James Clark

“ Clark— remained, and he was sterling—"straight goods" in all respects. Lived with his mother—was her sole support. A proud woman, Mrs. Clark— a proud woman, with a broken spirit—withdrawn entirely from the world, and had been so for years and years. The Clarks, as had been mentioned, were all peculiar—even the younger Mr. Clark, our friend, I had doubtless noticed was an odd genius, but he had stamina—something solid about him, for all his eccentricities—could be relied on. Had been with the house there since a boy of twelve—took him for the father's sake ”

“ I have always liked peculiar people; no matter where I met them, no matter who they were; if once impressed with an eccentricity of character which I have reason to believe purely unaffected, I never quite forget the person, name or place of our first meeting, or where the interesting party may be found again. And so it was in the customary order of things that, during hasty visits to the city, I often called on the eccentric Mr. Clark, and, as he had promised on our first acquaintance, he seemed always glad to see and welcome me in his new office. ”

“ I think he’s managed some of this last business. He humbugged us. It isn’t the devil; it’s this Italian. We must look out; he’ll be around here again perhaps.”
Clark’s eyes brightened.
“The next time,” said he, “I’ll load my pistols fresh, and then see if he’ll escape me!”
At this a noise was heard in the hall. Potts went out. The servants had been scouring the grounds as before, but with no result.
“No use,” said John. “I tried it with my dog. He went straight down through the gate, and a little distance outside the scent was lost. I tried him with Mrs. Compton too. ”

“ During these years Clark was one of the best-known personalities in Cambridge, alike in his private and in his public capacity. In university politics he was a liberal, and a fiery supporter of every cause which he took up. His quickness of temper and freedom of expression involved him in many somewhat acute personal controversies; but the geniality which was his leading characteristic seldom allowed a quarrel to develop into an enmity. No university institution benefited more largely by his efforts than the library. ”

“ In 1860 he purchased a farm in Mount Hope, and six years later bought one hundred and fifteen acres in the town of Minisink, near Westtown, where he resided to the time of his death. In 1885 his son, Clarence, established a flour and feed store in the village of Johnson under the firm name of C. G. Clark & Co. The venture proved successful and branches were started at Unionville, Slate Hill and Westtown.
In 1867 Mr. Clark married Margaret, daughter of James G. Swartwout, of Port Jervis, a direct descendant of Roeloff Swartwout, who came from Holland and settled at Kingston, N. Y., in 1655. ”

“ Clark in New Orleans. In consequence of his attachment and marriage to my sister Zuline, an intimacy subsisted between him and myself. Our friendly intercourse continued during my residence in New Orleans.
Answer to the third cross-interrogatory.
When I resided in New Orleans, Mr. Clark lived in his own houses, with his own slaves to wait upon him. He had the reputation of being a man of immense wealth. He stood at the head of society, was considered a man of very great talents, and much beloved for his benevolence. ”

“ Clark, while sitting around their camp fire at night, deserves a place in our narrative.
Mr. James Gilham was a native of South Carolina, where he married his wife Ann, and commenced the battle of life as a frontier farmer. He removed his young family to Kentucky, and pitched his station in the western frontier settlements of that district. There he purchased a claim to a tract of land, and cleared a farm, cheered with the hopeful anticipations of a peaceful and happy life ”

“ He contributed a good many papers to scientific journals, principally on the marine mammalia, and it seemed likely at this time that natural science would become the main subject of his studies. This, however, was not to be the case. In 1875 Professor Willis died, and bequeathed to Clark the unfinished manuscript of his ‘Architectural History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge.’ The completion of this monumental work entailed a vast amount of research among college records and a close study of existing buildings. ”

“ Clark, of all the odd inhabitants of the busy metropolis in which he lived, seemed least conscious of the fact of his local prominence. True it was that when familiarly addressed as "Clark, old boy," by sportive individuals he never recollected having seen before, he would oftentimes stare blankly in return, and with evident embarrassment; but as these actions may have been attributable to weak eyes, or to the confusion consequent upon being publicly recognized by the quondam associates of bacchanalian hours, the suggestive facts only served to throw his eccentricities in new relief. ”

