A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY - Edward Payson Roe (best color ebook reader TXT) 📗
- Author: Edward Payson Roe
Book online «A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY - Edward Payson Roe (best color ebook reader TXT) 📗». Author Edward Payson Roe
He Best Deserves A Knightly Crest,
Who Slays The Evils That Infest
His Soul Within. If Victor Here,
He Soon Will Find A Wider Sphere.
The World Is Cold To Him Who Pleads;
The World Bows Low To Knightly Deeds.
Cornwall On The Hudson, N.Y.
ContentsChapter I
Bad Training For A Knight
Chapter Ii
Both Apologize
Chapter Iii
Chained to An Iceberg
Chapter Iv
Immature
Chapter V
Passion'S Clamor
Chapter Vi
"Gloomy Grandeur"
Chapter Vii
Birds Of Prey
Chapter Viii
Their Victim
Chapter Ix
Pat And The Press
Chapter X
Returning Consciousness
Chapter Xi
Haldane Is Arrested
Chapter Xii
A Memorable Meeting
Chapter Xiii
Our Knight In jail
ContentsChapter Xiv
Mr. Arnot'S System Works Badly
Chapter Xv
Haldane'S Resolve
Chapter Xvi
The Impulses Of Wounded pride
Chapter Xvii
At Odds With The World
Chapter Xviii
The World'S Verdict--Our Knight A Criminal
Chapter Xix
The World'S Best Offer--A Prison
Chapter Xx
Maiden And Wood-Sawyer
Chapter Xxi
Magnanimous Mr. Shrumpf
Chapter Xxii
A Man Who Hated himself
Chapter Xxiii
Mr. Growther Becomes Gigantic
Chapter Xxiv
How Public Opinion Is Often Made
ContentsChapter Xxv
A Paper Poniard
Chapter Xxvi
A Sorry Knight
Chapter Xxvii
God Sent His Angel
Chapter Xxviii
Facing The Consequences
Chapter Xxix
How Evil Isolates
Chapter Xxx
Ideal Knighthood
Chapter Xxxi
The Low Starting-Point
Chapter Xxxii
A Sacred refrigerator
Chapter Xxxiii
A Doubtful Battle In prospect
Chapter Xxxiv
A Foot-Hold
Chapter Xxxv
That Sermon Was A Bomb-Shell
Contents
Chapter Xxxvi
Mr. Growther Feeds An Ancient Grudge
Chapter Xxxvii
Hoping For A Miracle
Chapter Xxxviii
The Miracle Takes Place
Chapter Xxxix
Votaries Of The World
Chapter Xl
Human Nature
Chapter Xli
Mrs. Arnot'S Creed
Chapter Xlii
The Lever That Moves The World
Chapter Xliii
Mr. Growther "Stumped"
Chapter Xliv
Growth
Chapter Xlv
Laura Romeyn
Chapter Xlvi
Misjudged
ContentsChapter Xlvii
Laura Chooses Her Knight
Chapter Xlviii
Mrs. Arnot'S Knight
Chapter Xlix
A Knightly Deed
Chapter L
"O Dreaded death!"
Chapter Li
"O Priceless Life!"
Chapter Lii
A Man Versus A Connoisseur
Chapter Liii
Exit Of Laura'S First Knight
Chapter Liv
Another Knight Appears
Chapter I (Bad Training For A Knight)
Egbert Haldane Had An Enemy Who Loved him Very Dearly, And He Sincerely
Returned her Affection, As He Was In duty Bound, Since She Was His
Mother. If, Inspired by Hate And Malice, Mrs. Haldane Had Brooded over
But One Question At The Cradle Of Her Child, How Can I Most Surely
Destroy This Boy? She Could Scarcely Have Set About The Task More
Skilfully And Successfully.
But So Far From Having any Such Malign And Unnatural Intention, Mrs.
Haldane Idolized her Son. To Make The Paradox More Striking, She Was
Actually Seeking To Give Him A Christian Training and Character. As He
Leaned against Her Knee Bible Tales Were Told Him, Not Merely For The
Sake Of The Marvellous Interest Which They Ever Have For Children, But
In The Hope, Also, That The Moral They Carry With Them Might Remain As
Germinating Seed. At An Early Age The Mother Had Commenced taking Him To
Church, And Often Gave Him An Admonitory Nudge As His Restless Eyes
Wandered from The Venerable Face In the Pulpit. In brief, The Apparent
Influences Of His Early Life Were Similar To Those Existing In
Multitudes Of Christian Homes. On General Principles, It Might Be Hoped
That The Boy'S Future Would Be All That His Friends Could Desire; Nor
Did He Himself In early Youth Promise So Badly To Superficial Observers;
And The Son Of The Wealthy Mrs. Haldane Was, On The Part Of The World,
More The Object Of Envy Than Of Censure. But A Close Observer, Who
Judged of Characteristic Tendencies And Their Results By The Light Of
Experience, Might Justly Fear That The Mother Had Unwittingly Done Her
Child Irreparable Wrong.
