But I can see your mouth
watering now, looking at that fat young pullet over there, dreaming
of the dinner hour when you expect to smash her beautiful white
breast between your cannibal jaws. Funny men, preachers!"
Gordon laughed. "After all, you may be right. Our deepest culture
is about skin deep. Scratch any of us with the right tool and you'll
find a savage."
They strolled into the library and sat down. It was the largest and
best-furnished room in the house. Its lofty ceiling was frescoed in
sectional panels by a great artist. Its walls were covered as high
as the arm could reach with loaded bookshelves, and alcove doors
opened every ten feet into rooms stored with special treasures of
subjects on which he was interested. Masterpieces of painting hung
on the walls over the cases, while luxurious chairs and lounges
in heavy leather were scattered about the room among the tables,
desks and filing cabinets. At one end of the room blazed an open
wood fire of cord wood full four feet in length. Beside the chimney
windows opened with entrancing views of the Great South Bay and
the distant beaches of Fire Island. Across the huge oak mantel he
had carved the sentence:
"I AM AN OLD MAN NOW; I'VE HAD LOTS OF TROUBLE, AND MOST OF IT
NEVER HAPPENED.
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