“ VOLUME X JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY CONTENTS ECCENTRIC MR CLARK A NEST-EGG "THE BOY FROM ZEENY" WHERE IS MARY ALICE SMITH? THE OLD MAN THE GILDED ROLL A WILD IRISHMAN MRS. MILLER AT ZEKESBURY A CALLER FROM BOONE THE OLD SOLDIER'S STORY DIALECT IN LITERATURE The Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley
ECCENTRIC MR. CLARK All who knew Mr. Clark intimately, casually, or by sight alone, smiled always, meeting him, and thought, "What an odd man he is!" ”

“ James Kennerly, Clark's Indian deputy, busy ever with the ruddy aborigines, dealing out annuities, arranging for treaties and instructing the tribes, kept open house for the chiefs at Côte Plaquemine, the Persimmon Hill. Clark's boys shot bows and arrows with the little Indians, Kennerly's little girls made them presents of "kinnikinick," dried leaves of the sumac and red osier dogwood, to smoke in their long pipes.
Every delegation came down laden with gifts for the Red Head,—costly furs, buffalo robes, bows, arrows, pipes, moccasins. ”

“ Clark, and stayed with him constantly, till he died. The day before he died, Mr. Clark, speaking of his daughter Myra, told me that his last will was in his office-room below, in the little black case; that he could die contented, as he had insured his estate to her in the will. He mentioned his pleasure that he had made his mother comfortable by an annuity in it, and remembered some friends by legacies. He told me how well satisfied he was that Chevalier De la Croix, Judge Pitot, and Bellechasse, were executors in it, and Chevalier De la Croix Myra's tutor. ”

“ Another silence.
“I suppose,” said Clark, “we can find out how he goes?”
“I suppose so,” returned Potts, gloomily.
“Somebody might go with him or follow him,” said Clark, darkly.
Potts looked at him. The two exchanged glances of intelligence.
“You see, you pay your money, and get your papers back. It would be foolish to let this man get away with so much money. One hundred and two thousand five hundred isn’t to be picked up every day. Let us pick it up this time, or try to. I can drop down to the inn this evening, and see the cut of the man. ”

“ The mountains rise at once from the water's edge, clothed for half their elevation with a low green forest, and crowned with rugged precipices and grey masses of rock; while torrents, heard, rather than seen, till they emerge in foaming cascades, occupy every gully. ”

“ I have no interest in this suit.
In reply to the second cross-interrogatory, he answers:
I knew Daniel Clark between nine and ten years; I knew him as the father of Myra Clark; she was born in my house, and was put by Mr. Clark, when a few days old, with my sister and brother-in-law, Samuel B. Davis. I was Mr. Clark's agent for his various plantations-first the Sligo and the Desert, then the Houmas, the Havana Point, and when he died of the one he purchased of Stephen Henderson. He respected our misfortunes, knowing that our family was rich and of the highest standing in St. ”

“ We were now within half a mile of the range of bergs. The roar of the surf, which extended each way as far as we could see, and the crashing of the ice, fell upon the ear with fearful distinctness, whilst the frequently averted eye as immediately returned to contemplate the awful destruction that threatened in one short hour to close the world and all its hopes and joys and sorrows upon us for ever. ”

“ Clark and working at it, as though picking at a splinter in the palm—I I could not quite determine what was being done, for a glass show-case blurred an otherwise clear view of the arms of both from the elbows down. Then they came forward, Mr. Clark arranging his cuffs, and the druggist wrapping up some minute article he took from an upper show-case, and handing it to my friend, who placed it in the pocket of his vest and turned away. ”

