Dun

“ Here the weary spirit finds repose among elemental forms which the ravages of civilization have left unspoiled. If we take beautiful minds and beautiful hearts into the dune country,{24} we will find only beauty in it; and if we have not the love of beauty, we walk in darkness.
Filmy veils of white mist gather in the hollows during the still, cool hours of the night, and begin to move like curling smoke wreaths with the first faint breaths of dawn. The early hours of the morning are full of strange enchantment, and dawn on the dunes brings many wonders. ”

“ Her voice was low and pleasant and so clear Dunn heard every word distinctly. She seemed quite young, not more than twenty or twenty-one, and she was slim and graceful in build and tall for a woman. Her face, on which the light shone directly, was oval in shape with a broad, low forehead on which clustered the small, unruly curls of her dark brown hair, and she had clear and very bright brown eyes. ”

“ And in vain, in his turn, did he try to bend Dunn backwards to crush him to the earth, it was an effort before which one might have thought that iron and stone must have given away, but Dunn still sustained it.
Thus dreadfully they fought, there in the darkness, there in the silence of the night.
Dreadfully they wrestled, implacable, fierce, determined, every primeval passion awake and strong again, and slowly, very slowly, that awful grip laid upon the big man's body began to tell. ”

“ This gift or power of Dunn's he had acquired in far-off lands, where life may easily depend on the snapping of a twig or the right interpretation of a trampled grass-blade, and he was using it now, almost unconsciously, so as to make his presence near Ella and Clive as unobtrusive as possible, when his keen eye caught sight of a bush, of which leaves and branches were moving against the wind. ”

“ After some hours of hard labor, Dunn opened his window to enjoy the fresh air of the night, tempered slightly as it was with a gentle sea-breeze. If our western moonlights have not the silver lustre of Greece, of which old Homer himself sings, they have, in compensation, a mellow radiance of wondrous softness and beauty. Objects are less sharply defined and picked out, it is true, but the picture gains in warmth of color, and those blended effects where light and shadow alternate. The influences of Nature—the calm, still moonlight ”

“ And then he amused himself by speculating whether Dunn liked it all,—whether the unaccustomed elegance of these great dinners did not distress and pain him rather than give pleasure, and whether the very consciousness of his own low origin wasn't a poison that mingled in every cup he tasted.
“It's no use talking,” muttered he to himself; “a man must be bred to it, like everything else. ”

“ Again the stick rose in the air, but did not fall, for round about his body Dunn laid such a grip as he had never felt before and as would for certain have crushed in the ribs of a weaker man. The lantern crashed to the ground, they were in darkness. ”

“ I speak as a woman.”
“And is it thrue, Miss Bella, that it's Mister Dunn has it all here under his own hand,—that the Lord owns nothing only what Dunn allows him, and that the whole place down to Kenmare River is Dunn's?”
“It is quite true, Ned, that the control and direction of all the great works here are with Mr. Dunn. All the quarries and mines, the roads, harbors, quays, 'bridges, docks, houses, are all in his hands.” ”

“ The strange human characters, whose little drift-wood shanties are scattered along the shore, and among the sandhills, and whose isolated retreats are further inland, are difficult to become acquainted with, except in a most casual way. They look upon the chance wayfarer with suspicion and disfavor.
Readers of “The Dune Country” will remember “Old Sipes,” “Happy Cal,” and “Catfish John,” the old derelicts living along the beach, further accounts of whose “doin’s” are in the following pages. ”

“ The dunes are in another world. They are two miles across the uncertain and hazardous tide races of the estuary. The folk of the village never go over. The dunes are nothing. They are the horizon. They are only seen in idleness, or when the weather is scanned, or an incoming ship is marked. The dunes are but a pallid phantom of land so delicately golden that it is surprising to find it constant. ”

“ How beautifully, too, would the tasteful cottage of some true lover of the picturesque peep from amidst the evergreen oaks that grew down to the very shore. While she wrote, a shadow fell over her paper. She looked up, and saw Mr. Dunn. He had strolled by accident to the spot, and entered unperceived by her.
“What a charming place you have chosen for your study, Miss Kellett!” said he, seating himself at the table. “Not but I believe,” continued he, “that when once deeply engaged in a pursuit, one takes little account of surrounding objects. ”

