Was it
not one of the saddest consequences of the man's past,--a dark necessity
of misdoing,--that, even with the best will in the world to retrieve
himself, his first endeavor must involve a wrong? Might he not, indeed,
be considered a martyr, in some sort, to his own admirable impulses? I
can see clearly enough where the contributor was astray in this
reasoning, but I can also understand how one accustomed to value
realities only as they resembled fables should be won with such pensive
sophistry; and I can certainly sympathize with his feeling that the
mariner's failure to reappear according to appointment added its final
and most agreeable charm to the whole affair, and completed the mystery
from which the man emerged and which swallowed him up again.
NOTES
=Mr. Charles Reade=:--An English novelist (1814-1884).
=protege= (French):--A person under the care of another. The form given
here is masculine; the feminine is _protegee_.
=coup de theatre=:--(French) A very striking scene, such as might appear
on the stage.
=Two Years before the Mast=:--A sea story written by R.H. Dana, about
1840.
SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY
What is a romance? The phrase _already mentioned_ refers to earlier
parts of the book _Suburban Sketches_, from which this story is taken.
What effect does the author gain by the ring at the door-bell? How does
he give you a quick and vivid idea of the visitor? What significance do
the man's clothes have in the story? By means of what devices does the
author interest you in the stranger? Do adventures really happen in
everyday life? Why does the author speak of one's own "register"? Mr.
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