Thorpe characterized, in a strain of devout allegory, as "Labyrinths of
National Infamy." It was perfectly useless to suggest to the father (as
some of Zack's maternal relatives did suggest to him), that the son was
originally descended from Eve, and was consequently possessed of an
hereditary tendency to pluck at forbidden fruit; and that his
disposition and age made it next to a certainty, that if he were
restrained from enjoying openly the amusements most attractive to him,
he would probably end in enjoying them by stealth. Mr. Thorpe met all
arguments of this kind by registering his usual protest against
"compounding with vice;" and then drew the reins of discipline tighter
than ever, by way of warning off all intrusive hands from attempting to
relax them for the future.
Before long, the evil results predicted by the opponents of the
father's plan for preventing the son from indulging in public
amusements, actually occurred. At first, Zack gratified his taste for
the drama, by going to the theater whenever he felt inclined; leaving
the performances early enough to get home by eleven o'clock, and
candidly acknowledging how he had occupied the evening, when the
question was asked at breakfast the next morning.
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