Dandie Dinmont

“ The coat is the important point, and characterizes the Dandie Dinmont. The hair should be about two inches long; that from the skull to the root of the tail, a mixture of hard and soft hair, which gives a crisp feel to the hand, but the hard hair should not be wiry as in most broken-haired terriers; the coat is in every sense of the word what is called piley. The hair on the under part of the body is softer and lighter in color than on top. The skin on the under body should accord with the color of the dog. ”

“ Theoretically, one would naturally imagine that the Scottish terrier, the subject of this sketch, the West Highlander, the Skye, the Dandie Dinmont, and the Cairn, would be better adapted for entering narrow earths than the fox terrier, but men of experience hold that it is not so much the length of leg which determines a dog's capacity for going to ground as his general shape, and a good fox terrier proves in a practical manner, to the refutation of logicians, that he is equal to the task. ”

“ The celebrated Mr. Jeffrey being retained in his cause, Thorburn went into Court to hear his pleading. He was delighted with the talents and oratory of his advocate; and, on coming out, observed to his friends, “Od, he’s an awfu’ body yon; he said things that I never could hae thought o’ mysel’.”
Mr. James Davidson, of Hindlee, another honest south-country farmer, was pointed out as the prototype of Dandie Dinmont. This gentleman used to breed numerous families of terriers, to which he gave the names of Pepper and Mustard, in all their varieties of Auld and Young, Big and Little ”

“ At last, when the whole room had been searched, his master said, 'Dandie, find me that shilling, and I will give you a biscuit,' and Dandie jumped straight upon the table, and laid the shilling in front of the owner. Like the dog in the 'Arabian Nights' (only that dog really was a man) , Dandie could go out and do his own shopping. His friends, who were many, used to allow him a penny a day, and he took the money regularly to a baker's shop, and bought bread for himself. ”

“ He must cross their front, reach the ravine before them, and strike the prairie beyond. "Go, Dandy!" he mutters with gentle pressure of leg, and the sorrel bounds lightly away, circling southwestward under the guiding rein. Another minute and he is at the arroyo and cautiously descending, then scrambling up the west bank, and then from the darkness comes savage challenge, a sputter of pony hoofs. Ray bends low and gives Dandy one vigorous prod with the spur, and with muttered prayer and clinched teeth and fists he leaps into the wildest race for his life. ”

“ Do you keep a silent tongue to every one.”
“You need not fear that I shall speak, Master Dandy,” replied the lad. “And it may not be so bad, after all; you may yet find a way of getting out of it, Master Dandy.”
“A way of getting out of it!” muttered Philip to himself, as he watched the retreating figure of his servant. “There seems but small chance of that. Robbery was bad enough; but this is another matter. She’s dead, and cannot speak; even if she were alive, she must point to me as Dandy Chater. ”

“ Ogledon took her up quickly. “Lying tongues, Mrs. Dolman? And what, pray, are they daring to say about our dear Dandy?”
“It seems, sir, that there has been a body found—of a young girl who belonged to these parts—in a wood near by; and, because Master Dandy has been seen talking to her once or twice— (as young men will, and always have done, since the good Lord made young men and women!) —they must needs go whispering about that Master Dandy made away with her.” ”

“ But the Andes themselves would have offered no insurmountable obstacles to Dandy, who bounded from precipice to precipice; and the lovers and the headman could once more clearly distinguish each other by the first beams of the rising sun. The headman roared, and threatened, and brandished a monstrous sabre; Dandy tore up the ground as he ran, neighed louder than thunder, and gained upon the fugitives every moment. Despair left the princess no choice, and she violently dashed her phial upon the ground. ”

“ Dandy knew her at the very first glance. It was Hilda, looking more like a fairy princess than ever.
She knew him almost as soon, for her clear voice rang out above the general laughter. 'Oh, that isn't Toby—he's my own dog, my Dandy, that I lost! It is really; let him come to me, please do! Don't you see how badly he wants to?'
There was a sudden surprised silence at this—even Mr. Punch was quiet for an instant; but as soon as Dandy heard her voice he could wait no longer, and crouched for a spring. ”

