He Found That She Had Acted through Mr.
Melville, In such A Way That The Fact Need not Become Known, He
Concluded to Remain Silent Concerning The Matter. He And His Wife Met At
The Dinner-Table That Evening as If Nothing Unusual Had Occurred, Both
Having Concluded to Ignore All That Had Transpired, If Possible. Mrs.
Arnot Saw That Her Husband Had Only Acted characteristically, And, From
His Point Of View, Correctly. Perhaps His Recent Experience Would
Prevent Him From Being Unduly Harsh Again Should There Ever Be Similar
Cause, Which Was Quite Improbable. Since It Appeared that She Could
Minister To His Happiness In no Other Way Save Through Her Property, She
Decided to Leave Him The One Meagre Gratification Of Which He Was
Capable.
The Future In its General Aspects May Here Be Anticipated by Briefly
Stating That The Echoes Of The Affair Gradually Died away. Mr. Arnot, On
The Receipt Of A Check For One Thousand Dollars From Mrs. Haldane'S
Lawyer, Was Glad To Procure Mr. Melville'S Release From The Bond For
Which His Wife Was Pledged, By Assuring The Legal Authorities That He
Would Not Prosecute. The Superior Young Man, Who Made Free Drinks The
Ambition Of His Life, Had Kept Himself Well Informed, And On Learning Of
The Order For His Arrest Left Town Temporarily For Parts Unknown. The
Papers Made The Most Of The Sensation, To The Disgust Of All Concerned,
But Reference To The Affair Soon Dwindled down To An Occasional
Paragraph. The City Press Concluded editorially That The Great
Manufacturer Had Been Harsh Only Seemingly, For The Sake Of Effect, And
With The Understanding That His Wife Would Show A Little Balancing
Kindness To The Culprit And His Aristocratic Mother. That Haldane Should
Still Remain In the City Was Explained on The Ground That He Was Ashamed
To Go Home, Or That He Was Not Wanted there.
Chapter XVII (At Odds With The World)
Haldane Kept His Promise To Spend An Hour With His Mother. While He Told
Her The Truth Concerning His Folly, He Naturally Tried to Place His
Action In the Best Light Possible. After Inducing Her To Take Some
Slight Refreshment, He Obtained a Close Carriage, And Saw Her Safely On
The Train Which Would Convey Her To The City Wherein She Resided. During
The Interview She Grew Much More Composed, And Quite Remorseful That She
Had Not Shown Greater Consideration For Her Son'S Feelings, And She
Urged and Even Entreated him To Return Home With Her. He Remained firm,
However, In his Resolution, And Would Receive From Her Only A Very Small
Sum Of Money, Barely Enough To Sustain Him Until He Could Look Around
For Employment.
His Mother Shared mrs. Arnot'S Distrust, Greatly Doubting The Issue Of
His Large Hopes And Vague Plans; But She Could Only Assure Him That Her
Home, To Which She Returned crushed and Disconsolate, Was Also His.
But He Felt That Return Was Impossible. He Would Rather Wander To The
Ends Of The Earth Than Shut Himself Up With His Mother And Sisters, For
He Foresaw That Their Daily Moans And Repinings Would Be Daily Torture.
It Would Be Even Worse To Appear Among His Old Acquaintances And
Companions, And Be Taunted with The Fact That His First Venture From
Home Ended in a Common Jail. The Plan Of Drifting away To Parts Unknown,
And Of Partially Losing His Identity By Changing His Name, Made A Cold,
Dreary Impression Upon Him, Like The Thought Of Annihilation, And Thus
His Purpose Of Remaining In hillaton, And Winning Victory On The Very
Ground Of His Defeat, Grew More Satisfactory.
But He Soon Began To Learn How Serious, How Disheartening, Is The
Condition Of One Who Finds Society Arrayed against Him.
