Weekly commercial herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1884-18??, 1886-05-07
CHAPTER II.

raw W FACHs
And so it was. Young Brent had fallen in
love with the daughter of the woman who
had just rejected his father so angrily. Mr..
Brent thought at first that this alone would
make an end of the thing; Mrs. Barbara
Temple would not give her consent, so rea-
soned this parson, who knew the world SC
well. He kept silence on the point, however,
and soon his sons ardor, carrying everything
before it, made his small doubts and scruples
Of no effect at all.
"This picture is good-very good" the
father said, gazing at it, but l must tell you
that it does not do the girl justice. Where it
fails l cannot say; indeed, l can scarcely say
what it is that axes Sophia Temple SO hand
some."
Of course the son listened to all this with
greedy ears; and the conversation turned into
a discussion of the prospects of the affair
which for the present the father would not
admit. to be hopeful, still remembering his
W late repulse. When, however, young
Brent ascertained that his father was on
visiting terms with the family he would hear
no more of doubt Or difficulty. With such
Va opening the fault must lie his if he did not
Take the girl his own.
"You are sure she is not ~engaged" he
asked.
ooh, yes, quite sure" the rector answered.
"None of the girls are engaged; indeed, the
only one of the family who has been talked
about in that respect is the"
Mr.. Brent stopped, and turned as red as a
turkey cock. He never did guard his lips
well, and this disclosure came out before he
remembered how awkward the subject might
DO. So he repeated the sentence stammer-
ingEIyS.
"The only one of the family that was talked
pbout in that respect VAS
"You don't mean her mother" cried the
young fellow. He was quite interested in his
beauty's mother, and was ready to be inter-
ested in her grandmother if necessary.
Eyes, the mother was talked about" the
rector said, still red with self Inconsistencies:
but there was nothing in it, Percy-nothing. 4"
"Is the mother handsome?" asked our lover.
vivaciously.
Decidedly handsome, " the father replied.
about what age!"
"Her age, Percy" the rector replied, gloom
lily, "has not been ascertained.n
Young Brent was a mar of scientific tastes
and it was to his credit that, born as he was
to great expectations, he steadfastly pursued
his studies, in which he was now no con-
temptible authority. Geology was his
f~avorite, and he resolved to devote his
energies 10 thar science, for be was
old-tashioned enough to believe that birth
to good fortune imposes obligations on
the inheritor. Young Brent resolved to
make his mark in the world. Like all young
enthusiasts, he must be for ever talking over
his subjects, and he would try to interest his
father in geology; but Brent senior had no
patience with the Unsuitable demands of that
science for time. "In the name of goodness
he would say, lis not six thousand wears
enough for you? Just think what could be
done In SIX thousand years! Up to that time
you can do as you please, but l do object to
your u~psetting everything IN the plea of
wanting time to account for a dead fish be-
ing found in one Of your strata. Is it anv
great matter how it came there, or when? To
be upsetting Bishop Usher simply because
somebody has found a few bones in a rock
where he did not expect it, seems to me the
most monstrous thing l ever heard Of"
For all that. when the e~asy-humored rec
tor heard his son praised in company for his
scientific attainments he was not i'll pleased.
and contrasting his earnest and energetic
youth with the idleness and f~rivolity of other
young fellows in the town, he was willing to
excuse the mild skepticism which ~contented
itself with requiring a little chronological
elasticity from Bishop Usher. Indeed, the
rector might fairly be proud of his son; in
tellectual ardor is seldom exclusive, and the
young mans love of science gave him SYM
pathy with much beside which was. not di-
rectly scientific. He took an interest in
politics, but with Radical symptoms, which
his father pounced upon with vigilance and
great heat, ending the dispute generally with a
laugh, and the hope that things would last his
time. Besides this young Brent was a good
musician, and not without literary tastes, for
he dabbled in poetry. But partly through
studious shyness, and more from a certain
physical awkwardness, he was not altogether
a drawing room man. He had too great
respect for women to be altogether a f~avorite
with thea; for these exalted beings, knowing
their celestial qualities, cannot see why they
should be approached with downcast ewes
or addressed with faltering lips. So young
Brent was not a lady's man, nor a company
man, although there were stories of at leas!