Duffer

“ Duet′tist. [It. duetto, due, two—L. duo, two.]
Duff, duf, n. dough: a stiff flour pudding boiled in a bag; decaying vegetable matter, fallen leaves: coaldust. [From dough.]
Duff, duf, v.t. to manipulate an article so as to make it look like new: to alter the brands on stolen cattle.
Duffel, duf′l, n. a thick, coarse woollen cloth, with a thick nap—also Duff′le: (U.S.) change of flannels. [Dut., from Duffel, a town near Antwerp.]
Duffer, duf′ėr, n. a dull plodding person: a fogy, useless old fellow: a counterfeit coin: a claim or mine which proves unproductive.—ns. ”

“ Old Dufferstones was so excited that he fairly groaned at the sight of his daughters' distress and humiliated agony, whilst his big prick, old and debilitated as he almost always seemed, was swollen and throbbing in his breeches. ”

“ Lord Dufferin never forgot any one who had served him. When his new title forced a new signature on him, he sent a new photograph with the Dufferin and Ava signature to all his journalist friends, though some of them had passed out of his sphere for years.
He always did the right thing. I remember the late Lord Derby beginning a speech at a dinner at Winnipeg at which I was present, “As Lord Dufferin, who seems to have left nothing unsaid, observed,” etc. ”

“ But here in this volume of Songs, Poems, and Verses (John Murray) we have Lady Dufferin though dead yet speaking, and may judge for ourselves. It is characteristic of her son that, whilst on the first page the above title is boldly set forth in large ruddy-hued type, a smaller line lower down, in plain black ink, refers to the "Memoir." In its felicity of literary style, its clear touches of characterisation, and its flashes of quiet humour, this monograph is a masterpiece. It fittingly frames the extract from the journal commenced by Lady Dufferin when she felt the hand of death gripping her. ”

“ Lady Dufferin, by her noble efforts for the training of native women in medical skill, has earned the gratitude and alleviated the misery of thousands. The amount of correspondence alone that all this entails upon her ladyship is prodigious; every minute seems to be fully occupied.
We take a peep into the next room, a State bed-chamber. This, Lady Dufferin tells me, was formerly used by the Princess Pauline. Over the bed is displayed the eagle, and the letter "P.," in ormolu, is on much of the tulip, satinwood, and rosewood furniture, all of which is covered with the richest of brocades. ”

“ Everything’s the matter—with Father Duff! Oh, it’s nerves, mostly, the doctor says, and there are some other things—long names that I can’t remember. But, as I said, everything’s the matter with Father Duff. He’s one of those men where there isn’t anything quite right. Frank says he’s got so he just objects to everything—on general principles. If it’s blue, he says it ought to be black, you know. And, really, I don’t know but Frank’s right. How Maggie stands him I don’t see; but she’s devotion itself. ”

“ Though my heart is full of dread, I am at your feet. By the voice of my own soul I hear the cry of yours. We are both past help, it seems, Ma'amselle,-yet am I that stone to your foot which we pledged yonder by the stockade wall. You will let me go the long trail with you? You will give me to be your stay in this? You will let me do all a man can do to help you take the factor from the Nakonkirhirinons?”
The infinite sadness in Dupre's voice was as a wind across a harp of gold, and it struck to Maren's heart with unbearable pain. ”

“ Do you know who that man is, Mrs. Duff?” asked he aloud. “For that lady was taking the air at her shop-door, and had watched the movement.
“I don’t know much about him, sir. He have been a stopping in the place this day or two. What did I hear his name was, again?” added Mrs. Duff, putting her fingers to her temples in a considering fit. “Jarrum, I think. Yes, that was it. ”

“ Thus they separated, that small band, as hopeless together as apart in case of discovery, and at last Dupre followed alone, his heart heavy within him and a grip in his throat of tears. On through the leafy forest, parting the lacing vines, holding each branch that it might not swish to place, they went, far from safety and the commonplace of life, and a prescience of disaster weighed on the trapper's soul like lead. ”

