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diff --git a/43054.txt b/43054.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f7c7665..0000000 --- a/43054.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5577 +0,0 @@ - DONALD ROSS OF HEIMRA (VOLUME III) - - - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost -no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - - -Title: Donald Ross of Heimra (Volume III of 3) -Author: William Black -Release Date: June 28, 2013 [EBook #43054] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DONALD ROSS OF HEIMRA (VOLUME -III OF 3) *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - DONALD ROSS OF HEIMRA - - - BY - - WILLIAM BLACK - - - - _IN THREE VOLUMES._ - VOL. III. - - - - LONDON: - SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY - _LIMITED,_ - St. Dunstan's House, - FETTER LANE, FLEET STREET, E.C. - 1891. - - [_All rights reserved._] - - - - - LONDON: - PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, - STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. - - - - - CONTENTS OF VOL. III. - - I. Smoke and Flame - II. A Summons - III. A Forecast - IV. Slow but Sure - V. A Pious Pilgrimage - VI. Habet! - VII. "'Twas when the Seas were roaring" - VIII. A Mission - IX. The Banabhard - - - - - DONALD ROSS OF HEIMRA. - - - - CHAPTER I. - - SMOKE AND FLAME. - - -But that was not at all the view that Fred Stanley took of this amazing -and incomprehensible incident. - -"There's some trick in it, Frank," he said vehemently, as he hurried his -friend along with him, on their way back to the house. "There's some -underhand trick in it, and I want to know what it means. I tell you, we -must get the keepers, and go up the hill at once, and see what is going -on. There's something at the bottom of all this jugglery." - -"Jugglery or no jugglery," his companion said, with much good-humour, -"it has come in very handy. If a riot had been started, who knows what -the end might have been? It wasn't the raid into the Glen Orme forest -that concerned me, nor yet the driving of the sheep off Meall-na-Fearn; -but I confess I was anxious about your sister. If she had been -denounced before an angry and excited meeting----" - -"Oh, we should have been able to take care of ourselves!" the younger -man said, dismissing that matter contemptuously. - -"And if it was Ross of Heimra who stepped in to prevent all this," -Meredyth continued, "I, for one, am very much obliged to him." - -"Oh, don't be an ass, Frank!" the other said, with angry impatience. -"If it is Donald Ross who has done all this, I'll swear he has done it -for his own purposes. And I want to know. I want to find out. I want -to see what the trick means. And of one thing I am absolutely certain, -and that is, that Donald Ross is up on the moor at this very moment. Oh, -yes," the young man went on, seeing that his wild suspicions received no -encouragement from his more cautious companion, "a fine stratagem, to -keep us idling and kicking our heels about here all the morning--and on -the Twelfth, too! I thought it was odd that the meeting should be fixed -for the Twelfth; but now I begin to see. Now I begin to understand why -Donald Ross came over from Heimra yesterday afternoon." - -"Well, what do you imagine?" Meredyth asked. - -"Why, it's as clear as daylight!" the younger man exclaimed--jumping -from vague surmises to definite conclusions. "Here have we been hanging -about all the morning, like a couple of simpletons, waiting for a -general riot or some nonsense of that kind, while Ross and his gang of -poachers have been up on the moor, sweeping the best beats clean of -every bird! That has been the little programme!--and a fine consignment -of game to be sent away to Inverness to-night, as soon as the dark comes -down. But they may not be off the hill yet; and we'll hurry up Hector -and Hugh, and have a look round." And then he added, vindictively: "I'd -let the Twelfth go--I shouldn't mind a bit having had the Twelfth -spoilt--if only I could catch those scoundrels--and the chief of -them--red-handed." - -"All I have to say is," observed the more phlegmatic Meredyth, "that if -we are going up the hill we may as well take our guns with us and a -brace of dogs. We can have an hour or two. The fag-end of the Twelfth -is better than no Twelfth; and your sister says she wants some birds." - -"Birds?" the other repeated. "What do you expect to find on the ground -after those poaching thieves have been over it?" - -However, in the end he consented; and as they found that -Hector--undisturbed by all those alarming rumours of riot and -pillage--had kept everything in readiness for them, the two young men -snatched a hasty sandwich and set forth. It was not a very eager -shooting party. There was a sensation that the great possibilities of -the Twelfth had been ruined for them. Nevertheless, there would be some -occupation for the afternoon, and the mistress of the household wanted -some grouse. - -But, indeed, it soon became evident that it was not shooting that was -uppermost in Fred Stanley's mind. He overruled Hector's plan for taking -the nearest beats. He would have his companions hold away up the Corrie -Bhreag, which leads to the Glen Orme forest; and ever he was making for -the higher ranges--scanning the ground far ahead of him, and listening -intently in the strange silence; while he was clearly unwilling to have -the dogs uncoupled. - -"Look here, man," at length said Meredyth, who, though new to the place, -had a trained eye for the features of a moor; "surely we have come down -wind far enough? It will take us all our time to get back before -dinner, even if we pick the beats on the way home----" - -The answer was unexpected--a half-smothered exclamation of mingled anger -and triumph. - -"Didn't I tell you so?" young Stanley exclaimed, with his eyes fixed on -a small, dark object a long distance up the glen. "Didn't I tell you we -should find him here? Don't you see him--away up yonder? My lad, when -you come poaching, you shouldn't put on sailor's clothes; they're too -conspicuous. What do you say, Hector: can you make him out? Well, -whether you can or not, I will tell you his name. That is Mr. Donald -Ross, if you want to know--and I guessed we should find him here or -hereabouts!" - -"I am not sure," said Hector, slowly, also with his eyes fixed on the -distant and dark figure. - -"But I am!" Fred Stanley went on. "And perhaps you can tell me what he -is doing up on our shooting?" - -"Mebbe," said the serious-visaged keeper, with a little hesitation, -"mebbe he was waiting to see that none of the lads would be for going -into the forest. Or mebbe he was up at Glen Orme." - -"Oh, stuff and nonsense!" the young man cried, scornfully. "Do you -think we are children! I tell you, we have caught him at last; and -wherever the rest of the gang have sneaked off to, he is bound to come -along here and face it out. Yes, he is coming: I can see he is moving -this way. Very well, Frank, you have the dogs uncoupled now, and begin -to shoot back home: I'm going to meet my gentleman--and I will take my -gun with me, just to keep a wholesome check on insolence." - -"You will not," said Meredyth, with decision--for he knew not whither -this young man's obvious wrath and enmity might not lead him. "I will -wait here with you: whoever that is, he is clearly coming this way." - -"Why, of course he must!" was the rejoinder. "He sees he is caught: -what else is there left for him but to come along and try to put some -kind of face on it?" Then presently he exclaimed: "Well, of all the -effrontry that I ever beheld! He is carrying a gun under his -arm!--how's that for coolness?" - -"I am not thinking it is a gun, sir," said the tall, brown-bearded -keeper; "it is more like a steeck." - -"Yes, it is a stick, Fred," Meredyth put in, after a moment. - -"Oh, why should he have a gun? What does he want with a gun?" the young -man said, without being disconcerted for a moment. "He has only to -direct the operations of his confederates. A stick?--very likely!--the -master-poacher doesn't want to be encumbered with a gun!" - -And so they waited. It was a singular scene for the Twelfth of August -on the side of a Highland hill: no ranging of dogs, no cracking of -breechloaders, no picking up of a bird here and there from the thick -heather, but a small group, standing silent and constrained, and dimly -aware that pent-up human passions were about to burst forth amid these -vast and impressive solitudes. Young Ross of Heimra--for it was -unmistakably he--came leisurely along; his attention was evidently fixed -on the sportsmen; perhaps he was wondering that they did not let loose -the dogs and get to work. But as he drew nearer he must have perceived -that they were awaiting his approach; and so--with something of -interrogation and surprise in his look--he came up to them. - -"I hope you have had good sport," said Fred Stanley. - -Donald Ross stared: there was something in the young man's tone that -seemed to strike him. - -"I--I don't quite understand," said he. - -"Oh, well, it's only this," replied the other, striving to keep down his -rising rage, and speaking in a deliberately taunting fashion, "that when -you find anyone on a Highland moor on the Twelfth of August you -naturally suppose that he has come for grouse. And why not? I am sorry -we have interrupted you. When you have the fishing and the stalking, -why shouldn't you have the shooting as well? I am sorry if we have -disturbed you----" - -They formed a curious contrast, those two: the tall, handsome, -light-haired youth, with his fair complexion and his boyish moustache -causing him to look almost effeminate, and yet with his nostrils -dilated, his haughty grey eyes glistening with anger, a tremor of -passion about the lines of his lips; the other, though hardly so tall, -of more manly presence, his pale, proud, clear-cut features entirely -reticent, his coal-black eyes, so far, without flame in them, an -absolute self-possession and dignity governing his manner. - -"I hardly know what you mean," said he, slowly, fixing those calmly -observant black eyes on the young lad. "What is it all about? Do I -understand you to accuse me of shooting over your moor--here--now?--do -you imagine----" - -"Oh, it isn't that only!--it is half-a-dozen things besides!" the young -man exclaimed, letting his passion get entirely the mastery of him. -"Who has this place? Not those who bought it! It is you who have the -shooting and fishing and everything; and not content with that but you -play dog-in-the-manger as well--heaving stones into the pools when -anyone else goes down to the river. And who does the scringeing about -here?--answer me that!--do you think we don't know well enough? Let us -have an end of hypocrisy----" - -"Let us have an end of madness!" said Donald Ross, sternly; and for a -second there was a gleam of fire in his black eyes. But that sudden -flame, and a certain set expression of the mouth, almost instantly -vanished; this young fellow, with the girlish complexion, was even now -so curiously like his sister. "I do not answer you," Donald Ross went -on, with a demeanour at once simple and austere. "You have chosen to -insult me. I do not answer you. You are in my country: it is the same -as if you were under my roof." - -"Your country!" the hot-headed young man cried, in open scorn, "What -part of the country belongs to you! That rock of an island out -there!--and I wish you would keep to it; and you'd better keep to it; -for we don't mean to have this kind of thing going on any longer. We -mean to have an end of all this scringeing and poaching! We have been -precious near getting hold of those scringe-nets: we'll make sure of -them the next time. And I want once for all to tell you that we mean to -have the fishing for ourselves, and the shooting, too; and we want you -to understand that there is such a thing as the law of trespass. What -right have you to be here, at this moment, on this moor?" he demanded. -"How can you explain your being here? What are you doing here--on the -Twelfth? Do you know to whom this moor belongs? And by what right do -you trespass on it?" - -"Fred," interposed Frank Meredyth, who was painfully conscious that the -two keepers--though they had discreetly turned away--must be hearing -something of this one-sided altercation, "enough of this: if there is -any dispute, it can be settled another time--not before third persons." - -"One moment," said Donald Ross, turning with a grave courtesy to this -intervener. "You have heard the questions I have just been asked. Well, -I do not choose to account for my actions to any one. But this I wish -to explain. I have no right to be where I am, I admit; I have -trespassed some dozen yards on to this moor, in order to come up and -speak to you. When you saw me first I was on the old footpath--there it -is, you can see for yourself--that leads up this corrie, and through the -Glen Orme forest to Ledmore; it is an old hill road that everyone has -the right of using." - -"Oh, yes, thieves' lawyers are always clever enough!" Fred Stanley said, -disdainfully. - -Donald Ross regarded him for a moment--with a strange kind of look, and -that not of anger: then he quietly said, "Good afternoon!" to Meredyth, -and went on his way. Hector got out of the prevailing embarrassment by -uncoupling the dogs; and Frank Meredyth put cartridges in his gun. This -encounter did not augur well for steady shooting. - -Meanwhile Donald Ross was making down for the coast, slowly and -thoughtfully. What had happened had been a matter of a few swift -seconds; it had now to be set in order and considered; the scene had to -be conjured up again--with all its minute but vivid incidents. And no -longer was there any need for him to affect a calm and proud -indifference; phrases that he had seemed to pass unheeded began to burn; -the rapid glances and tones of those brief moments, now that they were -recalled, struck deep. Indeed, the first effect of a blow is but to -stun and bewilder--the pain comes afterwards; and there are words that -cause more deadly wounds than any blows. Taunt and insult: these are -hard things for a Highlander to brook--and yet--and yet--that handsome, -headstrong boy, even in the white-heat of his passion, had looked so -curiously like his sister. - -"Ah, well," said Ross, aloud, and there was a kind of smile on his face, -"it is, perhaps, a wholesome lesson. Hereafter I'd better mind my own -business. And if I have been ordered off the mainland--sent back to my -little island--very well: the sea-gulls and gannets won't accuse me of -trespass." - -In time he drew near the village. But as he went down the hill from -Minard, and had to pass Lochgarra House, he did not turn his eyes in -that direction. He held straight on; and at length encountered a small -boy who had just been engaged in hauling a dinghy up on the beach. - -"Alan," said he, "have you seen Big Archie anywhere about?" - -"Ay," said the boy, "he was at the inn to look at the people driving -aweh." - -"What people? The strangers who were at the church this morning?" - -"Ay, chist that. There was many a one laughing at them," said Alan, -with a bit of a grin. - -"Well, run along now, and see if you can find Big Archie, and tell him I -am going out to Heimra. Then you can come back with him, and pull us -out to the lugger." - -And away went Alan, with a will, eager to earn the sixpence that he -foresaw awaiting his return, while the young laird of Heimra, having -nothing else to do until Big Archie should put in an appearance, seated -himself on the gunwale of the dinghy, with his eyes turned towards the -sea. Not once had he glanced in the direction of Lochgarra House. - -But Lochgarra House had taken notice of him. Mary Stanley chanced to be -passing one of the windows, when of a sudden her face grew animated, and -her eyes--those liquid grey-green eyes that were at all times so clear -and radiant--those bland, good-humoured, kind eyes--shone with a quick -interest and delight. - -"Kaethchen! Kaethchen!" she called. "There is Mr. Ross just gone -by--tell Barbara to run after him--quick! quick!--and--and my -compliments--and I want to see him most particularly. He must not go -out to Heimra before I have seen him--tell her not to lose a minute--I'm -afraid he may be going along now to get Big Archie's boat." - -But at such a crisis Kate Glendinning did not choose to wait for any -servant. She flew into the hall, snatched a straw hat from the table, -tripped down the wide stone steps, and made her way as quickly as might -be round the sea-wall and along the beach. He did not hear her -approach; he seem plunged in a profound reverie. - -"Mr. Ross!" she said, rather breathlessly and timidly, to attract his -attention. - -He started to his feet; and, when he saw who this was, his naturally -pale, dark face grew suddenly suffused--an almost school-boyish -constraint visible there for a moment! Kaethchen was surprised; but she -made haste to deliver Miss Stanley's message. - -"She happened to see you from the window; and she is most anxious you -should not go back to Heimra before she has a chance of thanking you for -your great kindness. For she quite understands it was you who prevented -all the mischief that might have arisen from those people coming here; -and she is very grateful; and wishes to say so to yourself. And I was to -give you her compliments, and say that she wished particularly to see -you--if you wouldn't mind coming along for a few moments." - -This time he did throw a brief glance in the direction of Lochgarra -House--perhaps thinking of what otherwise might have been. But now, how -could he ever again be under that roof? - -"Will you tell Miss Stanley," said he--and though that temporary -confusion had gone, there was still a curious reserve in his -manner--"that I am very glad if I have been of any service to her--very -glad that she should think so, I mean; but it isn't worth speaking -about; and she must not say anything more about it." - -"But she wishes to see you!" exclaimed Kaethchen, who naturally had -expected an instant acquiescence. "Surely she is the best judge as to -whether she ought to thank you, or not. And that was the message I was -to take to you, that she wished most particularly to see you, before you -went out to Heimra. A few moments only--she will not detain you----" - -"If you will excuse me, I would rather not go along," said he, looking -uneasily towards the cottages and the inn. "I have just sent for Big -Archie." - -Kaethchen was astounded. What kind of a young man was this, to refuse -the invitation of a beautiful young woman--one, indeed, who had shown -herself singularly interested in him, even as he had gone out of his way -to render friendly little services to her? Kaethchen's secret -conjectures, founded on what she had recently observed as between these -two, seemed to have been suddenly and rudely stultified. What was the -key to this enigma? Jealousy? Was it the presence of Frank Meredyth -that interposed? Would he decline to visit the house until that -possible rival had been removed? She could not understand; she was -bewildered; but still she had her commission to execute; and the -faithful Kate was staunch. - -"Miss Stanley will be disappointed," said she. "She is most anxious to -see you. A couple of minutes would be enough. And surely you could let -Big Archie wait." - -"Thank you," said he--and it was clear that it was with the greatest -reluctance he was forcing himself to refuse--"but I would rather not. I -am very sensible of Miss Stanley's kindness; but--but she must not make -too much of this trifling thing." - -Kaethchen paused irresolute. But, after all, she had no more to say. -She could not appeal to him, she could not beg of him, as a favour, to -accept Miss Stanley's invitation: Kaethchen also had a little pride; so -she civilly bade him good afternoon, and hoped he would have a pleasant -voyage home; and set out on her way back to the house. - -"Well?" said Mary, when Kaethchen came into the room. But she had -already seen, from the window, that her messenger was returning alone. - -"Oh," said Kaethchen, in an indifferent sort of fashion--and she began -to gather up some samples of homespun that were strewn on the table--"he -says he is going out to Heimra at once. He has sent for Big Archie. He -says--he says--that he is glad if he has rendered you any little -service--but you are not to think of it." - -Mary's eyes had grown full of wonder. For out of these windows she -could plainly see that he was still waiting on the beach: the fact being -that the boy Alan had failed to find Big Archie at the inn, and had gone -off to seek him throughout the cottages. - -"But did you tell Mr. Ross that I wished to speak with him?" she asked. - -"I said that you most particularly wished to speak with him." - -"Yes--and then?" - -"Then he--he begged to be excused," said Kaethchen, bluntly. - -Mary turned sharply away from the window, and for a second or two she -was silent. - -"Why did you say 'most particularly'? What right had you to give him any -such message?" she demanded, with something of a cold and dignified air, -but not looking towards Kaethchen. - -"Those were your very words, Mamie!" Kaethchen protested. - -"I may have said something like that--in the hurry of calling to you," -Mary said, with flushed face. "But you ought to have known. You might -have known it was not a message I wanted given to anyone--not to anyone. -However, it is of little consequence." She advanced to the table--her -head somewhat erect. "I suppose," she said, in a matter-of-fact way, -"you will be writing about those samples to the Frasers, in Inverness?" - -"Yes, Mamie--you told me to." - -"Very well," she continued, still with that air of unconcern; "you might -say to them at the same time that we can get patchwork quilts made for -them at from ten to twelve shillings the piece, if they send us the -materials. That is the price I promised to the women here. And if they -prefer the stockings made longer, I will have them made longer; only -they must give me a little more for them--there is so much more wool and -so much more work." - -She glanced furtively over her shoulder: it was only now that Big Archie -had made his appearance--coming down the beach to the spot at which -young Ross was idly walking about. - -"Kaethchen," she said of a sudden, with something of piteous vexation in -her tone, "are you certain you said 'most particularly'?--are you quite -certain?--I--I did not mean it--I was in a hurry--you did not say 'most -particularly,' did you? At the same time," she went on, with an abrupt -affectation of carelessness, "it is of very little consequence--no -consequence whatever: the only thing is that the Highlanders appear to -have odd manners--and that again, as I say, is a matter of perfect -indifference. Don't forget to mention the patchwork quilts and the -stockings." - -But Kate Glendinning rose and went to the window. By this time Donald -Ross, Big Archie, and the young lad were all in the dinghy, on their way -out to the lugger. - -"There is something strange, Mamie," Kaethchen said, thoughtfully. "I -cannot imagine what made him refuse to come along to this house--and -refuse with such embarrassment. And these are not Highland manners at -all. But sometimes a Highlander is too proud to speak." - -They were soon to learn what all this meant. When the two young men -returned from their afternoon expedition, it appeared that they had got -thirteen and a half brace of grouse, and a few odds and ends--a very -fair bag, considering the size of the moor and the length of time they -had been out. But it was not the success of the shooting that caused -Fred Stanley to come into the drawing-room with something of a gay and -triumphant air. - -"Well, we have caught your poaching friend at last," he said to his -sister, "and I think we have sent him home with a flea in his ear. I -knew we should corner him sooner or later, in spite of his cunning. And -a very pretty trick it was--to plan this insurrectionary meeting for the -Twelfth, so that we should be kept away from the hill, keepers and all. -But it didn't work, you see; for we lost no time in getting up to the -Corrie Bhreag, and there he was, sure enough. And very little he had to -say for himself--not a word!--but I had something to say to him; and I -don't think we shall be troubled with his presence about Lochgarra for -some little time to come." - -"Are you speaking of Mr. Ross?" said Mary, with a certain calmness of -manner that did not quite conceal her alarm. - -"I should think I was!" - -"And what did you find him doing?" - -"I found him on the moor--where he had no right to be; and if the rest -of the gang managed to hide themselves or to get safe away, well, I did -not care much about that; he was there to answer for them; and so we had -it out. Yes, I may say we had it out." - -Mary turned to Frank Meredyth. - -"Mr. Meredyth, what is all this about? What happened? Did you find Mr. -Ross shooting on the moor?" - -"Well, no," said Meredyth, with something of disquiet, for he was now -placed in a most unenviable position. "The fact is, it would be -difficult to bring any definite charge against him; for he was coming -down from the direction of the Glen Orme forest, and when we first saw -him he was following an old hill-path that everybody has the right to -use--so he says. No, he wasn't shooting--not then, certainly; nor did we -see any one with him: but as regards Fred's suspicions--well, you know, -I have said before, that when you imagine there is poaching going on, -you see it in every circumstance." - -"What was he doing up there at all?" the younger man broke in. "Why, he -had no defence to make. He had not a word to say for himself. It's all -very well to be high and mighty: you won't account for your actions to -any body--no, of course not, when you can't without convicting -yourself!" - -"I suppose he had a gun with him?" said she, still addressing Frank -Meredyth. - -"Well, no; he had not," Meredyth confessed, looking somewhat anxious and -disconcerted. - -"A game-bag, at least? and a dog?" she went on; "or something that -entitled you to suspect him?" - -"Oh, no, not at all. The truth is, he was simply coming down the -strath, and he had nothing under his arm but a walking-stick." - -"Oh, indeed," said she; and she drew herself up a little proudly. "Very -well. You meet a stranger--no, not a stranger--but one of my friends, -whom you have seen under my roof, and he is walking along a public -footpath carrying a stick in his hand. Well, and then? I want to know -what happens then?" - -Meredyth was grievously embarrassed. - -"I am afraid there were a few hard words said--and--and I must say for -Mr. Ross that he showed great forbearance and self-control. Yes, I must -admit that; and also that Fred was rather too--too outspoken. I must -say I rather admired Mr. Ross because of his composure; for, indeed, I -thought at one time--well, it was a very awkward meeting. When there is -bad blood, you see--when one suspects poaching--everything points that -way." - -"Oh, I am responsible for everything that occurred!" Fred Stanley broke -in again, impetuously. "Meredyth had nothing to do with it--nothing at -all! And I tell you I spoke plainly. I thought the time for pretence -and hypocrisy had gone by; I thought it was time my gentleman-poacher -should understand we weren't going to be made fools of any longer. Oh, I -spoke plainly enough, if that is what you want to find out!" continued -this confident lad, who seemed to be rather vain of his achievement. "I -told him we had had quite enough of him about Lochgarra--quite enough of -him, and his scringe-nets, and his thieving of salmon, and heaving of -stones into the pools. I told him we wanted this place to ourselves -now. I recommended him to keep to that small island out there----" - -"It is infamous--it is shameless!" said Mary Stanley--and the beautiful, -proud face had grown suddenly pale, and there was a curious indignant -vibration in her voice. "Do you know what that man has done for me, -this very day? What does he value most in the world--what remains to -him of all the possessions which his family used to hold--what but the -devotion and affection with which these people about here regard him? -And he risked it all--for my sake! He took my side--against his own -people! They were appealed to by everything that could tempt them; and -they had been taught to regard me as their enemy; and who knows what -might have happened if he had not stepped in, and confronted them, and -said--'No.' He has forgiven the injuries, the irreparable injuries, my -family have done him and his; he has met me with friendliness at every -turn--and always keeping out of the way and claiming no thanks for it; -and now the return he gets is--insult!--and insult that he would scorn -to answer." She went on, with increasing indignation: "Shooting and -fishing! What do I care for the shooting and fishing! I would rather -have every fish in the river and every bird on the hill destroyed than -that the disgrace of such ingratitude should have fallen on this house!" -She paused--hesitated--her lips began to quiver. "I--I beg your pardon, -Mr. Meredyth--I am sorry you should have met with any annoyance to-day." -And the next second, and in despite of herself, she had burst into a -passionate fit of weeping; while with the proud head bent, her -handkerchief covering her eyes, and her frame shaken with sobbing, she -left the room. Instantly Kaethchen went with her--leaving silence -behind. - -It was about half an hour thereafter that the dinner-gong sounded upward -from the big, empty, echoing hall. Kaethchen came down to the -drawing-room. - -"Miss Stanley would rather that you did not wait for her," said she to -the two gentlemen. And therewith Kaethchen also withdrew. