The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1896-06-28
CHAPTER III


was firmly persuaded that her duckliug
was ~ swan and tried her best TO per
suado him. But, though he loved her the
more for her maternal partiality, he was
not i'm the least deceived His modesty
was Of a hard and unyicldiug substance,
like % stone wall, which repelled friend.
ly and hostile missiles with the same
stanch impcrturbability
During his schooldays certain in
nate shyuoss-a lack Of that boyish sa.
voir vivro which makes intercourse easy
and natural--had kept him apart from
his kind and made him lonely and un
approachable. 1t was pathetic TO see
him stand on the street corners of the
shabby little town and gaze with o
heavy heart at the games of the boys
and then take TO his heels like a fright
cned deer whenever they took notice OF
him. After his fathers death, which
occurred when ho was in his thirteenth
year, ho had ,-.athed an atmosphere
that was thick with the incense of ma.
ternal alteration He Stunned boys.
even though he yearnod for their com.
pauy, because he did not know what tC
say 60 them on how to behave He had
an uncomfortablcf feeling Of being laugh.
ed at, and the ruthless criticism tc
which he was occasionally exposed at
school wounded him cruelty.
In his eighteenth year he was sent tc
the University of Christiania and soon
began the study Of theology His moth.
cr who followed him To the capital,
kept house for him in q style much Doe.
youd the standard of the student world.
She continued from excess Cf affection
90 mouopoli1e him. to minister anxious.
ly Co an his wants and to foster ih him
that shy alo0fnes5 which is the result OF
loneliness and misdircctcd affection.
She had kept him. as it were, so stead.
lily i'm cotton from his very birth, guard.
ing him against the cold drafts and
rude shocks Of life, that it would have
been miracle if he had developed &
sturdy personality His music, which
he had taken up 60 while away the
hours that often hung heavy upon hi.
hands, She encouraged, playing herself
the piano parts, and evening after even
ing they waded through interminablt
sheets, rchearsiug, repeating and prac
ticing with a drcgry terrible patience
When Anthon was 2S years old and O
candidate or graduate of theology, hi,
mother died, and he nearly grieyed him
self To- death at her loss She had be
come so indispensable TO his existenc,
that he was utterly incapable of read
justing his life TO her absence IL wat
his misfortune that he had money
enough To satisfy his few wants without
working, and i'm order TO save himself
from despair he had no resource but t,
play-play-play from morning til
night he travelled over miles ont
miles Of musical scores Haydn, Bee
thoycn and Berloz-uot so much be
cause he enjoyed it as because it served tC
IiigeF, his thoughts from hrooding ovcl
his misfortune Waking up at last e
the fact that he could not continue t,
idle away his life in this style, he re
solved 90 enter upon some practical ac
tiyity, and at the ago of 30, after many
misgiymgs aud earnest self oXamina
ton, he answered Pastor Brincbmaui
advortisomcntfo for "A musical curate
A dull drcay and rather common
place man lis, believe, moro easily tol
Grated in tine clerical profession than il
any othcg-nay. he may even make
moderate success. His holy Office she'd
halo about his dullness and invests i
with kind of sanctiy. 1t becomes, i
not "a sacrilege, at least q mark of frivol
10y TO witioiso him, and, moreover, th,
Biblical vocabulary which he is priyi
legged to employ becomes in tho cours
Of time "a stereotyped form 90 speecl
and serves as "a substitute Tor thought
The Rov Anthon Falck was by NJ
means conscious Of any such advantage
but he nevertheless proGted by il.
was his clerical office rather than hi
personality which had predisposed Mrs
Brinckman in his favor, and it was th
sante respect for his cloth which Ie
/ strained the raiCical tongues of TN
girls and made them maintain TOWARD
him "a colorless neutrality
The first sermon which no proaohe,
ON the second Sunday after his ariya
caused some discussion at the dinner Ia
Bile, in which Hulda participated. Tn
t,Nt was the parable of the taIea among
| tha wheat ana tho pastor, as he was in
| duty hound to do, expressed a mild ap
proval of the thoughuulness as wen q
the orthodoxy of the discourse.
"But why, remarked Hulda with
vaguely challenging manner, "why'
| the devil responsible for the taros?'
"The text says expressly that it wa
the deva who sowed them, answere,
/ Falok
"Hus in the sense in which you OK
planned the parable, do we not reall
ourselves sow our ;aress And when W
reap the harvest Of tmes, is 1t not ouI
selves we have to thank Cor it, If tn
devil sowed them, don't SEQ where m,
responsibility comes in
"Child, child, said tho pastor IN
tone Of kindly admonition, iet th
word Of God saflice, and do not attemp
10 Dry into problems which are too dee
Ton you
Hulda felt that this was intended fo
a robuko and lapsed into rebellious 81
lence
"But father. she resumed afte
awhile, lifting her head with subdue
defiance, "have YOU not frequently sal