Thomas Hooper

“ Hooper spent a long life, irreproachable in outward act, yet shrouded in dismal suspicions; kind and loving, though unloved, and dimly feared; a man apart from men, shunned in their health and joy, but ever summoned to their aid in mortal anguish. As years wore on, shedding their snows above his sable veil, he acquired a name throughout the New England churches, and they called him Father Hooper. Nearly all his parishioners, who were of mature age when he was settled, had been borne away by many a funeral: he had one congregation in the church, and a more crowded one in the church-yard ”

“ Hooper was irreparably a bugbear. He could not walk the street with any peace of mind, so conscious was he that the gentle and timid would turn aside to avoid him, and that others would make it a point of hardihood to throw themselves in his way. The impertinence of the latter class compelled him to give up his customary walk at sunset to the burial ground; for when he leaned pensively over the gate, there would always be faces behind the gravestones, peeping at his black veil. A fable went the rounds that the stare of the dead people drove him thence. ”

“ I was willing to wait for my information, and resisted Tom's efforts to make me share my sledge with him.
"No, Tom. There is only room for one."
"But it is not proper for you to go alone!"
"Neither is it proper for a young man to go with me. Whichever way you arrange, it is highly improper," said I, laughing; "and as Judith is younger and handsomer than I, she has more need of a protector."
"I forgot Judith."
"I did n't, you see. Some one must tell my istvostchik to follow yours."
George gave the necessary instructions, and he and Mr. Thurber brought up the rear. ”

“ He was a contractor and builder. George R. Hooper was one of a family of six children and is the only one now living. He was reared in Virginia and was educated in private schools. He was about twenty years old when his father died, and had just completed an apprenticeship at the carpenter’s trade. After the death of his father he returned to Virginia with the remains, and the following year came to Atchison and entered the retail grocery business as clerk from 1872 to 1876. ”

“ Judge Hooper was sincerely mourned by a large circle of friends and acquaintances and it is probable that there was not a man in his class better liked or more highly respected in Atchison county at the time of his demise. He was a Republican in politics and was fraternally connected with the Modern Woodmen, the Knights of Pythias, in whose councils he was very prominent, and an attendant at the Christian church. The most notable trait in Judge Hooper’s character was his sincere devotion to his parents. Because of the love he bore his mother he never married and cared for no woman but her. ”

“ Mr. Erle shook his head. “You will be back at my house within three hours, Tom Whinmore; so, au revoir!”
He strode away over the moor. His fine figure appeared almost gigantic as it moved between me and the setting sun.
“That does not look like a man who should be a prey to weak superstition, any more than good Ralph Thirlston, who drove home alone willingly enough past this same gate and fence at nine o’clock last night! The witching hour, it seems, is just after sunset. Well, it wants a quarter of an hour of that now,” I continued, thinking silently. ”

“ To affirm that Aether is not matter, is to affirm something contrary to all experience, unless it be affirmed that Aether is motion, for which assumption the evidence is not nearly so strong or conclusive as that it is matter. Therefore the objector to this assumption is himself unphilosophical, in that he postulates or supposes that the Aether is a medium, with qualities which lie altogether outside the range of our experience and observation. ”

“ Grace exclaimed in horror when she saw me.
"Serves her right," said Tom. "The idea of a woman who was born and brought up in New England, going to the theatre on Sunday! I can't understand how you harbored the notion for a moment."
"It is one chance in a lifetime," interposed Judith. "A gala-night, when every one in the house will be the guest of the Emperor; and all the wedding party there too! You must go, Dorris, even if you are ill enough to be in bed." ”

“ Grace called.
"I am not going," I answered disconsolately.
"Not going!" exclaimed Tom. "Why, you are the one who has wished to go more than any of us!"
Tableau,—Tom, standing at the head of the table in front of his chair, which he has just pushed back; I, looking out of the window and playing with the curtain; Grace at her door, with her head turned towards me; Judith at the opposite door in the same position; George attentively surveying the sideboard, with his back turned to all of us. ”

