I'll just sit here and wait for young
Dudley, who's going to call for me in an hour. There's a fine mind,
colonel, that's never had a proper opportunity for development. If
he'd had half the chance that your boy will, he would make his mark.
Did you ever see his uncle Malcolm?"
The colonel described his visit to Mink Run, the scene on the piazza,
the interview with Mr. Dudley, and Peter's story about the hidden
treasure.
"Is the old man sane?" he asked.
"His mind is warped, undoubtedly," said the doctor, "but I'll leave it
to you whether it was the result of an insane delusion or not--if you
care to hear his story--or perhaps you've heard it?"
"No, I have not," returned the colonel, "but I should like to hear
it."
This was the story that the doctor told:
* * * * *
When the last century had passed the half-way mark, and had started
upon its decline, the Dudleys had already owned land on Mink Run for a
hundred years or more, and were one of the richest and most
conspicuous families in the State. The first great man of the family,
General Arthur Dudley, an ardent patriot, had won distinction in the
War of Independence, and held high place in the councils of the infant
nation. His son became a distinguished jurist, whose name is still a
synonym for legal learning and juridical wisdom. In Ralph Dudley, the
son of Judge Dudley, and the immediate predecessor of the demented old
man in whom now rested the title to the remnant of the estate, the
family began to decline from its eminence.
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