“ Have I not told you that Duffel's prospects are fairer than those of any other young man of your acquaintance? Is he not wealthy? Has he not one of the best farms in the country? What more do you want?"
"A man of principle, not of property."
"And is not Duffel a man of principle? Is he not strictly honorable in all his dealings?" ”

“ Leastways, that's what they are saying."
"He cannot be dead."
"He's as dead as a door-nail!" affirmed Duff, with decision. "I can't be mistaken in a dead man. I've seen enough of 'em, father being the grave-digger. They are bringing him on, ma'am, now."
Even as Duff spoke, sounds of the approach stole on the air from the distance—the measured tread of feet that bear a burden. It came nearer and nearer; and Philip King, or what was left of him, was laid on the large table in the hall. As is the case in some country houses, the hall was furnished like a plain room. ”

“ Sapper Duffy had learned all this by full experience, and now the number of 'whutts' he heard gave him a very clear understanding of the dangers of this particular job. He was the farthest out man of the line. On his left hand he could just distinguish the dim figure of another digger, stooping and straightening, stooping and straightening, with the rhythm and regularity of a machine. On his right hand was empty darkness, lit up every now and then by the glow of a flare-light showing indistinctly through the drizzling rain. ”

“ Why sells the father the flesh of his flesh and the bone of his bone?”
Brigid, the daughter of Duffy, was mute while her father replied—
“Monarch, this maid has no place as the child of a chieftain of pride.
Beggars and wretches whose wounds would the soul of a soldier affright,
Sure, ’tis on these she is wasting my substance from morning till night!”
Ah, but ’twas bitter was Duffy; he spoke like a man that was vext. ”

“ The little maid sighed in exaggerated dolour.
Dupre flashed round on his moccasined heel and reached her in a stride.
“Aha! It is you, by all the saints!” he said beneath his breath, as he took her none too gently by the shoulder. “I know your tricks.”
Aloud he said, “Francette, children should keep from where they are not wanted. Get you back to your mother.”
“Children, you say, M'sieu Dupre? Is eighteen so far behind twenty-two? Grow a beard on your cheek before you give yourself the airs of a man. ”

“ Father said life was made up of such sorrows and disappointments; that while nothing could be finer than to spend a lifetime with a dog of such wonderful intelligence and sympathy, still a hundred dollars at compound interest at 10 per cent. for twenty years would buy so-and-so and so-and-so, and that in the professional life Duff was leading he might be stolen. ”

“ The custodians?”
“It was very difficult,” answered Dupré, whose eyes looked very tired. “They are scattered to the four winds of heaven. They all had lived in Paris, of course, but now, strangely enough, they are all over France—in Saumur, Marseilles, Rheims, and even in Caen. I have been traveling day and night, and drinking in pot-houses the balance of the time.”
“I trust you have drunk to some purpose,” smiled Donaque.
“M’sieu shall judge for himself,” answered Dupré. “They are all human oxen, lazy, ignorant, fog-brained, and with a taste for absinthe. ”

“ Youffer came roaring upon me like like a lion, he being a tyke of such a monstrous (illegible text) frighted me so that I ran back; but he pursued me so hard, I was forced to face about, and boldly put the briar to him, which he gripped in his mouth, and then stripped it through his teeth, and gave him a hearty blow upon his ear with my rung, which made him go tumbling towards his master's door, and when he got up, he could not fight any, his mouth being so full of prickles by the biting of the briar, which caused him go about yuling, and rubbing his mouth with his foot ”

“ Then Dullhead asked once more for his bride, but the King felt vexed at the idea of a stupid fellow whom people called ‘Dullhead’ carrying off his daughter, and he began to make fresh conditions. He required Dullhead to find a man who could eat a mountain of bread. Dullhead did not wait to consider long but went straight off to the forest, and there on the same spot sat a man who was drawing in a strap as tight as he could round his body, and making a most woeful face the while. ”

“ So lost was he in the wonder of his discovery that Phil lost all count of time or place. He was brought rudely to a realization of the present by a sharp tug at the line. There came another tug and another a signal which told Phil that, for some reason or other, his friends thought it best for him to return to the surface.
The fellows! He had almost forgotten them in his excitement. Wait till he had told them what he had found. Just wait! ”

