Wild Youth

Wild Youth, entire

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Complete #118 in our series by Gilbert Parker
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Title: Wild Youth, Volume Complete
Author: Gilbert Parker
Release Date: August, 2004 [EBook #6291] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on December 12,
2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILD
YOUTH, BY PARKER, ENTIRE ***

This eBook was produced by David Widger

WILD YOUTH
By Gilbert Parker
Volume 1. I. THE MAZARINES TAKE POSSESSION II. "MY
NAME IS LOUISE" III. "I HAVE FOUGHT WITH BEASTS AT
EPHESUS" IV. TWO SIDES TO A BARGAIN V. ORLANDO HAS
AN ADVENTURE VI. "THINGS MUST HAPPEN" VII. "THE
ZOOLYOGICAL GARDEN" VIII. THE ORIENTAL WAY OF IT IX.
THE STARS IN THEIR COURSES
Volume 2. X. THE MOON WAS NOT ALONE XI. LOUISE XII.
MAN UNNATURAL XIII. ORLANDO GIVES A WARNING XIV.
FILION AND FIONA--ALSO PATSY KERNAGHAN XV.
OUTWARD BOUND XVI. AT THE CROSS TRAILS XVII. THE
SUPERIOR MAN XVIII. YOUTH HAS ITS WAY

WILD YOUTH

CHAPTER I
THE MAZARINES TAKE POSSESSION
From the beginning, Askatoon had had more character and
idiosyncrasy than any other town in the West. Perhaps that was because
many of its citizens had marked personality, while some were distinctly
original--a few so original as to be almost bizarre. The general
intelligence was high, and this made the place alert for the new
observer. It slept with one eye open; it waked with both eyes wide--as
wide as the windows of the world. The virtue of being bright and clever
was a doctrine which had never been taught in Askatoon; it was as

natural as eating and drinking. Nothing ever really shook the place out
of a wholesome control and composure. Now and then, however, the
flag of distress was hoisted, and everybody in the place--from Patsy
Kernaghan, the casual, at one end of the scale, and the Young Doctor,
so called because he was young-looking when he first came to the place,
who represented Askatoon in the meridian of its intellect, at the
other--had sudden paralysis. That was the outstanding feature of
Askatoon. Some places made a noise and flung things about in times of
distress; but Askatoon always stood still and fumbled with its
collar-buttons, as though to get more air. When it was poignantly
moved, it leaned against the wall of its common sense, abashed, but
vigilant and careful.
That is what it did when Mr. and Mrs. Joel Mazarine arrived at
Askatoon to take possession of Tralee, the ranch which Michael Turley,
abandoning because he had an unavoidable engagement in another
world, left to his next of kin, with a legacy to another kinsman a little
farther off. The next of kin had proved to be Joel Mazarine, from one of
those stern English counties on the borders of Quebec, where ancient
tribal prejudices and religious hatreds give a necessary relief to
hard-driven human nature.
Michael Turley had lived much to himself on his ranch, but that was
because in his latter days he had developed a secret taste for spirituous
liquors which he had no wish to share with others. With the assistance
of a bad cook and a constant spleen caused by resentment against the
intervention of his priest, good Father Roche, he finished his career
with great haste and without either becoming a nuisance to his
neighbours or ruining his property. The property was clear of mortgage
or debt when he set out on his endless journey.
When the prophet-bearded, huge, swarthy-faced Joel Mazarine, with a
beautiful young girl behind him, stepped from the West-bound train
and was greeted by the Mayor, who was one of the executors of
Michael Turley's will, a shiver passed through Askatoon, and for one
instant animation was suspended; for the jungle-looking newcomer,
motioning forward the young girl, said to the Mayor:

"Mayor,