Dalkeith

“ Many yet living, among whom James Batter, who was the best-man, and Duncan Imrie, the heelcutter in the Flesh-Market Close, are still above board to bear solemn testimony to the grandness of the occasion, and the uncountable numerousness of the company, with such a display of mutton-broth, swimming thick with raisins,—and roasted jiggets of lamb,—to say nothing of mashed turnips and champed potatoes,—as had not been seen in the wide parish of Dalkeith in the memory of man. ”

“ Hot Springs was an ideal resort for resting, and Dalky wished he might remain there a month. The golf and tennis, the open air swimming pools, the delightful horseback rides to points of interest, brought a sense of peace to the three men who had raced here and there in Illinois, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona ever since they met together at Chicago. The week spent at the Springs did more, perhaps, to stimulate Mr. Dalken’s keen and ever alert brain than anything he could have done. ”

“ The fierce tone in which Dalton said these words, and the gesture he made with a tremendous walking-stick, were certainly well calculated to excite Abel's terrors, who, opening a little movable pane of the window, looked out into the street, to assure himself of succor in case of need.
“What's the use of family, rank, or fortune,” cried Dalton, indignantly, as he paced up and down the little shop, in a perfect frenzy of passion, “if a little dirty Jew, with a face like a rat-terrier, can insult you? My uncle is one of the first men in Austria, and my daughter's a Princess ”

“ So they tarried no more, but set out on the homeward way; and Face-of-god bade Dallach walk beside him, and asked him such concerning Rose-dale and its Dusky Men. Dallach told him that these were not so many as they were masterful, not being above eight hundreds of men, all fighting-men. As to women, they had none of their own race, but lay with the Daleswomen at their will, and begat children of them; and all or most of the said children favoured the race of their begetters. Of the men-children they reared most, but the women-children they slew at once ”

“ Dalken had the chauffeurs drive them on to Crown King, where he wished to inspect certain parcels of land offered for sale. As the vicinity of Crown King had recently developed rich mineral deposits, it behooved these careful investors to examine the truth of such reports.
Mr. Belnord arrived in Prescott the evening of the third day of the Dalken’s party visit there. The success of his trip to Chicago made a gala night of his appearance with the recorded deeds, and the elderly men of the party joined in the dancing with the younger generation with such vim that they soon wilted. ”

“ Why you come where no one ask you?”
“Is it waiting for an invitation I'd be, Abel? Is it expecting a card with ould Kraus's compliments?” said Dalton, laughing. “Sure, isn't the place open like the fish-market, or the ball-room, or the chapel, or any place of diversion? There, now; keep your temper, old boy. I tell ye, there's luck before ye! What d'ye think of that?” And, as he spoke, he drew forth one of the bills, and handed it across the counter; and then, after gloating, as it were, over the changed expression of the Jew's features, he handed a second, and a third. ”

“ I may not be versed in nautical names, but at least I am not guilty of having read the type from every one of Dalky’s tomes on South America. I know of certain young ladies who pride themselves on their geography, especially when touring South of the Equator, who lugged those same tomes from the shelves in Dalky’s library and now shamelessly preen their feathers of knowledge.”
“Children, if you can’t keep quiet and let Mr. Dalken tell us of the proposed trip, you’ll have to go to bed!” declared Mrs. Courtney, frowning at Jack and the girls. ”

“ Dalken.
“I know I am, Dalky. Life is long, and love is fleeting, so it is best to find a mate who is loyal and true in all circumstances, don’t you think so?” said wise Eleanor.
“You’re a good judge, and if all girls were as thoughtful, before they became engaged, there would be less marital troubles,” agreed Mr. Dalken.
CHAPTER XV
DALKY TAKES A VACATION
Having concluded his business with the two representatives of Sam White’s estate, Mr. Dalken decided that he had earned a rest. Therefore, when the young people asked, “Where next?” he replied: “To Castle Hot Springs.” ”

“ If some one caught you in the right mood and told you that your fortune was to be had in digging a Canal through South America, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, you’d agree with them and start in to dig. But you’d get tired of it in a week and shirk the work.”
“Why, Dalky, you slander my ideals!” declared Jack.
“Do I? What about Grizzly Slide and your determination to take up mining out on the peaks of the Rockies? Then in New York you went so far as to furnish an apartment for the sake of studying interior decorating,” said Mr. Dalken.
“Oh, no, Dalky!” laughed Eleanor, quickly. ”