“ Dunn had not supposed there was a man in England who could have played such a trick on him, but his admiration was roughly disturbed before he could express it, for the grasp upon his collar tightened and upon his shoulders there alighted a tremendous, stinging blow, as with all his very considerable strength, the big man brought down his walking-stick with a resounding thwack.
The sheer surprise of it, the sudden sharp pain, jerked a quick cry from Dunn, who had not been in the least prepared for such an attack, and in the darkness had not seen the stick rise, and the other laughed grimly. ”

“ His shoulders were broad, his chest deep, and his whole build powerful in the extreme, and Dunn, looking him up and down with the quick glance of one accustomed to judge men, thought that he had seldom seen one more capable of holding his own. ”

“ A small stream wandered through it, the grass that carpeted it was green and soft, near by a great oak stood alone and spread its majestic branches far out on every side to give cool shelter from the summer heat.
The thought occurred to Dunn that this was just such a pretty and secluded spot as two lovers might choose to exchange their vows in, and the thought stung him intolerably as he wondered whether it was for such a reason that Ella had come here. ”

“ An old labourer going home late bade the big man a friendly good night and passed on without seeing or hearing Dunn following close behind, and a solitary woman, watching at her cottage door, saw plainly the big man's tall form and heard his firm and heavy steps and would have been ready to swear no other passed that way at that time, though Dunn was not five yards behind, slipping silently and swiftly by in the shelter of the trees lining the road. ”

“ To describe our ascent is impossible, as no one can form an idea equal to it who has not attempted the Dunna Pass. Intensely hot in the valley, it became cooler as we scrambled and tumbled along the rocky path ”

“ For he that minds the publication of any thing, cannot do it, unless he speaks of the same. And although that Dung may seem to some finical Men a very contemptible thing, yet notwithstanding it is the onely and principal Medium, by the help whereby our daily Bread and the necessary sustaining of our Bodies is had. But as for the stinking Dung of Animals, I even remit it to the Dunghill, and return to my Sal Mirabilis. ”

“ A pollard tree, as 'Ash-dump,' or 'Willow-dump.'—N.W. (Clyffe Pypard.)
Dum-put. See Dung-pot.
Dunch. (1) Deaf (A.B.C.) ; now rarely so used. In Cunnington MS. said to be at that time the usual N. Wilts term for deaf.—N & S.W.
'Ah! Molly, ye purtends to be as dunch as a bittle, but I kneows 'e hears ev'ry word I zays.'—Wilts Tales, p. 81.
(2) Stupid, heavy; now the common use. 'The wapses gets dunch' in late autumn. A labourer who can't be made to understand orders is 'dunch.'—N. & S.W. (3) Of bread, heavy (Wild Life, ch. vii) . ”

“ THE DUNE COUNTRY WHILE there are immense stretches of sand dunes in other parts of the world, it is of a particular dune country, to which many journeys have been made, and in which many days have been spent, that this story will be told. ”

“ The landscapes among the dunes are not for the realist, not for the cold and discriminating recorder of facts, nor the materialist who would weigh with exact scales or look with scientific eyes. It is a country for the dreamer and the poet, who would cherish its secrets, open enchanted locks, and explore hidden vistas, which the Spirit of the Dunes has kept for those who understand. ”

“ On the dunes, walks are particularly delightful when the moist, packed sand becomes a yellow floor, but it requires much endurance and{48} enthusiasm to trudge through miles of soft sand on a hot day and retain a contemplative mood. ”

“ Since most activity in the dunes takes place at night, very little of this action is observed. However, in the morning we can stroll in the sand and unravel the secrets of the previous night. As you look at each set of tracks, imagine what the animal looks like as it moves. How big is it? How many feet does it have? Are the feet side by side as though jumping like rodents or rabbits, or do they alternate as in the walking or running motion of lizards? How far apart are the prints? Does the animal drag its tail? Now, where do the tracks go? ”

