Love stories; Success -- Fiction; United States -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Youth -- Fiction
After a few days the carnival seemed to be forgotten; Wheaton's fellows
at The Bachelors' stopped joking him about it. Raridan had never
referred to it at all. On Sunday the newspapers printed a resume of the
social features of the carnival, and Wheaton read the familiar story,
and all the other social news in the paper, in bed. He noticed with a
twinge an item stating that Mrs. J. Elihu Jordan had entertained at
dinner on Thursday evening for the Misses Sweetser, of Piqua, but was
relieved to find that neither paper printed the names of the guests. The
bachelors were very lazy on Sunday morning, excepting Raridan, who
attended what he called "early church." This practice his fellow-lodgers
accepted in silence as one of his vagaries. That a man should go to
church at seven o'clock and then again at eleven, signified mere
eccentricity to Raridan's fellow-boarders, who were not instructed in
catholic practices, but divided their own Sunday mornings much more
rationally between the barber shop, the post-office and their places of
business.
It was a bright morning; the week just ended had been, in a sense,
epochal, and Wheaton resolved to go to church. It had been his habit to
attend services occasionally, on Sunday evenings, at the People's
Church, whose minister frequently found occasion to preach on topics of
the day or on literary subjects. Doctor Morningstar was the most popular
preacher in Clarkson; the People's Church was filled at all services; on
Sunday evenings it was crowded. Doctor Morningstar's series of lectures
on the Italian Renaissance, illustrated by the stereopticon, and his
even more popular course of lectures on the Victorian novelists, had
appealed to Wheaton and to many; but the People's Church was not
fashionable; he decided to go this morning to St. Paul's, the Episcopal
Cathedral. It was the oldest church in town, and many of the first
families attended there. All fashionable weddings in Clarkson were held
in the cathedral, not because it was popularly supposed to confer a
spiritual benefit upon those who were blessed from its altar, but for
the more excellent reason that the main aisle of this Gothic edifice
gave ample space for the free sweep of bridal trains, and the chancel
lent itself charmingly to the decorative purposes of the florist.
Wheaton found Raridan breakfasting alone, the others of the mess not
having appeared. Raridan's good morning was not very cordial; he had
worn a gloomy air for several days. Whenever Raridan seemed out of
sorts, Caldwell always declared solemnly that Warry had been writing
poetry.
"Going to church as usual?" Wheaton asked amiably.
Every Sunday morning some one asked Raridan this question; he supposed
Wheaton was attempting to be facetious.
"Yes," he answered patiently; and added, as usual, "better go along."
"Don't care if I do," Wheaton replied, carelessly.
Raridan eyed him in surprise.
"Oh! glad to have you."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account