“ Father Christmas comes before the curtain and says:—"Good [5] people, you see that Duffy wans't at all scared at the Bucca-boo's appearance, because in old times people were so much used to dealings with the devil—women especially—that they didn't mind him. Duffy is now gone off by the outer door and stair, to merrily pass the day; and old Jone, hearing a rumble all through the house, thinks her to be busy at work."
Duffy passes a great part of her time at Trove Mill, near at hand; where a crowd of women high and low, meet to take their turn at grinding, serging, &c. ”

“ Their application and appeal are universal.
"Without sustained inspiration, without profundity of thought, without impassioned song," writes Duff, "he yet pierces to the universal heart.... His secret lies in sanity rather than impetus. Kindly and shrewd observer of the manifold activities of life, he draws vignettes therefrom and passes judgments thereon which awaken undying interest. ”

“ Five days later I found myself again before the city, infinitely more dusty, infinitely more hungry, infinitely more footsore and more weary than when I had encountered Madame Vidaud at the chateau.
“As I turned a corner, a great, whirling streak rushed by me, so close as to make me jump quickly to the side of the road. To my great surprise, the automobile stopped a few yards from where I was standing and two men, one tall, one short, jumped out and hurried toward me.
“‘Hello!’ cried the tall one, in a big, rumbling voice. ‘Aren’t you the son of Charloix?’ he said. ”

“ Why must I be so guarded? One angel—the greatest fool could see the wisdom of that. But billions!—with their fixed eyes shining, so very boldly, on me. I never prayed for so many, dear friend. And we pray for a good many odd things, you and I, I'll be bound. But, there, you see, poor Miss Duveen's on her theology again—scamper, scamper, scamper. In the congregations of the wicked we must be cautious! ... Mrs. Partridge and grandmamma, so nice, so nice; but even that, too, a little sad, eh?” She leaned her head questioningly, like a starving bird in the snow. ”

“ Now, it so fell out, that he came to the Dovrefell just about Christmas Eve, and there he turned into a cottage where a man lived, whose name was Halvor, and asked the man if he could get house-room there for his bear and himself.
"Heaven never help me, if what I say isn't true!" said the man; "but we can't give anyone house-room just now, for every Christmas Eve such a pack of Trolls come down upon us, that we are forced to flit, and haven't so much as a house over our own heads, to say nothing of lending one to anyone else." ”

“ Duff would have said she was to be pitied; for, like most individuals who are constantly sitting in judgment on their neighbours, he felt quite certain that he was right, and whoever thought otherwise was in the wrong.
Mrs. Brown's reply was irritating. "I always think Mr. Burton and Mr. James favour one another in looks."
"Tut, tut! Looks are not of much account. People's ways are more than faces. ”

“ You can take a message from Mr. Dufrayer. You are Mr. Dufrayer's friend, so a message from him will be natural. When you have got into Mr. North's presence, you will know yourself what to do. Your own judgment will guide you. In all probability he will be under the effect of opium, and you can get further secrets from him. At the worst you may be able to find some of Madame's communications."
I stood still, considering.
"I will go," I said; "but success seems more than doubtful." ”

“ Duffield has bribed a weaver that lives on his farm to weave me eighteen yards, by making him three or four shuttles for nothing, and keeping it a secret from the country people, who will not suffer them to weave for those in town. ”

“ Here he drew the captain still further from the others, and, in low and smothered tones, imparted to him his scheme, which was no doubt a villainous one, as it drew from his auditor and confidant an exclamation to this effect:
"By my soul, Duffel, you are an adept in these matters! I never dreamed of your being so deep a plotter! The world and your friends, also, have done you injustice by not giving you credit for so ample a development of such rare ability to deceive. ”

“ I said humbly.
"I've asked him over to dine on the day our fishing-boat will be launched," said Father Letheby, after a pause. "Some of the brethren are coming; and you'll come, sir? Duff is very anxious to meet you."
"Of course," I replied. "I never refuse so delightful an invitation. But why should Duff be anxious to meet me?"
"I really don't know, except that you are, as you know yourself, sir, a celebrity. He thinks a great deal of you." ”