The distrust of him, because of his associations, a suspicion fostered
by the paid agents of the opposition, began to give way before his calm,
earnest young manhood. But in every knot of men he found a few bitter
irreconcilables still. They were those whom change invites, and the
established order offends. One man, unable to provoke him by
vituperation, and in a frenzy of childish rage because Harlan's calm
poise was not disturbed by his outpourings, ran at him and struck him.
He was a little man, and though he leaped when he struck, the blow
landed no higher than the shoulder that Harlan turned to him. And when
he leaped again the young man caught him by the wrist and smiled down on
him, unperturbed.
"If that's the way you talk politics, Sam, I'll have to adjourn the
debate," he said, quietly. And the story of that went the rounds,
accompanied by much laughter, and the big, sturdy, serene young man who
was master of his own passions met smiles wherever he went.
Another story preceded him, too. "Fighting" MacCracken, of the Jo Quacca
neighborhood, smarting ever since that day in the yard of "The
Barracks," jealous of his prestige as a man of might, offered obscene
and brutal insult to the name of Thelismer Thornton in the hearing of
his grandson.
Pages:
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176