Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Brother Or No Brother; Or, Which Was The Wiser ?
greetings with Rupert at the breakfast-table . That gentleman rose late , and in no very equable frame of mind . The amusement of the previous evening bore but badly the test of reflection . He was aspiring to the position of a " fast man , " aud had paid for his " footing " by the loss of a heavy sum at hazard . This result galled him ; his niht ' s rest was broken ;
g and he had risen with curses on his lips at his own folly , — ill at ease , feverish , and irritable . Nor was his ruffled spirit soothed _ by observing Philip ' s self-possessed and happy airhis cordial and ready smile . " Oh ! by the way , " exclaimed the elder , after a volley of growls at everything on the table" how about those Masonic
, insignia we discussed at such length yesterday ? What do you intend to do with them ?" " Wear them , " was the reply . " I asked you , " said Rupert angrily , " how you intended to deal with them ?"
" And I , " returned Philip , with pleasant and smiling mien , " as frankly avowed my intention to wear them . " Rupert was silent for some moments ; first from astonishment , then with rage" So , then , " rejoined he , at length , with a sneer , " lunacy seems hereditary in our family ?"
The youngerson pointed to a portrait which fronted them , and asked , " Did lie ever show any symptoms of unsettled or ill-regulated intellect ?" " Yes ; in his absurd consideration for the wants of others . But he ' s gone ; and what he did do or did not do is beside the question . Your intention , then , is to become a Mason ?"
" If the Fraternity will accept me . " " You'll repent it . Fraternity ! There ' s no fraternity ; the whole affair is based on vanity ; there ' s nothing real and abiding in it . " " Some of the best and ablest men in our country have maintained the contrary , " was Philip ' s firm rejoinder ; "for
my own part , I wish , to he one of a Brotherhood . " " And I wish to stand alone . A young fellow with means at command can dispense with a Brotherhood . He can help himself , and laugh at the idea of a Fraternity , as I do . " Did an hour ever come when Rupert remembered this expression , and—bewailed it ?
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Brother Or No Brother; Or, Which Was The Wiser ?
greetings with Rupert at the breakfast-table . That gentleman rose late , and in no very equable frame of mind . The amusement of the previous evening bore but badly the test of reflection . He was aspiring to the position of a " fast man , " aud had paid for his " footing " by the loss of a heavy sum at hazard . This result galled him ; his niht ' s rest was broken ;
g and he had risen with curses on his lips at his own folly , — ill at ease , feverish , and irritable . Nor was his ruffled spirit soothed _ by observing Philip ' s self-possessed and happy airhis cordial and ready smile . " Oh ! by the way , " exclaimed the elder , after a volley of growls at everything on the table" how about those Masonic
, insignia we discussed at such length yesterday ? What do you intend to do with them ?" " Wear them , " was the reply . " I asked you , " said Rupert angrily , " how you intended to deal with them ?"
" And I , " returned Philip , with pleasant and smiling mien , " as frankly avowed my intention to wear them . " Rupert was silent for some moments ; first from astonishment , then with rage" So , then , " rejoined he , at length , with a sneer , " lunacy seems hereditary in our family ?"
The youngerson pointed to a portrait which fronted them , and asked , " Did lie ever show any symptoms of unsettled or ill-regulated intellect ?" " Yes ; in his absurd consideration for the wants of others . But he ' s gone ; and what he did do or did not do is beside the question . Your intention , then , is to become a Mason ?"
" If the Fraternity will accept me . " " You'll repent it . Fraternity ! There ' s no fraternity ; the whole affair is based on vanity ; there ' s nothing real and abiding in it . " " Some of the best and ablest men in our country have maintained the contrary , " was Philip ' s firm rejoinder ; "for
my own part , I wish , to he one of a Brotherhood . " " And I wish to stand alone . A young fellow with means at command can dispense with a Brotherhood . He can help himself , and laugh at the idea of a Fraternity , as I do . " Did an hour ever come when Rupert remembered this expression , and—bewailed it ?