The Plastic Age by Percy Marks (best mobile ebook reader .txt) 📖
- Author: Percy Marks
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Her. Don'T Know Why--Just Did.... Oh, Hell! What'S The Use Of Going
Into Details? You Can Guess What Happened."
Hugh Sat Suddenly Erect. "You Didn'T--"
Carl Stood Up And Stretched. "Yeah," He Yawned, "I Did It. Lots Of Times
Afterwards."
Hugh Was Dazed. He Didn'T Know What To Think. For An Instant He Was
Shocked, And Then He Was Envious. "Wonder If Janet Would Have Gone The
Whole Way," Flitted Across His Mind. He Instantly Dismissed The
Question; He Felt That It Wasn'T Fair To Janet. But Carl? Gosh!
Carl Yawned Again. "Great Stuff," He Said Nonchalantly. "Sleepy As Hell.
Guess I'Ll Hit The Hay." He Eyed Hugh Suspiciously. "You Aren'T Shocked,
Are You? You Don'T Think I'M A Moral Leper Or Anything Like That?" He
Attempted To Be Light But Wasn'T Altogether Successful.
"Of Course Not." Hugh Denied The Suggestion Vehemently, And Yet Down In
His Heart He Felt A Keen Disappointment. He Hardly Knew Why He Was
Disappointed, But He Was. "Going To Bed?" He Asked As Casually As He
Could.
Chapter 10 Pg 78
"Yeah. Good Night."
"Good Night, Old Man."
Each Boy Went To His Own Bedroom, Hugh To Go To Bed And Think Carl'S
Story Over. It Thrilled Him, And He Envied Carl, And Yet--And Yet He
Wished Carl Hadn'T Done It. It Made Him And Carl Different--Sorta Not
The Same; No That Wasn'T It. He Didn'T Know Just What The Trouble Was,
But There Was A Sharp Sting Of Disillusionment That Hurt. He Would Have
Been More Confused Had He Known What Was Happening In carl'S Room.
Carl Had Walked Into His Own Bedroom, Lighted The Light, And Closed The
Door. Then He Walked To The Dresser And Stared At Himself In The Mirror,
Stared A Long Time As If The Face Were Somehow New To Him.
There Was A Picture Of The "Old Lady" On The Dresser. It Caught His Eye,
And He Flinched. It Seemed To Look At Him Reproachfully. He Thought Of
His Mother, And He Thought Of How He Had Bluffed Hugh. He Had Cried
After His First Experience With The Girl.
He Looked Again Into The Mirror. "You Goddamn Hypocrite," He Said
Softly; "You Goddamn Hypocrite." His Lip Curled In contempt At His
Image.
He Began To Undress Rapidly. The Eyes Of The "Old Lady" In The Picture
Seemed To Follow Him Around The Room. The Thought Of Her Haunted Him.
Desperately, He Switched Out The Light.
Once In bed, He Rolled Over On His Stomach And Buried His Face In The
Pillow. "God!" He Whispered. "God!"
Chapter 11 Pg 79
Sanford Defeated Raleigh This Year In Football, And For A Time The
College Was Wild With Excitement And Delight. Most Of The Free Lumber In
Haydensville Was Burned In a TA
Charming And Interesting Picture. A Replica By Sir J. Reynolds, The
Property Of Lord Cadogan, Is At Chelsea House.
The Other Group Was Of A Younger Generation, More Brilliant And More
Modern. They Might Not Inappropriately Be Called The Fox Group,
Since His Personality Was So Conspicuous Among Them. They Talked
Politics And Gambled At Brooks'S, They Appreciated Each Other'S
Brightness, And Lost Their Money With The Indifference Of True
Friends. There Was The Gallant And Charming Soldier Fitzpatrick, The
Schoolfellow And Friend Of Fox, The Sagacious And Versatile But
Place-Seeking Storer. Hare, Who, Less Well-Born, Had Risen By His
Wit And Talents To A Place Among The Cleverest Men Of The Time, "The
Hare With Many Friends," As He Was Called By The Duchess Of Gordon.
Chapter 11 Pg 80Frederick, Earl Of Carlisle And Crawford, The "Petit Craufurt" Of
Mme. Du Deffand; And Chief Of All Was Charles Fox, Who To Selwyn Was
Incomprehensible. Selwyn Had Been His Father'S Friend, And Had Known
Him From Childhood. He Loved Him And Liked His Companionship; Yet
His Unrestrained Folly At The Gambling-Table And On The Racecourse,
His Loose Ideas On Money Matters, And His Political Opinions, At
Times Annoyed, Irritated, And Puzzled Him Almost Beyond Endurance.
With The Older And The Younger Group Selwyn Was On The Same Terms Of
Intimate Friendship: Now Pleasing By His Wit, And Now Helping By His
Kindness And Common Sense.
Castle Howard Was The Place, Outside London, Which Most Attracted
Him. It Is Even To-Day A Long Way From The Metropolis, And One Feels
Something Like Surprise That Such A Lover Of The Town As Selwyn
Could, Even To The End Of His Life, Undertake The Tiresome Journey
To Yorkshire. But In The Stately Galleries Of Vanbrugh'S Design He
Renewed His Associations With France. There He Was Not Bored By
Country Society; In The Home Circle He Had All The Company He
Needed. He Could Look Out Over The Rolling Uplands And See The
Distant Wolds, Contented To Observe And Enjoy Them From Afar Amidst
The Books And Pictures Which His Host Had Collected. If He Wanted
Exercise The Spacious Gardens Were At Hand, And The Artificial
Adornment Of Temples And Statuary Pleased A Taste Highly Cultivated
After The Fashion Of The Times.
