Excerpt from Mr. Rolfe of the Hill<br><br>He cracks a good many jokes on himself regarding what he is pleased to call his ugly countenance' 'but he 18 alone 1n think ing pthus of it. There IS too much kindness there, deep understand ing, quick sympathy, seasoned wisdom, gentle strength, quick, keen interest, the wrinkles left by kindly glaughter, the light of kindled thought and penetrating insight. It 18 a face like a book whose cover matters little, which grows dearer by every reading of it.<br><br>There are thousands of old Hill boys who can never forget what surely is daily in the hearts of all his colleagues, that To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom and one of the most difficult chapters in the great art of living.<br><br>Recall his simplicity; his scorn of all humbug and pose; the unflagging animation, unwearied patience and invariable origi nality of his teaching; his ready comradeship in any play or fun or enterprise for the happiness of the community; his table talk with the responsive faces turning ever toward the head of his table; the atmosphere of his room; his responsiveness to music; his dropping in on you at night for a chat; all his private help to boys about their work, whether in his own or some other teacher's subject. Did you not always feel that you gave people a real treat when you introduced them to him? What a maker he has always been of group atmosphere! You might almost call him the manufacturer of the social and spiritual climate of The Hill. How many various practices of youth he could laugh them out of with the clever turning of a verse or a parable or a fable! And yet, so sound was his standard of manliness that a boy could never doubt that the thing for which this master stood was fine and happy and strong. This 18 why it is so striking a fact that no matter how long an old boy has ybeen out of school, when he comes back to visit he picks up again with Mr. Rolfe right where he left off long ago and you see them talking motoring or playing together as if they were of equal age andg had been classmates. Remember those days of old when he took the boys and masters walking on Sunday afternoons and they drank in his love of nature and his intell 1gence about flowers and birds. Think of all the dormitory relationships of these thirty eightyears, his playing of the 'cello in the orchestra, his interest in the Summer Camp at Beach Haven, the Golf Team, the English Club and the Snooze, and the great eagerness with which he has ever been sought on every public occasion in the life of the School or the community at large for his unapproachable skill and felicity as an after-dinner speaker or an essayist or a story teller to children or an interpreter of the greater elements in the life of youth. Above all, let no Hill man or friend of The Hill ever dare to forget the magnanimous generosity with which, after the death of Professor John, Mr. Rolfe accepted the great responsi bility of acting head master of the School and then the full head mastership with that chivalrous willingness, so large-hearted and devoted, which made him great enough to lay it all down and step back into the ranks in order that the son of John Meigs might succeed to his father's chair.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.