“ But we are in South America and every one here wagers money on horses, lotteries, and on every possible excuse to gamble; therefore, I would like to wager that Dalky fails to follow more than a third of that itinerary of his.”
“No one would take you up on that bet, Fabian, because it is a sure thing!” exclaimed Mr. Ashby.
Mr. Dalken got up from his chair and stood gazing at his two old friends as he said: “I never dreamed that you both would take sides against me! But of such ungrateful stuff is the human heart!” ”

“ It irked me to see Dallach when he first fell to his meat last night, how he ate like a dog for fear and famine. How shall it be, moreover, when we have them in the Dale, and they fall to the deed of kind there, as they needs must. Will they not bear us evil and thrall-like men?’
‘Maybe,’ said Stone-face, ‘and maybe not; for they have been thralls but for a little while: and I deem that in no long time shall ye see them much bettered by plenteous meat and rest. And after all is said, this Dallach bore him like a valiant man; also it was valiant of him to flee ”

“ Ricketts to Martha, but loud enough for Dalton to hear. “That is so perfectly Irish; they can be as impetuous as the Italian, and possess all the self-restraint and impassive bearing of the Indian warrior.”
“But w-w-why did you go on, when luck was a-a-gainst you?”
“Who told me it was against me till I lost all my money?” cried Dalton. “If the first reverse was to make a man feel beat, it would be a very cowardly world, Mr. Purvis.” ”

“ Alexander to give him the next cue?
While Mr. Alexander stood grinning at his two associates, after having confided to them the plan he had evolved to protect their interests, Jack crossed the room to join them. He saw the expressions of fierce rebellion upon the faces of Mr. Fuzzier and Mr. Dalken, but he had no key to the situation then.
“Say, Dalky, it’s pretty late to start for the Castle now, because there is no comfortable place where we could spend the night, you see?” asked Jack.
“I don’t care where we go—Alex. has made such a mess of things,” growled Mr. Dalken. ”

“ The two last bills—”
“They'll be paid, Abel,—they'll be paid. Don't put yourself in a passion. Times is improving,—Ireland 's looking up, man.”
“I think she is,” muttered the Jew, insolently; “she is looking up like the beggar that asks for alms yonder.”
“Tear and ages!” cried Dalton, with a stroke of his fist upon the table that made every wooden bowl of gold and silver coin jump and ring again,—“tear and ages! take care what you say! By the soul in my body, if you say a syllable against the old country, I 'll smash every stick in the place, and your own bones, besides! ”

“ THE KINDREDS EAT THEIR MEAT IN SILVER-DALE.
Now Dallach, who had gone away for a while, came back again into the Hall; and at his back were a half score of men who bore ladders with them: they were stout men, clad in scanty and ragged raiment, but girt with swords and bearing axes, those of them who were not handling the ladders. Men looked on them curiously, because they saw them to be of the roughest of the thralls. ”

“ Ricketts, laying her hand on Dalton's, and, by a melting look, withdrawing him from Scroope's unlucky reminiscence. “If I could but pass the night here, I feel it would be ecstasy.”
“What easier, if it's in earnest you are?” cried Dalton. “We never make use of this little drawing-room. Nelly will get you a bed put up in five minutes.”
“Is n't that Irish, Scroope?—is n't that what I often told you of Ireland?” cried Zoe, as her eyes glistened.
“Well, but I'm not joking,” resumed Dalton; “small as the place is, we can make room for you all. ”

“ Miss Onslow has a taste for Gothic and stained glass; that, nowadays, often ends in a love of saints' shin-bones and other relics. My lady is disposed to be a 'fast one;' and, in fact, except the gruff old doctor, who is a confounded bore, the whole craft is deficient in ballast. But I was forgetting 'the Dalton,' shame on me, for she is very pretty, indeed!” He seemed to ruminate and reflect for some minutes, and then said aloud, “Yes, ma belle Catharine, with the aid of Albert Jekyl, with his counsel to guide, and his head to direct you, there 's no saying what your destiny might not be! ”

