tor. I'm more or less fond of
Dan." He had removed his coat and was already rolling up his sleeve.
"I'm half Gael," he continued smilingly, "and, you know, we must not
adulterate Dirty Dan's blood any more than is absolutely necessary.
Consider the complications that might ensue if you gave Dan an
infusion of blood from a healthy Italian. The very first fight he
engaged in after leaving this hospital, he'd use a knife instead of
nature's weapons. Get busy!"

But the doctor would take no liberties with the life-blood of the heir
of Tyee until he had telephoned to The Laird.

"My son is the captain of his own soul," old Hector answered promptly.
"You just see that you do your job well; don't hurt the boy or weaken
him too greatly."

An hour after the operation, father and son sat beside Dirty Dan's
bed. Presently, the ivory-tinted eyelids flickered slightly, whereat
old Hector winked sagely at his son. Then Dirty Dan's whiskered upper
lip twisted humorously, and he whispered audibly:

"Ye young divil! Oh-ho, ye young vagabond! Faith, if The Laird knew
what ye're up to this night, he'd--break yer--back--in two halves!"

Hector McKaye glanced apprehensively about, but the nurse had left the
room. He bent over Dirty Dan.

"Shut up!" he commanded. "Don't tell everything you know!"

O'Leary promptly opened his eyes and gazed upon The Laird in profound
puzzlement.

[Illustration: DONALD BOWED HIS HEAD. "I CAN'T GIVE HER UP, FATHER."]

"Wild horrses couldn't dhrag it out o' me," he protested. "Ask me no
questions an' I'll tell ye no lies."

He subsided into unconsciousness again. The doctor entered and felt of
his pulse.

"On the up-grade," he announced. "He'll do."

"Dan will obey the voice of authority, even in his delirium," The
Laird whispered to his son, when they found themselves alone with the
patient once more. "I'll stay here until he wakes up rational, and
silence him if, in the mean time, he babbles. Run along home, lad."

At noon, Dirty Dan awoke with the light of reason and belligerency in
his eyes, whereupon The Laird questioned him, and developed a stubborn
reticence which comforted the former to such a degree that he decided
to follow his son home to The Dreamerie.

XIX

A week elapsed before Hector McKaye would permit his son to return to
his duties. By that time, the slight wound in the latter's arm where
the vein had been opened had practically healed. Dirty Dan continued
to improve