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - - A SUMMONS. - - -"What can I do, Kaethchen? What can I do?" she was saying, in accents -almost of despair; and in her agitation she was walking up and down -before the windows, glancing out from time to time towards the far -island that was now shining in the morning sunlight, while the driven -blue sea was springing white along its rocky shores. "What can I do? -What atonement can I make? Or is it quite hopeless? Is he to be sent -away as a stranger, without a word of excuse, or apology, or appeal?" -And then she said: "Kaethchen, surely there is some fatality in it, that -this young man, who has heaped kindness on me since ever I came to this -place--but always keeping aloof in a strange, proud way, as if to avoid -the possibility of thanks--surely there is some fatality that he should -receive nothing but insult and wrong at our hands. First, my -uncle--now, my brother----" - -"At all events," said Kate Glendinning, boldly, "I don't see why you -should torture your mind about it, Mamie. It has been none of your -doing. You are not responsible for what your uncle may have done; and -if Fred has spoken in a moment of anger, well, I don't suppose Mr. Ross -will prove to be so unforgiving." - -"It is the whole family he must think of, Kaethchen!" Mary broke in -bitterly. "I shouldn't wonder if he hated the very name of Stanley! -What a despicable race he must think us! But I suppose there is an end -now. He has borne too much already: this puts a climax to it. -Unforgiving? Why, even if I could persuade Fred to go out to Heimra and -offer him an apology, he would treat it with scorn--and rightly too. I -know he would!" - -The shrewd Kaethchen, though she did not say so, had her doubts on this -score. In the dim recesses of her consciousness there was an echo of -two lines from 'Maud'-- - - 'Peace, angry spirit, and let him be! - Has not his sister smiled on me?' - -And she fancied, for reasons of her own, that if the headstrong lad -could be brought to ask for pardon, the somewhat haughty features of the -young owner of Heimra would not long remain stern and implacable. But -she dared not reveal those reasons, even as she dared not repeat those -two lines. She was a prudent lass; and careful not to presume unwarily. - -Of a sudden Mary said, in her impetuous way-- - -"Kaethchen, I will take the sheep off Meall-na-Fearn!" - -Kate Glendinning looked up, startled. - -"Yes," the young proprietress said, with decision. "After breakfast you -and I must drive away out and see Mr. Watson. If he will give up -Meall-na-Fearn on the same terms as Meall-na-Cruagan, good and well; the -sheep must go; and the crofters can have the pasturage divided amongst -them. I suppose," she added, with something of embarrassment in the -clear-shining eyes, "some one would be sure to--to carry the news--out -to Heimra? Or a line, perhaps--you might have occasion to send out to -him----" - -"Mamie!" said Kaethchen, in warm protest. "What are you thinking of? Is -that the atonement you want to make? Do you mean to cut down Mr. -Watson's farm still further just to please Donald Ross? Why, it is -madness! To begin with, it would not please him--not in the least; he -has told you that you have already been far too generous; and I don't -know what he would think of such a needless and useless sacrifice." - -"Oh, you think he would not approve?" said Mary, slowly. She was now -standing at one of the windows, looking out towards the distant island -beyond the wide blue plain of the sea. - -"I am pretty sure he would not," Kaethchen responded, "especially if he -fancied it was done to propitiate him: it would put him in a very -awkward position. But I'll tell you what I should do if I were in your -place, Mamie----" - -"Yes," she said, instantly turning from the window. "What is it? Is -there anything I can do, Kaethchen? It seems so terrible--and so -shameful; and here am I helpless. And then he is so proud--yes, proud -and disdainful; I have said it before; only this time he has an ample -right to be." - -"Well, Mamie, if I were you, I would simply take no notice of what -happened yesterday afternoon;" this was Kaethchen's advice. "I would -assume that the friendly relations between him and you were precisely as -they always had been." - -"Yes, but how to let him know that that is what I am thinking?" said -Mary eagerly--and rather piteously withal. - -"I would send him a note," said the intrepid Kaethchen. - -"About what?" - -"About anything!" - -"Shall I ask him to come over and dine with us?" Mary asked, rather -nervously. - -"Well, no: that would be useless; he would not accept--at present," -Kaethchen made answer. "But indeed, Mamie, I would not send him any -invitation, nor would I say anything that needed an answer: I should -write so that he might answer or not just as he pleased." - -"Yes, yes," said Mary, with some animation. "Your advice is excellent, -Kaethchen. I will write at once. And about what? Oh, about kelp. I -have got all the information I wanted about the burning of kelp; and I -will tell him that any time he comes over to the mainland I should like -to show him the report." And then as abruptly she discarded this idea. -"No. Kelp is too common-place. It would be like asking for his advice -about something connected with the estate; and I want him to understand -that I can get on by myself. Oh, I'll tell you, Kaethchen!--the -photographs!--the photographs I promised to send to Mrs. Armour. You -know how proud he was of the old woman's coming all the way from Canada -to have but a glimpse of Young Donald; and I could see how he was -pleased by the little attentions I was able to show her--quite grateful -he seemed--though you know he doesn't say much." - -She was all excitement now, and as happy and sanguine as hitherto she -had been despondent. She went and got writing materials forthwith, and -hastily, and yet with some consideration, penned this note:-- - - -"Lochgarra House, Tuesday Morning. - -"Dear Mr. Ross,--I do not know whether I told you that, before Mrs. -Armour left to return to Canada, I promised to send her a series of -photographs of Lochgarra and the neighbourhood. I am arranging to have -a photographer come through from Inverness, and any time that you happen -to be over here I should be exceedingly obliged if you would spare me a -few minutes to let me know what places would be likely to prove most -interesting to her. - -"Yours sincerely, - "MARY STANLEY." - - -"Now, you see," she said, as she rather triumphantly handed the letter -to Kaethchen, "that demands nothing. He does not need to reply unless -he happens to have plenty of time and nothing else to do. It merely -shows that, as far as I am concerned, I don't consider that anything has -occurred to disturb our friendly relations. It was so clever of you to -think of it, Kaethchen! And I must send word to Big Archie that I shall -want him and his boat. I'm afraid it's too rough to try the -steam-launch. I'm so much obliged to you, Kaethchen, for thinking about -it!" - -Indeed, she was quite joyous and radiant. Her keen remorse, and shame, -and piteous despair seemed wholly to have fled; she was possessed with -an audacious confidence; a sort of gratitude towards all the world shone -in her eyes. And Kaethchen, who had studied this young woman closely, -and who was capable of drawing conclusions, knew perfectly the origin of -this buoyancy of spirit: the letter Mary had just written demanded no -answer, it is true, but none the less was she in her heart convinced -that an answer--an answer confirming all her best anticipations--would -be forthcoming, and that without delay. Big Archie was bidden to haste -and get his lugger ready: he was to set out for Heimra at once. - -Kate Glendinning was not the only one in this house who could draw -conclusions, or at least form suspicions. When the two gentlemen -returned that evening from the hill, they found the letters and -newspapers that had arrived by the mid-day post spread out on the -hall-table; and they began to glance at addresses and tear open -envelopes. Fred Stanley was soon satisfied; he went off to his room to -change for dinner; but his elder companion remained--holding a letter in -his hand, and apparently much concerned about something. At this moment -Kaethchen appeared, passing across to the door leading out into the -garden; and the instant he caught sight of her his eyes seemed to light -up with interest. Here was a friend in need. - -"Miss Glendinning," said he, in something of an anxious undertone, -"could you give me a couple of minutes? Are you going into the garden? -May I come with you? I want to ask you to do me a great service--how -great I can hardly tell you." - -Kaethchen was surprised; for this trim, brisk, bronze-cheeked, -shrewd-eyed sportsman generally took things in a very happy-go-lucky, -imperturbable fashion. But her instant conjecture was a natural one: -"Be sure this is about Mamie!" she said to herself. - -Well, he accompanied her down the stone steps and into the garden, where -she began to employ herself in cutting flowers for the dining-room -table, while she listened attentively enough. - -"The fact is," said he, "I have just had a letter from home, with no -very good news. My father, who is an old man, has been an invalid for a -great many years, varying in health from time to time; but now it seems -he has had a very bad attack of asthma along with his other ailments, -and the doctors have ordered him off to Bournemouth----" - -"I am very sorry," said Kaethchen, as in duty bound. - -"And--I have received an intimation that I may be telegraphed for--I -might have to leave here at a moment's notice almost." He hesitated for -a second or so. "Miss Glendinning," he said, "you see how I am -situated: I may be called away at any moment--with something that is of -great importance to me left unsettled. I have been living in a fool's -paradise; I thought there was plenty of time. And then, again, I did not -care to confide in any one. But now I am going to appeal to you. Will -you tell me something in strictest confidence--something you are likely -to know? It might save your friend--you can guess whom I mean--much -embarrassment, even pain; and it would be the greatest favour you could -possibly confer on me." - -And now Kaethchen knew her surmise was correct; and perhaps she may have -been inclined to think that there was something incongruous, something -even humorous, in this ordinarily cool and firm-nerved person appearing -to be afflicted by the hesitation of an anxious lover, only that she was -also aware of the gravity of the situation. For tragic things may -happen even to the steeled. - -"Miss Glendinning," said he, "I want you to tell me if there is anything -between Mr. Ross and Miss Stanley?" - -Well, this was a frank challenge; and she answered it as frankly. - -"I do not think there is," she said; "but I think there might be at any -moment. That is only my impression; and I may be quite wrong; and -indeed I have no right to say so----" - -"But I have appealed to you as a friend, to do me this great favour," -said he; and then he paused for a second. "The fact is," he went on, as -if with some unwillingness, "I have noticed one or two odd things--Miss -Stanley's indignation with her brother if he said anything against Mr. -Ross--and the painful scene of yesterday evening--these things might -lead one to conjecture----" - -"Oh, but I'm sure there is nothing between them--nothing at present, at -least," said Kaethchen, with some earnestness; for this assurance she -could honestly give him; and when did a perplexed and troubled lover -ever appeal in vain to a woman's heart? "There is nothing between them -at present, I am certain of that; and whether there ever may be, who can -tell? Both of them have peculiar natures. Both of them are proud; and -she, besides that, is wilful and impulsive; while he is -reserved--and--and you might almost think cold--only that I imagine his -studiously keeping away from her, and treating her with a kind of -distant civility, has some meaning and intention in it. I don't think he -would like to become the slave of any woman; and she--well, she is very -independent, too. And then both of them are very peculiarly situated: -there is the old-standing feud between the two families; it must have -been hard on him and on his mother to have strangers coming into the -neighbourhood, tearing down the old landmarks. There are things that -the Highland nature can never forget; and Mary knows that well; more -than once she has said to me, 'Kaethchen, there are wrongs that can -never be undone; I can never rebuild Castle Heimra.'" - -"Yes, yes, I quite understand," said he, rather absently; "and yet Ross -does not seem to bear any resentment--not against her. No, nor against -any one belonging to her. I must say for him that his forbearance -yesterday towards Fred Stanley was most remarkable: that was another -thing that struck me as peculiar. And yet you say there is nothing -between him and Miss Stanley?" - -"Nothing, I am certain," Kaethchen assured him again. - -"I am so awfully obliged to you!" he said, with some little expression -of relief; and yet he was thoughtful and silent as they walked back to -the house--Kaethchen having got all the flowers she wanted. - -That night, after dinner, when the two young ladies retired to the -drawing-room, Mary seemed somewhat disturbed. - -"Don't you think it rather strange, Kaethchen," she said, "that Big -Archie brought no message back from Heimra? I don't mean an answer. I -don't mean an answer to my note. That was not necessary--it was hardly -to be expected. But why has he not come to say he delivered my letter?" - -She went to one of the windows, and pulled aside part of the blind. The -night had turned out rather dark and squally; and there were spots of -rain on the glass that caught the light of the lamps within. - -"I should like to see Big Archie," said she, with a vague restlessness. -And then of a sudden she made this abrupt proposal: "Kaethchen, won't -you come down with me into the village? Barbara says the gentlemen have -gone into the billiard-room, for there is a threatening of rain; but we -could put on waterproofs, and run away down there and back, without -anything being known of it." - -"Is it worth while, Mamie?" Kaethchen remonstrated. "He must have -delivered your note!" - -"Yes; but it is so strange there should be no message of any kind!" said -Mary. And then she instantly added, changing her tone: "Of course, it -is not at all strange. Only--only, Big Archie sometimes takes a glass -of whisky, you know; and he might have got some answer that he has -forgotten--perhaps a note that he has left in his pocket----" - -"Oh, if you like, I will go with you," said Kaethchen at once, rather -welcoming a little bit of adventure; and forthwith both of them hurried -away to get their waterproofs. - -The night was dark and blustering; the ordinarily clear twilight of -these northern regions was obscured by heavy clouds; and the wind that -blew in from the sea brought with it a sense of moisture that promised -to become actual rain. The two black figures made their way with little -difficulty in the direction of the orange lights of the village, the -unseen sea washing up on the beach close by them. Neither spoke; but -both walked quickly; perhaps they wanted to be back at Lochgarra House -before their absence should be known. - -Then, just as they were getting near to the inn, Kate suddenly put her -hand on her friend's arm. Ahead of them were two other figures, as -black as themselves, but looming larger through the dusk. - -"That is Big Archie," said Kaethchen, in a whisper, "and isn't the other -Hector?--yes, I am sure that is Hector!" - -At this moment the two men disappeared. - -"I know where they have gone," Mary said promptly. "They have gone into -the tap-room behind. Well, we will follow, in case the people in the -inn should deny them. Come along, Kaethchen, I know the way." - -The two young women left the main street, crossed a stable-yard, and, -guided by the dull glow of a window, went up to a door, which Mary -entered. The next moment they were gazing into a small sanded parlour, -where Gilleasbuig Mor and his friend the keeper were standing: indeed, -the two men had not had time to sit down nor yet to order anything to -drink. The oil-lamp on the table shed a feeble light, but it was quite -sufficient to show that Hector, thus caught, was looking terribly -guilty; while the great, heavy-shouldered fisherman, whose deep-set grey -eyes under the bushy eyebrows seemed to say that he had already had a -glass, instantly came to his companion's help. - -"Aw, well now," Archie said, in his plaintive Argyllshire accent, "iss -it Miss Stanley herself that would be coming in here--indeed, -indeed!--and Hector, the honest lad, chist feenished up with ahl his -work--oh, aye--the guns ahl cleaned, and the dogs fed, and everything -ready for the chentlemen to-morrow--and me coming bye from the Camus -Bheag, and says I, 'Hector, will you come along with me and hef a dram -when your work is feenished?' And Miss Stanley need not be thinking -there wass any more in our minds than that; for Hector is a fine lad, -and a fine keeper, and what harm will a dram do to anyone when ahl the -work is done?" - -"Sit down, Archie--sit down, Hector!" said Mary, quite good-naturedly. -"I saw you come in this way, Archie, and I merely wished to ask you what -happened at Heimra." - -"Aw, Heimra," said Archie, collecting his thoughts--and his English. -"Iss it at Heimra? Aw, well, now, Martha is a ferry nice woman, and she -wass giving me some bread and cheese, ay, and a glass of spirits the -like of it is not ahlways--a good woman Martha----' - -"Yes, but my note, Archie," said Mary. "The note you took out: I suppose -you gave it to Mr. Ross? And he did not say anything? Well, there was -no need for an answer--none in the least----" - -"Aw, the letter?" said Archie. "Well, I wass not seeing Mr. Ross at -ahl, for he wass aweh up on the north side of the island, setting snares -for the rabbits." - -"Oh, you did not see Mr. Ross?" said Mary, quickly. "He could not -possibly have sent any answer?" She seemed greatly pleased--as -Kaethchen observed. "No, of course, he could not send an answer if he -was away at the other end of the island." Then she turned to Hector; -and the tall, swarthy, brown-bearded keeper perceived that the fair -young Englishwoman--the Baintighearna--had no mind to rebuke him or to -be in any way angry with him. "Why, Hector," she said, quite -pleasantly, "that is a very strange thing, that he should go snaring -rabbits: why doesn't he shoot them?" - -"Mr. Ross, mem," said Hector, in his grave and respectful fashion, "he -does not care much about shooting. And the rabbits, if they are not -kept down, would do a dale of mischief on a smahl island like that." - -"He is not fond of shooting, then? No; I think he told me so himself." -Then, with one of her sudden impulses, she said--"Come, Hector, let me -know what all this is about poaching on this place. Ever since I came -here I have heard of all kinds of rumours and charges and suspicions; -and I want to know the truth. I shan't blame anybody. I want to know -the actual truth. Tell me frankly. It isn't such an important thing, -after all. I only want to know what is happening around us." - -The tall keeper looked concerned--not to say alarmed: the violent scene -of the day before was fresh in his mind. But the big, good-natured -giant from Cantire broke in. - -"Aw, he is a fine lad, Hector, Miss Stanley may be sure of that; and -there's no mich poaching going on about this country-side--at least, not -about Lochgarra whatever. It's myself that wass hearing Hector seh that -if he wass catching the Gillie Ciotach with a gun, he would brek the gun -over his head." - -"Gillie Ciotach?" said Mary. "I know him--a wild-looking young fellow, -with a mark across his forehead. Well, is he a poacher, Hector?" - -"It is in this way, mem," Hector said, slowly and carefully; "there's -very little poaching about Lochgarra, as Archie says, and Hugh and -myself we know it well; but there's some of the young lads, ay, and some -of the older men, too, that if they came across a salmon, or a few -sea-trout, or a hare, they would be for taking it out to Heimra, and -slipping round by the back-door, and Martha there to take the present. -Mr. Ross, he does not pay attention to such things; for he is ahlways -having a salmon, or a capercailzie, or a box of grouse sent him by the -big families that he knows, when their friends are up for the shooting; -and he will believe anything that Martha says; and he pays no more heed -to such things." - -"Yes, but, Hector, what I want you to tell me is this," she -interposed--and she spoke with a certain air of proud confidence--"what -I want you to tell me distinctly is this: do you mean to say that Mr. -Ross himself would take a gun or a fishing-rod and go where he had no -right to go, either fishing or shooting?" - -It was a challenge; and Hector met it unflinchingly. He said, in his -serious way-- - -"Oh, no, mem--no, no: there is not anyone about here that would think -such a thing of Mr. Ross." - -Mary turned to Kaethchen, with a quick, triumphant glance. Then she -addressed herself again to Hector. - -"Well, sit down, and have a chat with your friend, Hector," said she, -very pleasantly. "We shan't interrupt you any longer. And if now and -again one of the lads about here should be taking out a little present -of fish or game to old Martha, for the housekeeping, well, that is a -trifling matter; and I dare say she gives them a glass of whiskey for -their trouble. And, Archie, any other time you go out to Heimra with a -message from me, mind you come back and tell me whether there is an -answer or not, even when I am not expecting an answer, because that -makes everything certain and correct. So good-night to you -both--good-night!--good-night!" And therewith the two young ladies, -who, even in the dull light of this little sanded parlour, had formed -such a curious contrast to those two big, swarthy, heavily-bearded men, -withdrew, and shut the door after them, and set out for home through the -darkness and the drizzling rain. - -Next morning Mary said, with a casual glance out towards Eilean Heimra-- - -"Kaethchen, don't you think, if you lived on that island, you would -rather have a good-sized steam-launch than any sailing-boat? It would -be so much more handy--ready at a moment's notice almost--and taking up -so much less time, if you wanted to send a message to the mainland. I -suppose Mr. Ross has to think twice before telling his men to get the -yacht ready, or even that big lugsail boat." - -But as the day wore on there was no sign of either yacht or lugger -coming away from Heimra; the grey and squally sea remained empty; -indeed, towards the afternoon, the wind freshened up into something like -half a gale, and it grew to be a matter of certainty that Donald Ross -would not seek to communicate with the shore. Mary was not -disheartened. On the contrary, her face wore the same happy look--that -Frank Meredyth could not quite understand. He had become observant and -thoughtful: not about grouse. - -The following morning broke with a much more cheerful aspect. - -"Kaethchen," said Mary, before they went down to breakfast together, -"don't you think that any time Mr. Ross comes across to the mainland he -might as well walk along here for lunch, instead of going to the inn? -Talking to us should interest him as much as talking to that soft-headed -John, the policeman, or to the sulky Peter Grant, or even to the -sing-song Minister. And it would be very pleasant for us, too, with the -gentlemen away on the moor all day." - -But again the slow hours of the day passed; and, whatever may have been -her secret hopes, her anxious fears, or even, at times, her disposition -to be proudly resentful, that width of rough blue water gave no answer -to her surreptitiously questioning gaze. There was a fresh westerly -breeze blowing; either the smart little cutter or the more cumbrous -lugger could have made an easy and rapid passage. However, neither brown -sail nor white sail appeared outside the distant headland; and so the -afternoon drew on towards evening; and here were the sportsmen come down -from the hill, and the dressing-bell about to sound. - -After dinner, when the two young ladies were alone together, Mary -said--with a curious affectation of indifference-- - -"I did not ask for an answer, Kaethchen. Oh, certainly not. There was -no answer needed--but still--it seems to me he might have acknowledged -the receipt of my note. Of course I am rather anxious to know on what -terms we are--naturally--and--and naturally I should like to know -whether he absolves me----" She was silent for a moment. When she -spoke again she was more honest: there was something of a proud, hurt -feeling in her tone. "I do think he might have sent me a message. -Don't you, Kaethchen? Either yesterday morning or to-day--the whole of -to-day has been fine weather. I went out of my way to make the first -overtures--after--after what happened. I held out the olive-branch. It -seems to me that common courtesy would suggest some little -acknowledgment: one is not used to being treated in this way----" - -"Perhaps to-morrow----" suggested Kaethchen, vaguely. - -"Oh, if he is not in a hurry, neither am I," said she, with a sudden air -of haughty unconcern; and she would have no more said. - -Nay, from this moment she seemed to dismiss Donald Ross from her mind. -When, on the following day, Eilean Heimra remained as mute and -unresponsive as before, she made no remark to Kaethchen; she resolutely -dismissed an involuntary habit she had formed of scanning the space of -sea intervening between the island and the coast; and if Kaethchen -mentioned Mr. Ross's name, she would either not reply at all, or reply -with a cold indifference, as much as to say, "Who is the stranger whom -you speak of?" All the day long she busied herself with her -multifarious duties, and was particularly cheerful; in the evening she -showed herself most complaisant towards the two young men who were her -guests. She talked of giving a ball to the keepers, the gillies, and -their friends; and wondered whether there was anywhere a barn big enough -for the purpose. - -So time went by; and these four young people occupying Lochgarra House -appeared to be as merry and happy as though they had belonged to a -certain little band of Florentines of the fourteenth century. For Mary -was not always deep-buried in her industrial schemes. Sometimes she and -Kate Glendinning would go away up to join the sportsmen at lunch-time; -and thereafter, perched high on these sterile and lonely altitudes, she -would set to work to add to a series she was forming of sea-views and -coast-views--drawings in most of which the horizon-line was close up to -the top of the sheet. It is true that in these spacious sketches she -had sometimes to include the island of Heimra; but no mention was made -of Donald Ross; it was as if he had gone away, and for ever, into some -unknown clime. Even Fred Stanley was almost ready to believe that the -poaching had ceased; and so there was peace in the land. - -But there came a thunder-clap into this idyllic quiet. One evening, -when the two young men returned from their long day on the hill, there -was a telegram among the letters on the hall-table. It was for Frank -Meredyth. He tore open the envelope. - -"I was afraid of it," he said to his companion. "I must be off, Fred, by -the mail-car to-morrow morning. Very sorry, old chap, to have to leave -you." - -"I hope it is nothing serious," young Stanley put in, with his grey eyes -grown grave. - -"They don't say anything very definite," was the reply. "Only I am -summoned, and I must go." - -"Then I will go with you," said the other promptly, "as far as London. -This just decides it. I'll accept Nugent's invitation, after all; and -if he has started, I'll pick him up at Marseilles. We've seen pretty -well what the moor is like; and perhaps some other time my sister asks -us down, we may wait on and have a try for a stag or two. Very sorry, -though, you must go." - -Dinner that evening, in view of this summons, was rather a sombre -affair: it was Kaethchen who, when the young men subsequently made their -appearance in the drawing-room, suggested they should all go out for a -stroll up to the top of the Minard road. She thought this little -excursion would remove some of the prevailing constraint. Besides, it -promised to be a beautiful moonlight night; and from the summit of the -hill they would have a view of the wide southern seas, with the black -headlands running out into the shimmering pathway of silver. - -Well, the expedition, so far as pictorial effects were concerned, was -entirely successful; but it was not moonlight that was in Frank -Meredyth's mind. He was going away on the morrow; he did not know what -might happen in his absence; and he thought his departure was a fair and -reasonable excuse for his revealing to Mary Stanley certain hopes and -aspirations that had gradually, and for some long time back, been taking -possession of him. On their way back to the house Fred and Kaethchen -were walking on in front; the night was still, so that half-murmured -words were enough; the surroundings lent a certain charm. And so it came -about that Frank Meredyth asked Mary to become his wife. - -Now it cannot be said that the language in which this proposition was -couched was quite in accordance with these poetical accessories of -moonlit vale, and larch wood, and hill; for the average young -Englishman, however honest and sincere he may be, does not express -himself fluently on such occasions; probably he would be ashamed of -himself if he could and did. Nevertheless, a proposal of marriage, -however stumblingly and awkwardly conveyed, is a very serious thing to a -young woman; and Mary, startled and frightened, had only the one -immediate and overwhelming desire--to postpone the terrible necessity of -giving a definite answer. For it was all too bewildering. She wanted to -think. To tell the truth, Frank Meredyth's wooing had not been too open -and avowed. A man of the world in other things, in this he had been a -little shy--one touch of nature among a thousand conventionalities. -Then, again, was not a refusal a very cruel thing, that should be -administered gently? - -"Oh, Mr. Meredyth," she said, in a very low and rather breathless voice, -"I think--I think--this is hardly the time----" - -"But surely it is!" said he. "For I am going away to-morrow morning. -And I don't know when I may see you again. And I should like to take -with me some little word of hope--something to remember----" - -"Did you see that hare?" Fred Stanley called to them, looking back for a -moment. - -Meredyth did not pay much heed to the hare. - -"Perhaps I have asked you too abruptly," he went on, in the same hurried -and confused undertone. "Perhaps I am asking too much--that you should -say something definite all at once. Very well: I will not press for an -answer--I will wait--I will wait----" - -They were emerging from the shadow of the larch trees; before them was -an open space of gravel, white in the moonlight, and beyond that rose -the grey walls and turrets of Lochgarra House. - -"Only tell me this," said he, in a still lower voice, "tell me if there -is any one before me. I have hesitated about speaking earlier because I -imagined certain things--perhaps I was mistaken--at least you will tell -me that--tell me if there is some one else----" - -"No," said Mary, as they crossed that space of white moonlight, and -perhaps she spoke a little proudly. "That--at least--I can assure -you----" - -"No one?" he said, eagerly, in the same undertone. - -But here they were at the house--with Fred and Kaethchen waiting for -them on the grey stone terrace: these two had turned to look at the -wonderful beauty of the night. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - A FORECAST. - - -Now, among the numerous undertakings on which the young proprietress of -Lochgarra had set her heart was the establishment of a Public -Reading-room and Free Library; and to that end she had planned and -built--employing local labour only--a large, long, one-storeyed -erection, of a solid and substantial cast, fit to withstand the -buffetings of the western storms. The interior was as simple and -unpretentious as the exterior; there was nothing beyond a strip of -platform, a series of plain wooden benches, a few deal tables and -chairs, and a small space partitioned off as kitchen. The rules and -regulations, of her own sketching out, were likewise of an artless -nature. The place was to be open to the whole community. Tea and -coffee at cheap rates were to be procurable between five and seven a.m., -and from seven till nine in the evening: the morning hours were for the -benefit of bachelor workmen on their way to work, or of fishermen coming -in cold and wet after a night at sea. Although reading was the -ostensible aim, women were free to bring their knitting or sewing: good -lamps would be provided, and a good fire in winter. There were to be no -set entertainments of any kind; but on certain evenings such of the -young people as could sing or play on any instrument would be expected -to do their best for the amusement of their neighbours. Thus far only -had she drawn out her simple code; she wished to get the opinions of the -villagers themselves as to minor details; and so, all being ready, there -one day appeared the following modest little handbill---"On Tuesday -next, at six o'clock in the evening, Miss Stanley will open the Public -Reading Room for the use of the inhabitants of Lochgarra. Everyone is -invited to attend." - -It was on the Monday afternoon that she and Kate Glendinning went along -to have a final look. Apparently all was in order; though, to be sure, -the supply of books, magazines, and newspapers was as yet somewhat -scanty. But it was something else that was uppermost in Mary's mind at -this moment. - -"You don't think me really nervous, Kaethchen?" said she, in a -half-laughing and yet concerned way. - -"No, I do not," her friend said explicitly. "Why, you, of all -people!--you have courage for anything----" - -"Look at that platform," Mary went on. "It is only a few inches raised -above the floor. Yes, but those few inches make all the difference. -Standing here I might perhaps be able to say something; but I declare to -you, Kaethchen, that the moment I set foot on that platform I shall be -frozen into a voiceless statue. Why, I am trembling now, even to think -of it! I feel the choking in my throat already. And to have all those -eyes fixed on you--and your brain going round--and you unable to say a -word; I know I shall tumble down in a faint--and the ignominy of it----" - -"It is very unfortunate," Kaethchen admitted, as they left the building -and set out for home again, "that Mr. Meredyth was called away so -suddenly. He could have done it for you. Or even your brother. But if -you are so terrified, Mamie, why don't you ask the Minister?--he is -accustomed to conduct all sorts of meetings." - -"No, I could not do that either," Mary said. "You see, I want the people -thoroughly to understand that they are not going to be lectured or -preached at. They are not even to be amused against their will. The -whole place is to be their own: I have no educational fad to thrust on -them. Do you remember Mrs. Armour talking about the _Ceilidh_ of the -old days?--well, I want to revive the _Ceilidh_; and I am not sure that -Mr. Pettigrew would approve. No; I suppose I must get up on that -platform, even if my knees should be knocking against each other. And -if my tongue cleaves to the roof of my mouth, well, you must come -forward, Kaethchen, and make an apology, and tell them that I give them -the use of the building and its contents, and that there's no more to be -said." - -Now Kate Glendinning, during these last few seconds, seemed to be -occupied with something far ahead of them, on which she was fixing an -earnest gaze. The afternoon around them was clear and golden, with an -abundance of light everywhere; but the sun was getting over to the west, -so that the larches threw a shadow across the Minard highway, whither -her eyes were directed. Presently, however, she seemed to have -satisfied herself. - -"Well, Mamie," said she, "I have never tried to address a meeting, so I -don't know what it is like; but I should have thought you had nerve and -courage for anything." - -"It isn't nerve, Kaethchen; it isn't courage!" she exclaimed, in a kind -of mock despair. "Why, at a Lord Mayor's dinner, I have seen one of the -bravest soldiers that England possesses--I have seen him with his hands -shaking like a leaf as he stood up to answer to a toast." - -"Very well, then, Mamie," said her companion, calmly, "if you are so -frightened, why don't you get Mr. Donald Ross to take your place? I am -sure he would do it for you at once. And as for asking him, there can -be no trouble about that; because if you look along there you will see -him at the foot of the Minard road, and he is coming this way." - -For one startled second Mary stood stock still, her eyes filled with -alarm: perhaps some wild notion that escape might even yet be possible -had flashed through her brain. But that was only for a moment. -Kaethchen had just been complimenting her on her courage: she could not -show the white feather the very next minute. So instantly she resumed -her onward walk, and that with something of an air of proud confidence. -She was 'more than common tall,' and there was a certain freedom and -dignity in her gait: how could any bystander have told that under that -brave demeanour her heart was going like the heart of a captured hare? - -"Oh, what were you saying, Kaethchen?" she resumed, with a fine -assumption of carelessness. "The Mansion House dinner--oh, yes, I -assure you--a very famous soldier--and his hand was shaking--you see, I -happened to be sitting next him----" - -"Mamie, are you going to ask Mr. Ross about the photographs?" Kaethchen -asked, in a low voice, for young Donald of Heimra was drawing nearer. - -But what could she say in reply? This encounter was altogether too -abrupt and unexpected a thing. She had not even time to recall what she -had decided was her position with regard to this solitary neighbour of -hers. If he had wronged her by neglect, she had vehemently professed to -Kaethchen that that was of no consequence. If, on the other hand, he -was still haughtily indignant over the insults that had been heaped upon -him by her brother, how could she make him any fit apology? In fact, -she hardly knew whether to treat him as friend or foe; and yet here he -was approaching them--every moment coming nearer--and her heart going -faster than ever. - -As for him, he kept his eyes fixed on her, with a calm and even -respectful attention. He, at least, was not embarrassed; and Mary, in a -desperate kind of way, was conscious that it was for her to decide; she -was aware, without looking, that he was expectant; she was mortified to -think that her face was flushed and confused, while he was tranquilly -regarding her. Then of a sudden she rebelled angrily against this calm -superiority; and just as he came up she glanced towards him and coldly -bowed. He raised his cap. Was he going on--without a word? - -"Oh, Mr. Ross," said she, stammering and embarrassed, and yet affecting -to treat this meeting as quite an everyday affair, "it is strange we -should just have been talking about you--you--you haven't been much over -to the mainland of late, have you?--perhaps you haven't seen the -reading-room since it was finished--no, I suppose not--do you think it -will be of any use?--do you think it will be of any service?--do you -think the people will care for it?" - -"They ought to be very grateful to you," said he. "I wonder what you -are going to do for them next?" - -The sound of his voice seemed immensely to reassure her. - -"Grateful?" she said, quite cheerfully, and despite her conscious colour -she managed to meet his eyes. "Well, I, for one, should be exceedingly -grateful to you if would do me a very particular favour with regard to -this same reading-room. Miss Glendinning was talking about you only a -moment or two ago--and--and the fact is, I propose to hand over the -building to-morrow afternoon----" - -"I saw the little handbill," said he, with a smile. - -"Then I hope," said she, with an answering smile, "that you haven't come -over to turn away my audience, as you did in the case of the people who -wanted to create a disturbance." - -"Oh, no," said he, "I hope you did not suspect me of any such intention. -Oh, no; it was quite the other way, indeed--if any one had asked me----" - -"But I want more than that from you," said she--and all her confusion -seemed to have fled: she was regarding him in the most friendly way, and -talking with a happy confidence. "I want far more than that, Mr. Ross, -if you will be so kind. Do you know, I was telling Kaethchen here that -the moment I put my foot on the platform to-morrow evening I should -expire, or faint, or do something terrible; for what experience have I -in addressing a meeting? I assure you I am in an absolute fright about -it; I tremble when I think of it; when I try to imagine what I am going -to say, my throat seems to gasp already. Now would you do this -speechmaking for me--what little is needed? Would it be too much of a -favour? Is it asking too much?" - -This was her brief prayer; and Kaethchen, standing by, a not -uninterested spectator, was saying to herself, "Well, Mamie, you have -the most extraordinary eyes, when they choose to be friendly, and -interested, and appealing; I wonder what mortal man could resist them?" -It was not Donald Ross, at all events. - -"Oh yes, certainly; I will do that for you with pleasure," said he at -once. "I have never in my life addressed a meeting; but I don't suppose -there can be any trouble about it--especially when one knows the people. -Only, you must tell me what I am to say: if I am to be your counsel, you -must give me instructions----" - -"Oh, yes, yes," said she, quite eagerly. "I will tell you all the -regulations I mean to propose; and the points on which I want to have -the public opinion. Are you very busy just now? Will you come along -and have tea with us? Then I could tell you all I wish to have said." - -He hesitated; and the least tinge of colour appeared in the pale, keen, -resolute face. He had not expected to be asked so soon to cross the -threshold of Lochgarra House. Nevertheless, after that momentary -indecision, he said-- - -"Thank you, yes, I will go with you and get my brief. Though it does -seem a little impertinent in me to presume to be your spokesman." - -"Oh, don't say that," she remonstrated, warmly. "I cannot tell you how -much I am obliged to you. Why, Kaethchen will assure you that I was -just about dying with fear." - -And all this had taken place so rapidly that even Kaethchen was a little -bewildered. How had such a mighty revolution come about within the -space of two or three swift seconds? A few minutes before, and Mary -Stanley would not have allowed this young man's name to have passed her -lips; and now she was regarding him with the most obvious favour, and -smiling and talking with an eager delight; while his keen, dark face and -expressive eyes answered her in kind. Kate Glendinning, as they walked -on towards the house, did not seek to interfere in this conversation: to -watch the demeanour of those two was of far greater interest to her than -any question connected with the Free Library. And Kaethchen, if she did -not talk to them, could commune with herself. 'Mamie,' she was saying, -in this secret fashion, 'you should not show yourself so anxious to -please. It isn't like you. If you are overjoyed to be on friendly -terms with him again, don't make it so manifest. You shouldn't seek -him; let him seek you. And don't allow your eyes to say quite so much: -do you know that they are just laughing with gladness?' And then, as -they were passing into the hall, the door leading out on to the -garden-terrace recalled a certain little incident. 'Poor Mr. Meredyth!' -said Kaethchen to herself. - -In the drawing-room, again, Mary plied this guest of hers with every -kind of pretty attention; and seemed very pleased and happy; while she -grew almost reckless in her philanthropic schemes. Indeed, it was -Donald Ross himself who had to interpose to put a check on her generous -enthusiasm. - -"No, no," he said, with a smile, and yet with a certain quiet and -masterful air that was habitual with him, "you must not do anything of -the kind. Giving them Meall-na-Cruagan was quite enough. You must not -think of giving up Meall-na-Fearn as well. You would be crippling Mr. -Watson to no purpose. The crofters have quite enough pasture now for -their stock. - -"Yes, but I want to do everything," she insisted, "I want to try -everything that can be thought of--everything--before coming to the last -confession of failure: and you know what that is?" - -"What?" - -"Why, emigration. Oh, I haven't forgotten your threat," she said, with -some little touch of confusion in her smiling eyes, "to take away the -people with you to Canada or New South Wales, or some such place. -And--and I don't want that. That seems to me ignominious. That seems to -me simply a confession of failure." - -"At all events," said he, "it was not as a threat that I made the -suggestion. I thought it would help you." - -"Oh," said she, with her face flushing a little, "but I don't want -anybody to go away. Surely something else should be tried first. There -are many things to be done. I want to have many more looms going; and -the fishing developed; and several new industries started--perhaps even -kelp-burning, if there are sufficient beds of seaweed. Why, I consider -I am only beginning now. I have been simply clearing the way--getting -fair rents fixed--and all that; and--and I don't want to be interfered -with, in that rude fashion. Give me time. Let me have my chance first. -Then if I fail----" - -"Oh, but we shan't talk of failure," said he, good-naturedly. "Failure -would be too cruel a return for all your kindness to these people." - -He stayed till very near dinner-time: those two seemed to have so much -to say to each other--and not about the Lochgarra estate only. Directly -he had gone, Mary said, in quite an eager and excited fashion-- - -"Kaethchen, if I had had the courage of a mouse, I'd have asked him to -dine with us! Why shouldn't I? Don't you think I might--the next time? -Don't you think I might? It is so pleasant for neighbours to be on -neighbourly terms. And just imagine what his life must be out in that -little island, seeing no one. It seems to me that, situated as we are, -it is almost a duty to ask him to come to the house. And why not to -dinner? If he comes in, and has tea with us, why not dinner? What is -the difference between tea and dinner?" - -"He has very eloquent eyes," said Kaethchen, demurely. "He seemed much -pleased with his visit this evening." - -"Kaethchen," said Mary, and she seemed a little restless, and yet very -happy withal: she went to the window occasionally to look at nothing, -and appeared quite oblivious of the fact that the dinner-gong had just -sounded--"Kaethchen, do you remember the blue and gold embroidered scarf -that I told you could be so easily turned into a hood for the opera?" - -"I'm sure I do!" said Kaethchen, little dreaming of what was coming. - -"Then I'm going to give you that--yes, I will--now, don't protest----" - -"Indeed I must, though, Mamie," said Kaethchen, warmly. "Why, what use -would it be to me? And you know how admirably it suited your complexion -and the colour of your hair. What mania for giving has seized you this -afternoon? I thought you were going to throw away the whole of the -Lochgarra estate; and I was glad to see Mr. Ross put some curb on your -wildness. And I must say you were very amenable, Mamie. You're not -quite so self-willed when Mr. Ross is talking to you----" - -"I'm going to be self-willed enough to make you take that scarf, -Kaethchen," said Mary, with a gay impetuosity. "Yes, I am. I will send -for it to-morrow. Why, you know it is a pretty thing, Kaethchen--the -Albanian needlework is so quaint--and I remember perfectly that you -admired it----" - -"But what use would a hood for the theatre be in a place like this!" -Kaethchen exclaimed. - -"Don't I tell you it is a pretty thing to look at, here or anywhere -else?" was the imperious rejoinder. "And I want to give it to you, -Kaethchen--and that's all about it--and so not another word!" - -When at length they went in to dinner, Mary sate silent and thoughtful -for a little while: then she said-- - -"Kaethchen, did you ever hear a voice that gave you such a curious -impression of sincerity?" - -"Do you mean Mr. Ross's?" said Kaethchen, gravely. - -"Yes," said Mary, with a bit of a start: she had been forgetting. "I -mean quite apart from the quality of the voice, and that of itself seems -to me remarkable. For you know most men's voices are -repellent--unnecessarily harsh and grating--you are not interested--you -would rather keep away. But his voice, quiet as it is, thrills; it is -so clear, and soft, and persuasive; I don't know that you can say of a -man that he has a musical voice in talking, but if you can, then his is -distinctly musical. Only that is not what you chiefly think of. It is -the honesty of his tone that is so marked. He never seems to talk for -effect; he does not want to impress you, or make any display; it is the -truth he aims at, and you feel that it is the truth, and that you can -believe down to the very depths every word he is uttering. And you seem -to feel that he makes you honest too. It is no use trying any pretence -with him. He would laugh at you if you did--and yet not cruelly. He is -so direct, so simple, so manly, not a grain of affectation to be -discovered. I wonder, now, when he is called to the Bar, if he will -practise in the courts? For don't you think I rather effectually -stopped the emigration scheme--didn't I, Kaethchen? Oh, yes, I don't -think he will talk any more about Canada or Australia--not, at least, -until I have had my chance. But on the other hand, if he were to remain -in this county, and practise at the Bar, don't you think he would -succeed? I know if I were a judge, and Mr. Ross were pleading before me, -I should have little difficulty in deciding who was speaking the truth." - -"Counsel are not paid to speak the truth: quite the reverse," said -Kaethchen. - -"And when he laughs, there is nothing sarcastic in his laugh--nothing -but good-nature," continued the young lady, who was not paying much -attention to Barbara's ministrations. "Is there anything so horrid as a -cackling laugh--the conceited laugh of a small nature? Yes, it is a -very good thing he has so pleasant and good-humoured a laugh--for--after -all--yes, perhaps he is just a little blunt and peremptory. What do you -think, Kaethchen? Did you think he was a little dictatorial? And you -said something--that I was amenable? But was I too amenable, Kaethchen? -I hope he did not imagine that I was subservient--especially if he was -rather masterful and plain-spoken----" - -"Come, come, Mamie, don't quarrel with him when he has hardly had time -to get out of the house," Kaethchen interposed, with a smile. "I -consider that the manner of both of you was quite perfect, if what you -wanted to convey was that you were both highly pleased to meet in this -way and have a confidential and friendly chat. Dictatorial? Not in the -least! Of course he knows a good many things about this place; and it -was to save you yourself from being excessive in your generosity that he -spoke plainly. And speaking plainly--why, wasn't it that very thing you -were praising only a moment ago, when you spoke of the simplicity and -sincerity of his speech?" - -"Because," said Mary, drawing up her head a little, "if--if I thought he -considered me too complaisant and submissive--if I thought so--well, I -would show him something different." - -"Now, are you determined to quarrel?" Kaethchen exclaimed, with laughing -eyes. "Here is this poor young man who meets you in the road, and he is -as respectful and distant as could possibly be, waiting to see how you -mean to treat him; and you seem a little doubtful; then of a sudden you -resolve to make the first advances; and the next thing is that you -appear so glad to find that both of you are on friendly terms, that -nothing will do but he must come away home and have tea with you; and -you are exceedingly kind to him, and he is exceedingly grateful--as -those black eyes of his showed. What is there in all that? Yet now you -must alarm yourself by thinking you have been too complaisant!" - -"No, Kaethchen, no; not that I think so; what I dread is that he may -have been thinking so." - -"If I were to tell you, Mamie," said Kaethchen, "what I imagine to have -been in Donald Ross's mind when you and he were sitting talking -together, eyes fixed on eyes, with never a thought for anything or -anybody else in the whole wide world, well, I suppose you would be -indignant, and would probably tell me to attend to my own affairs. -Which I mean to do--only I am not blind." For a second Mary regarded -her friend with a scrutinizing glance; but she had not the courage to -speak; she changed the subject--and hardly mentioned Donald Ross's name -for the rest of that evening. - -Next day, and especially towards the afternoon, there was quite a -commotion in the village, for small things become great in a remote -little community like Lochgarra; and when it drew near to six o'clock -there were various groups of people scattered around the new building, -walking about and chatting, sometimes peeping in at the door with a -vague curiosity. - -"I wonder if he expects us to go along and meet him there?" said Mary, -rather anxiously to Kaethchen. - -"You mean Mr. Ross?" said Kaethchen, though well she knew to whom the -"he" referred. "I should think he would call for us. The _Sirene_ is -not in the bay; she must be round in the Camus Bheag; so Mr. Ross will -be coming down from Minard." - -Kaethchen's anticipations proved correct; young Ross, in passing -Lochgarra House, stopped for a moment to ask if the ladies had gone on; -and, finding that they were just about ready to set out, he waited for -them. And thus it was that the inhabitants of Lochgarra again witnessed -a strange sight--something far more wonderful than the opening of a Free -Library: they beheld young Donald of Heimra acting as escort to this -English woman--this alien--this representative of the family that had -drained the waters out of Heimra Loch, and torn down the walls of the -old Castle. And not only that, but when they came along, he seemed to -manage everything for her. He drove the people into the large, long -room, and got the benches filled up; he had two chairs placed on the -platform, one for Miss Stanley and one for Miss Glendinning; and then, -standing by the side of the Baintighearna, proceeded to speak for her, -and to explain the conditions attaching to this bequest. - -And here once more Mary, sitting there silent and observant, may have -been struck by the curious directness and simplicity of his speech. -Concise, explicit sentences: they seemed to accord well with his own -bearing, which was distinctly straightforward, intrepid, resolute. -Indeed, so little of effort, so little of talking for effect was there -about this address, that once or twice, and in the most natural way in -the world, he turned to Miss Stanley and asked her for information on -certain points. Finally, he told them that Miss Stanley wished for no -ceremony, opening or otherwise; they were merely to take possession; and -they would now be left to examine the resources of the building -including the duplicate catalogues of the library. - -"Three cheers for Donald Ross of Heimra!" called out a voice--and a cap -was twirled to the roof. - -"Don't make a fool of yourself, Gillie Ciotach!" said Ross, with a quick -frown; and then he went on calmly: "It is Miss Stanley's express wish -that there should be no formalities whatever, otherwise I should have -proposed a vote of thanks to her for her very great kindness and -thoughtfulness. However, that is not to be; and the best way you can -show what you think of her munificent gift is by making a good use of it -and taking every care of it." He turned to the Baintighearna. "I -suppose that is about all I have to say, Miss Stanley?" - -"Yes, I think so: thank you so much!" she said, in rather a low -voice--for she was a trifle self-conscious before all those people. - -Then she rose. He stepped down from the platform, and led the way along -the hall. There was some covert clapping of hands and stamping of feet; -but the Gillie Ciotach had been snubbed into silence; and, indeed, the -majority of those sad and weather-worn countenances remained stolidly -indifferent, as if they hardly knew what was happening around them. -Ross opened the door for his two companions, and followed them out into -the golden-clear afternoon; the villagers were left to overhaul at their -leisure this new possession, and to become familiar with its -opportunities. - -But no sooner were those three out in the open, and by themselves, than -Mary Stanley's manner underwent a complete change. She had thrown off -that platform constraint; she was profuse in her expressions of -gratitude; her eyes were shining with pleasure. - -"How can I ever sufficiently thank you?" said she. "I could never have -got through it by myself--never! And of course they will remember -everything you said: any word of yours is all-important with them. I am -a stranger. I am suspected. But when you are on my side all goes well. -And now that this serious business has been got over, I feel as if we -had earned a holiday for the rest of the day," she continued, in a very -radiant and light-hearted fashion. "What shall we do, Kaethchen? Can't -you devise something? Can't you devise some wild escapade--something -terrible--something unheard of?" - -"The Lady Superior of Lochgarra," said Donald Ross, "is much too -distinguished a person to indulge in wild escapades." - -"At least," said she, turning to him--and they were now on their way to -Lochgarra House--"it would be very hard if we three, having so -successfully got through the solemn duties and labours of the day, were -to separate now. Don't you think we are entitled to a little -relaxation? Now, tell me, Mr. Ross, where you are going at this moment. -Back to the _Sirene_, are you not? And you will be dining alone? And -after that a book and a pipe in the solitary saloon--isn't that about -how you will pass the evening?" - -"You have guessed pretty near the truth, Miss Stanley," said he, with a -smile. - -"Then," said she, boldly, "why should we separate? Come in and dine -with us. Give up your book, and let two frivolous creatures talk to -you. We will allow you to go away at ten; and it will be a clear -starlight night--you will have no difficulty in finding your way round -to the Camus Bheag. Now, will you?" - -"Indeed, I shall be most happy," said he, without an instant's -hesitation; and again Miss Stanley's clear grey-green eyes thanked him -as they could, when she had a mind. - -And really this proved to be a most joyous and careless evening, without -an atom of restraint or reserve; the little group of friends, brought -together in that far-away corner of the world, developed a very frank -and informal intimacy; the time sped swiftly. Mary was in especial -merry-hearted and audacious; occasionally betraying new moods of wilful -petulance; and then again becoming suddenly honest, as much as to say, -"No, don't believe that of me; it was only mischief." Even Kaethchen -was less demurely observant than usual; she had become a little more -accustomed to the flame of those coal-black eyes; moreover, the young -man had a winning smile. He was no longer the proud and austere person -whom she had regarded with a little anxiety and even awe. Implacable -she was no longer ready to call him: surely one who could laugh in that -frankly good-humoured way was not likely to prove revengeful and -unforgiving? As for his being haughty and imperious, she noticed one -small circumstance--that ever and again, amid this familiar and -sprightly intercourse, he checked himself a little, and would address -Miss Stanley with something almost of deference. It was as if he were -saying, 'It is exceedingly kind of you to treat me in so very friendly a -fashion; but still--still--you are the Lady Superior of Lochgarra--and I -am your guest.' And sometimes he seemed to veil his eyes a -little--those burning eyes that might unawares convey too much. - -The lightning moments fled; ten o'clock came ere he knew. Indeed, it -was half-an-hour thereafter before he chanced to look at his watch; and -instantly he rose, with a quite boyish confusion on his clear, -finely-cut face. - -"When do you go back to Heimra?" said Mary to him--the two young ladies -having accompanied him out into the hall. - -"I hardly know," said he. "I am waiting for a rather important letter -that I must answer at once." - -"Not to-morrow, then?" - -"Perhaps not." - -"For I have sent for the photographer," said she, "and he may be here -the day after." - -"But I will stay over," said he; "oh, yes, certainly; I should be so -pleased if I can be of the least service to you." - -"Oh, thank you." And then she hesitated. "To-morrow--to-morrow you will -simply be waiting for the mid-day mail?" - -"Yes--is there anything that I can do for you in any way?" - -"Oh, no," she made answer, with still further hesitation. "Some day--I -am going to ask you to let me have a peep at the _Sirene_. She seems -such a pretty little yacht." - -"Won't you come along and look over her to-morrow morning, if the -weather is fine?" said he, quickly. - -"Would you like to go, Kaethchen?" asked Mary, with a little shyness. - -"Oh, I should be delighted," answered the useful Kaethchen, divining -what was wanted of her. - -"If you are sure it is not troubling you," said Mary to her departing -guest. - -"Why, it will give me the greatest possible pleasure," said he. "Come -as early as ever you like. It will be quite an event: it is many a day -since I had the honour of receiving visitors on the little _Sirene_." - -"Then about eleven," said Mary; and therewith he took his leave. - -When they got back to the drawing-room, Kate Glendinning threw herself -into the chair she had recently quitted. - -"Well, I think he is simply splendid!" said she, as if she had some -difficulty in finding words to express her enthusiasm. "That's all I -can say--just splendid. He is so curiously straightforward, outspoken, -independent; and yet all the time he is so careful to treat you with -marked respect. If his eyes laugh at you, it is in such a good-natured -way that you can't take offence. And he never agrees with you for -courtesy's sake--never--oh, not a bit; but yet, as I say, to you he is -always so respectful--in so many little ways--didn't you notice? Ah, -well, Mamie," continued the observant but nevertheless cautious-tongued -Kaethchen, "it's a curious world, the way things happen in it. Do you -remember, when you first came here, your distress about the destruction -of Castle Heimra? You said nothing could ever atone for that; and I was -of your opinion then. But I am not so sure now. I should not be so -surprised, after all, if there were to be some atonement for the pulling -down of Castle Heimra." - -Mary did not answer: she had gone to put some Japanese water-colours -into a large portfolio. Nor could the expression of her face be seen; -if there was any indignant colour there, any proud, maidenly reserve and -resentment, it was invisible; for she remained standing by the portfolio -for some time, turning over the leaves. