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diff --git a/42093-0.txt b/42093-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d82ddd8 --- /dev/null +++ b/42093-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7871 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42093 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 42093-h.htm or 42093-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42093/42093-h/42093-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42093/42093-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://archive.org/details/moragtaleofhighl00raemiala + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). + + + + + +MORAG: + +A Tale of the Highlands of Scotland. + + + + + + + +New York: +Robert Carter and Brothers, 530 Broadway. +1875. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + I. + + _The First Morning in the Glen_ 5 + + II. + + _Blanche Clifford_ 19 + + III. + + _Morag's Home_ 37 + + IV. + + _The Fir-wood_ 52 + + V. + + _A Discovery_ 75 + + VI. + + _Kirsty Macpherson_ 104 + + VII. + + _Morag's Visit to Kirsty, and How It Came About_ 140 + + VIII. + + _The Gypsies At Last_ 157 + + IX. + + _Vanity Fair_ 205 + + X. + + _The Kirk in the Village_ 219 + + XI. + + _The Loch_ 244 + + XII. + + _The Empty Hut_ 274 + + XIII. + + _Back in London_ 288 + + XIV. + + _Visit to the Fairy_ 306 + + XV. + + _A Ride in the Park_ 318 + + XVI. + + _The Borders of the Far-off Land_ 331 + + XVII. + + _Morag's Journey into the World Beyond the Mountains_ 348 + + + + +MORAG + + +I. + +_THE FIRST MORNING IN THE GLEN._ + + +DO you know the joyous feeling of opening your eyes on the first morning +after your arrival among new scenes, and of seeing the landscape, which +has been shrouded by darkness on the previous evening, lying clear and +calm in the bright morning sunlight? + +This was Blanche Clifford's experience as she stood at an eastward +window, with an eager face, straining her eye across miles of moorland, +which undulated far away, like purple seas lying in the golden light. +Away, and up and on stretched the heather, till it seemed to rear itself +into great waves of rock, which stood out clear and distinct, with the +sunlight glinting into the gray, waterworn fissures, lighting them up +like a smile on a wrinkled face. And beyond, in the dim distance, hills +on hills are huddled, rearing themselves in dark lowering masses against +the blue sky, like the shoulders of mighty monsters in a struggle for +the nearest place to the clouds. For many weeks Blanche had been +dreaming dreams and seeing visions of this scene, as she sat in her +London schoolroom. "And this is Glen Eagle!" she murmured, with a +satisfied sigh, when at last she turned her eyes from the more distant +landscape, and climbing into the embrasured window of the quaint old +room in which she awoke that morning, leant out to try and discover what +sort of a building this new home might be. A perpendicular, gaunt wall, +so lichen-spotted that it seemed as if the stones had taken to growing, +was all that she could see; and under it there stretched a smooth grassy +slope, belted by a grove of ancient ash-trees. A pleasant breeze, +wafting a delicious scent of heather, came in at the open window, and +played among Blanche's curls, reminding her how delightful it would be +to go out under the blue sky; so she ran off in search of her papa, that +she might begin her explorations at once. + +Mr. Clifford, Blanche's father, was very fond of sport, and generally +spent the autumn months on the moors, either in Ireland or Scotland. +Hitherto his little motherless daughter had not accompanied him on any +of his journeys, but had been left to wander among trim English lanes, +or to patrol the parade of fashionable watering-places, under the +guardianship of her governess, Miss Prosser. This year, however, Blanche +had been so earnest in her entreaties to be taken among the hills, that +her father had at last yielded, and it was arranged that she should +accompany him to Glen Eagle, where he had taken shootings. Miss Prosser +looked on the projected journey to the Highlands of Scotland as rather a +wild scheme for herself and her little charge, having no special +partiality for mountain scenery, and a dislike to change the old +routine. But to Blanche, the prospect was full of the most delicious +possibilities; the unknown mountain country was to her imagination an +enchanted land of peril and adventure, where she could herself become +the heroine of a new tale of romance. The "History of Scotland" suddenly +became the most interesting of books, and the records of its heroic days +were studied with an interest which they had never before excited. In +the daily walks in Kensington Park, on hot July afternoons, Blanche +Clifford wove many a fancy concerning these autumn days to be; but in +the midst of all her imaginings, as she peopled the hills and valleys of +Stratheagle with followers of the Wallace and the Bruce lurking among +the heather, with waving tartans and glancing claymores, she did not +guess what a lowly object of human interest was to be the centre of all +her thoughts. + +On the evening of the 9th of August Blanche stood with her governess on +the platform of the Euston Station, ready to start by the crowded Scotch +mail. Mr. Clifford having seen to the travelling welfare of his dogs, +proceeded to arrange his little party for the night. The shrill whistle +sounded at last, and they were soon whirling through the darkness on +their northern way. The long railway journey was broken by a night's +rest at a hotel, which Blanche thought very uninteresting indeed, and +begged to be allowed to go on with her papa, who left her there. After +the region of railways was left behind, there was a journey in an old +mail-coach, which seemed to Blanche to be at last a beginning of the +heroic adventures, as she spied a little girl of her own size scaling a +ladder to take her place in one of the outside seats, to all appearance +delightfully suspended in mid-air. She was about to follow in great +glee, when she was pulled back by Miss Prosser, and condemned to a dark +corner inside of the coach, where a stout old gentleman entirely +obstructed her view. Neither was Blanche a pleasant companion; she felt +very restless and rebellious at her unhappy fate, and every time the +coach stopped and she was allowed to put her head out of the window for +a few precious minutes, she cast envious glances at the happy family +whose legs dangled above. + +The coach stopped at last to change horses at a low white inn, and +Blanche's delight was great to recognise her father's open carriage +waiting to take them to Glen Eagle, which was still many miles distant. +The change was delicious, Blanche thought as they were driven swiftly +along the white, winding road, round the base of hills higher than she +had ever seen, through dark pine forests, which cast solemn shadows +across the road, along sea-like expanses of moor, stretching out on +either side. Blanche was lost in wonder and delight at those first +glimpses of the mountain-land of her dreams. Her geographical inquiries +were most searching, and her governess had to acknowledge ignorance when +her pupil wished to identify each hill with the mountain-ranges depicted +on a map-drawing, which Blanche had made in view of the journey. They +were still several miles from their destination, when a heavy white +cloud of mist came coiling round the hills, creeping along the lower +ridges of rock as if it started to reach the top, like some thinking +creature possessed with an evil purpose. At first the mist seemed only +to add an additional charm to the wild landscape in Blanche's eyes. + +"O Miss Prosser!" she exclaimed, in great glee, "isn't it so pretty? It +seems as if the fleecy clouds that live in the sky had come to pay a +visit to the moors, and were going to take possession of everything." + +"Why, Blanche, how fanciful you are! It is nothing more nor less than +that wretched wetting Scotch mist one hears of. Come, child, and get +into your furs. How thoughtful of Ellis to have brought them. Commend me +to Devonshire and muslins at this season of the year," said Miss +Prosser, as she drew the rug more closely around her, and shrugged her +shoulders. + +The mist was creeping silently over the valley, and coming nearer and +nearer, till at last there seemed hardly enough space for the horses to +make their way through, and Blanche thought matters looked very +threatening indeed. Seating herself by Miss Prosser's side with a +shiver, she said, in a frightened tone, "I do wish papa were here. +These clouds look as if they meant to carry us right up with them. Don't +you begin to feel rather frightened, Miss Prosser?" + +When her governess suggested that the carriage should be closed, Blanche +felt rather relieved on the whole, and becoming very quiet and +meditative, finally fell fast asleep, curled up on one of the seats, +from whence she was carried by her father, when the carriage reached its +destination. She never thoroughly awoke till the bright morning sun came +streaming in at the curtainless, deep mullioned window of the old +Highland keep where she found herself. + +Attached to the shootings of Glen Eagle was a half-ruinous castle, which +Mr. Clifford had put into a sort of repair, fitting up a part of the +building for the use of his household, though there was still many an +unused room, dim with the dust of years, among the winding passages and +cork-screw stairs. In old times it had been a fortified place, and +Scottish chieftains had reigned there, and from its grey towers kept +watch and ward over the strath, where were scattered the dwellings of +the clansmen. It stood in the heart of the glen, rearing itself grim and +gaunt and grey, surrounded by a massive wall, which had once been for +defence, but was ruinous now, and pleasant turf sloped down from the +castle, and flourished along its cope. + +Though so long untenanted, there were still some remains of its ancient +furnishings, which the Highland lord on whose land it stood left +unmolested, in honor of the home of his ancestors. In the large +dimly-lighted entrance-hall, there hung many relics of the olden time. +Dirks and claymores that had done deadly work long ago, were beautifully +arranged in various patterns, on the dark panelled walls; numberless +trophies from the glen were ranged round--stately stags' heads with +branching horns, and outspread wings of mountain birds; and a fox too, +whose glass eyes seemed to leer as cunningly as the original orbs when +they cast longing glances at the feathered inhabitants of the farm-yard. + +Blanche had descended the broad staircase, and now gazed timidly round +at these strange ornaments of the ancient hall. She felt as if she could +not endure the leer of the fox one minute longer, and catching a glimpse +of the pleasant greensward through the great door, which stood open, she +darted out. The mountain breeze had a reassuring effect, and Blanche +felt safe and happy again, as she stood gazing on the fair scene, in +which the bleak and the beautiful strangely blended. + +To the left of the castle, on banks which sloped towards the river, were +masses of feathery birk-trees, with their white crooked stems gleaming +in the sun, and through the net-work of green Blanche could catch +glimpses of the river as it took its winding way through the glen. On a +sunny, upland slope, rising from the other side of the river, there were +some corn-fields waving, which were only now yellowing for the late +harvest. + +To the right there stretched a great pine forest, with the dark green +spires of fir fringing the horizon; and down in the valley there gleamed +a sheet of water, lying like a looking-glass framed among the heather. +The mist of the previous evening had all cleared away, and the golden +sunlight streamed on hill and glen, showing the tracks of the little +winding brooks, making the white stones gleam, and the water that +rippled through them sparkle like diamonds, lighting up the bright green +patches on the hills, which seemed so alluring in their sun-lighted +hues, that Blanche did not guess how treacherous they might sometimes +prove for unwary feet, and longed to reach them. Here and there a little +cottage seemed to grow out of the heather, scarcely distinguishable but +for the white lime under the brown thatch, and the blue smoke which +curled from its tiny chimney. + +The little English maiden gazed in ecstacy on this scene, so new and +strange to her. A delicious feeling of adventure and freedom kept +singing at her heart, as she scampered off round the grey old keep in +search of her papa, for without a companion her happiness was +incomplete. She knew well what she meant to do. Into each of these tiny +cottages she should like to peep, all the bright green places she wanted +to explore, and those gleaming sheep-roads in the heather seemed to have +been made expressly for her. Wherever little English feet could tread, +her father had promised that she might go, and she felt very sure +that her feet would be quite able for anything so pleasant. Her +castle-in-the-air was quite outrivalling in proportions the one that +towered above her, when she heard a voice which brought her quickly back +to real life, with its rules, its proprieties, and its lessons. + +"Miss Clifford, this cannot be permitted. Ellis tells me that you have +dressed without her assistance, escaped from your room, and nowhere to +be seen; and after hunting through endless stairs and passages, I find +you here, without your outdoor things, and with boots that were meant +for civilized life. I knew what would happen; no kind of discipline can +be kept up in this wild, lawless place." + +Blanche was too exuberantly happy at the moment to be damped by any +rebuke. + +"O dear Miss Prosser! I'm so sorry you've had to look for me. I really +couldn't rest in bed. I'm sure it must be quite late, besides; I felt so +wide awake. Has papa had breakfast yet, I wonder? I'm in search of him +now. He promised to take me to the hills, and I want to begin at once." + +"My dear child, what are you talking about? Your papa has been gone for +hours. This is the famous 'Twelfth,' you know. He started at sunrise, I +believe, with several gentlemen who arrived yesterday. The barking of +the dogs awoke me, and as I was unable to close an eye afterwards, I got +up, and have been busy helping Ellis to make a schoolroom pleasant and +habitable for us." + +"Papa gone!--papa not to be back till evening! How could Ellis be so +cruel as to let me sleep! I wish I had heard the barking of the dogs," +burst forth Blanche, in grief and dismay. + +All of a sudden the glen grew dim to her eyes, and the hot tears came +raining down. Miss Prosser began to act the part of a comforter, and to +make suggestions of breakfast and a pleasant walk in the afternoon when +lessons were over. But Blanche would not be comforted; the proposal of a +walk seemed a mockery to her, when she remembered the adventurous +rambles which she had been planning. She followed her governess with +reluctant steps, casting wistful glances at the moorland as she passed +into the dark hall, where the old fox seemed to leer more cunningly than +ever, as if he were enjoying her disappointment. + +"Now, Blanche, dear, haven't I contrived to make our new abode look +wonderfully homelike? Ellis and I have had quite a hard morning's work, +unpacking and arranging, I assure you." + +A knot rose in poor Blanche's throat as she looked blankly round. There, +sure enough, she could see, through her tear-dimmed eyes, an exact +reproduction of the London school-room, which she hoped she had left far +behind. On the wall hung the familiar maps and black-board, and the +table was covered with the well-known physiognomies of the school-books +of which she had taken farewell for many a day. Every trace of the glen +was effectually excluded; a low window looked out on the green slope, +and a rising knoll of grass almost shut out the sky. + +"I had such difficulty in selecting a room," said Miss Prosser, with a +satisfied glance round her; "but I think I have made a happy choice. +Ellis found one at the other side of the castle, which seemed habitable +enough, but it looked out on that dreary moorland, so I avoided it." + +"How can you call it dreary, Miss Prosser? It is the most glorious, +beautiful land I ever saw. Do take a window that looks on it. But I'm +sure papa never meant me to have lessons--I shan't; I can't really stay +indoors; I shall go out and seek papa;" and Blanche finished with a wild +burst of tears, while Miss Prosser sighed over her naughty pupil. + +It is very plain to see that Blanche was by no means a perfect little +girl; and as we follow her, we shall be obliged to acknowledge that she +was wilful and wayward often enough. But we are not going to make a +catalogue of Blanche's faults; they will peep out at intervals, and +stare out occasionally, as little girls' faults are apt to do, and not +theirs only; so that we must quite shut our eyes, if we are not to see +them. We need not do that, but with open eyes--though true and kind as +well as open--we shall follow Blanche through these autumn days, and see +what they brought to her. + + + + +II. + +_BLANCHE CLIFFORD._ + + +IN one of the southern counties there stood a stately English home, with +silent halls and closed gates, awaiting the time when Blanche Clifford +should be of age. It had been her birthplace, though she never +remembered having seen it. Her young and beautiful mother had died there +on the Christmas Eve when Blanche was born, and her father had not cared +to revisit it since. Even his baby-daughter had been only a painful +reminder of his loss, and he had left her in his great dreary London +house, with a retinue of servants to wait upon her, and had gone away +for years of travel in many lands. + +During Blanche's helpless infant years, she had been carefully nursed by +a faithful old soul, who had been her mother's nurse when she was young. +Mrs. Paterson, or Patty, as Blanche always called her, was guardian, +nurse, friend, and playmate all in one. She romped with her little +charge till her old legs ached again; sang songs and ballads to her +with unwearied fervor in her old quivering voice, which, though thin, +was still true, and Blanche thought it the sweetest voice in all the +world. + +The old nursery which they inhabited underwent wonderful and various +transformations during those early days. Now it was the sea where she +bathed, or her dolls sailed, in stately ships of varied manufacture, +into their haven on the rug; sometimes it was the Zoological Gardens, +and Patty became the bear, receiving Good Friday buns, and every +available cupboard contained a ravening animal. And when Blanche got +wearied with her romps, she would coil herself on Patty's knee, and the +hours till bedtime would pass all too quickly, as she listened to +delightful stories, which never grew old, of the time when mamma was a +little girl. + +But these pleasant old nursery days had passed away as a tale that is +told, long before the time when our story begins. Dear old Patty was +struck down by painful illness, and had to leave her little lamb in +strangers' hands; and now Miss Prosser reigned in her stead. Then +lessons had begun. Blanche's governess, being a skilled instructress of +youth, was disturbed to find her little pupil sadly backward in all +branches of education; for of actual lessons she had none while under +Patty's care. Her acquirements consisted in being able to read her +favorite story-books, and to repeat and sing an unlimited number of +songs and ballads, for many of which she had found notes to suit on the +grand piano that stood in the deserted white-draped drawing-room, where +she and Patty used to resort for their walk on wet afternoons. + +We shall not linger over the years that elapsed between Miss Prosser's +coming and our introduction to her and her pupil. We should only have to +tell of long days of school-room routine, when Blanche at last got +fairly into educational harness, and came to know many things which it +was right and proper that she should know. She could tell a great deal +of the geography of several countries, was quite at home among the +Plantagenets and various other dynasties, could repeat an unlimited +number of French irregular verbs, and knew something of the elements of +more than one science. + +When Mr. Clifford, after years of absence, at last ventured to return to +his deserted home, it was something of the nature of a surprise to find +an eager, loving little woman's heart awaiting him, and he rejoiced +over his child as over a new-found treasure. And though Blanche never +remembered having seen her father, yet he had always been her cherished +ideal. Constantly she had dreamt of him by night, and talked of him by +day; and her favorite occupation was to write a letter to papa ever +since she had been in the pot-hook stage of that acquirement. His return +home was the greatest event of her life, and brought a brightness into +it that was unknown before. It is true that she did not see much of him, +even when he was at home; for the hope of an hour's play and prattle +with him, in the precious after-dinner hour, was often disappointed by +the presence of gentlemen friends, who would talk politics, and discuss +other dark and uninteresting subjects, till Blanche at last glided away +in a disconsolate frame of mind, and went to bed with a disappointed +heart. Occasionally, however, she had her papa all to herself, and these +were precious, never-to-be-forgotten hours. Sometimes a half-holiday was +granted, and she went for a ride in the Park on her pretty little white +pony, Neige, and these were always memorable happy occasions. But every +light has its shadow. After having known the pleasure of being with her +father, Blanche pined for him when he was absent, and looked forward +longingly to the time when she should be quite grown-up, and able to be +his companion always. + +These autumn days in the Highlands, Blanche had hoped to spend entirely +with her father. She did not guess how engrossed he would be in sport, +nor that her governess thought it wise and well to provide the means for +a few hours of lessons, daily. She took her place among her schoolbooks +with a smouldering sense of wrong and grief in her little breast, which +did not get extinguished by an hour's bending over an open "History of +England." Indeed, the prospect of committing the Wars of the Roses to +memory, seemed to promise to turn out as lingering a process as the +triumph of the White Rose, recorded in English annals. Blanche looked +wistfully round, in the hope of finding some pleasant distraction, some +trace of the mountain-land which she could not forget that she had +actually reached at last, though certainly her present surroundings did +not suggest it. + +A pleasant breeze that swept in at the open window was the only mountain +element that could not be excluded from this school-room, which had +suddenly followed Blanche to the Highlands, and held her captive. The +window was on a level with the ground, and a grassy knoll intercepted +the view beyond; there was nothing really to do or see anywhere, so at +last Blanche gave herself languidly up to her lesson, thinking she was +the most ill-used little girl in all the world. She was gazing absently +at a map of England opposite, in a lazy search after Tewkesbury, when +she noticed a shadow flit across the sunlighted wall, but before she had +time to turn her head, it had vanished, and Blanche again betook herself +to the battle of Tewkesbury, with a strong effort of attention. +Suddenly, as she happened to look up from her book, to fix a fact in her +memory, by repeating it aloud, she saw standing at the window, not a +shadow this time, but a real flesh and blood little girl, gazing +intently at her. A brown little face peeped out from among a mass of +tangled, raven-black, elf-like locks, and a pair of keen dark eyes +rested on Blanche, with admiration and wonder in their gaze. The little +figure was arrayed in a tartan dress of the briefest dimensions, which +hung in fringes, and displayed brown bare arms and legs, well-knit and +nimble-looking. After Blanche's first gasp of astonishment at so +strange and unexpected an apparition, it occurred to her that the image +could probably give some account of itself, and she was wondering what +would be the most suitable mode of address, when, as if divining her +idea, off the creature darted, round the grassy knoll, and out of sight. +Blanche sprung to the window, and looked excitedly round to see if she +could possibly follow. The window was close to the ground, and her foot +was on the sill, ready to start off in pursuit, when just at that moment +in walked Miss Prosser. + +"Why, Blanche, what are you about? You look quite excited, child!" + +Blanche's first impulse was to confide to her the cause of her +excitement, but, on second thoughts, she resolved not to reveal it. To +her, the sudden apparition of the little elfish-looking maiden was quite +a romantic adventure; but she felt doubtful if it would appear in the +same light to her governess, who frequently objected to Blanche's +friendly advances to the little London flower-girls, and her delicate +attentions to crossing-sweepers. Moreover, Blanche had a vague terror +lest a pursuit of the little unknown might be set on foot, not of such a +friendly character as her's was meant to be, so she resolved to keep +her own counsel. Still the vision of the weird-looking little maiden, +whom she had caught devouring her with great soft eyes, like a gentle +timid animal of the forest, kept haunting her. What did she want? where +did she live? she wondered. Perhaps she might not have any home. She +looked very ragged, certainly, and very poor she must be, for she wore +neither shoes nor stockings, were the reflections that actively coursed +through Blanche's brain, as she narrated the Battle of Tewkesbury to her +governess, who had just reason to complain of a very absent-minded +pupil. + +When the hour for the afternoon walk arrived, it did not seem quite so +tame and unattractive as it had done to Blanche in the midst of her more +ambitious morning plans. She was by no means the broken-hearted, +ill-used person which she fancied herself a few hours before, as she +tripped gaily down the broad, flat, grass-grown steps of the old +court-yard, and stood again on the soft turf, waiting for Miss Prosser. +Presently she spied a familiar friend coming towards her, in the shape +of a great black retriever. He came wagging a vigorous welcome to his +little mistress, whom he was quite overjoyed to see after his long and +depressing journey, in company with the pointers and setters. He had +indulged in the most unfriendly feelings towards the whole pack, but +being muzzled, he was not able to give them a bit of his mind, as he +would fain have done. + +"Well, old fellow, and how are you? I believe you've been all over Glen +Eagle already, and know every bit. I wish I were you, Chance. You may be +glad enough you can't speak, old dog--though you sometimes look as if +you would very much like to; for if you could, you would be sure to have +lessons, and, instead of scampering about the hills, you would have had +to tell Miss Prosser all about the Battle of Tewkesbury," said Blanche, +laughingly, as she returned his warm welcome. + +Chance was a great friend of Blanche's, and had been presented to her as +a compensation for her banished dolls. His upbringing had, however, +caused her much more anxiety than that of her flaxen darlings. He had +been a terribly troublesome baby, and developed a frightful bump of +destructiveness. He took so very long to cut his teeth, and was always +helping on the process by using various appliances in the shape of +boots, gloves, and muffs. But at length his partiality for these, as +articles of consumption, somewhat abated, and he developed instead the +useful faculty of carrying them, and restoring them to their owners, +generally with much reluctance, but withal in a sound condition. He +possessed various other accomplishments, which Blanche had taken pains +to teach him, but they were of a more striking than graceful character, +it must be allowed. He could shut a door, which feat he performed with +his two great paws, with a terrific bang, to the utter detriment of the +paint and polish, not to speak of the nerves of the household. His +manners were still, even at mature age, sadly wanting in repose, and +when he was in society, Blanche never felt quite comfortable as to what +he might do next, so very gushing was he to his friends, and quite +alarmingly demonstrative in another direction towards strangers. As he +stood on the castle steps with his little mistress, he spied a kilted +native, at some distance off, and was preparing to pounce upon him, when +he was collared by Blanche. Then it occurred to her that she might be +able to get some information from this Highlander about the subject +which was still uppermost in her mind--the mystery of the little +window-visitor; but Miss Prosser just at that moment emerged with +finished toilette, all ready for the promised walk. + +On returning from the walk, Blanche wandered in among the old +ash-trees, and seating herself on a lichen-spotted stone, she resolved +to wait there, in order to catch the first glimpse of her father on his +way from the moors. The walk along the dusty high road, by Miss +Prosser's side, had by no means suited Blanche's adventurous plans for +the day. But to-morrow it would be different, she thought, resolving +that she should awake very early in the morning, and as soon as the dogs +began to bark, she would go out and join her papa, and he would be sure +to allow her to go with him. + +Presently she heard her father's voice, and saw him coming sauntering +along the avenue of birch-trees which led to the castle. Running forward +to meet him, she said eagerly, "O papa! you will take me to-morrow, will +you not? I do want so very much to get upon those glorious hills." + +Blanche stopped suddenly, for, behind her father, she caught sight of a +man, staring intently at her, whom she felt sure she had never seen +before. He was a dark, keen-looking man, with iron-grey hair, a smooth +face, and heavy eyebrows, which met on the straight ridge of his nose. +He was tall and spare and agile-looking, dressed in shepherd-tartan, and +across his shoulder one or two game-pouches were slung. He seemed +rather taken by surprise when Blanche suddenly emerged from among the +ash-trees, and now he stood seemingly absorbed in examining the trophies +of the day's sport, with which a pony by his side was laden; but he was +really surveying the little girl by a series of keen glances. + +"Why what an enterprising little puss it is, to be sure!" replied Mr. +Clifford, laughingly. "You shall certainly go to the hills, but we must +first try to find a pony, seeing Neige is not within reach. Look what a +grand day's sport we have had, Blanchie," and taking her hand, Mr. +Clifford, led her to where the pony stood, laden with the game. + +Blanche gazed horror-struck. The only dead creature she had ever seen +was a pet canary, on which a stray cat had designed to sup, when the +delicate morsel was taken from between the feline teeth, and had +received a burial worthy of the historical Cock Robin. But here were +more birds than she could count, as beautiful, and perhaps as lovable, +as the canary of pathetic memory, killed, not by stray cats for their +suppers, but by her own kind papa and his friends. There they hung in +masses, with their bronze feathers shining in the sun, the speckled +wings that flapped so merrily in the morning, hanging limp and listless +now, the little heads downward, and the tiny beaks and eyes half open, +just as they had been fixed in their death agony. + +"This is my little daughter, Dingwall," said Mr. Clifford, turning to +the man standing alongside, whom Blanche had noticed. "She would give me +no rest till I brought her to see your Glen, and now she actually wants +to go to shoot with us." + +"Oh no, papa! indeed I don't--not now," broke in Blanche, in a tone of +distress, and, glancing at the gamekeeper, she saw him still looking at +her with a queer smile on his thin lips. Whether it was from his +connection with the dead spoil, or from something in his face which +repelled her, Blanche made up her mind that she did not like the keeper. + +Presently he untied one of the brace of grouse, and lifting a wing under +which the cruel death-wound was visible, he held it up, saying, "Maybe +the leddy would be likin' to hae a wing for her hat: I've heard o' the +gentlefolk wearin' sic things; but 'deed it's but few o' them we hae +seen this mony a day." + +"Oh no! please not. I should not like to have a wing at all," said +Blanche, clasping her hands in a beseeching attitude. + +"Why, pussy, what is the matter? Am I not to be forgiven for starting +before you were up this morning? Never mind; we shall beg Miss Prosser +for a holiday to-morrow, and you shall go to the moors, mounted on a +little Shetlander." + +"It is not that, papa. I'm afraid I shan't want to go to the moors any +more now. I think it must be very dreadful. These poor killed birds! how +can you stand and see them all die, papa?" + +"Well, I can't say I should like to make a microscopic inspection of +their dying moments. After the aim is taken and the shot fired, the fun +is over." + +"But, papa, how can you shoot those happy birds flying in the air, and +not doing any harm?" + +"Why, goosey, for the same reason as you knock down your nine-pins--for +the sake of sport, to be sure," replied Mr. Clifford laughing at the +distressed face of his little daughter. + +"Come and shut up this little philosopher, Major," he continued, turning +to one of his guests, a kindly-looking old gentleman, who had come +sauntering up and joined them. "She is quite shocked at the monstrous +cruelty we have been guilty of to-day. I begin to feel quite like the +Roman Emperor you were telling me of the other day, Blanche; only flies +were his special partiality, were they not?" + +"Ah! depend upon it, Blanche has been having a course of Wordsworth," +said the Major, as he shook hands. "Is it not he who says-- + + 'Never to blend our pleasure or our pride + With sorrow to the meanest thing that lives?' + +But I shouldn't have thought you had arrived at the Wordsworthian stage +yet--eh! Miss Blanchie?" said the kindly old gentleman, as he looked +smilingly at the distressed little damsel. + +But Blanche was in no mood for joking just then; she glided away towards +the castle, and, finding her way to her room, she sat down at the window +from which she had got her first glimpse of the glen. + +The bright morning light had all vanished now, and the hills looked grey +and solemn in the gathering twilight. A great silence seemed to have +fallen on the moors. Blanche could hear no bleating of sheep, no cry of +the moor-fowl, no merry whirring of wings; and, to her fanciful little +brain, it seemed as if the valley were mourning for its dead, for the +little birds that would never sleep on the heather again, or mount to +the sky with the returning sun. + +And as Blanche sat thinking in the gathering darkness, she got among +those crooked things that cannot be made straight by any theories of +ours, those mysteries which we must be content to leave to the wise love +of Him who has told us that not a sparrow falls to the ground without +the knowledge of that heavenly Father who had watched over this little +girl always, counting her of more value than many sparrows. + +Blanche was not sorry to have her reveries interrupted by her maid Ellis +coming into the room, bringing lights with her. And as she laid out the +pretty white frock and blue sash, in which Blanche was to be dressed for +the evening, she said, "Well, missie, and how have you enjoyed your +first day in the 'Ighlands of Scotland?--more than I've done, I hope? +There's cook raging, fit to make one's life a burden about all those +birds to pluck. She says it will just be game, game, right on now, till +one feels ashamed to meet a bird." + +"Oh! hush, Ellis. Please don't speak to me about those birds. I cannot +get them out of my head. It does seem so very sad." + +"Why, Miss Blanche, you're as bad as cook. For my part, I think they're +uncommon good eating." + +"It isn't that, Ellis; but only think how happy they all were this +morning among those hills, and now--I wonder how papa could do it! It +does seem so cruel." + +"Come now, missie, that's what I won't stand to hear noways--the master +called cruel! A more kinder 'arted gentleman don't step. He wouldn't +hurt a fly--that he wouldn't. You'll be a callin' my old father a +murderer next, because he's a butcher, I suppose, missie?" + +"Oh! that's quite different, Ellis," said Blanche, apologetically. "But, +to be sure, what lots of killing there is! It does seem very dreadful, +when one thinks of it." + +"Well, missie, you don't think it dreadful to eat a mutton-chop when you +are hungry, I'll warrant." And this retort seemed quite unanswerable at +the moment; so Ellis had the last word, as the last curl was adjusted, +and her little mistress descended to join her father and his guests in +the drawing-room. + +Blanche watched wistfully for an opportunity of a quiet talk with her +papa; she had so many things that she wanted to say to him. There was +still a secret hankering in the bottom of her heart to go to the moors, +for she could not bear to think of another day without him. But the +time came to say 'Good-night' before any opportunity for a private talk +offered itself, and Blanche went to sleep after her first day in the +Highlands with a disappointed heart. + + + + +III. + +_MORAG'S HOME._ + + +ON the rocky ledge of a hill overlooking the Glen, there was perched a +little hut, which seemed as if it had huddled itself against the rugged, +grey crags for protection, and stood on its morsel of grassy turf +trembling at the wild scene around. The mountains, which from the valley +looked serene and blue, reared themselves above the tiny white shieling +in dark towering masses, and the river seemed like a silver thread as it +took its winding way through the strath. + +On the same Christmas Eve as Blanche Clifford was born in her sheltered +English home, another little girl had come into the world in that rocky +eyrie among the mountains; and Morag Dingwall, too, was left motherless +from the hour of her birth. Her father was gamekeeper at Glen Eagle; the +hut had been built by his grandfather, who, in his day, ruled over the +realms of deer and grouse in the glen; and it had once been a +better-cared-for home than it was in these later days. Careful fingers +had striven to repair the ravages of the wind and rain, for the little +shieling was mercilessly exposed to both; the shelter the great gray +rocks offered being a treacherous one, and its foundation damp. There +had once been an attempt made to delve a _kailyard_ out of the +unfruitful soil, and the turf in front of the cottage was kept smooth +and trim. But the present possessor of the hut did not seem to care to +make the most of his barren, rocky home; he merely grumbled about it +from time to time to the land-agent, the only representative whom he +ever saw of the Highland lord who owned the Glen. But the factor thought +that such a great strong fellow as Dingwall might mend his own roof, +while the keeper thought that such a great rich fellow as the laird +might give him a new roof, and a new house too; so year after year the +rain had come drip, drip, through the porous roof on the earthen floor, +ever since Morag could remember, till she had got quite used to it, and +to a great many things besides. + +The keeper was a strange man, and had led a strange life in his early +days, the people of the Glen said. When a lad he had suddenly left Glen +Eagle one winter, and he appeared only to have returned to take his +father's place, when the old man was laid in the little grave-yard on +the hillside. And a better gamekeeper could not have been found. He knew +every foot of the Glen by heart. He was the best angler in the country +side. There was no keener eye and no steadier hand in all Stratheagle; +he could spy the game at incredible distances, and knew every winding +path, each short cut, all deceptive bogs. People said that the little +Morag was the only human being whom Alaster Dingwall ever really loved. +He had reared his baby-daughter with his own hands, the kennels had been +her nursery, the dogs her playmates. As soon as she was able to toddle, +he had taken her to the moors, often strapped on his back, fast asleep. +Before Morag was seven years old she had become almost as hardy a +mountaineer as her father, going with him to the hills, carrying his +game-bag, trotting by his side, with her little bare feet among the +heather. She could handle an oar and cast a rod as well as most people; +it was her little deft fingers that _busked_ the hooks for the loch, and +did a great many useful things besides. Long ago the keeper had +entrusted the cares of housekeeping, such as they were, to Morag. It was +she who cooked, washed, mended, and kept things going in a kind of way. +Occasionally the father and daughter would start on an expedition to the +village, which was miles away, to make purchases at the merchant's shop, +and lay in a store of provisions before the period of snowing-up came +round. These were always red-letter days in little Morag's calendar. +Sometimes, though very rarely, there was an attempt made to replace the +little tattered tartan frock by a new garment, bought at the general +store. If you had happened to look into the hut on a winter evening, you +might have seen the father and daughter bending in perplexity over a +wooden table, on which were strewn the rough materials for Morag's new +frock. Great and many seemed the difficulties in the way, but at last +Dingwall would boldly put in the scissors, a big and rusty weapon used +for general purposes, and then the various stages of dress-making would +be gone through, clumsily enough to be sure; but in process of time, +Morag would stand in her finished garment, a more proud and happy little +girl than Blanche Clifford, in the latest novelty of her London +_modiste_. + +They were a very silent pair, this father and daughter. Often they would +wander whole days among the heather together without exchanging words, +or sit in the _ingle neuk_ by the fire of peat and pine in dumb silence, +while they cleaned guns or busked hooks, during the long winter +evenings. But notwithstanding his grim silence, and whatever he might +appear to the outer world, to his little daughter Dingwall he was always +kind, and she loved him with all the intensity of her still, Celtic +nature, and thought that he was the very best father in all the world. +During her short, solitary life she had never known anybody else, and +had hardly exchanged words with a living soul, old or young. Poor little +Morag had grown up utterly untaught. Like the pointers, her playmates, +she had grown very clever in some things--in mountain knowledge, in +dexterity of fingers and agility of limb. But there were wants in her +nature utterly unsupplied, chambers in her heart and soul into which +light had never penetrated. Made in the image of God, she had never +heard His name; redeemed by Jesus Christ, she knew not that such a One +had lived and died for men. Though she had grown in the midst of God's +glorious works, she did not guess that He who made the "high hills as a +refuge for the wild goats," who "sent the springs into the valleys which +flow among the hills," was the loving, pitying Father who had watched +her lonely wanderings, and would bring this blind child by a way that +she knew not, and make "darkness light before her!" + +Most of the children of Scotland learn at least to read and write at the +parish school, so Morag Dingwall's case was therefore an exceptional +one, and arose partly from her peculiar circumstances. She was an hourly +necessity to her father, who, besides, held in scorn other training than +that which loch and mountain afforded. The few books which the hut +contained led quite a fossil existence; they were stowed away by the +careful little Morag in the bottom of a great wooden box, her mother's +_kist_, in the depths of which all the valuables were buried to save +them from the inroads of the weather, when the pelting rain beat through +the broken roof, as it often did. Still, these buried musty books had a +great fascination for Morag; often she would peer curiously into them, +and long to know what they contained. She often wondered whether her +father understood their contents; she thought not; but so great was her +under-current of shyness that she had never ventured to ask him. Often +on a quiet afternoon, when her work was done, she would slip one of the +old books from its hiding-place, and lying down on the soft turf, would +ponder over its unknown characters, with an intense longing to +understand them. She felt sure that those closely-printed pages must +contain much that it would be delightful to know; but they were not for +her. With a sigh she would close the book, and gaze up at the fathomless +blue sky and the everlasting hills around her; and sitting at the feet +of the great, wonderful mother Nature, she learnt from her many things +that books could not have taught her. + +Morag had a true eye for beauty. It is sometimes said that mountaineers +do not appreciate the scenery amid which their lot is cast; and perhaps +it is so far true, that when the stern hard necessities of life +multiply, they may dull the sense of the wonder and glory of nature in +minds which were originally sensitive to it. With our little Morag, +however, this deadening process had not begun. She revelled in all the +beauties of her mountain home; with a poet's love she gave voices to the +brooks and woods, and peopled in her imagination the solemn pine forest, +the gloomy ravine, and the breezy mountain top. + +The Glen was many miles from the nearest parish, with its church and +school. There were dwellers in Glen Eagle who went to both, but the +keeper Dingwall was not one of them; and so it happened, strange as it +may seem, that little Morag had never been within a church, never heard +a sweet psalm sung, nor joined in a prayer to God. + +On the still Sunday mornings she would sometimes watch the straggling +dwellers in the valley wending their way along the white hilly road to +meet in the little village kirk. Morag often glanced wistfully towards +it, when she went with her father to make their purchases at the +merchant's shop, but then it was always closed and silent. How much she +wished that she could see it on the day when the people all gathered +there! She had a vague idea that the little company went to worship a +God who lived far, far away in the blue sky, where her mother had gone, +somebody told her once, long ago; and since then she had not cared quite +so much to go to the grave under the shadow of the hill, but loved more +than ever to gaze into the blue sky, and to watch the sunset glories +before the amber clouds closed upon the many-colored brightness of the +evening sky. + +Somehow Morag always felt more lonely on Sunday than on any other day. +In the long still afternoon, when her father went for a walk with the +dogs, she would wander down from the rocky shieling into the pine +forest, which was a great haunt of hers--the _fir-wood_, she always +called it. Sometimes she took one of the old books with her, and lying +down among the brown fir-needles, she would gaze longingly at the +unknown characters. She noticed that most of the church-goers carried +books with them, which she discovered to be identical with one of the +musty collection in the old _kist_: so a halo of mystery grew up round +this book, which seemed to belong to everybody; and Morag longed that +she could find the key to it as she looked up from the yellow pages of +her mother's Bible, and gazed dreamily through the dark aisles of pine +at the blue sky. + +Happy are we that this Book of Life is an open page to us! But if it is, +though an open, a dull listless page, if our hearts do not burn within +us as we read its words, then more unhappy are we than this lonely +untaught maiden, this seeker after God; for of such He has said, "They +that seek me early shall find me!" + +Morag had her code of right and wrong, which she held to with much more +firmness than some who have the knowledge of a living, present Helper, +along with the voice of conscience. She did many things every day that +were not always pleasant, because something within said, "I ought," and +avoided some things because that same voice whispered, "I ought not." + +In the cold, dark winter mornings, the "I ought" said, "Get up, Morag, +and light the fire, and make breakfast ready for the kennels; if you lie +in bed longer, you won't have time to do it before making ready your +father's breakfast, and you know that the dogs depend on you;" and the +little girl would jump out of bed, with her first footsteps on the +half-frozen rain that often lay on the earthen floor, and set cheerily +about her morning's work. + +The shooting season was generally the dullest time of the year for +Morag; her father being absent at the moors with the sportsmen all day +long, the little shieling was more than usually solitary during those +long autumn days. The shooting-party generally lived in the village inn, +so it was a great piece of news for the keeper and his daughter when +they heard that the new folks were to live in the castle of Glen Eagle. +It had been uninhabited ever since Morag could remember; she delighted +to wander round its grey walls, and to peep in at the narrow windows, +and had spun many a fancy in her little brain concerning its ancient +uses, and former inhabitants. She watched from afar, with great +interest, the preparations for the arrival of the new shooting-party; +and on the morning of the "Twelfth" she stood looking wistfully after +her father, as he set out for the castle, with the hired keepers and a +host of dogs, to meet the gentlemen on their start for the moors. + +The shieling seemed very lonely that day to Morag, when her work was +done, and she sat watching the shooting-party on the distant hill, where +her keen eye could still distinguish them, like dark, moving specks +among the heather. At last it occurred to her that she might go to the +old castle, and see what transformations the newcomers had wrought. She +felt quite safe from the fear of seeing anybody, while the gentlemen +were absent: it never struck her that they would not leave their home, +as she left her hut, silent and tenantless: so she sauntered down the +hill, and wandered among the feathery birch-trees which skirted the road +to the castle. She felt rather disappointed to find that everything +looked exactly the same, to all appearance, as it used to do; for it +would have been difficult to change the exterior of such a grim old +keep. + +After she had made an exploring tour round, she sat down on a grassy +knoll to rest, and then she noticed that the window opposite was opened +up, and the sash raised. A feeling of curiosity took possession of her, +and she thought surely there could be no harm of peeping in, when all +the people were so far away on the hills. She approached cautiously, and +looking in, she saw the loveliest little damsel that her eyes had ever +beheld, seated amid, what appeared to Morag, a perfect fairyland of +delight. Was there not a beautiful table covered with books in bright +gay bindings?