Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1885-02-03
Tales aud Sketthes.
GEO. PENWICK'S SCHOOL.FELLOW.

Haverston is one of the many towns of
which at once the best and the worst that
can be said is that they are within easy
reach of London The advantages of such
a position are too obvious to need point
inc out: the disadvantages arise manly
from the absence OF any sense OF self
sufficency of corporate unity and integrity.
The inhabitants depend for the most part
on London for their business and amuse-
ment, and there is nothing to counteract
the shifting instability which constitutes
one of the leading difficulties of life in the
suburbs. where society, consisting of
heterogeneous and uncongenial elements.
is split up into sets, cliques and factions,
the edges of which overlap uncomfortably,
and where the range of ones acquaint-
ance is determined neither by the we'll de-
fined social qualification of an old country
town, nor bv the wide freedom of choice
in the matter of friends, which Londoner
prefers even to fresh air. green fields, and
a low horizon.
Yet everywhere there are pleasant peo-
pie to be found. and in Haverston the
rule was we'll illustrated by the set of
which the Italians and Delanes were the
most popular members. The Delanes were
a large family-all more or less charming,
from Mr.. Delane. who had given up the
bar in favor of the quiet pursuits of litera-
ture and botany, and Mrs. Delane. OF
whose sweet face and sympathetic nature
no one could ever speak warmly enough,
to the sturdy little boys of four and five.
whose inseperable figures, authenticated
,,,l bln,,co1 fapni1ior RI
pair of eyes in the place. But the third
girl, Kitty. just turned 20. was perhaps the
greatest favorite of all. She was her
mother over again, people said. meaning
not only that she had the same delicately
refined face and winning manners. but
that she was as uniformly gentle, unselt-
ish, and considerate. Her chief friend
was Grace Hallam. whose quick
sightedness and rare sagacity made
her the best possible companion for girl
of Kitty's diffident, self-contained nature.
The two had grown up together. and
without much Interchange of sentiment
had reached the stage of mutual conf
dence which transcends all uttered conf
dences, as surely as the quality of resolu-
ton transcends all defined resolution.
The Italians and Delanes lived within
a stones throw of one another, on oppo-
site sides of billy lane. Their nearest
neighbors were some people of the name
of Fenwick, who sounded a somewhat
lower note on the gamut of culture, but
with whom they were. almost of necessi-
ty, on terms of intimacy. The children
from all three houses played together,
and it was impossible to drop old habits
tha 1;uarranon Of hraod
ing showed more distinctly as they grew
up.
George Fenwick, the eldest son, had
been pleasant handsome boy, and in
the old days Kitty Delane had taken to
him kindly enough. But change for the
worse came over him as he reached man.
hood, and now the girl shrank from his
clumsy familiarities. Spoiled by his
wealthy parents, he had conceived an in
tense belief in himself, and an over-weening
confidence in his own good looks abilities,
and powers of fascination, which COM
pletely overlaid his one virtue of good ma
ture with coat of blind egotism and
stupidity. The tall young man. with his
stout. impassive face and heavy manner,
possessed no single quality likely to gain
favor in Kitty's fastidious eyes. yet for
some time he had chosen to assume ID conde-
scendingly lover-like attitude towards her,
and to annoy her with awkward civilities
Her efforts to convince him of the fruit
lessness of his attentions remained quite
without effect; conscious of his wealth
and infinite superiority to any other man
in Haverston. he persisted in considering
himselfa favored sutton. That he should
ever have a rival seemed to him hardly a
conceivable possibility.
Yet the dav came when the truth flashed
upon him with unpleasant distinctness
that other people. at any rate, saw the
matter from different point of view and
that his pretensions were being endangered
by man whom he himself had been rash
enough to introduce to Kitty. An ole
school fellow had written to him one day
asking if there were any houses in Har.
weston to be let tor the summer, anC
George had replied in the affirmative
with the result that pretty house on the
hill was taken for three months by the
school-fellow's father-a General James
The Fenwicks made the most of the very
slight acquaintance between the young
men, spoke familiarity of 1.-THE gen
eral." and trotted out Georges friend
Oliver James," on every possible occa
sion.
Young James submitted with grac,
that concealed his amusement At frs
sight he seemed hardly more than slen
der boy, but the impression OF extrem,
youth. contributed to by slight, fai
moustache, looking like first attempt,
pair of frank, grey eyes, and an impulsiv,
manner. wore off on a nearer acquaint
ance. No one could have contrasted NOR,
completely at all points with George Fen
wick. 1t was the difference between .
cart horse and a race horse. Oliver james
was excitable, agile of limb and brain
good at all games. indoor and out. doc
alike. ready of speech, delightfully."- fire.,
from self-consciousness, chivalrousl,
courteous to women. His drawing-ro
gifts earned him no little chaff from hi
male acquaintance, but there was tot
much good stuff in him of more solid
nature to allow of their putting him dowr
as a mere ''ladies' man." There is {
charm about those frank. boyish natures
that appeals as strongly to men as to wo
men; and the fault to which they are mos
prone-the sudden overstepping of the
lines of justice, prudence and forethough
that hem in the more evenly balanced
minds-is rarely judged with the severity
it deserves. No amount of reasoning viii
induce people to view with the same harsh
ness the faults which spring from impul
sive houghtlessness-bad as they are
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