The Philistines

The Philistines

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Philistines, by Arlo Bates
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Title: The Philistines
Author: Arlo Bates
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THE PHILISTINES
BY
ARLO BATES

The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together. _All's
Well that Ends Well_; iv.--3

DEDICATION.
To my three friends who, by generously acting as amanuenses, have
made it possible that the book should be finished, I take pleasure in
gratefully dedicating

"This is no square temple to the gate of which thou canst arrive
precipitately; this is no mosque to which thou canst come with tumult
but without knowledge." Persian Religious Hymn.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER
I. IN PLACE AND IN ACCOUNT NOTHING II. SOME SPEECH OF
MARRIAGE III. IN WAY OF TASTE IV. NOW HE IS FOR THE
NUMBERS V. 'TWAS WONDROUS PITIFUL VI. THE INLY
TOUCH OF LOVE VII. THIS DEED UNSHAPES ME VIII. A
NECESSARY EVIL IX. THIS IS NOT A BOON X. THE BITTER
PAST XI. THE GREAT ASSAY OF ART XII. WHOM THE FATES
HAVE MARKED XIII. THIS "WOULD" CHANGES XIV. THE
SHOT OF ACCIDENT XV. LIKE COVERED FIRE XVI.
WEIGHING DELIGHT AND DOLE XVII. THE HEAVY MIDDLE

OF THE NIGHT XVIII. HE SPEAKS THE MERE CONTRARY XIX.
HOW CHANCES MOCK XX. VOLUBLE AND SHARP
DISCOURSE XXI. A MINT OF PHRASES IN HIS BRAIN XXII. HIS
PURE HEART'S TRUTH XXIII. AS FALSE AS STAIRS OF SAND
XXIV. THERE BEGINS CONFUSION XXV. AFTER SUCH A
PAGAN CUT XXVI. O, WICKED WIT AND GIFT XXVII. UPON A
CHURCH BENCH XXVIII. BEDECKING ORNAMENTS OF
PRAISE XXIX. CRUEL PROOF OF THIS MAN'S STRENGTH XXX.
THE WORLD IS STILL DECEIVED XXXI. PARTED OUR
FELLOWSHIP XXXII. HEART-BURNING HEAT OF DUTY
XXXIII. A BOND OF AIR XXXIV. WHAT TIME SHE CHANTED
XXXV. HEARTSICK WITH THOUGHT XXXVI. FAREWELL AT
ONCE, FOR ONCE, FOR ALL AND EVER XXXVII. A
SYMPATHY OF WOE

THE PHILISTINES
I
IN PLACE AND IN ACCOUNT NOTHING. I Henry IV.; v.--I.
When Arthur Fenton, the most outspoken of all that band of protesting
spirits who had been so well known in artistic Boston as the Pagans,
married Edith Caldwell, there had been in his mind a purpose, secret
but well defined, to turn to his own account his wife's connection with
the Philistine art patrons of the town. Miss Caldwell was a niece of
Peter Calvin, a wealthy and well-meaning man against whom but two
grave charges could be made,--that he supposed the growth of art in
this country to depend largely upon his patronage, and that he could
never be persuaded not to take himself seriously. Mr. Calvin was
regarded by Philistine circles in Boston as a sort of re-incarnation of
Apollo, clothed upon with modern enlightenment, and properly arrayed
in respectable raiment. Had it been pointed out that to make this theory
probable it was necessary to conceive of the god as having undergone
mentally much the same metamorphosis as that which had transformed
his flowing vestments into trousers, his admirers would have received
the remark as highly complimentary to Mr. Peter Calvin. To assume
identity between their idol and Apollo would be immensely flattering to
the son of Latona.

Fenton understood perfectly the weight and extent of Calvin's influence,
yet, in determining to profit by it, he did not in the least deceive himself
as to the nature of his own course.
"Honesty," he afterward confessed to his friend Helen Greyson, who
scorned him for the admission, "is doubtless a charming thing for
digestive purposes, but it is a luxury too expensive for me. The gods in
this country bid for shams, and shams I purpose giving them."
So well did he carry out