--and this happy creature was bending over one of them, +with her golden curls falling around. For we know that Blanche Clifford +was at that moment in the thick of the Battle of Tewkesbury, in a very +disconsolate frame of mind. Morag saw that she had been unobserved, and +lingered about the grassy knoll, thinking that she might venture to take +another glimpse of this wonderful interior; but this time the golden +head had been suddenly raised, and a pair of blue, dreamy eyes surveyed +her with astonishment. Morag gave a terrified glance round her, and then +turned and fled, with a beating heart, never slackening her pace till +she got beyond the castle grounds. + +By the time she had reached the shieling, Morag began to doubt her own +eyes, when the vision of the fair English maiden, with her wondering, +blue eyes, rose before her. She waited impatiently for her father's +return from the moors, in the hope that he might throw some light on the +matter; though when he did come she was much too shy to make any +inquiries. Supper was over, and Dingwall had taken his seat at the +_ingle neuk_ to smoke his pipe, while Morag sat cleaning a gun with her +tiny, but strong little fingers, as she silently pondered over the +castle scene, and at last came to the conclusion that the bonnie wee +leddy must have been one of the ghosts which were said to haunt the old +keep. Her father at last broke the silence by saying, between one of the +whiffs of his pipe-- + +"I'm thinkin' we've gotten the richt kin' o' folk this year, Morag. The +master's the best-like gentleman I've seen i' the Glen this mony a day. +It would be tellin' you and me, lass, gin he were the laird himsel';" +and Dingwall glanced grimly at one of the many standing grievances, the +porous roof of the hut. Morag's heart went pit-a-pat, for surely it +could not be a dream, and what she wanted might be coming soon; but +whiff, whiff went the pipe, and silence reigned for another quarter of +an hour, as Dingwall speculated whether Mr. Clifford might not even +bring his many suits before "the laird himsel'," and get redress for +some of his grievances. + +At last he said, as he laid down his pipe, "Eh, Morag! but I havena been +tellin' ye aboot the winsome bit leddy he's brocht wi' him. She cam +runnin' up til him, and he brocht her to tak' a look o' the birds, and +said, 'This is my daughter, Dingwall. She would give me no rest till I +brought her to Glen Eagle,'" narrated the keeper, repeating Mr. +Clifford's introduction, which had evidently gratified him. "She had +been wantin' to go til the moors," he continued, "but the sicht o' the +deid birds seemed no to her likin', and she ran off some frichtened +like. Ye're no sae saft, lass, I'm thinkin';" and Dingwall smiled his +grim smile, and relapsed into silence again. + +But Morag had heard all that she wanted. It was no vision, then, after +all, but a real, live, lovely maiden, of whom possibly she might catch +another glimpse if she had only the courage to approach the castle +again. She did not venture to tell her father that she, too, had seen +the winsome little leddy. Her extreme shyness and reserve always made it +an effort to tell anything that required many words, and she put all +her thoughts and reveries into the steel of Mr. Clifford's +double-barrelled gun. + + + + +IV. + +_THE FIR-WOOD._ + + +"WHAT a glorious day it is, Ellis! How I wish I could spend the whole of +it out of doors!" exclaimed Blanche, as she lazily stretched herself, +before making the supreme effort of getting out of bed. "You've no idea +how dreadful it is to be shut up for a whole morning in that horrid +schoolroom, with the 'History of England,' and that wearisome geography +book. I have got the boundaries of China, and ever so much, for my +lesson to-day. I'm sure I don't care to know how China is bounded. I +shall certainly never go there, on any account. Do you know, Ellis, the +Chinese are so cruel? They shut up women, and pinch their toes, and all +kinds of things." + +"La! missie; you don't say so?" exclaimed Ellis, getting interested, for +she delighted in the sensational. + +"Oh, yes; indeed they do. They are such horrid creatures! So ugly, too. +I've seen pictures of them. Do you know, Ellis, they actually wear +tails?" continued Blanche, gratified to see that her maid was interested +in her information. + +"Come now, missie, you'll be makin' them out to be regular animals, and +that I won't believe, noways," retorted Ellis, as she vigorously brushed +Blanche's long curls. + +"But, indeed, the Chinese do have tails. It's just the way they do their +back hair, you know, Ellis," replied Blanche in an explanatory tone, as +she turned to look out at the window. "Oh! what a glorious hill that is, +with its blue peak right away in the clouds! I wonder what is the name +of it? How nice it would be to know all the boundaries of Glen Eagle, +now--to be able to tell the names of every mountain, and to know which +was really the highest; for yesterday that dark hill looked much higher +than it does to-day. Don't you remember those soldiers we saw in +Devonshire, last year, Ellis? They were making a military survey, Miss +Prosser told me. How I should like to make a military survey! It would +be real work, you know, and I should go out in the morning and come in +at night;" and inspired by the grandeur of the idea, Blanche pirouetted +round the room, greatly to the disarranging of Ellis's careful +toilette, and finally she ran away down-stairs to join Miss Prosser. + +After breakfast, Blanche was moving away, in a disconsolate frame of +mind, towards the schoolroom. She looked longingly through the open +door, as she crossed the hall, but at length sat down to her books with +a resigned sigh. Miss Prosser had followed her, and stood at the table +smiling rather mysteriously, as she listened to her pupil's sigh. + +"You need not sit down to your lessons this morning, Blanche, dear, +unless indeed you are especially anxious to study. Your papa has +expressed a wish that you should have no lessons for a short time. I +must say I rather regret it, my dear Blanche; you are so behind; there +is so much ground to be gone over." + +With the last remark Blanche heartily agreed; but it was moorland, not +mental ground, which she was thinking of. She began to put away her +schoolbooks in an ecstasy of delight, while Miss Prosser continued-- + +"I have a slight headache this morning, and shall not be able to go out +to walk with you; but I have given Ellis orders to accompany you, as I +really cannot expose myself to the sun." + +"Oh, please, do let me go out all by myself, only this once? Indeed, I +shall not do anything foolish," pleaded Blanche. + +Miss Prosser seemed disposed to be yielding, and at length Blanche +started, accompanied by her dog Chance. She got strict injunctions not +to get into danger of any kind, and on no account to go beyond the +castle grounds; but this boundary line being quite undefined in +Blanche's mind, it gave ample scope for extensive rambling. + +Blanche felt quite in a perplexity of happiness when she found herself +under the blue sky, left entirely to the freedom of her will. It was the +first time in her life that she had been so trusted, and she thought it +felt like what people call "beginning life." She had crossed the bridge +that spanned the river below the castle, and now she stood between two +divergent roads, each threading their white winding way through +different parts of the Glen. So much did Blanche feel the extreme +importance of the occasion, that she had difficulty in making up her +mind which path to choose, and stood hesitating, till Chance, with a wag +of his tail, set out to walk along one of them, looking back at his +little mistress, as if he meant to say, "Come along; anything is better +than indecision: we're sure to find something pleasant in this +direction." + +The remembrance of the little window visitor was still uppermost in +Blanche's mind; but she had heard her father say that nobody except +their own servants lived within miles of the castle; so she concluded +the little girl's home must be very far away, and that there was little +chance of meeting with her in her rambles of to-day. Then she had seemed +so frightened, and ran away so quickly, that it was not likely she would +repeat her visit to the schoolroom window; indeed it was to be hoped +not, Blanche thought, since Miss Prosser would be the sole occupant that +morning. The little damsel, with her elf-locks, had already begun to +take her place in Blanche's imagination among the fairies and heroines +of her story-books--a pleasant mystery round which to weave a day dream, +when there was nothing more attractive within reach. But on this morning +were not Chance and she beginning life together, with all kinds of +delicious possibilities before them along this white winding road? At +every turn she came upon new wonders and treasures, and her frock was +being rapidly filled with a miscellaneous collection of wild-flowers, +curious mosses, and stray feathers of mountain birds. + +The road lay between stretches of moorland, which not many years before +had been covered by trees, but now only a gnarled stump, scattered here +and there, told of the departed forest. After Blanche had wandered a +long way, following the abrupt turnings of the hilly path, she noticed +that a shadow fell across the road, and looked up to see great trees all +round, thronging as far as her eye could reach, till in the depths of +the forest it seemed as dark as night; while in some parts the sunlight +struggled through, and shone, like flames of fire, on the old red trunks +of the fir-trees. Blanche, before she knew it, had already penetrated +into the forest, and stood awe-struck gazing down the great aisles made +by the pillars of pine rearing themselves high and stately with their +arching green boughs against the sky. The remembrance of a grand old +minster, where her father had taken her to church one Sunday in spring, +rose to Blanche's recollection; those wonderful trees seemed strangely +like the fretted columns among which she had stood that day. She had +heard her father say that there was no church within miles of Glen +Eagle, and she wondered why they could not come here to service on +Sundays. The choristers' voices would sound so beautiful, and the great +floor, covered with brown fir-needles, and the lichen-spotted stones +studded over it, would be much nicer than a pew. + +Blanche, as was her custom when she felt happy, sang snatches of songs +as she wandered on through the forest, stooping every now and then to +gather treasures from among the fir-needles. At last she sat down and +began to pick up some attractive-looking green cones, which had fallen +the last time the storm had swung the great fir-trees. And as she sat +there, absorbed in gathering cones, her voice went up clear and musical +through the arched boughs, as she sang, almost unconsciously, some +verses of a hymn which she once learnt-- + + "There is a green hill far away, + Without a city wall, + Where the dear Lord was crucified, + Who died to save us all. + + "We may not know, we cannot tell, + What pains He had to bear; + But we believe it was for us + He hung and suffered there." + +The unwonted sound echoed through the silent forest, startling a roe +that had strayed from its covert, and making some little birds lurking +among the boughs set their tiny heads to one side to listen to the new +song in their sanctuary. There was another listener to Blanche's hymn, +who felt as startled by the sound as the timid roe; but who had, +nevertheless, stood listening eagerly. When Blanche looked up from the +fir-needles, wearied with her search for the cones, it was to see the +little maiden, whom she had just been consigning to dreamland, leaning +against a tree. There she stood, more real than ever, with her little +bare feet planted among the soft moss, and her eyes fixed wonderingly on +the stooping little girl. Blanche sprang forward, dropping, as she went, +her lapful of gatherings. + +"Oh, please, little girl, do not run away this time. I was so +disappointed that you would not wait when I saw you at the window +yesterday. Only, perhaps, it was just as well, for Miss Prosser walked +in the minute after," added Blanche, who always took it for granted that +there must be a previous acquaintance with those who made up her small +world. + +The little native did not seem disposed for immediate flight on this +occasion, however; she awaited Blanche calmly, as if the fir-wood were +her special sanctuary. Blanche was standing near, when Chance, who had +been doing some hunting on his own account, finding the search after +cones not exciting enough, came running up to see what his young +mistress was about. Blanche sprang forward to meet him; knowing well +that he was the sworn enemy of all bare-legged personages, she dreaded +the result of a hasty interview with her new acquaintance. He bounded +past her, however, and running up to the little girl, he began to wag +his tail in quite a friendly manner, and received caresses in return. + +"Why, you and Chance seem quite friends," exclaimed Blanche, with a +feeling of relief, not unmingled with astonishment. "He is generally so +very naughty to strangers; he surely must have seen you before?" + +"No, leddy, I didna see him afore; but I'm thinkin' he kens fine, Morag +likes a' dogs," said the little girl, in a low, timid voice, as she +smiled and patted Chance. + +"Morag! is that your name? What a nice, funny name! But you must not +call me, lady. I'm only a girl about your own age, you see. My name is +Blanche--that means white in French, you know, and it suits me nicely, +they say, because I'm fair. But that isn't the reason I'm called +Blanche. It was my mamma's name," explained the little lady +communicatively, while Morag listened eagerly, as if she were drinking +in every word. + +"Do tell me where you live, Morag? Is it in one of the pretty little +houses on the moorland, that you can see from the castle? I'm so glad +I've found you again;" and the little fluttering hand was kindly laid on +the sunburnt arm. A light came into Morag's still face; she suddenly +lifted the white hand and kissed it reverentially. Blanche felt rather +embarrassed at so unexpected a movement, though it stirred her little +heart; and after a moment's pause, she said impulsively-- + +"I love you, Morag. I wish you would come and play with me. I'm so dull +all alone. What were you playing at, all by yourself here? Aren't you a +little afraid to stay in this dark forest all alone?" + +"I wasna playin' mysel'. I was only jist buskin' at the hooks, for the +loch," replied Morag, glancing towards a flat, lichen-spotted rock, +where the materials for her work were lying scattered about. And then, +as if reminded that she must be busy, she went and sat down to work. +Blanche followed, unwilling to leave her new-found friend, and curious +to see what kind of work a little girl, no bigger than herself, could +do. There, on the grey stone which served as Morag's work-table, lay, in +all stages of manufacture, wonderful imitations of variegated flies, to +entrap unwary fishes. Blanche thought them marvels of art, and glanced +with respect and admiration at the skilful little fingers which had even +now another in process of creation. + +"You must be very clever to make such pretty things, Morag. May I sit +and watch you at work, for a little? I have got a holiday to-day, you +see. Aren't holidays nice?" said Blanche, glowingly; then she remembered +that perhaps this little girl might never have any, and she felt sorry +she had said that, when no response came from her companion, so she +changed the subject immediately. + +"Who taught you to make those wonderful hooks, Morag? It must be so +difficult," continued Blanche, as she watched the little fingers busy at +work. + +"Father teached me when I was a wee bit girlie. It's no that difficult +to busk the hooks; maybe you would be liken' to try. It hurts the +fingers some whiles, though," she added, glancing at Blanche's slender +fingers. + +"Oh! thank you very much, Morag. I should like so much to try, if you +will teach me. My papa is going to fish in the loch one day soon, and it +would be so nice if I could really make a hook for him." + +Chance, who had been comfortably ensconced at Morag's feet, started as +if he heard footsteps, and Blanche looked up to see Ellis hurrying +towards them. + +"O missie! how could you ever wander so far into this wilderness, and +have me searchin' for you like this?" panted the breathless maid, with a +look of relief on her face at having found her strayed charge. + +"Oh, my! what have we got here, Miss Blanche? You don't mean to say +you've ben a sittin' all the morning with that creature?" burst forth +the flurried Ellis, as she caught a glimpse of Morag seated on the grey +rock. + +"A regular tramp, I declare! Miss Prosser would take a fit if she saw +you, missie. Come along, this instant," shrieked the excited maid. + +Blanche was by her side in a moment, whispering, with a face of +distress-- + +"Hush, Ellis! don't speak so loud. She will hear, and you'll hurt her +feelings. Besides, I'm sure she isn't a tramp--if that's anything bad. +She's such a dear nice little girl, and so clever. I'll tell you all +about her presently," added Blanche, nodding confidentially. + +"Well, you've got to come home this instant, missie. There's somebody +awaitin' for you," said Ellis, mysteriously. + +"Oh! then, it isn't Miss Prosser who thinks I've stayed too long," said +Blanche in a relieved tone. "Go on, Ellis, and I'll come after you in a +minute. I must first say good-bye to Morag." + +Ellis, thus commanded, good-naturedly obeyed, while Blanche went to +rejoin her new acquaintance, whom she found still seated silently at +work. + +"I'm so sorry I must go now, Morag, but I'll come back again to-morrow. +I shall find you here, shan't I? Good-bye, Morag; I must really run now, +or Ellis will be cross." + +She waited for some reply, but none came, only the soft eyes looked up +wistfully into her face for a moment, and the little girl went quietly +on with her work again. + +Blanche was soon at Ellis's side prattling about her morning +experiences, and trying to convince her maid of the irreproachable +respectability of her new acquaintance. But the smart Ellis shook her +head skeptically; she shared Miss Kilmansegg's opinion (of golden-leg +fame), that "them as has naught is naughty," and she would continue to +insist, in spite of Blanche's eloquent expostulations, that the little +bare-legged tattered native must necessarily be a dangerous tramp, the +off-shoot from a whole gang lurking near; and Ellis looked fearfully +around, as if out of every bracken might spring a gypsy, and felt sure +that had it not been for her opportune appearance on the scene, her +little mistress would certainly have been kidnapped. + +As soon as the strangers were gone a little distance, Morag laid down +her work, and gliding up to the old fir-tree where she had stood to +listen to Blanche's hymn, she leant against it, and shading her eyes +with her hand she gazed wistfully after them as they disappeared among +the pillars of pine. "The bonnie wee leddy, she's awa'. They'll no be +lettin' her speak wi' the like o' me anither time," soliloquised Morag, +who, like most solitary people, had the habit of speaking her thoughts +aloud when alone. "That gran' like woman thocht I was a tramp. I'm +thinkin' I'll look some like ane," she murmured, looking down with a new +feeling of discomfort on her tattered little garment. "I'll men' it up +some the nicht, though, and mak' it look a wee bit better afore the +morn. She said she would be back again. Who will the Lord be she was +singin' aboot, that died upo' the green hill? I never heard tell o' +Him. It surely canna hae been on oor ain hills here aboot," continued +Morag, as she gathered up the scattered materials for her hook-making, +and wandered slowly away towards her home among the crags. + +In the meantime Blanche had reached the castle, and discovered the +mysterious "somebody" who awaited her, of whom she could not persuade +Ellis to divulge anything. In the cool shadow of the grey tower there +stood, awaiting her inspection, a lovely little Shetland pony, one of +the blackest, roundest, daintiest of his breed. Blanche sprang forward +with a cry of delight. + +"Oh, what a little darling! You don't mean to say he is for me?" The +little fellow turned his bright black eyes on her, and shook his shaggy +mane, as if to say, "So you are my little mistress! Let's have a look at +you. I hope you are inclined to be pleasant!" + +Blanche returned his gaze by throwing her arms round his neck and +hugging him heartily, greatly to the amusement of the Highlander who had +brought him, and was standing by. + +"What lovely eyes he has got, hasn't he, Ellis? Do you know, they remind +me of"--Morag's she was going to say; but she remembered that was a +forbidden name. Presently she ran to find Miss Prosser, that she might +come and admire the new favorite. + +"He looks so perfectly good and quiet, quite like a dog. I'm sure I may +sometimes ride him alone, mayn't I, Miss Prosser?" + +"I shall never sanction such a step, and I cannot think that your papa +will consider it either wise or proper for you to ride alone," replied +her governess, shocked by the suggestion. + +"What's his name?" asked Blanche, turning to the owner of the pony, +anxious to change a subject which she saw had not met with approval. + +"Anything my little leddy pleases; she be not got any name to hersel +yet;" and turning to Miss Prosser, he said, evidently anxious to +establish the character of his late possession, "She's as quiet's a +lamb, leddy, and there isna a foot o' the Glen she doesna know as weel's +mysel'." + +But Miss Prosser shook her head incredulously under her sunshade, as she +moved away. + +"Nonsense, Blanche, you silly child! Don't you know that horse-dealers +are proverbial cheats? The animal is probably the greatest vixen under +the sun. Those small ponies are most dangerous and tricky always." + +But Blanche, nothing daunted by the alleged bad character of her new +favorite, set her little brain to work to find a name for him. As Miss +Prosser disapproved of any lady's name being bestowed on one of the +lower animals, the selection became more limited. After searching +through several volumes of history, ancient and modern, and various +volumes of lighter literature, with an assiduity worthy of a better +cause, her governess remarked, Blanche decided that, after all, no name +seemed to suit the little fellow so well as the one which had at first +suggested itself, but was set aside as being too commonplace, that of +Shag. So off she trotted to inform the little Shetlander that he was no +longer nameless, and to see what he was thinking of his new quarters. + +The next day, to Blanche's great delight, her papa announced that he was +not going to the moors, and meant to take his little daughter out for a +ride. The horses had been ordered round at twelve o'clock, and Blanche +spent the morning in aimless wanderings round the castle, wishing that +the hour for starting would arrive; a ride with her papa was such a rare +piece of happiness, that the prospect quite sufficed for her morning's +entertainment, without setting anything else on foot. + +At last a practical difficulty presented itself, which she had not +thought of before, and she ran off to find her maid to remind her that +her riding-habit had been left at home, for she remembered hearing Miss +Prosser say that there was no need of including it in the Highland +wardrobe, since the little Neige was to be left behind in his London +stables. + +"Well now, missie, did you never think of that till this time of day? A +pretty job it would have been for you if everybody else had been so +forgetful," said the maid, smiling, as she took from a drawer a pretty +new tartan riding-habit, all ready to wear. + +"There now, Miss Blanche, that's what has kept me so busy for the last +two days. I've just this minute finished runnin' it up. It's a queer +color for a habit, I must say, but it's the best thing to be found at +the village shop." + +"Oh! you dear good Ellis, how kind of you to make it in such a hurry! It +is such a beauty, much prettier than my dark blue at home. Don't you +think I might put it on now, just to see how it looks?" + +So the riding-habit was rather prematurely donned, and Chance with his +mistress were waiting in the hall some time before the little Shag and +his stately bay companion appeared in the court-yard. Blanche was +already mounted when Mr. Clifford emerged from the library with his +budget of letters ready for the post-bag. + +"What a regular Highland lassie it is, to be sure!" said he, glancing at +Blanche's gay-colored habit as he mounted his horse. + +"It is certainly most unsuitable," apologized Miss Prosser, who had come +out to see them start. "But it was really the only material procurable +in these uncivilized regions." + +"It's a first-rate attire--quite in keeping, I assure you, Miss Prosser. +Come along, Blanchie; you will quite charm the deer and the moor-fowl by +having got yourself up in their native tartan." + +On the riders went, soon leaving the shady birch-avenue far behind, and +getting among breezy moors. It was a perfect autumn day, the sky was +serene and bright, and a pleasant heathery perfume filled the air. +Blanche's long fair curls floated in the breeze, and her face glowed +with pleasure as she swept on alongside her father, the little +Shetlander cantering as fast as it could lay its short legs to the +ground, trying to keep pace with the swinging trot of the long-limbed +hunter. + +"Shag, as you call him, is quite a success, Blanchie," said Mr. +Clifford, as he reined his horse in at last. "I'm afraid he will prove +even a rival to Neige." + +"Oh no, papa; there's no fear of that; my heart is big enough to love a +dozen ponies. Shag is a perfect darling, though. He seems so good and +quiet, too; don't you think I might ride him alone, papa?" + +"Ride quite alone? I am not so sure about that, pussy. Don't you think +you'd feel like the damsel all forlorn. I think you must be satisfied +with Lucas when I can't come. Poor old fellow! he prefers his +carriage-box to his saddle nowadays, he is getting so asthmatic; but I +don't think I can trust you with anybody else." + +"O papa! please don't send Lucas with me; he's so old and stupid, and +wheezes so dreadfully; and he always says so solemnly, 'Take care +missie,' when we begin to go fast. I'd much rather wait till you can +come, if I mayn't go alone." + +As Blanche cantered on by her father's side, she suddenly remembered her +promise to meet Morag in the fir-wood, which she had forgotten in the +excitement of the morning. She was hesitating whether she should tell +her papa about her new acquaintance, and wondering if he would call her +a dangerous gypsy as Ellis did, when her thoughts were diverted by +coming within sight of a human habitation of some kind; the first they +had seen since leaving the castle, so Blanche viewed it with some +curiosity. She wondered whether all the cottages that studded the valley +looked as neat and pretty as this one, which stood in its little +fenced-in garden, growing out of the bleak moorland, where flourished +gooseberry and currant bushes, besides drills of cabbage and potatoes. +The late summer flowers were still gay and sweet, and creeping +rose-bushes grew on the white wall under the brown thatch, which looked +thick and trim, all studded over with thick, green moss as soft as +velvet. The little windows were bright and shining, and the tiny muslin +curtains looped up behind them looked spotless and dainty. + +"O papa! what a lovely little cottage; it looks quite like a doll's +house!" exclaimed Blanche. + +"It is certainly a wonderful abode to find in such a wild spot," said +Mr. Clifford, glancing at the well-kept garden. "The occupants, whoever +they are, have certainly contrived to make the wilderness blossom." + +Behind the cottage, and evidently belonging to it, was a little patch +of cornfield, that lay yellow and shining in the sun, quite ripe for +harvest; indeed it was partly cut down, though there appeared to be only +one reaper in the field. Blanche slackened her pony's rein to look at +the old woman who was bending over a sheaf which she had been binding, +with no other help than her frail trembling fingers. Attracted by the +unusual sound of passers-by, she looked up from her work, and caught a +glimpse of the little girl's face, who had lingered behind her papa, and +was looking pityingly across the old grey dyke on the lonely reaper at +her toilsome afternoon's work. "They'll be the new folk that's come til +the castle, I'm thinkin'. She's a richt bonnie bit leddy that, though," +soliloquised the old woman, as she shaded her quiet gray eyes with her +long thin fingers, and gazed after the riders. "May the Lord himsel' +keep her bonnie in His ain e'en, as she's fair til see;" and stooping +down, she lifted her hook, and went on with her work again. + +Blanche and her father soon left the pretty cottage far behind, as they +cantered on in the delicious breeze, which wafted all manner of pleasant +odors and thoughts to the little girl, who rode gaily on in the +sunshine; but it did not waft to her ears the prayer which had gone up +to God for her, that afternoon, from one of His true servants, the lowly +bent woman on whom the blue eyes of the little maiden had been so +pityingly cast. + + + + +V. + +_A DISCOVERY._ + + +THE day after Blanche's ride was very stormy. The peaceful Glen seemed +suddenly thrown into a wild tumult. Now and then a long low rattle of +thunder sounded along the mountains, and the great fir-trees creaked and +swung, making all manner of weird choruses among the aisles of pine. The +rain had fallen in torrents during the night, and there seemed still an +inexhaustible supply in the gray sheets of mist that hovered over the +nearer hills. The little mountain rills hurried white and foaming to the +river, which moaned and raged along the valley, carrying with it on its +wild way to the sea more than one wooden bridge which had been wrenched +from its frail moorings by the _spate_. It was a true Highland storm, +the first Blanche had ever seen, and she stood watching it with mingled +feelings of interest and disappointment. She knew well what she meant to +do with this holiday, if only the sun had kept its golden promises of +last night. But this storm had upset all her plans, and she was filled +with remorse at the thought of the neglected tryst in the fir-wood, and +felt out of sorts with herself and all the world. Her last hope of any +fun that afternoon departed as she stood in the old hall, and watched +her father and his guests get into their waterproofs and prepare to +start on an expedition to see the swollen river. She would gladly have +accepted an invitation, laughingly given by the old Major, that she +should join the party, but Miss Prosser had been quite shocked by the +suggestion. "It was improper at any time for a young lady to go out in +rain, and in a deluge like the present, quite out of the question," she +replied, from the side of the school-room fire, where she sat shivering. +Nothing was to be seen from the window, except the rain, which came +plash, plash on the soaking turf in a dreary monotone of dulness, and +Blanche contrived to make her escape while Miss Prosser had fallen into +brief, though sound slumbers. She took refuge in Ellis's society, whom +she found sewing busily in her room. But here things did not go to her +mind any more than in the school-room, for Ellis had taken the +opportunity of warning her little mistress that if she were ever found +'addressin' of that tramp' again, she would feel in duty bound to +inform Miss Prosser, nor could any coaxing of Blanche's persuade her to +promise silence. + +"No, missie; I'll not hold my tongue for nobody. My very heart came to +my mouth when I saw you talkin' to that creature, just as friendly and +unsuspectin' as if she'd been your very sister, and all alone in that +dismal wood, too. Depend upon't there's a whole gang o' them lurkin' +yonder. Have you never heard of them as kidnaps children, missie? Why, +they'd take you for the sake of your pretty curls, if for nothing else. +A nice endin' that would be for you, Miss Clifford!" and Ellis stitched +away in high indignation, as she dwelt on the alarming picture that she +had conjured up, while Blanche called to mind some of the stories which +she had read of gypsies who had run off with children. It seemed to her, +however, that any excitement would be preferable to a time of dulness +like the present; and she came to the conclusion that the kidnapped +children must have, on the whole, rather a nice time of it in the +greenwood, and feel sorry when they are recaptured by their anxious +relatives, and sent back to their school-rooms. + +Ellis went on stitching in dumb silence, feeling displeased that her +warnings seemed to be treated so lightly, and Blanche, finding these +circumstances far from lively, glided away. After roaming through the +winding passages and turret stairs, in the hope of finding some variety, +she lighted at last on a quaint, little room, which had evidently been +unmolested by charwoman or housemaid for many a day. Its dusty +desolation, however, quite suited Blanche's present disconsolate frame +of mind. She managed to undo the rusty fastenings of the narrow window, +and coiling herself into the deep stone embrasure, she looked dreamily +out on the moorland. The storm seemed at last to have almost spent +itself. Blanche could catch glimpses of the river, which still lashed +itself into wild white foam as it hurried along; but the sunlight was +shimmering upon it now. The wind had fallen, the great pine-trees +creaked and swung no longer, and the gray sheets of mist, which seemed +so stagnant a few hours before, were now slowly creeping from the hills, +and making way for the clear shining after rain. + +Blanche sat watching the changing landscape from her dusty nook, with +the pale sunlight glinting in upon her; and as she gazed, all the +discontented, restless thoughts seemed to vanish from her heart, +disappearing like the gloomy mists which had been shrouding the +pleasant hillsides. At last, after she had sat perched in her +watch-tower for several hours, she fancied she heard her father's voice +in the court-yard below, and she ran to meet him. Mr. Clifford was +standing with all his wet wrappings when she reached the hall. "O papa! +how very funny you do look! You are just as wet as Chance when he comes +out of the water." + +"Well, I'm wet enough, to be sure. But you should see what a wonderful +little specimen of the aborigines I've fished up, Blanchie. Come along, +and I'll tell you the tale while I warm myself." + +Blanche followed into the library with some curiosity. She had rather +hazy ideas of what the "aborigines" might mean, but she concluded that +it must be some sort of trout taken from the river during the storm. + +The Major had returned home some time ago, and was comfortably seated in +his arm-chair by the library fire, so Blanche had to wait, with as much +patience as she could muster, till Mr. Clifford explained what had +detained him. The other gentlemen had gone on to see the _Linn_, he +said, but as he wanted to have some fishing next day, he thought it +would be well to see the keeper, and arrange the matter before returning +home. + +"I had been to the kennels once before," continued Mr. Clifford, "and +knew that the keeper lived not far from them. But I had no end of bother +in finding the place, though there it was suspended above me all the +while. I set out to go down the hill again, giving up the search in +despair, when I noticed that smoke came from a wretched shell of a hut, +perched on the corner of a crag. And this turned out to be Dingwall's +abode. I really wonder his Grace doesn't house his tenants better." + +"But what about the creature you fished up, papa?" asked Blanche, +fearing that the conversation was going take too abstract a turn. "You +promised to tell me, you know." + +"Ah! Blanche, I see you're all eyes and ears. Well, I'm just coming to +that now. I knocked at the door of this miserable erection, but no +answer came; and, as it was pouring rain, I did not feel inclined to +wait long, so I lifted the latch and looked in. Dingwall evidently was +not at home. Indeed, I should say he was quite as comfortable among the +heather as at his own fireside, in the circumstances. The rain was +dropping in from the roof in all directions, and it was evidently its +habit to do so, for it seemed to have excavated reservoirs for itself +along the earthen floor. The only soul in the hut was a wretched atom of +a girl, who, nothing daunted by this damp state of matters, was +splashing contentedly through the wet floor with her little bare feet, +trying to spoon away the water in the pools. Such a funny little thing +it was. You should have seen her, Blanchie, as she stood looking at me, +with her great eyes that peeped out from a tangled mass of black locks. +But I daresay I looked rather an alarming apparition in my waterproof +and umbrella, which I had the prudence to keep over my head. She looked +terrified for a moment, but she did not forget to make her rags touch +the soaking floor in a low curtsey, and offered in the sweetest voice to +run for her father, who was 'watchin' the _spate_,' she said. You should +have seen her, Blanchie; it would have quite suited your love for the +sensational." + +The portrait was photographic; Blanche's heart began to beat, for she +felt certain that she had seen her. + +"O papa! do tell me, did she really go away to the river to look for her +father? Do tell me, please," said Blanche, in eager tones. + +"Well, seeing that she didn't seem to mind the weather, and wasn't +likely to catch cold, I thought I might as well bring her here for a +little, since her father was not at home, and put her under old Worthy's +care, to be warmed and fed and generally comforted. I couldn't get her +to open her mouth again, but she followed me down the hill on my +invitation." + +"O papa! you don't mean to say that she is with Mrs. Worthy now?" and +without waiting for a reply, off Blanche bounded in search of the +housekeeper's room. And there, in front of a bright fire, seated in a +comfortable arm-chair, looking serenely happy in the midst of such +unwonted comforts, sat Morag. + +"It is really you! Of course I knew it was," exclaimed Blanche, rather +incoherently, as she sprang forward with a cry of delight. + +Morag rose with an eager bewildered look on her face, but she did not +speak, while the impulsive little Blanche threw her arms round the +tangled locks, and kissed the brown cheek. + +"O Morag! I'm so very glad to see you again. I've been so sorry all day +that I did not go to meet you in the pine forest yesterday. So, you are +the keeper's daughter," and a shadow of vexation stole across Blanche's +sunny face, for the remembrance of the dark, sinister-looking man whom +she had disliked rose before her, and she felt a pang of regret that he +should be connected with Morag. + +"I'm so glad papa brought you here, Morag. What a horrid house you must +have to live in! Papa says that it's a great shame of somebody--I forget +who. I do wish that the sun might always shine, and then you could sit +among those delicious pine-trees, instead of in-doors," and Blanche went +on in a silvery torrent of words, while Morag gazed at her, eagerly +listening in glad silence. + +Mrs. Worthy, who was seated opposite in her arm-chair, reading the +newspaper, viewed this scene through her spectacles with unfeigned +astonishment. + +"Bless my soul, Miss Clifford, you seem quite intimate like already! The +like of you for 'aving a warm 'art to all critters, I never did see," +said that worthy personage rubbing her spectacles, as if her old eyes +had deceived her. She was a kindly woman, and had been delighted to show +all hospitality to the poor little drenched vagrant; but to see Miss +Clifford on terms of seemingly old and intimate friendship was more than +she could comprehend. + +"Oh! it's all right, Mrs. Worthy. I know Morag quite well; we met in +the pine forest. But where is Ellis? has she been here?" And Blanche +bounded off in triumph to tell her maid that the dangerous little gypsy +of the greenwood was seated in the housekeeper's own private sanctum, +having tea and buttered toast, by her papa's special invitation too. +Ellis did not seem so much impressed by this wonderful piece of news as +Blanche expected, and loudly disapproved of the proposal which followed, +namely, that one of Blanche's dresses should be given to the little +damsel to replace the tattered tartan. + +"'Deed, missie, I'll not listen to such a thing for nobody. Your frocks +are all much too good for the likes of her, what I've brought here. If +you'd told me you were agoin' to clothe all the poor of the parish, I +might have brought something from your boxes of old clothes at home." + +"I'm sure you might find something, if you only wanted," pleaded +Blanche. + +At that moment Miss Prosser's voice was heard calling Ellis, and Blanche +overheard her governess say to the maid presently, "Oh, by the by, +Ellis, the master wants you to find a frock of Miss Clifford's for a +little urchin who has been picked up in the Glen somewhere, and appears +to be in a very destitute condition, from all accounts. You had better +select something suitable. I believe she is in the housekeeper's room +now; so you can go and see what she looks like. Have you anything that +will suit the creature, I wonder?" + +"Yes, ma'am. There's the crimson dress, that will do. Missie will never +wear it again." + +"Well, I dare say not, though certainly it does seem much too good for a +child of the description. Where is Miss Clifford? Have you seen her? +I've been looking for her for the last half hour, but I can't find her +anywhere." + +"She's just going to get dressed for the evening, ma'am," replied Ellis, +evasively, not indicating that she was within call, nor hinting at her +little mistress' previous knowledge of Mr. Clifford's protegée; and +finally Miss Prosser retreated to perform her own toilette. Blanche was +hovering about in a great glee, having heard the result of the +conversation. + +"Oh! you dear good Ellis! So you are going to find a dress for Morag +after all? I knew you would. Do let me take it to her." + +The crimson garment was at length forthcoming, in the midst of many +grumblings on Ellis's part; and Blanche, accompanied by her maid, set +out in procession towards the housekeeper's room. They found Morag +alone; she had risen from her seat in the big arm-chair, and was now +standing at a small table on which the housekeeper's books lay. An +illustrated edition of the "Pilgrim's Progress" was lying open, and when +Blanche walked in, Morag was looking intently at one of the pictures. +She started and closed the book with an almost guilty look, and when she +caught a glimpse of Ellis, her little brown cheek flushed all over, for +she had not forgotten her loud-spoken suspicions regarding her. Gliding +up to Blanche, she said softly-- + +"I'll need to be goin' hame, noo, leddy. Father will be back, and his +supper maun be ready; and there's a heap to do forby." + +"But you don't really mean to say, Morag, that you get supper ready, and +do everything? Why! where's your mother, or the servant?" + +Morag's eyes twinkled, and she laughed her rare merry laugh at Blanche's +look of astonishment. + +"We havena got no servant. I'm thinkin' they're no but for gentry. My +mother deid lang syne. I never min' upo' seein' her. There's no jist +terrible muckle work, except whiles, when the weet comes in, like the +nicht." + +"I should like so to go and see you, Morag. Do you think I may some +time?" asked Blanche, filled with admiration at the thought of the +usefulness of a little girl smaller than herself. + +"The floor is some weet the nicht, I'm thinkin'," replied Morag, +glancing doubtfully at Ellis. + +"Oh! but I didn't mean to-night. Perhaps one day soon, when the sun +shines, and your father is at the moors with papa," added Blanche, for +she had not forgotten the dark-looking keeper; and she did not think +that she should like to find him at home. + +Meanwhile, Ellis had been standing with the dress in her hand, listening +to the conversation. Her closer inspection of Morag rather softened her +towards the little native, with regard to whom she had been harboring +such dark suspicions. She began to make sundry signs, to the effect that +her little mistress should now proceed to present the dress. But +somehow, at this juncture Blanche seemed suddenly seized with a fit of +shyness. Morag certainly appeared to stand greatly in need of a new +garment, but still Blanche felt in doubt whether she would care to +receive one. She was so unlike any poor person she had ever seen--so +useful, so brave, so complete in herself. At last Ellis got tired of +waiting for Blanche, and unfolding the dress, she held it up with a +flourish and a toss of her head, saying-- + +"Now, little girl, Miss Clifford is kind enough to give you this +beautiful frock. See you say 'Thank you' for it, and take good care of +it too. I declare it looks as good as the day it was bought!" added +Ellis, casting regretful glances on the garment, as she laid it on the +table beside Morag. The little girl stood looking at the gift with +extreme astonishment for several minutes, and then, glancing at Blanche, +she went slowly up to her, and said in a low tone-- + +"Thank you kindly, leddy. But I would jist be spoilin' a braw goon like +that. It's no for the like o' me." + +"Oh! but indeed, Morag, dear, you must wear it. I don't think it a bit +too good for you to wear on week-days; but if you like you can keep it +for Sunday, you know. It used to be my church-frock, wasn't it, Ellis?" + +"Ay, maybe. But it's no for the like o' me. I dinna never gang to the +kirk forby,' added Morag, in a low, melancholy tone, as Ellis left the +room to discuss with Mrs. Worthy the strange little native who did not +seem to care for the grand frock, although she was in such rags. + +"I would like richt weel to ken what this bit bonnie picter is," said +Morag, as she turned towards the little table, on which the open +"Pilgrim's Progress" was still lying, and pointed to one of the +illustrations towards the end of the first part. Blanche had not read +the "Pilgrim's Progress," and she did not know what the picture meant at +the first glance. There was an expanse of dark rippling water, and +struggling through it were two men. One of them looked on the point of +sinking, while the other seemed to be trying to hold him up, and pointed +to a shining city, which was lying far away in the sun. Seeing how eager +Morag was to know what it all meant, Blanche began to feel interested; +after turning some pages, she said--"Oh! I see now. That town in the +light, far off, is heaven, and those men must be trying to get there, I +suppose. But I'll ask Mrs. Worthy to lend me this book, and shall try +and find out all about it before I come to the pine-forest next time, +Morag." + +"Ye'll be able to read a' books, I'm thinkin', leddy," said Morag, +looking wistfully at Blanche, as she glanced at the pages. + +"Oh, yes, of course, I can read any book that I care to read. But, +indeed, Morag, I'm not very fond of reading," added Blanche, in a +confidential whisper, as if the fact were a very shocking revelation. +"To be sure, I do like a few story-books very much, indeed; but then +Miss Prosser does not allow me to read many. I've got some delicious +story-books at home, in London. I wish I had them here, and I should +lend them to you, if you are fond of reading. I don't think I have +anything except those lesson-books here. The 'History of England' is +rather interesting sometimes, by the by. Perhaps you might like it. +There are lots of nice stories here and there. Miss Prosser says I like +to read them because they are stories, and not for the sake of the facts +and the dates, and I suppose that is very wrong," sighed Blanche, +penitently. + +Morag stood listening in silent wonder. The conversation had gone far +beyond her depth, poor little woman! and she was about to explain that +it was so, when Blanche continued-- + +"What books do you like best, Morag? I like fairy-stories much +best--something about dragons, and giants, and all that kind of thing, +you know." + +Morag's cheek flushed crimson as she replied-- + +"A' books look richt bonnie to me, leddy, but I'm no fit to read none o' +them." + +Blanche felt considerable astonishment at this disclosure. But, noticing +her companion's embarrassment, she tried to receive it unmoved, and +said, rather patronizingly-- + +"Ah! well, Morag, but you can do so many useful things besides." + +Morag smiled. Her quick perceptions detected Blanche's kindly attempt to +cover her embarrassment with a compliment. For now that the critical +eyes of the smart maid were withdrawn, she began to feel more at ease, +and at last ventured to ask a question, to which she had been very +anxious to get an answer since that morning when she stood listening to +Blanche's warblings among the pines. + +"Yon was a richt bonnie sang ye were singin' i' the fir-wood, leddy. +Will the Lord that died on the hill be ane o' the chieftains that used +to bide lang syne i' the castle?" + +"I'm sure I quite forget what song I was singing, I know so many. But I +don't think I do know one about a chieftain, though," said Blanche, +shaking her curls in perplexity. + +"It tellt aboot a good Lord that deed upo' a green hill, and suffered +terrible, I'm thinkin'. I heard a' the words ye were singin' richt plain +like among the firs." + +"Oh! I know now! Why, that isn't a song, Morag--it's a hymn. It was +Jesus Christ, of course, 'who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was +crucified, dead, and buried,' the Creed says, you know." + +This statement did not seem in any degree to diminish Morag's +perplexity, and presently she said-- + +"Maybe ye would jist say ower the bonnie words til me?" Blanche repeated +the hymn in her clear, silvery tones, and after she had finished, Morag +gave a little sigh as she said--"It's richt bonnie. I like weel to hear +ye tell't ower. Is't a real true story, leddy?" + +"Of course it's true, Morag. Jesus Christ died on the cross, you know. +But it's a very long time ago, in the Holy Land. You can find all about +it in the Bible. Ah! but I quite forgot," said Blanche, flushing in her +turn; and then, after a minute, she continued-- + +"Morag, I have thought of something. Would you like Miss Prosser to +teach you to read? I think I'll ask her. But she _is_ rather particular +about some things," added Blanche, sighing despondently, as if she +began to doubt the pleasantness of that arrangement; and presently she +exclaimed eagerly--"O Morag! I wonder if I could teach you to read? It +would be such fun! I would bring all my lesson-books to the pine forest, +and we would spread them on the flat grey rock, and I would teach you +everything that I know. Wouldn't it be nice?" and Blanche clapped her +hands with delight at the thought. + +Morag's face glowed with brightness as she listened to this proposal, +and she was about to make some reply when Ellis entered the room. She +came to say that Miss Prosser was already in the drawing-room, and that +she wondered very much what had become of Miss Blanche, and Ellis +insisted that she should come and get dressed without a moment's further +delay. Mrs. Worthy entered at that moment with a trayful of good things +for Morag; and Blanche, after giving strict injunctions to her little +friend not to go home till she had seen her again, followed Ellis to get +arrayed for the evening. + +The storm had quite vanished now, and the evening was bright and calm. +All the weird noises were silent, and a delicious breeze came stealing +across the moorland balmy with the breath of pine and birch, and all +manner of delightful, thymy fragrance. + +Mr. Clifford and his guests were sauntering up and down the birch-walk +near the castle, talking and smoking their cigars, when Blanche joined +them. + +"Well, pussy, so I hear you had already made the acquaintance of my +protegée? Mrs. Worthy tells me that you gave her quite a gushing +reception. How in the world did you foregather? Till this afternoon, I +certainly was not well enough versed in Dingwall's family history to +know that he had a daughter," said Mr. Clifford. + +"Yes, Blanche, dear, where did you meet the creature?" chimed in Miss +Prosser, coming, but not to the rescue. "It can only have been on that +morning when I allowed you to go out alone. And you know you promised +not to get into mischief of any kind. I wonder when you will gain the +desirable self-respect which will save you from making friends of the +most unsuitable persons, Blanche, dear!" added the governess, looking +rather severely at the little girl, who stood pondering whether she +should reveal the circumstances of her acquaintance with Morag, but she +had a vague fear lest the window-scene might compromise the +respectability of her little friend, in some minds, so she resolved to +hold her peace. Her father noticed her distressed face, and stroking her +curls, said, laughingly-- + +"Don't be ashamed of your new acquaintance, Blanchie. I assure you, Miss +Prosser, she is a most exemplary little savage. You should have seen her +at work in her hut to-day! I wonder if she is still in old worthy's +keeping. You might run and see, Blanche, and bring her here if she is. I +should like you to have a look of the odd little atom, Miss Prosser." + +"Is that the urchin you found sticking in the mud-floor, Clifford?" +asked one of the gentlemen, joining them. "She must be quite a natural +curiosity--a sort of fungus, I should imagine. Do let's have a look at +her." + +So Blanche was dispatched, rather unwillingly, to fetch Morag. She was +very glad to be allowed to go back to her again, but she could not help +feeling that it was rather a doubtful mission on which she had been +sent, and she wondered whether it was quite kind to bring the shy little +mountain maiden into the presence of so many strangers. + +Mr. Clifford and his party were standing together looking at a gorgeous +rainbow which had suddenly spanned the Glen when the children appeared +in sight. They came slowly along, through the feathery birk-trees, which +were all flooded by the delicate rainbow tints. A pretty picture they +made, Mr. Clifford thought, as he went forward to meet them among the +white stems. The fair, high-born child in her white shimmering dress, +with her graceful movements, her delicate, finely-cut features, her calm +white brow, and deep dreamy, blue eyes, and at her side the little dark, +keen Celt, with her black matted locks, her bright dark eyes, and her +short firmly-knit limbs. Blanche's arm was thrown lovingly around Morag, +and one of her long fair curls rested on the little brown neck of the +mountain maiden, who timidly surveyed the formidable group in front. +Blanche ran to her papa to whisper that Morag wanted to go home very +much now, to make supper ready for her father, so that she must not be +kept much longer, and might she ask her to come back to-morrow! Deprived +of her bonnie wee leddy's protecting arm, Morag felt very forlorn. The +whole party were now in view, and a very terrible array they seemed to +the little mountaineer. + +There stood Miss Prosser in gay flowing attire; and there were the +gentlemen whom she had watched from afar on their way to the moors; but +they seemed doubly formidable now in evening dress, as they stood +talking and laughing together. Even the bonnie wee leddy, since she has +glided to her papa's side, appeared again to have taken her place in an +exalted fairy region, and poor Morag felt alone, without prop or stay. +She seemed seized by a sudden panic, and, casting a bewildered glance +round about her, she turned and darted away at full speed through the +gleaming birch stems, and in a moment she was out of sight. + +"Bless my soul, what a droll little monkey!" exclaimed the old Major, +dropping his eyeglass. "I expect to see her climb a tree directly and +take to cracking nuts--eh! Blanche?" + +"Poor little Morag! she is so shy and frightened: that's just how she +did before. I'll tell you all about it afterwards, papa," whispered +Blanche, as she was about to dart off in vain pursuit of her scared +friend. + +"No, Blanchie, you must not follow her," said Mr. Clifford, calling her +back. "She did look very frightened, poor little atom! It's best to let +her go home. Take counsel from your sage