Van Cortlandt was a good Greek scholar,
and, finding an intelligent listener, he told the stirring tales
of royal Ilion, Athens, and Pergamos, with the loving enthusiasm
of one whom the teachers found it easy to instruct in classic
lore. And when he recited or intoned the rolling Greek heroics of
the siege of Troy, Rolf listened with an interest that was
strange, considering that he knew not a word of it. But he said,
"It sounded like real talk, and the tramp of men that were all
astir with something big a-doing."
Albany and politics, too, were vital strains, and life at the
Government House, with the struggling rings and cabals, social
and political. These were extraordinarily funny and whimsical to
Rolf. No doubt because Van Cortlandt presented them that way. And
he more than once wondered how rational humans could waste their
time in such tomfoolery and childish things as all
conventionalities seemed to be. Van Cortlandt smiled at his
remarks, but made no answer for long.
One day, the first after the completion of Van Cortlandt's cabin,
as the two approached, the owner opened the door and stood aside
for Rolf to enter.
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