“ The moon now rose above a dark hill on our left. Thirlston allowed Timothy to slacken his speed, and, turning round his head, he also looked back at Whinmore Hall.
“We are safe enough now,” he said. “The only dangerous time is betwixt sunset and moonrise, when people are passing close to the accursed ould place.”
About a mile further, the barking of a housedog indicated that we were approaching Mr. Erle’s. The driver stopped at a small wicket-gate leading into a shrubbery, got down, and invited me to do the same. He then fastened Timothy to the gatepost. ”

“ Such was the effect of this simple piece of crape, that more than one woman of delicate nerves was forced to leave the meeting-house. Yet perhaps the pale-faced congregation was almost as fearful a sight to the minister, as his black veil to them.
Mr. Hooper had the reputation of a good preacher, but not an energetic one: he strove to win his people heavenward, by mild persuasive influences, rather than to drive them thither, by the thunders of the Word. ”

“ Hooper's politeness and suavity concealed, and well concealed, a bitter irony. His manner was detached and a little precise. [Pg 18] Every few moments he burst into a flurry of activity with the fly whacker, darting here and there as his eyes fell upon one of the insects; but returning always calmly to his discourse with an air of never having moved from his chair. He talked to me of Praxiteles, among other things. What should an Arizona cowboy know of Praxiteles? ”

“ Hooper is not well, we lack carriers, and the mules are ill, so that we cannot get about to the other towns as we should like to do. Even the nearest towns are difficult to reach this time of the year, as now the people do not clean the roads, and to walk through the wet grass means a good wetting and a good chance of fever. If the mules were well we could [250] get to those near. Then besides, Tom has his hands full with the new house and a brilliant lot of workmen, who mostly do nothing if he is not there; or if they do attempt anything it is pretty sure to have to be undone again. ”

“ This is the conversation which I overheard between them the other day:—
"Blue," said the prince, looking at the dress which Judith wore, "is the color of the skies, and should be looked up to."
"Hear that!" whispered Tom. "He must be awfully hard up for a remark."
My cousin's reply was drowned in Tom's words.
The prince was speaking again.
"If I were as young as I once was—" and he looked unutterable things.
"I am glad," said Judith, flashing a coquettish glance at him, "that you are not as young as you once were. Very young men are great bores." ”

“ A milder curate going.
A friend arrived one day
At Spiffton-extra-Sooper,
And in this shameful way
He spoke to Mr. Hooper:
"You think your famous name
For mildness can't be shaken.
That none can blot your fame—
But, Hooper, you're mistaken!
"Your mind is not as blank
As that of Hopley Porter,
Who holds a curate's rank
At Assesmilk-cum-Worter.
"He plays the airy flute,
And looks depressed and blighted,
Doves round about him 'toot,'
And lambkins dance delighted.
[Pg 10]
"He labours more than you
At worsted work, and frames it ”

“ As I leaned on my gun enjoying the profound stillness of this place, far from all sounds of village, or wood, or sea—a stillness that seemed to deepen and deepen into unearthly intensity—the charm was broken by a human voice speaking near me—the tone was hollow and full of agony—“Bring me a light! Bring me a light!” it cried. It was like a sick or dying man. The voice came, I thought, from the room next to me on the right hand of the Hall. I rushed into the house and to the door of that room; it was the first which Mr. Erle had shown me. ”

“ Gladys Ella is a graduate of the Conservatory of Music, Cornell University, and is now a teacher in the music department of the Iowa State Teachers’ College; and George Frances Hooper, a graduate of Wentworth Military Academy of Lexington, Mo., and is a traveling salesman. Mr. Hooper is a Democrat, but has never aspired to hold political office, although he takes a commendable interest in public affairs and is public spirited and is ever ready and willing to aid any movement for the betterment of the community. ”

