Paul Dickey

“ Jarvis. Gloves—here. How do you feel?
Rusty. All in. Do I look like a spook?
Jarvis. You're a wonderful sight! (Pushing him away.) Now, Rusty, get over here. Where is your sword? (Jarvis down steps; Rusty sneezes.) I never heard of a ghost sneezing before.
Rusty. Marse Warren, I'm catching cold.
Jarvis. (Up steps to Rusty) Now, Rusty, keep your ears and eyes open. Don't move a muscle. If any one comes, yell your head off, but don't sneeze.
Rusty. Marse Warren, I want to go home!
Jarvis. We haven't any home, Rusty.
Rusty. Marse Warren, I don't ever expect to get out of this boogy house nohow. ”

“ In just what way do you connect this spook with the treasure?
Duke. Spook? I see no connection. What do you mean?
Jarvis. Oh, there is always money where the ghost walks.
Duke. I don't know what your experience has been, Mr. Warren. You are evidently a brave man—but you have yet to encounter a real ghost.
Jarvis. Brave! It takes no bravery to fight a coward. That is what this ghost is—it's a coward like every other ghost. I tell you that men are not half so afraid of spirits as spirits are afraid of men. Face the supernatural—and it is beaten to a frazzle before the fight begins. ”

“ She turned away impatiently and walked toward the cabin porthole.
"Oh, come, Carlos. The ship is almost in mid-stream. Let us go out on deck, for one last look at America."
"Thank you; I can do very well without it!" he retorted, as he sat down upon the trunk. "My dear Maria, why do you not desist from this silly pursuit of an imaginary treasure? What is the value of money—we are Spaniards, not shirt-sleeved, mercenary pigs of Americans! We strive for it, only to obtain the happiness and luxury which it brings. ”

“ She turned toward the sheep-like, staring villagers, and with an eloquent wave of her hand she cried out resonantly:
"Gentlemen—a man!"
"Gentlemen—a man"
Jarvis was lighting his cigarette, and he laughed, with a side-remark to his valet:
"Rusty, as the Indians said to Columbus: 'We're discovered!'" He turned toward the girl. "Did you by any chance address me, fair señorita?"
"I'm calling the attention of these valiant gentlemen of Seguro to the only man with spirit and bravery enough to enter the haunted castle," she declared. ”

“ The feud began nearly eighty years ago. It is a different world then in that old Kentucky. I have tried to live upright, God-fearing, and had supposed that time would efface the old hatred. At least I ignored it. But Jim Marcum never forgot that your Uncle Warren had killed his father in that stand-up battle in the old tobacco warehouse; it is the curse of the Blue Grass State, this feud law. But you must carry out the vengeance, Warren. When you scotch that snake, there will be no more. ”

“ Jarvis. Your Excellency, I am overwhelmed, but the price is paid and we're on the job, aren't we, Rusty?
Rusty. Yas, sir, we most certainly is!
Duke. I suppose that means that you will keep faith with Her Highness?
Jarvis. Yes.
Duke. I never saw a man quite so anxious to be killed; but there it is: Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
[50] Jarvis. I'd rather be an energetic fool than an angel with cold feet. ”

“ The girl drew herself up with a hauteur which could never have been imitated upon the stage. Her dark eyes glinted coldly as she replied: "I—I am her Serene Highness—Maria Theresa—Princess of Aragon!"
Jarvis looked at her, waiting for the cue to the joke. She was serious. It was all so unreal, so ridiculous—and yet back there on the floor of the room down the corridor lay Jim Marcum. This mad, sad, heart-rending, adventure must have driven him to insanity. He rubbed his brow, looked out of the window, heard the unromantic honk-honk of a piratical night-owl taxicab on the street so far below. ”

“ Rusty. (Advancing) Lord, Marse Warren, what is it? (Starts up to Jarvis.)
Jarvis. Get back! Give me that lantern. (Rusty hands lantern.) Give me your hand. Can you hold me? (Rusty holds out hand and Jarvis cautiously steps on trap door; it sinks and other end rises.) God! I thought so. Water and a long drop! No wonder people disappear in this castle. Good Lord, what if her brother went down there? Rusty, whatever happens, keep clear of this. If you step on this you will never see Kentucky again for sure. ”

“ Robledo was hearkening carefully to certain careful instructions from the Duke of Alva, nodding with a smile of malicious portent at the final words.
"I will not fall short of my former reputation, your Excellency," declared the Don. "When a man reaches my time of life, after a success in the bull-ring as toreador, in the army as a duelist, and in the private retinue of so distinguished a nobleman as yourself, he has a certain pride in his ability.... Indeed, I regret that I must waste my talents upon a stupid pig of a Yankee." ”

“ No common man should have been given such a glimpse of empire; but, in justice to the magic of such glances which come once from the eyes of every good woman, for some good man, in each lifetime, it must be acknowledged that their potent wizardry turns the commonplace, even the tawdry surroundings of a thousand million every-day lives, into dazzling kingdoms of love.
Warren Jarvis felt the thrill, and he lost his humorous poise: the heart-breaking seriousness of it all now came to his realization. ”

