The Daltons, Volume I (of II) - Or,Three Roads In Life

Charles James Lever

Informations

• Publié par: jodah
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 33
• Langue: English

Extrait

Project Gutenberg's The Daltons, Volume I (of II), by
Charles James Lever
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no
cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it,
give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg
License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The Daltons, Volume I (of II)
Or,Three Roads In Life
Author: Charles James Lever
Illustrator: Phiz.
Release Date: April 19, 2010 [EBook #32061]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK
THE DALTONS, VOLUME I (OF II) ***
Produced by David WidgerTHE DALTONS:
OR,
THREE ROADS IN LIFE
By Charles James Lever
With Illustrations By Phiz.
In Two Volumes
Vol. I.
Boston: Little, Brown, And Company1895.
frontispiece
titlepage
To LORD METHUEN.
MY DEAR METHUEN, Some idle folk have pretended
that certain living characters have been depicted
under the fictitious names of these volumes. There is,
I assure you, but one personality contained in it, and
that is of a right true-hearted Englishman, hospitable,
and manly in all his dealings; and to him I wish to
dedicate my book, in testimony not only of the
gratitude which, in common with all his countrymen
here, I feel to be his due, but in recognition of many
happy hours passed in his society, and the honor of
his friendship. The personality begins and ends with
this dedication, which I beg you to accept of, and am
Ever yours faithfully,CHARLES LEVER.
PALAZZO CAPPONI, FLORENCE, Feb. 28, 1852.
Contents
PREFACE.
THE DALTONS, OR THREE ROADS IN LIFE
CHAPTER I. BADEN OUT OF SEASON
CHAPTER II
AN HUMBLE INTERIOR
.
CHAPTER II
THE FOREST ROAD
I.
CHAPTER I
THE ONSLOWS
V.
CHAPTER V
THE PATIENT
.
CHAPTER V
A FIRST VISIT
I.
CHAPTER V
A LESSON IN PISTOL-SHOOTING
II.
CHAPTER V
THE NIGHT EXCURSION
III.
CHAPTER I
A FINE LADY'S BLANDISHMENTSA FINE LADY'S BLANDISHMENTS
X.
CHAPTER X
A FAMILY DISCUSSION
.
CHAPTER X A PEEP BETWEEN THE SHUTTERS AT
I. A NEW CHARACTER
CHAPTER X
MR. ALBERT JEKYL
II.
CHAPTER X
A SUSPICIOUS VISITOR
III.
CHAPTER X
AN EMBARRASSING QUESTION
IV.
CHAPTER X
CONTRASTS
V.
CHAPTER X
THE "SAAL" OF THE "RUSSIE."
VI.
CHAPTER X
A FAMILY DISCUSSION
VII.
CHAPTER X
CARES AND CROSSES
VIII.
CHAPTER X
PREPARATIONS FOR THE ROAD
IX.
CHAPTER X
A VERY SMALL "INTERIOR."
X.
CHAPTER X
A FAMILY PICTURE
XI.
CHAPTER X
KATE
XII.
CHAPTER X
A SMALL SUPPER PARTY
XIII.
CHAPTER X
A MIDNIGHT RECEPTION
XIV.
CHAPTER XCHAPTER X
A "LEVANTER."
XV.
CHAPTER X
THE END OF THE FIRST ACT
XVI.
CHAPTER X A SMALL DINNER AT THE VILLINO ZO
XVII. E
CHAPTER X
THE VISCOUNT'S VISION
XVIII.
CHAPTER X
FRANK'S JOURNEY
XIX.
CHAPTER X THE THREAT OF "A SLIGHT EMBARR
XX. ASSMENT."
CHAPTER X
A CONVIVIAL EVENING
XXI.
CHAPTER X
AN INVASION
XXII.
CHAPTER X THE CONCLUSION OF A "GRAND DIN
XXIII. NER."
CHAPTER X
JEKYL'S COUNSELS
XXIV.
CHAPTER X
RACCA MORLACHE
XXV.
CHAPTER X
A STREET RENCONTRE
XXVI.
CHAPTER X
PROPOSALS
XXVII.
CHAPTER X
AN ARRIVAL
XXVIII.
CHAPTER X
PRATOLINO
XXIX.List of Illustrations
040 134 274 420
050 166 318 426
078 222 356
470
094 228 384
484
110 262 408
PREFACE.
IF the original conception of this tale was owing to the
story of an old and valued schoolfellow who took
service in Austria, and rose to rank and honors there,
all the rest was purely fictitious. My friend had made a
deep impression on my mind by his narratives of that
strange life, wherein, in the very midst of our moderncivilization, an old-world tradition still has its influence,
making the army of to-day the veritable sons and
descendants of those who grouped around the
bivouac fires in Wallenstein's camp. Of that more than
Oriental submission that graduated deference to
military rank that chivalrous devotion to the "Kaiser"
whicli enter into the soldier heart of Austria, I have
been unable to reproduce any but the very faintest
outlines, and yet these were the traits which, pervaded
all my friend's stories and gave them character and
distinctiveness.
Many of the other characters in this tale were drawn
from the life, with such changes added and omitted
features as might rescue them from any charge of
personality. With all my care on this score, one or two
have been believed to be recognizable; and if so I
have only to hope that I have touched on peculiarities
of disposition inoffensively, and only depicted such
traits as may "point a moral," without wounding the
possessor.
The last portion of the story includes some scenes
from the Italian campaign, which had just come to a
close while I was writing. If a better experience of Italy
than I then possessed might modify some of the
opinions I entertained at that time, and induce me to
form some conclusions at least at variance with those
I then expressed, I still prefer to leave the whole
unaltered, lest in changing I might injure the
impression under which the fulness of my once
conviction had impelled me to pronounce.
Writing these lines now, while men's hearts arethrobbing anxiously for the tidings any day may
produce, and when the earth is already tremulous
under the march of distant squadrons, I own that even
the faint, weak picture of that struggle in this story
appeals to myself with a more than common interest. I
have no more to add than my grateful
acknowledgments to such as still hold me in their
favor, and to write myself their devoted servant,
CHARLES LEVER.
THE DALTONS,
OR THREE ROADS IN LIFE.
CHAPTER I. BADEN OUT OF SEASON.
A THEATRE by daylight, a great historical picture in
the process of cleaning, a ballet-dancer of a wet day
hastening to rehearsal, the favorite for the Oaks dead-
lame in a straw-yard, are scarcely more stripped of