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - SLOW BUT SURE. - - -The next morning was the very perfection of a September morning, clear, -and crisp, and still; there was just enough wind to lift away the lazy -blue smoke from the cottage chimneys, and to stir the smooth waters of -the bay with a shimmering ripple. And here was the carriage in front of -Lochgarra House, waiting for the two young ladies to come down. - -"Kaethchen," said Mary, in an undertone, as they took their seats and -were driven off, "supposing I should get a chance of speaking to Mr. -Ross privately--for a minute or two--do you think I should venture to -apologise to him for Fred's outrageous conduct? What would you do if -you were in my place? - -"Not that--oh, no, Mamie, not that!" Kaethchen said at once. "Don't you -see how he wishes to ignore it altogether? And surely you remember what -he himself said about the pulling down of Castle Heimra? 'There are -some things that are best not spoken of.'" - -"It is very generous of him," said Mary, absently. - -They drove away up the Minard road; and when they had got some distance -past the top of the hill, they dismissed the carriage, and left the -highway, striking across the rough high ground by a worn footpath. -Presently they found far beneath them the sheltered waters of the Camus -Bheag; and the first thing they saw there was the _Sirene_ at her -moorings, with all her sails set and shining white in the morning sun. -The next thing they perceived was that the two sailors, Coinneach and -Calum, were on the beach, by the side of the yacht's boat; while -standing some way apart was Donald Ross. And who was this who was -talking to him?--a young girl, whose light brown curly hair was half -hidden by her scarlet shawl. - -"It is Anna Chlannach!" said Mary. "Now I have got her at last! She is -always escaping me--and I want to convince her that I will not allow Mr. -Purdie to lock her up in any asylum. Kaethchen, couldn't we get down -some other way, so that she may not see us?" - -But at this very moment the girl down there happened to catch sight of -them; and instantly she turned and fled, disappearing from sight in an -incredibly short space of time. For one thing, the face of this hill -was a mass of tumbled rocks, intermingled with long heather and -thick-stemmed gorse, while skirting it was a plantation of young larch: -most likely Anna Chlannach had made good her escape into this -plantation. - -"Why did you let her go?" said Mary, reproachfully, when she had got -down to the beach. "You knew I wanted to talk to her." - -"It isn't easy reasoning with Anna Chlannach," said Donald Ross, with -his quiet smile. "She still associates you with Purdie; she is afraid of -you. And this time she was on other business; she was pleading with me -to take her out to Heimra--offering me all the money she has got--her -shells, you know--if I would take her out." - -"And why does she want to go out there?" Mary asked--her eyes still -searching that rocky hill-side for the vanished fugitive. - -"To bring back her mother. Sometimes she forgets her fancy about the -white bird, and thinks if she could only get out to Heimra she would -bring back her mother alive and well. And it is no use trying to -undeceive her." - -The men were waiting. Mary and Kaethchen got into the stern of the -boat; the others followed; and presently they were on their way out to -the yawl. - -"How much bigger she is than I had imagined!" Mary said, as they were -drawing near. - -And again when they were on deck, looking around with the curiosity that -an unknown vessel invariably arouses, she could not but express her high -approval: everything looked so trim and neat and ship-shape--the -spotless decks, the gleaming brass, the snow-white canvas. And these -cushions along the gunwale? - -"The fact is," young Ross confessed--with some look of timid appeal -towards Mary, "I got the sails up this morning just in case I might be -able to induce you to take a bit of a run with us. There is a nice -breeze outside, and nothing of a sea. What do you say, Miss Stanley? -The _Sirene_ feels proud enough that you should have come on board--but -if you would like to see how she takes to the water----" - -If he was at all anxious, the quick glance of pleasure in Mary's eyes -must have instantly reassured him. - -"Oh, yes, why not?" said she, rather addressing herself to Kate -Glendinning; "I am sure we shall be delighted--if it isn't taking up too -much of your time, Mr. Ross----" - -"We can slip the moorings and be off at once," said he, and he gave a -brief order to the men, himself going to the tiller. In a few minutes -the _Sirene_ was under way, gliding along so quietly that the two -visitors hardly knew that they were moving. - -But their departure had not been unnoticed elsewhere. Suddenly, into -the absolute silence prevailing around, there came a piteous wail--a -wail so full of agony that immediately all eyes were directed to the -shore, whence the sound proceeded. And there the origin of it was -visible enough. Anna Chlannach had come down from her hiding-place to -the edge of the water; she was seated on a rock, her hands clasped in -front of her and her head bent down in an attitude of indescribable -anguish, her body swaying to and fro, while from time to time she -uttered this heartrending cry, of despair and appeal. - -"Poor Anna!" said Mary, with tears starting to her eyes. "Let us go -back, Mr. Ross! Never mind us. We can go home. You must take her out -to Heimra." - -"What would be the use?" he said. "She would only be more miserable, -searching about and finding no mother anywhere. And Anna does not keep -very long in one mood. She will soon lose sight of us--and then she'll -be off again searching for wild strawberries." - -And perhaps it was to distract their attention from this melancholy -setting out that he now called one of the men to the tiller, and would -have his guests go below, to have a look at the ladies' cabin and the -saloon. Of course they were much interested and pleased--admiring the -cunning little contrivances for the utilisation of space; while Mary -arrived at the conclusion that, if these rooms were kept in order by -Calum, Calum was a very handy youth to have in one's service, whether -afloat or ashore, They spent some time over these investigations; and -when they came on deck again, they found they were well out at sea, with -a far-extending view of the high and rocky coast, Lochgarra itself -appearing as merely a thin grey-white line along one of those indented -bays. - -And still, and carelessly, and joyously, they kept on their course, the -light breeze holding steady, the wide plain of water shining with a -summer blue. Young Donald had not returned to the tiller; he was -devoting himself assiduously to his two guests--their conversation, -whatever its varying moods, accompanied by the soft, continuous murmur -of these myriad-glancing ripples, for waves they could scarcely be -called. And on this occasion Mary was not nearly so nervous, and -excited, and wayward as she had been on the previous day; a placid, -benign content reigned in her eyes; a sort of serious, bland sweetness -in her demeanour. Kaethchen thought to herself that she had never seen -Mary Stanley look so beautiful, nor yet wearing so serene an air. - -And still they held on, in this fair halcyon weather, alone with the -sky, and the fresh wind, and the slumberous main; and so entirely and -happily engrossed with themselves that they had no thought for the now -distant land. But at last Kaethchen said-- - -"Mr. Ross, how far are we going? I thought you were expecting an -important letter." - -"There are things of equal importance," said he, pleasantly. He cast a -glance forward. "Soon we shall be getting near to Heimra, Miss Stanley. -I have never had the chance of receiving you in my poor little bungalow: -will you go ashore for a while?" - -"Oh, yes," she replied, cheerfully. "I should like to renew my -acquaintance with Martha; she was exceedingly kind to us when Kaethchen -and I called." - -"And perhaps," said he, "when we get round the point, you wouldn't mind -standing up for a few seconds--you and Miss Glendinning?--then Martha -will see I have visitors, and will have time to put on her best gown. -Otherwise I should get into serious trouble." - -And so they sailed into the small, quiet harbour, and eventually got -ashore at the little slip, and made their way up to the house. Martha -had seen them; here she was in the porch, smiling a welcome, with her -grey Highland eyes, to the young master, and also to his guests. These -she took possession of--with suggestions of tea. - -"No, no, Martha," said Donald Ross, "we are not going to have tea at -this time of the day. The young ladies will stay for lunch; and you -must do the best you can for us. We will go for a stroll about the -island, and be back in an hour or thereabouts." - -"Oh, yes, indeed," said the old Highland woman, "but it is a peety I was -not knowing before----" - -"Martha," said Mary Stanley, interposing, "I dare say Mr. Ross does not -understand much about housekeeping. Now, you must put yourself to no -trouble on our account. A glass of milk will be quite sufficient." - -"Aw, but there will be more than that," the old woman said, and she -regarded this beautiful, tall, shining-eyed young creature with a most -favouring look, and her speech was soft and propitiating; "it would be -strange if there was not more than that in the house, and Mr. Ross -bringing his friends with him." And therewith she went away; and -presently they heard her sharply calling on the lad Calum, who had come -up from the slip, and was hanging about, to be in readiness if he were -wanted. - -And now as the proud young host led forth his fair guests on an -exploration of these winding shores, and tumbled crags, and steep -precipices, this island of Heimra looked infinitely more cheerful than -it had done on Mary's previous visit, in the bleak April weather. There -was an abundance of rich colour everywhere. The silver-grey rocks, and -ruddy-grey rocks, and black-grey rocks were interspersed with masses of -purple heather; and other masses there were of tall foxgloves, and -bracken, and juniper, and broom. Their progress, it is true, was -something of a scramble, for there was no road nor semblance of a road; -the sheep tracks, he explained, were up on the higher slopes and -plateaus; down here by the shore they had to get along as best they -could, though sometimes they had the chance of a space of velvet-soft -sand--with the clear green water breaking in crisp white ripples and -sparkling in the sun. A solitary, if a picturesque, island, facing -those wide western seas; there was no sign of human existence or -occupation after they had got out of sight of the single house and its -small dependencies; and at last Mary said: - -"One would think that no living creature had ever been round this coast -before. But it cannot be so wild and lonely to you, Mr. Ross, as it -seems to us; you have discovered all the secrets of it; and so I want -you to take me to your grotto. In such an island of Monte Cristo, you -must have the grotto of Monte Cristo: where is it?" - -"How did you guess?" said he, with a smile. - -"Guess what?" - -"For there is a grotto," he said, regarding her. "Your surmise is quite -correct. There is a grotto; only it isn't filled with sacks of jewels -and coins; all that there is in it is some smuggled brandy." - -"Oh, really?" she said, with her eyes showing a sudden attention. -"Brandy?--smuggled brandy?--and how did it come there?--did you bring -it?" - -"Indeed I did," said he, without a moment's hesitation--and he was -standing in front of her now, for she had sate down on a smooth grey -rock. "I suppose I must let you into my dark and terrible secret, and -give you the power of sending the Supervisor over, and haling me off to -Dingwall. It is not a grotto, however, it is a cave; and very few -people know of its existence. In fact, you can't get to it by the shore -at all; you must go by water; and I hope to show it to you some day, if -you would care to go round in a boat. But then there are no wonders--no -hasheesh--no heaps of diamonds and rubies--only little casks of spirits: -perhaps they wouldn't interest you?" - -"Oh, but I think they would," she said--and yet with a little caution, -for she did not quite know how to take this confession. - -He observed her face for a moment. - -"I see I must begin and justify myself," said he, lightly, "if -justification is possible. For of course it's very wrong and wicked to -evade the customs duties of your native land; only in my case there are -two or three qualifying circumstances. For one thing, I am a -Highlander; and smuggling comes natural to a Highlander. Then I have -the proud consciousness that I am circumventing Mr. Purdie--and that of -itself is a praiseworthy achievement. You may have heard, Miss Stanley, -that Purdie plumes himself on having routed out the very last of the -illicit stills from this country-side--and it was done merely out of -ill-will to the people; but he forgot that it is difficult to watch a -rough coast like this. I can put a counter-check on Mr. Purdie's zeal. -But my real excuse is simply this--the old people about here are too -poor to buy spirits of any kind, but especially of a wholesome quality; -and it is the only little bit of comfort they have when they are cold -and wet, just as it is the only medicine they believe in; and really I -think the Government, that gives lavish grants here, there, and -everywhere--except here, by the way--I think the Government can afford -to wink at such a small trifle. Am I convincing you?" he went on, with -a laugh. "I'm afraid you look very stern. Is there to be no -palliation?" - -Then up and spoke Kate Glendinning, valiantly-- - -"I consider you are perfectly justified, Mr. Ross; yes, I do, indeed," -said she. - -"You see I have Miss Glendinning on my side," he pointed out, still -addressing Mary. - -"Ah, but you are both Highlanders," Mary said, as she rose from the -rock; "and how can I argue one against two?" - -"Shall I be quite honest," said he, as they were setting out for home -again, "and confess that there is a spice of adventure in going away to -the south for the cargo, and running it safely here? It is a break in -the monotony of one's life on the island." - -"Yes, I shouldn't wonder if that had something to do with all those fine -reasons," she observed, with demure significance. - -"And then," he continued, frankly, and perhaps not noticing her sarcasm, -"I like to be on friendly terms with the old people who knew our family -in former days. I like them to speak well of me; I like to think that -they have some trifle of affection for me. And this is about the only -way I can keep up the old relationship that used to exist between them -and the 'big house;' it's very little kindness I am able to show them: -they've got to take the will for the deed nowadays." He turned to her. -"What, not convinced yet?" he said, laughing again. "What is to be the -verdict? Not acquittal?" - -She shook her head doubtfully: the Lady Superior of Lochgarra did not -choose to say. - -They found an excellent lunch awaiting them; and after that, in his -eager desire to entertain these rare visitors in every possible way, he -showed them the heirlooms of the family, along with a heap of -antiquities and curiosities that for the most part had been put away in -cabinets and chests, as being out of keeping with these plain rooms. -Naturally the old armour interested Mary less than the silks and -embroideries, the porcelain and pottery; and in particular was she -struck by a Rhodian dish, the like of which she had never seen before. -It was of coarse material, and of the simplest design--a plain -draught-board pattern, with a free-handed scroll running round the rim; -but the curious pellucid green colour was singularly beautiful, and the -glaze extraordinarily luminous. - -"Where could that have come from?" said she, reluctantly laying it down, -and still regarding it with admiration. "I have never seen one like it -in England." - -"My father sent it home from Smyrna," he said, simply, "to my mother. -He could not live in the West Highlands: the climate did not suit him. -He travelled a great deal." - -Donald Ross seemed to speak without any restraint or embarrassment; but -there was some strange misgiving in Mary's mind; she was glad when -Kaethchen changed the subject--calling her attention to some exquisite -lace. - -And at last this wonderful and memorable visit had to come to an end; -but when they went out to the little porch Mary said she could not go -without saying good-bye to Martha, and so she turned and went through -the passage into the kitchen. - -"Martha," said she, in her most winning way, and with smiling eyes, "you -have been very good to us, and I shall never forget your kindness on our -first visit to Heimra, when we were quite strangers to you. And this is -a little present I want you to take, as a souvenir, you understand----" - -She had unclasped the chatelaine from her belt; and there it was, in -antique silver, with all its ornaments and housewifely implements -complete, pressed upon the old dame's acceptance. But Martha hung -back--shyly--and yet looking at the marvellous treasure. - -"Oh, no, mem," she said. "I thank ye; I'm sure I thank ye; but Mr. Ross -would not be liking me to tek it." - -"Mr. Ross!" said Mary impatiently. "What does Mr. Ross know about such -things? Why, it is necessary for your housekeeping, Martha!--and, -besides, you must take it to please me; and it will remind you of our -visit until we come back again--for I hope to come back and see you some -day." - -"Yes, yes, and soon, mem," said the grateful Martha, who had been forced -into compliance. "And I will be showing it to Mr. Ross, mem----" - -"Good-bye, then, Martha, and thank you for all your kindness," said -Mary, as she was going. - -"No, no, mem, it is my thanks and service to you, mem," said Martha, and -she timidly extended her hand. Mary had learnt the ways of this -country. She shook hands with the old dame; and said good-bye again; -and went her way. - -Then once more over the shining sea, with the light northerly breeze -providing them a steady and continuous passage. Mary turned once or -twice to look at the now receding island. - -"I suppose you get very much attached to a solitary home like that?" she -said, absently. - -"But I like a few days on the mainland very well," said he, with much -cheerfulness, "if there is anything to be done. When do you expect your -photographer?" - -"To-morrow or next day." - -"I will wait for him," said he, promptly. - -"That will be very kind of you," said she; "for what would pictures of -Lochgarra be to Mrs. Armour if you were not in them?" - -"And Saturday is Miss Stanley's birthday," put in Kaethchen. "You -should stay over for that." - -"Saturday?" said he. "Oh, indeed. Oh, really." And then he added: -"Why, they must get up a big bonfire on the top of Meall-na-Fearn." - -"No, no," said Mary, with an odd kind of look; "that is not for me. I -must wait a little for anything of that sort. It must come -spontaneously, if ever it comes." And then she suddenly changed her -tone. "Well, Mr. Ross, since you are remaining on the mainland for a -day or two, I hope you will come and see what I have been doing. I have -started a few things----" - -"I know more about your work than you think," said he. "But I should be -glad to go with you." - -"And then perhaps the people won't treat me as a stranger," she said, -with a touch of injury in her tone. - -"It is very ungrateful of them if they do," said he, with some emphasis. - -And so it came about, on the next day, that Lochgarra again beheld the -spectacle of Young Donald of Heimra acting as escort to the English -lady, while she was taking him about and showing him all she was doing -or trying to do. And to Kaethchen it was as clear as daylight that -those people began to be a great deal more friendly--more willing to -answer questions--more sympathetic in their looks. Why, when the two -girls returned home that evening, they found the hall-door open, and -Barbara in the act of lifting up two huge stenlock that had been laid on -the stone slab. - -"Why, what's this, Barbara?" Mary inquired. - -"Oh, it's just that foolish lad, the Gillie Ciotach," said Barbara, with -a smile of apology, "and he was leaving them here instead of taking them -round by the back. He was saying the people are thanking Miss Stanley -for the new building and the papers; and he and Archie MacNicol they had -a big catch of stenlock, and would Miss Stanley take one or two." - -"Do you mean that the Gillie Ciotach brought me those fish as a -present?" said Mary, with a delighted surprise--and she was looking at -those big, coarse lythe as if she had just received an Emperor's gift. - -"Yes, ma'am," said Barbara. - -"But of course you gave him something all the same?" - -"Oh, no, ma'am." - -"A glass of whiskey, at least?" Mary demanded. - -"Oh, no, ma'am," said the soft-spoken Barbara, "there is no whiskey in -the house." - -"Then it is a shame there should be no whisky in a Highland house!" Mary -exclaimed, indignantly. "Why, could you not have run over to your -brother's cottage and got some?" - -"The Gillie Ciotach was not giving me time, ma'am," answered Barbara, in -her pleasant way. "Maybe he was thinking of something of that kind, and -he went away quick after leaving the message." - -"I'll make it up to the Gillie Ciotach--you will see if I don't!" she -said to Kaethchen, as they passed through the hall and went upstairs. -And all that evening she appeared to be greatly pleased by this little -incident; and spoke of it again and again: why, to her it seemed to -presage the pacification of this lawless land--she was going to meet -with some return at last. - -Moreover, when the photographer at length made his appearance and set to -work, it must have appeared to the people about that Donald Ross of -Heimra had become the chosen ally and companion of the young -Baintighearna; while to Donald Ross himself it seemed as if Mary were -bent on representing him--in these views, at least--as the owner of the -whole place. And she was wilful and imperative about it, too; though -Kaethchen, standing by as a spectator, perceived that she had to deal -with a nature which, however quiet, was a good deal firmer than her own. -For example, one of the first views was the front of Lochgarra House. -The artist, having a soul above bare stone and lime, suggested that -there should be some figures standing at the open hall-door, on the -terrace above the steps. - -"Oh, yes, certainly," said Mary at once. "You go, Mr. Ross, and stand -there--will you be so kind?" - -"I?" said he, in amazement--for it was clear she meant herself and Kate -Glendenning to remain out of the picture--"What should I do there? That -is your place, surely--in front of your own house." - -"Oh, what does Mrs. Armour want with me!" she protested. "It is you she -wants, naturally. Of course she associates Lochgarra House with you, -not with me at all. Who am I? A stranger--an interloper. What does -Mrs. Armour care about me? No, really, I must insist on your going and -standing on the terrace." - -"But indeed I cannot: what right have I to be there?" said he, with the -faintest touch of colour coming to the keen, pale, dark face. - -"Mrs. Armour would tell you you had a better right to be there than I -have!" said Mary, rather ruefully. "I knew what she was thinking, if -she was kind enough to say nothing. Now, go, Mr. Ross, to please me! I -must not appear in this picture at all--indeed, I will not." - -"And I cannot," he said, simply. - -"Very well, then," said the shifty Kaethchen, cheerfully stepping into -the breach, "it is evident that I, at least, can't be expected to take -up a position as owner of Lochgarra House; but figures are wanted; and -so, if you are both resolved to remain out, I will go and get the -keepers and gillies and servants, and range them along the front there, -at the foot of the steps. I dare say Mrs. Armour will recognise some of -them." - -"Then you positively refuse me?" Mary said to him. - -"You ought to understand why," he answered her--and then she was silent. - -But on the following morning she was deeply impressed by his thoughtful -forbearance and consideration. They wished to get a view of the little -hamlet of Cruagan, Mrs. Armour having lived there formerly; and, as the -place was some distance off, they drove thither--the artist and his -camera up beside the coachman. Now, it was inevitable they should pass -the desert plain that used to be Loch Heimra, with the tumbled stones of -the ancient keep; and on coming in sight of these the photographer, -recognising a subject, and yet a little puzzled, called on the coachman -to stop. - -"That, sir--what is that, sir?" he asked of Donald Ross, whom he -generally consulted. - -"Oh, that is nothing," said Ross (and this time it was Mary who look -distressed and embarrassed). "Never mind; go on." - -"Isn't that an old ruin, sir?" said the photographer, with professional -instinct. Subjects did not abound in this neighbourhood, and he wished -to do his best. - -"That is of no use: that would not make a picture--a heap of stones like -that," said young Donald; and so the artist gave way; and the carriage -went on again. There was a space of silence thereafter. - -But Mary was none the less grateful to him. And when they came to a -stretch of the Connan, where there were some rocks in mid-stream and a -bit of a waterfall, with some birches by the side of the river, she -said: - -"Now, Mr. Ross, Mrs. Armour is sure to remember this place; and it is -very pretty; and since you want me to come into some of the pictures, I -will come in this time, and the three of us can sit on the bank as if we -were a pic-nic party. And if it turns out well, mightn't we have it -enlarged and some copies printed for our own friends? We will send on -the carriage a bit, so that there shall be nothing but ourselves in this -solitude." - -"Let me go on with the carriage, Mamie!" interposed Kaethchen at once. - -"Don't be silly, Kaethchen!" Mary made answer, with quickly lowered -lashes. "We are supposed to be a pic-nic party, or a fishing party, -taking a rest--anything you please; but of course we must all be -together." - -So that group also was taken, with the Highland river-scene for its -background; and then they went forward and overtook the carriage. Mary -was much more cheerful now, after getting away from that reproachful -sight of Castle Heimra. - -"Do you know, Mr. Ross," she was saying, "I am about to encounter the -bitterest enemy I have in the world?" - -"I cannot believe you have any enemy," was his reply. "But who is -this?" - -"James Macdonald." - -"Oh, Macdonald the crofter at Cruagan. Well, what have you been doing to -him?" - -"What have I been doing to him?" she said with some spirit. "You should -rather ask what I have been doing for him. I have been doing far too -much for him: I suppose that is why he hates me. What haven't I done -for him? I took off the tax for the dyke; I handed over the pasturage -of Meall-na-Cruagan; I lowered his rent; I forgave him arrears; I had -the decree of removal quashed, and gave him back his holding after he -had forfeited it; I stopped the action against him for deforcing the -sheriff's officer. What more? What more? And yet he looks as if he -would like to murder me if I try to speak to him." - -"Have you any idea of the reason?" - -"Yes," said Mary, a little proudly. "He says that you are his laird, -and not I: he says I have nothing to do with the land or the people -here." - -"Macdonald is a foolish man--and stubborn: I will talk to him," he said; -and he was thoughtful for a second or two. - -Indeed, when they arrived at the scattered little hamlet of Cruagan, it -was not the sun-pictures that occupied Mary Stanley's attention. The -photographer was allowed to choose his subjects as he liked. For, in -driving up, they had perceived the sullen-browed, Russian-looking -crofter at work in his patch of potatoes; and as soon as the carriage -stopped, young Ross left his companions, stepped over the bit of wire -fence, and went along the potato drills. Macdonald ceased working, and -respectfully raised his cap. Ross began speaking in a low voice, and -yet with some emphasis, and increasing emphasis, as the ladies in the -waggonette could gather. It was impossible for them to overhear the -words, even if they had been able to understand; but as he proceeded it -was clear enough that he was becoming angry and indignant, the man with -the shaggy eyebrows and the determined jaw having answered once or -twice. Then almost suddenly there came a strange termination to this -fierce encounter. Young Ross remained behind, glancing around him as if -merely wanting to know whether the crop promised well; but Macdonald -came down the drills, in the direction of the carriage. - -"Kaethchen," said Mary, in an eager whisper, "he is coming to speak to -me! Let me get out--quick!" - -She stepped into the roadway. As Macdonald came slowly towards her, he -raised his eyes and regarded her for a second, in silence. He took off -his cap--and forgot to put it on again. He was thinking what to say. - -"I--not mich English. It is thanks to you--for many things. The young -laird says that. And I--am to ask your pardon--and sorry I am if there -is not goodwill--and there is good-will now--and it is sorry I am----" - -"Not at all--not at all; we are going to be quite good friends, Mr. -Macdonald--and there's my hand on it," said she in her frank, impetuous -way. "And you are going to ask me into your house; and will you give me -a little bit of oat-cake, or something of the kind?