“ As to the young man in the light of Jasper’s lamp, Mr. Cuming Walters says, “the large hat and the tightly-buttoned surtout must be observed; they are the articles of clothing on which most stress is laid in the description of Datchery. But the face is young.” The face of Datchery was elderly, and he had a huge shock of white hair, a wig. Datchery wore “a tightish blue surtout, with a buff waistcoat and grey trousers; he had something of a military air.” The young man in the vault has anything but a military air ”

“ Dalton, it is here. By this will, signed, sealed, and witnessed in all form, Mr. Godfrey bequeathed to his brother-in-law his whole estate of Corrig-O'Neal, and, with the exception of some trifling legacies, names him heir to all he is possessed of.”
“Let me out of this,—leave me free!” shouted the prisoner, whose eyeballs now glared with the red glow of madness. “What brought me into your schemes and plots?—why did I ever come here? Oh, my Lord, don't see a poor man come to harm that has no friends. Bad luck to them here and hereafter, the same Daltons! ”

“ To play the game right, Dalken and Fuzzier ought to take new names, too. Fine fix it would be, if some one, knowing of Dalken’s fame as a New York millionaire, read his name in the hotel register, and then reported to all the newspapers how he was mad over you! The same about Fuzzier—only he’s famous in Chicago. Now, I won’t stand for any such newspaper notoriety, understand? If you want to try out your hand at acting a part, it’s got to be done proper, and then I’ll stake my money on you, old gal! ”

“ So away goes Dalton to the hall-door, and he calls "who's there?" and no answer. "Maybe," says Dalton, to himself, "'tis what he's rid round to the back-door;" so to the back-door with him, and there he shouts again—and no answer, and not a sound outside—and he began to feel quare, and to the hall door with him back again. "Who's there? do you hear? who's there?" he shouts, and receives no answer still. ”

“ Every silent witness of the colloquy knew that the Sahib's bearer considered an iced whisky-and-soda his perquisite at the close of a strenuous day, and would continue to have it as long as ice came from Calcutta for the alleviation of sufferers from the climate.
"Buck up, darling," said Meredith comfortingly, "you'll have the doctor here in no time. Dalton is a clever fellow and prompt. They say he will make a name for himself some day, he's such an able physician and surgeon. ”

“ Ricketts, enthusiastically.
“I believe we are,” replied Dalton. “'T is only we 've an odd way of showing it.”
“I remark that they ne-never live in Ireland when they can li-live out of it,” cackled Purvis.
“Well, and why not? Is it by staying at home in the one place people learns improvements? you might drink whiskey-punch for forty years and never know the taste of champagne. Potatoes wouldn't teach you the flavor of truffles. There's nothing like travellin'!” ”

“ Jekyl was not the man to feel a slight repulse as a defeat; but, at the same time, saw that the present was not the moment to risk an engagement. He saw, besides, that, by engaging Dalton in conversation, he should leave Lady Hester and Onslow at liberty to converse with the two sisters, and, by this act of generosity, entitle himself to gratitude on all sides. And, after all, among the smaller martyrdoms of this life, what self-sacrifice exceeds his who, out of pure philanthropy, devotes himself to the “bore” of the party. ”

“ They were still hampered by an insufficiency of food, but as the captain had sent word that he had bought supplies from several discouraged prospectors at Dalton's Post, a party of six was detailed to go to the Post with an Indian guide and bring back as much as they could carry. They returned six days later, footsore and lame, with loads of from fifty to eighty pounds. There was no late news of the war at Dalton's, they said. The Alsek was very high and running at least ten miles an hour. ”

“ Dalken.
“I’ve been doing a little private detective work, Dalken, and I find that a stranger who reminds me of one of the directors of the Copper Company is staying at this hotel for a few days. Now, how in the name of conscience are we to get away without their suspecting our intentions? Lucky we took Alex.’s advice and registered under assumed names.”
Mr. Dalken turned to Jack and said: “You know what I told you just now? Well, the girls—and Mrs. Alexander particularly—must be warned not to greet me as a returned wanderer from Ash Forks. If any one lurking about finds out how Fuzzy, Alex. ”