Beside still waters - 1885 Author:William Mackay Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III THE OTWAY CLUB The tinkle of the prompter's bell has brought the orchestra to a sudden finish. The act- drop—swans and all—rolls slowly up, wit... more »h subdued rattle and creaking. And there is discovered to the spectator the interior of the Otway Club. Before proceeding with the action of the piece, the Author, playing the part of Chorus, must make a few preliminary observations concerning the personages on the stage : particularly concerning Richard Hook, whois one of the characters discovered in this famous resort. Has Dick improved by the lapse of time ? Have transplantation to London and freedom from the easy trammels of home made a better man of him ? The answer to these questions will depend very much on the point of view adopted by the person who responds to them. Dick might fairly be classed among those favoured individuals whom it is customary to call our gilded youth. He was possessed of ample means. He was pleased with the pleasures of the town. He was, however, gifted with somewhat fastidious taste, and cherished one fair image which acted as a charm against many temptations. Dick was naturally a good-tempered and vivacious young fellow. It was, however, the habit of the young men of the period to adopt a severe and even solemn demeanour. Tailors and hosiers so constructed their wares as to assist in the assumption of ajaded and vacant expression. At the Junior Baliol — of which excellent club Richard was a member — this curious attitude was universal among the younger members. So Dick gradually fell into their ways, wore high collars of incredible tightness and stiffness, and adopted the other foolish but inoffensive peculiarities of those with whom he associated. Underneath this outer and merely sartorial husk and shell there was the old Dick....« less