The Road to Understanding

MP3 Audio CD. The Road to Understanding

CHAPTER I

FROSTED CAKES AND SHOTGUNS


If Burke Denby had not been given all the frosted cakes and toy shotguns
he wanted at the age of ten, it might not have been so difficult to
convince him at the age of twenty that he did not want to marry Helen
Barnet.

Mabel, the beautiful and adored wife of John Denby, had died when Burke
was four years old; and since that time, life, for Burke, had been
victory unseasoned with defeat. A succession of "anything-for-peace"
rulers of the nursery, and a father who could not bring himself to be
the cause of the slightest shadow on the face of one who was the
breathing image of his lost wife, had all contributed to these
victories.

Nor had even school-days brought the usual wholesome discipline and
democratic leveling; for a pocketful of money and a naturally generous
disposition made a combination not to be lightly overlooked by boys and
girls ever alert for "fun"; and an influential father and the scarcity
of desirable positions made another combination not to be lightly
overlooked by impecunious teachers anxious to hold their "jobs." It was
easy to ignore minor faults, especially as the lad had really a
brilliant mind, and (when not crossed) a most amiable disposition.