A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY by Edward Payson Roe (world of reading .txt) 📖

Preface

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.

Contents

Chapter 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

Contents

Chapter 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

Contents

Chapter 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

Contents

Chapter 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