pleasant word for all who passed him; and now, with a jest for
this one, and a kreutzer for that, he held on his way, with a tail of
beggars and children after him, all attracted by that singular
mesmerism which draws around certain men everything that is vagrant
and idle,--from the cripple at the crossing to the half-starved cur-dog
without an owner.

This gift was, indeed, his; and whatever was penniless and friendless
and houseless seemed to feel they had a claim on Peter Dalton.

CHAPTER XX. THE LAST STAKE OF ALL.

Dalton found his little household on the alert at his return home; for
Mrs. Ricketts had just received an express to inform her that her "two
dearest friends on earth" were to arrive that evening in Baden, and she
was busily engaged in arranging a little fete for their reception.
All that poor Nelly knew of the expected guests was that one was a
distinguished soldier, and the other a no less illustrious diplomatist;
claims which, for the reader's illumination, we beg to remark were
embodied in the persons of Colonel Haggerstone and Mr. Foglass. Most
persons in Mrs. Ricketts's position would have entertained some scruples
about introducing a reinforcement to the already strong garrison of the
villa, and would have been disposed to the more humble but safe policy
enshrined in the adage of "letting well alone." But she had a spirit far
above such small ambitions, and saw that the Dalton hospitalities were
capable of what, in parliamentary phrase, is called a "most extended
application."

By the awestruck air of Nelly, and the overweening delight manifested by
her father, Zoe perceived the imposing effect of great names upon both,
and so successfully did she mystify the description of her two coming
friends, that an uninterested listener might readily have set them down
for the Duke and Prince Metternich, unless, indeed, that the praises she
lavished on them would have seemed even excessive for such greatness.
A triumphal arch was erected half-way up the avenue, over which, in
flowery initials, were to be seen the letters "B." and "P.," symbols to
represent "Bayard" and "Puffendorf;" under which guise Haggerstone and
the Consul were to be represented. Strings of colored lamps were to
be festooned along the approach, over which an Irish harp was to be
exhibited in a transparency, with the very original inscription of "Caed
Mille failtha," in Celtic letters beneath.

The banquet--the word "dinner" w