Henry C. Rowland

“ They scorn charity and they will not stand for restraint. They would rather have some bakin' barracks, swarmin' with flies the day and mosquitoes the night, and a hammock under a dried-up tree, and a beach littered with swill hard by the dance hall, and movie theater, and sody fountain, and a raft of cheap skates with sleeves rolled up, and free to go and come all hours of the day and night, than cool rooms and shady lawns and clean surroundings, and wholesome food with a matron thrown in to tell them when they should go to bed. ”

“ Then realizing suddenly the trend of this demand, the blood rose to his head.
“There can be no question of intentions,” said he. “I did everything in my power to insure her safety and immediate release.”
“That is not enough, sir,” said Shelby. “Through having left certain obligations unfulfilled, you have exposed her to rough treatment and endangered her reputation by compelling her to spend two days and nights alone with you on an island in a swamp. Her fair name is exposed to slander and, as her brother, I have the honor to insist that you make all due reparation which a gentleman may do.” ”

“ He looked meditatively at the children, and it struck him that he would rather like to run a charity of that sort himself. One can make an awful mess of things by trying to help grown people, but it is absolutely impossible to go wrong in promoting the health and happiness of children. In doing things for children, he reflected, one is only giving them their own. Miss Dudley was leaning against a pine, her back to him, watching her charges. She made a charming picture to Jim's eyes, though many young men critical of feminine beauty might have found her proportions too matronly. ”

“ The knight-errant picture appealed to his youth with a sort of childish sense of magnificence—the plumed knight, cap-a-pie in burnished golden helmet and shining armor, with spurs of gold, with pennanted lance and sword Excalibur, shield-point device, riding forth astride his great war horse, and attendend by a squire befittingly equipped; the quest to right wrongs, defend the weak from the tyrannically strong, and with always that glowing, deeper fancy to succor virtue and beauty in distress. ”

“ I'm beginning to understand rich people better. Every poor person with any spark of generosity thinks that if only he were rich he'd do such a lot for everybody, and he can't understand why rich people don't do it. It's impossible for him to realize that it is about as hard to spend money usefully as it is to make it.”
“Hold fast to children,” said Margaret. “You can't go wrong with them.”
“But it relieves the parents of their obligations,” Jim objected. ”

“ The two weapons rose simultaneously. Shelby fired and Jim swung half round in his tracks. He recovered himself and looked up. A buzzard soared low over his head.
“I always have hated those rotten birds,” said Jim slowly, then sighted at the encircling fowl. There was a sharp report and a crumpled mass of feathers came flopping down and struck the water with a splash. Jim tottered back two steps and leaned against a trunk of a pine. Terence rushed to his side, Conway following him. Shelby Wade stood for a moment upright, then walked forward slowly, his face deathly white. ”

“ Margaret is not one of those girls that you can take by storm. She's like a proud little walled city that will not surrender until convinced that to do so would be for the greatest good of the garrison.”
“I felt that all the time,” said Jim. “That's the reason I've gone so slowly about it. Besides I don't know much about girls.”
“Men like you don't need to. The girls know about them.”
“She knows that I'm a well-meaning fool.”
“She knows better than that. But she may want to subject you to the acid test a little, now that you've been so thoroughly smelted in your high endeavor.” ”

“ The car moved off in a clamor of shrill and joyful cries between those parting and those left behind. The latter immediately scattered through the pines on the side of the road, in quest of wild flowers and other treasure.
“Hadn't you better count 'em?” Jim asked. “Some might stray.”
“There are nine left,” Miss Dudley said. “There were to have been twenty, but one got ill at the last moment.”
“Then we'd better herd them a little. They seem to be having a good time.”
“Children always have a good time when they're given half a chance. Health and fun are the objects of this place of ours.” ”

“ Captain Fossett let me down, too, but I don't regret the good that I may have been able to do him. In fact, I don't regret any of it very much, since the most wonderful girl in the world believes in me.”
“Too bad you can't combine forces with that wonderful girl, Jim.”
“You've voiced a great truth, dad. But I'm afraid that such a woman loves but once.”
Doctor Gladstone stroked his gray Vandyke. “She may love but once when that love runs its full course, my boy. But a healthy-minded, full-natured young woman does not sacrifice her life's happiness to a sentimental idea. ”

“ To Jim's everlasting credit, he took the blow with no effort to return it. Terence, watching him, shook his head. Jim moistened his lips. “I suppose that means a duel,” said he.
“It does, sir,” said Shelby, “unless you are afraid to fight.”
“No,” said Jim disgustedly, “I've never been afraid to fight. When do you want it?”
Shelby glanced at the sun, which was not yet below the pine tops. “The sooner the better,” said he, “and before you can rouse the sympathy of my family. There is still light enough, and I see that you have some thirty caliber Colts in the rack in your cabin. ”

“ Jim, fresh from the salt air off the Cape, felt as if his head had been covered suddenly by a heap of dirty bedding. He gasped. Some pretext for entering was required, so he made his way to the hardware counter presided over by a rather pretty but anæmic girl who, though sufficiently well nourished, so far as physical proportions were concerned, had the clear diaphanous skin of a Styrian arsenic eater. Her eyes were large and blue, but as he spoke to her it struck Jim that their pupils were abnormally dilated. ”

“ At one time, the island had grown splendid crops of high-grade sea-island cotton.
“It is purely a question of capital, sir,” said Major Shelby. “In these days of high rates of interest and quick returns we can find nobody who cares to put his money in such an investment. So we have been obliged to let our fields lie fallow and scratch for food, as I am doing at this moment. There does not seem to be any relief in sight, sir, but we are accustomed to adversity, and with a few sheep and hogs and garden truck we make the best of it.” ”

“ Jim failed to see where any great amount of merit in his evolution could be acquired by showering benefits on this countryside. He was on the whole rather glad. Like a wise capitalist who keeps always a considerable bulk of his fortune in liquid form, his present object was less to invest in the doing-good market than to study it. He felt that he would be quite content to study it a long time if necessary before taking any active interest in it. Rolling about the charming region on his magic carpet was very pleasant, and having a distinct objective gave the pastime the dignity of reason. ”

“ Doctor Gladstone shook his head. “Too big an order, Jim. Haven't you formed any idea, yourself?”
“Well, yes, dad. You see I look at it this way: Money I don't need. Business I don't like. Science leaves me cold, and talents I have none. Social achievement is mostly pleasure seeking, and that is neither my nature nor my ambition. ”