nursery-rhyme, 'Leave her alone +and she'll come back, and bring her tails behind her.' Little Bo-peep +must have patience, you know. Besides, it's quite time for you to go +indoors, child," he added, as Blanche shivered. "Good night, darling! +Don't distress yourself about your little elfish friend; she will +doubtless turn up to-morrow." + +Morag did not halt in her sudden flight till she had got beyond the +castle grounds, and found herself once more on her solitary familiar +heath. Then she began to slacken her pace a little; and now that she had +time to ponder the matter over, she thought that perhaps, after all, it +was very foolish to run away as she had done. These grand ladies and +gentlemen did not mean to do her any harm; and surely she might have +trusted the bonnie leddy who had been so kind. Perhaps she might be +angry now, and would never come to the fir-wood, as she had promised to +do, thought Morag, ruefully. Still, she resolved that she would go every +morning after her work at the hut was done, and watch by the +lichen-spotted rock in the fir-wood, and perhaps one day she might see +her coming through the trees again; and though it seemed too good to be +true, perhaps she might be carrying some of those beautiful books, of +which Morag had caught a glimpse through the school-room window of the +old castle. + +Blanche's promise that she would teach her to read was the greatest +event of that eventful day, and the thought of it had kept singing at +Morag's heart; for a long time it had been the dearest wish of her heart +that she might understand the hitherto mysterious contents of the musty +old collection of books which lay buried in the depths of her mother's +big _kist_, and now at last there seemed a chance of that hope being +realized if she had not thrown it away by her foolish flight; and the +little girl sighed as she thought of the sad possibility. + +Morag had been sauntering on, lost in her own meditations, since she +felt herself at a safe distance from the castle. She had climbed halfway +up the steep hill which led to her home among the crags, when she turned +to see if she could discover any trace of her father on his homeward +way. + +The sky was cold and grey in the direction of the hut where Morag's +steps had been bent, but as she turned westward all was bright and +glowing, and Morag wondered that she had not thought of looking before, +for she loved cloud-land scenes, and had watched many a sunset and +sunrise from her home among the crags. It was one of those intensely +golden sunsets that come after storms. The clouds were clustering +gorgeous in their coloring, and changeful in their hues, and at every +moment they seemed to open vistas with brighter colors and intenser +lights within. And as Morag sat and watched the sky, she remembered the +picture which she had seen in the beautiful book at the castle. The +bright expanse round which the gold and crimson clouds were clustering +reminded her of the city lying in the light, in the picture. She thought +of the dark rippling water, and the two men who were struggling through +it, and looked as if they would be drowned. They must have been trying +to reach the shining city surely, and Morag hoped they got there all +safe, for the water looked dark and cold. + +At last the amber clouds slowly closed on the inner sunset glories, like +ponderous gates shutting out the dark night from a bright scene, Morag +thought, as she rose from the bank, and began to take her solitary way +to her rocky home. Presently she heard her father's whistle, and turning +round, she saw him climbing the hill behind her. She ran back to meet +him, and began eagerly to narrate her chronicle of this eventful +afternoon. + +The keeper had never heard his daughter so eloquent before, and he +listened with his most well-pleased smile to all that she had to tell +about her visit to the castle. How the gentleman had come to the hut, +and had taken her away; and how he carried a beautiful umbrella, and +held a bit of it over her head--the first time in her life she had been +under a canopy of the kind. And then the beautiful room she sat in was +duly described, and how the bonnie wee leddy had come to her, and been +so kind. When she came to that part of her story, in which truth +compelled her to tell that she had finished those delightful proceedings +by running away when she was brought before the dazzling company, she +was relieved to find that her father was not angry, as she feared he +would be. He only smiled, and said, "Ye needna hae been sae feert, +Morag, my lass. They wouldna be meanin' to tak' a bite o' ye; but maybe +they'll no think the waur o' ye for the like o' that;" and glancing +round, as they entered the dreary soaking dwelling, the keeper said, +smiling grimly, "Ye didna speir if he would tak' a seat, I'm thinkin', +lass? What said he aboot the hoose, Morag?" But Morag could not remember +that Mr. Clifford had made any remark on that sore subject; and +presently father and daughter relapsed into their usual state of dumb +silence, as they went about their evening occupations. + +At last Morag crept away to bed, and fell asleep, wondering whether she +should really see the wee leddy coming to meet her next morning at the +grey rock in the fir-wood, where she resolved she would daily keep her +tryst. During the night she kept dreaming that she was with the bonnie +wee leddy in dark, cold water somewhere, and that her arm was around +her, and the beautiful curls were all drenched with wet. She looked for +the golden city lying in the sun, but she could not see it anywhere, and +she began to feel very frightened in the dark, rippling water, when she +awoke to find the bright morning light streaming in at the little +blindless window of the hut, lighting up everything, and sending its +kind, warm rays on the damp earthen floor. + +Morag sprang out of bed, and was soon at her morning's work with a will. +She smoothed her tangled locks as well as the well-nigh toothless comb +would make them, and after mending a few of the rents in her tattered +garment, she looked anxiously down, in the hope that she did not look +like a tramp any more. Her father had told her that she was a foolish +lassie to have refused the "gran' goon" that had been offered to her; +but Morag did not think so, and felt perfectly satisfied with her own +garment, if only the critical eyes of the smart maid would not stare at +her so minutely again. + +The keeper had gone to the moors for the day, and Morag's morning duties +being over, she began to think of starting to keep her tryst in the +fir-wood, when she saw her father hurrying up the hill again. + +"Eh, Morag, lass! but I hae a gran' bit o' news for ye. The maister +wants ye to go outby wi' the wee leddy this afternoon; and whiles, to +tak' her by canny roads when she's ridin' on her sheltie. I'm thinkin' +you'll like that job, my lass. Ye may awa' til the castle as fast's ye +can rin; he said 'The sooner the better; my daughter is an impatient +little person.'" And, after this quotation from Mr. Clifford, Dingwall +hurried down the hill again, surrounded by the scrambling pointers and +setters, leaving Morag dumb with astonishment and delight. + + + + +VI. + +_KIRSTY MACPHERSON._ + + +MORAG was at length fairly installed as Blanche's companion in her +rides, and many a pleasant ramble they had together in the long bright +autumn afternoons. The little mountaineer was still very silent and +reserved; but her propensity for running away had quite vanished now, +and she could laugh at the shy follies of those first days of her +acquaintance with the little châtelaine. It must be allowed, however, +that the daily intercourse in no degree diminished the deep reverence +and admiration with which she regarded the bonnie wee leddy, who had +seemed such a fairy princess when she saw her first; rather indeed these +early feelings were deepening into that intense, undying devotion which +is one of the characteristics of her race, and one which has often made +them faithful to death towards unworthy, thankless heroes. Occasionally +the little pony Shag was left behind in his stable, while Blanche, with +her big retriever Chance, sallied forth to meet Morag, at the +trysting-place in the fir-wood. These afternoons were golden-letter days +in little Morag's calendar, for then the books were brought, and as she +lay among the soft moss, surrounded by the thronging pillars of pine, +with their roof of green, arched boughs, this child of the mountains +made her first entrance to that tower of learning, which, after all, is +only one of the many gateways to the great temple of knowledge. + +Blanche proved a wonderfully patient, though eager teacher, and never +was there a more earnest student than Morag. Still, on the whole, these +lessons, as yet, only brought disappointment. Her progress in the art of +reading was necessarily slow, and could not keep pace in any degree with +her desire to know. Her intercourse with the little English girl had +quite roused her from her torpid state, and the fragments of ideas which +began to dawn, set her mind to work in many wistful questionings. + +Blanche would often shake her curls in perplexity at her friend's +strange thoughts and queries; sometimes remarking afterwards to +Ellis--with whom Morag had now a recognized existence--"She is such a +queer little girl, Morag! She has such deep, long thoughts about +everything, and it seems to make her quite grave and sad when she can't +understand things we read. I'm sure I am always glad enough to skip the +difficult things, and hurry over to the nice, easy, pleasant bits of a +book." + +To our little Blanche, the world seemed as yet like a happy garden, +without any enclosure line, where she might enjoy herself as a butterfly +would, fluttering from flower to flower. It would be perfect happiness, +she thought, if she might wander from day to day without restraint, +hearing pleasant words, saying pleasant things, getting all the +enjoyment possible, while avoiding everything which seemed hard or +disagreeable. And the years to come, when she would be a grown-up lady, +having the freedom that she so longed for, lay in the dim distance like +the expected hours of a pleasant summer-holiday, with all kinds of +delicious possibilities folded in each. The world with all its wonders +seemed like a playroom to her, and the marvels of nature interested her, +just as playthings had done in the old nursery days. To her, nature had +never spoken in faint mysterious whispers of a beauty and glory higher +than its own, as it had sometimes done to the lonely little maiden in +her wild mountain home. Nor did Blanche understand, any more than Morag, +that the God whose voice is in the storm, who shapes the grass and +blanches the snow, is the same God who came to dwell upon earth; not +that He might rejoice and revel in the fair world which He made, but to +be its Saviour from the curse and the stain with which sin had defiled +it. + +Sometimes Blanche would recount with dimmed eye and flushing cheek to +her mountain friend stories of noble deeds or patient sufferings of +which she had read or heard; but there was one story with which Blanche +had been familiar from her babyhood, though it had never stirred her +heart nor had any interest for her at all, and she felt much surprised +and somewhat disappointed when Morag begged that the New Testament +should be her lesson-book. She seemed to look on Blanche's smartly-bound +volumes with great interest and reverence, but always brought with her +to the fir-wood the big old Bible with its musty yellow leaves, and its +smell of peat-smoke. After the lesson was over, which as yet consisted +in a recognition of the letters of the alphabet, or efforts to spell out +the easy words, Morag would beg Blanche to read a little to her; and as +the silvery voice flowed pleasantly on, she would listen with an eager +interest which surprised the reader, and in which she did not share. + +On Sunday afternoons it was Blanche's task to read a chapter of the +Bible with Miss Prosser; and rather a wearisome one she always thought +it. The verses seemed to her like a collection of puzzling phrases +strung together, and she was glad when the hour was past, and the book +restored to its shelf for another week. At church, too, she always +looked upon the Lessons as the most wearisome part of the service, and +rejoiced to hear the organ peal again, and the choristers' voices ring +through the aisles. But Blanche was really anxious to be helpful to +Morag, and it vexed her that there were so many things which she could +not explain to her little friend, who was so eager to learn and know +everything. + +One afternoon, when matters were in this state, the girls started with +Chance and Shag to have a long ride. Morag never seemed footsore or +tired, however far she walked, and nothing would persuade her ever to +mount the pony. Blanche renewed her entreaties each day that she would +ride for a little sometimes; but Morag would shake her head in a decided +manner, as she was wont to do, saying, quietly, "I'll no leave the +heather, leddy; my feet's ower weel acquaint wi't to be gettin' tired." +Sometimes she would recount in her low tones, as she trotted by Shag's +side, holding a tuft of his mane, walking exploits which seemed +marvellous to Blanche, as she gazed at the heathery heights so near the +sky, which the little brown feet had scaled, and she began to feel +ambitious to be able to perform similiar feats. "It would be such fun to +climb one of those hills to the very tip-top, quite alone by ourselves," +she would sometimes say. "I shouldn't tell Miss Prosser, you know, +because she would be sure to say it was out of the question. I should +coax Mrs. Worthy to give us a lot of sandwiches, and we would take a +bottle of milk with us, and that would be having a flask like papa. Oh! +it would be so nice, Morag; I really think we must set out the first +chance we can find." + +But Morag was scrupulously faithful to her post as guardian and guide, +and always loyally disapproved of any proposal that might meet with +disapprobation; and she had, moreover, a quiet power over the impulsive +little Blanche, which generally prevailed. + +The cavalcade had started this afternoon on the same road which Blanche +and her father took on the first day when they rode together in Glen +Eagle. The ground was not so quickly gone over on this occasion. There +were many objects of interest which Blanche wanted to examine, now that +Shag had not to be kept up to the swinging trot of her father's hunter. +Occasionally the little Shetlander got rather tired of such a loitering +pace, and would shake his mane, and give his tail a whisk, as if to say, +"Come on, my little mistress! This slow state of affairs is excessively +tiresome; let's have something lively;" and off they would start on a +sharp trot, leaving Morag far behind, but presently returning to her. + +Shag and his mistress had now started in one of these frisky fits, and +Morag seated herself at the roadside to wait till they should reappear +again. Left to her own meditations, she began to think of something +which Blanche had been reading to her yesterday in the fir-wood. She +would fain have heard more, but the little lady had closed the book with +a yawn, and stretching herself on the soft turf, said, impatiently, "O +Morag! I do wish I had my 'Illustrated Fairy Stories' here; I should be +so glad to read them to you, and I'm sure you would like them--they are +so nice;" and then she began, in glowing words, to tell one of them, and +Morag thought it very delightful, indeed; but still her thoughts would +wander back to a wonderful story which she had heard for the first time +that afternoon. Blanche had happened to read in the end of St. John's +Gospel, where we hear about Mary Magdalene finding the rocky grave of +the Lord empty, to her great wonder and grief, till she recognized the +dear familiar voice of the Master, who had risen again from the dead, +and drew near to comfort her. + +Morag had been able to gather from Blanche's reading a little about our +Lord's life on earth, and all the wonderful things which He went about +doing; and she knew that at last He had been killed by wicked men, and +laid in the grave still and dead; but from this story it would seem that +He was alive again; and Morag could not understand it at all. Often she +wandered into the little graveyard in the Glen, and among the worn mossy +headstones peeping from the long rank grass, which told the names of the +quiet sleepers below. Sometimes, too, she watched a little company of +mourners, with their sorrowful burden, wending their way along the white +hilly road; and when she went to see her mother's grave next time, she +would notice a fresh green sod somewhere near, and she knew that another +dweller in the Glen was laid there, in his long home, never to be seen +among them more. + +But this good Lord, who died on the green hill, and was laid in His +rocky grave, seemed to have come back to the world again to speak loving +words to everybody, as He had done before He was crucified. Could He, +then, be alive in the world now? Morag's heart gave a great throb when +she thought of it. Perhaps one day He might come to the hut and speak +kind words to her, as Mr. Clifford had done on that rainy afternoon when +she was so wet and miserable. Perhaps He might offer to get the roof of +the hut put right too, since the laird wouldn't do it, and even to give +her father a new house, which he wanted so much. But Morag thought, that +to hear His voice speaking beautiful kind words, as He used to do to the +people long ago, would be better than anything else; and as she thought +of it, her hope grew stronger every minute, that one day He might come +to the Glen, and she might see Him and hear His voice. + +Blanche came galloping back at last, her face all aglow with happiness, +and her long curls floating about her. + +"O Morag!" she cried, excitedly, "I want you to come and see the +prettiest little cottage I ever saw in my life, with delicious lumps of +green moss growing out of the brown roof, and pretty roses climbing up +the wall. Papa and I passed it before, when we rode this way, and we saw +such a nice old woman in the cornfield behind the house. She was tall +and stooping, and looked so very tired all alone at work among the +sheaves of corn. She looked up with such kind beautiful eyes when Shag +and I passed. I should like so much to see her again; but I've been +looking into the field, and she isn't there, and it's all bare now." +Blanche had been prattling on, not noticing Morag's flushed cheek and +perfect silence. "Did you ever see the cottage, Morag?" she continued. +"Do you know if the old woman really lives there, or anything about her? +Do you hear, Morag?" + +"Ay! I'll be whiles seein' her when I'll be passin' this road. It's +Kirsty Macpherson's hoose," replied Morag, in low, reluctant tones, as +if she were unwilling to volunteer any information on the point. Blanche +noticed that there was something wrong, and they went slowly on without +speaking, till they came to another winding of the road, and the cottage +in question came in sight. Blanche looked longingly across the old grey +dyke from the dusty road into the pleasant little garden, with its +sweet-smelling, old-fashioned flowers and herbs growing side by side +with the gooseberry and currant bushes shaded by one or two ancient +rowan-trees. Morag was evidently trying very hard to avert her eyes, and +kept steadily gazing into Shag's glossy mane, when Blanche exclaimed, as +if inspired by a new and pleasant idea-- + +"Look here, Morag! suppose we knock at the door, and ask the old woman +to give us some water to drink? that would be a good way to see her +again, you know; and, besides, I'm really thirsty, after my gallop. Do +let's go at once; it will be such fun." + +"Ye'll need to ask it yersel, then, leddy. I'll no darken the door," +replied Morag, with flushing face, and an expression about her mouth +which suddenly reminded Blanche that she was the daughter of the +sinister-looking keeper, under whose glance she had felt so strangely +uncomfortable on the evening of the first day in the Glen. She felt +puzzled and annoyed at Morag's reply; but she was a wilful little person +and loved to have her way at any cost. So she pulled up Shag, and +prepared to dismount, saying, rather impatiently, "Well, Morag, if you +don't wish to go, you needn't; though I really can't think why you +shouldn't want to see such a nice old woman But there isn't any harm in +my going to the door surely? and besides I'm really thirsty. You won't +come then?" added Blanche, who had now dismounted, and was gathering up +her habit as she moved towards the little rustic garden-gate. But Morag +made no reply; and taking hold of Shag's bridle, she went slowly on +along the road with a dogged expression on her face. + +The cottage door was ajar, and Blanche could see into the room at one +end, and there, seated at the low fireside in a high-elbowed chair, +quietly reading, she recognized the old woman whom she had seen in the +field binding the sheaf. The little girl knocked gently, but the moment +she had done so, she began to wish that she had not come, especially +when Morag seemed to be so opposed to her going. It was too late to +repent now, however. The old woman had heard her knock, and laying down +the spectacles on her open book, she rose to go to the door. She looked +at the little girl with the same placid face and kindly look in her gray +eyes as she had done across the dyke in the cornfield, and waited +quietly to hear what she wanted. Blanche stood silent for a few seconds, +feeling rather foolish, and forgetting in the confusion of the moment +the mode of address which she had previously arranged, but at last she +managed to gasp out nervously, "Oh! please, I was only passing this way +with Morag and Shag, and I felt rather thirsty, and thought perhaps you +would be so very kind as to give me some water to drink?" + +"That will I, my bonnie bairn. Jist ye step ben here," said the old +woman, smiling kindly. Blanche followed her, looking round this new +interior with considerable curiosity. There were only two rooms in the +cottage, the _but-end_ and the _ben-end_, as they are called in +Scotland. Within, as without the cottage, everything was beautifully +trim and neat. The floor of the room was earthen, but it was smooth and +dry, and looked quite comfortable. The tables and chairs were all of +clean white wood, and on the shelf above the table were ranged rows of +white and blue and yellow shining delf. The fire was on the earthen +floor, kept together by two blocks of stone; and on either side, in what +is called the _ingle-neuk_, there stood one or two little stools, and +near the big arm-chair, where the solitary inmate had been seated. + +Blanche had time to note all these surroundings while the old woman took +a pitcher and went to fetch some water. It was rather an exertion for +her now to go down the steep steps to the well, and indeed she had a +supply of water in the house which was meant to serve for the day; but +Kirsty always liked to give the best she had, and she went gladly to +fetch a draught of cool, clear water from the mountain spring for the +thirsty little maiden. Presently she returned, and setting the pitcher +on the earthen floor, she took a shining delf jug from the shelf, and +filling it she gently offered it to Blanche, saying, with a smile-- + +"Here noo, my bonnie lambie, is a drap o' cauld watter to ye. Ye're +welcome tilt. May ye get a lang draught o' the watter that He gies, +afore ye try a' the broken cisterns o' this warl.'" + +Kirsty's dialect was more difficult for Blanche to understand than even +Morag's. She came originally from that part of Scotland where a rough, +harsh dialect is spoken, almost as difficult for English people to +understand as a foreign language would be. Blanche, however, understood +sufficiently to make her reply eagerly-- + +"Oh! that is the water we read about in the Bible, is it not? I suppose +you are very fond of reading the Bible, and know all about Jesus Christ? +I do wish Morag had been here; you might have told her some of the +things she is so anxious to know. She's so fond of the New +Testament,--so much more than I am. She's such a nice little girl, +Morag. I'm sure you would like her if you knew her," added Blanche, +eagerly, on peace-making thoughts intent. "She is the keeper's daughter, +you know, and often goes out with Shag and me." + +The old woman, in her turn, had difficulty in understanding the little +English girl's rapid, silvery flow, and Blanche had again to explain +that the keeper Dingwall's daughter was waiting outside. + +"Alaster Dingwall's bairn, say ye? I hae heard tell she wasna an ill +bairnie, puir thing. She's ootby there, is she? I wad like richt weel to +tak' a look o' her. It's mony a lang day sin' I hae lookit intil her +faither's face. Weel div I min' upon the last time, though," continued +the old woman, with a sad look in her calm gray eyes. + +"She's at the gate with Shag; do come and see her," said the impulsive +little Blanche, forgetting how unwilling Morag had been to make any +advances to Kirsty. + +"Do you live quite alone in this cottage? Aren't you very lonely +sometimes?" asked Blanche, as she watched the old woman moving about +her solitary habitation. "I'll come back and see you again soon, if you +would like; and perhaps Morag may come in with me, next time," added +Blanche, in an encouraging tone. + +"'Deed, an' I'll be richt glad to see ye, my bairn, gin yer folk kens +ye're here, and doesna' objec. I'm thinkin' ye're fond o' a bit flouer, +like mysel," said the old woman, smiling, as she pulled a pretty yellow +rose from the wall beside the cottage door, where it had been carefully +fastened, to preserve it as long as possible, and gave it to the little +girl, who had stopped to admire it. + +Meanwhile, Morag and Shag were waiting on a shady bit of the road, a few +yards off. Blanche ran eagerly forward to meet them, whispering in an +excited tone to Morag-- + +"O Morag! you'll like her so much. She is such a nice, kind old woman; +and besides," she added, in a lower tone, "I think she knows all about +Jesus Christ--just what you are so anxious about. She's coming now to +talk to you; she knew your father once, she says, and wants to see you." + +The old woman came slowly along the road towards them, but Morag's face +wore a more dogged expression than ever, and she turned away from +Blanche, and began to plait Shag's mane in dumb silence. + +"So ye're Alaster Dingwall's dochter, my bairn," said the old woman, +slowly, as she looked at the little hot-cheeked girl. "Ye maybe dinna +ken auld Kirsty, but yer faither will min' o' her, fine. Will ye tell +Alaster Dingwall that Kirsty Macpherson is willin' to forgie him, though +he brocht sair trouble upo' her ance. But it's lang syne,--and we maun +forgie, as we hope to be forgien," and the old woman held out her long, +thin hand to Morag. + +The little girl glanced at her with a mixture of curiosity and surprise, +and her face worked nervously; but she gave no hand in return, and +preserved a dogged silence. + +Blanche wondered greatly how the good little Morag could ever have grown +so naughty all of a sudden, and there followed an awkward silence, only +broken by some manifestations of restlessness on Shag's part, as if he +thought it was more than time to start for home. At last Blanche thought +there was no use of waiting longer for any rift in the cloud, and going +up to the old woman she laid her little fluttering hand in the thin +fingers, saying, "Good-bye, Kirsty, and thank you very much for the +nice drink of water, and for this pretty rose. I'll make Ellis fix it +in my curls when I'm dressed for the evening. I shall come back to see +you again, at any rate," she added, with an emphasis on the personal +pronoun, as she mounted Shag, and turned to go, while Morag followed +silently, with downcast eye and lingering step. + +The old woman shaded her eyes with her long thin fingers, and stood +watching them till they were out of sight, and then she returned with +slow steps to the cottage. She sighed as she glanced round the room, +which a few minutes ago had been filled by the child's bright presence. +It seemed more solitary than usual now, Kirsty thought, as she looked +wearily round. "She said she thocht I maun be some lonesome. Sic a +bonnie bit blink o' a lassie! I wad like richt weel to see her agin. I +liket the look o' Alaster Dingwall's bairnie. Surely he couldna hae +pitten her agin me? She lookit some dour like, and wouldna speak ava'." + +Like persons who live much alone, Kirsty had the habit of thinking +aloud; and, indeed, her thoughts were so often with a living, listening +Friend, that the practice seemed quite a natural one. As she pulled out +her rough blue stocking, which she was knitting, and seated herself on +the doorstep, in the yellow afternoon sunlight, she continued--"If I +didna mistak that wee leddy wi her sweet tongue, she said that the bairn +was wantin' to ken aboot the Lord Jesus. Eh! Lord, but Thy thochts are +wonderfu' and Thy ways past findin' oor. Puir lambie! may the gude +Shepherd lead her til Himsel. It's a pity gin her faither has pitten her +agin me. I wad like to see the lassie, whiles. There's been nae bairn i' +the house sin he gaed away. My puir, lost laddie! fat's come o' him? O +Lord! I wad fain ken aboot the wanderin' sheep afore I gang hame mysel," +and the old woman covered her face with her withered hands, and rocked +to and fro in silent grief, at the memory of a life-long sorrow which +was ever present with her. + +In the meantime Blanche and Morag had been going on their homeward way. +The afternoon was beautiful as before, and the soft cool breeze made the +road through the heather very pleasant indeed; still neither of the +girls felt so happy or light-hearted as they had done when they started. + + "The little rift within the lute, + That soon must make all music mute," + +had this afternoon shown itself for the first time since they became +friends. With Blanche, however, it was only a momentary feeling of +unpleasantness and perplexity as to how Morag, the wise and good, should +on this occasion have behaved so badly. It was not her habit to keep her +thoughts to herself, so she presently exclaimed, "Well, Morag, I really +can't understand what makes you dislike such a nice old woman. You were +really quite sulky and rude when she held out her hand." + +A host of bitter feelings were surging in poor little Morag's breast, +and she made no reply to Blanche's remark. She had tried so hard to do +what was right, much against her own inclination, and now everything +seemed wrong. Her bonnie wee leddy, whom she loved so well, and wanted +so much to please, had called her rude; and very rude, certainly, must +Kirsty have thought her. + +Little did Blanche know what a familiar, enchanted spot this cottage was +to Morag. How often she had glanced wistfully into the little garden +with its sweet-scented flowers--the nicest she ever saw in her life, and +how she had longed to speak to the old stooping woman moving about among +them. On one eventful occasion, as she happened to pass along the dusty +road, Kirsty stood knitting at the gate, and, looking at the little +girl with her kindly smile, she had said, "It's a richt bonnie day, my +bairn." That was all; but poor little Morag went home feeling as if a +great event had happened, and resolving that she would pass that way +again, in the hope of such another salutation. She recounted the +circumstance glowingly to her father, but as he listened, his face wore +its darkest frown, and he said sternly, "Ye're no to be passin' that way +agin, I tell ye, gettin' Kirsty Macpherson's clavers. Depend on't, she +didna know your name was Dingwall, or she wouldna hae spoken til ye. +Ye'll no be darkenin' her door agin. D'ye hear, Morag?" and the little +girl had replied meekly, for she noticed that her father was in one of +his darkest moods. + +Morag had often pondered the matter, and wondered why her father +disliked Kirsty so very much. Always when they chanced to pass by the +road, Dingwall would glance uneasily at the cottage and its garden to +see if the old woman was about, and presently he would make some bitter +remark, and repeat his injunction that Morag should have nothing to do +with the "like o' her," till the little girl had come to think that +though Kirsty looked so delightful, she must surely be a very wicked +woman. Still, she had a curious fascination for the little girl; she +longed to see the interior of the pretty cottage, and felt a great +interest in all the ongoings of its inmate which it was possible to +observe from afar. She had always conscientiously avoided an encounter, +however, and on this afternoon she had in loyalty to her father shaped +her conduct, which Blanche characterized as rude. But now Morag began to +doubt whether Kirsty could really be a bad woman after all; she looked +so gentle, and had spoken such kind words,--and that strange message to +her father, too, what could it mean? The little girl could not +understand it, and she walked by Shag's side in silent perplexity and +distress. + +Blanche began to feel rather uncomfortable in having Morag walking by +her side so sadly and quietly. She could not be long silent under any +circumstances, and finally took refuge in a lively conversation with +Chance, who had been keeping beside her with rather a depressed aspect, +as if he guessed that something was wrong. At last, when he bounded off +in pursuit of a rabbit which had crossed the road, Blanche felt glad of +the excuse to follow, and trotted off, leaving poor little Morag +companionless. More heartsore than footsore, she wearily seated herself +on the heather to await their return. Her tears were not in the habit of +flowing readily, indeed she hardly remembered having a fit of crying +since she was a little girl; but as she sat on the bank, the bright sky +and the purple heath seemed suddenly to become dim to her eyes, and hot +tears rolled down the brown cheeks, and trickled through the little +hands, which would fain have hid them from the day. It was so hard, she +thought, to have tried to be good and obedient, and yet to feel so much +in the wrong as she did now, and to be so bitterly disgraced. If the wee +leddy could only know how much she would like to have gone to the +cottage-door with her, and what a struggle it had been to refuse when +the opportunity, so longed for, had presented itself. How nice it would +have been to see what was inside those pretty curtained windows, and to +watch the old woman moving about the cottage! And the wee leddy had said +something about Kirsty knowing the Lord Jesus; so she would be sure to +be able to tell her all the things which she wanted so much to know. + +Morag laid her head among the heather, and wept bitterly at the thought +of all she had missed that afternoon. And as she lay sobbing there, the +remembrance of the story which she had heard the day before for the +first time flitted across her little troubled heart like a gleam of +light. The Lord Jesus seemed always so very willing to help and comfort +everybody in trouble before the wicked men crucified Him on the green +hill. And had He not even come back again after He was laid in His +grave, and spoken such kind words to the woman who stood weeping there, +and might He not be able to help her now? + +Hardly knowing that she spoke aloud, Morag buried her face among the +bracken, and cried in her distress, "O Lord Jesus! gin ye be a frien' o' +Kirsty Macpherson's, dinna let her think ill o' me for no speakin' til +her; and mak' me happy again wi' the wee leddy." + +When she had finished speaking, she glanced around with an expectant +gaze, as if she might see a listener standing by her side. But there +stretched the solitary moors on all sides, with the yellow afternoon sun +shining calm and bright on everything, and sending his kind rays upon +the sorrowful little girl. + +Meanwhile, Blanche had been trying to enjoy her canter. She went further +on her homeward way than she intended; and Shag remonstrated not a +little when his bridle-rein intimated that he must retrace his steps. +"What! Shag, do you really mean to say that you've the heart to go home, +and leave Morag all alone?" expostulated Blanche; and at last the wilful +little Shetlander was brought to a better mind. + +And now Blanche began to think of the troubles which she would have to +face again; for she was a little person who could not be happy unless +she was the best of friends with everybody round her, winning and +bestowing smiles on all sides; and she felt that it was a very +uncomfortable state of matters to have Morag walking beside her, so sad +and silent. It did not occur to her that her friend's broken-hearted +aspect was more than half her doing; for Blanche had yet to learn how +much "evil is wrought by want of thought as well as want of heart." But +when she felt herself in the wrong it was a much easier matter for her, +than it is for some people, to seek forgiveness eagerly and graciously. +All at once it dawned upon her that it was not quite kind to have +brought Kirsty to talk to Morag, who seemed so anxious not to see the +old woman. Perhaps, indeed, it might have been better not to have gone +into the cottage at all; and certainly it had quite spoilt a pleasant +afternoon. Thoroughly penitent, Blanche resolved that peace must be +instantly proclaimed between her mountain friend and herself. She +quickened Shag's pace, and swept suddenly round upon poor Morag, whom +she found starting up from the heather with a tear-stained face. Blanche +was at her side in a moment. + +"O Morag, dear, I'm so sorry! It's all my fault. I've just been thinking +I shouldn't have brought Kirsty to speak to you when you didn't want to +see her. Miss Prosser says I'm so thoughtless, and, you see, it's quite +true. Do say you forgive me, and don't cry any more, or I shall begin +directly." And Blanche's eyes filled with tears as she threw her arm +round the little brown neck, and looked into Morag's sorrowful face. + +"It's no that I didna want to see Kirsty, but father bid me no speak til +her,--niver, and I couldna' anger him. I would hae liket weel to gang +inby, though," she added, in a mournful tone. Then Morag went on to +tell, with much unconscious pathos in the narrative, of the romance +which had grown up round Kirsty Macpherson and her pretty dwelling, of +how long she had watched her from afar, often passing by that way, in +order to catch a glimpse of the old woman among her flowers, till her +father's injunction had made it an act of disobedience; and since then +she had tried very hard always to look the other way. Blanche could not +help thinking, as she listened, how much more good and obedient this +little untaught maiden had proved than she was likely to be in similar +circumstances. + +"But, Morag, I really can't think why your father should forbid you to +talk to Kirsty. I'm sure she can't possibly be a bad old woman;" and +Blanche gave a glowing description of her visit to the cottage, to which +Morag listened with eager interest. + +Shag was taking advantage of the pause to snap some delicious blades of +grass on the roadside, as well as his mouthful of steel would permit, +while Chance had drawn near to investigate the reason of this +objectionable halt, and was captured by Blanche, who began to twine a +wreath of deer-horn moss round his reluctant neck, as she talked. + +"I'll tell you what you must do, Morag," she said presently, jumping to +her feet with energy, as if inspired by a new idea. "Tell your father +all about our stopping at Kirsty's cottage,--how I would go to ask for +some water to drink, and how kind and nice she was to me; and wanted to +speak to you so much, if you only might have spoken to her. And, by the +by, she sent a message to your father--something about forgiving him, +wasn't it? I couldn't understand her very well. Now, Morag, if you only +tell your father the whole story, and coax him a little, you know, he +will be sure to allow you to speak to her next time. I do want so much +to go and see her another afternoon; but I shouldn't care to, if you +didn't come with me." + +Morag shook her head; she had not the same belief in her own coaxing +powers as she had in the bonnie wee leddy's. + +"I'll maybe try, but I'm thinkin' he'll no bear the soun' o' Kirsty's +name," said Morag, in a desponding tone, as she rose to recapture the +straying Shag. Then she reminded Blanche that they had still a long way +to go, and pointed to the sun, which was fast westering; so the +cavalcade moved on, and both the little hearts felt happier than they +had before the halt. + +Blanche felt certain that Morag's story would melt her father's +prejudice, whatever it might arise from; and Morag, though less +sanguine, began to be more hopeful, and listened with delighted smile to +the castles in the air which her companion was building concerning a +visit to the cottage; how they would tie Shag to a paling where he +could find some nice grass, and deciding that Chance must really be left +at home, being much too outrageous for a small room like Kirsty's. +Besides, as Blanche thoughtfully suggested, she might very likely have a +cat, in which case, Chance would be a most unwelcome guest, for his +sentiments regarding cats were only too well known to his anxious +mistress. + +Morag was still very shy and timid, and it was only on rare occasions +that even the little English maiden's pleasant prattle could put her at +her ease. It was quite an effort for her still to make a remark or to +ask a question; and now, as she nervously took hold of Shag's mane, +Blanche felt sure that she wanted very much to say something which would +come out presently. At last she asked, in quiet, eager tones, "Will ye +be so kind as to tell me, leddy, what she would be sayin' about the good +Lord? Is she weel acquaint wi' Him?" + +"Oh! let me see. I forget exactly what she said. I think I said that I +thought she must be very lonely, living there all by herself, and she +said she would be if it were not for the Lord Jesus Christ--or something +like that," replied Blanche, unable to give a sufficiently +circumstantial account of that part of the interview to satisfy Morag, +who remarked meditatively-- + +"I dinna' min' o' seein' nobody goin' intil the hoose, excep' auld +Elspet Bruce. Will He be goin' to see her, whiles, when she's her lone, +think ye, leddy?" + +"Who do you mean? I never said anybody went to see her; she did not tell +me so, you funny Morag," replied Blanche, looking puzzled. + +"I jist thocht maybe He will be goin' inby, whiles, when she was +terrible lonesome--the Lord Jesus, ye ken," stammered Morag. + +"Why, Morag, what queer, odd ideas you do have! Nobody ever saw the Lord +Jesus--at least not since He died and went to heaven,--and that's ever +so far away beyond the sun, you know, so He couldn't possibly come back. +I forget how far the nearest planet is from the earth. I had it in my +astronomy lesson the other day only." + +Morag relapsed into puzzled silence. She had not the remotest idea what +astronomy was, and wondered if she should know about that too when she +was able to read the Bible. After a little pause, she hazarded one +remark more-- + +"But do ye no min', leddy, how we read yestreen about the good Lord no +restin' intil His grave, like other folk, and when the woman was cryin' +there, how He came inby, and was terrible kind like?" + +"Oh yes," said Blanche, interrupting her; "of course 'He rose again the +third day,'--the creed says so, you know. But indeed, Morag, He never +comes and sees anybody now. I never heard of such a thing in my life. If +I were to ask Miss Prosser, she would be sure to say, 'My dear, I'm +shocked at your ignorance,' as she generally does when I ask questions." +And Blanche sighed at the thought of her ignorance, which appeared so +shocking to her governess in many instances. + +They were coming near home now, and had reached the shady birk walk +which led to the castle, when they heard through the trees Mr. +Clifford's pleasant ringing tones, which Morag loved to listen to. +"Well, pussy, what mischief have you been about this afternoon?" he +said, smilingly, as he lifted his little daughter from her pony. + +"O papa! I've so much to tell you. I have actually been inside Kirsty's +cottage, and it looks quite as pretty inside as outside, and she's such +a nice old woman," said Blanche, rapturously, forgetting that she had +not introduced her new acquaintance. + +"I fear I must confess shameful ignorance, Blanchie," replied her +father, smiling. "Who is this Kirsty? and where does she abide--a friend +of Morag's?" + +And then Blanche remembered that was a question which might prove +embarrassing, so she adroitly changed the subject. + +"Oh, here comes Lucas for Shag. I know Morag wants to get home to make +ready her father's supper," she continued, being quite at home now in +all the domestic arrangements of the hut among the crags. + +Morag seemed nothing loath to make her escape. She quickly resigned +Shag's bridle to the old coachman and was turning to go, when Mr. +Clifford, opening the luncheon basket, took a beautiful bunch of grapes, +and handed them to her, saying, "Here, little black-eyes, take this to +eat on the way home." + +Morag lifted the dark fringes, and looked timidly up for a moment, then +a pair of brown hands were held out to receive the purple cluster. The +tartan skirt touched the ground in a low curtsey, and after a timid +glance at her bonnie wee leddy, she walked slowly off, carefully +balancing the gift in both hands. + +"I hope she will eat them on the way home, and not keep them for her +father," said Blanche, sighing, as she looked fondly after her little +friend. + +"Why, Blanche! you ungracious little person; do you really object to my +gamekeeper having a share of all the good things going?" said Mr. +Clifford. + +"Yes indeed, I do, papa. I don't think the keeper can be a nice man at +all. Only fancy, he has quarrelled with that nice old Kirsty, and has +forbidden Morag to speak to her even; and she is such a good girl she +will not do it, though she wanted to know Kirsty for ages." + +"And so you are going to be a sort of damsel-errant, riding forth on +Shag to redress all the wrongs and quarrels of the Glen," laughed Mr. +Clifford, as he looked at Blanche's glowing face. "Depend upon it my +keeper has some very good reason at his finger-ends for having +quarrelled with this same Kirsty. Perhaps he found her poaching; who +knows, Blanchie?" + +"What's that, papa? But if it's anything wicked, I'm quite sure Kirsty +would not do it. Is poaching wicked, papa; and what is it?" + +"Just you ask the Major, pussy! Blanche has got a knotty question for +you to solve, Seton," said Mr. Clifford, turning to one of his guests. +"She wants to know if poaching is wicked!" + +"But I want first to know what poaching is, because papa says that nice +old woman Kirsty may have been poaching, and that is the reason why the +keeper dislikes her so much," said Blanche eagerly, as she joined Major +Seton. + +"Ah! I see. You want to know what poaching is, and you reserve the right +of deciding whether it is right or not. Very proper," said the old +gentleman, as he looked kindly at the little eager face. "I'll tell you +what game preservers call poaching; but, perhaps, if you were to ask +your friend of the uncouth name, she might not give you exactly the same +description of the word. You might find her sitting down to sup on a +hare, which she caught in the act of dining off her nice trim row of +cabbages--some of which she meant for her own dinner, probably, if the +hare hadn't thought them good to eat. Perhaps she might invite you to +join in her savory supper, and you might be sitting smacking your lips +over it. But, suddenly, an official-looking individual might pop his +head in at the door with a knowing look, and tapping your friend on the +shoulder, say, in a stern voice, 'My good woman, you must come with me; +you've been poaching.' And if, in defence, you attempted to explain that +the hare was treading down the trim garden, and eating the cabbages +when Kirsty caught it, 'Just so, little girl,' the individual would +reply; 'I see you're in possession of the facts. This woman is a +poacher, and must be committed for trial. My prisoner,' he would say," +and the Major finished with a little tap on Blanche's shoulder, which +made her start as if the said official were at her elbow. + +"So that's what you call poaching?" she said, with a long-drawn breath. +"But, Major Seton, how can anybody call it wicked to kill a beast that +is destroying one's garden when gentlemen shoot them only for fun on the +hills?" + +"So it may appear to our philosophical minds, Blanchie; but I doubt +whether your papa and his gamekeeper will take quite the same view of +the matter. Clifford, your daughter is dead set against the game-laws. I +haven't succeeded in making her view poaching in a criminal light. She's +a born Radical, I fear. You must take her in hand, and teach her young +idea how to shoot in a proper Conservative direction," said the pleasant +old gentleman as he rolled away, but his love for truth brought his +portly figure rolling back again the next minute. "I say, Blanchie, +dear, I'm afraid my parable was decidedly one-sided. Remember that +poachers are often no better than common thieves--stealing a gentleman's +game as they might steal his watch or his umbrella, if they had the +chance. So don't go romancing in your tender heart over the wrongs of +poachers, little woman. They are often great rascals, I assure you." + +"Well, I only hope papa won't ever put a nice old woman into prison for +catching a creature that was spoiling her pretty garden. But do you +know, Major Seton," added Blanche, in a confidential tone, "I don't like +Dingwall. I think he could be very cruel and unkind. He has got such +cruel eyes--not a bit like Morag's. I don't like him at all." + +"Why, what a prejudiced little puss it is, to be sure. What ails you at +the keeper? Is it a case of the unfortunate typical Doctor Fell, I +wonder?" But just then Blanche was summoned to tea, and the reason, if +she had one, of her dislike to the keen-eyed keeper was not forthcoming. + + + + +VII. + +_MORAG'S VISIT TO KIRSTY, AND HOW IT CAME ABOUT._ + + +IT was the Sabbath-day. Glen Eagle was, if possible, stiller than its +wont--no shepherd shouted upon the mountains; no reapers stood among the +upland, half-shorn fields; the moor-fowl had peace that day among the +heather, unmolested by dog or gun. The white, motionless clouds on the +deep blue sky, as well as the lower landscape, seemed pervaded by that +peculiar stillness which Morag always noticed belonged to this day, +though it brought to her no sound of church bells, inviting her to +mingle her worship with the congregation. Sunday was always a very +lonely day in the little eyrie among the mountains, and during these +past weeks they had seemed specially empty and solitary to the little +Morag. For then there were no rambles with the bonnie wee leddy--indeed +she seldom saw her on these days, except she chanced to catch a glimpse +of her from afar, as she was driven past in an open carriage, embedded +in furs and dazzling with bright colors. But the little gloved hand +would always emerge from the furs in friendly salute if Morag was in +view, and the blue eyes look kindly, and often longingly, down on the +little mountain maiden, who would stand watching the shining carriage as +it swept swiftly along the winding road, and listening to Blanche's +silvery laugh as it echoed among the silent hills. + +But on this Sunday morning Morag did not wander down the hill, as usual, +when her work was done, in the hope of catching a glimpse of the people +from the castle. She sat very disconsolately on the turf in front of the +hut, watching her father as he went down the hill toward the kennels. + +The keeper had gone to loose the dogs, to take them for a long walk, +which he always did on Sunday. He was not a frequenter of the little +kirk in the village, and somewhat disliked the cessation from his +ordinary work which the day of rest imposed. This morning he had gone +off in one of his darkest moods. Morag was used to his periods of grim +silence; but, of this one, she thought that she could trace the cause, +and she pondered ruefully over the utter failure of the wee leddy's +sanguine plan for softening the keeper's heart towards Kirsty. The story +of the visit to the cottage, and her share in it, had been narrated on +the previous evening to her father without any other result than a +bitter sneer, as he said, "Ye did weel, Morag, my lass, no to darken +Kirsty Macpherson's door; and gin ye be yer ain frien', ye'll jist +better keep that chatterin' bit leddy outby." + +Morag felt as if she had received a blow, but there still remained one +other arrow in her quiver, and she drew it at a venture. "But, father, +though I didna speak wi' Kirsty, I couldna shut my ears when she was +speakin', ye see. I hae a bit o' a message for ye frae her--I'm thinkin' +I min' upon ilka word that she said--this was it: 'Will ye tell Alaster +Dingwall that auld Kirsty is willin' to forgie him?' There was some more +I'm thinkin', but I didna hear right," she added in low, troubled tones, +lowering her eyelashes, and not daring to look into her father's face. + +He was smoking his pipe at the time, and he sat gazing gloomily into the +red embers on the hearth till he had finished. Morag knew that he had +come in for the night, so she was not a little surprised to see him +refill his pipe again and prepare to go out; but he gave no explanation, +so she did not venture to ask any questions. It was a fine moonlight +night; Morag came to the door of the hut, and stood watching him as he +sauntered slowly down the hill, and went in the direction of a larch +plantation, some distance off, which looked pale and shadowy in the +clear shimmering light, with its background of dark fir-trees that +stretched beyond. + +These larches were young seventeen years ago, when Dingwall had known +the place well; and a crowd of strange memories, conjured up by Morag's +random shot, drew him towards it to-night. The little girl had sat +watching and waiting by the whitening peat embers till she grew very +sleepy; and before her father returned from his night walk, she crept +away to bed. + +So this bright Sunday morning opened very gloomily for the inmates of +the hut among the crags. Morag had taken the old Bible from the depths +of the _kist_, and it lay open before her on the turf, but somehow +to-day she felt disinclined for the slow spelling of the words, and +rather disheartened with her progress generally. She began to fear that +her eye would never be able to go swiftly down the pages, understanding +every word like her little teacher, or as Blanche had said, Kirsty was +able to do; and then her thoughts went back to the events of yesterday. +How sorry the wee leddy would be to hear of the plan for melting the +keeper's prejudice, and perhaps she might be angry and call her rude +again the next time she refused to go into the cottage. It all seemed +very hard, Morag thought; and, as she sat gazing up into the calm sky +with its motionless clouds, she could not help thinking how very far +away it seemed from her and her troubled ways. Presently these sad +meditations were interrupted by the reappearance of her father, who, to +her great surprise, seemed to be coming up the hill again, with the dogs +all scrambling round him. He had only been gone a few minutes, and it +was his custom to take a long walk, so Morag wondered what could have +brought him back, but she did not venture to ask any questions. He +seated himself on the turf beside her, and after playing with the dogs +for a little, he glanced at her with a half smile, and said, hurriedly-- + +"Weel, Morag, lass, is yer heid as sair turned as iver aboot that auld +Kirsty Macpherson?" + +"She looks a real nice old woman, father. I canna think why ye'll no +let me speak wi' the like o' her. She surely canna be an ill woman, as +ye think," returned Morag, emboldened by the smile on her father's face. + +"Wha ever said she was an ill woman?" said the keeper, looking dark +again, and ignoring all the bitter things which Morag had often heard +him say concerning Kirsty. "We did ance quarrel, but I'll no say I wasna +maist to blame. Gin Kirsty Macpherson speaks a ceevil word to ye agin, +ye needna jist athegither haud yer tongue, lass. D'ye understand, +Morag?" asked the keeper, getting up from the turf as if he had said +what was on his mind. + +Morag could hardly believe her ears. She sat watching her father go down +the hill again, as if she were in a dream. Presently an idea seemed to +seize her, and she bounded off after him, and all trembling with +eagerness, she said-- + +"Father, I'm feert Kirsty will be thinkin' me terrible rude for no +speakin' yestreen. Would it anger ye if I jist ran past the cottage to +see if she was outby? I needna speak gin she doesna, ye ken." + +"Oh ay; ye can gang if ye like, lass. I'm thinkin' that Kirsty is atween +ye and yer wits, Morag," he added, smiling at the earnest face. "Jist +tak a brace or twa o' the grouse hangin' there wi' ye. The auld wife +will think mair o' them than us." + +Morag was bounding back to the hut in wild delight, when her father +called again, "Bide a wee, lass. Ye mustna tak' the birds. I dinna think +she would athegither like sic a present frae me." + +Morag stood rather discomfited. The idea of a peace-offering had been +very pleasant, and it was disappointing to be obliged to abandon it. She +suddenly remembered the purple cluster of grapes which Mr. Clifford gave +to her the day before. She had hidden it away as a delightful surprise +for her father, during some period of to-day, and she said, doubtfully-- + +"I was keepin' some bonnie berries for ye that the maister gied me +yestreen; but maybe ye wouldna min' if I gied them to Kirsty?" + +"That'll do fine, my lass," cried Dingwall, in his most good-humored +tone, as he disappeared down the hill, surrounded by the scrambling +pointers and setters. + +In a very short time after, Morag might have been seen hovering near the +little gate of Kirsty's cottage, with her peace-offering carefully +balanced in her little brown hands. A few of the precious moments +previous to setting out had been spent in performing a most careful +toilette, and the opinion of a broken corner of the looking-glass was +that the black locks had never looked so smooth and sleek before. Having +scampered down the hill in a state of breathless excitement, she did not +at first contemplate the bold step of entering the sacred precincts and +knocking at Kirsty's door, as the wee leddy had done. She quite counted +on seeing her "outby" somewhere, and she hung about on the roadside in +that hope, but no Kirsty appeared. Then Morag remembered that it was +Sunday, and she began to fear that the old woman might have gone to the +kirk. The little girl felt bitterly disappointed; for she felt sure that +this must be the case, since Kirsty was not visible anywhere, and no +smoke came from the tiny chimney of the cottage. If she lost this +opportunity, she might never have such another. What if her father +changed his mind again? she thought. Indeed it seemed hardly possible to +believe that she was here with his permission when she remembered his +stern command on the previous evenings that she was never to darken +Kirsty's door. At last, with exhausted patience, she resolved to take +the bold step of entering the little gate and tapping at the door, for +had she not a peace-offering?