n
Hampden's having claimed precedence over Colonel Drayton on the ground
that his title of "Captain" was superior to Colonel Drayton's title,
because he had held a real commission and had fought for it, whereas
the Colonel's title was simply honorary and "Ye sayd Collonel had never
smelled enough powder to kill a tom-cat."
However this might be and there was nothing in the records to show how
this contention was adjudicated--in the time of Major Wil-mer Drayton
and Judge Oliver Hampden, the breach between the two families had been
transmitted from father to son for several generations and showed no
signs of abatement. Other neighborhood families intermarried, but not
the Drayton-Hall and the Hampden-Hill families, and in time it came to
be an accepted tradition that a Drayton and a Hampden would not mingle
any more than would fire and water.
The Hampdens were dark and stout, hot-blooded, fierce, and impetuous.
They-
were apparently vigorous; but many of them died young. The
Draytons, on the other hand, were slender and fair, and usually lived
to a round old age; a fact of which they were wont to boast in contrast
with the briefer span of the Hampdens.
"Their tempers burn them out," the Major used to say of the Hampdens.
Moreover, the Draytons were generally cool-headed, deliberate, and
self-contained. Thus, the Draytons had mainly prospered throughout the
years.
Even the winding creek which ran down through the strip of meadow was a
fruitful cause of dissension and litigation between the families. "It is
as ungovernable as a Hampden's temper, sir," once said Major Drayton,
On the mere pretext of a thunder-storm, it would burst forth from its
banks, tear the fences to pieces and even change its course, cutting a
new channel, now to one side and now to the other through the soft and
loamy soil. A lawsuit arose over the matter,-