--and when you are -next over at Lochgarra you must not forget to come and see me. And at -any time, mind you, if you have anything to complain of, come to me -first; come direct to me; don't go to Mr. Purdie, or anybody; for -perhaps I might be able to settle the matter for you at once." - -And with that she called on Mr. Ross, and told him they were going into -the cottage to get a bit of oat-cake; for Macdonald was already leading -the way thither. When they came out of Macdonald's cottage, they found -that the photographer had quite completed his work; so they at once set -out for home again. Mary was in an extraordinary state of delight over -this vanquishment of her obdurate enemy, and said she should take means -to remind him of their compact of goodwill. But young Ross only -laughed. - -"'Wherefore he called that place Beersheba,'" he said, "'because there -they sware both of them.'" - -The following Saturday was Mary Stanley's birthday. Early in the -morning she and Kate, in fulfilment of a long-standing engagement, drove -away out to Craiglarig to pay a visit to Mr. Watson, and talk over some -matters connected with his farm; and as they stayed for lunch, they did -not get back till the afternoon. By that time the mail had come in, and -there was an astonishing number of letters and parcels addressed to Miss -Stanley, for she had a large number of friends in the south, who held -her in kindly remembrance. She was looking at these and guessing at the -senders, when she came to one that was larger and heavier than the -others; moreover, it had not come by post, but by hand. Something -impelled her to tear off the brown wrapper, and behold, here was the -Rhodian dish she had so particularly admired when they were out at -Heimra Island. - -"I saw he noticed how long you looked at it," said Kaethchen, with -smiling eyes. - -Well, she did not look at it long now, beautiful as it was. She had -turned again to the wrapper, and she seemed to take a curious interest -in studying her own name as she found it there. - -"It is an unusual handwriting, don't you think so, Kaethchen?" she said, -slowly, and almost as if she were talking to herself. "Firm and -precise.... How odd one's own name appears when you see it written for -the first time by some one you know! ... Do you think character can be -read in handwriting, Kaethchen? ... firmness--yes, apparently; and -precision--well, I don't object to that so much, ... but don't you think -he is a little too--a little too confident in himself ... careless of -what others may think ... a little too independent ... and proud in his -own domain?" - -"I don't know about that at all. But I am going to tell you something -now, and you may be angry or not as you please," said Kaethchen; and she -went up to her friend, and put her hand on her arm: perhaps she wanted -to watch the expression of her face: "Mamie," she said, "that man loves -you." - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - A PIOUS PILGRIMAGE. - - -All things appeared to be going well at Lochgarra: Mary was radiant and -jubilant, and would pay no heed to Kaethchen's underhand jibes and -warnings. Her numerous schemes were thriving all along the line; she -had orders for homespun webs and hand-knitted stockings far beyond what -she could execute in the coming winter; she had been guaranteed two -fishing-boats, with their furnishing of nets, for the next season; she -was in treaty for more looms, for which there would be abundant -employment; and to add to all this, the as yet ungarnered harvest--that -poor, scattered, patchwork harvest, among the sterile rocks--promised a -fair return if only the weather would leave it alone. But it was the -attitude of the people towards her that warmed her heart. Since her -open association with young Donald of Heimra, a miracle had been wrought -in this neighbourhood; the dumb could speak; men and women who had -sulkily turned away from the ban-sassunnach, shaking their heads, now -managed to find quite sufficient English to answer her, and would ask -her into their cottages, and offer her of their little store. Even the -sad-faced, silent, morose Peter Grant, of the inn, had been brought to -see that there might be something in Miss Stanley's proposals. If he -were to take the April fishing on the Garra at an annual rental of L15, -she providing a water-bailiff, and if, by advertising in the sporting -papers, he were to find two gentlemen who would pay him L25 for the -month's salmon-fishing, and use the inn at the same time, would not that -serve? Peter (committing one illegal act in order to prevent another) -could give an occasional glass of whiskey to the rosy-cheeked policeman: -the placid and easy-going Iain, having little else to do, could now and -again stroll down to the bridge of a morning or evening--there would be -no fear of poachers at that end of the water. - -But it was over the terrible rascal and outlaw, Gillie Ciotach, that she -obtained (as she thought) her most signal triumph. She sent for that -notorious scamp to thank him for the couple of lythe he had presented to -her; and one evening the Gillie Ciotach sauntered along towards -Lochgarra House, his fisherman clothes as clean as might be, and a -brand-new Balmoral set jauntily on his short brown curls. When he -arrived at the house, he dismissed a quid of tobacco he had been -chewing, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and ascended the -steps. Barbara received him, and went and told her mistress, who -directed her to bring some whiskey into the hall. Then Mary came down. - -"Good evening!" said she, rather nervously, to this young fellow with -the bold brown eyes and the heavy scar across his forehead, who stood -twirling his Balmoral in his fingers. "Won't you be seated? I hope I -have not put you to any inconvenience. The fact is, I wished to thank -you for your kindness in leaving the two stenlock for me--I am sorry I -was out--and--and perhaps you will take a glass of whiskey--will you -help yourself?" - -For Barbara had brought in a little tray, and placed it on the -hall-table, and retired. Now, when the Gillie Ciotach received this -invitation, which he had no thought of refusing, he went to the table; -and finding there a tumbler, a wineglass, a decanter, and a carafe of -water, and being far too polite to think of drinking by himself, he -filled the wine-glass with whiskey, and half-filled the tumbler with the -same fluid, and brought the former, as being the more elegant of the -two, to Miss Stanley. - -"Oh, no, thank you," said she, with an involuntary shudder. - -"No, mem?" said he, in great surprise. "Well, well, now!" But not to -waste good liquor he poured the contents of the wine-glass into the -tumbler, and took that between his hands as he sate down, nursing it, as -it were, while he listened respectfully. - -"But first of all," she said, with a fine effort at jollity and -good-comradeship, "I ought to know your real name, you know; I don't -consider nicknames fair--even although they may not be meant to be -nicknames. And I wish to be good friends with everybody in the -place--and to get to know all about them----" - -"Aw, my own name?" said the Gillie Ciotach, after having, with careful -manners, sipped a little of the whiskey. "Aw, it's just Andrew Mac -Vean." - -"Very well, then, Andrew, I am very pleased to see you; and I am sure we -shall be friends; and I wished to say, besides, that I hope everything -will go peaceably here, and that there will be no more riotous -proceedings, like the assault on the lobster-fishermen at Ru Minard----" - -"Aw, God, that was a fine thing!" cried the Gillie Ciotach, with a loud -laugh that led Mary to suspect he must have had a glass, or even two, -before coming along. "Aw, it was a fine thing, that! And Miss Stanley -has only to send us word, as she did before, and we'll drive the -squatters into the sea--them and their traps, and their huts, -ahltogether into the sea! Never mind where they settle!--you send to -me, mem, and we will drive the duvvles into the sea, and let them tek -their chance of swimming the Minch!----" - -"But what do you mean?" she said, angrily. "What word did I send you? -Do you imagine I authorized those mad and cruel proceedings? I bade Big -Archie tell those men what the Fishery Board had said--that they had no -right there; I did not ask you to drive the poor men out with sticks and -stones, and set fire to their huts with petroleum. I don't want any -such on-goings: why, it is monstrous that the people should take the law -into their own hands, and get the neighbourhood a bad name for rioting." - -"It's the God's truth, mem, and many's the time I was telling them -that," said the Gillie Ciotach, solemnly. "But ye see, mem, there's -some wild duvvles about here; and they're neither to hold nor to bind; -but I'll tell them what Miss Stanley says, that there's to be no more -fighting; and if a man is determined to fight, then we'll chist fell him -with a chair, and fling him below the table until he gets sober. It's a -peaceable neighbourhood: why should there be any fighting in it?--but -for these duvvles!----" - -"I am glad you think so," said Mary, very gratefully. "And then there's -another thing--the poaching. Now, is it fair? I ask you if it is -fair----" - -"It's a b----y shame!" said the Gillie Ciotach to himself, as he bent -his head to sip a little more whiskey. - -"Because look what I am doing, Andrew," she went on, probably not having -heard the penitent exclamation. "I want you to understand. I am having -the ground shot over, moderately, by the keepers, and the game sent to -Inverness and sold there to pay wages, and the cost of the kennels, and -so on; and in that way I can afford to keep the gillies in employment. -And I do think it is hardly fair that there should be poaching. _I_ get -no good out of the game--except a bird or two now and again for the -house, or a brace or two to send away. Of course, I don't believe that -there is very much poaching--for the keepers know their business too -well; but it is disgraceful there should be any----" - -"I declare to ye, mem," said the Gillie Ciotach, in tones of the most -earnest conviction, "that if I was to come across one of them d----d -scoundrels--I beg your pardon, mem--I meant to say there was one or two -bad men about here, that mebbe would tek a hare if they found her -sitting in her form--or--or a salmon; and as sure's death, mem, if I was -to catch one of them scoundrels, I would bind him hand and foot with a -heather rope, and I would fling him down in front of Hector's cottage, -and I would say 'Hector, off with him to Dingwall!'" - -This was almost too much of zeal. - -"Andrew," said she, slowly, and she looked at him, "I have heard it said -that even you yourself----" - -"Me, mem?" he exclaimed, quick to repel this unspoken accusation. "Me, -mem? Miss Stanley is not going to believe that! There's a great many -liars about here, mem, and there's not one of them I would believe -myself; and tekking away any one's character like that! I would just -like to brek the bones of any one that I heard talking like that about -me--begooh, I would shove his teeth down his throat!" - -"Well, I won't detain you any longer, Andrew," said she--and he drained -off the whiskey, and smoothed out the ribbons of his Balmoral. "I am -glad to hear that there is to be no more fighting or poaching; for I -want the neighbourhood to have a good name; and there are plenty of -other and better occupations for the young men." - -She went with him to the door. Suddenly something seemed to occur to -the Gillie Ciotach. - -"Would Miss Stanley be caring for two or three sea-trout now and again?" -said he, in a casual kind of way. - -Instantly she fixed her eyes on him. - -"Sea-trout?--where are you getting sea-trout, Andrew?" she demanded. -"Do you mean to say you have a scringe-net?" - -For one brief moment the Gillie Ciotach looked disconcerted and guilty; -but only for a moment. - -"Aw, no, mem. A scringe-net? Is it a scringe-net? Aw, I'm sure -there's no one would use a scringe-net about here!" he declared, -assuming further and further an air of innocence as he went on. "The -sea-trout?--well, mebbe they would be in the herring-nets--and mebbe a -happening one would come on to the bait-lines--and--and mebbe the one -way or the other; but if Miss Stanley not wishing to have them----" - -"Why, isn't this the very time they go up the rivers to spawn!" she -exclaimed. "And what a shame it would be to take them now!" - -"Indeed, indeed, and that's the God's truth, mem," said the Gillie -Ciotach, with a serious air. "It's at this very moment. And who would -tek them? Who would put a scringe-net round the mouth of the ruvvers at -a time of the year like this? Not a man about here, anyway. Aw, -sea-trout?--who would think of tekkin sea-trout now? Well, good -evening, mem; and I am thanking Miss Stanley for her kindness--yes, yes, -indeed." - -And therewith the Gillie Ciotach went down the steps, fumbling in his -pocket for his pipe; while Mary returned to relate the story of this -momentous interview to Kaethchen--perhaps with some few judicious -reservations. For if all that the Gillie Ciotach professed was not -quite to be believed, at least it was something that so desperate a -dare-devil had the grace to affect being on the side of virtue; and Mary -chose to flatter herself that, now he had shown himself in a measure -amenable, she would sooner or later complete his conversion--to the -general quieting of the country-side. - -And of course an account of this, her latest conquest, had to be written -out forthwith and despatched to Heimra. Indeed, it was remarkable how -constant had become the communication between the island and the shore, -now that Donald Ross had returned for a few days to his own home. Big -Archie's lugger was continually being requisitioned, to take out a note -and wait for an answer; while Coinneach and Calum, when they came to -meet the mail, would be intercepted by the swift-footed Barbara, and -entrusted with a message. Kaethchen was convinced that the replies that -came back from Eilean Heimra were kept and secretly pondered over: more -than once she had seen Mary thrust a paper into her pocket when someone -had suddenly come upon her. And she noticed that when they two were -walking along the shore, her companion's attention would sometimes be so -steadily and wistfully fixed on the distant island--which sometimes was -dark and misty under trailing clouds of rain, and sometimes shining fair -amid a wonder of blue seas and sunlight--that when she was spoken to she -would look startled, as if summoned out of a dream. - -One day there arrived, addressed to Miss Stanley, a wooden box that had -the name of a well-known London florist printed on the label. The -contents were a mass of flowers, all of them white; and Mary herself saw -them taken out and carefully placed in water--for the pale wax-like buds -of the tuberoses were hardly yet opened. Then she went to Kate -Glendinning. - -"Kaethchen," she said, rather diffidently, "don't you think it is rather -a sad thing, the lonely grave out there?" - -"Do you mean at Heimra, Mamie?" - -"Yes. It seems so hard that no one has ever a chance of showing -sympathy--either with the dead or living. I have sent for some flowers; -do you think we could go out and place them on the grave--without being -seen?" - -Kaethchen was silent: it did not appear a very feasible project. - -"I have been thinking it over," Mary continued, in the same humbly -apologetic, almost shamefaced way--though what there was to be ashamed -of Kaethchen could not make out. "And, you see, if we landed at the -little bay, he would be sure to come down to meet us, and--and we should -have to tell him--and--and there are things you can't speak of. I would -rather have this done quite unknown--as if it were by the hand of a -stranger: perhaps I should like it better if Mr. Ross himself never -knew. However, I was wondering if we could not get out to the west coast -of the island without being seen, and then if there was a chance of our -being able to get up to the top of the cliff that way. What do you -think, Kaethchen?" - -"Let us go along and ask Big Archie," said Kaethchen, with promptitude: -and that suggestion commending itself to her friend, both of them at -once went off and got ready, and proceeded to walk down through the -village. - -Big Archie they found on the beach, screwing the nails into a -lobster-box. Kaethchen put the matter briefly before him--telling him -frankly the object of the expedition, and explaining their reasons for -secrecy. The huge, heavy-shouldered fisherman listened attentively, -stroking his voluminous beard the while. - -"Well, mem," said he, in his plaintive Argyllshire intonation, "I am -thinking it would be easy enough to get out to the island, for we could -go round by the norse side. If the wind wass holding as it is now, we -would lie aweh up the coast there, and if anyone on Heimra wass seeing -the lugger, they would think I wass mekkin for the Eddrachilles -fishing-banks; and then, when we were far enough we would put about and -run down to the back of the island, and mek in for the shore. I am -thinking there would be no diffeekwulty about that--aw, no, mem; we -could get round to the back of the island ferry well; but it is the next -thing that would be the sore thing for leddies to try----" - -"You mean climbing up to the top of the cliff?" said Kaethchen. - -"Chist that! It's a terrible rough place the west side of Heimra," said -Gilleasbuig Mor. "And where the big white stone is, it is fearful high." - -"Mamie," said Kaethchen, turning to her friend, "wouldn't it be better -for you to send Archie out with some young lad who is used to the coast, -and they could put the flowers on the grave for you?" - -"I wish to place them there with my own hand," said Mary, simply. "But -you needn't come, Kaethchen." - -"Of course I will, though!" - -"Well, mem," said Big Archie, "I am not sure whether you will be able to -get to the top that way, but we can go out and see whatever. And if the -wind would hold till to-morrow morning, it would be a very good wind, -both for going and coming." - -"Very well, then, Archie," said Mary; "to-morrow morning we shall be -ready to start between nine and ten." - -The wind did hold, as it proved; and long before the young ladies made -their appearance Big Archie and his assistant had the lugsail hoisted -and the cumbrous craft smartened up as much as might be. Then he sent -the lad along to Lochgarra House to see if there was anything to be -fetched; but there was only a couple of waterproofs; when Mary and her -friend came out, the former was herself carrying a small basket, -containing the freshly-sprinkled flowers. - -And so they set forth--making away in a north-westerly direction, which -would have led anyone to imagine they were either going to certain -well-known fishing-banks or that they intended to pay some visit not at -all in the Heimra direction. But when at length they had got well out -beyond the most northerly spur of the island, Big Archie altered his -course, and bore down south, until they were quite near to these giant -ramparts facing the Atlantic main. And already it appeared to the two -girls that this expedition of theirs was a quite hopeless one. They -were, it is true, under the lee of the island, and the water was smooth, -so that they could get ashore wherever they wished; but who could scale -those sterile and sombre precipices that, further to the south, rose -sheer from the water, and seemed to afford not even foothold for a goat? -Even Big Archie was discouraged. - -"No, mem," he said to Miss Stanley, "it is no use going aweh down there -to where the big white stone is. There's no luvvin crayture could get -up--it's far worse than I wass remembering it. But if we went ashore -here where we are, and tried to get up one of them corries, then mebbe -we could get along the top. Will ye try that, mem?" - -"Whatever you like, Archie," said she--the aspect of that frowning, -lonely, precipitous coast seemed to have overawed her. - -And indeed when they did eventually choose a landing-place, and when -they began to look around them, the arduous nature of their task became -abundantly apparent. First of all there were the tumbled rocks on the -shore to be got over or avoided; then they proceeded up a narrow -watercourse that here cleaved the land into a deep ravine; and this they -ascended for some distance, scrambling up the loose wet shingle and -stones. Big Archie led the way, and also he carried the little basket, -for the two girls had frequently need of both hands to help them along, -especially when they left the water-course, and began to force a path -through the stunted birches that lined the sides of the chasm. It was a -thicket of short trees, with intertwisted branches; while underfoot the -long heather and bracken concealed loose, angular stones perilous to the -ankle. Sometimes they had to pause, from absolute want of breath; and -Big Archie, looking back, would also stop. But no one made any -suggestion of giving up: there must be light and open space somewhere, -if only one could win to the summit. - -So they toiled and toiled on, in silence, startling now a fox and now a -rabbit, until, at length, the stunted trees gave way to bushes, and -these in turn gave way to knee-deep heather. It was still difficult to -get along; but at least they had reached the open, and were presumably -approaching the high plateaus: turning, they could look abroad over the -wide Atlantic, the vast plain not showing one single ship. Their own -boat, far below, was out of sight, so steep was this ascent they had -made. - -Here they rested for a minute or two, after their long and breathless -struggle. - -"One thing is quite certain, Mamie," said Kaethchen, in rather a low -voice, so that the big fisherman should not overhear, "When Mr. Ross -finds these flowers on the grave, he will know very well who put them -there." - -"I am not sure that I want him to know," Mary answered, in an absent -way. "I think I almost wish he were not to know. If he were to -consider it merely a little kindness from some stranger--that would be -better, it seems to me--it would be quite disinterested----" - -"Why, what stranger could have managed to land on Heimra without being -seen?" Kaethchen asked; and as there was no answer to the question, they -resumed their difficult progress, getting momentarily higher as they -went along the summit of the cliffs. - -But all at once Big Archie, who was some distance in front, halted, -ducked his head, and immediately turned and came back. - -"Miss Stanley, mem, Mr. Ross himself is there," said he. - -"Mr. Ross!" said she, with frightened eyes. - -"Ay. He is sitting on the heather, not far from the big white stone, -and he is reading a book," said Big Archie. "He is often up there, mem. -I am seeing him often and often when I am going by in the boat." - -Mary turned to her companion, with her face aghast. - -"We must go away back, Kaethchen, and at once," she said, in a hurried -undertone. "The embarrassment would be too dreadful. If he could -imagine it was some stranger brought the flowers, that would be all -right; but to go up to him--before his face--to make a parade--he would -wonder what kind of creatures we were." - -Kaethchen hardly knew what to say. She had no more mind to go forward -than her friend had; and yet she guessed with what a heavy heart, with -what regretful lookings-back, Mary would set out on her voyage home -again. - -"Let us sit down and rest awhile," she said, at a venture. - -But at this very instant Big Archie returned. - -"Mr. Ross, mem, he has got up, and he is going aweh down the hill," he -said, in an eager whisper. - -"You are sure he is not coming this way?" she said, quickly. - -"No, no, mem--come a bit forrit, and you will see." - -So they followed, with rather timorous steps and anxious glances, the -big fisherman; and at last they just caught a glimpse of Donald Ross -making his way down the hill by the winding pathway leading up to this -little plateau. And here was the large white block of marble, with its -deep-graven letters of gold shining in the sunlight. Mary regarded this -inscription with some curious fancies in her mind. - -"I wish I had known her," she murmured, apparently to herself, as she -took the white flowers out of the basket and reverently placed them on -the stone. It was a simple ceremony--up here on the lofty crest of this -solitary island, between the wide, over-arching sky and the -far-extending plain of the sea. - -Then they went back along these silent and lonely cliffs, and got down -to the boat in safety; returning to the mainland, as they hoped, -unobserved. Mary Stanley was unusually absorbed and thoughtful during -the rest of that day; and only once did she refer to their visit to -Heimra. - -"It seems strange, Kaethchen, does it not," she said, musingly, "that he -should go away up there to read? ... Do you think it is perhaps for some -sense of companionship? ... That would be strange, wouldn't it, in a -young man?..." And Kaethchen did not venture to reply: she could not -even conjecture what secret influences, what mysterious cogitations, -might not have prompted such a question. - -But Kate herself grew to wonder whether Donald Ross had become aware of -that thoughtful little act of kindness and sympathy; and whether, and in -what way, he would make recognition of it. This was what happened. Some -two days after their visit to the island Mary chanced to be standing at -one of the windows, when she suddenly called to her companion-- - -"Kaethchen, there's a boat coming out from Heimra." - -She went quickly and got her binocular telescope, and returned to the -window. - -"It's the _Sirene_!" she exclaimed. - -"He has seen those flowers," Kate Glendinning said quietly. - -Mary turned to her friend, with something of concern in her look. - -"And if he has, Kaethchen, I hope he won't speak of them. Don't you -think it would be better--if nothing were said? Besides, you don't know -that he is coming here at all." - -But there was little doubt; and, in fact, on getting ashore, young Ross -made straight for the house. When he was announced in the drawing-room, -Mary happened to be standing near the door--perhaps with the least touch -of conscious colour in the beautiful face. He, on the contrary, was -pale, and calm, and self-possessed as usual; only, when he took her hand -in his, he held it for a second. - -"I thank you," he said, in rather a low voice: that was all--and it was -enough. - -But presently it appeared that his visit had some other aim; for when he -sate down they saw that he had brought a small parcel with him; and -presently he said-- - -"I am going to ask a favour of you, Miss Stanley; and I hope you won't -refuse. I have brought a little present, if you will be so kind as to -accept it: you may look on it as a souvenir of your visit to Heimra--for -perhaps you remember the piece of lace you looked at----" - -She remembered very well; it was the exquisite Spanish mantilla to which -Kaethchen had drawn her attention. And it was not because this -sumptuous piece of work was of great value that she hesitated about -accepting it: would it not look like despoiling the dead woman? -Instantly he appeared to divine her thought. - -"If my mother were alive," he said, simply, "she would ask you to take -it--and from her, not from me." - -So there was no alternative: Mary silently accepted the gift. Nor was -there any further word or hint on either side about that pious and -secret pilgrimage to Heimra Island; but Donald Ross knew whose hand it -was that had placed those flowers on the white grave. - - -One evening, about this time, two men were dining together in the -Station Hotel, Inverness, in a corner of the long coffee-room; and these -two were Mr. David Purdie, solicitor and agent, and Mr. James Watson, -who was on his way through to his sheep-farm of Craiglarig. But if they -were dining together, their fare was very different; for while the -fresh-complexioned, twinkling-eyed farmer was content with such simple -vegetarian dishes as an ordinary hotel could devise at short notice, the -Troich Bheag Dhearg was attacking an ample plateful of boiled beef and -carrots, while a decanter of port stood near to his elbow. - -"Man, Watson," said the factor, with an expression of impatient disgust -on his harsh, ill-tempered features, "I wonder to see ye swallowing that -trash! It's not food for human beings. Have ye been so long among -sheep that ye must imitate their very eating?" - -"It's live and let live, each in his own way," said the well-contented -sheep-farmer; and then he added: "But tell me this, friend Purdie: if ye -object to my eemitating a sheep, what kind o' animal is't you eemitate? -For there's only one kind o' crayture I've heard o' that would eat a -dead cow--and that's a hoodie crow." - -But this was an incidental remark: presently they returned to their main -object, which was the condition of Lochgarra. - -"It's just terrible to think of," said the Little Red Dwarf, with his -mouth as vindictive as the process of eating would allow; "it's just -terrible to think of, the waste and extravagance going forward, on what -used to be a carefully-ordered, carefully-kept estate. And the -pampering o' they idle, whining, deceitful, ill-thrawn wretches, that -would be the better of a cat-o'-nine tails to make them work! Work? -Not them!