--and it was just possible that Kirsty +might not have gone to the kirk after all. + +Many a time in after years Morag Dingwall remembered that first knocking +at Kirsty's door on the still Sunday morning, and smiled a quiet, +thankful smile as the vision of the eager, breathless little girl, +standing on the threshold of Life, rose before her in the shadowy +distance of the Past. + +The outer door stood open, but nobody answered the knock, though Morag +fancied that she heard some movement within. The doors of both _but_ and +_ben_ were closed, but she ventured to knock again, and this time a +voice, which seemed to sound feebler than the old woman's did on the +previous day, called "Come ben." + +Morag obeyed the call, and at last stood inside the pretty cottage which +she had so longed to see. The room looked as pretty as the wee leddy had +described it, but the arm-chair at the ingle-neuk was empty, and there +was not the faintest glow among the white peat embers on the hearth. The +little girl looked round in dumb surprise, but presently a voice came +from the bed in the dark-panelled wall, "Eh, lassie, but is this you? +Ye're the keeper Dingwall's bairn 'at I saw yestreen--arna ye?" and +Kirsty raised herself in bed, and holding out her hand, smiled kindly on +the little Morag. + +"Are ye no weel, Kirsty?" she asked, in low, sympathizing tones, as she +drew near the bed. + +"I'm nae jist verra weel the day. I had a bit blastie i' the nicht. +'Deed, bairn, I some thocht He was ga'en to tak' me hame til Himsel. An' +fat's brocht ye here the day, my lassie?" said Kirsty, turning kindly to +the shy little Morag, as she held her hand in her long thin fingers. + +"I brought ye some bonnie berries the castle folk gied me yestreen. +Maybe ye'll tak' some," said the little girl, as she lifted the grapes +from the table where she had laid them, and put them on the bed. + +"Eh, bairn! but that was terrible mindfu' o' ye. They're richt bonnie +graps, and will cool my mou'. 'Deed, they'll be the first thing I hae +tasted the day." Morag felt immensely gratified when Kirsty plucked a +grape from the purple cluster and put it into her parched mouth. She was +now seated at Kirsty's bedside, by her invitation, and began, already, +to feel quite happy and at home in this enchanted interior of her +dreams. + +"I'm richt glaid to see ye, Morag," said the old woman, smiling kindly +on her. "The sicht o' a blythe young face does a body guid--and it's a +rare ane to me, sin' mony a lang year," she said, sadly; and then, +brightening, she added, "But we canna say we're unca lonesome, when we +can hae a sicht o' His ain face, gin we lat Him in. Eh, bairn; but He's +aye keepit His word wi' me. 'I'll no leave ye comfortless, I will come +to ye,'" said Kirsty, as she closed her eyes and laid her head on her +pillow again. + +"Ye'll be meanin' the Lord Jesus, arna ye, Kirsty?" asked Morag, her +face all quivering with eagerness. "Then He does come, efter a'?" she +added, triumphantly. "The wee leddy o' the castle said how it wasna +possible. I would like richt weel to see Him, mysel. He maun aye come i' +the nicht, surely, for I'll whiles be passin' o' this road, and I never +saw Him goin' inby." + +Kirsty looked at the eager, young face, with a shade of perplexity in +her calm, gray eyes. Morag noticed it, and felt a chill, but she would +not give it up yet. "It will be the Lord Jesus who comes cheerin' ye +when ye're feelin' some lonesome like, isna it, Kirsty?" + +"Ay is't, my bairn. And He's willin' to come til ye, just the same. +It's ane o' His ain sweetest words, 'Suffer the children to come.'" + +"But Miss Blanche says naebody iver saw Him, and that He doesna go aboot +healin' and comfortin' folk, as He did lang syne. I dinna understan' it +richt; for just the ither day she read til me i' the fir-wood that He +cam' oot o' His grave efter wicked folk killed Him deid on the green +hill, and was speakin' real kind to the woman that was cryin' inby +there. I would like weel to see Him, Kirsty. I dinna think I would be +feert." + +"Eh, my bairn, but I see fat ye would be at, noo. But ye're jist for a' +the earth like the onbelievin' Thamas, that wouldna rest satisfeid till +he pit his fingers intil His maister's verra side. We mauna forget that +He says Himsel, 'Blessed are they who dinna see, and yet believe.'" + +Kirsty's Biblical illustration was too much advanced to suit the little +untaught maiden, but she gathered enough from it to begin to fear that +the wee leddy must be right after all, and presently she said, in a +mournful tone-- + +"Then, Kirsty, it's true that we canna see His face nor hear Him +speakin' no more at all?" + +"No wi' the eye o' sense, my bairn. 'The warl seeth me nae mair; but ye +see me,' He says Himsel', and He aye keeps His word. Jist ye get a sight +o' Him wi' the eye o' faith, bairn, and it will mak' ye rejoice and be +glaid a' yer days;" and the old woman turned with a radiant smile to the +little girl, who sat gazing wistfully, with folded hands. + +It was evident that this good Lord was a real present person to Kirsty, +however shadowy might be the conception which Morag could at present +form of Him. But to understand in any degree that He was a real, present +friend, though unseen, was more than Morag could know, just then. + +The yellow autumn sun came streaming in at the little window, and shone +on Kirsty's face, showing how wan and wearied it was after her sleepless +night. Morag was full of motherly, ministering instincts, and it made +her little heart ache to see the kind old woman look so ill and feeble. +Glancing at the cold hearth, she remembered, wondering how she could +have been so long of thinking about it, that Kirsty could not have had +any breakfast yet, and must be cold and faint for want of it. + +"Wouldna ye be better wi' a cup o' tea, Kirsty? I'll jist licht a bit +fire, and be puttin' the kettle on," said Morag, as she rose and began +to break some dead branches which Kirsty's careful fingers had gathered +in the gloaming on the evening before. + +"'Deed, bairn, I would tak' it richt kin' o' ye," replied Kirsty, who +had always the good grace to receive a favor simply. + +The branches soon began to crackle merrily, the peats caught the glow, +and the kettle commenced to sing in the midst of the cheerful blaze. +Morag moved quietly about, filled with contentment that she was able to +be of use to Kirsty. She had shut her eyes, and was lying quietly, so +Morag did not trouble her with questions, but seemed to know by instinct +where all the component parts of a cup of tea were to be gathered. When +Kirsty opened her eyes again, it was to see the little maiden standing +by her bedside with the restoring beverage all ready, and a bit of +beautiful toasted bread into the bargain. + +"Eh, but it's unca kin' to be comin' ministerin' til an auld body like +me," said the old woman, as she sat up in bed. "But winna yer faither be +wonderin' what's come ower ye? ye mauna anger him, ye ken." + +"Wha wad hae thocht that Alaster Dingwall's bairn would be makin' a cup +o' tay til auld Kirsty?" continued the old woman in a soliloquy, as +Morag washed the cup and plate when she had finished her breakfast, and +replaced them among the rows of shining delf. How very clean and pretty +they looked, Morag thought; and she resolved that she would immediately +arrange the slender stock of unbroken dishes belonging to the hut after +the same fashion, and make them look bright and shining too. Then she +proceeded to build up the fire with skilful fingers, and surveyed the +room, with a thoughtful air, to see what the possible wants for the day +might be. The pitcher which held the supply of water was almost empty, +so Morag ran quickly down to the spring under the tree, and brought it +back refilled, and then she poured some into a cup and set it by +Kirsty's bed. "Thank ye kindly, bairn. The Lord reward ye for yer +helpin' o' an auld frail craeter. Afore ye gang, wad ye jist rax me that +Bible, an' maybe ye wad read a bittie til me; my eyes are some dim the +day?" + +"I would be richt glaid to read to ye, Kirsty, but I canna read ony," +replied Morag, sadly, with an ashamed look; and then she added, "the wee +leddy's been tryin' to learn me, though, and maybe I'll be fit to read +to ye some day, but it'll no be for a lang time yet, I'm thinkin'." + +"Eh, my puir bairn, I never thocht but ye could read. 'Deed it was ill +dune o' the keeper nae to sen' ye til the schule," remarked Kirsty, in a +more severe tone than she generally used. + +"How could he sen' me til the schule, and it such a lang road frae +this,--and him aye needin' me forby," replied Morag, kindling up in her +absent parent's defence. + +"Weel, weel, bairn; maybe I shouldna hae been judgin'. We're a' ready +eneuf at that. But gin ye'll come to see me, whiles, when I'm a bit +stronger like, I'll gie ye a' the help wi' the reading 'at I can. I've a +gey curran buiks there." + +"I'll be real glaid to come back and see ye, and I'm thinkin' father +will no hinder me, noo. I maun be goin' hame, but I'll try and get back +the morn, to speir how ye're keepin'. I'm real sorry to leave ye yer +lone, Kirsty," said Morag, pityingly, as she glanced at the lonely, +frail old woman. Then she remembered what Kirsty said about not being +lonesome when the Lord Jesus was with her, and she added, "I'm thinkin' +when I'm awa, ye'll jist be speakin' til Him--the good Lord, ye ken." + +"Aye, that will I my bairn; an' I houp ye'll learn to speak wi' Him +yersel. It's His ain blessed Word, that them that hungers efter Him will +be filled. 'Deed but I'm richt glad ye're ta'en up aboot Him, Morag. +There's whiles He stands at the door o' bairns' hairts and knocks, and +they winna lat Him in; but tak' their ain foolish, sorrowfu' gait. Keep +on seekin' Him, and ye'll surely get a sicht o' His face or lang. It's +jist as plain as gin ye saw Himsel' i' the body, like the woman at His +grave. Now, bairn, ye mauna bide a minute langer. Yer faither will be +wonderin' what's come ower ye," said Kirsty, looking uneasily at Morag, +who had seated herself again, and seemed inclined to linger. "Tak' this +bonnie word wi' ye oot o' His ain Beuk," she added, smiling on the +little, grave, perplexed face that looked into hers. "'Them 'at seek me +early shall fin' me.' Good-day, Morag, and haste ye back." + +Morag was soon crossing the breezy heather road on her way home, with a +very happy heart, only disturbed by a slight feeling of anxiety lest her +father should have relapsed into his old state of feeling towards +Kirsty, and she should be hindered from another visit to the cottage. + + + + +VIII. + +_THE GYPSIES AT LAST._ + + +ONE pleasant day, when the woods and hills of Glen Eagle were lying in +the yellow afternoon sunshine, Morag and Blanche wandered into their old +trysting-place, the fir-wood, which they had rather deserted of late. + +The precious holiday afternoons had most frequently been spent in the +_ben-end_ of Kirsty's cottage, and a staunch friendship had sprung up +between the old woman and the little girls. These visits had become a +great and daily happiness to Morag. Kirsty's illness lasted for some +time, and Morag often thought that but for it she should never have felt +so much at home in the cottage, which she had so long watched from afar +with a mingled feeling of curiosity and dislike; and now she knew every +stone and cupboard of it by heart. For had she not helped Kirsty on her +recovery to make a thorough cleaning of both _but_ and _ben_, for which +the old woman's active fingers had longed, as soon as she was "to the +fore" again. Already, the little untaught maiden had learnt from her old +friend many useful household arts and wise maxims, and the keeper's home +began to bear traces of Kirsty's thrifty ways and cleanly habits. Every +morning during the old woman's illness, Morag had started for the +cottage after her own work was done, taking the short cut through the +heather, and gathering, as she went, a little bundle of sticks for the +fire-lighting. Then, after Kirsty's morning wants were supplied--and she +was not an exacting invalid--Morag would take her seat on a little low +wooden stool which Kirsty named "Thrummy," from its being covered with +shreds of cloth fastened to the wood. It was made by her long ago for a +vanished child, who once had been the light of that now lonely home. +Morag often sat on it in these days, listening with eager, upturned face +to Kirsty's solemn reading of the book she loved. Her rough northern +tongue sounded very different from the silvery flow of the little +English lady; but Morag felt that the words which she heard in the +cottage were no mere tale to Kirsty, "no vain thing, but her life." + +Slowly, the words of Jesus began to sink into the little girl's heart, +and gradually she came to understand, after the first chill of +disappointment was past, that though the earthly voice of the Son of Man +was heard no longer, nor His ministering touch felt among the people, as +it used to be in those early days of which the Gospels told, yet He was +still the loving, listening Helper of all who came to Him. Kirsty's +belief that He was not dead, nor very far away, but a very present +Friend to be listened to and spoken to at all times with a certainty +that He would both hear and help, had in some degree penetrated Morag's +soul; and she, too, ventured to bring her little cares and troubles to +this new-found Friend, and had already a spiritual record of help given +and difficulties met in the name and strength of Jesus. + +And so it happened that Kirsty's cottage became quite a rival to the +fir-wood, which seemed to Morag like a dearly-loved, but neglected +friend, as she trod among the soft moss and brown fir-needles on this +afternoon. After visiting a few of the historical spots sacred to the +memory of the first days of their acquaintance, Blanche proposed that +they should make an exploring tour to a part of the forest which she had +never visited; and the little girls made their way through the fir-trees +to where the Shadows were darkest, and the arching green boughs almost +shut out the day. Blanche was gay and talkative as usual, dancing hither +and thither, singing snatches of songs, and making the great aisles of +pine re-echo with her laughter and fun. She kept stopping as usual to +gather various treasures from the great floor of the forest--"specimens," +she called them; but it is to be feared that they never reached a calm +state of museum classification. Blanche meant that these "specimens" +should travel to London with her--and stowed them away in corners of her +room with that intention, though her design was frustrated in most +cases, however, by their being deposited in the dust-bin by Ellis, while +she remarked to cook that she "never did see the like of missy for +fillin' her room with rubbage of all kinds." + +Chance had chosen to remain at home on this afternoon, notwithstanding +Blanche's pressing invitation that he should accompany them. He had +replied to it by shaking his head, knowingly, as if to say, "No, no, my +little mistress, I'm not going to be taken in. Shag is not going, I see; +so you are only going to loiter about in an aimless manner, and I should +certainly be bored. Much nicer here," he thought, as he stretched +himself lazily on the warm stones of the old court-yard, where the sun +was striking, and snapped at a fly,--pretending to look the other way +when Blanche made her final appeal to his honor and conscience. Perhaps +he felt a few twinges of remorse at having so determinately chosen to +neglect his duty, for he rose presently and stood looking after the +girls as they disappeared among the birk-trees; but he did not repent, +evidently, for he went and lay down again, deciding that there was no +use of a fellow putting himself about for two silly little girls on a +hot afternoon like this. + +Morag and Blanche wandered into the forest till they reached the old +road skirted by a low, lichen-spotted wall, which was the entrance to +the glen, and divided the forest. And now Morag's clock--the afternoon +sun--told her that it was more than time for them to be turning their +steps in a homeward direction,--especially since, that very afternoon, +before they started, she had received strict injunctions from Miss +Prosser to see that her charge was not again late for tea, since the +flight of time seemed to pass quite unnoticed by Miss Clifford. It was +by no means an easy matter to be time-keeper to such an inconsequent +young lady as Blanche, who never realized the unpleasantness of being +late till she was brought face to face with Miss Prosser. She was now +wandering about in all directions, adding to her lapful of gatherings, +and talking pleasant nonsense, while Morag's rare laugh was sometimes +heard joining in her merriment. + +At last they started on their homeward way, and Morag was congratulating +herself that she would be able to present her erratic wee leddy in time +for tea, when Blanche noticed a plantation of larches, which looked so +pretty and feathery through the dark firs that she thought she should +like to inspect them more closely, and coaxed Morag to come on with her. + +An old grey dyke separated the fir forest from the larches. The girls +followed its windings for a little, and presently Blanche climbed across +the loose stones, and went a little way into the larch plantation to +explore. Morag felt impatient to proceed, and walked on to try and +discover which would be the most direct route home through the firs. +Presently she heard a sound, which her accustomed ear detected as an +unusual one in that silent sanctuary of hers. She hastily turned a sharp +corner to see what the next winding of the dyke would disclose, and, in +doing so, she almost ran up again a sort of tent. It was a very rude +erection, and consisted of a few large branches which had been driven +loosely into the ground, and partly rested against the old wall for +support. A tarpaulin was thrown over them, but it was evidently too +small to cover the abode, and was supplemented by a tartan plaid, which +hung across the front stakes, so that no entrance was visible. This was +not Nature's doing, evidently, and Morag was seized with a great panic +when she saw the unexpected human habitation. She had heard wild stories +of terrible deeds done on lonely moors and in lonely woods, and felt +more frightened than she had ever done in her life when she thought how +far they were from home, and that the precious wee leddy was +unprotected, save by her. However, she saw no terrific personage as yet, +and she began to hope that the inmates of the tent might be from home. +But there was that sound again, and this time it seemed like the moaning +of a voice in pain. Morag felt that safety lay in immediate flight, and +she quietly turned to meet Blanche, and to make a sign of silence. But, +before she had time to do so, the wee leddy's voice rang out in gleeful +tones, concerning the varied delights of the larch plantation, which +the dwellers under the tartan could not fail to hear. Whenever Blanche +caught a glimpse of Morag's startled face, she knew that there must be +something very far wrong, and she stood looking at her in questioning +silence. Presently, a rustling sound made them both turn, and Blanche's +eye caught sight of the rude tent. For a moment she stood riveted gazing +at it, while Ellis's stories and prophecies concerning the gypsies +chased each other through her mind, and she thought with terror that +they had all come true at last. + +Presently there was a fluttering of the tartan awning, and a hand +appeared among its fringes, as if to make a passage out. + +Blanche's face grew white with fear, and she clutched Morag's arm with a +scream of terror. The little mountain maiden kept quite silent, though +her face looked as terror-stricken as that of her companion. Seizing +Blanche's arm, she began to pull her along, running as nearly as +possible in a homeward direction. On they galloped, breathless and +speechless; but the fir needles were slippery, and the trees were in the +way. + +At last Morag felt that the wee leddy's steps were beginning to flag; +and, worse than all, she fancied that she heard footsteps behind. It was +a terrible effort, but the suspense began to be insupportable, and +without slackening her pace she turned to look. There, sure enough, was +a man behind them, gaining ground upon them very fast, too. Poor Blanche +kept up bravely in the race for a while, but now she began to fail. +First, her hat fell off, and even Morag did not venture to turn to pick +it up; then her lapful of gatherings dropped one by one, tripping her as +they fell; finally she stumbled, and the golden crown was down, down +among the fir-needles, and the tears were falling fast. No entreaties of +Morag's could persuade her to move, and the footsteps of the pursuer +sounded nearer every minute. The little mountaineer could have outrun +almost anybody, but she never dreamt of leaving Blanche; and now she +seated herself quietly beside her bonnie wee leddy, determined to +protect her to the death. In her distress she cried to the unseen, +listening Friend, whom in these last days she had been learning to know: +"O Lord Jesus, dinna let the gypsies get hand o' us; and may no ill come +ower the bonnie wee leddy here," she added as she seized her hand, and +made a last effort to rouse her to run again. She knew that the pursuer, +whoever he might be, must be close at hand now, but she did not dare to +look back. Blanche at last raised her head, and now, for the first +time, she heard the sound of the footsteps behind. With a shriek of +terror she rose to run again; Morag followed, but this time she did not +feel quite so frightened, somehow, as she had done before, and, at last, +a sudden impulse caused her to turn round to face her pursuer, and await +her fate. + +Hurrying through the fir trees, she saw, not a terrific-looking gypsy, +but a pale, slender boy, with a gentle-looking face, considerably taller +than herself. He was signing to her, and called something when he saw +her turn round at last. Morag's terror began to abate in some degree, +and the boy presently joined her, breathless after his chase, and rather +frightened-looking also. He was holding Blanche's hat in his hand, which +he shyly restored to Morag. "She dropt it," he said, pointing to +Blanche, who still continued to run at full speed without turning to +look. The restoration of the dropped hat looked promising; Morag began +to feel reassured, and at the same time rather ashamed of herself. + +"Will you be so kind as tell me where I can find some water?" asked the +boy in a quiet tone; "we are strangers, and mother is very sick;" and +his voice faltered. + +Morag's little motherly heart was melted in an instant. "I'm real sorry +yer mother's no weel," she replied in sympathizing tones. "I'll maybe +find a drop o' water for ye, but it's some far frae here. The wee leddy +and me were terribly frightened, and we couldna jist help runnin'," she +added apologetically. + +Blanche had halted in her flight, not hearing Morag's step behind, and +her astonishment was as great as her terror had been the previous moment +when she turned and saw Morag calmly engaged in conversation with the +object of their fear. She did not venture to join them; but a feeling of +curiosity, which is a great dispeller of fear, took possession of her, +and she stood waiting breathlessly to see what was going to happen next. + +Presently Morag came running to her to explain and consult. The lad +slowly followed, looking rather more abashed than before, when he saw +Blanche. He turned to Morag again and said, eagerly, "Will you not come +and see my mother? I think it might cheer her to see you. We have come a +long way, and the water is done, and she is so tired and thirsty. I'm +afraid she is very ill--she says she's dying." It was a fine manly face; +but the gray eyes filled with tears as he looked imploringly, first at +one and then at the other of the little girls. + +"Oh yes, certainly; we shall be glad to go and see your mother. I do +hope she is not so very ill. And, of course, we must find some water, +though we have to go right home for it, Morag," said the impulsive +little Blanche, every trace of her former fear having vanished in a +moment. "You must have thought it very queer of Morag and me to run away +as we did. But, indeed, we were dreadfully frightened, and quite thought +you were dangerous gypsies, you know." + +The boy's face flushed, but he made no reply. Meanwhile, Morag was +silently planning what would be the best thing to do. It was now more +than time that Blanche should have returned to the castle, and yet here +was an appeal which it would require a harder heart than Morag's to +resist. + +"Of course we must help him, Morag," whispered Blanche, noticing her +hesitation. "Don't you see how sad he is about his sick mother? I really +don't think there could be any harm in going to see her. He seems so +very anxious. Come, let's go for one minute." + +And so they turned to retrace their steps along the path over which +they had hurried in such terror a few minutes before, with their dreaded +pursuer walking calmly and inoffensively by their side. + +When they reached the tent, Morag recognized the moaning voice which had +at first roused her alarm. The boy drew aside the tartan folds and +stepped in before them, and presently they heard a feeble voice say, +"Kenneth! Kenneth! you've been long away. Don't leave me, my boy--it +won't be long now you'll have to stay. I would like to have lived to see +her, though. We must surely be near the place now. The last milestone +said three miles from the kirk town of Glen Eagle, didn't it? The +Highlander said she was still alive, you know. You'll seek her out when +I'm gone--she's good and kind, he always said. Bring her here, and +she'll help you with everything there will be to do--after I'm gone. I +would fain have seen her once before I died, though; but you'll tell her +I have gone to meet her long lost Kenneth, who is safe in the happy home +of God. You will follow Jesus, and He will lead you safe home, my boy." + +Morag had been listening intently to the feeble, broken sentences, and +now she could hear that Kenneth gave a great sob, as he said, "O +mother! don't speak like that! I'm sure you'll feel better again, when +we find grandmother. You've often been nearly as ill before. There's a +nice little girl I met in the wood, going to try to get some water, and +maybe you'll be better after you get a drink." + +"A girl did you say, Kenny? where is she?" asked the sick woman, turning +restlessly about. + +Kenneth drew aside the tartan screen, and beckoned to Morag, who stepped +in softly, followed by Blanche. + +In a corner of the tent, on some loose straw, lay the dying woman, with +her head resting on one of the lichen-spotted stones of the old dyke. +She turned her large, bright, restless eyes on the little girls as they +entered the tent. Raising herself a little, so that she might see the +strangers, she said, in a feeble, though excited tone, "I'm very ill, +you see. I've come a long, long way to die in this lonely forest. I +didn't think once that I should end my days like this." A fit of +coughing came on, and after it was over she lay back exhausted. + +Blanche had never seen anybody very ill before, and she felt rather +afraid of the bright, hollow eyes and the strange sound of the short, +gasping breath, and was much relieved when Morag stepped forward and +put her little brown hand into the white, wasted fingers. The little +girl could not think of anything to say, but she stood, with a pitying +look, holding the hand of the sick woman, who seemed pleased, and smiled +kindly on her. Suddenly she seemed to recollect something, and starting +up, she asked Morag, in an eager tone, "Can you tell me where Glen Eagle +is? it surely can't be far from here;" and before Morag had time to +reply, she added, "Did you ever hear of a Mrs. Macpherson who lives near +there, in a little cottage all alone?" + +Morag pondered for a moment, and then, turning to Blanche, she said, +"Will that no be Kirsty?" + +"Yes, yes; it is Kirsty! Christian was her name. He used to say they +called her Kirsty," exclaimed the sick woman, eagerly. + +Kenneth had been mending a fire which he had kindled between two of the +loose stones. As he got up from his knees to listen, a ray of hope +flitted across his pale, anxious face. + +"Oh, we know Kirsty perfectly well!" burst in Blanche, glad to be able +to say something pleasant. "Morag and I go to see her almost every day. +She is such a nice old woman, and lives in such a pretty cottage!" + +"Do you think you could bring her here to see me?" said the sick woman, +entreatingly. "I do so want to see her once before I die." + +Morag glanced doubtfully at Blanche. "It's no jist terrible far frae +here til Kirsty's cottage; but she hasna been weel, and it's a lang road +for her to come, I'm thinkin'. But I wouldna be long o' runnin' to see." + +"God be thanked. He has granted me the desire of my heart," said the +dying woman, clasping her hands. "The Lord reward you, child. Tell +Christian Macpherson that her Kenneth's wife is lying dying here, and +wants to see her--to come soon--soon," and she sank back, exhausted with +the effort of speaking. + +"We had better start at once, Morag," whispered Blanche, eagerly. "I do +hope Kirsty will be able to come. It is certainly very far for her to +walk. Never mind me, Morag," she added, seeing her friend look perplexed +as to the best course of action. "Of course I shall be hopelessly late; +but I'll tell papa all about it, and I'm sure he won't be angry. He will +have come from the moors, I daresay, by the time we get home." + +"I'm so thirsty; do you think you could find me some water? It might +keep me up till she comes," said the woman, turning wearily to Morag. + +And then a new difficulty arose; for the nearest spring was quite +half-way to Kirsty's cottage, and Morag foresaw that there could not +possibly be time before dark to fetch the supply of water, and bring +Kirsty too; and Kenneth could not go, for the poor woman was evidently +too ill to be left alone. + +"I'll tell you what we must do," said Blanche, quickly perceiving the +difficulty. "I can't go to Kirsty's, because I shouldn't know the way +through the wood, you see! But I can stay with your mother," continued +Blanche, turning to Kenneth, and trying hard to look as if she were +making an ordinary arrangement, she added; "and you can go with Morag +and fetch the water, while she goes on to the cottage." + +It was certainly a great effort for Blanche to make this proposal, but +she was very anxious to be brave and helpful in the midst of this sad +scene, and she insisted on its being carried out, though Morag felt very +doubtful as to the propriety of leaving her bonnie wee leddy all alone +there. Still there seemed no help for it, so she consented at last, and +was soon hurrying towards the spring with Kenneth. They walked along +the narrow path through the forest for a long time without breaking the +silence. At last Kenneth said in a stammering tone, "You've been very +kind to us, strangers; I'll never forget it, and I'm sure mother won't. +I think she'll be all right again when she has seen grandmother. She has +been fretting so about finding her." + +"Is Kirsty Macpherson your grandmother?" said Morag in a surprised tone, +raising her downcast eyes, and looking at Kenneth. "She never telt me +about ye," she added, musingly. + +They had now reached the spring, and Kenneth having quickly filled his +pitcher, and looking gratefully at Morag, turned to retrace his steps in +the direction of the tent. + +The little girl ran on eagerly, more anxious than ever to fulfil her +mission. Emerging from the forest at last, she crossed a small hillock, +and came down at the back of Kirsty's cottage. She found the old woman +seated at the door, knitting busily, as she watched the sunset. The +amber clouds were beginning to gather round the dying sun, and Kirsty +sat watching the cloudland scene with a far-away look in her tranquil +gray eyes. + +"Na! but is this you, my dawtie? I'm richt glad to see ye. I some +thocht ye might be the nicht; but how cam' ye roun' by the back o' the +hoose?" asked Kirsty, smiling as she welcomed her little friend, when +she appeared round the gable of the cottage. + +Instead of answering her question, Morag asked, hurriedly, "Kirsty, will +ye be fit for a good bit o' a walk the nicht, think ye?" + +"Weel, bairn, I wouldna min' a bittie, in this bonnie gloamin'; but I'll +no say I'll gang sae fast or sae far as I ance could hae done," replied +the old woman, smiling at Morag's breathless eagerness. + +"D'ye think ye could gang as far as the other end o' the fir-wood, +Kirsty?" + +"Na, bairn; but I'm thinkin' ye're makin' a fule o' me the nicht. Ye ken +brawly I hinna gaen that length this mony a day," said Kirsty, looking +up with a shade of irritation in her calm face at the thoughtlessness of +her usually considerate little friend. + +"Weel, Kirsty, I'm thinkin' ye'll need to try it the nicht. There's +somebody lyin' there that's terrible anxious to see ye." Morag's voice +trembled, as she continued, "I've a message for ye, Kirsty. Your ain +lost Kenneth's wife is lyin' i' the firwood, and wants to see ye afore +she dees!" + +For a moment Kirsty looked bewildered; but there was no mistaking the +slowly spoken words of the message. Presently she held out her hand to +Morag to help her from her low seat, with a sigh; and, leaning against +the door, she stood thinking. Her usually calm eyes looked hungrily at +the little messenger, and her voice sounded faint and hollow as she +asked, "Is he there himsel?" And then she added, shaking her head, +mournfully, "Na, it couldna be; he would hae come til his mither +surely." + +"There is a Kenneth, but I'm thinkin' he's no yer ain, Kirsty," replied +Morag, with a pitying glance at the poor mother's yearning face. + +"Tak' me til her, Morag. Kenneth's wife!--she's dyin' i' the fir-wood! +The Lord grant me the strength to gang." And the old woman laid her +trembling hand on the little girl's shoulder as she moved to go. + +Very soon they were toiling across the hillock together, and not till +they were far into the forest was the silence broken. + +Meanwhile, Blanche had seated herself on the grey dyke, and was keeping +watch beside the sick woman. It was a strange vigil to keep, alone in +the darkening fir-wood, beside this tossing, wild-eyed, dying woman; +but, somehow, Blanche did not feel frightened in the least degree. Since +she had taken her post, it began to seem the most natural thing in the +world that she should be there. The sick woman took no notice of the +little girl for some time, and, indeed, seemed hardly aware of her +presence, till, turning round suddenly, she saw her seated there, her +fair curls gleaming in the half darkness. She looked at her restlessly +for a little, and said presently, "How came you here, my pretty dear. +You're surely far from home. Will your mamma not be getting anxious +about you? It seems so dark in that wood." + +"I haven't got a mamma," replied Blanche, vivaciously. "Miss Prosser +will be cross, I daresay; but I don't think she'll mind when I explain. +I'm sure Morag won't be longer than she can help in bringing in Kirsty," +added Blanche in a comforting tone, for she noticed that the weary eyes +wandered restlessly toward the entrance of the tent. + +Presently a terrible fit of a breathlessness came on, and the poor woman +sank back exhausted on her hard stone pillow when it was over. Blanche +gazed pityingly at the sufferer, and longed for the morrow, when she +meant to return with various needful comforts. She had made up her mind +to enlist Mrs. Worthy's sympathy, believing her to be more amiable than +Ellis. + +Meanwhile, she took off her soft jacket, and folding it, she slipped it +under the poor restless head on the hard stone. The sick woman noticed +the pleasant change, and smiled gratefully. And as Blanche looked at +her, she thought how pretty she must once have been, before the cheeks +had got so hollow, and the eyes so sunken. + +It was beginning to get very dark within the tent, and Blanche was not +sorry to see Kenneth make his appearance with his pitcher filled with +clear water from the spring. The sick woman seemed greatly refreshed by +the draught, which she drank eagerly. But presently, she began to get +very restless, and kept moaning, "Kenny! Kenny! are they not within +sight yet? It's so long since that little girl went away." + +At last, after Kenneth had drawn aside the tartan folds several times, +he brought back the news that the little girl and an old bent woman were +coming through the trees. + +"Oh, it's all right!--Kirsty and Morag--here they come!" cried Blanche, +joyfully, as she sprung out to meet them, saying eagerly to Kirsty, "Do +come quickly; she's so very anxious to see you, Kirsty!" + +The old woman made no reply, but walked silently towards the tent, +looking intently at Kenneth, who stood in front of it. "My ain Kenneth's +bairn," she murmured, as she laid her trembling hand on his head. Morag +heard him say, "Grandmother, we've found you at last! Mother will be so +glad!" and he led her to where the dying woman lay, and the tartan folds +shut them out from sight. + +In the meantime, two figures might be seen wandering through the forest, +searching hither and thither in all directions. They were Ellis and the +keeper, who had started in company to look for the missing girls. +Blanche's maid was in a state of high nervous agitation concerning her +little mistress. She had been consigning her to various imaginary +harrowing fates since she left the castle in search of her, but the +keeper had smiled his grim smile, and assured her that girls were like +kittens, and had nine lives. Nevertheless, he too began to feel rather +anxious about them, after he had reluctantly led the way to Kirsty's +cottage, where he expected to find them safely housed; but, to his +surprise, they found it quite tenantless. Ellis began to wring her +hands in despair when she detected a shade of anxiety on the keeper's +face, after the neighborhood of the cottage had been searched without +any result. Then Dingwall decided that the fir-wood must be thoroughly +explored, for he knew that it was one of Morag's favorite haunts. They +wandered on, searching everywhere, till at last the keeper's keen eye +discovered, through the fir-trees, the dark tent resting against the old +dyke, with its back-ground of pale larches. He began to feel rather +uneasy, and to wish that he had brought some defensive weapon with him, +for there was no trace of the girls, and it was more than likely they +had been picked up by the gypsies, and sharp measures might be necessary +for their recovery. He did not, however, confide his fears to Ellis, but +went forward to take a nearer inspection of the encampment. + +Meanwhile, the little girls were hovering about the tent, wondering what +would happen next. Morag had quite made up her mind that the wee leddy +must instantly be conducted homewards, and was relieved to find that she +was not unwilling to go--the reason being that Blanche was full of +hospitable ideas concerning the dwellers under the tartan, and she felt +impatient to get home again to enlist all the sympathy possible in +their favor. + +Morag, before starting for the castle, had gone to reconnoitre a little +round the tent, to try to find an opportunity of whispering to Kirsty +that she would return presently, provided her father would allow her. +Just at that moment, Blanche spied Ellis and the keeper hovering about +among the trees, and ran forward to meet them. + +Ellis's anxiety immediately changed to indignation when she perceived +that her little mistress was safe and sound, and she was about to break +forth in angry words of remonstrance when Blanche held up a warning +finger and pointed to the tent, which the little fire within was making +more visible in the darkness. + +"Gypsies, I declare!" shrieked Ellis. "You've been kidnapped. We're just +in time to save her!" she added, wringing her hands, and turning to the +keeper, who in his turn began to feel a shade of anxiety regarding his +Morag, as she was nowhere visible. + +"Hush, Ellis; they aren't gypsies a bit. There is a very sick woman +lying there--dying, she says, but I hope she isn't quite that. They are +strangers, and have come a long way." + +"Didn't I tell you? They always come from the hends of the earth. +Gypsies, as sure's my name's Ellis. Are you kidnapped, missie--tell me +now?" But Blanche appeared still in possession of a wonderful amount of +freedom, and glanced with an amused smile at the keeper as she listened +to her maid's suggestions. So Ellis continued, in an angry tone-- + +"What have you ever been about so long, missie? Miss Prosser's well-nigh +into a fit about you, and Mrs. Worthy says she can't sit two minutes in +one place for anxiety. And there's cook, as declares she has miscooked +master's dinner for the first time in her life--all on account of her +hagitation concernin' you." And Ellis went on to give a chronicle of the +various distracted feelings of each separate member of the household. + +"Has papa come home, then? and what did he say about my being so late?" +interposed Blanche at last. + +"Oh, well, you see the master is a quiet gentleman, and never does make +much ado," replied Ellis, rather crestfallen that she had nothing +sensational to narrate from that quarter. "But he said we would be sure +to find you at that old woman what's-her-name's cottage, where you're so +fond of going to; and you see we didn't. Really, missie, it's too bad! +I'm near wore off my feet between the fear and the draggin' after you. +I only hope you won't be let go out at the door again without Miss +Prosser--that's all I've got to say." + +Blanche hoped it was, but she feared not. She had a painful +consciousness that she was jacketless, and felt certain that, sooner or +later, that fact would be discovered and inquired into. + +Meanwhile, Morag joined them, not having been able to get a word with +Kirsty, though she could hear her voice mingle soothingly with the +eager, gasping tones of the dying woman, who appeared to have a great +deal to say to this long-sought friend. Morag seemed to feel more relief +than alarm at the sight of Ellis in possession of her little charge. But +when she discovered her father's tall form leaning against one of her +pillars of fir, she started, and looked nervously towards the tent. The +keeper accosted her rather sternly, saying, "I wonder at ye, Morag. I +thocht ye had mair wit--takin' up wi' a set o' tinkers, and bidin' oot +so lang, forby." + +Morag did not venture to explain the cause of their delay, nor did she +mention that Kirsty Macpherson was so near at hand. She observed that, +though her father seemed quite willing now that she should go to see +the old woman, yet he evidently wished to avoid meeting her; and Morag +felt sure that to disclose the fact that Kirsty was one of the alleged +tinkers within the tartan folds, would not help to smooth matters. + +"Missie! wherever is your jacket?--well, I never!" screamed the maid, +with uplifted hands, when, for the first time, she observed the absence +of that garment. + +"My jacket? Oh, never mind, Ellis; it isn't cold," replied Blanche, +looking rather uneasy, but attempting to assume a careless tone. + +"Never mind! Did I ever know the like? Where's your jacket, missie? I +insist on knowing!" screeched the excited Ellis. "Stolen by them +vagrants you've been a-takin' up with, I'll be bound," and the maid +looked at the keeper, as if she thought he ought to take immediate steps +towards the recovery of the stolen property. + +Morag glanced anxiously at Blanche. She did not know what had become of +the missing jacket, and she began to wonder whether it could have been +dropped in their flight from the supposed dangerous gypsy. She was about +to suggest that she might go to look for it, when the indignant Ellis +continued-- + +"Well, keeper, what _is_ to be done? You see Miss Blanche doesn't even +deny that they've stolen her jacket--her beautiful ermine one, too. I +gave it her on because she sneezed this morning. Pity there isn't a +policeman to set at them," snorted Ellis, in great wrath, as she glanced +at the keeper, who stood stolid and immovable, looking at Blanche. + +The little lady began to feel at bay, and, being again challenged by her +maid to tell what had become of the missing garment, she planted herself +against a fir-tree, and flinging back her curls, she folded her arms, +saying in a dramatic tone-- + +"Now, Ellis, listen! I'd rather suffer all the tortures we read of +yesterday at Kirsty's, in Foxe's Book of Martyrs, than tell you where +that jacket is!" + +Morag had been about to expostulate with the wee leddy; but now she felt +much too awed to utter a word. As she stood gazing at her, the fir-tree +was immediately transformed in her imagination to a stake, and visions +of lighted faggots and rising flames coursed through her brain. Ellis, +too, seemed rather impressed, and Blanche took advantage of her position +to remark in her most imperious tone, as she quitted her dramatic pose, +"Now, Ellis, if you say another word about that jacket, I shan't go +home with you a step. Perhaps to-morrow I may tell you what has become +of it," she added, bending her head graciously, as she volunteered to +start for home under these conditions. + +At this juncture, Kirsty suddenly emerged from the tartan folds. She had +been reminded that the little girls still waited by hearing the sound of +voices, and she came now to urge them to return home at once. + +The moon was now giving a clear, plentiful light. It shone on Kirsty's +placid face, and showed her another face which she had not looked on for +many a year, and it seemed strange that she should see it to-night. The +keeper looked as much startled as if he had seen a ghost, when the old +woman moved slowly towards him, and holding out her hand, said, +solemnly, "Alaster Dingwall, is that you?" and still holding his hand, +she added, "Weel do I min' the nicht I saw ye last. But come ben, and +hear o' the goodness o' the Lord frae this dyin' woman. Eh! but He's +slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. The soul o' my lang-lost Kenneth +is safe wi' Himsel'. He has granted me the desire o' my hert. Com ben, +and see Kenneth's wife!" + +Dingwall's usually inflexible face showed traces of strong emotion as +he listened to Kirsty. He made no reply, but was about to follow her +into the tent, when Ellis, more mystified than ever by these strange +dealings with these disreputable gypsies, who had already given her so +much trouble that afternoon, shouted in angry tones, "Well, keeper, if +you're going to stay in this wood longer, I'm not. Come along, missie, +we must find our own way as best we can." And without waiting for a +reply, the indignant maid hurried off with her reluctant charge. + +Morag stood watching her father, as he followed Kirsty, bending his tall +figure to creep into the low tent, and then she sat down on the old grey +dyke outside, to await the next scene of this strange evening. She could +not help feeling very glad that her father and Kirsty were going to be +friends at last, though it was such a sorrowful occasion which seemed to +have brought the reconciliation about. Presently she saw Kenneth slip +out of the tent, looking very grave and sad. He came and leant silently +against one of the fir-trees, and stood gazing into the pale larch +plantation, with its long dark grass shimmering in the white moonlight. +Morag knew that he was looking so sorrowful because his mother was going +to leave him, and she felt very sorry too, and longed to be able to do +something to comfort him; but she thought that perhaps it was best to +keep quite quiet there, and let him think his own thoughts. She wondered +whether Kenneth knew and loved his grandmother's Friend, and was able +now to tell Him all his trouble. + +When the keeper entered the tent, the dying woman fixed her great +restless eyes upon him, and looked questioningly at Kirsty. The old +woman stooped down, and said, "It's Alaster Dingwall--him, ye ken, that +was Kenneth's"--friend, she was going to say; and then she glanced sadly +at the keeper, and did not finish her sentence. But presently she added, +"Eh! but He's been good and forgien us muckle, and we maun be willin' to +forgie," and taking the thin, white fingers, she laid them in the +keeper's broad, brown palm. + +"Yes, yes," gasped the woman; "I remember the name. My husband said +something about him when he was dying, too; but I can't recollect now." +Her memories of the troubled past were growing dim in the haze of death. + +"My boy, where is he?" she asked, presently, turning to Kirsty. "I've +brought him to you--you'll love him for your own Kenneth's sake, won't +you? He's a good boy; it's hard to leave him in this wicked world +alone; but you will look to him, won't you?" and she looked beseechingly +at Kirsty. "We've travelled many a weary mile to reach you--he'll tell +you all about it after. But it's all over now--all past, and the rest is +coming," she murmured, and then she lay quite still for a few minutes, +and her lips moved as if in prayer. + +Presently she seemed to remember something, and, putting her hand into +her breast, she drew out a little bag with one or two gold pieces in it. +Handing it to Kirsty, she said, "It's all there is left--he's very +ragged I'm afraid, and I'll be to bury. But you are good and kind, he +always said, and you'll be kind to my boy, for Christ's sake, and for +your own Kenneth's, grandmother, won't you? I haven't remembered all his +messages, I'm so tired to-night. He wanted your forgiveness so much--but +you'll see him again--we'll both be waiting you and Kenny!" + +"Eh! my bairn; but ye mauna forget that a sicht o' Christ's ain face +will be better than a' the lave," said the old woman earnestly, as she +wiped the cold damps of death from the white forehead. + +"It's so cold, and gets so very dark," she moaned restlessly. "There +was a candle left in the basket, I think; why doesn't Kenny light it? +Where is he? why does he go away?" + +The candle was already burning near its socket, and Kirsty saw that the +haze of death was fast dimming the eyes that would see no more till they +awoke in that city "where they need no candle, neither light of the sun, +for the glory of God doth lighten it; and there shall be no night +there." + +The old woman went to call Kenneth, who was still leaning silently +against the fir-tree. "Come ben to yer mither, my laddie! Ye winna hae +lang to bide wi' her noo, I'm thinkin'." And the boy came and knelt +beside his mother. The keeper had been standing with folded arms, +looking silently on, but now he crept away, and sitting down in a corner +of the tent, he covered his face with his hands. The sins of his youth +came crowding to his memory; one dark spot stood out in terrible relief, +and made him cower with shame and remorse in the presence of this boy, +and his mother on her lowly dying bed. + +Meanwhile, Kirsty went out to look for Morag, whom she had not +forgotten. Seeing her seated on the old dyke, she beckoned to her, +saying, "Come awa, dawtie, dinna bide there yer lane! Puir thing, she +winna be lang here, noo. It's a sair sicht for a young hert, but come +ben, Morag. 