“ But Dandy only half raised his head and rejected the cake languidly—he was very comfortable there in the warm firelight, and the place made him feel as if he were back in his own old kitchen, but he was too tired to be hungry.
'He won't hardly look at it,' said the housemaid compassionately. 'I don't think he can be well.'
'Well!' said Jem. 'He's well enough; that's all his contrariness, that is. The fact is, he thinks hisself a deal too good for the likes of us, he do—thinks he ought to be kep' on chickin in a droring-room!' he sneered, wasting his satire on the unconscious Dandy. ”

“ Master Dandy!”—he had fallen upon his knees, at the feet of the other man, and was clasping his dress, in the agony of his appeal—“I knew you when you were a bright faced lad, laughing in the sunshine, and with no stain of blood upon you. Master Dandy——”
“Stain of blood!” cried Philip, recoiling. “What are you talking of? What madness possesses you?”
“No madness, Master Dandy—would to Heaven it might be!” cried the other. “It isn’t for me to see into a gentleman’s heart, or to know what temptations he may have, above such as I am. ”

“ Yes, that is so,” assented Dandy, as they all followed Ran into the parlor, where they found quite a variety of comfortable chairs.
They were scarcely seated when Longman entered.
Ran sprang up and met him; but Dandy pushed between them, his round, bald head, as well as his face, glowing red with excitement as he demanded:
“Have you seen my Juley? Is she well and happy? Is she still in the service of the minister?”
“She is well and happy, but no longer in service anywhere. She is married to John Legg, the greengrocer of your native village, Medge. ”

“ What claim has he on my future wife that she should take these nightly walks with him unknown to me?"
"The strongest claim that man can have," was the answer; "he is my son—he is Kate's only brother!"
"My God! Captain Danton, what are you saying?"
"The truth," Captain Danton answered, in a broken voice. "Heaven help me—Heaven pity him! The wretched man whose story you have heard—who dwells a captive under this roof—is my only son, Henry Danton."
He covered his face with his hands. Reginald Stanford sat confounded. ”

“ Dandy pricks up his ears and wants to neigh, but Ray grips his nostrils like a vice, and Dandy desists. At rapid lope, within twenty yards, a party of half a dozen warriors go bounding past on their way down the valley, and no sooner have they crossed the gulley than he rises and rapidly pushes on up the dry sandy bed. Thank heaven! there are no stones. A minute more and he is crawling again, for the hoof-beats no longer drown the faint sound of Dandy's movements. A few seconds more and right in front of him, not a stone's throw away, he hears the deep tones of Indian voices in conversation. ”

“ Baxter was not looking; but Dandy had seen them, and, like a good dog, felt it his duty to stay behind and guard what belonged to his master.
Although left for so long a time without food, the faithful creature had never quitted the spot where the chair and basket had fallen. But, when he saw his master, how glad was poor Dandy! He leaped up, put his paws on the man's shoulders, and barked with joy.
"Good Dandy! good Dandy!" said Mr. Baxter: "you must be hungry, old fellow! Come along: you shall have a good dinner for this. ”

“ So every friend he meets is hailed with a great gusto; even the working busmen in their shabby driving clothes are not beneath his notice, and he would be{131} proud to clasp the hand of a coloured scavenger provided there was the remotest chance of finding such a person with a few Jamaican pennies. Your true Dandy is never exclusive; he is an adventurer pure and simple; and he dresses in the highest height of fashion, partly from great vanity and partly because he will not advertise his poverty. ”

“ For four weeks I had avoided hearing of the old queen's reception in Dublin, and it was not in my mind to listen to it then. So I held Dandy severely by the collar and he passed us by. It was not the sort of treatment Dandy appreciated. He has a passionate curiosity about human beings. Never a man can pass along a lonely road but what he must go and speak to him. ”

“ Are we not alone against the world; a little band of brothers? Broad Danton is loved by all the Mountain; but they think him too easy-tempered, deficient in suspicion: he has stood between Dumouriez and much censure, anxious not to exasperate our only General: in the shrill tumult Danton's strong voice reverberates, for union and pacification. Meetings there are; dinings with the Girondins: it is so pressingly essential that there be union. But the Girondins are haughty and respectable: this Titan Danton is not a man of Formulas, and there rests on him a shadow of September. ”