--if they can get money out o' the proprietors or out o' the -Government, or out o' the rates. And what could ye expect to happen wi' -a silly, ignorant woman coming into such a nest of liars, and believing -everything she hears? What could ye expect? Born liars every one o' -them--ay, from end to end of the West Highlands: there's not a man o' -them that would not lie the very soul out o' his body for a dram of -whisky!" - -"That's an old contention o' yours, friend Purdie," said the farmer; and -then he proceeded, with a twinkle of humour in his eyes: "But I'll just -tell ye this, man, that it's a mercy there's one thing in the West -Highlands that will not lie. One thing at least, I tell ye. Among the -universal lying, isn't it a mercy there's one thing will _not_ lie--and -that's the snow. It's a blessing for the sheep--and for the -sheep-farmers." - -"And what am I? Where am I?" resumed Mr. Purdie, paying no heed to this -little jocosity, for his small, piggish eyes had grown heated with anger -and indignation. "What is my poseetion? I ask ye that. What have I to -do wi' the estate except to collect what rent there is left? It's this -fashionable young dame that must come in to manage the place, snipping -off here and snipping off there, ordering this and ordering that, -building byres and sheds for nothing, and putting advertisements in the -papers about druggets and blankets to sell, as if Lochgarra House was a -warehousemen's shop. I tell ye, it's enough to make her uncle turn in -his grave. _He_ knew better how to dale wi' they ill-thrawn paupers! -And what will she not give them, after giving them -Meall-na-Cruagan?--and that without consulting any one--no 'by your -leave' or 'with your leave,' but 'this is what I have decided, and you -can carry it out like a clerk.' Man, Watson, ye were a silly creature -to consent to that Meall-na-Cruagan business! That was but a -beginning--where is to be the end? Well, I'll tell ye the end! She'll -snip here, and snip there, until she has divided every acre of ground -among the crofters; and then, when they've resolved among themselves to -pay no more rent, I suppose they'll be happy. No, d----n them if they -will!--they'll want her to sell Lochgarra House, and give them the money -to buy more stock." And here Mr. Purdie poured himself out a glass of -port, and gulped it as a dog grabs at a rat. - -"Ye've never forgiven the folk out there," said Mr. Watson, with an -amused and demure air, "since the procession and the burning in effigy. -Dod, that was a queer business!--I heard of it away up in Caithness. -But I'm thinking ye might let bygones be bygones; ye've had them under -your thumb a good while now--and--and--well, ye might consider that -ye've paid off that score. But as for the young leddy--well, I tell ye, -friend Purdie, it's just wonderful what she has done since she cam' to -the place. A busy, industrious creature; ay, and she has a way of -talking folk over to her way of thinking; she seems to get on famously -wi' them, though they cannot have too friendly recollections of her -uncle. Yes, I will say that for her: an active, well-meaning creature; -and light-hearted as a lintie; dod, she takes her own way, and gets it -too! But I'm thinking there's a great deal owing to young Mr. Ross--he -goes about wi' her just conteenually." - -"Ay," said the factor, with a malignant scowl, "I'm told my young -gentleman doesna shut himself up as much wi' his brandy-drinking as he -used to do. So he comes over to the mainland sometimes, and goes about -wi' her, does he?" - -"Faith, ye may say that," Mr. Watson made answer, with a laugh. -"They're just insayperable, as ye might say, any time that he comes over -from Heimra, and that's often enough." He regarded the factor -curiously. "Purdie, my man, that's going to be a match." - -For a second Purdie looked startled and incredulous, but instantly he -lowered his eyes again. - -"It's a match, Purdie, depend on't," Mr. Watson proceeded, still looking -at his companion with an odd sort of scrutiny. "And I have been -thinking, if such a thing were to come about, it might be a wee bit -difficult for you--with young Ross the master at Lochgarra, eh? What -d'ye think? Dod, ye'd have to make friends with him and keep a civil -tongue besides, or he might be for bringing up old scores." - -Mr. Purdie's dinner did not seem to interest him much after that. He -remained plunged in a profound reverie, with his truculent mouth drawn -down, the shaggy red eyebrows shading the small irascible eyes that were -now grown intent and thoughtful. And when at length Mr. Watson haled -him off to the smoking-room he did not speak for some considerable time. -But by and by he said-- - -"Are ye off by the early train to-morrow, Watson?" - -"Yes, indeed.' - -"And you go right through?" - -"Just that." - -"Well, I think I'll bear ye company," said the Troich Bheag Dhearg, with -the heavily down-drawn mouth expressing something more than mere -decision. "There's a few things I want to see to. And I havena been -out to Lochgarra for some time." - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - - HABET! - - -Mary went singing through the house: her step free and agile, her face -radiant, her eyes shining with good-humour and the delight of life. - -"Kaethchen," she said, one morning, "the proofs of the photographs -should come to-day, and if they turn out well I mean to have the whole -of them enlarged, every one of them, to make a handsome series for Mrs. -Armour. Don't you think they should be very interesting to those people -away over there--'where wild Altama murmurs to their woe'? Woe, indeed! -I wish we could import some of their woeful circumstances into this -neighbourhood. Forty bushels of wheat to the acre: what do you say to -that? A hundred and sixty acres of land for two pounds! I don't like -to think of it, Kaethchen: to tell you the truth, I just hate to hear -Mr. Ross begin and talk about emigration: it all sounds so horribly -reasonable, and practicable, and right. Sometimes I lie awake -convincing myself that the very next day or the next again he will make -his appearance with the announcement that he has decided to go back to -his original intention; and then--then he will say good-bye to -Lochgarra--he and half the people from about here--and be off to the -Gilbert Plains or the Lake Dauphin District----" - -"You need not be afraid," said Kaethchen, quietly. "It is neither -wheat-fields nor gold-fields that are likely to allure Mr. Ross. -There's metal more attractive nearer home. By the way, Mamie," she -continued, with a certain significance, "you remember there was a group -taken on the banks of the Connan--and you and Mr. Ross are standing -together. When you get the pictures enlarged, are you going to send any -copies of that one to your friends in the south?" - -"Why not?" said she, boldly. - -"They may draw conclusions," said Kate Glendinning, looking at her. - -"They are welcome to draw a cart-load of conclusions!" she retorted; but -all the same she changed the subject quickly. "Do you know, Kaethchen, -it is quite wonderful how easily things go forward when Donald Ross is -helping me. Look at the wood-carving class--started in a moment, -almost; and that left-handed rascal turning out the cleverest of any of -them. And then he is quite of a mind with me about corrugated iron----" - -"You mean Mr. Ross, Mamie?" said Kate, demurely. - -"Of course. Quite of a mind with me as to corrugated iron; and I won't -have a square yard of it in the place. If, as he says, thatch takes too -much time and labour, then they may have slates for their roofs, in -place of the turf that I hope to see the last of before I have done with -them; but not an inch of corrugated iron--not an inch. Oh, I tell you -we will have Lochgarra smartened up in course of time, and Minard and -Cruagan too. And I will never rest, Kaethchen, I tell you I will never -rest until Lochgarra has taken the first prize at the Inverness -Exhibition--I mean for the best suit of men's clothes made from the wool -of sheep fed on the croft, and carded, dyed, spun, hand-loom woven, and -cut and sewn in the family. There! It may be a long time yet, but I -mean Lochgarra to have it in the end." - -"Oh, but you must not stop at that point," said Kaethchen. "There are a -whole heap of things to be done before you have finally established your -earthly paradise. You must banish all sickness and illness--but -especially rheumatism. You must abolish old age. You must control the -climate to suit the crops. Perhaps you could magnetise the -herring-shoals, and bring them round this way, and ward off storms at -the same time?" - -"Kaethchen," said Mary abruptly, "why does he keep harking back on -Manitoba? Don't you think there is a curious tenacity about his -mind?--he does not change plans or opinions quickly. And I know he was -resolved on that emigration scheme. Why does he still talk about -Manitoba? If he really has abandoned that project, why does he still -keep thinking about Portage, and La Prairie, and Brandon? Of course, I -admit that a hundred and sixty acres for two pounds is very tempting; -and forty bushels of wheat to the acre sounds well; and I have no doubt -the emigrants have better clothes, and better food, and better cottages, -and that they don't run such risks from floods and rain. But -still--still there's something about one's own country----" - -"You need not be afraid, Mamie," said Kate Glendinning again. - -Mary went to the window, and remained there for a minute or two, looking -absently across the wide plain of the sea. - -"After all," she said, "it is a very pleasant and comfortable thing to -have a neighbour. Heimra is a good way off; but all the same, if you -knew there was no one living on the island, Lochgarra would be a very -different place, wouldn't it, Kaethchen? And Manitoba! Why, I have seen -it stated that there is a most serious scarcity of water in a great many -of the districts; and that often they have summer frosts that do -incalculable mischief to the grain. So you see it isn't a certainty!" - -"No, it is not," said Kaethchen; "but I will tell you what is, Mamie. -It is a certainty, an absolute certainty, that Donald Ross of Heimra -will not go to Manitoba, or to any other corner of Canada, so long as -Mary Stanley is living in Lochgarra." - -"Kaethchen," rejoined Mary, a little proudly, "you will go on talking -like that until you believe what you say." - -This same afternoon, shortly after luncheon, Mary left the house alone, -which was unusual. She passed down through the village, greeting -everyone, right and left, with a fine cheerfulness; for the weather -still held good, and there was a fair chance for the harvest; while her -individual schemes and industries were doing as well as could be -expected. In fact, the only idle person in the place, apart from the -aged and infirm, appeared to be John the policeman, and him she found by -the bridge that crosses the Garra--no doubt he had been amusing himself -by watching for some lively salmon or sea-trout on its way up the river. -Iain seemed to have grown plumper and more roseate than ever in these -piping times of peace; and the smile with which he greeted the young -proprietress was good-nature itself. - -"John," said she, "I want you to tell me something." - -"Aw, yes, mem," said the amiable John; and then he added: "but the lads -hef been keeping very quiet." - -"So I hear," she answered him. "The Gillie Ciotach says he will smash -the head of anyone that wants to fight; and I suppose that is one way to -stop quarrelling." - -John laughed, showing his milk-white teeth. - -"A very good weh, too, mem. There's not many would like to hef their -head brokken by the Gillie Ciotach." - -"It is not about that I want you to give me some information," said Miss -Stanley. "I want you to tell me if you have been long in this place. I -mean, do you remember the old castle, up there in the loch, before it -was pulled down?" - -"Aw, yes, mem, yes, indeed," he made answer. "Who does not remember -Castle Stanley?" - -"Oh, nonsense with your Castle Stanley!" she said, angrily. "It never -was Castle Stanley, and never will be Castle Stanley. It was Castle -Heimra; and if I could have my way it would be Castle Heimra again----" - -"Aw, yes, mem," said John, anxious to please, "who would be for calling -it Castle Stanley? It is not Castle Stanley at ahl; it's just Castle -Heimra, as it always was--ay, before any one can remember." - -"Well, tell me; what size of a place was it before it was pulled down? -Was it a big place?" - -"Big!" repeated John, doubtfully, for he did not know which way she -wished to be answered. - -"Yes, was it a great ruin?" she went on. "Some of those old castles are -mere towers, you know; and others are great strongholds. What was Castle -Heimra like? Was it as big as Ardvreck?" - -Now John had jumped to the conclusion that she wished to have the -ancient glories of Castle Heimra magnified. - -"Aw, far bigger nor Ardvreck!" he asserted confidently. "Aw, yes, yes; -far bigger nor Ardvreck. A fearful big place, Castle Heimra--if you had -seen the dingeons, and the towers, and the windows, and everything----" - -"Oh, bigger than Ardvreck?" Mary said, with fallen face. And instantly -John perceived that he had erred. - -"Aw, no, mem," said he quickly. "Mebbe it was bigger nor Ardvreck at -one time--that is a long time ago, before anyone about here can -remember; but Castle Heimra?--aw, no!--a smahl place, a smahl place, -indeed! There was nothing but the road out to it, when the loch was not -too high flooded; and then the archway, and the dingeon, and the tower. -Castle Heimra!--aw, it's a smahl place was Castle Heimra." - -"And do you suppose it could be built up again?" she asked--but rather -to see how far his complaisance would carry him. - -"Quite easy!" said John, without a moment's hesitation. - -"Why, how do you know?" she demanded. "Are you a builder?" - -"The stons are there," John pointed out. "And if they were pulled down, -it is easy to put them back. What has been done once can be done -twice." - -"Ah, but it would not be Castle Heimra," Mary said to herself, rather -sadly, as she went on her solitary way. - -In course of time she came within view of the desolate expanse of mud -and stones and rushes that had once been Heimra loch; and when she chose -out for herself a seat on a heathery hillock close to the road, there -before her were the tumbled ruins of the stronghold that had withstood -the storms of centuries only to fall before the withering blast of one -man's spite. And as she sate there, alone, in the absolute silence, a -kind of desperation came into her mind. In all other directions there -was hope for her; but here there was none. Elsewhere she could labour, -and patiently wait for fruition; but how was she to drag back the past? -The future had abundant and fair possibilities within it; and she was -naturally sanguine; her happiness consisted in action; and perhaps she -was looking forward to the time when she could say to her lover, 'See, -this is what I have striven to do--for your people: is it well or ill?' -But as between him and her, would there not be ever and always the -consciousness of this black deed that could in no wise be recalled or -atoned for, that could never be forgiven or forgotten? She was not even -allowed to speak: he had declined to hear her shamefaced expressions of -sorrow. Nay, she began to think he was too proud, too implacable, that -he would have no word uttered. And if she went to him and said: -'Donald, do not blame me!--I had no part in it: I would give my right -hand to undo what has been done'--would not his looks still remain -haughty and cold, telling her that she had not ceased to be the -_ban-sassunnach_--a stranger--the enemy of his race and name? - -There was a sound of wheels. She started to her feet, for there were -tears in her eyes that she had to hide. The approaching vehicle turned -out to be the mail-car; and on it were Mr. Purdie and Mr. Watson, seated -beside the driver. Both of them raised their hats to her, and would -doubtless have driven on, but that she called to the factor; whereupon -the mail-car was stopped, and Mr. Purdie descended. - -"Leave my bag at the inn, Jimmie," he said to the driver, who sent his -horses on again: then the Troich Bheag Dhearg came along to the spot at -which Mary awaited him. - -"I wish to speak to you about one or two things, Mr. Purdie," she said, -in a curiously reserved and frigid fashion. "You told me it was under -your direction that the loch here was drained. I do not know whether my -uncle was acting on the advice or suggestion of any one; I can hardly -believe that so insensate a piece of malice could have entered his head -without instigation. And if there was instigation, if this thing was -done out of ill-will towards the Rosses of Heimra, then I say it was a -cowardly blow--a mean, shameless, and cowardly blow!" Her lips were a -little pale; but she was apparently quite calm. - -"It was just the thrawn nature of the people about here that brought it -on themselves," said the Little Red Dwarf, sullenly. "The Rosses of -Heimra had no further concern with the loch and the castle, once the -property was sold. They belonged to your uncle: surely it was for him to -say what they should be called? Surely he had the right to do what he -liked with his own?" - -"In this instance," said Mary, still preserving that somewhat cold and -distant demeanour, "what he did has got to be undone, as far as that is -now possible. I suppose it would be useless to try and rebuild the -castle. Even if the stones were put up again, it would hardly be Castle -Heimra. But Loch Heimra can be restored to what it used to be; and -since the mischief was done under your direction, Mr. Purdie, you can -now take steps to repair it." - -"Bless me, Miss Stanley," the factor protested, "it would be quite -useless--perfectly useless! The loch was never worth anything to -anybody. Salmon cannot get up; and there was nothing in it but a wheen -brown trout----" - -"It is not the value of the loch I am considering," she rejoined. "I -wish to make some reparation, as far as I can. And I suppose if those -channels you had cut were partially blocked up, the water from the hills -would soon fill the lake again. Or you could bring the Connan round in -this direction with very little trouble, and let it find its way down to -the Garra after going through the loch----" - -"The expense, Miss Stanley!--the expense!" - -"I tell you I will have this done, if I have to sell Lochgarra House to -do it!" she said--forgetting for a moment her austere demeanour. The -factor had no further word. Mary went on: "It cannot be a difficult -thing to do, any more than the draining was difficult; and it will give -employment to some of the people, when the harvest is in and the fishing -season over. So you'd better see about it at once, Mr. Purdie; and make -arrangements. And there is to be no more talk of Loch Stanley or of -Castle Stanley either; this is Loch Heimra; and if Castle Heimra has -been pulled down--shamefully and wickedly pulled down--at least there -are the ruins to show where it stood." - -The factor remained darkly silent, his vindictive mouth drawn down, his -small eyes morose. And little did she know what gall and wormwood she -had poured into his heart, in directing him to employ those very -Lochgarra people in this work of restoration. However, he made no -further protest: indeed, he endeavoured to assume an air of hopeless -acquiescence--it was his business to obey orders, even if she should -bring the whole estate to waste and ruin. - -But as they together set out to return to the village, and as she was -talking over general business affairs with him, explaining what she had -done and what she meant to do, he could not quite conceal his bitter -resentment. - -"It seems to me, Miss Stanley, that I am hardly wanted here. A strange -condeetion of affairs. The factor the very last one to be consulted. -And when I think of the way ye allow these people to impose on ye--well, -maybe I'm not so much astonished; for what could one expect?--you come -here an absolute stranger, and you wish to do without them that have -experience of the place, and of course you believe every tale that is -told ye. Though I say it who maybe should not, Lochgarra was a -well-managed estate; everything actually valued, and in order; and the -tenants, large and small, knowing fine that they had to fulfil their -contracts, or take the consequences. But what prevails now? A system -of wholesale charity, as it seems to me. It is giving everything, and -getting nothing. I hope, Miss Stanley," he went on, "ye will not mind -my speaking warmly; for I've done my best for my employers all my life -through; and I cannot be supposed to like other ways and means--which -were never contemplated by the law of the land. If the other -proprietors were to go on as you are doing, there's three-fourths o' -them would be in beggary----" - -"It might do them good to try a little of it," said she--which was an -odd speech for the owner of a considerable estate. - -"And what has been the result?" he demanded. "What has been gained by -so much sacrifice?" - -"Well," said she, "for one thing, the people are more contented. And -they are more friendly towards me. When I came here at first I was -hated; now I am not so much so. Quite friendly most of them are--or, at -least, they appear to be." - -"Ay, trust them for that!" said the Little Red Dwarf, scornfully. -"Trust them for that--the cunningest mongrels that ever whined for a -bone! Well they know how to fawn and beslaver, when they're expecting -more and more. I tell ye, Miss Stanley, ye do not understand these -creatures, and it angers me to think that ye are being cheated and -imposed on right and left. Getting more boats and nets?--they'll laugh -at ye, they'll just laugh at ye when ye ask them to pay up the -instalments! And who is your adviser?--a young man who is in secret -league with them--an underhand, conspiring ne'er-do-weel, as cunning as -any one of them, and as treacherous----" - -"Mr. Purdie," she said--with a sudden change of tone he did not fail to -note, "what do you mean? I--I beg you to be a little more respectful in -your language." - -"It's the old story," said the factor, with affected resignation. "Ye -may work and work, and do the best for your employers; and then some -stranger is called in, new advice is taken, and all you have done is -destroyed. And I wonder if the people will be any the better off. I -wonder what change in their condeetion it will make--what permanent -change, when once you stop putting your hand in your pocket. -Improvements? Oh, yes, yes; improvements are all very fine. But I'm -thinking that spending money on free libraries and the like o' that will -not help them much in getting in their crops." - -"As for that," she retorted--but with no displeasure, only a little -quiet confidence, "I can merely say that I am trying to do my best, in a -great many different ways; and the result, whatever it may be, is a long -way off yet. And I live in hope. Of course, there is much more that I -should like to do, and do at once; but I cannot; for I haven't -sufficient money. I don't deny that there is a great deal still to be -amended: I can't work miracles. The people are very poor--and many of -them not too industrious; the soil is bad; the fishing is uncertain; and -communication difficult. I dare say there is even a good deal of -wretchedness--or rather, what a stranger would regard as extreme -wretchedness and misery; but all that cannot be changed in a moment, -even if it turns out that it can be changed at all. And at least there -is little sickness; the poorest cottages have the fresh air blowing -around them--they're better than the London slums, at all events. And -one must just do what one can; and hope for the best." - -"I tell ye, ye are going entirely the wrong way to work wi' these -people, Miss Stanley," said he, as they were crossing the bridge and -about to enter the village. "It's my place to tell ye. It's my bounden -duty to tell ye. And I say they are just making sport wi' ye. They are -born beggars; work of any kind is an abomination to them; and you'll -find they'll be like leeches--give, give always; and when you've ruined -the estate on their behalf, what then?" - -"I don't see any such prospect--not at present," said Mary, cheerfully. - -"Who is likely to know most about them, you or me?" he went on with -dogged persistence. "Who has had most experience of them? Who has had -dealings with them for years and years, and learned their tricks? A -whining, cringing, useless set, cunning as the very mischief, and having -not even an idea of what speaking the truth is. Plausible enough--oh, -ay--plausible with a stranger--especially when they expect to get -anything." - -"Mr. Purdie," said Mary, interrupting him, "I presume from your name you -belong to the south of Scotland. Well, I have been told that the -Scotch--the people in the southern half of Scotland--do not understand -the Highland character at all; and cannot understand it, for they have -no sympathy with it. I have been told that the English have far more -sympathy with the Highland nature. And I am English." - -"Ay, and who told ye that about the Scotch and the Highlanders?" he -said, suddenly and sharply. - -She hesitated for a second. - -"It is of little consequence," she answered him. "But I would like to -add this--that denunciations of the inhabitants of a whole country-side -do not seem to me of much value. I suppose human nature is pretty much -the same in Lochgarra as it is elsewhere. And--and--besides, Mr. -Purdie--I do not wish to hear evil spoken of a people amongst whom I -have many friends." - -She spoke with some dignity. - -"Evil speaking?" said he, with louring eyebrows, "I for one am not given -to evil speaking--or the truth might have been told you ere now." - -"The truth?--what truth?" she demanded. - -"The truth about one that is too much at your right hand, Miss Stanley, -if I may make bold to say so." At this moment they arrived at the door -of the inn; and she paused, expecting him to leave her; but he said: -"No, I will go on with you as far as Lochgarra House. It is time I -should open my lips at last. I have been patient. I have stood by. I -have heard what has been going on--and I have held my tongue. And -why?