“ He is totally unfitted for his situation, and I am only surprised that Dunn, shrewd fellow that he is, should have ever placed a man of this stamp in a position of such trust. The first requisite in such a man is to understand the deference he owes to us. ”

“ If I selected lucid and simple extracts, they would give no idea of the intricacy and prolixity of Duns. His commentary on the Sentences fills thirteen tomes of the Paris edition! No short and simple extract will illustrate that! On the other hand, I could not bring myself by lengthy or impossible quotations to vilify Duns. It is unjust to expose a man’s worst features, nakedly and alone, to those who do not know his better side and the conditions which partly explain the rest of him. ”

“ Dunn. He was a much bigger man than Mr. Dunn, and he was between Mr. Dunn and the door.
It was at that moment that my lady raised her voice. She wore always a sad, brave dignity, always she was a quiet lady; but in her voice now, as her eyes rested very calmly on the sneering face of her husband, the very landscape of England might have been quivering. She did not conceal from his lordship that the reason for this{213} quivering was a profound distaste for his person, manners and conversation.
“I did not think,” said she, “that any man could say so base a thing on such flimsy provocation. ”

“ Their eyes met with a singular directness of gaze. Between them a spark passed which was not afterwards to be extinguished, though neither of them knew the moment of its kindling, and Mount Dunstan slightly frowned. ”

“ Pushing forward as well as he might in the direction he had seen the light, he floundered heavily on, the wheels sinking nearly to the axles, and the horse stumbling at every step.
“Your horse is worth nothing, my good fellow; he has n't strength to keep his legs,” said Dunn, angrily. ”

“ Now when it came to talk about "dropping a line," [Pg 296] my grandfather fairly lost his temper. So he struck William John Dunn on the nose—a thing he had never been known to do before—and William John Dunn hit him back, and the neighbors had to separate them. And next day, William John Dunn took out a summons against him. Well, the case was tried before the magistrates: and my grandfather told his story from the beginning, quite straightforward, just as I've told it to you. ”

“ All at once Dunn, unable to control himself longer, burst out with that question which for so long had hovered on his lips.
“Do you know,” he said, “do you know what you took away with you in the car that night I came here?”
“The packing-case, you meant,” she asked. “Of course I do; I helped to get it ready—what's the matter?” ”

“ One must feel the spirit and poetry of the dunes, if he deals with them as an artist who would send{23} their story into the world. The magic of successful artistic translation changes the sense of desolation into an impression of wild, weird beauty and romantic charm. ”

“ Lat., Teut., and Slav. deprived the orig. meaning of one of its characteristics. In OInd. and Gr. there occurs a verbal stem, tanu (τανυ) , with the primary sense ‘to stretch out, extend.’ Comp. dehnen, Dohne, Donner, and the following word.
Dunst, m., ‘vapour, fume, mist,’ from MidHG. dunst, tunst, m., f., ‘steam, vapour,’ OHG. tunist, dunist, dunst, ‘storm, breath’; respecting the MidG. initial d. comp. Dust, dunkel. Corresponds to AS. dûst (for *dunst) , E. dust. Teut. duns-, for dwuns-, is based upon an Aryan root dhwens, which still appears in Sans. ”

“ One or two chance offenders intuitively perceived a slight but impassable barrier.
“Dunne has grown a little gaunt-eyed since he first came here,” said one of his chosen friends to a classmate one evening. “He’s outdoors enough to counteract overstudy. But do you 147 suppose he has enough to eat? So many of these fellows live on next to nothing.” ”

“ His wife lamented, but Dunn was heroically determined. One whole day he spent in house-to-house visitation of a likely suburb, and his earnings at the close amounted to fourpence. Well, it was beginning: fourpence is better than nothing. On the second morning he set forth again with aching limbs and a sinking heart. ”

“ You will get news by to-morrow, Miss Dunbar, and meanwhile take my assurance that the clouds are lifting and that I have every hope that the light of truth is breaking through." ”