“ It is not easy to describe the joy and lightheartedness we all felt as we passed the entrance of the Channel, bounding before a favourable breeze over the blue waves of the ocean, fairly embarked in the enterprise we had all so long desired to commence, and freed from the anxious and tedious operations of our protracted but requisite preparation. ”

“ Sometimes she rose high above us, almost exposing her keel to view, and again descended as we in our turn rose to the top of the wave, threatening to bury her beneath us, whilst the crashing of the breaking upperworks and boats increased the horror of the scene. ”

“ Janeway. As I look back at this first memory I can see a vigorous, well-built man a little way on in the fifties, dressed for a mountain climb or a game of golf. His fine, firm-featured face would have struck one as rather stern if one happened to miss that blessed kindliness which always lighted his steady eyes. ”

“ Hooker visited these falls, the day was bright, and he was much struck with the great difference of temperature, as measured by the feelings, on descending from the plain, where he stood exposed to the full force of the sun's rays, into the damp woods from which they are entirely excluded; he also described a phenomenon, which, though common to waterfalls, here produces a remarkable effect; when the sun shines brightly a beautiful rainbow of intensely brilliant colours, spans the dark abyss, mingling its bright hues with the rich foliage of the encircling banks. ”

“ We saw not the smallest appearance of vegetation, but inconceivable myriads of penguins completely and densely covered the whole surface of the island, along the ledges of the precipices, and even to the summits of the hills, attacking us vigorously as we waded through their ranks, and pecking at us with their sharp beaks, disputing possession ”

“ Each of us secured our hold, waiting the issue with resignation to the will of Him who alone could preserve us, and bring us safely through this extreme danger; watching with breathless anxiety the effect of each succeeding collision, and the vibrations of the tottering masts, expecting every moment to see them give way without our having the power to make an effort to save them. ”

“ Clark's marriage with Zuline, and of her marriage with De Grange. By this marriage she had two children, a boy and a girl. The boy is dead, the girl is still living; her name is Caroline, and she is married to Dr. Barnes. I have already stated that said Zuline also married Mr. Gardette.
Answer to the fifth cross-interrogatory.
It is to my knowledge, that Myra Clark, who married Mr. Whitney, is the child, and only child, of Mr. Clark by Zuline de Carriere. It is to my knowledge, that Mr. Clark put his daughter Myra under the charge of Mrs. Davis. Mr. ”

“ To those whose minds can grasp the general disorder in which we try to live—the moral indirection of our everyday endeavour to get somewhere, this day toward a gilded goal, tomorrow toward the promise of fame, the day after seeking applause for our benevolence, or one after one thing, another after another thing, and hardly any one after anything that counts—it is to these that this man's unaffected, unselfish, upbuilding life must come as a strong and refreshing draught of reality. ”

“ Towards noon the breeze freshened to a gale, and we scudded before it, under treble reefed top-sails and fore-sail, at a rapid rate, passing many fragments of broken up bergs, half concealed by bay ice, and the constantly falling snow which prevented our seeing to any considerable distance; we were, however, compelled to run whilst the gale lasted, lest if the wind should fall light, we should be unable to force our way through the streams of young ice. ”

“ On the 11th of January, 1841, in latitude about 71° S., and longitude 171° E., the Antarctic Continent was first seen, the general outline of which at once indicated its volcanic character; rising steeply from the ocean in a stupendous mountain range, peak above peak, enveloped in perpetual snow, and clustered together in countless groups resembling a vast mass of crystallisation, which, as the sun's rays were reflected on it, exhibited a scene of such equalled magnificence and splendour as would baffle all power of language to portray or give the faintest conception of. ”

“ For eight hours we had been gradually drifting towards what to human eyes appeared inevitable destruction: the high waves and deep rolling of our ships rendered towing with the boats impossible, and our situation the more painful and embarrassing from our inability to make any effort to avoid the dreadful calamity that seemed to await us.
In moments like these comfort and peace of mind could only be obtained by casting our cares upon that Almighty Power which had already so often interposed to save us when human skill was wholly unavailing. ”