It Is The Fashion To Inveigh Against The "Cold And Pitiless World"; But
The World Has Often Much Excuse For Maintaining This Character. As
Society Is Now Constituted, The Consequences Of Wrong-Doing are Usually
Terrible And Greatly To Be Dreaded; And All Who Have Unhealthful
Cravings For Forbidden Things Should Be Made To Realize This. Society
Very Naturally Treats Harshly Those Who Permit Their Pleasures And
Passions To Endanger Its Very Existence. People Who Have Toilsomely And
Patiently Erected their Homes And Placed therein Their Treasures Do Not
Tolerate With Much Equanimity Those Who Appear To Have No Other Calling
Than That Of Recklessly Playing With Fire. The Well-To-Do, Conservative
World Has No Inclination To Make Things Pleasant For Those Who Propose
To Gratify Themselves At Any And Every Cost; And If The Culprit Pleads,
"I Did Not Realize--I Meant No Great Harm," The Retort Comes Back, "But
You Do The Harm; You Endanger Everything. If You Have Not Sense Or
Principle Enough To Act Wisely And Well, Do Not Expect Us To Risk Our
Fortunes With Either Fools Or Knaves." And The Man Or The Woman Who Has
Preferred pleasure Or Passing Gratification Or Transient Advantage To
That Priceless Possession, A Good Name, Has Little Ground For Complaint.
If Society Readily Condoned those Grave Offences Which Threaten Chaos,
Thousands Who Are Now Restrained by Salutary Fear Would Act Out
Disastrously The Evil Lurking In their Hearts. As Long As The Instinct
Of Self-Preservation Remains, The World Will Seem Cold And Pitiless.
But It Often Is So To A Degree That Cannot Be Too Severely Condemned.
The World Is The Most Soulless Of All Corporations. In dealing With The
Criminal Or Unfortunate Classes It Generalizes To Such An Extent That
Exceptional Cases Have Little Chance Of A Special Hearing. If By Any
Means, However, Such A Hearing Can Be Obtained, The World Is Usually
Just, And Often Quite Generous. But In the Main It Says To All: "Keep
Your Proper Places In the Ranks. If You Fall Out, We Must Leave You
Behind; If You Make Trouble, We Must Abate You As A Nuisance." This
Certainty Has The Effect Of Keeping Many In their Places Who Otherwise
Would Drop Out And Make Trouble, And Is, So Far, Wholesome. And Yet, In
Spite Of This Warning Truth, The Wayside Of Life Is Lined with Those
Who, For Some Reason, Have Become Disabled and Have Fallen Out Of Their
Places; And Miserably Would Many Of Them Perish Did Not The Spirit Of
Him Who Came "To Seek And Save The Lost" Animate True Followers Like
Mrs. Arnot, Leading Them Likewise To Go Out After The Lame, The Wounded,
And The Morally Leprous.
Haldane Was Sorely Wounded, But He Chose To Make His Appeal Wholly To
The World. Ignoring Heaven, And Those On Earth Representing Heaven'S
Forgiving and Saving Mercy, He Went Out Alone, In the Spirit Of Pride
And Self-Confidence, To Deal With Those Who Would Meet Him Solely On The
Ground Of Self-Interest. How This Law Works Against Such As Have Shown
Themselves Unworthy Of Trust, He At Once Began To Receive Abundant
Proof.
He Returned to The Hotel Whence He Had Just Taken His Mother, But The
Proprietor Declined to Give Him Lodgings. It Was A House That Cherished
Its Character For Quietness And Eminent Respectability, And A Young
Gambler And Embezzler Just Out Of Prison Would Prove An Ill-Omened
Guest. On Receiving a Cold And Peremptory Refusal To His Application,
And In the Presence Of Several Others, Haldane Stalked haughtily Away;
But There Was Misgiving and Faintness At His Heart. Such A Public Rebuff
Was A New And Strange Experience.
With Set Teeth And Lips Compressed he Next Resolved
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