Explore "American Boys Afloat" by Oliver Optic on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Louis Belgrave had a constitutional dislike for evil-doers, for he inherited an utter condemnation of all wrong as a part of his being; and he could no more help this feeling than he could help breathing. Like his mother, he was disposed to "love the sinner while he hated the sin. " He had just passed through an exciting experience, and he was grateful to Heaven that he and his friends had come out of the conflict unharmed.
Still he was not at all satisfied with the situation. His party had been beaten in the conflict with the smugglers, who were lawless reprobates, with whom he could not have the remotest sympathy. He had not the slightest fellow-feeling for those who believed it was quite proper to cheat the government out of the duties levied on goods coming into the country.