'Deed they're best aff that's nearest their journey's end," +murmured the old woman, as she stepped under the tartan folds again. + +Morag followed, and stood gazing sorrowfully at the dying woman. She had +been lying quietly for several minutes, but presently she looked wildly +round, and, stretching out her arms, she cried, "Kenny, Kenny, lift me +up!" + +Kirsty stepped forward, and raised the weary head on her arm, saying, in +her low, firm tones, "Dinna be feert, my bairn. The valley is dark +eneuch, but there's licht on the tither side. Jist ye haud His han' +siccar, and ye'll see His face gin lang." For a few moments she lay +peacefully, with her hand resting on Kirsty's breast, but presently a +great spasm of agony crossed the wasted face, some lingering breaths +were drawn, and the poor, quivering frame lay at rest. + +Neither of the children knew that it was death. After a long silence +Kenneth rose from his knees, and whispered to Kirsty--"She's gone to +sleep; we must not wake her for a while--it's so long since she slept +before." + +"Ay, ay, my laddie," replied Kirsty, shaking her head, mournfully; +"she's gane to sleep, til her lang, lang sleep. Nae soun' o' ours will +waken her noo; it will be His ain blessed voice i' the Day that's +comin'." + +Poor Kenneth understood now. With a low cry of agony, he knelt beside +the body, which Kirsty had laid tenderly on its lowly bed among the +brown fir-needles again. And as she did so, Morag caught a glimpse of +the wee leddy's missing jacket; she understood now why she was so +vehemently unwilling that it should be searched for. + +The keeper had been a silent spectator of the sad scene. At last he +turned to Kirsty, and brushing a tear from his eye, he said, in a husky +voice--"Kirsty, woman, I've whiles afore rued yon dark nicht's work sore +eneuch, and all that came o't, but I niver rued it sae muckle as I do +the nicht." + +"Dinna say nae mair, Alaster Dingwall," replied Kirsty, holding out her +hand. "I'll no say that it wasna sair upo' me for mony a day, but I see +it a' the nicht. Ye were jist the instrument in His hands for sendin' +the puir prodigal safe hame til the Father's hoose. Will you no come +intilt yersel', man? The far countrie o' sin is an unca lonesome place, +Alaster Dingwall," and Kirsty laid her hand on his arm, and looked +earnestly into his face. + +"It's no easy wark for an auld sinner like me, Kirsty; but, I'll try," +Dingwall replied, as he glanced kindly and pityingly at the orphan boy, +and lifted him from his dead mother's side. + +"Noo, keeper, ye and Morag mauna bide a minute longer. The puir lassie +maun be deid tired," said Kirsty, rousing herself to think what must be +done next. "I'se watch aside the corp; and maybe, when the morn's come, +ye'll hae the kindness to speir gin the wricht i' the village will come +ootby here, and we'll lay her in her lang hame, and the puir laddie will +come hame and bide wi' me." + +The keeper would not hear of leaving her, and Morag seated herself on +the dyke, saying quietly, "I canna be goin' home and leavin' Kirsty, +father." + +The poor boy seemed so faint from grief and fasting, that Dingwall at +last decided to take him away from the sorrowful scene, and to leave +Morag, who determinately clung to her old friend. + +Kenneth stood gazing mournfully at the silent form, murmuring, "Mother, +mother!" in a low monotone of agony. He would not be persuaded to quit +the spot till Kirsty unfastened the tartan plaid from the stakes, and +laying it reverently on the body, she covered the dead face out of +sight. And as she unwound the plaid from its fastenings, she remembered +with a sharp pang of sorrow the morning on which she had last seen that +old plaid. While the keeper and Kenneth are wandering through the +fir-wood on their way to the shieling among the crags, and the old +woman, with Morag by her side, keeps her strange, lonely watch beside +the dead, we shall explain why it was so terrible for the keeper to +remember, and so difficult for Kirsty to forget, the events of a certain +night long years ago, which had driven the older Kenneth from the Glen +an outlawed man, and left his mother a desolate, childless woman. + +Kirsty's husband had been the village smith. He was a much-liked and +respected inhabitant of the little hamlet. He was suddenly cut off by +fever at a comparatively early age, leaving his wife one son, who was +henceforth to be her sole earthly hope and care. The smith had been a +sober and diligent man, and Kirsty was a frugal housewife, so a little +money was saved, and the widow had been able to move to the pretty +cottage in the Glen, which had been her home ever since. + +Kirsty had one earthly ambition, and one which she shared in common +with many a Scotch peasant--namely, that her son should become a +scholar. This desire seemed, however, to meet with no response from the +boy himself. He hated books, and loved, above all things, to roam about +the Glen, finding his pleasure there, frequently, when he should have +been at school in the village. Thither every quarter-day his mother duly +went, full of anxiety to hear about his progress, and with the school +fees wrapt in a corner of her pocket-handkerchief, while a small +offering for the schoolmaster's wife, from the garden or barn-yard, was +never forgotten. But she always returned from these visits crestfallen +and grieved. "He does not take to his books, Mrs. Macpherson; I fear +we'll never be able to make a scholar of him," the parish schoolmaster +would say, shaking his head, and adding, as he noticed the mother's +disappointed face, "He's a fine, manly, truthful boy, though; you'll +find he will be good for something yet." + +But Kirsty was not satisfied, and went on praying that God would give +her son a hearing ear and an understanding heart in things intellectual +and spiritual. And so the years of boyhood passed, and Kenneth grew up +a great anxiety to his widowed mother. Sometimes he would leave home for +whole nights and days of rambling among the hills with other lads. He +was an immense favorite among his companions, and their chosen leader in +every wild exploit. Bold and frank and fearless he certainly was, and +possessed much of seeming unselfishness, but it was a quality of a very +different kind from that which his mother practised at home. Nobody +could wile so many trouts from the river as Kenneth; and nobody so +generously shared his basketful among his comrades. He knew every foot +of the Glen by heart, every lonely pass, each deceptive bog. He had set +his heart on being a gamekeeper, but his mother looked upon it as an +idle trade, and always hoped that he might yet show some leaning towards +another employment. + +Alaster Dingwall was many years older than Kenneth, though a great +friendship sprang up between the two. Dingwall had been under-gamekeeper +at some distance from the Glen, but he had lost his situation, and +returned to lounge about the village, on the outlook for work. He +admired the bold, reckless young Kenneth, and the boy was greatly +attracted by his older companion, and felt flattered by his +appreciation. Kirsty noticed that the companionship only served to +foster Kenneth's idle habits, and she did all she could to discourage +it, but in vain. + +One Sunday evening Kenneth had been induced to stay quietly indoors, and +sat reading to his mother, who was feeling intensely happy in having him +with her. But presently she heard a whistle outside, which she had +learned to know and dread, for she knew that it was a summons for her +boy to join his idle companions. + +"That's Dingwall's whustle; I ken it fine. Dinna gang out til him, +Kenny--bide wi' me the nicht, my laddie. He'll no want ye for ony guid." + +But the warning, "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not," +fell unheeded on the foolish Kenneth's ear, and a sorrowful reaping-time +for all after-life was the result of this brief sowing-time of folly. + +"It's only for a bit o' a walk, mother. There's no ill," pleaded +Kenneth, as he hurriedly shut the book; and taking his bonnet, he +prepared to go out. "I'll no be long, mother," he added, as he went out +whistling, and Kirsty could hear through the clear frosty air his merry +laugh re-echoing among his companions, and stood listening to it at the +door of the cottage till the sound died away in the distance. Then the +mother went back to the empty room, and prayed for her son till the grey +morning broke, and still he did not return. + +At last she crept away to bed, and in the morning she was awakened from +her troubled slumbers by a loud knocking. On opening the door, she saw +Kenneth standing, pale and haggard, with blood-besmeared clothes, +between two strange men. One of them stepped forward, and said to the +bewildered Kirsty-- + +"Sorry for it, missus; but this chap must go with me. Found a snare set +in the larch plantation yonder--all but caught him at it, in fact. It's +not the first offence, I'm thinking. There's been a deal of poaching +lately in the neighborhood; but we've caught the thief at last." + +"Mother, I didna do it! I never set the snare! I didna even ken that it +was amang the grass!" gasped Kenneth, looking pleadingly at his mother, +as if he cared more that she should not think him guilty of the deed +than for the serious consequences which seemed to threaten him, whether +he was guilty or not. And his mother looked into his eyes and knew that +he was innocent, as indeed he was. He had been simply used as a tool by +his false friend. + +Since he had been out of employment, Dingwall had gained his livelihood +by poaching. But, having reason to suspect at last that he was being +watched, he resolved to shift the suspicions on Kenneth by enlisting him +in the service, and offering him a share of the gains. He thought, too, +that if the offence were discovered, it was more likely to be lightly +treated if the offender were a mere boy, like Kenneth, so he resolved on +that evening to divulge the plan to his boy-friend, who, as yet, was +entirely ignorant of the way in which Dingwall gained a livelihood, and +little guessed on what mission he was being led into the larch +plantation. + +Kenneth had seated himself on the lichen-spotted dyke to smoke, while +the more cautious, because guilty, Dingwall stood darkly by, having +slipped his pipe into his pocket long before they reached the wood. He +was pondering how he should best confide his secret to Kenneth, and was +about to propose that he would show him the snare which he had set, +when his keen eye detected traces of danger and discovery. He +immediately crept away in base silence to hide himself, and presently +his innocent boy-friend was seized by the emissaries of the law. Then +Kenneth understood that he had been betrayed; but he would not betray in +return. He simply asserted that he had not set the snare, and knew +nothing whatever about it. + +"Come, come, now; that's all very fine--didn't do it, forsooth. Strange +place for a walk on a winter night--the larch plantation," said the man, +smiling sneeringly to his companion, as he listened to Kenneth assuring +his mother that he was innocent, while they stood at the cottage door. + +"Come along with us. In the meantime," he continued, as he laid his hand +on Kenneth's arm to drag him away, "if you're able to prove that you +didn't do it, all the better for you, my boy, I can tell you." + +Kenneth turned with a look of anguish to his mother, who stood gazing at +him with a face of marble. She asked no questions; it was no time for +reproaches then, and, somehow, Kenneth felt that she understood how it +had all happened, she looked so pitiful and so loving. When she saw that +the men were really going to take him away, she went and prepared him +some breakfast; but Kenneth said he could not eat, and turning to the +men, volunteered to accompany them at once. He looked cold and faint in +that chilly November morning: and just as he was starting, his mother +brought his father's plaid, and wrapped it tenderly round him, but she +did not utter a word. + +"Come now, there must be no more coddling of this bird, old lady! Time's +valuable, and there isn't a minute to spare!" said the man roughly, as +he led the boy away. + +When Kenneth had got beyond the garden gate, and was being hurried along +the highway by his jailer, he turned and looked with unutterable agony +and remorse toward his mother, who stood, stricken and desolate, at the +door of his home, which was to be blighted during so many years for his +sake. + +A few weeks afterwards he was tried, and sentenced to a short term of +imprisonment. He had pleaded not guilty; but could not explain how he +came to be in the larch plantation at such an hour, and declined to give +any information concerning the real offender. + +Kirsty knew him to be none other than Alaster Dingwall. In her anguish +she went to him, and implored that he would not sacrifice the innocent, +speaking burning words from the depths of her broken mother's heart; but +she only met with the sneering rejoinder that she would find some +difficulty in proving that he had anything to do with the matter. + +And then the news came that the wretched boy had escaped from prison; +and from that day forward Kirsty heard nothing of her son. Seventeen +long years she sat at her lonely fireside, waiting, and hoping, and +praying! For a long time she left the door nightly open, in the hope +that he might at least come and visit her in the dark. But he never +came; and long ago Kirsty's deferred hope had changed itself into a +prayer, that wherever he might be roaming throughout the wide world, +they might meet in the home of God at last. + +Sometimes, after a long night of prayer for her lost son, the mother +felt as if she heard a voice, saying, "I have seen his ways, and I will +heal him;" and she would begin the lonely day with lightened heart. And +now, at last, she had the joy of knowing from the lips of his dying wife +that the wanderer, who feared to come again to the Glen, and had sought +refuge for his blighted life in distant lands, had, at last, been led +unto the fold above, and had learnt to know the Shepherd's voice, and to +follow it in the midst of many earthly trials and hard experiences +through which he had to pass. + +So this sorrowful night was mingled with great joy to Kirsty, as she +kept watch in the fir-wood. Morag felt sure that she must have much to +say to her unseen Friend, as she sat resting her head on her long thin +hand, and gazing into the red embers among the stones. The little girl +crouched silently by her side, often glancing at the tartan folds that +covered the weary sleeper below, and pondering over the events of this +strange afternoon. + +And as she sat keeping vigil, there came to her memory the story of a +very sorrowful night, of which she had been reading with Kirsty only the +day before. It was the scene in the old garden of Gethsemane, where the +Lord Jesus Christ spent those terrible hours, "exceeding sorrowful even +unto death." + +It was the first time that Morag had heard of it, and the hot tears of +pity stole down her face as she listened. Kirsty had looked up, and said +gently, as she laid her hand on her head, "Bairn, I dinna wonder though +ye greet. It was a sair dark nicht i' the history o' the warl'. But jist +ye read a bittie farther on, aboot how they garred Him tak' His ain +cross up the brae; the women grat for verra pity, and syne He turned +Himsel', and spak' til them, sayin', 'Daughters o' Jerooslem, weep no +for me, but for yersels and for yer children.'" And Morag thought that +she understood why Jesus was called the "Lamb of God, who taketh away +the sin of the world." + +At last the chill grey morning light came stealing through the dark +green boughs and among the tall fir-trees. Presently the lonely watch +was broken by the arrival of messengers from the castle, bringing with +them every comfort which could be stowed away in a huge hamper. + +"'Deed it's richt mindfu' o' the wee leddy o' the castle to sen' sic a +hantle o' things," said Kirsty, rising slowly to receive the servants. +"An' I'm thinkin' she left her bonnie white coatie yestreen to mak' a +safter heid for the puir lamb. Ye'll jist tak' it wi ye noo, gin it +please ye, sirs--and a' the ither things, forby. We dinna need them +here. Tell ye the wee leddy that the puir weary craeter she saw lyin' +sae low yestreen i' the fir-wood is awa this mornin' among the green +pasters and the still waters o' the Father's hoose, where there's nae +mair hunger, nor sorrow, nor cryin', for the auld things hae passed +awa." + + + + +IX. + +_VANITY FAIR._ + + +IT was nearly the end of September now, the air of Glen Eagle began to +feel chilly, and the purple bloom was fading from the hills, but the +interior of Kirsty's cottage looked as warm and bright as ever, when one +afternoon Blanche Clifford came bounding in with glowing cheeks, after a +race across the heather, followed by Morag, to pay a visit to their old +friend. + +Kenneth had just been piling one or two sturdy birk logs on the +peat-fire, in preparation for their arrival. His grandmother's cottage +was his home now; the cheery fire which he had just made was quite a +fitting emblem of the brightness which he had brought into the lonely +dwelling. His mother had been laid in the quiet grave-yard on the +hillside, and the boy often stole out in the gloaming to hover round the +fresh-laid turf. He seldom, however, spoke of the past, and already +began to lose his careworn expression, which had so touched the hearts +of the little girls in the fir-wood. Indeed he appeared daily to gain +strength and manliness; while Kirsty watched the change with mingled +feelings, remembering a Kenneth of other days, whose strength had once +been her pride. + +"How nice and cosy you do always look here!" exclaimed Blanche, glancing +round the room, as she seated herself on Thrummy at Kirsty's feet. "When +I'm an old woman, I mean to have a room exactly like this. I couldn't +endure to live in a house with so many rooms as papa's, or as Aunt +Matilda's. One never knows in which room they may be sitting, and can +never picture them to one's self if you are away, and want to think of +them. Now, Kirsty, when I go back to London, I shall always be able to +think of you just as you are now," said the little girl, as she laid her +hands on the lap of her old peasant friend. Kirsty was seated in the +ingleneuk in her high-elbowed chair, knitting placidly. Her fingers +moved rapidly round the rough blue stocking which she had in progress, +but her eyes rested kindly on Blanche, and she smiled as she listened to +her pleasant prattle. She, too, as well as Morag, had learnt to love +this little English maiden, with her pretty, gracious ways, who had +made herself so happy in the Highland glen, and showed such warm +friendship for them all. Since the weather became colder, the scene of +the reading lessons had been transferred from the fir-wood to the _ben +end_ of the cottage, and the old woman was always an interested +listener, often unravelling knotty points by her shrewd remarks and wise +decisions. + +Sometimes, too, Blanche would entertain her Highland friends with +descriptions of the world beyond the mountains, and expatiate on the +many marvels of the great city she lived in. Morag's eye would dilate +with wonder and awe as she described the grand old Abbey, filled with +the dust of kings and statesmen, soldiers and poets, or dwelt on the +varied delights of a day at the Crystal Palace or the Kensington Museum. + +After Morag's fingers had laboriously travelled over a few pages of the +"Pilgrim's Progress," she begged that Blanche would read a little. The +little mountain maiden's reading capacities did not at all keep pace +with her desire to know; and now she sat, coiled up at Kirsty's feet, +listening with eager interest, as the wee leddy's clear voice flowed +pathetically on, concerning the cruel treatment which the Pilgrims +received from the people of Vanity Fair. + +"Vanity Fair!--how funny!" exclaimed Blanche, as she tossed back her +curls and looked up. "Do you know, Kirsty, there is a place in London, +called Hyde Park, where I sometimes go to drive and ride with papa, +though not nearly so often as I should like. Well, Kirsty, I remember +one afternoon when we were there, papa met an old, very old +gentleman--rather queer looking--whom he hadn't seen for ever so long. +He held out his hand to papa, and I remember he said, 'Well, Arthur, you +didn't expect to meet me in Vanity Fair, I daresay?' and then he +laughed; and I wanted to ask papa afterwards what he meant, but I +suppose I forgot. But, Kirsty, it surely can't be the same place where +they were so unkind to the poor pilgrims, and called them names, could +it?" + +"'Deed, bairn, but I'm nae sae sure o' that noo. The Apostle Paul says +that the carnal hert is enmity agin' God. And dinna ye min' how the +Maister says Himsel', 'Marvel not though the warl' hate ye. Ye know that +it hated me afore it hated you.' But forbid that I should say He hasna a +remnant o' His ain intilt, bairn," said Kirsty, as she noticed Blanche's +troubled face. "It's His ain prayer til His Father, ye ken, no to tak' +them oot o' the warl', but to keep them frae the evil," she added +solemnly. + +"Oh! but indeed, Kirsty, I am sure that none of the people in the Park +could possibly be cruel to the poor pilgrims," replied Blanche, rather +on the defensive. "There are such pretty ladies and gentlemen, riding +and driving about; I'm sure they wouldn't hurt anybody. I like so much +to go to the Park! and papa says, when I'm grown up and have quite +finished lessons, that I may go there to ride or drive every day, if I +like. I'm sure I wish the time were come!" and the prospect seemed so +inspiring that Blanche jumped up, upsetting Thrummy in her progress +round the earthen floor in a gleeful waltz. + +Morag's eyes followed her bonnie wee leddy wistfully. Somehow her heart +sank at the vista which seemed to stretch out, so fair and pleasant, in +Blanche's eyes. They were play-fellows now, but how would it be in these +days to come, when her little friend merged into one of these grand +ladies whom she had been describing? + +Presently Blanche picked up her stool, and came to seat herself at +Kirsty's feet again. + +"Eh, my bonny lambie!" murmured the old woman, as she stroked the +little girl's golden crown. "May the Guid Shepherd Himsel' gather ye in +His ain arms, and carry ye intil His bosom a' thro' the slippy places, +and keep ye a bonnie white lambie, til he tak's ye safe hame til the +fauld!" + +Morag did not say "Amen" audibly, for she had not yet learnt that +conventional ending to a petition. But none the less did she join Kirsty +in fervent asking, that the Lord Jesus Christ would preserve their +bonnie wee leddy amid all the dangers of this terrible Vanity Fair, +which had proved so full of perils for the pilgrims in the story. + +A shade of seriousness stole across Blanche's face as Kirsty's long thin +fingers played among her hair, while she uttered this blessing-prayer; +but the shadow did not linger long there. The little girl had never +thought of life as being difficult and dangerous, and did not feel the +need of a friend and guide. Moreover, she did not like anything that +made her feel serious, so she quickly closed the book, and, restoring it +to its place on the shelf, ran away to the cottage door, warbling a gay +song, as she plucked some berries from one of the old rowan trees to +make a wreath for Morag, and crown her queen of gypsies. + +Presently the old woman came and seated herself on the door-step. Her +knitting was in her hand, but it lay idly on her lap, and she sat +watching the little girl with tear-dimmed eyes. She trembled for the +many snares and dangers which the days to come would be sure to bring to +the beautiful high-born child. But Kirsty forgot that there were +shorter, safer, smoother paths to the golden city than through the many +windings of Vanity Fair. + +"I have just been to old Neil's, grandmother," said Kenneth, as he +walked in at the little gate on his return from a message to the carrier +of the Glen. "He says he'll be happy to oblige you with the cart on +Sunday for the kirk. He'll not be able to go himself, because of his +rheumatism; but he is to lend the cart if I'll yoke the horse." + +"I'm richt glaid to hear't, laddie," replied Kirsty. "It's mony a +Sawbbath day sin' I ha' been i' the kirk. 'Deed I thocht never to sit at +His table upon the earth anither time." + +"Morag, hae ye speird gin yer father be gaein' to lat ye gang wi' me til +the kirk?" + +"Ay, Kirsty, I've been askin' him, but he hasna said yet. I'm no +thinkin' he'll do't, though. But he said he would see yersel' afore +that time. Maybe he'll be up the nicht." + +"Oh, Kirsty, are you really going to that pretty little church in the +village on Sunday? Do let me go with you; I want so to see the inside of +it," chimed in Blanche, eagerly. "It will be so much nicer than reading +prayers with Miss Prosser in that dreadful school-room." + +"Weel, I'se be richt glaid to tak' ye wi' me, bairn, gin yer folk doesna +objec'; but I'm no thinkin' they would lat ye gang ava. It's a lang +road, and, ye see, we'll jist hae Neil's cartie, wi' a puckle strae +intilt, and that'll maybe no be fit for the like o' you." + +"Oh, yes, of course it would--perfectly delicious," cried Blanche, +clapping her hands. "I must really go with you, Kirsty. I shall ask papa +to-night, if I have a chance; it would be such fun, wouldn't it, Morag?" + +"Sawbbath'll be a gran' day. It's the Sacrament wi' us, ye ken," said +Kirsty looking up from her knitting. "But I'm thinkin' it wad be ower +langsome like for you bairns,--though I'se houp there's a day comin' +when ye'll be sittin' doon til the table yersels, and meetin' wi' +Himsel' there," continued the old woman, as she gazed kindly at the +little group. + +"Oh, is it really the Holy Communion; and may we children stay? I should +like above all things to see it; shouldn't you, Morag? Miss Prosser +always sends me home with Ellis when she stays to Communion. But then it +doesn't last very long at all. For by the time that I've spoken to +Chance and my birds, she has always come home again. But, perhaps, it is +something quite different here, is it not, Kirsty?" + +"Weel, I'm thinkin' there will be some differ from what I hae heerd +tell. But eh, bairn, I mak' nae doobt that He feeds His ain folk the +richt gait, in ilka part o' His warl'." + +"Here's yer father comin' inby, Morag!" said Kirsty, as she rose to +welcome the keeper, whom she saw leaning against the garden gate, +looking at the group round the cottage door. + +The keeper had become a frequent visitor at Kirsty's cottage since that +eventful evening in the fir-wood. Often, when the work of the day was +done, he might be seen wandering across the moor in the gloaming, in the +direction of the abode which he had viewed for so many years with +mingled feelings of dislike and fear. + +Many a pleasant talk the old woman and he seemed to have together, and +the keeper appeared more at ease and happy in Kirsty's society than he +had been with any mortal for many a day. His face already began to lose +the sinister expression which had made Blanche distrust him on that +first day when she saw him. He did not say the bitter things which he +used to do about his neighbors in the Glen, and no longer prided himself +in looking dark and mysterious and self-contained, but seemed more happy +with himself, and, consequently, with the rest of the world. + +Morag felt, with a daily, hourly, silent gladness, that a change for the +better had come to her father. To her he had never been positively +unkind, but now he was more gentle and genial than she had ever known +him. Already the little shieling among the crags began to show traces of +the brighter days which were dawning. The evenings were no longer dreary +and monotonous as they used to be. For the company of books had been +summoned from the old _kist_, where they had been buried so long, and +they proved very pleasant companions to both father and daughter. +Dingwall would occasionally read aloud to Morag as she worked; and thus +finally proved that his former dislike to reading had not arisen from an +ignorance of the art, as Morag had sometimes suspected. + +Occasionally, a bundle of old newspapers from the castle found their +way to the hut, and were eagerly scanned by the keeper as he smoked his +pipe; and his remarks to his little daughter showed her that he knew +more about the world beyond the mountains than she ever guessed. + +And now he seemed to notice favorably Morag's efforts after domestic +reform, which he had sneered at, or completely ignored before. He +commended her on her attempts to improve the interior of the hut, and +occasionally teased her laughingly about her imitation of Kirsty's +domestic arrangements, which was everywhere visible. + +It seemed suddenly to occur to him that since the laird would not have +the hut mended, he possibly might make some effort towards its +restoration himself, and he began to make plans for the repairing of the +porous roof, after the shooting party should have taken their departure. + +Morag could date this happy change in her life from that eventful +evening in the fir-wood, and she often thought that, whatever the old +quarrel had been, the healing of it had proved a very blessed thing for +all of them. + +Sometimes Morag overheard Kirsty talking to her father in low, earnest +tones, as he stood beside her, listening quietly, and more than once she +caught the name of Kirsty's Lord and Master mingling with their talk; +and then the little girl's heart was filled with gladness. She never yet +had the courage to tell her father about that new Life which she had +been finding during these autumn days; but she often longed to do so, +and was only prevented by her extreme shyness and reserve. She felt very +anxious that her father should come to know and love that unseen, but +real Friend, who had been the light of Kirsty's lonely home for so many +years, and whom she was now learning to know and love. + +Occasionally, when her father and Kirsty were engaged in these +conversations, Morag would start with Kenneth on an expedition to some +of their moorland haunts, to introduce them to the stranger lad. They +often wandered into the little graveyard on the hillside, and stood +silently beside the fresh-laid turf, while Morag tried to recall the +face of the quiet sleeper below; and Kenneth's thoughts went slipping +back to the time when he played at his mother's knee, a merry little +boy. + +It was rather a grief of mind to Kirsty that she never could induce her +grandson to talk of the past, nor to give any chronicle of his former +life, which she fain would have heard; but she was both wise and kind, +and did not seek to elicit confidences which were not freely bestowed, +hoping that the time would come when they might be voluntarily given. + +But, sometimes, on the way home from these visits to the little +graveyard, Kenneth would talk to the quiet Morag as he never had done to +Kirsty. And as he told of his past chequered life, the eyes of the +little maiden were filled with wonder and pity at the strange +experiences through which her boy-friend had passed in the world beyond +the mountains. + +Kenneth was daily gaining in vigor and manliness. The bracing mountain +air seemed to put new life and strength into him; and in Kirsty's +comfortable dwelling he had parted with those wearing anxieties which +had so long darkened his young life,--though with a darkening that had +not been evil. + +Kirsty was very anxious that her grandson should at once choose a trade +and begin to work. She dreaded idleness for him, above all things, and +was somewhat dismayed to find his love for mountain roamings, and to +notice his intense enjoyment in a day with the keeper at the moors. The +boy little knew what pain it gave to his grandmother when one day that +they were talking about his future work in life he frankly acknowledged +that he should like nothing half so well as to be a gamekeeper like +Dingwall. + +But seventeen years of growing trust in the wise love and gracious +leading of her Heavenly Father enabled her to commit the boy to His +care, and to bid him go and prosper in the path of life which he had +chosen. + + + + +X. + +_THE KIRK IN THE VILLAGE._ + + +"HAVE you heard your pupil's latest request, Miss Prosser?" asked Mr. +Clifford, laughingly, as he turned from Blanche, who had been pleading +her suit in low, coaxing tones. "She actually wants to go to the kirk in +the village for some high festival occasion next Sunday--and in company +with that wonderful Kirsty, too, whom we hear so much about just now. +She refuses with disdain my kind offer of the carriage for herself and +party--wants to go in a wheel-barrow, or something of that +description--is it not, Blanche?" + +"Oh no, papa! how can you think such absurd things? We are going in +Neil's cart, of course. It will be such fun! Kirsty says there will be +lots of straw for seats, and Kenneth is to drive. You know you have more +than half promised to let me go, papa," added Blanche, beseechingly +clinging to her father in the hope of an immediate decision in her +favor, for her governess had raised her voice in strong disapproval of +such an irregular proceeding. + +Mr. Clifford had noticed with pleasure how much his little daughter +seemed to be enjoying these autumn days in the Highlands, which he +feared might prove duller than she expected. It was evident, too, that +her enjoyment of them consisted chiefly in the companionship she had +made with those peasant friends in the Glen. + +Blanche's glowing description of Kirsty, and her repetition of several +of the old woman's shrewd sayings, gave Mr. Clifford a favorable +impression of Kirsty. And for the little Morag he had always entertained +a special liking since the stormy day on which he had found her, all +alone, at work on the soaking earthen floor of the hut, and he +congratulated himself on having secured her as an appendage to the +little Shetlander. He frequently assured the doubting Miss Prosser that +the child would get no harm from her intercourse with these dwellers in +the Glen; and, in the present instance, he did not object that she +should see a new phase of life, in company with her Highland friends. + +Before Blanche went to bed, she had gained her father's consent to the +Sunday project. She lay awake for a long time, thinking how very +delightful it would be to go to church with Kirsty and Morag--and in a +cart, too; and to be obliged to stay so long away that she should not be +at home either for early dinner or afternoon lessons with her governess, +so that the latter would have to be dispensed with altogether. Blanche +thought it would be the most delightfully out-of-the-way Sunday which +she had ever known; and she fell asleep at last, to dream that she and +Morag, with Kirsty and Kenneth, had come rumbling in Neil's cart into +Westminster Abbey while service was going on. + +Morag, too, on that same evening, after a more brief and tremulous suit +than her wee leddy's, had gained her father's permission to go to the +kirk, for the first time in her life. + +To the little English girl the prospect was merely a pleasant ploy; but +to Morag Dingwall it was the fulfilling of a dream of years. How often +she had watched, and how much she had longed to join, the little +straggling companies wending their way along the white hilly roads from +all parts of the Glen to meet in that little kirk in the village, which +she had never seen but closed and silent. Kirsty often told her that the +Lord Jesus Christ loved to have His people gather to worship Him. Only a +few days ago she had been reading to the little girl the story of how +He had once come, after He rose from the dead, into the midst of a +little company which had met to worship, and of how He had stretched +forth His hands, saying, "Peace be unto you." + +Morag had remarked, in a mournful tone, "He never does the like noo, +Kirsty; would ye no like to see Him, jist ance?" + +"An' have I no seen Him?" answered Kirsty, triumphantly. "'Deed, bairn, +I've whiles felt as near 'til Him as gin His fingers were wavin' aboun' +my heid, wi' the verra words i' His mou', an' 'Peace be wi' ye.' I aye +gaed oot o' His hoose wi' a blither hert an' o lichter fit than I gaed +tilt." + +The old woman had never been strong enough to go to the kirk since +Morag's acquaintance with her, and she mourned over it as a great +privation. Neil's cart was a rare luxury, only procurable indeed on +Communion Sabbaths, which were held once a year in the Glen, when the +scattered inhabitants came from its remotest parts,--many of them across +miles of pathless hills, to share in the services of the day. + +Never did Jewish peasant go up to the Holy City on the great day of the +Feast with more joy and hope than did Kirsty Macpherson to the yearly +communion at the village kirk. And, to the present occasion, she looked +forward with special gladness; for had she not to give thanks for a dear +one whom she knew, at last, to be safe in the home of God--the homeless +wanderer, whose name had often been borne by her in agony from that +communion-table to the ear of Him who came to seek and save the lost? + +Morag was waiting in the castle court-yard on Sunday morning, long +before the little _châtelaine_ had completed her toilette to her maid's +satisfaction. At last the door was swung open, and the wee leddy came +running out to meet her friend, looking fresh and dainty in her spotless +white dress and pretty blue hat, with which Ellis had adorned her--not +without many regrets that such elegant garments should descend to such +degraded uses as a seat in a cart; but, since she was going to church, +her maid concluded that, of a necessity, she must wear her best attire. + +"How bonnie ye look!" exclaimed Morag, gazing at her wee leddy with +unfeigned admiration. "Ye're jist like the sky itsel', a' blue-and-white +like." + +"So I am! how funny! But oh, Morag, is not this a glorious morning? +Won't Kirsty be pleased? I really think it's the finest day we've had +since I came to Glen Eagle. I'm so happy," and Blanche danced gleefully +on the soft turf. "Now, Chance, you needn't be wagging your tail. You +are not to be invited to come with us to-day, my dear dog. It's Sunday, +you know, and we are going to church with Kirsty and Kenneth; and dogs +never do go to church you know, Chance." + +"Ay do they, whiles!" interrupted Morag, patting the pleading Chance +sympathizingly; "they gang to the kirk onyway. For I've often thought I +wad jist like to be auld Neil's collie, when I've seen him passin' wi' +Neil on a Sabbath mornin', and I was feelin' terrible lonesome at hame. +Kirsty says, 'The dogs are mony a time quaieter than the bairns at the +kirk, and that attentive-like.'" But Morag agreed that since Chance was +not a dog of church-going habits, it would be wiser to leave him at +home. + +Neil's cart already stood on the road at the cottage gate when the +little girls reached it. Kenneth was waiting at the horse's head, and +Kirsty came forth in all the glory of a spotless white _mutch_ (a high +cap of muslin, worn by the old peasant women of Scotland). She wore also +a pretty scarlet cloak, which had been her best attire for the last +fifty years. In her hand she held her big, worn Bible, carefully wrapped +in her ample white pocket-handkerchief, and from it there projected some +stalks of thyme, and mint, and southernwood, as a preventive against +possible drowsiness, during the long services of the day. + +"Welcome til ye, my bairns," said she, greeting the little girls kindly, +as she closed the little gate behind her. "Havna we gotten a bonnie +Sawbbath-day? It's jist an oncommon fine mornin' for this time o' the +year. May the Sun o' Richtyousness arise wi' healin' intil His wings the +day, lichtin' up a' the dark herts,--jist as the bonnie sun this mornin' +garred the drumlie licht weir aff the glen," added Kirsty, with a glad +light in her calm gray eyes. + +Blanche had already mounted into the cart, and was jumping about among +the straw, greatly to the destruction of Ellis's careful morning +toilette. + +"O Kenneth! isn't this so very jolly? It will be such fun going to +church like this. I'm sure I shall never forget it all my life. I do +wish papa could see us start. Do you know I almost think he wanted to? +Doesn't Kirsty look beautiful? I wish she'd always wear that red cloak; +don't you, Kenneth?" + +The old woman came leaning on Morag's shoulder, and stepped into the +cart, followed by the little girl. Kenneth cracked the whip with an air +of business, and the little company started. + +It was certainly a perfect autumn day, and Glen Eagle was looking its +loveliest. Kirsty's face wore a look of holy peace, as she sat silently +with folded hands, and gazed upon the calm, still scene around. "I hae +jist been minin' o' that glaidsome word o' David's," she said presently, +turning to Morag, who was seated by her side. "'The Lord is good til a', +an' His tender mercies are ower a' His warks.' I'm thinkin' it maun jist +hae been on some bonnie quaiet day like this, when he was awa' frae the +din an' the steer of Jerooslem, 'at he thocht on makin' that bonnie +psalm." + +Morag had never heard the psalm, but she resolved she would try to find +it that evening, and perhaps her father might help her. She said the +verse over to herself, and thought Kirsty must be right in imagining +that the poet-king would think his beautiful thoughts on such a day as +this. + +But Kenneth, who had been listening quietly, as he walked by the side of +the cart, presently looked up, and said, "I'm not so sure of that, +granny. Don't you think King David would just be as likely to say that +after a long day's fighting at the head of his soldiers, or after a busy +day in his palace, as among sunny green fields when he had nothing to do +but enjoy himself? Do you no think, granny, that folk maybe need to +believe in the tender mercies of the Lord most in the din and the fret +of big towns, when, besides perhaps being lonely, and in want one's +self, you see so many people still more sad and worse off? D'ye no +think, granny, that it would be more comfort to think of the tender +mercies of the Lord, living in such dreary streets, than in such a +bonnie glen as this?" said Kenneth, smiling sadly as he remembered how +much he and his mother had needed, and how often they had found, these +tender mercies in such places. + +"'Deed, laddie, I'm thinkin' ye hae the richt o't efter a'; I'm glaid ye +thocht o' that," said Kirsty, looking down at her grandson with her most +pleased smile. + +As Morag sat silently listening to the conversation, she thought how +good it was that these "tender mercies" seemed to be over all,--among +the busy, crowded haunts of men, as well as with the lonely dwellers +among the mountains. And as the cart rumbled slowly along the winding +road, the little girl repeated the verse to herself till she knew it +well. + +Many a time in after days that verse came back to her memory, sometimes +as a prayer, but more often as a thanksgiving. Across the waste of +years, with graves between and many a sorrow, she would look back and +remember this still Sabbath morning when she went for the first time to +the little village kirk, and the vanished faces that were round her +then; and she would sum up the tender mercies of the Lord. + +The sound of the old church bell now began to be heard across the still +moorland. The little straggling companies quickened their pace at its +sound, and the nearer roads began to stir with assembling worshippers. + +Blanche looked with eager interest at the gathering groups, occasionally +asking whispered information from Morag concerning them. Among them were +old bent men and young children, who had come many a mile through the +pathless hills that morning. There were shepherds in their plaids and +broad bonnets, with their collie dogs following, just as Morag had said, +Blanche noticed; and she resolved to keep an eye on their behavior in +church, and perhaps give Chance a similar privilege another time if her +impression of the conduct of the collies was favorable. + +The kirk stood in the centre of the village green, and when Kirsty and +her young party came in sight, there were already many groups gathered +round it. The old minister was threading his way among them, and there +was many a broad bonnet raised and many a curtsy dropped, as with +kindly, gracious, though silent greeting he passed into the church. + +The old bell was still pealing, sweet and musical, just as it used to do +centuries ago in the convent chapel down in the hollow, from whence it +had been taken when the ancient chapel became a roofless ruin; and now +it called the dwellers in the Glen to the kirk with the same soothing +chime as it used to summon the nuns to matins and vespers, and remind +the scattered peasants that the hour of prayer had come. + +Suddenly it ceased to chime, and the thronging groups on the greensward +moved quietly in at the open doors of the kirk. + +Many eyes were turned on Kirsty and her young friends as they passed +slowly up the aisle. Some recognized the bonnie wee leddy of the castle; +and not a few knew the nut-brown Morag by sight, and smiled kindly on +her. The story of the poor woman, who had come to the Glen to die on +such a lowly bed, was known to many, and they looked with interest on +Kirsty's grandson. + +The kirk was almost filled when they entered. Two long, narrow tables, +covered with white, stretched from the pulpit the whole length of the +church, at which the communicants were to sit. Before taking her place +there, Kirsty led the children to seats at the side of the church; and +then she moved away slowly to take her solitary post at the long white +table. + +Morag did not venture to raise her eyes for some time. The scene was so +new and strange to her that for a moment she felt something of the +terror-stricken feeling which possessed her on the evening when she was +brought before the party at the castle. But when, at last, she ventured +to look up, she caught a glimpse of Kirsty's calm, worshipping face, and +she began to feel more reassured. Meanwhile, Blanche kept gazing about +in a vivacious manner, taking notes of everything. On the whole, she +felt much disappointment with the interior of the little kirk. It looked +so bare and stern, she thought, as she searched in vain for the altar, +or the organ, which she expected to peal forth every minute. + +At last the silence was broken, not by the organ, but by the grave, +deep voice of the minister, who reared his gray head from the pulpit, +and began to read a grand old psalm, which the congregation joined in +singing. Then followed a prayer, and all the people rose, the men +covering their faces with their broad bonnets. + +Morag stood listening with closed eyes and moveless posture. Blanche +tried very hard to do so also, but she could not help opening her eyes +occasionally to see what the dogs were about, and presently she began to +wish that the prayer was done and they would begin to sing again. She +occasionally made exploring tours with her eyes over the church, and at +last she caught sight of Kirsty's red cloak and familiar face, and by +her side she saw a figure which she thought she recognized. To +facilitate observations, she raised herself on tiptoe; and at last she +was satisfied that the stalwart form at the long white table, beside +Kirsty, was none other than the keeper Dingwall. She could hardly +restrain an exclamation of surprise at this discovery. The keeper, she +knew, was not in the habit of going to church; and, certainly, Morag +would have told her if she had expected him there to-day. Very +impatiently did she listen to the concluding petitions, for she could +not get Morag to open her eyes till the prayer was done. At last, while +the congregation were engaged in turning the leaves of their Bibles, in +search of the chapter about to be read, Blanche contrived by a variety +of signs to make Morag's eyes alight on the spot where her father stood. +If Blanche's astonishment had been great, Morag's was still greater, +when she caught sight of her father's tall form rearing itself beside +Kirsty's bent head. This, then, was the reason why he had smiled so +strangely that morning when she laid her hand on his arm, and said, with +a great effort to break through her reserve, "O father! I would like +richt weel gin ye were comin' til the kirk wi' us. I ken fine the Lord +Jesus Christ would be glaid to see ye. Kirsty says He's aye weel pleased +to see folk intil His ain hoose." + +And now he was seated beside Kirsty at the communion-table, where, as +the old woman had told Morag, none but those who loved the Lord might +come. The little girl felt a thrill of delight, greater than she ever +did in her life. She felt sure that her father must have begun to know +and love the Lord Jesus Christ, or he never would have come there. So +happy and thankful was she, that she could not wait till the minister +prayed again, but said, low in her heart, words of deep thanksgiving. + +There were many besides Blanche who noticed with astonishment the tall +form of the keeper in his unwonted place at the communion-table; and +many along with Morag gave thanks to Him who "turneth men's hearts as +rivers of water whither He will," and who had brought this proud, +rebellious spirit to the foot of His cross. + +Dingwall had been welcomed to the place he occupied to-day by the old +minister some evenings before in the manse. He disclosed the picture of +his past life, with its darkest shadows unrelieved; and had told of his +late repentance. The pastor recognized it as genuine, and there was a +light in his eye to-day as he read his Master's message, "This is a +faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came +into the world to save sinners." + +After the usual service was over, Blanche's interest, which had been +flagging, began to revive, and she felt glad that her maid was not in +attendance to take her home, as she felt curious to know what was coming +next. + +Presently a hymn was sung to a sad wailing tune, which suited the words. +It told of that night on which the Son of Man endured the "eager rage +of every foe;" and Blanche felt a knot rise in her throat as she +listened to it and tried to join. Never before, she thought, had she +felt so sorry for the Lord Jesus Christ, who was "crucified, dead, and +buried," though she had heard all about it so many times. And then she +suddenly remembered Morag's anxiety to know all about the "good Lord who +died on the green hill," and how many questions she used to ask about +Him during the first days of their acquaintance; but she never mentioned +the subject now, so Blanche concluded that she could not care so much as +she did before. + +The words of the hymn had brought tears to Morag's eyes, too. But then +she quickly remembered the joyful side of the sorrowful story, and +thought of Him "who liveth, and was dead, and is alive for evermore." + +While the hymn was being sung, four old men, the _elders_ of the kirk, +walked slowly in, carrying the plates of bread and cups of wine, which +they placed reverently on a white-covered table, where the minister now +sat, and which Blanche supposed must be the altar she had been in search +of. + +The children