“ The effect was gorgeous enough to have suited a taste the most critical, but the very prodigality of this untamed Southern beauty wearied Hooper. He was thinking of a brown-eyed girl he had left in tears among the apple-blossoms of an orchard in the rolling hills of Ohio.
Fordyce Allyn laughed gaily. Nearly always there was a ripple of laughter in his manner.
"It isn't half bad. Did you ever see anything finer than that outlook to the left?"
"I'm not looking for scenery," grunted Hooper. "I haven't lost any myself. The whole place is alive with malaria and fever. ”

“ Tom refused to be torn away; but the rest of us got into the sledge again, and were driven rapidly off.
"How fat the coachmen all look," exclaimed Judith; "and how pretty it is to see them hold the bright-colored reins at arm's length, as if it required their whole strength to keep the horses from running away!"
"It is a singular fact," said Mr. Thurber, "that, although they drive at such a break-neck pace, they seldom use a whip." ”

“ Give me the papers. Unless they are some trick.”
“I would hardly go to all that trouble, Steiner. You will see they are authentic.”
“What do you intend to do with us? To take us prisoners? I’ll rot here first.”
“You can take your choice, Steiner,” said Hooper coldly. “You will be under guard, because there are a good many of you and, when you get back your strength you may attempt tricks yourself. But you are not prisoners. There is no more war between us. ”

“ Despite her age she is physically and mentally vigorous and is distinguished in being one of the oldest pioneer women now living in the county.
Her well beloved son, Daniel Hooper, was born in 1868, and died January 22, 1912. He was one of the most talented and best liked men in Atchison, and was far on the road to fame and prosperity when he was cut off in the prime of his vigorous and virile manhood. He received the rudiments of an elementary education in the district school near his country home and early developed ambitions which were partly realized during his life. ”

“ He seems to do everything well which he attempts at all. Is he the sedate, unbending man I fancied him at first, or is he the gay, youthful fellow which he now and then seems, or is he a little of both, or is he neither? These are the questions which perplex me. Judith gives me no satisfaction; she says he does not know what he is himself. Tom is no judge; for he has developed a sort of blind idolatry for his new friend.
Mr. Thurber escorted me in to supper at one o'clock. George sat at one end of a long table ”

“ Hooper, Thad, Grace and Skeets descended the hill.
Bill, after greetings, merely pointed to the break. Mr. Hooper started to say something about the structure's being too weak; Thad laughed, and Grace, looking daggers at him, turned away and pulled Skeets with her. Gus, gazing at Thad, addressed Mr. Hooper.
"Yes, too weak to stand the force of an explosion. It wasn't the water pressure. Mr. Hooper; you'll notice that the stones there are forced in against the water ”

“ Hooper’s black veil or by a direct appeal to discover the secret which it was supposed to hide. By persons who claimed a superiority to popular prejudice it was reckoned merely an eccentric whim, such as often mingles with the sober actions of men otherwise rational and tinges them all with its own semblance of insanity. But with the multitude good Mr. Hooper was irreparably a bugbear. ”

“ When the friend shows his inmost heart to his friend; the lover to his best-beloved; when man does not vainly shrink from the eye of his Creator, loathsomely treasuring up the secret of his sin; then deem me a monster, for the symbol beneath which I have lived, and die! I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil!'
While his auditors shrank from one another, in mutual affright, Father Hooper fell back upon his pillow, a veiled corpse, with a faint smile lingering on the lips. ”

“ He entered with an almost noiseless step, bent his head mildly to the pews on each side, and bowed as he passed his oldest parishioner, a white-haired great grandsire, who occupied an arm-chair in the centre of the aisle. It was strange to observe how slowly this venerable man became conscious of something singular in the appearance of his pastor. He seemed not fully to partake of the prevailing wonder, till Mr. Hooper had ascended the stairs, and showed himself in the pulpit, face to face with his congregation, except for the black veil. That mysterious emblem was never once withdrawn. ”