Boys who have a
business pirate for father, and a weak-minded coddler for mother, seldom
grow into prize exhibits. Young Marrineal did rather better than might
have been expected, thanks to the presence at his birth-cradle of a
robust little good-fairy named Self-Preservation, who never gets half
the credit given to more picturesque but less important gift-bringers.
He grew up with an instinctive sense of when to stop. Sometimes he
stopped inopportunely. He quit several courses of schooling too soon,
because he did not like the unyielding regimen of the institutions.
When, a little, belated, he contrived to gain entrance to a small, old,
and fashionable Eastern college, he was able, or perhaps willing, to go
only halfway through his sophomore year. Two years in world travel with
a well-accredited tutor seemed to offer an effectual and not too
rigorous method of completing the process of mind-formation. Young
Marrineal got a great deal out of that trip, though the result should
perhaps be set down under the E of Experience rather than that of
Erudition. The mentor also acquired experience, but it profited him
little, as he died within the year after the completion of the trip, his
health having been sacrificed in a too conscientious endeavor to keep
even pace with his pupil.
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