Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-01-11
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CHAPTER I,
AKTNsMAN AND AN ENEMY.


the battles of Peter Clephane and Andrew
| Kilgour. To one whose sun is far on thu
wrong side of the meridian, and who ought
rather to be engaged with his evening pray
| er than his morning folly, the memory o.
! early misdeeds can be no matter for salts
faction, yet, must own, it causes me ne
surprise to hear that our ungracious repu
! tation still lives, for if fervency of hatt
coi.!l give Immortality to strife ours might
| be forever memorable.
Jonathan and David made covenant Of
| love, their souls being knit together in the
bonds of a mutual affection, but we swort
| VOWS of vengeance, our hearts being aflame
with reciprocal i'll will. AS consequence
| hostilities were frequent and hot, and by q
| process as quick as it was natural we got
into the very blacklist books of the authori-
| ties. Almost as regularly as day succeed
ed day we heard it angrily prophesied that
our rebellious and intractable spirit would
assuredly bring US to speedy and an evil
! end l being the greater sinner (from
causes which may presently be appreciated),
was encouraged with the direr predictions.
But the censors might have saved their
breath. II these warnings had any effect
Mt all, it was to stimulate and embitter our
| enmity. There are certain moods in which
admonition but fans into the flame the
spark of rebellion that lies in every unre-
generate human bosom. I fear that mood
was ours. Defiant and impenitent, we
were a grieyous affiiction to our professors
and the cause of many fits of choler, result
ing in red faces and shaken nerves. / re-
greet to add that what rendered US no better
than a pest to our teachers made US a
source of endless delight to our fellow
students, particularly to such as were
studying divinity.
hope students of a later generation are
vouchsafed more grace, though am bound
to add that several of those who used to
cheer loudest in the thick of the fray are
now worthily humping pulpits, and with
evident success pointing their hearers to
the straight gate and narrow way. Who
knows but they serve heaven all the better
for having some special knowledge of the
ways of sinf If the devil were converted,
he would probably make a first rate
preacher.
Peter and were kinsmen, and the dead
lier enemies on that account. We had
come up in the same month of the same
year to pursue our studies, as college pas
times are ironically styled, he from Dundee,
l from a remote part of the highlands, and
as we had never previously met nor even
heard of each other, save by vague and
casual reports, our introduction was that
of strangers. For cousins the meeting was
not cordial. A town bred exquisite and
the sole heir of lawyer with a big bank
account and a trunkful of mortgages,
Peter entertained a sovereign contempt for
all such as were not of the gilded court of
Mammon. The wretch who could not fee
fashionable tailor and live like prince, if
he happened to be of princely tastes, would
inspire neither affection nor respect in my
worthy cousin. Himself possessed of the
longest purse and the finest clothes in the
university, he was fawned upon by body
of the most devoted toadies that ever
worshiped golden calf.
To the charmed inner circle of his wor-
shippers Twas never for a moment admitted,
yet none of his chosen friends touched
him so closely as 1 did nor yielded him
SO much pleasure. They flattered, but l
served as target for his wit, an unenviable
capacity that was extremely gratifying to
him and extremely CALLING to me. Never
an opportunity of vexing me did he miss.
Not once during the two years we were to-
gether did he forego the slightest chance of
haunting and ridiculing me. Though nat
urally averse to toll, he would cheerfully
have labored for half day to coin SEN
tence that would sting or contrive an insult
that would humiliate me.
At our first meeting, though spoke
purer English than his own, he begged for
an interpreter, as unhappily he had not the
delightful Celtic dialect at his command,
expressed surprise that one born to the
heritage of kilt should demean his fine
legs with trousers, and then with sar-
casm that was alternately like ice and fire
in the blood he commented on the instruct
i've and interesting antiquarian cut of
breeches made in the highlands.
''As for your coat" said he, cit is the
finest specimen of the antique have seen,
and more than half suspect you of being
the lucky finder of a garment dropped
from the ark during its cruise among the
northern peat boys. AS an antedeluvian
relic there would be a fortune in the thing.
Why don't you exhibit YOURSELF" Where
upon his satellites laughed uproariously,
calling out that it wasn't fair to purloin
the clothes of Noah and say never word
about it.
left him with a crimson face and my
heart already furnace of hate. Thence
forward we were as powder and flame to
each other-we had but to come into con-
tact to go off. Psychical experimenters
hold that an idea is a force of which the
natural tendency is TO translate itself into
action. When we were together, the tend
ency of our ideas was generally violently
that way.
In the tongue l was no match for Peter,
mol indeed in the entire university was
there his equal in the use of that diabolical
weapon of offense. In three minutes he
could have blackened the character of
saint beyond hope of recognition and put
much more patient man than Job beside
himself with passion. As for me, single
sentence, sometimes a single sneering little
laugh or curl of the lip was enough to
bring my blood TO the boiling point and
create an irresistible itching in my fingers
to close on his throat. To do him justice,
he took no pains to evade a contest.
When we laid aside our coats to settle
differences, generally managed to pay off
scores satisfactorily, for, though he was my
master with the tongue and three years my
senior to boot, 1, being bred hunter and
climber of hills, had the firmer muscle.
Perhaps, too, l had the greater ardor in
crucial moments, and if that had its effect,
mine was not the first instance in which
the spark OF naphtha fire in the Celtic blood
told in the fight.
But the fortunes of war are variable. 1t
CHANGED that one day my enemy caught me
with a crippled arm. He rallied upon me.
as was his wont, / retaliated, we fought and
the victory was with him. If he had whip
ped the whole British nation instead of a
manned and insignificant unit of it, he
could not have exulted more, nor il he had
been of the race of rebel angels could he
have paid his debt Of vengeance with
keener or opener malignancy of delight.
There, you highland blusterer," he
cried, when the issue was decided. Have
you enough, or would you like moreg How
does it feel to get drubbingf"
You ought to know, who have had it SO
often,' retorted. But as to this days
work, we will reckon for it yet. Tomorrow
we'll see who crows loudest."
I'VE will, he laughed, with a more sim
lister expression than had ever seen in his
face before. 'You and 1 agree for once.
And when the reckoning comes there are
muir cocks know whose crow will not be
so cruise as it is today.
He came up to me with devilish CLEAN