“Who is he, Harriet?” he almost gasped, at length. “Where did you find him? He is the living image of my dead daughter?”
“He is that dead daughter’s child, uncle. He is your own grandson Arthur, and my little ‘Prince Dusty,’” was the answer.
The next instant the boy was clasped in a loving, forgiving, all-atoning embrace, and had found a place in his grandfather’s heart, that he would never resign so long as life lasted.
CHAPTER XXVI.
COLONEL DALE OF DALECOURT.
It is hardly possible to describe the joy that reigned in Dalecourt on that last night of the year. Colonel Dale and Miss Hatty, and Mrs. Allen Dale, her mother, all asked Arthur questions at once; and petted, and fed, and pitied, and praised him, until the poor, tired, happy little fellow, worn out with excitement, could no longer keep his eyes open, and was carried off to bed. Nor would it be possible to convey any idea of what a hero dear old Uncle Phin became in the eyes of the dusky assembly, who thronged the kitchen, to see him eat his much needed supper, and to hear of his marvellous adventures while bringing the “lil Marse” to his own home. All these things can be imagined a great deal better than they can be described. At the same time it does seem to be necessary to tell something about the Dales and Dalecourt, and how Colonel Dale’s niece, Miss Harriet, happened to be the same beautiful lady who presented Arthur with an illustrated copy of Andersen’s “Fairy Tales,” in the oil region of Pennsylvania, some months before that happy New Year’s Eve.
She was the only daughter of Colonel Dale’s youngest brother Allen, and was therefore own cousin to Arthur’s mother. At the death of her father, who left them penniless, she and her mother went to Dalecourt to live, and to keep house for her lonely uncle.
One of the very dearest of Miss Hatty’s school friends lived in the oil region of Pennsylvania, and during the previous summer she paid this friend a visit. It was at the conclusion of this visit, and while driving from her friend’s house to the distant railway station, that she encountered Arthur and little Cynthia, just as their search for adventures had led them into trouble.
With her first glance at the boy’s face she was struck by a certain familiar expression in it, and when he told her his name she wondered if he might not be her little cousin whom she had never seen. She was not quite sure of the Dustin part of his name, as it was never allowed to be mentioned at Dalecourt, so she decided to wait until she could make further inquiries before claiming the relationship.
As she had barely time to reach the railway station and catch her train, she was not able to pursue these inquiries just then. She, however, bade the coachman find out what he could about the Dustins, and also wrote to her friend for what information she could obtain concerning the child, in whom she had become so greatly interested. From her mother she learned that Dustin was the name of the young Northerner whom her cousin Virginia had married; and when she received an answer to her letter, it assured her that she had discovered, in that far-away region, her uncle’s only grandson.
Now came what she feared would prove the most difficult part of her task. Colonel Dale had forbidden the name of Dustin to be mentioned in his house, nor had Miss Hatty ever heard him speak as though aware that he had a grandson living. She at first tried to approach the subject cautiously, but finding that she was liable to be misunderstood, she at length told her uncle frankly all that she knew and suspected. To her great surprise he listened to her willingly and with an eager interest.