She Had Made Him A Tyrant And A Relentless Task-Master Even In his
Infancy. As His Baby-Will Developed he Found It Supreme. His Nurse Was
Obliged to Be A Slave Who Must Patiently Humor Every Whim. He Was Petted
And Coaxed out Of His Frequent Fits Of Passion, And Beguiled from His
Obstinate And Sulky Moods By Bribes. He Was The Eldest Child And Only
Son, And His Little Sisters Were Taught To Yield To Him, Right Or Wrong,
He Lording It Over Them With The Capricious Lawlessness Of An Eastern
Despot. Chivalric Deference To Woman, And A Disposition To Protect And
Honor Her, Is A Necessary Element Of A Manly Character In our Western
Civilization; But Young Haldane Was As Truly An Oriental As If He Had
Been Permitted to Bluster Around A Turkish Harem; And Those Whom He
Should Have Learned to Wait Upon With Delicacy And Tact Became
Subservient To His Varying Moods, Developing That Essential Brutality
Which Mars The Nature Of Every Man Who Looks Upon Woman As An Inferior
And A Servant. He Loved his Mother, But He Did Not Reverence And Honor
Her. The Thought Ever Uppermost In his Mind Was, "What Ought She To Do
For Me?" Not, "What Ought I To Do For Her?" And Any Effort To Curb Or
Guide On Her Part Was Met And Thwarted by Passionate Or Obstinate
Opposition From Him. He Loved his Sisters After A Fashion, Because They
Were His Sisters; But So Far From Learning To Think Of Them As Those
Whom It Would Be His Natural Task To Cherish And Protect, They Were, In
His Estimation, "Nothing But Girls," And Of No Account Whatever Where
His Interests Were Concerned.
In The Most Receptive Period Of Life The Poison Of Selfishness And
Self-Love Was Steadily Instilled into His Nature. Before He Had Left The
Nursery He Had Formed the Habit Of Disregarding The Wills And Wishes Of
Others, Even When His Childish Conscience Told Him That He Was Decidedly
In The Wrong. When He Snatched his Sisters' Playthings They Cried in
Vain, And Found No Redress. The Mother Made Peace By Smoothing Over
Matters, And Promising The Little Girls Something Else.
Of Course, The Boy Sought To Carry Into His School Life The Same
Tendencies And Habits Which He Had Learned at Home, And He Ever Found A
Faithful Ally In his Blind, Fond Mother. She Took His Side Against His
Teachers; She Could Not Believe In his Oppressions Of His Younger
Playmates; She Was Absurdly Indignant And Resentful When Some Sturdy Boy
Stood Up For His Own Rights, Or Championed another'S, And Sent The
Incipient Bully Back To Her, Crying, And With A Bloody Nose. When The
Pampered youth Was A Little Indisposed, Or Imagined himself So, He Was
Coddled at Home, And Had Bonbons And Fairy Tales In the Place Of
Lessons.
Judicious Friends Shook Their Heads Ominously, And Some Even Ventured to
Counsel The Mother To A Wiser Course; But She Ever Resented such Advice.
The Son Was The Image Of His Lost Father, And Her One Impulse Was To
Lavish Upon Him Everything That His Heart Craved.
As If All This Were Not Enough, She Placed in the Boy'S Way Another
Snare, Which Seldom Fails Of Proving Fatal. He Had Only To Ask For Money
To Obtain It, No Knowledge Of Its Value Being Imparted to Him. Even When
He Took It From His Mother'S Drawer Without Asking, Her Chidings Were
Feeble And Irresolute. He Would Silence And Half Satisfy Her By Saying:
"You Can Take Anything Of Mine That You Want. It'S All In the Family;
What Difference Does It Make?"
Thus Every Avenue Of Temptation In the City Which Could Be Entered by
Money Was Open To Him, And He Was Not Slow In choosing Those Naturally
Attractive To A Boy.
But While His Mother Was Blind To The Evil Traits And Tendencies Which
She Was Fostering With Such Ominous Success, There Were Certain Overt
Acts Naturally Growing Out Of Her Indulgences Which Would Shock Her
Inexpressibly, And Evoke Even From Her The Strongest Expressions Of
Indignation And Rebuke. She Was Pre-Eminently Respectable, And Fond Of
Respect. She Was A Member "In Good And Regular Standing" Not Only Of Her
Church, But Also Of The Best Society In the Small Inland City Where She
Resided, And Few Greater Misfortunes In her Estimation Could Occur Than
To Lose This Status. She Never Hesitated to Humor Any Of Her Son'S Whims
And Wishes Which Did Not Threaten Their Respectability, But The
Quick-Witted boy Was Not Long In discovering That She Would Not Tolerate
Any Of Those Vices And Associations Which Society Condemns.
There Could Scarcely Have Been Any Other Result Save That Which
Followed. She
Comments (0)