--because there are things that it is difficult to speak of to an -unmarried young woman." - -Mary was a trifle bewildered. They were walking along through the -village, on this quiet afternoon, with nothing to interrupt the peaceful -stillness save the recurrent plash of the ripples on the beach: it was -hardly the time or the place to be associated with any tragic -disclosure. Moreover, had she heard aright? Was it of Donald Ross he -was speaking? - -"And I will say this for myself," the factor continued, "that I warned -ye about the character of that young man, as plainly as I dared--ay, the -very first day ye set foot in the place----" - -"You mean Mr. Ross?" said she, lightly. "Pray spare yourself the -trouble, Mr. Purdie. You forget I have had some opportunities of -studying Mr. Ross's character. I know him a little. What did you -say?--that you had something to tell? Oh, no; don't give yourself the -trouble. I know him a little." - -"You do not know him at all!" he said, with a vehemence that startled -her. "I tell ye there is not one in this place who would dare to tell -ye the story; and would I, unless I was bound to do it? If there was a -married woman at Lochgarra House, it's to her I would go; and she would -tell ye; but I say it is my bounden duty to speak--and to speak -plainly----" - -"Mr. Purdie, I do not wish to hear," she said, with some touch of alarm. - -"But ye must hear," he said, with set lips and slow, emphatic utterance. -"Ye are bound to hear--and to understand the character of the man ye are -publicly associating yourself with. A scoundrel of that kind has no -right to be going about with a virtuous and respectable young woman----" - -"Mr. Purdie," she said, hurriedly, "I don't want to know--I don't -believe--I wouldn't believe----" - -"Miss Stanley," he said, with measured deliberation, "ye have some -knowledge of that poor half-witted creature they call Anna Chlannach. -But did it never occur to ye to ask how she came to lose her reason? -Ay, but if ye had asked, they would not have told ye; there's not one o' -them about here but would lie through thick and thin to screen that -scapegrace; and what then would be the use o' your asking? But I can -tell ye; and I say it's my bounden duty to speak, if there's none else -here to warn ye. And there is my witness--there is the living witness -to that scoundrel's licentiousness and wicked cruelty: go to her--ask -herself--ask her what makes her wander about the shore watching for him, -looking out to Heimra as if the ill he has done her could now be -repaired. The poor lass, betrayed, deserted: no wonder she lost her -reason--ay, and it's a good thing the currents along this coast are -strong, or I'm thinking there might have been a trial for infanticide as -well----" - -Mary heard no more: she did not know that he was still talking to her; -she did not know that he accompanied her almost to the house, where he -left her. For--after the first fierce and indignant denial that -involuntarily rushed to her mind--what she saw before her burning eyes -was a series of visions, each of them of the most terrible distinctness, -and all of them related in some ghastly way to this story she had just -been told. What were these things, then, that seemed to sear her very -eyeballs? She saw the little harbour of Camus Bheag; she saw the figure -of a young girl rocking herself in an utter abandonment of misery and -despair; she saw piteous hands held out; she heard that heart-broken -wail piercing the silence as the boat made slowly away for Eilean -Heimra. And then again she was on the heights above the Garra, and -looking down upon the bridge. Those two there?--she had taken them for -lovers--she had called Kaethchen's attention--it was a pretty scene. -Then the sudden, swift disappearance of the girl into the woods; and the -young man's easy, confident professions: all those things grew manifest -before her with an appalling clearness; a blinding light burned upon -them. Nay, her very first interview with Anna Chlannach came back to -startle her: she remembered the poor demented girl wandering among the -rocks, all her intelligible talk being about Heimra: she remembered her -being easily persuaded to walk towards the house; she remembered, too, -how Anna Chlannach fled in terror the moment she came in sight of the -stranger who knew her history. What hideous tale was it that seemed to -summon up these scenes, appealing to them for corroboration? What was -it they seemed to say was true--true as if written up before her in -letters of fire? - -There was no time for her to reason or think. For here, as it chanced, -was this very man--this Donald Ross--coming down the wide steps from her -own door. And all her soul was in revolt. Her wounded pride--her sense -of humiliation--scorched her like flame. How had this man dared to lift -his eyes to her? Unabashed he had come into the same room with her--he -had breathed the same air--he had touched her hand: a contamination that -was a poisoned sting. And the people of Lochgarra, who had seen him and -her walking together: were they cognisant of his low amours? They had -wagged their heads, perhaps? They had looked the one to the other? - -"I half-expected to meet you," said Donald Ross. - -There was no answer. But Mary Stanley did not lower her head, or avert -her face; she was too proud for that; her heart might be beating as -though it would burst its prison, but to all outward appearance she was -quite unmoved. She passed him, pale and cold and silent; and he stood -on one side, looking at her, without a word. She went into the house; -she took no notice of Kaethchen, who was still in the hall; she made for -her own room, and locked herself in there--voiceless, tearless, with all -the fair fabric of her life, its aims, and dreams, and ideals, its still -more secret and trembling hopes, become suddenly and at one blow a -tragic desolation of wreckage and ruin. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - - "'TWAS WHEN THE SEAS WERE ROARING." - - -It was early morning out at Heimra; the sky comparatively clear as yet, -though there was a squally look about the flying rags of cloud; the sea -obviously freshening up, and already springing white along the -headlands. And here at the little landing-slip were Coinneach Breac and -Calum, waiting by the side of the yacht's boat, and from time to time -conversing in their native tongue. - -"I am not liking the look of this morning," said Coinneach, "with the -glass down near half-an-inch since last night. But if the master wishes -me to go, then it is I who am ready to go, and I do not care where it is -that I may be going. For who knows the anchorages better than himself, -and the tides, and the currents, and the navigation?" - -And then presently he said, in a more sombre tone: - -"There is something that I do not understand. Did you look at the master -when he was coming away from the mainland last evening? There has a -trouble fallen on him: mark my words, Calum; for you are a young man and -not quick to see such things. And do you know what Martha was telling -me when I went up to the house this morning?--she was telling me that -the master was not coming near the house all the night through; and it -is I myself that saw him coming slowly down the hill not more than -half-an-hour ago. And if he was up by the white grave all the night -through, that is not a good thing for a young man. A grave without a -wall round it is not a good thing." - -And then again he said: - -"It is I who would like to know who brought the trouble on the young -master; and last night, as I was lying in my bunk, thinking over this -thing and that thing, and wondering what it was that had happened, I was -remembering that the Little Red Dwarf came to Lochgarra yesterday--yes, -and he the only stranger that came to Lochgarra yesterday." - -"I wish the Little Red Dwarf were with his father the devil," said -Calum, with calm content. - -"And if I thought it was the Little Red Dwarf that was the cause of the -master's trouble," said Coinneach, with his deep-set grey eyes full of a -dark hatred, "do you know what I would do, Calum? I would put the -_orra-an-donais_ on him. That is what I would do, ay, this very night. -This very night I would take two branches of hawthorn, and I would nail -them as a cross, and at twelve o'clock I would put them against his -door; and then I would say this: '_God's wrath to be set against thy -face, whether thou art drowning at sea or burning on land; and a branch -of hawthorn between thy heart and thy kidneys; and for thy soul the -lowermost floor in hell, for ever and ever_.' He is a powerful man, the -Little Red Dwarf, and he has wide shoulders; but how would he fare with -the _orra-an-donais_ on his wide shoulders?" - -But Calum shook his head. - -"No, no," said the long, loutish, good-humoured-looking lad, "I do not -think well of such things. They are dangerous things. They are like the -bending of a stick; and who knows but that the stick may fly back and -strike you? But this is what I have in my mind, Coinneach: if the -master wishes, then I would just take the Little Red Dwarf and I would -put him in a pool in the Garra, ay, and I would hold his head down until -he was as dead as a rat. Aw, _Dyeea_, there would be no trouble with -the Little Red Dwarf after that!" - -"The master!" said Coinneach--and there was silence. - -Young Donald appeared somewhat pale and tired; but otherwise did not -seem out of spirits. - -"Well, Coinneach," he said, cheerfully enough, as he came up--and he -spoke in the tongue that was most familiar to them--"what do you think -of taking the world for your pillow--as they say in the old stories; and -would you set out at this very moment?" - -"But with you, sir?" said Coinneach, quickly. - -"Oh, yes, yes--in the _Sirene_?" - -"I am willing to go wherever Mr. Ross wishes, and at any time, and for -any length of time--it is Mr. Ross himself knows that," Coinneach made -answer. - -"And you, Calum?" - -"It is the same that I am saying," responded the younger lad, with -downcast eyes. - -"And where would you like to go, Coinneach, if you have all the world to -choose from?" the young master asked. - -"That is not for me to say--that is for Mr. Ross to say." - -"And if you were never to see Eilean Heimra again?" - -"That also to me is indifferent," said Coinneach, with dogged obedience. - -Donald Ross stepped into the boat, and took his seat in the stern. - -"Come away, then, lads; for if we are to set out on our travels, we must -make a hasty start. Did you look at the glass this morning, Coinneach? -And there is a thick bank of cloud rising in the west: we shall not want -for wind, I'm thinking, when we get outside. And as for getting under -way at a moment's notice, well, we can put in stores and everything else -that is wanted when we are safe in Portree Harbour, with a little time -to spare. For there is wild weather coming, Coinneach, if I am not -mistaken; but anything is better than being storm-stayed at Heimra, when -it is to the south you wish to be going." - -And he himself helped the two men to get the vessel in readiness when -they had got on board--ordering them, as a preliminary precaution, to -take down a couple of reefs in the mainsail. For even here in this -sheltered little bay, the omens were inauspicious; the sky had grown -dark and the wind had risen; there was a low and troubled and continuous -murmur from the out-jutting spur on the north. - -"It is an angry-looking day to be leaving Heimra," young Ross said; "but -perhaps there is no one wishing us to remain at Heimra; and you and I, -Coinneach, have been companions before now. And if I am asking you to -go away in a hurry, well, there will be time to get all we want at -Portree." - -"And what do I want," said Coinneach, "except tobacco? And it is not -even that would hinder me from going wherever Mr. Ross wishes to be -going." - -The young master went aft to the tiller. As the yacht slowly crept -forward he turned for a moment and glanced towards the island they were -leaving. - -"Poor old Martha," he said to himself; "I must try to find another place -for her somewhere and get her away; it would be the breaking of her -heart if she were to see strangers come to take possession of Eilean -Heimra." - -On Eilean Heimra he bestowed this single farewell glance; but on -Lochgarra none. When they got outside into the heavily-running seas he -did not turn once to look at the distant bay and its strip of cottages, -nor yet at the promontory where the sharp gusts of the gale were already -ploughing waves along the tops of the larchwoods surrounding Lochgarra -House. The affected cheerfulness with which he had addressed the two -sailors on setting forth was gone now; his face was pale and worn; the -mouth stern; the eyes clouded and dark. But he had his hands full; for -every moment the weather became more threatening. - -"Calum," he called out, "go below and fetch me up my oil-skins. We are -going to catch something pretty soon." - -And so--amid this wild turmoil of driven skies and black-rolling -seas--the _Sirene_ bore away for the south. - -And meanwhile at yonder big building among the wind-swept larches? All -the long and terrible night Mary Stanley had neither slept nor thought -of sleeping; she had not even undressed; she had kept walking up and -down her room in a fever of agitation; or she had sate at the table, her -hands clasped over her forehead, striving to shut out from her memory -that dire succession of scenes, those haunting visions that seemed to -have been burned into her brain. And if they would not go?--then -blindly and stubbornly would she refuse to admit that they lent any air -of credibility to this tale that had been told her. Nay, she abased -herself; and overwhelmed herself with reproaches; and called herself the -meanest of living creatures, in that she could have believed, even for -one frantic moment, that base and malignant fabrication. Why, had she -not known all along of the deadly animosity that Purdie, for some reason -or another, bore towards young Ross and all his family? Had she not -herself discovered that previous charges against Donald Ross owned no -foundation other than a rancorous and reckless spite? And she had taken -the unsupported testimony of one who appeared to be out of his mind with -malice and hatred against the man who was her lover, as he and she knew -in their secret hearts? In one second of unreasoning impulse she had -destroyed all those fair possibilities that lay within her grasp; she -had ruined her life; and wounded to the quick the one that was dearest -to her in all the world. And well she knew how proud and relentless he -was: he had forgiven much, to her and hers; but this he would never -forgive. It was more than an insult; it was a betrayal: what would he -think of her, even if she could go to him, and make humble confession, -and implore his pardon? How could she explain that instant of panic -following her first indignant repudiation--then the hapless chance that -brought him face to face with her--then the fierce revolt of a maiden -soul against contamination--alas! all in a sudden bewilderment of error, -that could never be atoned for now. What must he think of her?--she -kept repeating to herself--of her, faithless, shameless, who had spurned -his loyal trust in her? If she went and grovelled in the very dust -before him, and stretched out her hands towards him, he would turn away -from her. remorseless and implacable. She was not worthy of his -disdain. - -And nevertheless, upbraid herself as she might, she still beheld before -her aching eyes those two figures on the Garra bridge, followed by the -swift disappearance of the girl into the woods; and again she saw her -down at the shore, entreating to be taken out to Heimra Island and -piercing the silence with her despair when she was left behind. It was -not Purdie who had shown her these things; it was of her own knowledge -she knew them; they had started up before her, in corroboration of his -impeachment, even as he spoke. But what if she were to accept his -challenge? What if she were to go to Anna Chlannach herself? He had -declared she was his witness--his living witness. If there were any -foundation for this terrible story, she would confess the truth: if, as -Mary Stanley strove to convince herself, the charge was nothing but a -deliberate and malevolent invention, she would be able to hurl the black -falsehood back in his teeth. He had challenged her to go to Anna -Chlannach: to Anna Chlannach she would go. - -And then (as the blue-grey light of the dawn appeared in the -window-panes) a sense of her utter helplessness came over her. That -poor, half-witted creature knew no word of English. And how was she to -appeal to any third person, asking for intervention? How could she -demean herself by repeating such a story, and by admitting even the -possibility of its being true? Nay more: might not her motives be -misconstrued? What would the third person, the interpreter, think of -these shamefaced inquiries? That the mistress of Lochgarra House was -moved by an angry jealousy of that poor wandering waif? That Mary -Stanley and Anna Chlannach were in the position of rivals? Her cheeks -burned. Not in that way could she find the means of hurling back -Purdie's monstrous accusation. - -The white daylight broadened over land and sea; and away out yonder was -Heimra Island, shining all the fairer because of the black and -slow-moving wall of cloud along the western horizon. What had happened -since yesterday, then? She hardly knew: she knew only that her heart -lay heavy within her bosom, and that despair instead of sleep seemed to -weigh down her eyelids. Was it only yesterday that she had been away up -at Loch Heimra, imagining it once more a sheet of water, and pleasing -herself with the fancy that some afternoon she would bring her lover -along the road with her, to show him what she had done to make meek -amends? Yesterday, when she thought of him, which was often enough, joy -had filled her whole being, and kindness, and gratitude, and -well-wishing to the universal world. Yesterday he and she were friends; -and to look forward to their next meeting was to her a secret delight -which she could dwell upon, even in talking with strangers. But -now--this new day: what had it brought her, that she was so numb, and -cold, and hopeless? And what was this that lay so heavy in her breast? - -Suddenly she sprang to her feet--her eyes staring. A boat was creeping -out from the southernmost headland of Eilean Heimra. It was a small -vessel with sails: it was the _Sirene_, she made sure. And was he -coming ashore now--coming straight to Lochgarra House, as was his -wont--coming, in open and manly fashion to demand an explanation from -her? And even if he were to upbraid her, and shower anger and scorn -upon her, what then?--so long as he showed himself not wholly -unforgiving, so long as he allowed her to speak. But as she stood at the -window there, intently watching the distant ship, a shuddering suspicion -seemed to paralyse her. The _Sirene_ was not coming this way at all: it -was slowly, gradually, unmistakably making for the south. And no sooner -had this fear become a certainty than the world appeared to swim around -her. There was to be no explanation, then?--not even that torrent of -bitter and angry reproach? He was going away--silent, stern, inexorable? -This was his answer? He would not stoop to demand explanations: he -would simply withdraw? It was not fit that he should mate or match with -such as she. - -And at the same moment she caught sight of Big Archie, who was pulling -out to his boat. In her terror, and despair, and helplessness, she did -not think twice; her resolution was formed in a moment; she threw a -shawl over her head and shoulders, and fled downstairs, and out into the -open. Quickly she made her way along the beach. - -"Archie!" she called, in the teeth of the wind. "Archie! Archie! I -want you!--come ashore, quick!" - -The heavy-shouldered and heavy-bearded fisherman, who was still in the -smaller boat, paused on his oars for a second; and then, probably -understanding more from her gestures than from her words what she -wished, he headed round and made for the beach. And before he had -reached the land she had called to him again. - -"Archie, that is the _Sirene_--going away from Heimra?" - -"Yes, indeed, mem," said Archie. - -"You must take me out in your lugger, Archie," she said, in a frenzied -sort of way. "There's not a moment to be lost: even if you can't sail as -quick as they can, never mind--we will get some distance after -them--they will see us--we can signal to them----" - -The bow of the small boat rose on the shingle and seaweed; Big Archie -stepped out and pulled it up a bit further. He did not quite understand -at first what was demanded of him; perhaps he was a trifle scared by the -unusual look on Miss Stanley's face--the pallid cheeks, the piteous and -anxious eyes; but when he did comprehend, his answer was a serious and -earnest remonstrance. - -"Aw, _Dyeea_, do you not see what it is threatening out there?" said he, -quite concerned. - -"I do not care about that," she answered him. "If the _Sirene_ can go -out, so can you. And you have the sail up, Archie!" - -"Ay, ay, indeed," he explained, "bekass I was thinking of going round to -Ru Gobhar, to hef a look at the lobster-traps. But when I was seeing -the bad weather threatening, and the glass down, then I was just going -out to the boat to get the sail lowered again and the young lad brought -ashore. It is just anything I would do to please Miss Stanley; but it -is looking very, very bad; and we could not catch up on the _Sirene_ -whatever--aw, no!--it is no use to think my boat could get near to the -_Sirene_, and her a first-class yat and a fine sailer. And Miss Stanley -getting very wet, too, for there's a heavy sea outside----" - -"Archie," she said, in an imploring voice, "if you are a friend of mine, -you will try! You will try to stop the _Sirene_--cannot we make some -signal to her? And you said the young lad was in the boat?--and the -sail is up--we could get away at once----" - -"Oh, if you wish it, mem, that is enough for me," he said; and presently -he had got her into the stern of the small boat, had shoved off, and was -pulling out to the big, brown-sailed lugger. - -Archie had moorings in the bay, so that they lost no time in setting -forth. And at first everything went well enough; for they had merely to -beat out against the swirls of wind that came into the sheltered -harbour; and the water was comparatively smooth. But when they got into -the open they found a heavy sea running; and the lugger began to dip her -bows and fling flying showers of spray down to the stern; while the bank -of black cloud in the west was slowly advancing, heralded by torn shreds -of silver that chased each other across the menacing sky. Big Archie -took off his jacket and offered it to Miss Stanley, to shield her from -the wet; but she obstinately refused, and bade him put it on again: her -sole and whole attention was fixed on the phantom-grey yacht down there -in the south, that was every other moment hidden from view by the -surging crests of the waves. She had to cling to the gunwale, to -prevent her being hurled from her seat; for the lugger was labouring -sorely, and staggering under these successive shocks; but all the same -her eyes, though they smarted from the salt foam, were following the now -distant _Sirene_ with a kind of wild entreaty in them, as though she -would fain have called across the waste of waters. - -"Can they see us, Archie?--can they see us?" she cried. "Could not the -boy climb up to the mast-head and wave something?" - -"Aw, no, mem," said Archie, "they are too far aweh. They are far too -far aweh. And they are not knowing we are looking towards them." - -"But if we keep right on to Heimra?" said she, in her desperation. -"Surely they will see we are making for the island--they will come -back----" - -"They would just think it was the Gillie Ciotach going out to look after -the lobster-traps," said Archie. - -"Not in this weather!" she urged. "Not in this weather! They must see -it is something of importance. They will see the boat going out to -Heimra--they are sure to come back, Archie--they are certain to come -back!" - -"We will hold on for Heimra if you wish it, mem--but there's a bad sea -getting up," said Archie, with his eye on those tumultuous swift-running -masses of water, the crashing into which caused even this heavy craft to -quiver from stem to stern. By this time the heavens had still further -darkened around them--a boding gloom, accompanied, as it was, by a -fitful howling of wind; while rain was falling in torrents. Not that -this latter mattered very much, for they were all of them drenched to -the skin by the seas that were leaping high from the lugger's bows; only -that the deluge thickened all the air, so that it became more and more -difficult to catch a glimpse of the now fast-receding _Sirene_. Archie -paid but little attention to the yacht; he seemed to have no hope of -attracting her notice; but he was greatly distressed about the condition -of the young mistress of Lochgarra. - -"If I had known, mem--if I had known early in the moarning--I would hef -brought something to cover you," said he, in accents of deep -commiseration. "It is a great peety----" - -"Never mind about that, Archie," said she. "Don't you think they must -know now that we are making for Heimra?" - -"They are a long weh aweh," said Big Archie, shaking the salt water from -his eyebrows and beard. "And they will be looking after themselves now. -It was a stranche thing for Mr. Ross to put out with a storm coming on." - -"Is there any danger, Archie?" she said, quickly. "Are they going into -any danger?" - -Archie was silent for a second. - -"I am not knowing what would mek Mr. Ross start out on a moarning like -this," said he. "And where he is going I cannot seh. But he is one that -knows the signs of the weather--aw, yes, mem!--and it is likely he will -make in for Gairloch, or Loch Torridon, or mebbe he will get as far down -as the back of Rona Island---- - -"No, no, Archie, he must see us--he cannot help seeing us!" she -exclaimed. "When we are getting close to Heimra, then he cannot help -seeing us--he will understand--and surely he will come back!" - -And meanwhile the gale had been increasing in fury: the wind moaning low -and whistling shrill alternately, the high-springing spray rattling down -on the boat with a noise as of gravel. The old lugger groaned and -strained and creaked--burying herself--shaking herself--reeling before -the ponderous blows of the surge; but Archie gave it her well; there was -no timorous shivering up into the wind. His two hands gripped the -sheet--the tiller under his arm; his feet were wedged firm against the -stone ballast; his mouth set hard; his eyes clear enough in spite of the -driving rain and whirling foam. And now this island of Heimra was -drawing nearer--if the _Sirene_ far away in the south had almost -vanished. - -"Look now, Archie!--look now, for I can see nothing," she said, -piteously. - -He raised himself somewhat; and scanned the southern horizon, as well as -the heaving and breaking billows would allow. - -"Aw, no, mem, the _Sirene_ is not in sight at ahl--not in sight at ahl -now," he said. - -She uttered a stifled little cry, as of despair. - -"Archie," she said, "could you not follow down to Loch Torridon?" - -"Aw, God bless us, mem, the boat would not live long in a sea like -this--it is getting worse and worse every meenit----" - -"Very well," said she, wearily, "very well. You have done what you -could, Archie: now there is nothing but to get away back home again." - -But that was not at all Big Archie's intention. - -"Indeed no, mem," said he, with decision, "I am not going aweh back to -Lochgarra, and you in such a state, mem, when there is a good shelter -close by, ay, and a house. It is into Heimra Bay that I am going; and -there is the house; and Martha will hef your clothes dried for you, mem, -and give you warm food and such things. And mebbe the gale will quiet -down a little in the afternoon, or mebbe to-morrow it will quiet down, -and we will get back to Lochgarra; but it is not weather for an open -boat at ahl." - -She made no answer. She did not seem to care. She sate there with eyes -fixed and haggard: perhaps it was not the cliffs of Heimra she saw -before her, but the wild headlands of Wester Ross, and a lurid and -thundering sea, and a small phantom-grey yacht flying for shelter. She -appeared to take no notice as they rounded the stormy point with its -furious, boiling surge, and as they gradually left behind them that -roaring waste of waves, escaping into the friendly quietude of the -land-locked little bay. She was quite passive in Archie's -hands--getting into the small boat listlessly when the lugger had been -brought to anchor; and when she stepped ashore she set out to walk up to -the house, he respectfully following. But she had miscalculated her -strength. For one thing, she had not tasted food since the middle of -the previous day; nor had she once closed her eyes during the night. -Then she was dazed with the wind and the rain; her clothes clung to her -and chilled her to the bone; the feverish anxiety of the morning had -left her nerves all unstrung. Indeed, she could not drag herself up the -beach. She went a few steps--hesitated--turned round as if seeking for -help in a piteous sort of way--then she sank on to the rocks, and -abandoned herself to a passion of grief and despair, from sheer -weakness. - -"I cannot go up to the house, Archie," she said, in a half-hysterical -fashion, amid her choking sobs, "and--and why should I go--to an empty -house? It--it is empty--you--you let the _Sirene_ sail away--but--but -never mind that--it is all my fault--more than you know. And I want you -to leave me here, Archie--go away back to Lochgarra--there is no one -cares what becomes of me--what does it matter to anyone? I do nothing -but harm--nothing but harm--there is no need to care what becomes of -me----" - -The huge, lumbering, good-hearted fisherman was in a sad plight: he knew -not in the least what to do; he stood there irresolute, the deepest -concern and sympathy in his eyes, himself unable or not daring to utter -a word. But help was at hand. For here was Martha, hurrying along as -fast as her aged limbs would allow, and bringing with her a great fur -rug. - -"Dear, dear me!" she exclaimed, as she came up. "What could mek Miss -Stanley venture out o' the house on a day like this?" - -And therewith she put the rug round the girl's shoulders, and got her to -her feet, and, with many encouragements and consolatory phrases, -assisted her on her way up from the shore. - -"I will get a nice warm bed ready for you at once, mem," said the old -dame, "with plenty of blankets; and I will bring you something hot and -comfortable for you, for you hef got ferry, ferry wet. Dear, dear -me!