Tales of Terror and Mystery
The New Catacomb
Painfully,slowly,anddoggedly,withextraordinarytenacityandsingle-mindedness,hehadclimbedfromrungtorungoftheladderoffame,untilnowhewasamemberoftheBerlinAcademy,andtherewaseveryreasontobelievethathewouldshortlybepromotedtotheChairofthegreatestofGermanUniversities.ButthesinglenessofpurposewhichhadbroughthimtothesamehighlevelastherichandbrilliantEnglishman,hadcausedhimineverythingoutsidetheirworktostandinfinitelybelowhim.Hehadneverfoundapauseinhisstudiesinwhichtocultivatethesocialgraces.Itwasonlywhenhespokeofhisownsubjectthathisfacewasfilledwithlifeandsoul.Atothertimeshewassilentandembarrassed,tooconsciousofhisownlimitationsinlargersubjects,andimpatientofthatsmalltalkwhichistheconventionalrefugeofthosewhohavenothoughtstoexpress.
Andyetforsomeyearstherehadbeenanacquaintanceshipwhichappearedtobeslowlyripeningintoafriendshipbetweenthesetwoverydifferentrivals.Thebaseandoriginofthislayinthefactthatintheirownstudieseachwastheonlyoneoftheyoungermenwhohadknowledgeandenthusiasmenoughtoproperlyappreciatetheother.Theircommoninterestsandpursuitshadbroughtthemtogether,andeachhadbeenattractedbytheother’sknowledge.Andthengraduallysomethinghadbeenaddedtothis.Kennedyhadbeenamusedbythefranknessandsimplicityofhisrival,whileBurgerinturnhadbeenfascinatedbythebrilliancyandvivacitywhichhadmadeKennedysuchafavouriteinRomansociety.
