The record-union., 1896-06-21
TEE DARLEYS OF MOOR HALL.

After this lapse of time do not offer
any opinion as to whether my uncle was
actually right or wrong. / admit that
ne had right to my respect, but l
pelieVe my anger was justiffable. AT
any rate, subsequent events have
proved that it was a fortunate quarrel
Tor me and for others in this history
The Darleys were a family of consid-
cradle Importance some centuries ago;
members of it have taken part, some
uneS a very prominent part, in most
Oh the war and political troubles
through which Ireland has passed; and
in consequence the family has had
many ups and owns, now rejoicing in
the sunlight of brilliant prosperity, now
sunlight of brilliant prosperity, now
railing into disgrace and comparative
poverty. The Darleys have always
peen looked upon as Enthusiastically
wild and reckless, ready at any time
70 dare to do anything for the mere
aoVe OF danger and adventure; enemies
70 be feared, and friends to be trusted
with certain limitations. In old times,
self-interest had been quite enough to
cause a barley to withdraw his friend
snip, and ugly GALES were told of the
betrayal of friendship, too. These
things will cling to a family for gen
erations, and will be spoken of, no mat
ter what changes may have come in
the present time. am a. Darley myself,
with some of their good points, l hope,
and few of their bad ones, know;
but 1 was never of the stuff out of
Which outlaws and freebooterS are
made. My sentiments are on the side
OF law, although 1 have a keen appre-
citation of legitimate adventure / sup
pose L have some of my mothers ma
ture in me, tanning the too turbulent
spirit of my fathers race.
AT ) years of age 1 was left an or
phan, and my uncle Henry Darley,
took charge of me- In many ways he
was real father to me, and his son
Brian and I grew up as brothers. My
uncle was the outcome one might have
expected from long line of ancestors.
In these peaceful times he was a peace
ful man, but had occasion demanded,
the wildness in him would have be-
come rampant at once. You could see
it in his eyes, in the determined set of
his mouth.
He was exceedingly proud of being
y
Of their virtues and courage; but to
hear the tales of their bad qualities
made him furious He objected to be
spoken of as wild Darley," which had
become a sort of hereditary family IT,
tie, and saw the virtue, in this nine
teenth century, of being a law-abiding
citizen. He was a martinez in his
own house, severe even when most
Ii 1,,e- 1I11+r Low
tG us boys.
Moor Hall, as his house was called,
was situated on the west coast of Ire
land, in as wild and desolate a spot as
can we'll be imagined. The nearest
town of any Importance was eight miles
away, and our only near neighbors
were the inhabitants of a small village,
who looked up to Uncle Darley as their
lord and master. The house was low
built, rambling place, exceedingly
ugly, and not too comfortable; more
like a half ruined fortress than any
thing else; in fact, tradition spoke of
it as a castle, but there was little of the
castle about it in my time. A belt of
trees surrounded it, forming some pro-
lection against the winds and heavy
weather which swept over it at times,
barren, stretched on all sides, behind
to the village, and thence inland to
civilization: in front to the sea, a mag
nifcently rocky and wave-lashed coast.
We grew up pretty much as we liked,
and our surroundings naturally influ
enced our characters. In Brian they
fostered that spirit of daring he had in
herfted through many generations. His
oh nf a xzrac n erest
into one of the boats-two of them lay
in a little sheltered cove on the shore
and put out to sea. Sometimes 1 went
with him, sometimes he went with two
or three urchins from the village whom
he had constituted his crew, and who
looked up to him with infinite admira-
tion. AS he grew up to manhood he
still fndulged this fancy. He was out
in all weathers, at times when it was
nothing short Of madness to be any
where but indoors.
Although I enjoyed outdoor life, and
was keen sportsman in my way, 1 was
also of a studious nature, and this fact
led to my being less in Brian's com
pany as we grew older. I think he
looked upon me as something of a fool;
/ know / often thought him a lunatic;
and by degrees we came to spend our
lives quite apart from each other. We
We're quite friendly, but we had no con-
fidences.
What Uncle Darley thought of us
both, I do not know. He had never
spoken to me of my future, and l must
confess had given little thought to it
myself He was always full of schemes,
as I have said, and l noticed that he
began to take Brian into his confidence.
] often came upon them in deep con-
versation. 1t never occurred to me to
be jealous-Brian was his son; 1t was
only natural that ne should turn to him
rather than to me, but it did make me
think about my future. I spoke to my
uncle, and after some difficulty I got
him to let me go to Dublin to study for
a time.
1T is right I should think about earn
Ing a living" 1 said.
Go, Gilbert, IL you like" he said
Learning is always useful, although
] do not suppose you viii require to
work much for your bread. The Dar-
]eys never have done it. 1 do not in
tend that my descendants shall if /
can help it, Which was kindly meant.
OF course, but exceedingly foolish.
went to Dublin to study engineering.
and there I studied something else be-
sides-love 1 found many friends in
the city, for although Henry Darley
had chosen to bury himself in the coun-
try, he had many acquaintance who
were ready to welcome me, and so it
was that / met Moreen Alinson. That
IT was love at first sight, so far as 1 was