"No; but it"s a fair subst.i.tute. I wouldn"t want one of my boys to be able to pa.s.s an examination on wrong-doing."
"But you want him to recognize it when he sees it, don"t you?"
"If he knows goodness, you can trust him to recognize the other thing.
Teach "em goodness. Badness will label itself,"
"Doesn"t follow," Benjamin Wright said. "But you"re a parson; parsons know about as much as females--good females. Look here! I have reasons for saying that the boy ought to get out of Old Chester. I want your a.s.sistance."
"Get out of Old Chester!--to see how wicked the world is?"
Mr. Wright shook his head. "No; he could see that here--only the puppy hasn"t got his eyes open yet. A little knocking about the world, such as any boy ought to have, will open "em. Living in Old Chester is narrowing; very narrowing. Besides, he"s got--well, he"s got some truck he"s written. It isn"t entirely bad, Lavendar, and he might as well try to get it published, or, maybe, produced in some theatre. So let him go and hunt up a publisher or a manager. Now, very likely, his--his _mother_ won"t approve. I want you to urge--her, to let him go."
"Travelling might be good for Sam," said Dr. Lavendar; "I admit that-- though not to learn the wickedness of the world. But I don"t know that it would be worth while to take a journey just on account of his writing. He could put it in an envelope and mail it to a publisher; he"d get it back just as soon," Dr. Lavendar said chuckling. "Look here, what"s the matter? I can see you"re concerned about the boy."
"Concerned?" cried Benjamin Wright, pounding the table with his tumbler and chewing orange-skin rapidly. "I"m d.a.m.ned concerned."
"I will ask, sir, that you will not swear in my presence."
Mr. Wright coughed. "I will endeavor to respect the cloth," he said stiffly.
"If you will respect yourself, it will be sufficient. As for Sam, if there"s anything wrong, his father ought to know it."
"Well then, tell his--_mother_, that there is something wrong."
"What?"
Mr. Wright got up, and clasping his hands behind him, shuffled about the room. Instantly one of the canaries began to sing. "Stop that!" he said. The bird quivered with shrill music. "Stop! You! ... There"s no such thing as conversation, with these creatures about," he added in a proud aside. "Did you ever hear such singing?"
Dr. Lavendar, unable to make himself heard, shook his head.
"If you don"t stop," said Mr. Wright, "I"ll wring your neck!" and as the bird continued, he opened the door. "Simmons! You freckled n.i.g.g.e.r!
Bring me the ap.r.o.n." Then he stamped, and cursed the slowness of n.i.g.g.e.rs. Simmons, however, came as fast as his old legs could carry him, bearing a blue gingham ap.r.o.n. This, thrown over the cage, produced silence.
"There! Now, perhaps, you"ll hold your tongue? ... Lavendar, I prefer not to say what is wrong. Merely tell Sam"s--_mother_, that he had better go. If she is too mean to provide the money, I will."
"Sam"s father is not too mean to do anything for Sam"s welfare; but of course, a general accusation is not convincing; should not be convincing--Why!" said Dr. Lavendar, interrupting himself, "bless my heart! I believe you mean that the boy is making sheep"s-eyes at your neighbor here on the hill? Is that it? Why, Benjamin, the best way to cure that is to pay no attention to it."
"Sir," said Mr. Wright, sinking into his chair breathlessly, and tapping the table with one veined old finger; "when I was a young man, it was not thought proper to introduce the name of a female into a discussion between gentlemen."
"Well," Dr. Lavendar admitted, "maybe not--when you were young. But all of us young folks in Old Chester know perfectly well that Sam is smitten, and we are ignoring it."
"What! His--_mother_ knows it?"
"His father knows it perfectly well," said Dr. Lavendar smiling.
Mr. Wright got up again, his fingers twitching with impatience.
"Lavendar," he began--another bird trilled, and snarling with annoyance, he pulled the blue ap.r.o.n from the first cage and threw it over the second. "These creatures drive me distracted! ... Lavendar, to get Sam out of Old Chester, I might almost consent to see his-- _mother_, if there was no other way to accomplish it."
At that Dr. Lavendar stopped smiling. "Benjamin," he said solemnly, "if any foolishness on the part of the boy brings you to such wisdom, the hand of the Lord will be in it!"
"I don"t want to see--his relations!" cried Benjamin Wright; "but Sam"s got to get away from this place for a while, and if you won"t persuade his--_mother_ to allow it, why I might be driven to seeing--her. But why shouldn"t he try to get his truck published?"
Dr. Lavendar was very much moved. "If you"ll only see your son," he said, "this other business will straighten itself out somehow. But--"
he paused; "getting Sam"s play published isn"t a very good excuse for seeing him. I"d rather have him think you were worried because the boy had an attack of calf-love. No; I wouldn"t want you to talk about theatrical things," Dr. Lavendar ended thoughtfully.
"Why not?"
"Well, the fact is, Samuel has no sympathy with dramas or playhouses.
I do not myself approve of the theatre, but I am told respectable persons have adopted the profession. Samuel, however, can"t find any good in it."
"He can"t, can"t he? Well, well; it was efficacious--it was efficacious!"
"What was efficacious?"
Benjamin Wright laughed loudly. "You--don"t know? He never told you?"
"You mean what you and he quarrelled about? No; he never told me."
"He was a fool."
"Benjamin, if you were not a fool at twenty-four; you missed a good deal."
"And now he objects to theatrical things?"
"He objects so intensely," said Dr. Lavendar, "that, anxious as I am to have you meet and bring this foolish and wicked quarrel to an end, I should really hesitate to have you do so, if you insisted on discussing that subject."
Benjamin Wright lifted one trembling fist. "It was efficacious!"
"And you would give your right hand to undo it," said Dr. Lavendar.
The very old man lowered his shaking right hand and looked at it; then he said sullenly, "I only wanted his own good. You ought to see that-- a parson!"
"But you forget; I don"t know what it was about."
Mr. Wright"s face twitched. "Well," he said spasmodically, "I"ll-tell you. I--"
"Yes?"
"I--" his voice broke, then he coughed, then he tried to laugh.
"Simple enough; simple enough. I had occasion to send him to Mercer.
He was to come back that night." Mr. Wright stopped; poured some whiskey into his gla.s.s, and forgetting to add any water, drank it at a gulp, "He didn"t come back until the next afternoon."
"Yes. Well?"
"In those days I was of--of somewhat hasty temper."
"So I have heard," said Dr, Lavendar,