watched with mingled curiosity and awe while the symbols +were passed to all who sat at the long white tables, after the minister +had given thanks and read to the congregation the Master's words which +He spoke in the upper room at Jerusalem when He commanded that this +Feast should be kept by His disciples till He should come again. + +Perfect stillness reigned throughout the church; almost every head was +bowed, and many a heart went up in silent adoring gratitude to Him who +had loved them and given Himself for them. + +When the elders had again reverently placed the symbols on the table in +front of the pulpit, the stillness was broken by the deep, grave voice +of the pastor, speaking words of exhortation to his flock, that they +should be "blameless and harmless, the sons of God." A sweet psalm of +thanksgiving was sung, and then, with uplifted hands, the minister +prayed that the peace of God might rest on the little company; and, at +last, the peasants moved away from the long white tables to scatter to +their distant homes in the Glen; some of them never to meet again till +they gather to the Feast above. + +The children sat and watched them as they passed slowly out of the kirk, +and then they, too, rose to go. Morag sought her father immediately. +She gazed eagerly into his face, as if she expected him to say +something; but he only pressed her hand, and turning to Kirsty, he said +'Good-bye,' and then walked away. + +"Lat him gang hame his lane, bairn," whispered Kirsty, as she noticed +Morag's disappointed look, and her movement to follow, when her father +started to go home alone. "I'm thinkin' he'll hae better company wi' him +than ony o' us wad mak' Morag, lass." + +And then surveying her little flock, Kirsty said, smiling kindly, "Noo, +bairns, I'se warrant ye're hun'ry eneuch. Jist ye come doun til a quaiet +burnside 'at I ken fine, and we'll hae a bit o' a rest--and ye'll eat a +piece I hae brocht for ye a'." + +So the old woman led the way to a quiet nook behind the village, where +the yellowing birk-trees drooped round a pleasant bit of greensward, +hiding it from the dusty highway, while the splashings of a little burn, +rolling merrily among the white stones, kept the turf smooth and green +all the year through. + +Here Kirsty seated herself, with her merry little party round her. From +underneath her red cloak she then produced a basket containing some +delicious cream-cakes, which she had baked on the previous evening for +this occasion, and of which she now invited the children to partake. + +Never did lunch taste so nice; and never was there such a pleasant +Sunday, Blanche thought, as she sat at Kirsty's feet, eating her piece +of oat-cake, and talking to her old friend. + +Morag was perched on a stone, with her sunburnt feet paddling in the +brown water, and Kenneth stood watching the fate of twigs, meant to +personate his friends, which he occasionally tossed into the water, +where presently they got among the tiny rapids of the burn, some of them +being finally entangled there, while others were able to extricate +themselves from their difficulties, and were borne onwards to the river. + +Blanche prattled away merrily, as usual, upon a variety of topics; +sometimes asking questions about the services of the day, and comparing +notes with the arrangements of the church where she went in London. +Morag listened with wondering eyes as the wee leddy glowingly described +the beautiful, many-colored picture-windows, the pretty gilded altar, +and the great organ, with its surpliced choir. The little mountain +maiden had looked upon the interior of the village kirk as very +beautiful; but this church, described by Blanche, must be much more so: +and Morag began to think that perhaps the Lord Jesus Christ liked best +to be worshipped in a fine church like that, since He was so high and +holy. But, with the thought, there came a pang of disappointment, and, +whenever she had an opportunity, she confided her trouble to Kirsty. + +After pondering a little, the old woman slowly replied, "Weel, bairn, +I'll no say but that the Maister likes a' thing that's bonnie and fair +to see. A fine bigget hoose o' worship, wi' the best wark that the +fingers o' man can mak', canna be onacceptable til Him. But I'm +thinkin', efter a', the thing that'll please Him maist is to see ilka +hert worshippin' Him in speerit and in trowth,--nae maitter whither it +be intil a gran' bigget kirk, or amang the bracken upo' the hillside, as +oor folk ance did, lang syne, Morag, lass." + +"Oh yes, Kirsty, I know. You mean in the time of the Covenanters, don't +you?" said Blanche as she broke off a branch from the bog-myrtle, and +threw it into the burn, in imitation of Kenneth's amusement. "I know all +about the Covenanters. By the by, I've got a book in London with some +rather nice stories about them. I wish I had it here, Morag; I think you +would like it. The soldiers certainly were very cruel and rough to the +people they found making a church among the heather. I'm sure I could +never see why," continued the little English maiden, as she went to +extricate her twig from among the rapids with her umbrella; because that +twig was Morag she said, and she must give her a little poke on. + +"Ay, ay!" said the old woman meditatively. "They were the dark days o' +oor kirk, but wha kens 'at they warna the brichtest days, efter a', i' +the eyes o' Him 'at walks amang the seven golden cawnal-sticks we read +o' i' the Revelations. He aye telt His kirk nae to be feared at onything +it had to suffer." + +"Weel, Morag, lass! so ye're thinkin' yet ye wad like to worship i' the +gran' hoose in Lon'on, 'at the wee leddy tells o', better nor in oor wee +kirkie?" said Kirsty, turning smilingly to the crestfallen little Morag, +as she divined her thoughts. "D'ye min' far the Laist Supper was +keepit--i' the upper room in Jerooslem? Weel, I'm no thinkin' there +could hae been onything very braw intilt; and yet the Maister thocht it +guid eneuch for sic a Feast as the warl' niver saw." + +Blanche did not remember about it, so Kirsty handed her the old Bible, +and she read St. Luke's account of the Last Supper, finishing with the +words--"And when they had sung a hymn, they went to the Mount of +Olives." + +"Why, Kirsty, how funny! That's just something like what we've done +to-day. And I'm sure the Mount of Olives couldn't be half so nice as +this burn-side; could it, Morag? I shall be sure to remember this Sunday +when I go to Holy Communion, Kirsty. But that will be ever so long yet. +I've got to be confirmed first, you know. Miss Prosser says it's proper +to go to Holy Communion when one is about seventeen; but, oh dear! it's +a long time till then. I do wish I were grown up," said Blanche, with a +sigh over the slow progress of Time. + +"Eh, but my dear lambie, ye maun let Him intil yer hert lang afore that +time comes roun'. Will ye no listen til the Guid Shepherd's voice +callin' ye the day? There's a hantle o' rough slippy bits o' life afore +ye, my bonnie bairn, I'm thinkin'. Will ye no lat Him tak' ye intil His +arms, and carry ye safe through them a'?" said Kirsty, as she looked +fondly at the little girl. + +Blanche did not reply, but sat nervously plucking blades of grass. +Presently she jumped up, and ran to join Kenneth, who had gone to catch +the old cart-horse grazing by the waterside, to yoke him in the cart +again, and prepare for the homeward journey. + +Then Morag gave Kirsty a shoulder to help her from her low seat on the +greensward; and as she stooped to pick up the basket, she said in a low, +eager tone, "Kirsty, werna ye richt glad to see father i' the kirk the +day? I never thocht he was comin' tilt." + +"Ay was I,--glaider than ye can ken' o', bairn," replied Kirsty, her +gray eyes beaming with joy. "'Deed I'm thinkin' there maun hae been joy +amang the angels themsels, the day when they saw yer father sitting at +the table o' the Lord--a bran' plucked frae the burnin'. Eh, bairn, ye +that's ain o' His ain lambs yersel', arna ye glaid to think that yer +puir father's nae latten bide oot i' the cauld." + +Morag's face flushed with joy to hear Kirsty call her a Christian, and +she was going to make some reply when they heard Blanche's clear, +silvery tones calling them to come--that the cart was all ready to +start. + +"There's that bonnie wee leddy, wi' her sweet tongue," said Kirsty, as +she moved to go. "Dear lamb! may the Guid Shepherd mak' goodness and +mercy to follow her a' the days o' her life. She's a winsome bit thing +as I ever set eyes on. I wad like richt weel to ken that she gied her +young hert to the Lord, Morag. There's a heap o' snares and dangers o' +the great warl' for the like o' her. They tell me she's fat they ca' an +heiress, and has heaps o' hooses and lan' in Englan' belongin' til +hersel'. It wad be a richt sair maitter gin she were like the young +man--him ye ken that we read o' i' the Scripter, wha turned awa frae the +Lord sorrowfu'-like, because his hert was set upon his gran' +possessions. She has sic a hantle o' bonnie ways aboot her, and as sweet +a like natur' as ever God made. Ye maun be earnest wi' the Lord for yer +wee leddy, Morag, my lass." + +This was a subject about which Morag longed greatly to talk to Kirsty, +though she had never yet been able to break through her shyness and +reserve. She looked up eagerly in the old woman's face, and was about to +reply, when Blanche pushed aside the fringing birk-trees in search of +them, and they left the quiet green nook, and turned into the dusty +highway. + +Many a time in after years, when these autumn days lay far away in the +dim haze of distance, Morag Dingwall would leave the beaten path, if +she chanced to pass that way, and wander in among the whispering +birk-trees and the scented bog-myrtle, to stand and gaze at this little +spot of mossy-turf. Time having brought many changes for her, she would +stand pensively and gaze at this still unchanged spot, where the little +singing burn flowed on in its sparkling glee, heedless of the vanished +voices which had once mingled in its sport. And as she stood there her +thoughts would go slipping back-- + + "By the green bye-ways forgotten, to a stiller circle of time, + Where violets faded for ever, seemed blooming as once in their + prime," + +till her bonnie wee leddy's voice seemed again to ring out clear and +silvery, and she could hear Kirsty's low, earnest tones, as she spoke of +the Master she loved so well. + + + + +XI. + +_THE LOCH._ + + +A COLD north wind that smelled of winter had been sweeping through the +glen for several days, making the great fir-forests creak and swing, and +the ash and birk-trees down in the hollow shiver and drop their leaves +at each gust. The nights had begun to draw in visibly, and the mornings +felt chilly, and looked sad and grey. Everything seemed to proclaim that +the pleasant autumn days at Glen Eagle were nearly done. The purple +bloom had quite faded from the heather, and the hills began to look +stern and bleak in the cheerless afternoon. + + "Red o'er the forest peers the setting sun, + The line of yellow light dies fast away + That crown'd the eastern copse; and chill and dun + Falls on the moor the brief October day." + +To two young hearts that wintry wind and its accompaniments sounded +dirge-like and sad, for it told of happy days that had passed all too +soon. Blanche sighed as she remembered the dull London school-room, and +the measured promenade in Kensington Park; and Morag's lip grew +tremulous as she trotted by Shag's side along the familiar roads, and +sighed to think how desolate they would seem without his little +mistress. + +The shooting party at the old castle had already begun to break up; and +the day for general dispersion to warmer latitudes was fixed, when, one +afternoon, Blanche and Morag stood together in the old court-yard, +trying to decide what would be the very pleasantest way of spending it. +They had promised to spend the last afternoon with Kirsty; and now the +last but one had come, and the hours seemed so very precious that they +feared to "squander one wavelet" of them. + +Shag had returned to his winter quarters that morning, not without a +tearful parting on the little girl's side. The little Shetlander +manifested no emotion on the occasion; indeed Blanche fancied that she +could detect a merry twinkle of satisfaction in his bright eye when he +recognized his master, and heard his native Gaelic, and he certainly +moved off with him in his readiest trot. Chance, too, had been sent +southward along with the first detachment of servants, so the little +girls were able to make their plans irrespective of their quadruped +friends. + +It seemed this afternoon as if the setting in of bad weather was likely +to prove a false alarm after all. The bleak wind that had been sweeping +through the strath ceased to blow to-day, and the bright sunshine was +once again lighting up the desolate ravines, and sending its glory upon +the autumnal tints down among the hollows. Never had the Glen looked +more lovely, Blanche thought, as her eye wandered over the now familiar +landscape. The loch lay shining in the sunlight, like a looking-glass +framed in the heather; and as she looked across to it, Blanche suddenly +remembered that she had promised to go there before she left to find a +water lily, as a model for one of a group of wax flowers which Miss +Prosser had been making during these holiday afternoons, while her pupil +was rambling among the hills. + +It was a satisfaction to be able to find an object for the walk, and the +girls set out briskly along the winding path which led from the castle +grounds to the moorland road. The drooping birk boughs were quite golden +now, and the rowan berries a coral red. Blanche kept plucking them as +she went cheerily along, warbling in the sunshine. Feeling very happy +for the present, she did not allow the shadow of the coming separation +to throw its gloom over her, as it seemed to do with the grave little +Morag, who walked silently by her side. Everything looked bright and +smiling, and her wee leddy appeared in one of her most joyous moods; and +Morag wondered why she should feel so sad, that the surrounding +brightness seemed to jar upon her, rather than chase away her sorrowful +mood. And as she listened to the little birds, who took up the refrain +of Blanche's warblings, and merrily chirruped odes of welcome to the +returned sun, Morag was reminded of a sentiment expressed in one of +Kirsty's songs. She had never understood the reason of its saying-- + + "Why will ye chant, ye little birds, + And I sae weary, fu' o' care?" + +and had once remarked to her old friend that "even though a body was +feelin' some sad like, it wad surely do their hearts guid to hear the +birdies sing sic bonnie." + +But Kirsty had smiled and said, "'Deed, bairn, but ye're wrang there, +I'm thinkin'. No a' the birdies' bonnic sangs, nor a' the sweet warks o' +God, can pit glaidness intil broken, sorrowfu' herts. Naething can do +that, I'm thinkin', excep' a sicht o' His ain face, and a soun' o' His +ain voice. I've whiles thocht 'at the poet-chiel' wha made the bit sang +maun hae kent fine what it was to hae a richt sorrowfu' sair hert mony a +day;" and Morag thought that she was able, from to-day's experience, to +catch a glimpse of the poet's meaning. + +Presently Blanche caught the infectious sadness of her friend, and +became quiet and meditative also. Flinging away her bunches of rowan +berries, she came and put her arms round Morag's sunburnt neck, saying, +gently, "You won't quite forget me, Morag, dear, when I'm far away, will +you?" + +A great glow of love rose in Morag's heart as she felt the soft curls +about her neck and Blanche's lips on her cheek. She felt as if she could +have died for her bonnie wee leddy then and there, but she only answered +quietly, "I'm no thinkin' we'll forget ye that ready. Kirsty and me will +be min'in' on ye ilka day. But I'm some feared whiles that ye'll no be +min'in' o' the Glen when ye gang back to the gran' muckle toun ye bide +in." + +There was something else which Morag longed to say to Blanche that +afternoon, and many times before, but she had never been able to summon +up courage to speak about it. She wished to tell her of the new feeling +that had been taking possession of her heart, and which she longed to +share with Blanche. + +Since those first days of wonder and perplexity--which hearing the hymn +in the fir-wood caused--Morag had never talked to the little English +girl of those things which had been slowly sinking into her heart. +Kirsty had been her Evangelist, Morag sometimes thought, as she read the +"Pilgrim's Progress." It was she who had pointed out the way to the +Wicket Gate when the little girl was groping blindly; and to her alone +could she speak freely as yet. But now that she had come to understand +what a real, living, listening Friend the Lord Jesus Christ is, though +unseen by earthly eyes, she longed intensely to share this new faith and +hope with her wee leddy, whom she loved so well. And since Kirsty had +hinted at the many dangers which the world beyond the mountains might +have in store for her now guileless friend, she longed the more to ask +her to take this unseen Friend for her Saviour and Guide. But somehow +the opportunity passed, and they had reached the loch before Morag could +find words to say what she wanted. + +Blanche did not like the sombre mood which appeared to have fallen on +them both; and seemed bent on talking herself and her friend into a +gayer mood by castle-building. She began to prattle about all that she +meant to do next summer, of the many ambitious feats in the way of +climbing which she meant to perform, and of the familiar places--written +over with memories of those pleasant autumn days which they would have +to revisit. + +The yellow afternoon sun was shining on the rippling water of the loch, +and the blue sky, with numberless white fleecy clouds, lay like heaps of +snow reflected on its clear depths. On the soft mossy banks, sloping +down to the loch, there grew masses of scented bog myrtle, and alder +bushes, while yellow flags and rushes fringed the edge of the water. The +broad dark leaves of the water-lilies rocked about in tangled masses on +the loch; but Blanche looked in vain for a lily to take to Miss Prosser. +At last she gave up the search, and throwing herself lazily on the sunny +bank, she lay watching the circles made by the trouts in pursuit of +flies hovering upon the surface of the water. + +Morag meanwhile spied a wild rose-bush at some distance off, on the +bank, and she clambered up to gather the brilliant scarlet berries; and +Blanche presently started off again on a fresh search after the +water-lily; for she was unwilling to return from her last expedition +without the flower which she had promised to find. At last she was +rewarded by discovering a beautiful lily lying hidden away among the +dark leaves. It seemed to be at a convenient stretching distance, so she +knelt down on the moss, and put out her hand to grasp it, which she did +with difficulty, for it was further off than she had thought. She was +about to spring back in triumph at having captured the prize, when she +felt the ground suddenly give way, and in spite of her efforts to save +herself, she went slipping into the water--down, down among the roots of +the floating lilies. + +In her terror she gave a plunge to try to grasp some reeds growing near +and to regain her footing, but she only landed herself further from the +bank than before. All happened in the twinkling of an eye--so quickly +that Blanche raised no cry. But now that all footing was gone, and she +felt herself being fast submerged in the deep water, she shrieked with +terror, and threw up her arms in wild dismay. + +Morag was at the water's brink in a moment; but she only came in time to +see the ripples closing over Blanche's golden crown. She stretched out +her hands towards her, but saw in a moment that she had been carried +too far out for any such help. Morag looked round in silent despair, +for she could not swim, and she had presence of mind to realise that it +would be impossible otherwise to save her; but she could not let her +bonnie wee leddy die all alone there, and, in an instant two little +girls, instead of one, were struggling for life among the rocking +lily-leaves. Morag's wild plunge brought her alongside Blanche, who, +with her remaining consciousness roused, clutched her arm, but very soon +both the girls were sinking, sinking, and the cruel water closing over +them! + +Once again Blanche's hands were thrown up, and her closing eyes looked +on the calm afternoon scene--the sun-lighted grass, with the scarlet +berries scattered over it, dropped by Morag in her wild plunge towards +the bank--once again, and then-- + +But what is that rustling among the alder bushes, and these sounds of +heavy breathing after a hard race? + +Kenneth Macpherson stands on the grassy bank just as the long, floating +curls went under the rippling water, and Blanche Clifford's last +struggle for life seemed over. She had loosened her hold on Morag's arm, +who now began to make convulsive efforts to find her again, as she was +drifted away. In a moment, Kenneth's arm was round Blanche, and with a +few vigorous strokes he laid her on the bank--or all that remained of +her, for his hasty glance gave him little hope that life was there. + +Morag's consciousness partially returned as soon as he grasped her, and +very soon she, too, was laid on the grass by the panting Kenneth. But +the most difficult part of his work was yet to come, he thought, as he +glanced at the motionless figures on the turf. Kneeling down, he began +to chafe Blanche's cold hands, and vainly tried to detect some sign of +life. Presently Morag got up from the turf, and stood shivering, gazing +blankly round, as if she were at a loss to know what had happened. The +sight of the water recalled everything with terrible vividness; she +looked wildly round in search of Blanche, and saw her lying pale and +motionless on the bank, her fair curls all drenched and tangled. With a +cry of agony, Morag sprang to her side. + +"I don't think she's dead, Morag!" whispered Kenneth, who still knelt +beside her. "Do you think you are able to stay here while I go to the +castle to get help? But I'm afraid you must be very wet and tired, +yourself, poor Morag!" + +"Oh, rin! rin to the castle! I'll easy bide wi' her! My bonnie wee +leddy, speak but ae word til me!" And Morag bent eagerly over her; but +the lips were silent and bloodless, and the eyes gave no sign of life. +It was terrible to be so helpless to do anything, Morag thought, as she +kept chafing the cold fingers, while, in a low monotone of agony, she +prayed that her wee leddy might come back to life again. + +Meanwhile, Kenneth flew like lightning to the castle. On the way, he met +the wearied remnant of the shooting party sauntering homewards, after +their last day at the moors, all unconscious of what had been going on +at the loch. Their pace was quickly changed as they hurried towards the +water, while servants followed with a supply of blankets and all other +necessaries. Mr. Clifford hardly listened to Kenneth's incoherent words, +when, flinging down his gun, he hurried towards the bank where his child +lay still unconscious. + +"Blanche, darling, speak to me!" he cried, lifting her in his arms. But +the head fell back, and the motionless frame gave no sign of life. The +dearly won trophy, the water-lily, dropped at last from the unclasping +fingers, and the white arm hung listlessly down. + +All restoratives were eagerly tried, and at length the anxious group on +the greensward fancied they could detect a slight quiver through the +frame, and Blanche slowly returned from the borders of the far-off Land, +as the last rays of the evening sun were gleaming upon the loch. The +blue eyes opened wearily, and she glanced shiveringly round, evidently +unconscious of where she was. + +"Morag, Morag! don't let me go!" she cried, with a look of terror. "The +river is so dark and cold! Do you not see the Golden City yet, Morag?" + +"Hush, Blanche, darling! You must not think of the river any more. You +are safe in papa's arms now!" + +Gradually Blanche returned to consciousness, and remembered what had +happened. After a bewildered glance at the group on the turf, and Miss +Prosser seated at her side, she began to understand what had brought +them all there. Presently she sat up among the blankets in which she was +imbedded, and began to look eagerly round for one familiar face which +she did not see. "Morag!" she whispered, looking inquiringly at her +papa, and then she glanced towards the rippling water, all tinged with +the gorgeous sunset hues, and there she saw floating the wreath of +rowan berries which she had twined among Morag's black locks that +afternoon. "Morag! where is she? Oh, surely not _there_? She jumped into +the loch! I remember seeing her! I remember it all now!" and Blanche +clasped her hands, and looked wildly into her father's face. + +Morag was, meanwhile, seated farther up on the bank, where she could +catch a glimpse of her friend, though she could not be seen by her. With +her usual shyness, she had fled when the castle party surrounded +Blanche; and hiding behind some alder bushes, she watched with intense +anxiety the movements within the circle. But when, at last, she heard +her own name called by Blanche, her heart gave a great throb of joy, and +in an instant she was at her wee leddy's side. + +"Morag, darling! it's all right then? I never felt so happy in my life," +said Blanche, clasping the little brown hands in her trembling fingers. +"Oh, I was so frightened when I woke up. I couldn't see you anywhere, +and felt almost afraid to ask, when I saw the rowan-wreath floating +about. Oh! it was too terrible. But do tell me, how did it all happen? +how did we ever get out of the water?" + +"We were droonin', ye ken, leddy; but Kenneth cam' runnin' doun the +bank frae the peat-moss, and took's baith oot o' the water." + +"Oh yes; by the way, where has the brave fellow gone?" asked Mr. +Clifford, getting up from the turf, where he had been kneeling by his +daughter's side, and looking about for Kenneth. + +"But Kenneth--I don't understand," said Blanche, looking perplexed. "He +wasn't with us, Morag. How did he ever come here?" + +It was, indeed, a strange coincidence that Kenneth Macpherson should +have been within sight and hearing of the loch this afternoon. It was +the first time he had been so near it since he came to Glen Eagle. He +had come to a peat-moss in the vicinity to lay in Kirsty's winter supply +of peats, having borrowed Neil's cart for the occasion. Early in the +afternoon he noticed the little girls pass on their way to the loch, as +he conjectured. He stopped his work for a moment to watch them, and +wished he had been a little nearer, so that they might have spoken to +him, as he heard Blanche's ringing silvery tones through the keen air. +And not long afterwards, when he heard the wild shriek from the loch, he +thought he recognized the voice, and leaving cart and peats, bounded +off in the direction from which it came, reaching the spot, as we know, +just in time to rescue the little girls. After his return from the +castle he had hovered near the watching group till he satisfied himself +that Blanche had recovered, and then he went again to work at the +peat-moss. + +Morag had watched him slip quietly back to his work, unheeding of thanks +or praise; and from that hour he became enshrined as a hero in her +little woman's heart. She longed to see the joy and pride which would be +reflected in Kirsty's gray eyes when she heard of her grandson's share +in the doings of this afternoon; and she felt a glow of pride when Mr. +Clifford called him a brave fellow. + +As soon as Blanche had recovered sufficiently, they prepared to carry +her away from the scene of the catastrophe. She was looking as pale as +the water-lily lying on the turf beside her. Catching a glimpse of it, +she picked it up, and handed it to Miss Prosser, saying, "You see I have +got it for you. Isn't it a beauty? It was the very last one I could +find; I remember holding it so tight when I was in the deep water. I +suppose Kenneth fished it up with me," she added, smiling, as Miss +Prosser took the dearly-won trophy from the trembling fingers, and +kissed her little pupil with more tenderness than she was wont to do. + +Poor little Morag watched her bonnie wee leddy being borne away to the +castle with the desolate feeling of being left out in the cold. The +reaction had come after the intense experiences of these past hours. She +stood watching the glad procession set out with wistful eyes, and then +she moved away in the direction of her solitary home, for she felt cold +and weary enough now. Her father had gone to the kennels before the +shooting party heard of the accident, and he now sat at home in the hut, +wondering what had become of his little daughter. + +"Papa, I remember it all now!" exclaimed Blanche, who had been lying +pale and meditative in her father's arms, as he carried her home. "I +slipped into the water just as I got hold of the lily. Morag wasn't in +sight, I remember, and I got very frightened when I felt the dark water +coming all round, and carrying me quite away from the bank. I recollect +hearing myself scream quite well, and then, in a minute, Morag stood on +the bank, stretching out her hand; but I couldn't reach it, and only got +further away than before. And just as the water was going right over me, +I saw Morag jump in, and then I don't remember anything more. Dear, +brave Morag! it was just like her, wasn't it, papa? I'm sure I should +have been much too frightened to jump into the water. But she must be as +cold and tired as I was, papa! Where are you, Morag?" asked Blanche, +looking round. + +"Yes, to be sure, pussy; we should have thought of that before. You have +been absorbing all our attention in a such troublesome manner, you see. +Where are you, little black-eyes? I saw her flitting about quite briskly +a little while ago, as if the ducking in her native waters had not +affected her unpleasantly. I declare, if she hasn't redeveloped her +propensity for scudding, Blanchie! She's nowhere to be seen," said Mr. +Clifford, glancing round the group. + +Blanche was so distressed at the disappearance of her friend, that one +of the servants was despatched in quest of her, and the little girl +being presently recaptured, she was, in spite of her entreaties, carried +off to the castle, and put under the old housekeeper's care. + +She was made quite a lion of in the servants' hall that evening, though +she was somewhat at a loss to understand why. She recounted, quite +eloquently for her, how Kirsty's grandson had saved them both, and +seemed much surprised when somebody commended her for her efforts to +save their little mistress; for it never occurred to her that any other +course would have been possible than to die with her bonnie wee leddy. + +Ellis had never taken the little native to her heart, in spite of her +little mistress' frequent triumphant reminders that the ragged maiden of +the fir-wood had proved no dangerous gypsy after all; but to-night she +was most gracious, patting the trembling little Morag condescendingly on +the head, as she led the way to Blanche's room, where Morag was summoned +in the course of the evening. + +The little bare, weather-beaten feet trod much more uneasily on the soft +carpet than among the bracken; and the friendship which had sprung up +and flourished among the woods and braes did not seem likely to thrive +in the atmosphere of a luxuriantly-furnished apartment. Blanche was +lying on the sofa, wrapped in a blue flannel dressing-gown, looking very +feeble and subdued, when Morag entered the room. She looked wistfully at +her little mountain friend, but did not speak, and Miss Prosser, who was +seated at her pupil's side, noted the mutual shyness, and considerately +withdrew. + +Beckoning to Morag to come and sit beside her, she took the little +brown hand into her fluttering fingers, and said, nervously, "Morag, +dear, I want so much to speak to you. Do you know, though it was only +such a moment of time, I thought so much when I felt going down, down +among the dark moving water all alone. And you left the pleasant, sunny +turf, and came to drown with me in that dreadful water. How could you +venture, Morag? It was too brave and kind!" and Blanche's lip quivered. + +Morag was going to interrupt her, but she went on. "Do you remember that +chapter of the Bible we were reading to Kirsty yesterday, Morag? I'm +afraid I didn't care much for it at the time, and only read it to please +her; but since I've been lying here, I seem to hear one verse of it +always. Wasn't it Jesus Christ who said that it was the greatest love to +lay down one's life for a friend? Morag, that's what you did for me. I +saw you do it. Oh, Morag, when I awoke and saw the rowan-wreath floating +about in the water, and you not anywhere to be seen!" and Blanche +covered her face and sobbed. + +All Morag's shyness seemed to vanish when she had to take the part of a +comforter. The little brown arm was quietly slipped round the bent +head, and she whispered gently, "Ye mustna think nothing o' my slippin' +in efter ye til the water. I couldna hae bidden ahin' for onything. But +ye see if it hadna been for Kenneth, none o' us would hae been gotten +oot o' the loch." And after a pause she continued, "I'm no thinkin' that +word frae the Bible would even mean the like o' Kenneth, though. Will it +no be meanin' the Lord Jesus Christ, that died o' the green hill,--as +ye're bonnie hymn speaks o'? I weel min' the day I heard it;" and then +she added, with an evident effort, "and I've aye been wantin' to tell ye +that I love Him richt weel mysel' noo, sin' yon day i' the fir-wood." + +"And is it because you love the Lord Jesus so much that you were so +brave at the loch to-day, Morag?" said Blanche, looking questioningly at +her. + +"I'm no thinkin' that exactly," replied Morag, slowly, as if she were +pondering her motives; "I'm thinkin' it was because I looed you, little +leddy, and forby, life wouldna hae seemed muckle worth gin ye had been +awa." + +"D'ye min' the bonnie picter oot o' the 'Pilgrim's Progress?' I was jist +thinkin' to mysel', on my road hame the nicht, that gin Kenneth hadna +come, we would hae gotten thegither to the bonnie toon lyin' i' the +sun,--like the droonin' folk i' the picter," and Morag looked at +Blanche, and smiled brightly. + +The little girl shook her head sadly. "You would have gone to the Golden +City, Morag; but I'm afraid I shouldn't. You see I never really thought +I should like to go to heaven. It seemed to me that it would be so much +nicer to stay always here, in this beautiful world we know and love, +than to be sent away to an unknown land. Do you know, Morag, I thought +of all that to-day, as I looked at the pleasant sunny banks of the loch, +just before the cruel, creeping water covered me all up. It made me feel +so terrified." + +There was silence for a few minutes. At last, Morag said, quietly-- + +"But I'm no thinkin' heaven isna a kin' o' land we dinna ken, when Jesus +is there Himsel', waitin' for us. He made ilka body so happy-like when +he was i' the warl'; and though we canna see Him, I'm thinkin' He's jist +the same yet. When we get til the golden gates o' the City we read aboot +i' the hinner en' o' the Bible, he wad jist be puttin' His han's on us, +and sayin' something kin' like, and we wad be feelin' at hame. He speaks +that plain like til folk here, tho' we canna see Him. I dinna think I +would be feared to gang til get a sicht o' Him." + +There was a light in Morag's eye that made Blanche feel she was speaking +of what she knew. + +"He never speaks to me like that, Morag. I don't think He can love me at +all. I'm sure He doesn't. I'm so dreadfully wicked. Besides, I'm afraid +I never cared to know about Him at all; indeed, I never felt as if He +were a real person." + +"I thocht that ance, till Kirsty telt me different," said Morag, +interrupting her. "I'm weel sure He looes you richt weel, leddy. I'm +thinking He's no far frae us, jist this minute. Will ye no speak til Him +yersel' in yer ain bonnie words, leddy? I'm thinkin' He would like weel +to be listening til the like o' you," whispered Morag, eagerly, as she +knelt by Blanche's side. + +"O Morag! do you mean that I should pray in my very own words? I +couldn't, indeed. Of course I say my prayers every night--one of the +Collects generally." + +"I dinna ken what a Collec' is," replied Morag, looking perplexed. + +"Oh, well, it's a written prayer we use in church. If you'll bring that +case of books to me, I'll show it to you." + +Blanche turned the leaves of her daintily-bound Church Service, and read +some of its strong, thrilling words of prayer, which rang like the music +of a psalm in Morag's ear. + +"That's jist terrible bonnie--a hantle bonnier than onything a body +would make up themsels. I like richt weel to hear't. Would ye jist read +a bit more, gin ye please?" and the little girl's face glowed with +pleasure as she sat listening. + +After looking meditatively into the fire for some minutes when Blanche +had finished reading, she said, slowly-- + +"Ay, that is richt bonnie; and I'm thinkin' sic sweet words maun please +Him weel. But there's jist something mak's me think He wad like a body's +verra ain words best o' a'. Now, d'ye no think, gin ye was wantin' +onything frae yer father, it wouldna be sic nateral like to read it oot +o' a bonnie buik as jist to pit your arms roun' his neck, and plead wi' +him a bittie, as I've seen you do, whiles,--and ye ken fine ye aye get +the thing ye're wantin'," she added, smiling archly; and then she +continued--"Weel, I'm thinkin' that maun be what He would hae us to do, +frae what He says Himsel'. D'ye no think that yersel', leddy?" asked +Morag, looking earnestly into Blanche's troubled face. + +"I think I understand what you mean, Morag; but I never thought of +speaking to Jesus Christ like that. Why did you not ever tell me that +you did till to-night, Morag?" asked Blanche, reproachfully. "You +remember you wanted so very much to know all about Him when I knew you +first. Dear me, Morag, you must have found out a great deal about these +things since then," added Blanche, regretfully. + +"Ay have I," replied Morag, smiling brightly. "But it was frae yersel' I +first heard His name. D'ye mind on't, leddy? I'm thinkin' I'll min' +upon't as lang as I live--and maybe efter-hin. Kirsty was jist sayin' +yestreen, she's richt sure folk dosna forget the travellin' days when +they win safe hame til the Golden City." + +"Oh! I remember. You mean that morning when I was gathering cones in the +fir-wood, and began singing a hymn. I had been singing for a long time +before I looked up and saw you. I was so astonished to see you leaning +against the tree, and so glad that I had found you again," and Blanche +laughed merrily at the recollection of the scene. Presently she became +grave again, and taking Morag's hand in hers, she added, in a low +tone--"But, Morag, you must not think I was singing about Jesus Christ +because I loved Him, or cared for the words of the hymn. I think I chose +them because they seemed to suit the air I wanted to sing. I think I do +care now, though. O Morag! you might speak to Jesus Christ yourself just +now, and I'll try, too. Perhaps he will listen to us both. Do ask Him to +teach me to be good when I go back to London. I used to be so naughty +often--you've no idea. Do, please," added Blanche beseechingly, for she +knew Morag's extreme shyness, and feared that her request might not be +complied with. + +The little mountain maiden seemed quite lifted out of her reserve. At +once the dark tangled locks went down among the bright chintz cushions, +and Morag spoke in low, reverent tones to the listening friend she had +come to know and love during these autumn days. + +Morag was still kneeling when Ellis came bustling into the room to say +that the keeper had come to fetch his little daughter. Blanche looked +much disappointed. The time had passed so quickly, and there was still +much she wanted to talk about, but she had to content herself with +arranging a meeting at Kirsty's cottage on the following afternoon. + +"We shall have so much to tell her, shan't we? And only fancy, Morag, +papa is coming, too! He says he will drive me there--that he wants to +see Kenneth to thank him. Is it not funny to think that papa has never +seen Kirsty? He says he is quite anxious to be introduced to her. Won't +it be fun to see them together? I have been telling him all the things I +want him to look at, and what chair it will be best to sit on--it would +be a pity if he took Kirsty's chair, you know. I'm only afraid he may be +too tall to get in at the door. I've been telling him he'll have to +stoop ever so much." And Blanche laughed merrily at the idea, as Ellis +hurried Morag away, saying that her father would be impatient. + +The next day was cold, and wet, and scowling. Blanche seemed very tired +and feverish, and was not allowed to leave her bed, to which, indeed, +she made no resistance--the loch adventure seemed so completely to have +exhausted her. She dozed comfortably till evening, when her papa came to +sit beside her, and she became quite lively as she listened to his +account of his visit to Kirsty's cottage, which he had paid that +afternoon. + +"Now, Blanchie, is there anything more you can possibly think of asking +concerning this visit?" said Mr. Clifford, laughingly, as he replied to +Blanche's eager questioning. "I couldn't have endured a greater fire of +cross-questioning if I had come from one of Her Majesty's drawing-rooms, +and you wanted a description of each toilette. Did I see a stool called +'Thrummy?' Well, I was almost precipitated into the fire-place, just as +I was going to make my bow to Kirsty, by stumbling over a bundle of rags +which answers to your description, so I suppose I did see the historical +'Thrummy.'" Smiling, he continued: "Then I sat down--I hope on the right +chair--but you may be sure I was dreadfully afraid of making a _faux +pas_ after all your instructions, Blanchie. I ended by having quite a +long talk with your friend Kirsty, though I had considerable difficulty +in understanding her dialect. She is really a very fine specimen of a +peasant woman. I quite admire your taste, pussy. There is a wonderful +amount of sense and pathos in her way of viewing things in general, +notwithstanding that atrocious northern dialect." + +"Oh, papa! don't say it's atrocious! I like to listen to it so much +now. I'm sure I could never like an old woman half so well if she did +not speak like Kirsty. She is the first I have ever known,--and I love +her so much," added Blanche with a sigh, when she thought how soon she +would be far away from the _ben-end_ of Kirsty's cottage, where she had +spent some of the pleasantest hours of her life. + +"Yes; she is a first-rate old woman, I allow; but she has put me in the +embarrassing position of absolutely refusing to accept any reward for +her grandson's brave conduct yesterday. Unfortunately, one is not much +accustomed to such delicacy of feeling, so perhaps I did not manage the +matter rightly. I began to see what kind of stuff she was made of, and I +did try to approach the subject as carefully as possible. But she shook +her fine old head resolutely, and would not hear of anything more +substantial than thanks." + +"Ah! that was so like Kirsty! I don't really think she would care a bit +for anything you might give her; only I do think she will be well +pleased that you went to see her, and said nice things about Kenneth. +She does always look so glad to see Morag and me," added Blanche, +smiling at the recollection of the warm reception which they never +failed to receive at the little cottage. + +"But did you not see Kenneth himself, papa?" + +"Yes, I did. The bright idea occurred to me that the grandson might be +more amenable, and before the old woman went to fetch him, I took the +precaution of asking her not to lay any commands on the boy, at all +events. She replied, in that wonderful voice of hers, 'Na, na; I'se houp +the laddie winna need nae comman's o' mine anent sic a maitter.' So +Kenneth was produced, and I thanked the brave fellow, in your name and +mine. His face quite glowed with pleasure, I saw; but when I added, +'Now, Kenneth, my little daughter wants to give you something more than +thanks for saving her life and her little friend's, though we know money +can't pay for a brave deed like that,'--or something to that effect, his +countenance fell directly, and he was quite as inexorable on that point +as his old grandmother. So we must set our wits to work to manage the +matter. I'll speak to Dingwall about it." + +"I'm so glad Kenneth didn't want to take anything," exclaimed Blanche. +"I'm sure Kirsty will be glad. She is so very anxious he should grow up +a really good man. Don't her gray eyes look so pretty when she smiles, +papa?" + +"Now, pussy, I'm not going to join in any more raptures concerning +Kirsty's eyes, or her other perfections. Good-night, darling. You are +looking quite feverish again. We shall have plenty of time to talk about +Kirsty when we get back to London, you know," added Mr. Clifford, as he +saw that Blanche looked disappointed to close the conversation. + +At last Blanche went to sleep, thinking how very nice it was to have her +papa all to herself, for a whole evening; and that, after all, though it +was very sad to leave Glen Eagle, it could not be dull in London when +her papa was to be there, as he evidently meant to be, when he spoke of +having talks about Kirsty. + + + + +XII. + +_THE EMPTY HUT._ + + +IT had been arranged that the journey southward should be postponed for +a few days on account of the loch accident; but the next morning was so +bright and pleasant, and Blanche looked so fresh and well, that there +seemed no reason for departing from the original plan, and it was +hastily decided that she and her governess should start for London, +travelling by easy stages. + +Great was Blanche's dismay when she heard of this arrangement. She had +been rejoicing over another pleasant day in the Glen, and began to think +that the loch adventure had some advantages after all, seeing it was +going to secure a few more days in the Highlands. + +"It can't possibly be true, Ellis. You had better not go on with that +packing till you get further orders," said the little girl, in a tone +more imperious than she almost ever used, as she found her maid in a +state of pleasurable bustle and excitement over boxes that were being +quickly filled. + +"Yes, missie; it's quite true, I assure you," replied her maid, without +looking up from the box over which she was stooping. "Miss Prosser says +it's a hexcellent arrangement, and, for my part, I agree with her +'eartily. It quite sets one up to think of gettin' back to civilized +existence. There's cook quite a henvyin' of me, because I'm going three +days sooner." + +"I wish I were cook, I'm sure," burst in Blanche. "But, Ellis, I'm sure +papa can't mean me to go to-day. He can't, indeed! I shall go and ask +him this minute. You'd better stop putting in those things, Ellis," she +added, impatiently. + +But Ellis smiled confidently, and went on with her work, while Blanche +ran away down the great staircase, feeling rather faint-hearted, +however, as she thought of the possibility of Ellis's tidings being +true. Below, she found everybody in a state of the most unpleasant +pre-occupation. Miss Prosser was in the midst of elaborate packings, and +smilingly assured her little pupil that they were really going. The +carriage was to be at the door exactly at twelve o'clock, so she must +make haste to be ready in time; and was it not pleasant they were going +to have such a fine day to leave Glen Eagle?--and should they not be +thankful that she was well enough to travel so soon after so serious an +accident? + +Blanche fled from Miss Prosser, along the winding passages towards the +library, in the hope of finding her papa. There was still one last +resource; she would beg him to allow her to remain, even one day, +longer. There he was, seated in the library, to be sure; but surrounded +by such piles of letters and papers, and with his most business-like +expression on his face. Several people were waiting to speak to him and +there seemed no hope of Blanche gaining an audience, unless she went +boldly up to him, and made her petition before them all. She lingered +about for a little time, trying to summon up courage, but at last glided +away without uttering a word. + +Then she wandered into the entrance-hall, and stood leaning on the old +stuffed fox, watching the pile of boxes and portmanteaus in the +court-yard, which increased in size every minute. The servants were +hurrying to and fro in a state of bustle and excitement. Evidently, to +Blanche alone these signs of departure brought a pang of regret. The +thought of those pleasant vanished afternoons was too much to be borne. +She had known that she must leave the Highland glen before long: but she +did not dream it would be such a cruel tearing away as this. + +After wandering aimlessly about for some time, she remembered that she +must see Morag before the dreaded hour arrived. She could not surely +have heard that they were really going to-day, or else she would have +come, and there was no sign of her anywhere. Blanche wandered round the +castle, among the grove of ash-trees, and into the old garden, but she +did not find her friend at any of the usual trysting-places. + +At last she made up her mind what she would do. Hurrying swiftly along +the birk-walk, where the drooping boughs were quite golden now, she +clambered up the steep ascent which led to the little shieling among the +crags. + +Blanche's spirits began to rise again. It would be so pleasant to give +Morag a surprise. Probably she would find her at work inside the +cottage. Perhaps she would be paring potatoes, as she had been on a +previous occasion, which Blanche remembered well--for had she not sat +down on a little stool beside her, and, being provided with a knife, had +pared away delightedly. She thought it the most charming of amusements; +but when she was dressing for the drawing-room that evening, Ellis had +looked suspiciously at the stained fingers, which resisted ordinary +ablutions, and Blanche, having been obliged to divulge to what culinary +uses they had been devoted that day, had been forbidden by her governess +to visit Morag again. It was therefore many weeks since she had been +within the hut; but she felt sure that Miss Prosser could not be angry +at her going on a farewell visit like this. + +The door stood open, and Blanche walked in on tiptoe, smiling to think +how astonished her little friend would be to see her. She glanced +eagerly round the room, but no Morag was to be seen anywhere. The peat +fire was burning brightly, and the potatoes lay among water in a nice +wooden dish, all ready pared. But these traces of the absent inmate only +made the disappointment keener. Blanche stood looking round, with a very +dreary feeling. It was so hard not to find Morag, and she had evidently +not been gone for long; if she had only thought of coming earlier, it +would have been all right. The dreaded hour fixed for leaving the castle +must be very near now, and what if she could not be found before then? +Blanche's heart sank as she contemplated the possibility. Before she +turned to go, she cast a lingering glance round the empty dwelling, and +she could not help remarking how much nicer it looked than when she saw +it first. + +The roof was still far from being rainproof certainly, and the earthen +floor was more undulating than was quite pleasant to walk upon; but the +most had been made of everything that was capable of improvement. There +was a sort of imitation of Kirsty's household arrangements which was +very observable to Blanche, and she smiled through her tears as she +noted it. On the shelf was ranged quite an imposing row of shining delf, +where there used only to stand a stray broken dish or two. Everything +was spotlessly clean and neat; and, in the little window, there +flourished some of the old woman's favorite flowers, of which she had +given slips to Morag. All this, and more, Blanche's quick eye took in at +a glance; and the thought of its being the work of a pair of little, +eager hands she knew well, brought quite a glow of pleasure, in the +midst of her disappointment. + +Blanche stood gazing at Morag's home till it was photographed in her +memory. And as she turned away to go down the hill, she thought that +surely Morag must have sought and found help from her unseen Friend for +all those home duties, which it must be so difficult for a little girl +no bigger than herself to have to do; and she longed to hear more about +that friendship, from the little mountain maiden. + +Gazing wistfully in the direction of the fir-wood, she wondered if she +would have time to go to see whether Morag was to be found at their old +trysting-place, the flat grey rock; but she dreaded that she would not, +so she hurried tearfully towards the castle, and only reached home as +the carriage drove to the door. She found Ellis setting out to look for +her in a state of great indignation and perplexity, having, in the midst +of the bustle, only that minute missed her charge. Some luncheon had to +be swallowed in great haste; and then, while Miss Prosser was seating +herself in the carriage, Blanche took the opportunity of darting off on +a farewell journey round the grey old keep, where she had spent so many +happy days. Only at the last minute did her papa emerge from the library +to say good-bye to his little daughter. He meant to go south by a +different route, and would not rejoin her in London for several weeks. + +Blanche felt as if all the waves and billows of trouble had gone over +her head when she accidentally heard this piece of news, as she was at +last compelled to seat herself in the carriage by Miss Prosser's side. +She could not make any response to her father's cheerful waving to her +as they were driven swiftly away. She felt the knot in her throat +getting bigger every minute as they were whirled past the pleasant +birk-walk and along the winding avenue, getting occasional glimpses +through the boughs of the spruce fir-trees of the old grey turrets, or +the moorland beyond. + +At last they got upon the high road, and drove swiftly on between the +sharply outlined mountains that reared themselves high and solemn all +round--like sentinels keeping eternal watch over the Glen, amid all the +changes that went on below. + +Miss Prosser was busied with the index to "Bradshaw," so that, +fortunately, or the reverse, Blanche was left to her own reflections. +She kept an eager watch, as they drove swiftly on in the forlorn hope of +catching a glimpse of Morag. But the familiar spots were quickly being +left behind, and there was no trace of her anywhere; and Blanche's hope +died quite away when they got into the wider range of the strath,--away +in the direction of her southern home. + +If only Blanche had not buried her face for a moment among the furs as +she was passing the larch plantation, which at a certain point skirted +the high road, her quick eye might have discovered the person she so +longed to see. + +Morag stood among the larch trees, bending under a heavy bundle of +faggots, which she had been gathering, and which she had just managed to +strap on her back. Hearing the sound of wheels on the road, she turned +to look, but was only in time to catch a glimpse of the carriage, as it +passed swiftly along by the old winding dyke. Some traces of luggage +were visible, and Ellis was seated on the box. Morag's heart sank. Was +it possible they were leaving the Glen, to-day, after all? And she had +been going cheerily on with her work that morning, in the hope of +another afternoon with Blanche. For had not Ellis told her, when she +went to inquire at the castle the day before, that the southward journey +had been postponed for several days. Only a short time ago she had been +smiling as she gathered her fire-wood, thinking how pleased Kirsty would +look when the wee leddy walked into the cottage that afternoon. But +now, the more she thought of it, the more sure she felt that those +cruel, swift wheels were carrying her away beyond their reach, to a land +that seemed terrible and unknown indeed to the little mountain maiden. + +She ran to the edge of the wood, and climbing on the lichen-spotted +dyke, she gazed wistfully along the winding road, where the shining +carriage was rolling swiftly along. And after she had watched it till it +could be seen no longer, the little girl sat down and wept bitterly. Her +bonnie wee leddy had gone without one parting word. Surely she must have +utterly forgotten her, or else she could not have acted thus. Gladly +would she have walked miles across pathless hills to touch her wee +leddy's hand, and now she had gone without ever sending to ask her to +come. And, as she sat weeping on the old grey dyke, the friendship of +these autumn days seemed to grow dreamlike all of a sudden. Had she ever +really walked by Shag's side with the little lady of the castle among +the moors, or sat with her in the _ben-end_ of Kirsty Macpherson's +cottage?