“ D'Aunoy,
Fairy Tales
("Princess Fairstar,"
1682) .
Dandies (The Prince of) , Beau Brummel (1778-1840) .
Dandin (George) , a rich French tradesman, who marries Ang'elique, the daughter of Mons. le Baron de Sotenville, and has the "privilege" of paying-off the family debts, maintaining his wife's noble parents, and being snubbed on all occasions to his heart's content. He constantly said to himself; in self-rebuke, Vous Vavez voulu, vous Vavez voulu, George Dandin! ("You have no one to blame but yourself! you brought it on yourself, George Dandin!") ”

“ Dandy boasted so of the respect which men had paid him, that he made the other bears think he was doing them a great honor by living with them. He made them all wait on him. But at last a young bear, that had escaped from a trap which some men had set for him, said to Dandy, "Is that ring in your nose for ornament or for use?" ”

“ The moment he discovered we were not the only people on the cliffs Dandy raced off to meet her. He is always my harbinger, carrying messages of welcome to friends and enemies alike. I cannot cure him of it. Times out of number he has tried to force me to associate with men whom I detest, and he says such things to women about me as makes me feel absolutely ill at ease. By jumping from one to the other of us, he endeavors to set up a current of mutual adoration which, while at times it may not be distasteful to me, is very embarrassing to the few ladies of my acquaintance. ”

“ I am glad he is going to Ottawa, and yet I shall miss him. Dear Reginald! What would life be worth without you?"
The period of M. La Touche's stay was rapidly drawing to a close. March was at its end, too—it was the last night of the month. The eve of departure was celebrated at Danton Hall by a social party. The elder Misses Danton on that occasion were as lovely and as much admired as ever, and Messrs. Stanford and La Touche were envied by more than one gentleman present. Grace's engagement to the Captain had got wind, and she shared the interest with her step-daughters-elect. ”

“ Au 6 août 1792 Danton était a Arcis; on était à la veille d’un grand événement qu’il prévoyait sans doute. Au milieu des mille pensées qui doivent alors l’agiter, au milieu de l’inquiétude que doivent lui causer les périls auxquels il va s’exposer, quelle idée prédomine, quelle crainte vient l’atteindre? Il pense à sa mère, il craint de n’avoir pas suffisamment assuré son mort et sa tranquillité; en voici la preuve dans cet acte passé le 6 août 1792 par-devant Me Finot, notaire à Arcis. ”

“ Dandy crept over to the hut. The lock presented no great difficulties. Locks don't as a rule to gentlemen who wear Newgate fringes and are modestly silent as to their past. Inside the hut it was dark, but by the aid of his pipe Dandy found a draining spade—a long, narrow shovel, the very thing for his work. As he stumbled, the pipe fell from Dandy's lips and disappeared under a broad ledge. To find it now without striking a light was impossible. Well, one pipe was very like another, and Dandy decided to risk it. Moreover, Burton might come home at any moment. ”

“ Dandy asked suspiciously.
"To shake, of course. Because it is the hand of a hero. My good fellow, the man who conquers fear as you did is a hero. I never saw a braver thing done, and I've seen some plucky things in my time."
"If you hadn't been here," Dandy began, "I should 'a' 'ooked it straight."
"I say you are a hero," Burton persisted.
Dandy graciously allowed it to pass. Way up the Valley of Sweet Waters they are still inclined to make much of Dandy, but he resolutely declines to be lionised. ”

“ When the man broad awake succeeds, the dreamer is ready to build a new dream on that result. The Gironde was almost silent, the Mountain was afraid. In the short visit that Dumouriez paid, between a victory and a victory, to Paris, Danton appears for a moment a partner in the mental ease, the brilliant expression, and the Republican faith of the Girondins. ”

“ His eyes said what he felt—"I'm glad of it; serves her right—I'd do it again!"
"You deserve to be well whipped," continued Hilda severely; "but you do howl so. I shall leave you to your own conscience" (a favorite remark of her governess) "until your bad heart is touched,and you come here and say you're sorry and beg both our pardons. I only wish you could be made to pay for a new arm. Go away out of my sight, you bad dog; I can't bear to look at you!"
Dandy, still impenitent, moved leisurely down from the table and out of the open door into the kitchen. ”