“ I'll send one of my men into the castle to find your brother.
Princess. Yes, you will send one of your men—but you are not brave enough to go there yourself. Yet you ask me to send away this man who of all is willing to sacrifice even his life for me.
Duke. If he stays, I'll go.
Princess. Very well, then you force me to choose. I do. I choose a man.
Duke. You love him?
Princess. Perhaps. (r. Turns away.)
Duke. Well, Maria, you are sending him to his death. (Enter Jarvis on stairs.) Success to you, Mr. Ghost Breaker, when you beard the spectre in his den. ”

“ He typified the worst of the Spanish folk, even as the young girl did the best. To a keen student of physiognomy the mental attitude of the Duke of Alva would have been an open book. To Maria Theresa, loyal to family and countrymen, he was the symbol of her own strata in Spain—yet, beneath her gracious forgiveness of and enforced indifference to many things, there lurked a latent mistrust, which she had never yet defined in practical, applicable terms. ”

“ The Duke of Alva bestowed a pitying glance upon the weapon and its owner.
"I'm sorry for you, Mr. Warren. You will find that the ghost is more real than the treasure."
The Princess arose indignantly. She interrupted, with feminine betrayal of her own hand.
"But the treasure is real, Carlos. Would I have crossed the ocean for this locket unless I knew?"
Carlos looked at her sharply.
"I know I am right, now, Carlos. With the memorandum which I found inside the old locket, anyone, a total stranger, could walk right up to the very stone that hides it." ”

“ As the girl glared at him with a flash of hatred in her eyes, he stalked into the taproom, followed by the ready topers.
"Pile these bags on the table, Rusty," ordered Warren, as he smiled winningly at the girl.
"Yassir. We kin use 'em for one of these yere barracadies, if we has to."
"It looks as though we're booked for a warm reception in Seguro, Rusty. Doesn't it?"
Rusty rolled those chalky optics, with an expression of mingled drollery, apprehension, and confidence in his master's ability to lead the battle. It is wonderful how much expression can be condensed into a darky's eyes! ”

“ You generously offer to buy me off. You advise me, with tears in your eyes, to stay away and save my life. Shall I take the bait—hook, line, and sinker? Duke, 'the play ain't natural'!"
The nobleman clenched his fists in anger.
"You have intruded into a matter which you neither understand nor appreciate. If, as you say, the play seems unnatural, then throw down your cards and stay out of the game."
"Oh, no, no, no!" and Jarvis' voice again had that provokingly teasing tone in it. "I'll just stay right in the game and play my hand out—and watch every deal."
He turned toward Rusty. ”

“ Is he a real, dependable, hell-bent spook, deserving all this press stuff which has been given to him? I've had so much experience with spirits—being a native Kentuckian—that they must be 100-proof to interest me!... Do you really put any stock in ghosts, Duke?"
"Yes, Mr. Warren, I am convinced that there are such things. This world is filled with evidences of the supernatural."
"Then you honestly believe this castle is haunted?"
"I know it!" And the Duke's black eyes sparkled with an intensity which had its effect even upon the cynical Warren Jarvis. ”

“ Warren Jarvis! Mr. Warren Jarvis!"
The page stood by the library door, calling. He sprang to his feet, brought back to a consciousness of the present with galvanic suddenness. He turned, bewildered for an instant, and then walked slowly toward the boy.
"What is it?" he asked.
"A man wants to see you, sir, down at the front door. A colored man...."
Jarvis waited for no more. He hurried down the oaken stairway, out through the vestibule, and hatless, breathless—relieved to a great extent from his tension—he caught the hand of faithful Rusty Snow. ”

“ As the Duke of Alva, it is not necessary for me to produce the exact cash on the spot. The word of a Spanish nobleman is as good as his bond. It is a wager, and the terms stand."
His black eyes studied the pile of gold coins with sparkling interest.
"Very good,—twice in the same place. The word of a Kentuckian is as good as his bond. I agreed to let the Princess be the stakeholder—she may hold your word, and my money-belt. Your Serene Highness—will you do me the honor?" ”

“ A knock on the door brought them both back to—the deck of the Mauretania, with terra firma not so far distant below!
"There he is now," she whispered nervously. "Who shall I say you are? And what?"
"Oh, any old thing—Warren, Mr. Warren. Leave the classification to me. Self-identification is an American trait!"
She crossed the cabin, and after a timid pause opened the door.
"Come in," she murmured.
"Ah, I'm intruding," exclaimed Carlos, Duke of Alva, with an intonation which expressed an invitation for Warren Jarvis to make a graceful exit. ”

“ Jarvis. It was in life-and-death earnestness. I would not have felt that I could truly trust you unless you had gone through that. Remember, I am a product of a different civilization from your own: I am still superstitious, if you please to term it so, in the Old-World sense. I speak your language, and indeed think in it with you. But back in the inner shrine of my being I am a Spanish woman, true to my heredity. You are essentially an American—droll, well-balanced, cynical—and oblivious to any other national psychology than your own. ”