--or, had she been in fairyland all these weeks? The past seemed +to grow so shadowy; and the bundle of dead sticks was so real and heavy, +as she wearily rose, at last, to take her solitary way to the hut among +the crags. + +She had only gone a few steps in the direction of home, when she saw +coming towards her through the larch trees Kenneth Macpherson. + +"Who would have thought of meeting you here, Morag?" he cheerily +accosted her. "And with such a heavy bundle of sticks, too. Let me carry +it for you--do! Why it's bigger than yourself!" he added, with a +pleasant smile, as he unfastened it and threw it across his own broad +shoulders. + +"You're going home, I suppose, Morag; ar'nt you?" he asked as he walked +by her side. "I didn't know you ever came here. I often do. I can hardly +ever pass the place without crossing the dyke. You mind the tartan +folds, Morag?" said the boy, smiling sadly, as he glanced at the lonely +spot from whence his mother's soul had gone home to God. + +"Ay do I! I mind upon't weel," replied Morag, with quivering lip. The +remembrance brought such a rush of mingled recollections that she could +not say more just then. + +"Oh, by the by, Morag, I wish I had known a few minutes ago that you +were to be found here. I saw somebody who was very anxious to get a +sight of you. Who do you think? The bonnie wee leddy, as you call her, +on her way back to London!" + +Morag stood still to listen, and as she looked earnestly into Kenneth's +face, he noticed that she had been crying. "I never kent she was awa +till I got a blink o' the cairage no lang syne. She never telt me she +was goin' the day," and the little girl struggled vainly to keep back +the tears. + +"But I'm sure it wasn't her fault that you did not know she was leaving +the Glen to-day, Morag. She seemed very sorry-like herself, and sent a +message to you. When she noticed me on the road she jumped up from among +a lot of furs, and stopped the carriage. The lady beside her was reading +a book, and she looked up some angry like, and said something sharp. I +think the wee leddy wanted to get out of the carriage to come and speak +to me, but she wouldn't let her. Then she stretched her hand down and +smiled very pleasantly, though I think she had been crying, too," added +the kind-hearted Kenneth rather pathetically, as he glanced at Morag. +"Then she began to thank me for what I did at the loch. I'm sure it +wasn't anything to thank a body so much for. Such a pretty voice she +has. It just sounded like the chimes of silver bells, Morag. And after +she had thanked me, she stooped down quite low, and whispered as if she +were afraid that the lady would hear, 'Oh, Kenneth, do you think you +could find Morag anywhere? I'm sure she can't know I've gone, or else +she would surely have come to see me.' But just then the lady rose very +angry like, and said, sharply, 'Come now, Blanche, I cannot permit this. +Drive on, Lucas!' she called out to the coachman; and then she sat down +to her book again. The wee lady seemed very vexed, and when the horses +started, she stretched down once again, and her curls came falling about +her face and she cried, 'Give Morag my dearest love!'" + +When Kenneth had finished his narration, Morag began to sob again, and +he felt greatly at a loss to know how to comfort her. But they were +tears of joy now. The feeling of bitterness was all gone. Her bonnie wee +leddy had not forgotten her, and the friendship of those autumn days was +no bit of fairyland after all. + +Kenneth did not leave her till the bundle of firewood was deposited in +the hut, and Morag had promised to come and pay them a visit at the +cottage that afternoon. + +And as he went sauntering down the hill with his hands in his pockets, +whistling a tune, he thought what a very nice girl Morag was; and how +glad he felt that it was not she who had gone away from the Glen. And he +further decided that such a great bundle of sticks was much too heavy +for a girl to carry, and resolved that, in future, he should always be +in attendance to carry home the firewood. + +As Morag re-entered the cottage, and glanced round the empty room, she +saw something lying on the earthen floor which she had not dropped +there; and stooping down, she picked up a little, half-worn glove, which +told a tale. She looked eagerly round, as if some lingering presence of +its owner must still pervade. Her bonnie wee leddy was leal and true +after all, and she felt remorseful that she had doubted her for a +moment. Kissing the token reverently, she opened the old _kist_, and +slipped it between the folds of her most precious book, where it +remained a sacred relic of that morning's visitor for many a long year. + + + + +XIII. + +_BACK IN LONDON._ + + +IT was a foggy November afternoon; the color of the surrounding +atmosphere was almost as yellow as the gorgeous damask hangings which +draped Mr. Clifford's handsome drawing-room. Our friend Blanche was +wandering listlessly up and down the room, in one of her most restless +moods, her governess remarked, as she looked up from a piece of +elaborate lace-work which was growing rapidly under her diligent +fingers. + +It was the usual hour for walking, but the unpleasant weather had kept +them indoors. Blanche seemed to find this play-hour extremely dull, and +appeared to have failed in all her efforts to amuse herself. On one of +the couches there lay open a beautiful drawing-room book of engravings, +which she had been looking at, but she knew all the pictures by heart +already, so she soon tired of turning the leaves. Then she went to the +piano to try over some old chorales of her mamma's copying, which she +had found among her music; but Miss Prosser presently remarked that she +might play something more lively on such a dismal day as this, so +Blanche, at last, glided away among the curtains, and stood looking out +on the dense fog. The amber gloom enveloped even the nearest objects, so +there was really nothing to see from the window, though Blanche stood +gazing out intently. But there was a far-away look in her eyes which +seemed to betoken that it was a mental picture which absorbed her. + +Miss Prosser again glanced uneasily at her little charge; but this time +she did not speak. Her pupil had been rather a puzzle to her of late, +and she would gladly have shared her thoughts as she stood there. It was +not her habit, however, to elicit confidences of any kind from her +pupils; and, indeed, till quite lately, it had not been necessary in +Blanche Clifford's case. Her nature was so frank and gay that her +thoughts were generally shared by those nearest to her, whether they +were sympathetic listeners or not. But, of late, a change had been +stealing over the little girl. She had grown more quiet and +self-contained than she used to be. Less wayward and troublesome she +certainly was, but her governess sometimes thought, as she looked at +her thoughtful face, that she would gladly welcome back some of the old +boisterous ways which she used to characterize so severely. + +Presently Blanche emerged from among the yellow draperies, and, seating +herself on a low stool, looked meditatively into the fire. + +"Miss Prosser, I am afraid you will think it a very silly question I'm +going to ask," she said presently, as she threw herself at her +governess' feet, laying her hands on her knees. "Do you think I begin to +get any better at all? I have been trying so hard to be good ever since +I came from Glen Eagle; but it is so difficult," added Blanche, with a +deep sigh. "There now, I tried ever so hard to write that French letter +correctly last night, and yet I had several mistakes to-day, you know." + +"My dear child, you are getting morbid. This unpleasant fog has a most +depressing effect, I know. You are a very good child, my dear. There is +no reason to reproach yourself as you do, I assure you. Only this +morning, in my report to your father, I stated that I was pleased with +your progress, and Signor Lesbini was expressing his satisfaction with +you, also," added Miss Prosser, who, however, felt rather disconcerted +by the new _rôle_ she had to play in taking her pupil's part against +herself. It was so unlike the bright, careless Blanche of a few months +ago; and as she glanced at the wistful, upturned face, she noticed that +the outline of the cheek was sharper than of old, and the delicate +tracery of veins on the forehead more visible. Still the child was well +enough, to all appearance, and Miss Prosser began to think that she, +too, must be growing fanciful. + +"But you don't see my heart, Miss Prosser, or you would not say I was +good," replied Blanche, looking into her governess' face with a +perplexed gaze. "You have no idea how naughty I felt to-day, when you +decided that we should not go out to walk. I think I feel oftener cross +than I used to do; and yet I try so very hard to be good," sighed +Blanche, despondingly. "Will you tell me, Miss Prosser, if you thought +much about the Lord Jesus Christ, and tried to please Him, when you were +about my age? I wonder whether my mamma did!" continued the little girl, +as she looked musingly into the fire. + +"My dear Blanche, of course it is proper that we should lead Christian +lives. You know our parents and sponsors undertook that for us, in +baptism. And one day you will be confirmed, I hope. I should like you to +go up at the same time as your cousin, Lady Matilda. By the way, +Blanche, I think I shall write and ask her mamma if she may come and +spend a day with you. You have hardly seen her since you came home. And +you shall have a whole holiday, and do whatever you like. You quite +deserve it, for you have been a most diligent child lately. We have +really been getting over a great deal of ground. And these harp-lessons, +which your papa is so anxious for you to have, do take up so much time. +Yes, I think I shall write this afternoon and ask the little Lady +Matilda to come on Friday." + +Blanche sighed, and continued her meditations among the glowing coals. +She was thinking of another friend whom she would much rather have to +spend the day. One afternoon's ramble in the fir-wood with Morag +Dingwall, she thought, would be worth half-a-dozen walks in the Park +with any Lady Matilda in the world. + +These autumn days already began to gather round them that halo which +seems always to surround past periods. The very names and places +connected with those days thrilled Blanche like the music of a song. +But, unlike her usual frank disposition, she never had these names on +her lips, but kept them like a stolen casket of precious gems, only to +be taken out and looked at when alone. So noticeable, indeed, was her +silence concerning Glen Eagle, that Miss Prosser concluded the Highland +experiences were quite out of mind; and she was not sorry, on the whole, +to think that the bond had been so quickly loosened between her pupil +and the little mountaineer. + +The maid Ellis was absent on a visit to her friends, or probably her +many garrulous memories of Stratheagle might have broken through +Blanche's reserve; but, as it was, she dwelt silently among her mental +pictures of the Highland glen. + +When Signor Lesbini, her music master, was announced, Blanche's thoughts +were far away in the _ben-end_ of Kirsty's cottage. Starting up from her +seat by the fire, she ran to find her music, while the servant placed +her harp in its usual position, and Miss Prosser and the music master +were exchanging stately salutes. + +Mr. Clifford was anxious that Blanche's taste for music should be +cultivated in every direction; and these lessons were inserted in the +educational programme by his special desire. Blanche was very anxious +that she should be able to make some pleasant sounds on the harp before +her father came home; and she was succeeding in doing so, to judge from +her master's frequent, soft, "bene,--benissimo, Signorina!" + +Miss Prosser, meanwhile retired to a distant corner of the room to write +various small scented notes to her friends. Among others, an invitation +was duly despatched to the small Lady Matilda, asking her to spend a day +with her cousin, and to go to the pantomime in the evening. The latter +part of the programme Miss Prosser kept as a reserve treat for Blanche, +who had never been to a pantomime, and wished very much to see one. + +The invitation was duly accepted on behalf of the little Lady Matilda. +She appeared on the day appointed, alighting from her smart pony +carriage, escorted by her maid and footman. She was a lean, dark, sallow +child, very different in coloring and expression from her cousin +Blanche. She always appeared in the most sleek, unruffled state of +tidiness and propriety; she looked, in fact, as if she had come into the +world precisely as she stood--at the same stage of growth, and in the +same faultless toilette. At least such was the reflection which +sometimes rose to Ellis's mind as she surveyed her with half envious, +half contemptuous eyes, side by side with her careless and often +dishevelled little mistress, whose shoulders would somehow get out of +her frocks; and one of whose shoes had been actually known to go +amissing during dinner, being afterwards brought to her, on a silver +tray, by her aunt's solemn butler. Of this terrible _faux pas_, the Lady +Matilda's maid occasionally reminded Ellis when they quarrelled over the +respective merits of their little ladies. + +Notwithstanding Miss Prosser's well-meaning efforts to create a +friendship between the cousins, they did not appear to draw to each +other in the least. The earlier hours of the day passed in uneventful +dulness--at least so thought Blanche, who shocked her governess by +yawning twice in her visitor's face, and exhibiting various other tokens +of her want of appreciation of her society. Finally, she disappeared for +a period, and returned with the cook's white kitten rolled in her smart +blue velvet dress--a trophy from among the pots and pans, and showing +too many traces of its former playground to deserve its name of Snow. + +The calm little Lady Matilda surveyed her companion's restless movements +with a look of mild surprise, glancing up, now and then, from a piece of +lace-work, on which she was bestowing great thought and care. Miss +Prosser had been admiring it greatly; and commended her diligence in a +way which reflected somewhat on her own pupil's want of that quality, +particularly as regarded needlework. + +"But what's the use of it? What do you mean to do with it, Matty?" asked +Blanche, unrolling the elaborate piece of work in question. + +"My dear Blanche, you are not always so practical, I am sure," said Miss +Prosser, coming to the rescue. "Do you not know that it is a part of +every young lady's education to be able to sew fancy work? And, besides, +the habit of diligence is so good, my dear Blanche; you ought to +remember that." + +"Well; but it seems to me that there is no use of some people being +diligent--about sewing, at all events. Don't you remember these slippers +I sewed for papa, Miss Prosser? He certainly seemed very much pleased +when I gave them to him; and I felt as if I had been really useful in +having made a pair of shoes; and thought it would be so nice to see papa +going about in shoes of my making. But, not long afterwards, I heard him +say to somebody that he detested sewed slippers, and never wore them. I +suppose he had forgotten all about the pair I made for him then, +because I'm sure he would not have wanted to hurt my feelings," added +Blanche pathetically. + +The conversation was here interrupted by the servant coming to ask at +what hour the carriage would be required; and then the delightful secret +came out at last. Blanche was in an ecstacy of delight at the prospect +of seeing a pantomime. Some time ago her governess would have checked +her glee as an unbecoming outburst, but now she hailed it as a proof +that her little charge was regaining that elasticity of spirit which she +had somewhat lost of late, and she congratulated herself on the success +of her efforts for her amusement. + +The pantomime that evening was "The Babes in the Wood," though it +certainly contained marvellous variations not suggested by the old +English ballad which it was meant to illustrate. In fact the Babes +themselves were hardly distinguishable, so surrounded were they by +moving troops of wee green folk, peeping out in all directions, and +marvellously suspended from the boughs of trees. Indeed, it is doubtful +whether the original robins could have found a branch throughout the +forest to hop on--so covered were they by dazzling fairies performing +all manner of wonderful evolutions in mid-air. + +Lady Matilda surveyed the marvellous scene with considerably more repose +of manner than her cousin. She was quite an old frequenter of such +exhibitions, so she was able to compare it with yet more gorgeous +performances, and to feel pretty sure what was coming next. + +But to Blanche, the pantomime had all the charm of novelty. She stood +entranced, gazing at the stage with eager, upturned face. More than one +frequenter of the theatre observed with amusement the eager little girl, +who was not content to view the scene from her comfortable chair in the +box, but kept leaning forward, in a bewilderment of happiness, +notwithstanding her cousin's mild suggestions that she would be very +tired before the end of the play if she did not sit down. + +Every scene was more charming and wonderful than the one which went +before. The fun among the wee green folks was getting more fast and +furious every minute. Blanche thought they looked like dragon-flies in +the sunshine, as they went flitting about. It had not occurred to her +that they were real flesh and blood creatures like herself, till, +suddenly, one dazzling little elf fell from a giddy height, on to the +stage. For a moment, Blanche fancied that the descent of the fairy was +all part of the fun; but presently a shrill cry of human pain, and a few +compassionate voices from the crowd below, caused her to realize that +underneath the mass of gauze and gilt there was a poor body in pain. + +In an instant the poor crushed fairy was borne away from the bright +scene, and the fun went on again in mad hurly-burly. But, somehow, +Blanche's eyes had grown dim, and she shrank back on her seat with a +shudder. + +"Why, what's the matter, cousin Blanche?" whispered the imperturbable +little Lady Matilda, as she surveyed her cousin's movement with mild +surprise. + +"Oh, didn't you see, Matty? I'm afraid it must be awfully hurt. It fell +from such a height--the fairy, I mean. Didn't you hear it cry? it +sounded so dreadful when we were al' so happy. I never dreamt they could +feel." + +Lady Matilda showed a row of pearly teeth as she replied, "Why, yes, of +course. How odd you are, Blanche. Didn't you know they are poor +children, who do all this for money? I should think they must be quite +used to falling by this time." + +Blanche was horror-struck. She tried to avert her eyes from the stage, +but, in spite of herself, she felt her glance riveted on the hovering +fairies, not in delight now, but in terror, lest another of them should +fall. + +"Little girls who do it for bread," Blanche repeated to herself, as she +leant back on her seat, and covered her face with her hands. And as she +sat thus, her thoughts went slipping back to the Highland glen. She +remembered the elfish-looking little form that gazed in upon her at the +window of the old castle, on that autumn morning; and she shuddered to +think how, under other circumstances, her friend Morag might have been +such a victim. Then she began to think of the poor fairy; she wondered +whether she was dreadfully hurt, and resolved that she should beg Miss +Prosser to make inquiries before they left the theatre. + +It was with a feeling of relief that she saw the curtain drop at last, +and the people begin to move away. Then she made an eager appeal that +they should go and ask after the child. The request seemed utterly +outrageous when first presented to Miss Prosser's mind; but Blanche was +so urgent that, at last, she consented to dispatch the maid to make +inquiries behind the scenes. Then Blanche began to plead to be allowed +to go, too. She was so very eager that her governess, at last, after +many injunctions to the maid, gave a reluctant consent, arranging that +she should wait in the box with the little Lady Matilda, who seemed to +view her impetuous cousin's movements with unfeigned astonishment, not +unmixed with annoyance. + +Blanche was all trembling with excitement when the maid took her hand, +and they began to thread their way through the corridors, which were +getting emptied now. Presently they met a man who was putting out the +lights, and the maid stopped to ask where they could go to inquire after +the hurt fairy. Having got directions how to proceed, they went on +through narrower and less luxurious passages--so dark and dingy-looking +that Blanche began to feel afraid, and grasped her maid's hand more +tightly. They came at last to a room, the door of which stood half open. +They were hesitating whether this was the room to which they had been +directed, when they heard a thin, feeble voice within, moaning, as if in +pain. + +"That's the fairy, I'm sure, Grant," whispered Blanche, eagerly. "Do +just peep in and see." + +The maid pushed open the door and walked a few steps forward. On the +floor stood a paraffine lamp which shed a dim light throughout the +room, showing a heap of matting in the corner, where a poor, emaciated +child lay. Gleaming through the half darkness, Blanche could distinguish +a pale, sharp, unchildlike face, that rested on a thin shrivelled hand. +A wretched mud-colored rag seemed to be her sole garment; and, at her +side, there stood a pair of big boots, or what served for them, but they +seemed almost detached pieces of leather now; besides being of a +considerably larger size than the wearer would require. Lying on a +table, in another corner of the room, was the gauzy fairy gear, at which +Blanche glanced sadly, thinking it contrasted strangely with the +wretched rags for which it had been exchanged. + +On hearing the sound of footsteps, the child started up, and looked +wildly round, as she exclaimed, "O mother! you'll not beat me this time! +I'm so bad--it's my leg! Tim said he never saw nothing like the fall I +got! Oh, my! it hurts awful!" and the child began to writhe in pain. + +"It is not your mother--poor thing! But I daresay your mother will be +here before long," said the maid, in a compassionate tone, as she +stooped down to look at the child. + +In a moment, Blanche was kneeling beside the heap of matting, her +pretty blue opera cloak falling on the grimy floor as she took the +child's little black fingers in her hands, saying, eagerly, "O poor, +poor fairy!--little girl, I mean," she added, for she could not yet +divest herself of the idea of the gauzy wings and woven spangles,--"what +a dreadful fall you had. I'm afraid you must be very much hurt!" + +The child drew her hand away, and looked sharply at Blanche. Presently +she nodded, saying, "I know; you're the pretty little girl what looked +so pleased at the pantomime. We noticed you--Tim and me. Tim's the boy +what hangs the lamps, you know. He's gone to fetch mother; but she +aren't a-comin' yet. Drinkin' again, most likely--she's always at it." + +Just then a loud-voiced, boisterous woman came staggering into the room. + +"Well, young 'un, so you've been and gone and done it again! Didn't I +tell you to mind your feet, you little idiot!" and the woman, stooping +down, seized the child and shook her roughly. + +"Oh, mother, mother, don't! I couldn't help it, noways--my head got so +giddy. Oh, I'm so bad!" the weak voice wailed out; and presently the +little face got more pale and pinched than before, and the poor fairy +fainted away. + +"You've killed her, you have--you cruel, cruel woman! How dare you speak +so?" said Blanche, quivering with indignation, as she sprang to her feet +from beside the matting where she had been kneeling, and almost sprang +at the half-tipsy woman. + +"Ho, ho! pretty bird; and who may you be? and what's your business, I'd +like to know, a-comin' between me and my brat!" shouted the woman, +folding her arms, and glaring at the little girl. + +The maid stepped forward immediately, and said, in a quiet, firm tone, +"Come, Miss Clifford, we must go at once." And then turning to the +woman, she added, "We merely came to make inquiries after the poor +child. We saw her get a dreadful fall a short time ago. I fear she is +very much hurt. I really think you will do well to look after your +child," added Grant, as she took Blanche's hand, and prepared to go. She +glanced at the poor fairy, who was still lying unconscious, and +discovering a jug of water standing near, the maid sprinkled some on the +child's face and hands, and presently she began to show signs of +returning consciousness. + +"Now, Miss Clifford, we must really go at once," whispered the maid to +the reluctant Blanche. "We've stayed much too long already. I don't know +what Miss Prosser will think." + +The woman still stood with folded arms gazing, open-mouthed, at the +group. Grant again pointed to the poor little creature, reminding her +that she should look after her child. And, at last, after a lingering, +pitying glance at the poor little cowering fairy in her rags, Blanche +suffered herself to be led away. + +They found Miss Prosser in a state of great anxiety and considerable +indignation at their delay. The maid explained the matter in a few +prompt words, while Blanche stood by the little Lady Matilda graphically +describing the sad, disenchanting scene which had followed her first +visit to the gorgeous fairy pantomime. + +And thus it happened that Miss Prosser's well-meant effort for the +amusement of her little pupil, ended in Blanche Clifford getting a +sorrowful glimpse behind the tinsel and the glitter, which only served +to deepen the thoughtful shadow that had, of late, been stealing across +her sunny, childish brow. + + + + +XIV. + +_VISIT TO THE FAIRY._ + + +BLANCHE'S temporary maid was a very silent woman, and was therefore +regarded by her little mistress as an extremely dull, uninteresting +attendant. She longed for Ellis's return to her post; forgetting all the +passages-at-arms which had taken place between them during her reign. +And especially since the evening at the pantomime, she wanted to have +somebody to talk to about the poor fairy. Grant merely replied to her +remarks in the briefest possible way; and Blanche decided that she was +hard-hearted as well as uninteresting, for, if she were not, she could +not fail to express her sympathy for the poor little girl who seemed in +such pain, and had such a dreadful mother. The remembrance of the little +pinched face quite haunted her. She went over the scene again and again +in her mind; and wondered where her home was, and what would become of +her. Miss Prosser assured her that she would certainly be taken to the +hospital, and very well cared for; but still Blanche was not satisfied. +Whenever she went out to walk, she looked eagerly, among the faces in +the crowd, for the face of the terrible mother, and she resolved that +however dreadful she looked, she would go to her and inquire about her +little girl. + +She sometimes wondered, too, whether the poor fairy knew anything about +that unseen Friend whom, in these last days, she had been learning to +know and love. It would be such a comfort to speak to Him when her +mother was so wicked and so cruel, Blanche thought, and she did not +forget to ask the Lord Jesus Christ to make the poor, bruised fairy well +again, and to soften her mother's hard heart. + +One day, in particular, she had been thinking a great deal about the +fairy; and, in the evening, after she was comfortably tucked into bed, +her maid still lingered with the candle in her hand, as if she had +something that she wanted to say. + +"I've been to see a little girl, to-day, who has not such a comfortable +bed as you have, Miss Clifford, though her poor little bones need it +sore enough." + +"Ah! have you, Grant?" replied Blanche, sitting up in bed, in a +listening attitude. "Do tell me about her. Who is she, and how did you +come to know her? Is she as poor and pinched-looking as the fairy, do +you think?" + +"She is the fairy, Miss Blanche--the poor little thing we saw at the +pantomime." + +"O Grant, you don't mean to say so! Have you really found her out? I'm +so very, very glad. It's what I've been longing to do. Where does she +live, and was she very much hurt? You must take me to see her; indeed +you must, Grant. Do tell me all about it before you go." + +The maid then narrated how, the day before, she chanced to meet the +terrible mother, in company with another woman, somewhat less tipsy than +she, and able to give Grant the information she required concerning the +poor child, who, from her account, was still very ill and very +destitute. Grant went immediately, in the mother's absence, and saw the +little girl in her wretched home. Her leg appeared to have been very +badly hurt; the doctor, whom a kind neighbor had once brought to see +her, said that she would always be lame, and the child's chief regret +seemed to be that she would never be able to act at the pantomime any +more. + +Blanche listened eagerly to all the information Grant had to give, and +before she went to sleep that night was plotting and planning how she +could accomplish a visit to the fairy's home. + +Next day, when Miss Prosser announced that she would dine out in the +evening, and had made arrangements for Grant to sit in the schoolroom +with her pupil, Blanche looked upon the circumstance as the most +delightful opportunity for carrying out her plan. Her governess very +rarely made engagements for the evening, or left her pupil to her own +devices; so it seemed to Blanche the rarest piece of good luck that she +should be going out to-night. She knew very well that Miss Prosser would +not give her sanction to a visit to the wretched little girl; and though +Blanche felt doubtful whether she was doing right in thus taking +advantage of her governess' absence, she was so bent upon seeing the +fairy again, that she tried only to look at her own side of the +question. + +She did not divulge her plan to Grant till Miss Prosser was fairly gone, +and then she brought all her coaxing artillery to bear on the maid, who +at last reluctantly yielded to her self-willed little mistress. + +It was quite a new experience for Blanche to find herself out walking +after dark. As she linked her arm into her maid's, and they began to +thread their way along the lamp-lit streets, Blanche felt somewhat of +the feeling of adventure which she had on that autumn morning at Glen +Eagle, when she found herself alone in the fir-forest. And there was a +strange resemblance between the occasions in another way, though Blanche +did not know it. On that morning she went, unconscious of it though she +was, to bring life and love and hope into the heart of the lonely little +maiden who leant against one of the old fir-trees. And, to-night, she +was going on a similar mission--not along the pleasant roads of +Stratheagle in a sunshiny morning, but through a dreary November drizzle +to a wretched haunt of misery, where a poor little desolate heart sorely +needed some ministry of love. + +Strange to say, the wretched cellar in the narrow court was not so far +distant from Mr. Clifford's stately mansion as might have been expected, +so Blanche and her guide were not long in reaching the fairy's home. + +After going down a flight of steps, Grant led the way to a dreary room. +Opening the door quietly, Blanche peeped cautiously in. The poor child +lay on a heap of straw. When the door opened, she raised her head and +eagerly scanned the visitors. Evidently recognizing Blanche, she fixed +her sharp, unchildlike eyes on her, saying, in her shrill voice, "Have +you been to it again? Aren't it a pretty pantomime? You seemed much +'appier than that t'other 'un. _We_ noticed you. I wish I was there,--I +do. It's wery dull a-lyin' here. Tim's never looked near, neither." +Then, turning to the maid, she said, in her sharp, querulous tone, +"Well, s'pose you've brought me a bit of somethink to eat. You said you +would, mind!" + +[Illustration: Morag.] + +Blanche felt rather repulsed, but she hastened to uncover a dish of +fruit which Grant had placed upon a stool near her, and handed some to +the little girl, who seized it eagerly, saying, "I haven't tasted +nothink since last night--seen nobody--she's been at it again, drinkin' +dreadful. And what made a pretty, fine lady like you come to see me?" +she asked, turning to survey Blanche more closely when her hunger was +somewhat appeased. "'Ave you got anythink else for 'un?" + +"O poor fairy! I'm so sorry for you, I came to see you because I was. I +have thought so much about you since that evening at the pantomime, and +I was so very glad when Grant told me she had found your home," said +Blanche, kneeling down beside the child and taking the little thin +fingers into her hand. The little girl glanced rather suspiciously at +Blanche, who, while Grant went to unfold a warm blanket she had brought, +came closer and whispered in a low, nervous tone, "And I came to see you +besides, fairy, because I wanted so very much to tell you about a good +Lord Jesus, who, I'm sure, loves you, and will be very kind to you. +Indeed it's only quite lately I've come really to know Him, myself. But +I'm sure He loves you very much even now, and would be such a kind +Friend for you to have." + +"Don't b'lieve it," replied the fairy, as she drew her hand away, which +Blanche had been stroking. "We see lots on 'em--Tim and me--at the +pantomime. Most likely seed this 'un. They never give us a fardin, +though we sometimes beg for somethink when they're a-comin' out of the +play. But we're forbid to, you know," she added, nodding and winking as +she glanced at Blanche's earnest face. + +"Oh! but indeed, fairy, you are quite mistaken. You couldn't possibly +see him at the pantomime. He is not to be seen anywhere at all in the +world now. But though we can't see Him, He lives still, and hears us +when we speak to Him and loves us so much,--indeed He does." + +"Don't b'lieve it. Tim says them kind hates poor folks, and that he'd +choke 'em if he could--and 'opes he'll have the chance some day." + +"Oh! but, indeed, fairy, the Lord Jesus Christ does not hate anybody," +gasped Blanche. "I know He loves everybody, and just died on the cross a +very cruel, dreadful death because He loved people so much. And, indeed, +I think He cares especially for poor, sick, sad people, who want a +friend." + +A look of interest seemed to come into the little pinched face, and +Blanche felt encouraged, and continued, in a pleading tone--"And do you +know, fairy, if you were to ask Him for anything, He will really hear +you, though you cannot see him standing there listening. I know an old +woman, and a little girl not much older than you, and they both love the +Lord Jesus Christ so much, and speak to Him a great deal. And I do, too; +but I've only begun a little while ago. But I'm quite sure He does hear +us and help us too," said Blanche earnestly. Her faith in the Saviour +seeming to grow stronger every moment as she gazed on this lost child +whom He had come to seek and to save. + +"He'd give a body somethink, you say," said the fairy presently, looking +sharply at Blanche with her cunning eyes, after she had thought over her +words for a little. + +"Well now, lady, I say it's a shabby trick of the likes of you, as has +lots of nice things, to be goin' beggin'. Look 'ere, if He be as good as +you say, just you tell Him I'm a-lyin' here wery bad--and all about it, +you know. And ask somethink--a trifle, you know, to begin with," added +the child, winking knowingly, as she stuck her tongue into the corner of +her mouth, and looked into Blanche's face to see what impression this +practical proposal made. "Look 'ere, now; you see how wery bad I want a +dress--and there's my boots won't stick to my feet no ways." + +Blanche felt sorely discouraged. She saw that she had evidently not been +able to impart to this dark soul a glimmering of what the Lord Jesus +Christ came to do. She did want so very much to make the little girl +understand what a real helper and friend He was; but she felt as if she +had only brought confusion into the poor child's mind, and failed to +represent the Saviour as anything more than a bountiful alms-giver. It +must be her fault that she could not make it plainer, Blanche thought; +and in her perplexity, she lifted up her heart to Him who turneth men's +hearts as rivers of waters, whither He will, and asked that His life and +light and love might penetrate the poor fairy's darkened soul. + +Blanche Clifford rose from her knees from beside the straw pallet with a +very despondent feeling; but though she did not know it, her prayer of +faith was of better service to the little girl than her clearest +teaching or most eloquently spoken words. + +"We must really go now, Miss Blanche," whispered the maid. "I'm afraid +of your standing in this damp place any longer. And it's getting very +late, besides. Do come now, Miss Clifford." + +Blanche made a gesture of impatience; but she quickly remembered that +she had promised Grant she would leave whenever she was asked, and so +she prepared to go without further remonstrance. + +"Good-bye, fairy. I'm so sorry I have to go now. But I'll try to come to +see you again, one day very soon. And I shall not forget to ask the Lord +Jesus Christ to come to you, and to love you and teach you Himself, and +give you everything that you need." + +"Will you, though?" replied the child, looking keenly at Blanche's +earnest, guileless face. "Don't want no teachin' much--dreadful bad for +the dress and boots, though;" and then she added, with a softer +expression on her face than Blanche observed before, "You're a nice, +pretty little thing. I likes you." Then after a pause she continued, in +a reckless tone, "Don't b'lieve you'll come again, nor send Him neither, +though. Nobody never keeps no promises. Tim hasn't; he's never looked +near." + +"Well, fairy, I know one Person who does keep promises, at any rate," +said Blanche, smiling. + +"I don't," nodded the child, decisively. "P'rhaps you keeps your +promises. You do look a nice little thing," she added, putting out her +thin fingers, and taking hold of Blanche's dress in a caressing way. + +"No, fairy; I'm sure I don't always keep my promises. It's the Lord +Jesus Christ I mean. I've just been trying to remember one of His +promises to tell you, and I've found one--it's this, 'I will give you a +new heart.' Will you try to remember to ask Him for that?--do, dear +fairy." + +"A new 'art. Well, did I ever--as if I wasn't needin' a new dress a +great sight more;" and the child threw herself back among the straw, and +laughed shrilly. + +Grant had gone to the door to try and open it in the absence of a +handle, which had been wrenched off, and Blanche took the opportunity to +whisper, "I know you need a new dress very much, poor fairy; and perhaps +He'll give you that, too. But will you ask Him--quite low, if you +like--just when you are lying here all by yourself--to give you a new +heart? That means to make you good and happy always, you know. He does +really hear, though you cannot see Him. Will you not try, fairy?" + +"Don't mind though I do. Nothink else to do lyin' here. I'm to ask a new +'art, you say,--just as if I was a-beggin' from a gintle-man on the +street, I s'pose? I know," said the child, with a nod. "Look, she's +waitin' for you--got the door open. Now, see you ax Him for the dress +and boots." + + + + +XV. + +_A RIDE IN THE PARK._ + + +ONE result of Blanche Clifford's visit to the pantomime-fairy's home was +a bad cold, which showed itself next morning. The maid immediately +explained its probable cause to Miss Prosser, taking the sole blame on +herself for having allowed the visit. But Blanche presently gave her +account of the matter, which represented herself as the sole culprit; so +the governess felt doubtful who she should blame, and finally ended by +scolding nobody. She listened with interest to the sequel of the +pantomime scene, as Blanche gave some passages from her visit to the +poor child, pleading that Grant might be sent with some needful comforts +to the wretched home. Miss Prosser readily consented; she also set about +making arrangements to have the child taken to the Sick Children's +Hospital, and commissioned Grant to try to find the mother, and gain her +consent to having her removed. + +Blanche felt rather reproached when she remembered how quickly she had +concluded that her governess would not sympathize with her interest in +the lame fairy, after she found how heartily she entered into all her +plans for helping her. + +Throughout the day she was kept a prisoner in her room because of her +cold--a state of matters which she generally resented greatly; but +to-day she felt quite happy and busy, as she helped to fill a box which +was to be taken by Grant to the fairy's home. Blanche did not forget the +special request which the fairy begged to have made for her, though +neither dress nor boots were sent in the box that morning. And before +she went to bed that night, Blanche smiled as she drew out her own +private purse to see how much pocket-money was left, for she thought she +knew what she would like to do with it. + +"How much does it cost to buy cloth for a dress, Grant--not a silk +dress, you know, or anything of that kind, but some nice warm cloth?" +asked Blanche, nervously handling the two gold pieces which were left in +her purse. + +"Well, that depends, Miss Clifford. Of course it takes more for a +grown-up person than for a child," replied the maid, who stood brushing +Blanche's long curls. + +"I wish I hadn't bought those love-birds, Grant. I shall get no more +money till Christmas, you see; and I do so want to buy a nice warm dress +for the poor fairy." + +"But I daresay Miss Prosser will allow you to give her one of your own +old dresses, Miss Blanche. I am sure there are plenty of them folded +away up-stairs that you will never wear again." + +"Oh yes, I daresay; and perhaps, afterwards, she may get some of them. +But this once I should like to get her quite a new dress--bought and +made all for herself, you know. You would shape it, would you not, +Grant? And, do you know, I want to sew it all myself--every bit of it," +added Blanche, in a confidential tone. "I daresay I might have it +finished before the poor fairy is able to be out again, if I were only +to work very hard. Don't you think so, Grant?" + +Next day Miss Prosser was consulted and gave her consent, though she +thought it seemed rather an odd idea; and laughingly remarked to the +maid that she might quite count upon having to finish the garment, as +Miss Clifford had never been known to hem half a pocket-handkerchief in +her life. But it might amuse her while her cold lasted; so Grant was +commissioned to get a selection of suitable patterns of cloth, from +which Blanche selected a warm blue woollen serge. Then she was all +impatience till the initiatory stages of shaping should be gone through, +and she should begin to sew. + +Such a diligent little woman she looked, as she sat stitching away, her +fingers all stained with the blue dye, and, all the while, planning a +similar garment for Morag, as a Christmas present. She was still +confined to her room because of her cold; and there she sat, hour after +hour, with her head bent over her work, sewing so unweariedly that Miss +Prosser felt obliged at length to remonstrate, suggesting that she +should betake herself to some amusement now, while commending her for +her diligence. Knowing well Blanche's dislike to sewing of any kind, her +governess was surprised to see such devotion to a piece of needle-work +which did not seem very necessary, and looked most unattractive; for +Blanche had not explained why she was so anxious that the fairy should +receive quite a new dress, made all for herself. + +But as Miss Prosser looked at the flushed, eager little face, bending +over the rough piece of work with such diligence and interest, it gave +her a key to her pupil which had been missing before; and she recognized +a motive power which might prove a better thing than a love for fancy +work, and could transform the impulsive, pleasure-loving Blanche into a +brave, ministering woman. + +The next day Blanche received the delightful and unexpected tidings that +her father would return home on the following evening. She had not seen +him since that eventful morning on which she left Glen Eagle, and he had +stood waving a cheerful farewell in the old court-yard of the castle +when she was so very sorrowful. + +Mr. Clifford intended to have followed his daughter shortly afterwards, +but changing his plans, he went on a tour abroad with some friends. He +had not meant to return to London till spring, so his coming was a +delightful surprise for Blanche. + +Her father so rarely lived for any length of time at home, that she had +become so far accustomed to his absence; but to have him for a little +while was an intense pleasure--to be made the most of while the visit +lasted; and Blanche built many castles in the air about the pleasant +Christmas time there could not fail to be when her papa was to be with +her. But instead of flitting about in a state of absolute idleness, +which Miss Prosser described as her usual practice, when there was any +pleasant event in prospect, Blanche stitched her happy thoughts into the +fairy's half finished garment, which grew rapidly under her diligent +fingers; only laying it aside in time to prepare to welcome her father. + +"Why, pussy, how brilliant you look; not even the breezes of Stratheagle +gave you peonies like these," said Mr. Clifford, as he looked fondly at +his little daughter, who clung to his arm with a radiant face, as they +mounted the broad staircase to the drawing-room together, after he had +divested himself of his travelling wraps. + +"How do you do, Miss Prosser? I must really congratulate you on your +pupil's appearance," said the master of the house, as he walked into the +drawing-room, and shook hands with the governess. + +Blanche presently darted off to inform Grant that her papa was really +come, and was at this moment talking to Miss Prosser in the +drawing-room, where it might be possible to have a peep at him through +the open door. She looked upon it as a great privation for Grant never +to have seen her papa, and took for granted that her maid would be full +of impatience to do so. + +"Why, Blanche, how you've grown, my child!" exclaimed Mr. Clifford, +surveying her as she re-entered the room, while he stood warming himself +by the fire. "I declare you will soon arrive at the blissful long-dress +period that has been your ambition for so long. Now come and tell me +what mischief you have been about since I saw you last, pussy! Let me +see, where was that? Ah yes, I remember--not since that morning you and +Miss Prosser left Glen Eagle. And have you quite forgotten that little +wild woman of the woods--what's her name, eh, Blanchie?" + +Mr. Clifford noticed that the peony cheek flushed even a deeper red as +Blanche replied, "No, papa; I shall never forget Morag as long as I +live. I don't see how I ever could. We shall go back again to Glen Eagle +next autumn, shan't we, papa?" + +"Oh yes; of course. I have taken the shooting for three years. It's a +first-rate place. And so you would actually like to go back to Glen +Eagle, Blanchie? Did you not find it very dull sometimes away among the +hills--confess now?" + +"Oh no, papa; indeed I didn't find it dull--not near so dull as here. I +don't see how I could ever feel dull at Glen Eagle," said Blanche, +decidedly; and then she added, "Well, perhaps if Kirsty and Morag were +both away from the Glen, and Shag could not be found to ride about on, +then it might be rather sad; because, you see, the fir-wood and all the +other places would remind me of them. It would be too sad to see the hut +without Morag living there," said Blanche, dreamily, as she thought of +the empty room which she saw on the morning she left the Glen, and of +how eagerly she had searched for her missing friend. "And how Kirsty's +cottage would look without her, I cannot imagine. But do you know, papa, +I actually dreamt last night that I went to see her, and she was not to +be found, and her old arm-chair was empty,--and the nice, cheery fire +cold and black. It was so nice to wake and find it was only a dream, +after all!" added Blanche, with a sigh of relief. + +"Well, I don't think either of your friends have migratory habits; so +you are likely to find them among their native heather next year. By the +way, Blanchie, you must send a Christmas box of presents to your friends +there. You may fill it with whatever you like best; but only do keep a +corner for me. I want to send some present to the boy who fished you +out of the loch--Kenneth--isn't that his name? Do you remember that +adventure, and how you frightened us all, you troublesome young person? +By the way, I arranged before I left Glen Eagle that Dingwall is to +train the boy for a gamekeeper,--seeing that appears to be what he has +set his heart on." + +Before many minutes had elapsed, Blanche's lively imagination had filled +a box of such probable dimensions that her father laughingly assured her +it would be much too heavy to be carried up the hill to the little +shieling among the crags. + +Presently the little girl fell into one of her meditative moods, saying +at last, with a sigh, "Well, papa, I daresay Morag and Kirsty will be +very pleased to get the box of things, and think it very kind--and all +that; but though Kirsty and Morag are so poor, I really do not think +they ever seem to be anxious for anything they have not got. I was just +remembering how Kirsty one day said to me, in that nice, queer accent of +hers, 'Bairn,'--she often called me that--'a man's life consisteth not +in the abundance of the things he has.' I can't remember exactly what we +were talking about at the time." + +"Upon my word she must be quite a philosopher, this wonderful Kirsty!" +said Mr. Clifford, laughingly, as he stroked Blanche's curls. + +"No, papa; I don't fancy she is learned enough for that; but I am sure +she is a Christian,--and is that not better, papa?" + +"Ah, I'm afraid we are getting beyond our depth now, pussy. Come, little +kittens should not look grave," he added, for Blanche had a dreamy look +in her eyes which he did not care to see. + +She was thinking of the poor fairy who was so greedy as well as so +needy; and presently she began to tell her papa a little about her, and +how she had gone to see her in her wretched home. She told him, too, +that she was making a dress for her--really of her own sewing; and, +taking for granted that her papa would be much interested in the +garment, she brought it for his inspection. But she did not tell him why +she was so very