In A Drawing-Room Selwyn Was As Welcome As In a Club, And He Could
Only Be Said To Be Out Of Place In His Own Country House, More
Especially At The Time Of An Election For Gloucester. The Modern
Love Of Landscape, Of Country Life As An Aesthetic Pleasure, Was
Unknown To Him. Civilisation, Refinement, Seemed To Him To Be
Confined To London And Paris, To Bath Or Tunbridge Wells. "Now Sto
Per Partire, And I Ought In Point Of Discretion To Set Out
To-Morrow, But I Dare Say 'Twill Be Friday Evening Before I'Ll Have
The Courage To Throw Myself Off The Cart. But Then Go I Must; For On
Monday Our Assizes Begin, And How Long I Shall Stay The Lord Knows,
But I Hope In God Not More Than Ten Days At Farthest, For I Find My
Aversion To That Part Of The World Greater And More Insufferable
Every Day Of My Life, And Indeed Have No Wish To Be Absent From Home
But To Go To Castle Howard, Which I Hope That I Shall Not Delay Many
Days After My Return From Gloucestershire" (August, 1774). A Week
Later He Had Arrived At His Home. "The Weather Is Very Fine, And
Matson In as Great Beauty As A Place Can Be In, But The Beauties Of
It Make Very Little Impression Upon Me; In Short, There Is Nothing
In The Eccentric Situation In Which I Am Now That Can Afford Me The
Least Pleasure, And Everything I Love To See In The World Is At A
Distance From Me" (August 9, 1774).
To-Day Such A Man As Selwyn Would Have Had A Choice Collection Of
Water Colours; He Would Be Ashamed If He Could Not Appreciate The
Tone And Tenderness Of An English Landscape. But Though A Friend Of
Reynolds And Of Romney, Though He Commissioned And Appreciated
Gainsborough, And Valued The Masterpieces Of The Past, In a Word,
Was Essentially A Man Of Culture, Yet This Phase Of Modern
Refinement Was Utterly Unknown To Him. He Ran His Fingers
Through His Hair Until It Stood Grotesquely On End. "Oh, That'S The Old
Argument. I'Ve Heard It Debated In a Hundred Bull Sessions. One Fellow
Says It'S All Wrong, And Another Fellow Says It'S All Right, And You
Never Get Anywhere. I Want Somebody To Tell Me What'S Wrong About It And
Chapter 11 Pg81What'S Right. God Knows You Don'T Find Out In Your Classes. They Have
Doc Conners Give Those Smut Talks To Us In Our Freshman Year, And A
Devil Of A Lot Of Good They Do. A Bunch Of Fellows Faint And Have To Be
Lugged Out, And The Doc Gives You Some Sickening Details About Venereal
Diseases, And That'S As Far As You Get. Now, I'M All Messed Up About
This Sex Business, And I'Ll Admit That I'M Thinking About It All The
Time, Too. Some Fellows Say It'S All Right To Have A Woman, And Some
Fellows Say It'S All Wrong, But I Notice None Of Them Have Any Use For A
Woman Who Isn'T Straight."
All Of The Boys Were Sitting In easy-Chairs Except Donald Ferguson, Who
Was Lying On The Couch And Listening In Silence. He Was A Handsome Youth
With Scotch Blue Eyes And Sandy Hair. Women Were Instantly Attracted By
His Good Looks, Splendid Physique, Slow Smile, And Quiet Drawl.
He Spoke For The First Time. "The Old Single-Standard Fight," He Said,
Propping His Head On His Hand. "I Don'T See Any Sense In Scrapping About
That Any More. We'Ve Got A Single Standard Now. The Girls Go Just As
Fast As The Fellows."
"Oh, That'S Not So," Hugh Exclaimed. "Girls Don'T Go As Far As Fellows."
Ferguson Smiled Pleasantly At Hugh And Drawled; "Shut Up, Innocent; You
Don'T Know Anything About It. I Tell You The Old Double Standard Has
Gone All To Hell."
"You'Re Exaggerating, Don, Just To Get Hugh Excited," Ross Said In His
Quiet Way. "There Are Plenty Of Decent Girls. Just Because A Lot Of Them
Pet On All Occasions Isn'T Any Reason To Say That They Aren'T Straight.
I'M Older Than You Fellows, And I Guess I'Ve Had A Lot More Experience
Than Most Of You. I'Ve Had To Make My Own Way Since I Was A Kid, And
I'Ve Bumped Up Against A Lot Of Rough Customers. I Worked In a Lumber
Camp For A Year, And After You'Ve Been With A Gang Like That For A
While, You'Ll Understand The Difference Between Them And College
Fellows. Those Boys Are Bad Eggs. They Just Haven'T Any Morals, That'S
All. They Turn Into Beasts Every Pay Night; And Bad As Some Of Our
College Parties Are, They Aren'T A Circumstance To A Lumber Town On Pay
Night."
"That'S No Argument," George Winsor Said Excitedly,
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