Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1891-12-31

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cloth instep piece, and his cap of otter
fur decked with an eagles feather. What
a poem the fellow isl wish I was an
Indian myself for such companion; or,
better, squaw, to be made love to by
him"
As he approached, perceived that he
was not copper, but bronze. A paleface
certainly. That is, pale face tinged
by the brazen sun Of California sum
mer. Not less handsome, however, as a
Saxon, than an Indian brave. As soon
as identified him as one of my own
race, | began to fancy had seen him
before
If he were but shaved and clipped.
black coated, booted, gloyed, halted
with shiny cylinder, disarmed Of his
dangerous looking arsenal, and armed
with a plaything of cane-in short, if
he were metamorphosed from knight
errant into carpet knight, changed
from smooth rough into u smooth
smooth-seens to me | should know
him, or know that | had known him
once
He came up, laid his hand Familiarity
on my arm, and said: "What, Wades
Don't you remember me? John Brent. .
II hear your voice. begin to see you
now. Hurrahr'
"How was it did not recognize your
said |, after flaternal greeting.
''Ten years have presented me with
this for a disguise" said he, giving his
mustache twirf ''Ten years of ex-
perience have taken all the girl out Of
me-"
''What have you been doing these ten
years since college, 0 many sided mann
4 "Grinding my sides against the ada
mant, every one.
HAS your diamond begun to see Light
and shine?"
"The polishing dust dims it still"
How have you found life, kind OF
cruel?'
Certainly not kind, hardly cruel, un-
less indifference is cruelty"
"But indifference, want Of sympathy,
must have been positive relief after
the aggressive cruelty of your younger
days"
"And what have you been doing
Richard?"
Everything that Yankees sdo-digging
last"
Odd talk this may seem, to hold with
an old friend. Ten years apartl We
ought to have metin merrier mood. We
might, il we had parted with happy
memories But it was not SO. Youth
had been a harsh season to Brent. Il
fate destines man to teach, she com
pels him to learn-bitter lessons, too
whether he will or no. Brent was d
man Of genius All experience, there
fore, piled itself upon him. He must
learn the immortal consultations by prob
ing all suffering himself.
Brent's story is short one or long
4 one. 1t can be told in a page, or in Z
score of volumes. We had met fourteen
years before in the same pew Of Berkeley
College chapel, grammars by our side
and tutors before us, two well cramned
candidates for the freshman class. Brent
was delicate, beautiful, dreamy boy
Ny counterpart. / was plain prose, anC
needed the poetic element. We became
friends. / was steady: he was erratic
| | was calm; he was passionate. wa.
reasonably happy; he was totally miser
able. For good cause.
The cause was this; and it has broker
weaker hearts than Brent's. His hear
was made Of stuff that does not know
how to break.
DR.. Swerger was the cause of Brent:
misery. The Reverend DR.. SWerger was
brutal man. One who believes thai
4 God is vengeance naturally initiates his
God, and does not better his model.
Swerger was Brent's stepfather Mrs
Brent was pretty, silly, rich, and ,
widow. Swerger wanted his wife pretty
and not too wise; and that she was ricE
balanced, perhaps little more than bal
anced. the slight objection Of widow
hood
Swerger naturally hated his stepson
One intuition of Brent's was worth al
the thoughts Of Swerger's lifetime.
clergyman who starts with believing il
hell, devils, original sin and such crudi
ties can never be anything in the Nine
teenth century but a tyrant or a nui
sance, if he has any logic, as fortunatel,
few of such misbelievers have. Sverige
had logic. So had the boy Brent-th
logic Of a true, pure, loving heart. FL
could not stand Swerger's coming int,
his dead fathers house and deluding hi
mother with black fanaticism.
So Swerger gave him to understand
that he was child Of hell He won hi.
wife to shrink from her son. Between
them they lacerated the boy. He was
brilliant fellow, quite the king Of us all
But he worked under cloud. He coulC
not get at any better religion than Swer
/ gers; and perhaps there was none bette
-or much better-to be had at tina
time
One day matters came to a quarrel
Swerger cursed his stepson; Of course no
in the same terms the sailors used OF
Long wharf, but with no better spirit
The mother, cowed by her husband
backed him and abandoned the boy
They drove him out of the house, to g
where he would. He came to me. / CAV,
him half my quarters and tried to chez
him. No use This bitter wrong to hi
love to God and to man almost crushed
him. He brooded and despaired. HI
began to fancy himself the lost SOU
Swerger had called him. | saw that h,
would die or go mad: or, ifheh had strength
enough to react, it would be toward a
hapless rebellion against conventional
laws, and SO make his blight ruin.
hurried him off to Europe for chang,
of scene. That was ten years ago and
had not seen him since. knew, how
ever, that his mother was visited by com
FUNCTIONS; that she wished to be recon
ciled to her son; that Swerger refused
and renewed his anathemas; that he bul
he'd the poor little woman to death; thai
Brent had to wiring the property out oi
him by long lawsuit, which the Swer
gerites considered an unconstitutional
and devilish proceeding, another proc
of total depravity. Miserable business
It went near to crush all the innocence,
faith. hope and religion out Of my friends
life.
OF course this expe erience had a ten
dency to drive Brent out Of the common
paths, to make him seer instead Of 3
doer. Hisfortune made him independent
He could go where he pleased
This was the man who rode upon tn,
iron gray horse. This was the Indian
esque Saxon who greeted me. 1t put
/ -..11x.. l,fr - -,