anxious to make it for her, nor that it was meant to be, +perhaps, the first token recognized by the poor fairy's dark soul of +that Love which "passeth knowledge." + +The father and daughter spent some very happy hours together on this +first evening of their reunion. And as Mr. Clifford walked up and down +the drawing-room, after Blanche had left for the night, his thoughts +dwelt with a new joy and hope on the only child of his house, whose +birth had left his home so desolate. He remembered with what a sad heart +he took for the first time the motherless babe into his arms, and what a +sorrowful welcome he could only give to her. And now he thought with +pride of what a sweet child-woman she had grown, how much she seemed to +have deepened lately, and what a beautiful woman she promised to be! Mr. +Clifford smiled to think of the time when her school-room days would be +at an end, and she would make her entrance into society to be his +companion; and he felt as if life were opening pleasanter vistas before +his eyes than it had done for many a day. + +The next morning was bright and pleasant for December; and, to Blanche's +great delight, Mr. Clifford proposed that she should have a holiday in +honor of his return, and go somewhere with him. After some deliberation, +Blanche decided that the most pleasant way to spend the morning would be +to go for a ride in the Park with her papa. + +The stately bay stood at the door at the hour appointed, but instead of +the little brown Shag, the pretty white pony Neige awaited his mistress. +Blanche had not felt so happy since she left the Highland strath as she +did when she found herself riding by her father's side. The yellow fogs +had quite withdrawn themselves; the air was keen and bracing now, and +the sun shone brightly on the winter landscape. The "Row" was gay with +riders and the drive with carriages, taking advantage of this rare +December day, and the horses' hoofs rattled pleasantly along the crisp, +frosty ground. + +More than one passer-by glanced at the pleasant-looking pair of riders +as they cantered along in the sunshine--Blanche prattling to her papa +with gay, upturned face, her long fair curls floating about, and her +pretty blue habit forming a contrast to Neige's snowy back, while her +father glanced down at her with fondness and pride reflected on his +handsome face. + +On they rode, fast and far; for the day was bright and their spirits +were high. At last Mr. Clifford reined his horse, and suggested that +they should turn homewards. + +"Now, pussy, you do purr so delightfully, and we have had such a +pleasant ride, that I think we shall beg Miss Prosser for a holiday +every bright day. Wouldn't that be a delightful arrangement, Blanchie?" + +"It would be very nice, papa. But, perhaps, there may be no more bright +days as long as winter lasts," said Blanche, taking a more desponding +view of things than she generally was apt to do. + +They had now reached home. Mr. Clifford dismounted, and lifted his +little daughter from her saddle. + +"You are looking tired, Blanche, darling. I am afraid we have rather +overdone it to-day. I quite forgot that it was so long since you had +ridden before. How pale you are, child! what is the matter?" said Mr. +Clifford in a startled tone, as he looked at Blanche. + +"I do feel rather queer, papa," replied Blanche, faintly, as she +staggered and leaned against her father for support. + +Lifting her in his arms, Mr. Clifford carried her up the broad stone +steps to the hall door, and hurrying into the library, laid her gently +down on one of the couches. + +Hardly had he laid her there when she became deathly pale, and presently +a sudden crimson flow came from her white lips, staining her blanched +cheek and fair clustering curls, and Blanche Clifford fainted away! + + + + +XVI. + +_THE BORDERS OF THE FAR-OFF LAND._ + + +MR. CLIFFORD again walked up and down his empty drawing-room where only +the evening before he had been weaving such a bright future for himself +in the companionship of his child; and now the doctors had just left him +with the terrible decision ringing in his ears--that she was dying! It +might be weeks, and even months; but the fragile frame could not long +resist the disease that had been stealthily doing its deadly work for +many weeks. + +Blanche, the pride of his heart, the heir to his fortune, was passing +away from him! Covering his face with his hands, the poor father seated +himself on the couch where only a few hours before the bright face had +been gazing into his, and the merry laugh re-echoing through the now +silent, deserted room. + +Blanche lay pale and feeble in her darkened chamber, while servants +flitted about, whispering and ministering, and Miss Prosser sat +tearfully by the bedside. + +At length the closed drawing-room door opened, and the poor, +grief-stricken father stood beside his child. They might leave him--he +would stay and watch to-night, he said huskily, as he seated himself +beside the bed. Blanche had hardly spoken since she had been taken ill; +but the sound of her father's voice seemed to rouse her, and, opening +her eyes, she welcomed him with her old sunny smile. + +"O papa, dear, is that you? It seems such an age since I saw you. I must +have been sleeping all day long. I was so tired. I think we did go too +far, to-day; but it was so nice, and I did not feel at all tired at the +time. But I shall be all right to-morrow, I'm sure." + +"I hope so, my darling!" said her father, as he kissed the uplifted +face, and stroked the curls sadly. + +"This is good-night, I suppose, papa? I have been sleeping so much that +I have actually no idea what o'clock it is," said Blanche, smiling. + +Mr. Clifford told her it was quite bed-time now; and when she turned to +sleep again, he took his seat quietly beside the chintz-curtained little +bed, promising to relinquish it towards morning to Miss Prosser, who, +tearful and anxious, begged to have a share of the watching. + +When all was silent in the room except the flickering fire, and Mr. +Clifford sat sad and anxious at his unwonted duty, Blanche seemed to get +wakeful again, and presently low tones reached his ear, meant only for +the unseen Friend whom his little girl had in these last days been +learning to know and love. + +Feebly and tremulously she whispered, as she sat up in bed, reverently +covering her face with her hands--"O Lord Jesus Christ, I am so tired +to-night, I can't remember all I want to say. But, long ago, upon earth +you used to know what people needed before they ever asked, and I am +sure you do still. Do teach the poor sick fairy all about Thyself. I +didn't seem to be able to make her understand about you; and she needs a +Friend so very much. Bless my own dear papa. Make him so happy here in +London that he will never think of going away again. I am sure you must +love him, and he must love Thee; but, O Lord Jesus Christ, I would like +him to speak about Thee, sometimes, as Kirsty used to do. + +"Help me to be good, to do everything that pleases Thee, so that Thou +may never turn away sorrowfully from me, as you used to do long ago +when people would not follow Thee;" and as she prayed, Blanche fell +asleep again, and all was silent. + +Mr. Clifford had been listening to his child's words with bowed head and +shamed heart. He felt that he was one of those from whom the Saviour +must have turned away sorrowfully many a time. Through many lands and in +many ways he had sought rest and solace, forgetting that the heart which +God has made for Himself can only find rest in Him. And his little +daughter seemed to have sought and found this satisfying portion which +he had been seeking vainly. When her earthly father and mother had +forsaken her, then the Lord had taken her up; and now He was, perhaps, +going to take her to Himself, though she did not know it. + +Kneeling beside her bed, Mr. Clifford prayed that God would pardon the +wasted, sinful past, and would give him back his child, so that, +together, they might tread the heavenward path! + +When Miss Prosser appeared to claim her share of the vigil, Blanche was +sleeping so soundly that any watching seemed almost unnecessary. And in +the morning she looked so bright, though pale and fragile, that the +anxious faces round her caught the infectious brightness, and the +gloomy forebodings of the previous day seemed already to belong to the +past. + +As the days went by, Blanche appeared really to gain strength; and +although there was still much cause for anxiety regarding her health, +there seemed some reason to hope that the fatal issue might yet be +warded off. + +Mr. Clifford spent much of his time in his daughter's sick-room. And +during these December days, as he sat by his daughter's couch, he +listened with mingled feelings to many a childish tale of joy and grief +that had marked the years in which he had borne no part. + +And so it happened that these days of illness became days of intense +enjoyment to Blanche. Ellis had returned to her post, and Blanche +confided to her that it was really quite worth while being ill, and +having to take all those nasty medicines, to have her papa all to +herself for so many days. + +The poor fairy was now comfortably housed in the Hospital for Sick +Children, and Blanche looked forward to being able to pay her a visit +there, one day before long. The half-finished dress was again taken from +the drawer, where it had been sorrowfully laid by Grant on the day +Blanche was taken ill; and now the little fingers were busy at work +again, though they looked pale and feeble enough, Mr. Clifford thought, +as he watched them, all stained with blue dye, putting the finishing +stitches into the fairy's promised garment. + +Blanche pleaded very hard that morning to be allowed to sew; and +notwithstanding Miss Prosser's remonstrances, and her papa's joke about +the ponderous piece of work which she had undertaken, she worked on, +till at last, with a wearied smile, she held out the finished dress for +her papa's inspection. + +"Look now, papa--it is finished! I have really put in the last stitch. I +am so very glad I have been able. I felt as if I could do it to-day, +somehow, and that was what made me so anxious to try, though Miss +Prosser was so unwilling I should; but I don't think it has hurt me at +all." + +"Why, Blanchie, it is the most wonderful work of art imaginable. I must +really put in my claim for a greatcoat next. The doctor says you may +have a drive to-morrow, if it is fine, and we will go to the Hospital; +and you shall introduce me to the fairy, and present the dress." + +"I hope I shall be able to go, papa. But it will be sent whether I am +or not, won't it? I think the fairy will understand why I wanted so much +to send it. I am so glad it is finished," she added, with a wearied +sigh, as she laid the dress on a chair, and went to lie on the sofa, +which she rarely did of her own accord. + +Mr. Clifford made no remark, but, as he glanced at her anxiously from +under his newspaper, he could not help noticing, as she lay quietly +there, that the little face looked worn and the outline of the cheek +sharper than hitherto. She lay with her eyes shut for some time, and +presently she said, in a low, firm tone, as she looked up-- + +"Papa, dear, come to me, I want to speak to you." + +Mr. Clifford was not a nervous man, but his hand shook as he laid down +his newspaper and went to his daughter's side, for there was a +foreboding of trouble in his heart. + +Her arm was round his neck, but she did not see his face as she said, +softly-- + +"Do you know, papa, it makes me very sad, as well as glad, to look at +that finished piece of work. Shall I tell you why? It seems to me it is +the very first useful thing I have ever done in my life; and papa, dear, +do you know it will be the last?" and the blue-stained fingers played +nervously with her father's hand as she spoke. + +Mr Clifford was going to interrupt her, but Blanche went on-- + +"Yes, papa; I know. I have known it for two days now. I'll tell you how +I came to know. I overheard Ellis telling somebody that the doctor said +I was--dying. Dear, kind Ellis; I'm sure she would be sorry if she knew +I heard that; but she must not be told. I am so glad that I do know just +a little before, though it did make me feel very sad at first. Indeed, I +cried the whole night in the dark, papa; but now I feel as if it were +all right. And I don't think I'm afraid to die now, as I should have +been when I fell into the loch," she added, in a faltering tone. + +"My darling, you must not talk so. And, besides, Ellis was not correct. +You have been very ill, but the doctor thinks you are much better now; +and when spring days come, my little Blanche will blossom again with the +flowers." + +"No, papa dear; I don't really think I am better. I shall never get well +again, I know. But, as I lay here, I was thinking how sad it seemed to +go away from the world without having been of any use to anybody. And +just lately, too, I have seemed to understand better what life was meant +for, and to be interested in things I used not to care about. Do you +know why I was so anxious to make the dress for the poor lame fairy, +papa? I think I should like to tell you," and some of her old brightness +returned as she told the story of her visit to the poor child in the +comfortless abode. "She was so sad and poor that I felt sure she would +be glad to hear about the Lord Jesus Christ. Wouldn't you have thought +so, papa? But she did not seem to care, nor to believe that He loved her +at all. At last she said that if He were to send her a new dress and +boots, she might believe He was good and kind. But I am afraid I was not +able to make her understand about the Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder how I +can best tell her about Him, papa? if I am able to go to see her again +before"--and Blanche's voice faltered. + +"My own darling! you must not speak so! You must try to get well, for my +sake, Blanchie. What should papa do without his little girl? And I am +afraid I do not know the Lord Jesus Christ really any more than the poor +pantomime fairy! You must stay with me, my child, and we will seek Him +together!" + +"Dearest papa, He does teach people so wonderfully; I am sure He will +teach you to know and love Him. But I thought you must surely have loved +the Lord Jesus Christ ever so long ago," said Blanche, musingly, and +then she lay silent for several minutes. + +Presently she turned to her father, with a face full of love and pity, +and laying her thin fluttering fingers on his arms, she said, "Papa, +dear, you will take Him for your friend now, will you not?--and He will +come and be very near you when I am far away. Kirsty says He was such a +friend to her when she was left sad and lonely in her cottage"--and with +the mention of Kirsty's name there came a rush of memories that made +Blanche's eyes fill with tears. + +Her father noticed it, and a pang of jealousy shot through his heart. +She had spoken such sad words, calm and tearless; and it seemed hard +that the thought of those peasant friends, whom she might see no more on +earth, should be a sharper sorrow to the child's heart than the parting +from himself. + +And so far he judged truly. Blanche loved her father dearly, but she did +not guess how great was his love for her, nor how shadowed his life +would be if she were gone. + +As she gazed at the bowed head beside her, Blanche realized for the +first time how great and terrible the coming sorrow was to her father, +and she began to understand how true it is that in the partings of life +"theirs is the bitterness who stay behind." + +The exertion of talking seemed to have been too much for the fragile +frame. Presently a violent fit of coughing came on, and again that +terrible crimson flow streamed from the white lips and on the deathly +face! + + * * * * * + +The winter storm had now set in, and the weather was cold and dark and +cheerless; but the interior of Blanche's room looked warm and bright as +Mr. Clifford walked into it, on his return from his lonely ride. + +On the floor there lay strewed the Christmas gifts for Glen Eagle, and +from her sofa Blanche was having an inspection of them before they were +sent away. Ellis was doing duty as show-woman; and Blanche's old gleeful +laugh, which had become a rare sound now, was heard occasionally as she +listened to her maid's remarks concerning the various beautiful +presents, as she held them up for inspection. + +Welcoming her papa with the old bright smile, Blanche beckoned him to +come and see the nice fur footstool which Miss Prosser had that morning +bought for Kirsty's cottage. + +Mr. Clifford looked very sad as he came forward and took his place by +his daughter's couch. He could not help contrasting the pale fragile +form lying there, with the ringing childish laugh, which caused him +almost to forget, for the moment, the sad reality which these weeks had +brought. + +Blanche's quick eye always detected her father's sadness, and she used +to try to chase it away by all the loving wiles which she could devise. +To the others round her she often talked of dying; but, since the time +that she saw her father's distress when the subject was approached, she +never had the courage to introduce it again, though there were many +things she wanted to say to him. + +She kept watching Ellis with wistful eyes as she gathered and carried +away from her room the scattered gifts for the peasant friends she loved +so well. + +After they were all cleared away, she lay quietly back on the sofa, and +there was a far-away look in her eyes that made her father unwilling to +ask where her thoughts were. Presently she turned to him, and said in a +low, nervous tone, "Papa, I want to ask you something. May I do exactly +as I like with all my own things?" + +"Certainly, darling. What treasure do you wish to send to the little +Morag? But I thought Ellis was doubtful if she could stow all the things +you have already sent,--eh, Blanchie?" + +"Oh, I did not mean in the box, papa! But you know it cannot be very +long now before I have to leave you--and everything," and Blanche's +fluttering fingers, so wan and wasted now, played nervously with her +father's hand as she spoke. + +"Of course you will keep everything you want--and Miss Prosser and Ellis +will, too. But I should like Morag to have some of my things when I am +gone. She has so few pretty things in the hut; and besides, I really do +think she would like to have them, just because they are mine, and they +will remind her of me when I'm far away;" and Blanche glanced round the +room at the pretty statuettes and pictures, and the rows of nicely-bound +books, of which she used to tell Morag, as they rambled among the woods +and braes of Glen Eagle. + +"Yes, my darling; Morag shall have whatever you like," replied Mr. +Clifford with an effort, as soon as he was able to speak; and presently +he continued: "My child, perhaps I should tell you that you have a great +deal more to give away than your books and pictures. You are what people +call an heiress, Blanchie. Your mother left you a large fortune, and, +besides, you will have all that belongs to me. Ah, my child! will you +not live?--I cannot let you go! There is such a bright future in store +for you--so many hopes bound up in this dear life!" + +"Yes, papa, dear; the future _is_ bright," replied Blanche, smiling. "I +was reading about it only this morning--'an inheritance, incorruptible, +undefiled, and that fadeth not away.' I learnt the words. It was strange +I never remember hearing them till to-day. But I suppose God just speaks +His own words to us when we need them and will listen to them. It's all +right, papa, dear," she continued as she put her arm round her father's +neck, as he sat with his head resting on his hand, absorbed in his own +sad thoughts. "I know the Lord Jesus Christ will comfort you when I am +gone. And then, you know, papa dear, you will not be so very long in +coming, and I shall be waiting for you, oh! so eagerly, and we shall be +so happy together in the home of God!" + +"Is it not rather difficult for rich people to be good, papa?" asked +Blanche, after she had laid pondering a short time. "If I had lived, +perhaps I might have grown into a grand lady--like some of Ellis's +mistresses that she tells me about--and got selfish and bad when I grew +old. But now, papa, dear, I shall always be your own foolish little +Blanchie," and she nestled in her father's arm, as he stroked the long +fair curls--the last symbol of health that remained. + +After she had again laid musing for some time, Blanche sat up, and with +some of her old eagerness she said-- + +"Papa, I've just been thinking that Morag is so gentle, and so clever, +and so fond of books, that I'm sure she would grow up very learned if +she were educated. I know she would like lessons a great deal more than +I used to do, and be much more diligent. Have I enough money to educate +Morag, papa?" + +"Yes, darling, quite enough; and if you wish it, it shall be done," +replied Mr. Clifford huskily, for this conversation was almost too +painful for him to continue. + +"But after all, papa, very clever people, who know everything, are not +always very happy or good--are they? And, besides, I really do not see +how her father and Kirsty could get on without Morag. And then she is so +faithful and loving--perhaps she could never be persuaded to leave them, +to be made a lady of in the world beyond her mountains," said Blanche, +smiling, as the image of her shy little mountain friend rose before her. + +"No, papa, dear," she said presently, after thinking quietly for a +little; "I really think we must give up that idea after all. I do +believe the Lord Jesus Christ would like best that Morag should stay in +the Glen and make her father and Kirsty comfortable and happy as they +get older. But I'll tell you what we might do, papa, dear. Would there +be enough money to build a nice new house for Morag and her father? That +hut among the crags must tumble to pieces one day before long, I should +think, though certainly Morag does make it look as nice as possible," +added Blanche, pathetically, for she remembered well the morning on +which she saw it last. + +Her father listened with a sad interest as Blanche told the story of +that day's troubles, and how sorry she had been to leave Glen Eagle +without taking farewell of her mountain friend. And as she told how she +had hurried up the hill to the little shieling among the crags, only to +find it empty, and glowingly described the pleasant interior into which +her friend had transformed the once wretched hut, the scene seemed to +come vividly to her memory, and to bring with it an intense desire for +life, as she lay on the borders of the far-off land! + +Some hot tears stole down her cheeks, and with quivering lip and clasped +hands she gazed wistfully into her father's face as she said-- + +"O papa! if I could only walk one afternoon with Morag in the fir-wood, +I almost think I should feel well again!" + + + + +XVII. + +_MORAG'S JOURNEY INTO THE WORLD BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS._ + + +IT was a wild night at Stratheagle. An eddying wind had been blowing the +deep snow into wreaths, and fresh falling flakes were whirling about in +all directions through the darkness. + +All trace of the road through the mountain pass had disappeared; and it +would have fared ill with the Honorable Mr. Clifford's slim English +footman, with his elegant calves, as he made his way towards the +keeper's shieling among the crags, if he had not taken the precaution of +securing a guide from the village below. + +The steep ascent to the hut was almost impassable, and more than once +the man seemed disposed to give it up and beat a retreat to his quarters +at the village without fulfilling his mission. But his more stalwart +companion cheered him on, assuring him at intervals that it was only a +"mile and a bittock," and pointed to the light in the window of the hut +long before it shed any encouraging ray on the exhausted flunkey, who +went stumbling and grumbling up the hill through the blinding drift, +feeling himself the most ill-used of persons to have been sent to such +regions in such weather. + +The light from the window of the hut was at last really visible, +shimmering through the darkness, and soon the benighted travellers stood +under the snowy crags which towered above the little shieling. + +Our old friend Morag was, meanwhile, comfortably seated in the +ingle-neuk, reading laboriously from one of her ancient yellow-leaved +volumes, little dreaming what was in store for her to-night. Her father +sat near her smoking his evening pipe, but he was not staring into the +fire in idleness and grim silence as of old. He seemed at the present +moment quite absorbed in a newspaper, the date of which was uncertain, +seeing it had been torn off when it was used for lining a packing-case +of game during autumn. But though it was not a "day's paper," it seemed +to satisfy the keeper's literary cravings, and he had carefully perused +it from beginning to end by the light of the fire of peat and pine, +which blazed brightly on the hearth. + +The snow made a warm covering round the wall, and a secure white thatch +on the porous roof, so it happened that to-night the hut was really a +more comfortable abode than it had often proved during autumn-days. + +Morag jumped to her feet when she heard the sound of voices and the loud +knocking; and now she stood gazing at her father with a look of startled +surprise. + +Laying down his pipe, the keeper prepared to open the door, but before +he had time to do so, the injured footman stood in the middle of the +floor, stamping the snow from his feet, and inspecting his precious +person generally, as he muttered expressions of indignation concerning +this unpleasant piece of service which had fallen to his lot. + +Morag recognized the visitor at once, and forgetting her shyness, she +sprang forward, saying, in low, eager tones, "Will ye no be frae the wee +leddy o' the castle? I'm thinkin' there maun be something wrang. Is she +no weel?" + +"Miss Clifford, I presume you mean, little girl. Well, you are right, so +far. I come from her father--my master, the Honorable Mr. Clifford. I +think I've got a letter for you; but 'pon my word it's been at the risk +of my life bringin' it here. S'pose I'd better read it myself?" said he, +looking round patronizingly at the keeper. + +And without waiting for a reply, he tore open the closed envelope, amid +the smouldering indignation of the keeper, to whom it was evidently +addressed, and began to read as follows:-- + + "Will Morag come to London immediately to see her little friend + Blanche, who is very ill and wants to see her? The Keeper may safely + trust his daughter to the servant, who has got all directions how to + proceed. + + ARTHUR CLIFFORD." + +"Quite safe with me, depend upon it; the master is quite right there!" +said the servant, smiling blandly at the confidence reposed in him. + +"Well, little girl, what do you say to it? You will come, I suppose? The +master has set his 'art on it, sure enough--or he would not have been +sendin' me to the hends of the earth on such a night as this. I have a +trap hired at the village, all ready to start in the morning. What do +you say to it, keeper?--rather sudden, for such quiet folks as you, +ain't it?" continued the man, smilingly glancing at the silent, offended +keeper. + +Morag sat thinking in dumb silence for a little, but presently she +sprang up, and taking hold of her father's arm, she said in her low, +eager tone, "O father! ye mustna hinner me; the bonnie wee leddy is ill, +and wantin' me--and I maun gang!" + +Then turning to the messenger, Morag asked imploringly, "She's no jist +sae verra ill, is she?" + +"Bad enough, I guess. 'Tis a pity--such a pretty little miss she was +getting to be. Master so bound up in her, too!" + +"Well, keeper, how is it to be?--for I've got to go down that shockin' +precipice again--and it's getting late. I'll take good care of the young +'un, you may be sure. And, depend upon it, you won't be the loser, +noways, by fallin' in with master's views," added the servant, with a +nod of meaning which made the proud keeper resolve instantly that his +daughter should not obey the summons. + +But never before had Morag been so wildly wilful on any matter. Her +father felt quite taken by storm as he listened to her pleadings, though +he could not yet be persuaded to give his consent. + +The servant stood waiting with evident impatience, and at last a +compromise was arranged, to the effect that if Morag was to accompany +him, she would be brought to the village inn by her father next morning, +before the hour of starting. + +It was almost midnight when Dingwall might be seen toiling across the +moorland, through the snow, in the direction of Kirsty's cottage. The +old woman and he were fast friends now, and he wanted to ask her advice +on the startling proposal concerning the little girl who was so precious +to them both. + +He found Kirsty sitting quietly reading her Bible beside the dying peat +embers. Taking off her spectacles, she listened placidly to the story, +and presently she replied in low, emphatic tones, "Dinna hinner the +bairn, keeper. Lat her gang, by a' means. 'Deed, I'm near awears o' gaen +mysel'. The bonnie lambie--an' sae He's til tak' her hame til Himsel? +Weel, weel, I thocht as muckle, whiles, when she was comin' aboot us wi' +a' her winsome ways. May she hae been early seekin' the face she will +maybe see gin lang!" + +So Morag gained her point. Her travelling preparations were not long in +being made; and, though she had not many hours of sleep that night, she +was all ready to go down the hill with her father in the morning. + +Just before she started, Kenneth came running up to the shieling in +breathless haste. He carried with him the old tartan plaid which had +done such sad duty in the fir-wood. Wrapping it carefully round Morag, +he stood watching her wistfully, as she started in the grey dawn of a +December morning on this first journey into the world beyond the +mountains! + + * * * * * + +It was Christmas Eve. A fresh fall of snow lay spotless and shining on +the ground. The moon was giving a clear, plentiful light, and as it +shimmered on the snow-covered streets and squares, it seemed suddenly to +transform them into groups of stately marble palaces. + +A pleasant crimson glow came from the close-curtained windows of Mr. +Clifford's London mansion, shedding a warm, rosy light on the white +crisp pavement in front, where stood a group of German lads singing a +fine rolling Christmas carol. + +Little did they guess how dreary and tenantless those rooms were +to-night, which seemed to them to enclose such a paradise of delights as +they kept gazing up to the windows, in the hope of an appreciative +audience from within the crimson glow. + +They did not know that the sorrowful interest of the household was +centred in one darkened room, where the only child of the house lay, +with life ebbing slowly away; nor that the largess which seemed so +munificent came from a little hand that was soon to take farewell of all +earthly treasures. + +They were still singing, by way of gracious acknowledgment of so +handsome a gift, when a cab drove up to the door of the house, and out +of it stepped our little friend, Morag. The tall footman, her escort, +ran up the broad steps, while the little mountaineer stood on the +pavement gazing round, bewildered in the midst of a scene so new and +strange. + +And this was her bonnie wee leddy's home. Did people always stand there +and sing beautifully, she wondered, as she glanced at the German +band--and then at the many bright-curtained windows of Blanche +Clifford's London home. + +At length the great hall door was opened, and a blaze of light fell on +the snowy steps. Within were vistas of gilded pillars and corridors, and +glimpses of bright soft hangings. To Morag's dazzled eyes, it seemed +like the entrance to an enchanted palace. She tremblingly followed her +guide, and the door was closed behind her, as the singing boys were +watching with interest the little girl who looked so eagerly at +everything; and somehow seemed to remind them of their sisters and their +homes in the Black Forest. + +Another tall footman, the fac-simile of Morag's guide, had opened the +door, and now he stood gazing, more curiously than kindly, at the +stranger. + +"Law, Thomas! what 'ave we got here? Well, I never. Where did you catch +that 'un," he said, with a rude laugh as he stood staring at the little +girl. + +Poor Morag certainly presented a grotesque enough appearance as she +stood there in the brightly-lighted hall, wrapped in the great tartan +plaid, which was fastened behind, while the ends fell on the ground. And +on her head she wore a little scarlet hood, a relic of her infancy, +which she had taken from the depths of the old _kist_--feeling certain +that Ellis would look on her more favorably if she wore a bonnet. But, +unfortunately, the hood was of such small dimensions that it had a +constant tendency towards the back of her neck, leaving her black +elf-like locks streaming around. + +"Come now, Sparks, none of your cheek. She's the nicest little shaver +possible--an uncommon decent little thing; wasn't no trouble on the +way, neither; always turned up all right when a fellow wanted to go and +smoke a pipe, or get a drop of somethink. My word, I'd go back with her +to-morrow, I would." + +"Where's Ellis?--ring for her, will you? I must get this little girl off +my hands now. How is missie, by the way?" + +"Better again, to-day, they say. Master is looking brisker, too. +Dreadful dull Christmas-time for a fellow, though. There's Ellis +wouldn't laugh for a sovereign." + +Meanwhile, Morag stood looking eagerly round. She felt sure that she +would see her bonnie wee leddy emerge from some of those vistas of +brightness; but when she did not come, the little girl began to feel +very forlorn as she stood there in the hall. She could not understand +what the servants were saying, and she began to wonder what was going to +happen next, and longed for a sight of her gracious little friend, who +never had failed her before. + +Morag had no idea how seriously ill Blanche was, and she had been hoping +during her journey that perhaps her bonnie wee leddy might be quite well +again by the time she arrived. She had got so quickly well after the +loch adventure; and Morag could not conceive of her looking more +fragile that she did on that evening when she saw her last, in the old +castle of Glen Eagle, lying on the sofa, wrapped in her blue flannel +dressing-gown. + +At length Ellis came bustling along; and even she was a welcome sight to +poor Morag in her forlornness. + +"Well, little girl; how d'ye do. Very glad to see you--never thought I +should feel so glad to see you. I thought you would come to see missie. +Miss Prosser told me the master had sent for you. Miss Clifford does +know not yet. She's so weak, you see; any hagitation is bad, but I +daresay you will see her in the morning. It's a good step from the +'ighlands--ain't it? I expect you are tired--poor thing," said Ellis, +glancing rather pityingly at Morag's wistful face. + +"I'm no that tired. But she's no jist verra ill, is she? I thocht maybe +she would hae been weel gin noo," said Morag, ruefully returning to the +subject that lay nearest her heart, as Ellis led her along what seemed +to her a maze of brightly-lighted passages. + +"It wasna fallin' intil the loch that hurtit her, think ye?" she asked +presently. + +"Well, now, I shouldn't wonder though that chill had something to do +with it," replied Ellis, as if she had received a new idea. "Poor dear +missie, she is so sweet--almost too good to live, as the sayin' is. +She's much better to-day. I daresay she'll be able to have a look at you +to-morrow." + +Morag's heart sank. The thought of seeing her bonnie wee leddy at the +end of her journey had kept her brave through its fears and discomforts; +but now she heard that another night must elapse before they could meet, +and she would be left alone among all those strangers. It seemed so +cruel and hard; and Morag felt sure that if her wee leddy knew she was +here, she would not ask her to wait till to-morrow. + +Meanwhile, Ellis led the way to the housekeeper's room, leaving Morag to +be warmed and fed and generally comforted by Mrs. Worthy. The old +housekeeper welcomed the forlorn little maiden kindly, and after +divesting her of the tartan plaid, and providing a comfortable supper, +she made her sit down in a big arm-chair by the fire,--and, taking a +similar one for herself, she began to recall reminiscences of Glen +Eagle, and to make inquiries about the dwellers in the Glen whose +aquaintance she had made during these autumn months. + +Presently, Blanche's illness became the topic of conversation, and +Morag listened eagerly to all Mrs. Worthy had to say about it. Her heart +sank when she heard how very ill her bonnie wee leddy had been. After +looking meditatively into the fire for some time, she looked up and said +eagerly, "I'm thinkin', Mistress Worthy, gin they wad jist bring her til +the auld castle o' Glen Eagle to bide, and lat her rin aboot wi' Shag +and Chance and me, when the snaw gaes awa, and the bit flooers begin to +creep up, she wad get braw and strong again." + +"Well, there's no sayin', little girl. I likes to see young folks take a +cheerin' view of things. 'While there's life, there's 'ope,' I always +say. There's my Sarah Jane was once a-spittin' up--and there ain't a +stronger woman to be found nowhere, now; and there's"-- + +Here Mrs. Worthy's family chronicle of illnesses was interrupted by a +bell ringing violently within the room. It sounded so startling, that +Morag jumped to her feet, and even Mrs. Worthy looked somewhat alarmed +as she rose to answer it. + +"Bless me, it ain't often that bell is a ringin'--so shockin' loud, too! +What's the hurry, I wonder?" and the old woman bustled away, leaving her +companion alone. + +Morag thought she could guess why the bell had just rung; and hoped +that it might prove a summons for her to go to the bonnie wee leddy. She +sat listening eagerly for the sound of returning footsteps, but no +messenger appeared; so Morag's hope died away at last, and she began to +feel very forlorn indeed. + +As she sat, looking dreamily into the flickering fire, she remembered +another evening when she found herself seated in Mrs. Worthy's +arm-chair, in the midst of unwonted comforts, and how very frightened +and uncomfortable she was till the wee leddy had suddenly appeared and +made her feel so safe and happy. + +And as she gazed among the glowing coals, she realized, as she never had +before, what an eventful evening that had been, and how much had +happened during these never-to-be-forgotten autumn days. All at once, +her lonely child-life seemed to be filled with love and brightness, and +the very hills and glens of her mountain home to be glorified, as she +strayed among them with her bonnie wee leddy. And then the friendship +with Kirsty Macpherson had grown out of these days too, and what happy +changes it had brought to the little shieling among the crags! Her +father's brow was cleared of its perpetual gloom; he never said bitter +things about his neighbors in the Glen now, and when Morag and he went +together to the kirk, so many people seemed glad to see him there. + +And as Morag Dingwall's thoughts went slipping back to these golden +autumn days, that had been so full of blessing for her, she lifted up +her heart in thankfulness to God for the best thing among all the many +good things which they had brought to her--the knowledge of the Lord +Jesus Christ, her Saviour. Had the wee leddy learnt to love Him too, she +wondered, as she remembered the last talk in Glen Eagle; and then she +thought, joyfully, how much there would be to hear and tell to-morrow, +when Ellis had promised she should see her friend. + +As she sat gazing into the fire, Morag fell asleep in the big arm-chair; +and in her dreams she thought she was again with Blanche, struggling +through the rippling water, like the Pilgrims in the picture. But +neither of them appeared to feel frightened, as they had when they were +almost drowned in the loch. At first the water seemed smooth and +shining, and Morag could hear the bonnie wee leddy's silvery voice +calling to her to come away, for she saw the Golden City quite clearly +now--and that the gates were really wide open still, though it was so +late at night. Then Morag, all at once, began to feel afraid, for she +could see no city lying in the sun; but only a great leaden-looking +wave, which came creeping towards her, throwing its gray shadow on the +shining water; then she lost sight of her bonnie wee leddy, and could +only hear her voice calling her to come. But Morag thought she could not +cross the dark wave, and the silvery voice began to sound very far away; +and at last she awoke, trembling,--feeling so glad to think that after +all it was only a dream. + +The fire, which had been so bright and warm when she fell asleep, was +now cold and black. The candles, too, were almost burnt to their +sockets; and Morag saw that she must have slept for a long time. She +began to wonder where Mrs. Worthy was, and whether they meant to leave +her there, till they came to take her to see the bonnie wee leddy in the +morning. + +She would not have treated her so, thought Morag, with quivering lip, as +she looked blankly round the solitary room, where everything seemed so +gray and cheerless, and she shivered as she remembered the leaden wave +of her dream, and began to feel very frightened and homesick, besides +being cold and wearied. + +Presently she heard the sound of footsteps re-echoing along the silent +corridor, and Mrs. Worthy walked slowly into the room with her nightcap +on. In her hand she carried a candle, which she almost dropped in her +astonishment at seeing Morag seated there. + +"Bless my soul, child! are you here still? I was just on my way to bed. +I declare I had quite forgotten all about you. Dear, dear, my 'ead's +quite confused--and no wonder! Poor dear, you must be sadly tired. Too +bad of Ellis not to have taken you to bed. She promised to see after you +when she was sent along to you. I've just only now come from missie's +room--dear angel: she does look so sweet. You'll see her to-morrow, my +poor dear!" + +And then, noticing Morag's wistful look as she murmured, "No the nicht," +the old woman pondered for a while, and taking the candle again, she +said, "Well, well, there can't be no 'arm: they are all cleared away +now! Come, I'll take you, poor dear. You haven't been well treated +noways among us all, and I heard the master tell Ellis that she was to +look to you, and he would see you himself to-morrow." + +Morag's heart leapt for joy. If she could only see her bonnie wee leddy +even for a minute, and feel her protecting touch again, she would +forget all her past troubles and be quite safe and happy in this strange +land. + +She followed Mrs. Worthy with joyful steps as she led her along the +passages, which were cold and dark now. She smiled as she thought how +astonished the wee leddy would be to see her mountain friend, for she +remembered Ellis had said that she was not to be told of her arrival +till next morning; but it was so good and kind of Mrs. Worthy to take +her now. And then she tried to picture to herself how Blanche would be +looking. Would she find her lying on a sofa, dressed in her pretty blue +dressing-gown, which she wore on the evening she saw her last at the old +castle of Glen Eagle? And would she seem much paler than she did then? +Morag feared she might, when she remembered what a long time she had +laid in bed; but summer days would soon come again, and the sunshine, +which the bonnie leddy loved so well, would be sure to make her strong +again. + +Indeed, in her secret heart, Morag cherished the hope that her own +presence might act as a talisman, and she smiled to think of the +pleasant voice that would soon bid her welcome; for, since the dark hour +in the fir-wood, when she thought Blanche had left the Glen without +remembering to say farewell, Morag had never doubted the love and +friendship of her gracious little friend. + +At last Mrs. Worthy stopped at a closed door, and as she lowered the +candle which she held in her hand, Morag caught sight of a familiar +friend lying on the mat. + +Chance was waiting there in a listening posture, with his nose against +the door. Morag stooped down and patted him, but, instead of jumping up +at her in outrageous welcome, as he used to do, he merely gave a faint +wag of his tail, and looking wistfully into her face, raised a low, +whining cry, and put his nose close to the door again. + +"I'm thinkin' Chance will be wantin' in--to get a sicht o' her too," +said Morag, smiling. + +"Yes, poor brute; hanimals has a deal of feelin'. He's been in a +dreadful way; indeed I thought they locked him up for the night, but he +seems to have got loose again," replied Mrs. Worthy, as she opened the +door and stepped softly in, followed by Morag and Chance. + +The little girl looked eagerly round among the mirrors and pictures and +pretty statuettes for the face which had never failed before to smile a +sunny welcome upon her, but her bonnie wee leddy was nowhere to be +seen, and a terrible stillness seemed to pervade the room. + +Drawing aside the rose-colored curtains of a little bed, which Morag had +not noticed in her eager glance round the room, Mrs. Worthy beckoned for +the little girl to come near, and Morag looked at last on the face of +her bonnie wee leddy. She seemed sleeping peacefully; the golden curls +lay in rich masses on the pillow, and the fluttering fingers were at +rest on the white coverlet. The room was dimly lighted, and a shadow +fell from the curtain on her face; so Morag drew closer that she might +see her more clearly--feeling a pang of disappointment that she was +asleep. But had not Ellis said that to-morrow morning she would speak to +her? and she could wait. + +"She's sleepin' richt soun' the noo, I'm thinkin'," she whispered softly +to Mrs. Worthy, who was holding back the curtain. + +"Sleeping! yes, my little dear, you are right. Children does put things +nice at times. Dear angel--not dead, but sleeping: a long, long sleep, +till the resurrection morn!" + +With a long, low cry of anguish, Morag knelt beside the dead body of her +bonnie wee leddy, and kissed her cold, dead hand! + +She understood it all now. Blanche Clifford had passed away on this +Christmas Eve from our lower world--with all its lights and shadows, all +its wealth and all its woe--to that other, where the pure in heart are +perfectly blessed, for they see God! + + * * * * * + +Perhaps here we should take farewell of our mountain maiden; for, with +the passing away from earth of her bonnie wee leddy, ended the childhood +of Morag Dingwall, never again to visit her, save in dreams of the night +and memories of the past! + +We shall but cast a glance across the vista of years, when these autumn +days lay far away in the calm, clear distance, and seem like a tale that +is told;--when Kirsty has laid down her frail body to sleep in the +little graveyard on the hillside, to await the coming of the Lord she +loved so well;--when the keen eyes of the keeper Dingwall no longer scan +the hills and moors of Glen Eagle, nor his steady hand takes unerring +aim; for his stalwart form lies mouldering in the shadow of the hills he +has so often trod! + +The keeper's earthly life had closed in the midst of less vivid hopes, +perhaps, and shadowed by more bitter memories, than Kirsty's blameless +years had wrought. But he, too, had learnt to live in the faith and hope +of the words which welcomed him to the table of the Lord below, and to +know it to be a "faithful saying, that 'Jesus Christ came into the world +to save sinners.'" + +The shieling among the crags, which had been his home so long, was a +roofless ruin now. And long dank grass and nettles grew on the earthen +floor, which had proved, of old, such a sea of trouble to the little +Morag. + +Kenneth Macpherson, Kirsty's grandson, reigned over the realms of deer +and moor-fowl in the Glen now; and the keeper's daughter had become the +keeper's wife. + +Their home was the loveliest spot in all the strath--a pleasant, light, +airy, well-built cottage, placed at a sunny angle of the pine forest, +which protected it from the cold north winds when they swept along the +Glen. + +Firwood Neuk, for so it had been called by its owners, possessed every +pretty and useful accessory, within and without, which peasant life +could require. It was quite a model homestead, with its wealthy +barn-yard and farmstead, and its pretty productive garden--the last +earthly gift of a little vanished hand, which had dropped its earthly +treasures as she used to do her wild flowers in these woods long ago, +when anything more precious came in sight. + +Mr. Clifford never came to shoot in Glen Eagle again; but, nevertheless, +he was more than faithful to the wishes of his child, and Blanche's +friends lacked for nothing which money could supply--humbly and +gratefully accepted by these proud Highland spirits as the benefaction +of the gracious child who had loved them all so well. + +Often, indeed, Mr. Clifford had been tempted, during the earlier years, +to go beyond his daughter's wishes when he noticed Morag's insatiable +thirst for knowledge: to take her from her quiet haunts, and bring art +and culture to aid in her training. But he called to mind Blanche's wise +decision, and left the child of the mountains to her "lowlier, more +unlettered fate." + +Still, Morag's intellectual cravings were not unprovided for. In one of +the rooms of her pleasant home there stood a pretty book-case filled +with rows of shining books--another memorial of Blanche's love. And, +among the handsome bindings, there were interspersed certain old, worn +books, which were very dear to Morag's heart, for had they not been +taken from the depths of the old _kist?_--and stood there, among the +newer volumes, like ancient historical monuments surrounded by pretty +modern villas. + + * * * * * + +It was the twelfth of August, and the keeper's wife stood waiting in the +gloaming for her husband, who had not yet returned from the moors. + +The work of the day was done, and the children safely folded for the +night,--for there were young voices again re-echoing through the forest, +and little feet toddling among the brown fir-needles. + +Her husband was not yet in sight, so presently Morag wandered into the +fir-wood, where the great aisles of pine reared themselves calm and +stately as of old. + +Leaning against one of the old red firs, which seemed written over with +many memories to her, she called to mind one August day long ago. And as +she stood gazing dreamily there, she seemed to see again the lovely, +singing child, coming like a happy fate towards the desolate little +maiden who leant there on that bright morning, to hear again the "glad +tidings of great joy" borne unconsciously by the silvery voice to a +listening ear and waiting soul, and to feel the soft, sisterly touch of +the little fluttering hand that sent glow and warmth to a heart which, +but for that touch of human sympathy, might have turned to stone. + +Morag had seen many gentle ladies, old and young, since these autumn +days long ago. The solitary Glen had got into guide-books now, and every +year brought many strangers to roam among its woods and hills; but never +could any other dwell in her memory as Blanche Clifford did--never, she +thought, could she see "her like again!" + +Many a year had come and gone since that memorable twelfth of August, +when the southern guests came to seek their pleasure among the moors of +Glen Eagle. Silver lines were visible on Morag's once raven black locks, +and her step was slower than it used to be, as she sauntered through the +old red fir-trees, which were all aglow in the sunset. + +With a sigh of weariness she at last seated herself on a gray, +lichen-spotted dyke which skirted the forest. + +"Ay! and she'll aye be young, though I'm growin' auld," she murmured, +for she still retained her ancient habit of speaking her thoughts aloud, +acquired in her solitary childhood. + +Leaning her head upon her hand, she sat watching the sun as it sank +behind the old castle of Glen Eagle. + + * * * * * + +The amber clouds were hovering round the dying sun, like ponderous gates +ready to close on the inner vistas of gold and crimson. Morag sat gazing +with glistening eyes at the cloud-land scene; she well knew that +"richest tenderest glow" which lingers round the autumnal sun, and +always loved to watch it. + + "But there sight fails; no heart may know + _The bliss when life is done._" + +"It's growin' cauld and mirk, and I maun be goin' home," murmured Morag, +as she rose to go down the hill, when all had faded into grey twilight. +Then she added, softly: "She liket weel to see the sun gae doun amang +oor hills; an' it aye min's me upo' her. Bonnie wee leddy! 'Thy sun +shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw its shining, for +the Lord is thine everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.'" + + +Stereotyped by MCCREA & Co., Newburgh, N. Y. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Variable or unusal spelling and hyphenation have been retained apart +from minor punctuation inconsistencies, which have been silently +corrected. The changes made are shown below. The first line indicates +the original, the second the correction. + + p. 29: + He was tall and spare and agile-look-looking + He was tall and spare and agile-looking + + p. 163: + A tarpauling was thrown over them + A tarpaulin was thrown over them + + p. 213: + in the direc- of + in the direction of + + p. 269: + the things I want him too look at + the things I want him to look at + + p. 230: + Kirsty's calm, wopshipping face + Kirsty's calm, worshipping face + + p 309: + as the most delightful optunity + as the most delightful opportunity + + p. 372: + acquired n her solitary childhood + acquired in her solitary childhood + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42093 *** |