Page:Rowland--The Mountain of Fears.djvu/292

  out, but brief as was my glimpse of him I was no less impressed by his striking beauty than by the fact that I had known some of his breed.

" 'Who is that fellow?' I asked of old Burton, the chief.

" 'Dalton, my second,' said he; 'a good looking lad, is he not?'

" 'Extremely,' I answered; 'is he as good as he looks?'

" 'Aye, and the more credit to him for that, to my mind, ' said Burton, and went on, 'D'ye know, Doctor Leyden, the Almighty puts an awful strain on the moral construction of a man when he models him on the lines of yon lad! And the boy knows it and is not too proud to shun the danger. You'll scarce lay eyes on him between here and Singapore.'

" 'Is he shy of his good looks?' I asked.

" 'Less that than proper-minded. If ever a man was built to carry an overload of women's fancies, 'tis this same Dalton. They can [ 276 ]