--but we'll soon hef you made all right; for Mr. Ross would be an -angry man, ay, indeed, if he was hearing that Miss Stanley had come to -Heimra, and not everything done for her that could be done." - -But when, after struggling through the blinding rain, they reached the -porch, and when Martha had opened the front-door, Miss Stanley did not -go further than the hall: she sank exhausted into the solitary chair -there. - -"Martha," she said, "do not trouble about me. I want to ask you a -question. Did Mr. Ross say where he was going when he left in the -_Sirene_ this morning?" - -"No, mem--not a word," Martha answered her, "about where he was going, -or when he was coming back. It was a strange way of leaving--and in the -face of such weather; but young people they hef odd fancies come in -their head. Think of this, mem, that he never was near the house last -night; he was aweh up the hill; and I'm feared that he was saying -good-bye to his mother's grave, and that it will be long ere we see him -back in Heimra again. For he is a strange young man--and not like -others. But you'll come aweh now, mem, and get off your wet things: it -is Mr. Ross himself would be terrible angry if you were not well cared -for in this house." - -The day without was sombre and dark; and the light entering here was -wan: perhaps that was the cause of the singular alteration in Mary -Stanley's appearance. She--who had hitherto been always and ever the -very embodiment of buoyant youth, and health, and high spirits--now -looked old. And her eyes were as if night had fallen upon them. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - A MISSION. - - -All that day the gale did not abate in fury; nor yet on the next; and -even on the third day Gilleasbuig Mor still hesitated about trying to -get back to Lochgarra, for the sea was running high, and the wind blew -in angry gusts and squalls. But on the morning of this third day -communication with the mainland was resumed; for shortly after eleven -o'clock a lug-sail boat made its appearance, coming round the point into -the little bay; and at a glance Archie knew who this must be--this could -be no other than that venturesome dare-devil the Gillie Ciotach, who had -doubtless been sent out by Miss Glendinning to gain tidings of her -friend. Big Archie went down to the slip, to await the boat's arrival. - -And when the Gillie Ciotach, whose sole companion was a little, old, -white-headed man called Dugald MacIsaac, came ashore he was in a -triumphant mood over his exploit, and had nothing but taunts and jeers -for the storm-stayed Archie. - -"Aw, God," said he (in Gaelic) as he fetched out the parcels that had -come by the mail for Martha, "there is nothing makes me laugh so much as -a Tarbert man when there is a little breeze of wind anywhere. A Tarbert -man will hide behind a barn-door; and if a rat squeaks, his heart is in -his mouth. For what is Loch Fyne? Loch Fyne is only a ditch. A -Tarbert man does not learn anything of the sea; he runs away behind a -door if there is a puff of wind blowing anywhere. And have you taken -possession of Heimra, Archie? Are you going to stay here for ever? Are -you never going back to Lochgarra?" - -"Andrew," said Big Archie, quite good-naturedly, "you are a clever lad; -but maybe you do not know what the wise man of Mull said: he said, '_The -proper time is better than too soon_.' - -"Too soon? And is it too soon, then, for me to come over?" said the -young man of the slashed forehead and the bold eye. - -"You!" said Big Archie. "But who is mindful of you or what becomes of -you? When I go over to Lochgarra, it is a valuable cargo I will have -with me. That is what makes me mindful. You?--who cares whether you -and your packages of tea go to the bottom?" - -But the Gillie Ciotach was so elate over this achievement of his that, -instead of bandying further words, he stood up to Big Archie, and began -to spar, dancing from side to side, and aiming cuffs at him with his -open hand. The huge, good-humoured giant bore this for a while, merely -trying to ward off these playful blows; but at last--the Gillie Ciotach -unwarily offering an opportunity--Archie suddenly seized him by the -breeches and the scruff of the neck, and by a tremendous effort of -strength heaved him off the slip altogether--heaved him. into a bed of -seaweed and sand. - -The Gillie Ciotach picked himself up slowly, and slowly and deliberately -he took off his jacket. His brows were frowning. - -"We will just settle this thing now, Archie," said he, stepping up on to -the slip again. "We will see who is the better man, you or I. You can -catch a quick grip--oh, yes, and you have strength in your arms; but -maybe in an honest fight you will not do so well----" - -"Oh, be peaceable!--be peaceable!" said Big Archie. "If you want -fighting, go and seek out some of the Minard lads--though that would be -carrying timber to Lochaber, as the saying is." - -"Andrew, my son," said the little old man in the boat, "there is the -Baintighearna come to the door." - -The Gillie Ciotach glanced towards the porch of the cottage; and there, -sure enough, was Miss Stanley--and also Martha. - -"It is the luck of Friday that is on me," he said, with a laugh; "for I -am the one that was to stop all the fighting! Well, come away up to the -house, Archie; you are a friendly man; and if she asks why I was taking -off my jacket, you will swear to her that I was only searching for my -pipe. For a lie is good enough for women at any time." - -They got up to the house, and the Gillie Ciotach delivered his parcels, -and the newspapers, and one or two letters, and said that Miss -Glendinning had sent him over to take back assurances of their safety. - -"But I was telling the lady there was no chance of harm," said he; "for -we saw Miss Stanley go on board, and we saw Archie's lugger standing in -for Heimra, and every one knew there would be good shelter from the -storm----" - -"And the _Sirene_, Andrew--have you heard anything of the _Sirene_?" -Mary asked quickly--and her eyes were alert and anxious, if the rest of -her features looked tired and worn. - -"Aw, the _Sirene_, mem?" said the Gillie Ciotach, confidently. "I am -sure the _Sirene_ is just as safe as any of us. There's no harm coming -to the _Sirene_, mem, as long as Mr. Ross himself is on board. It's the -God's truth I'm telling ye, mem. Mr. Ross he would put in to Loch Broom -or Loch Ewe; and he knows every anchorage to half a fathom; and, with -plenty of chain out, and an anchor-watch, where would the harm be coming -to him?" - -"You have no doubt of it, Andrew?" - -"It's as sure as death, mem!" said the Gillie Ciotach, with an almost -angry vehemence. - -She seemed a little relieved. - -"And the sea outside, Andrew--is it very bad?" - -"It's a bit wild," he admitted; and then he added, with a cool audacity: -"but mebbe Miss Stanley would be for going back with me now, if Archie -is too afraid to go out?" - -"Oh, no, thank you," said she. "If Archie does not think it safe, I -should not think of venturing. I will wait for him--thank you all the -same." - -Here there was an awkward pause. Mary left the little group, walking -over to the edge of the plateau, to get a better view of the distant and -troubled line of the sea. The Gillie Ciotach stood twirling his -Glengarry bonnet. Then he said timidly to Martha-- - -"Are there any empty casks going back?" - -"None but yourself, Andrew, my lad," said Martha, with a dark smile in -her eyes. - -At this he plucked up spirit. - -"There's a way of curing that, as you know, Martha," said he. "And it's -many's the time I have come out to Heimra, and I never before had to -complain of going away like an empty cask." - -"And you need not complain of it now, Andrew, my son," said Martha. -"Come away round to the kitchen, and I will get you something--ay, and -you will take something down to old Dugald, too. For although the -master of the house is not in his own home, I know his wish; and it is I -who would get the blame if any one went away hungry or cold from Eilean -Heimra." - -But it was not until the afternoon that Big Archie considered it prudent -to cross to the mainland; and a rough passage they had of it. Mary, -however, was on this occasion provided with an abundance of wraps; and -was indifferent to wind, and spray, and rain. Possibly there may have -been other reasons for her apathy. - -Kate Glendinning was down at the slip beside the quay. - -"Mamie," she exclaimed, when her friend landed, "what took you out to -Heimra on that wild morning? I could not believe it when I was told. -And I sent over to know you were safe as soon as I could get any one to -go. What is the meaning of it all? If you had seen the people watching -the boat!--they did not know what might happen." - -"I cannot explain; and you must not ask, Kaethchen, now or at any time," -was her answer. "But tell me, has the gale done much damage? The harvest -was looking so well in those little patches----" - -"Damage?" said Kaethchen. "It isn't damage, Mamie; it is -destruction--devastation--everywhere. Oh, it is pitiable. The corn -beaten down--the crofts flooded--well, well, the only thing to be said -is that the poor people are not so disheartened as you might expect. -Perhaps they are used to such bitter disappointments. I do believe this -place is fit only for sheep--and hardly fit for them." - -"What can I do, Kaethchen," said Mary, with a curious listlessness, -"beyond lowering their rent again? I suppose that is all I can do. They -would not go to Manitoba with me: would they, Kaethchen? Do you think -they would? Would you, now?" - -"Manitoba?" repeated Kaethchen, looking at her. "What has happened, -Mamie? I don't understand the way you speak. Why should you talk about -Manitoba, when you were so set against it?" - -"The climate appears to be so uncertain here," she said, rather wearily, -as they were ascending the steps of Lochgarra House; "and--and the -people have of late been more friendly towards me; and I would like to -do what I could for them. There is nothing to keep me in this country. -I would go away willingly with them--to Canada, or anywhere. But -perhaps not you, Kaethchen. I could not expect you. All your interests -are in this country--or in England, at least. But if I were to sell -Lochgarra, I could get money to take them all away to Canada, and buy -good land for them, and see them comfortably established; and then I -should have done my duty by them, as I intended to do when I came here -at first. And--and I don't think I should care to come back." - -She furtively wiped away the tears from her lashes: Kaethchen did not -notice. They were passing through the hall now. - -"I cannot understand what you mean, Mamie. What is it? What has -happened? Did you see Mr. Ross when you were at Heimra? I heard that -the _Sirene_ had left the morning you went out--and I took it for -granted that Mr. Ross had gone with her----" - -"Kaethchen, to please me," she said, beseechingly, "will you never -mention Heimra again? Mr. Ross is away--and--and I have been to the -island for the last time; that is all." - -When they went into the room, she threw herself down on a couch, and put -her clasped hands on the arm of it, and hid her face. She was not -crying; she merely seemed overcome with fatigue and lassitude. Kate -Glendinning knelt down beside her, and with gentle fingers caressingly -stroked and smoothed the beautiful golden-brown hair that had been all -dishevelled by the wind. - -"What is it, Mamie?" - -"Tell me about the farms, Kaethchen," was the answer, uttered in a -hopeless kind of way. "I don't know anything about farm work, except -what I have been told since I came here. Are the crops so completely -destroyed? Would not fine weather give them another chance? Surely -entire ruin cannot have been caused by one gale--gales are frequent on -this coast----" - -"This one came at a bad time, Mamie," said her companion; "and a great -part of the corn will have to be cut and given to the cows. But why -should you distress yourself unnecessarily? It was none of your fault. -You have done everything for these poor people that could be devised. -And, as I tell you, they seem used to misfortunes of this kind; there is -no bewailing; their despondency has become a sort of habit with -them----" - -"Send for Mr. Purdie: I wish to see him"--this was what came from those -closed hands. But the next moment she had thrown herself upright. "No!" -she said, fiercely. "No, I will not see Mr. Purdie. With my consent, -Mr. Purdie shall never enter this house again." - -"Mr. Purdie left on the very day you went out to Heimra," said -Kaethchen, gently; and then she went on: "You are hiding something from -me, Mamie. Well, I will not ask any further. I will wait. But I am -afraid you are very much fatigued, and upset, and I can see you are not -well. Now will you be persuaded, Mamie! If you will only go to bed you -will have a far more thorough rest; and I will bring you something that -will make you sleep. Why, your forehead is burning hot, and your hands -quite cold!--and if you were to get seriously ill, that would be a good -deal worse for the crofters than the flattening down of their corn!" - -She was amenable enough; she consented to be led away; she was ready to -do anything asked of her--except to touch food or drink. - -And yet the next morning she was up and out of the house before anyone -was awake, and she was making away for the solitude of the hills. She -wished to be alone--and to look at the wide sea. She walked slowly, but -yet her sick heart was resolute; the arduous toil of getting up the -lower slopes and corries, filled with bracken, and rocks, and heather, -did not hinder her; she turned from time to time to look, absently -enough, at the ever-broadening plain of the Atlantic, rising up to the -pale greenish-turquoise of the sky. And in time she had got over this -rough ground, and had reached the lofty and sterile plateaus of peat-bog -and grass, where, if it was loneliness she sought, she found it. No -sign of life: no sound, except the plaintive call of a greenshank from a -melancholy tarn: no movement, save that of the silver-grey masses of -cloud that came over from the west. But away out yonder was the -deserted island of Heimra; and far in the south were the long black -promontories--Ru-Minard, Ru-Gobhar, and the rest--behind which a boat -would disappear when it left for other lands. And had she heard of the -Fhir-a-Bhata? Did Kate Glendinning know of the song that is the most -familiar, the greatest favourite of all the West Highland songs; and had -she told her friend of the maiden who used to go up the cliffs, day by -day, to watch for the coming of her lover?-- - - 'I climb the mountain and scan the ocean, - For thee, my boatman, with fond devotion: - When shall I see thee?--to-day?--to-morrow? - Oh, do not leave me in lonely sorrow! - - Broken-hearted I droop and languish, - And frequent tears show my bosom's anguish: - Shall I expect thee to-night to cheer me? - Or close the door, sighing and weary.' - -This, at least, Kate Glendinning soon began to learn--that nearly every -morning now Mary left the house, entirely by herself, and was away by -herself, in these desolate altitudes. It was clear she wished for no -companionship; and Kaethchen did not offer her services. Nor was any -reference made to these solitary expeditions. The rest of the day Mary -devoted herself to her usual work--increased, at this time, by her -investigations into the extent of the injury done by the gale: as to the -rest there was silence. - -And thus it was that Kaethchen remained ignorant of this curious -fact--that day by day these excursions were gradually being shortened. -Day by day Mary Stanley found that her strength would not carry her -quite so far: she had to be content with a lesser height. And at last -she had altogether to abandon that laborious task of breasting the hill; -she merely, and wearily enough, walked away up the Minard road--whence -you can see a portion of the southern and western horizon; and there she -would sit down on the heather or a boulder of rock--with a strange look -in her eyes. - -"Mamie!" said Kaethchen, one evening--and there was grief in her voice. -"Won't you tell me what has happened! I cannot bear to see you like -that! You are ill. I tell you, you are seriously ill; and yet you will -not say a word. And there is no one here but myself; I am in charge of -you; I am responsible for you; and how can I bear to see you killing -yourself before my eyes?" - -Mary was lying on the couch, her face averted from the light. - -"You are right in one way, Kaethchen," she said, rather sadly. -"Something has happened. But no good would come of speaking about it; -because it cannot be undone now. And as for being ill, I know what will -make me well. It is only sleep I want. It is the sleep that knows no -waking that I wish for." - -Kaethchen burst out crying, and flung herself down on her knees, and put -her arms round her friend. - -"Mamie, I declare to you I will not rest until you tell me what this -is!" she exclaimed passionately. - -Nor did she. And that very evening, after an unheard-of pleading and -coaxing on the one side and despairing protest on the other, all those -recent occurrences were confided to the faithful Kaethchen. She was a -little bewildered at first; but she had a nimble brain. - -"Mamie," she said, with a firm air, "I don't know what doubts, or if -any, may still be lingering in your mind; but I am absolutely convinced -that that story of Purdie's is a lie--a wicked and abominable lie. And -I can guess what drove him to it: it was a bold stroke, and it was -nearly proving successful; but it shall not prove successful. I will -make it my business to get Donald Ross back to Lochgarra--and then we -shall have an explanation." - -"Do you think he will come back to Lochgarra? Then you do not know -him," Mary made answer, and almost listlessly. "Do you imagine I have -not considered everything, night after night, ay, and every hour of the -night all the way through? He will never come back to Lochgarra--if it -is to speak to me that you mean. I have told you before: it seems a -fatality that he and his should receive nothing but injury and insult at -our hands, from one member of our family after another; and never has -there been a word in reply--never a single syllable of reproach--but -only kindnesses innumerable, and thoughtfulness, and respect. Well, -there is an end of respect now. How can he have anything but scorn of -me? If I were to confess to him that I had believed that story--even -for one frightened moment--what could he think of me? Why, what he -thinks of me now--as a base creature, ignoble, ungrateful, unworthy--oh! -do you imagine I cannot read what is in that man's heart at this -moment?" - -"Do you imagine I cannot?" said Kaethchen, boldly. "I have not been -blind all these months. What is in that man's heart, Mamie, is a -passionate love and devotion towards you; and there is no injury, and no -insult, he would not forgive you if he thought that you--that you--well, -that you cared for him a little. Oh, I know both you and him. I know -that you are wilful and impulsive; and I know that he is proud, and -sensitive, and reserved; but I think--I think--well, Mamie, no more -words; but I am going to have my own way in this matter, and you must -let me do precisely what I please." - -And that was all she would say meanwhile. But next day was a busy day -for Kate Glendinning. First of all she went straight to the Minister and -demanded point-blank whether there were, or could be, any foundation for -that story about Anna Chlannach; and the Minister--not directly, of -course, but with many lamentations, in his high falsetto, over the -wickedness of the human mind in harbouring and uttering slanders and -calumnies--answered that he had known Anna Chlannach all her life, and -that she had been half-witted from her infancy, and that the tale now -told him was an entire and deplorable fabrication. Indeed, he would -have liked to enlarge on the theme, but Kate was in a hurry. For she -had heard in passing through the village that the Gillie Ciotach was -about to go over to Heimra, with the parcels and letters that had come -by the previous day's mail; and it occurred to her that here was a happy -chance for herself. - -"Now, Andrew," she said, when she was seated comfortably in the stern of -the lugger, "keep everything smooth for me. I haven't once been -sea-sick since I came to Lochgarra, and I don't want to begin now." - -"Aw, is it the sea-seeckness?" said the Gillie Ciotach. "Well, mem, -when you feel the seeckness coming on, just you tell me, and I will give -you something to mek you all right. Ay, I will give you a good strong -glass of whiskey; and in a moment it will make the seeckness jump out of -your body." - -"Whiskey?" said Kaethchen. "Do you mean to say you take a bottle of -whiskey with you every time you put out in a boat?" - -"Aw, as for that," said the Gillie Ciotach--and he was clearly casting -about for some portentous lie or another--"I was saying to Peter Grant -that mebbe the young leddy might have the sea-seeckness; and Peter he -was saying to me, 'Tek a smahl bottle of whiskey with you, Andrew, and -then she will hef no fear of the sea-seeckness.' And it was just for -yourself, mem, I was bringing the whiskey." - -"And a pretty character you seem to have given me at the inn!" said -Kaethchen, as she contentedly wrapped herself up in her rugs. - -Martha had seen the boat on its way into the harbour; she had come out -to the door of the cottage; a visitor was welcome in this solitary -island. - -"Martha," she said, as soon as she had got within, "have you heard any -news of late?--can you tell me where the _Sirene_ is now?" - -"Yes, indeed, mem," said the old Highland dame, with wondering eyes. -"But do you not know that the _Sirene_ is at the bottom of the sea? Was -the master not writing to Miss Stanley about it?" - -"We have not heard a word," Kaethchen exclaimed. - -"Dear, dear me now!" said Martha. "That is a stranche thing." - -"But tell me--tell me about it," said Kaethchen anxiously. "There was -no one drowned?" - -"No, no," said Martha, with much complacency. "There was plenty of time -for them to get into the boat. And the master not writing to Miss -Stanley at the same time he was writing to me--that is a stranche thing. -But this was the weh of it, as he says; that it was an ahfu' dark night, -the night of the first day of the gale; and they were mekkin for shelter -between Scalpa and Skye, and they had got through the Caol-Mor, and were -coming near to an anchorage, when they ran into a trading schooner that -was lying there without a single light up. Without a single light, and -the night fearful dark: I'm sure the men should be hanged that would do -such a thing, to save a little oil." - -"And where is Mr. Ross now?" asked Kaethchen. - -"Just in Greenock. He says he will try to get a place for Coinneach and -for Calum, and will not trouble with a yat any more for the present. -Ay, indeed," Martha went on, with a bit of a sigh, "and I'm thinking he -will not be coming back soon to Heimra, when he says he will not trouble -with a yat, and when he could have a yat easy enough with the insurance -money----" - -"Is he at a hotel in Greenock?" - -"Ay, the Tontine Hotel," the old woman said. "And I am not liking what -he says--that he is waiting for a friend, and they are going away from -Greenock together. I am not liking that at ahl. There's many a one -sailed away from the Tail of the Bank that never came back again. And -he says, if it is too lonely here for me and the young lass Maggie, we -are to go over to Lochgarra and get lodgings; but how could I be leaving -the house to the rain and the damp? Ay, lonely it is, except when -Gillie Ciotach comes out to look after the lobster traps-- - -"Well, Martha," said her visitor, "this time the Gillie Ciotach is going -straight back again; for I'm rather in a hurry. And don't you move over -to the mainland until you hear further. I will come and see you -sometimes if you are so lonely." And therewithal the industrious Kate -hied her back to the lobster boat, and set out for Lochgarra again. - -Mary was lying on a sofa, her head half hidden by the cushion. She had -been attempting to read; but her arm had fallen supinely by her side, -and the book was half closed. - -"Mamie," said Kate Glendinning, entering the room noiselessly, and -approaching the sofa, "I have a favour to beg of you; but please to -remember this: that I have waited on you--and worried you--all this long -time; and I have never asked you for an hour's holiday. Now I am going -to ask you for two or three days; and if you give me permission I mean -to be off by the mail car to-morrow morning. May I go?" - -The pale cheek flushed--and the fingers that held the book trembled a -little. But she affected not to understand. - -"Do as you wish, Kaethchen," said she, in a low voice. - -Well, this was an onerous, and difficult, and delicate task that Kate -had undertaken; but she had plenty of courage. And her setting-forth -was auspicious: when the mail-car started away from Lochgarra the dawn -was giving every promise of a pleasant and cheerful day for the long -drive. It is true that as they passed the Cruagan crofts her face fell -a little on noticing here and there traces of the devastation that had -been wrought by the gale; but she had heard that things were mending a -little in consequence of the continued fine weather; and she was greatly -cheered to hear the driver maintain that the people about this -neighbourhood had little cause to grumble; matters had been made very -easy for them, he declared, since Miss Stanley came to Lochgarra. And -so on they drove, hour after hour, by Ledmore, and Oykel Bridge, and -Invercassley, and Rosehall, until the afternoon saw her safely arrived -at Lairg. Then the more tedious railway journey--away down to -Inverness; on through the night to Perth; breakfast there, and on again -to Glasgow; from Glasgow down to Greenock. It was about noon, or -something thereafter, that she entered the dismal and rainy town. - -Fortune favoured her. The Tontine Hotel is almost opposite the railway -station, so that she had no difficulty in finding it; and hardly had she -got within the doorway when she met Donald Ross himself crossing the -hall, and apparently on his way into the street. When he made out who -this was (her face was in shadow, and he did not at first recognise her) -his eyes looked startled, and he threw an involuntary glance towards the -door to see if there was any one accompanying her. But the girl was -alone. - -"Mr. Ross," said Kaethchen, rather nervously--for she had not expected -to encounter him just at once--"I wish to speak with you----" - -"Oh, come in here, then," said he, with a certain coldness of manner, as -if he were about to face an unpleasant ordeal that was also useless; and -he led the way into the coffee-room, where, at this time of the day, -there was no one, not even a waiter. - -Nervous Kaethchen distinctly was; for she knew the terrible -responsibility that lay on her; and all the fine calmness she had been -calculating on in her communings with herself in lonely -railway-carriages seemed now to have fled. But perhaps it was just as -well; for in a somewhat incoherent, but earnest, fashion, she plunged -right into the middle of things, and told him the whole story--told him -of the factor's circumstantial and malignant slander, of Mary's -momentary bewilderment, of the luckless meeting, and of her subsequent -bitter remorse and despair. At one portion of this narrative his face -grew dark, and the black eyes burned with a sullen fire. - -"I have a long account to settle with Purdie," said he, as if to -himself, "and it is about time the reckoning was come." - -But when she had quite finished with her eager explanations, and -excuses, and indirect appeals, what was his reply? Why, not one word. -She looked at him--in blank dismay. - -"But, Mr. Ross!--Mr. Ross!----" she said, piteously. - -There was no response: he had received her communication--that was all. - -"I have told you everything: surely you understand: what--what message -am I to take?" Kaethchen exclaimed, in trembling appeal. - -"I have heard what you had to say," he answered her, with a studied -reserve that seemed to Kaethchen's anxious soul nothing less than -brutal, "and of course I am sorry if there has been any -misunderstanding, or any suffering, anywhere. But these things are -past. And as for the present, I do not gather that you have been -commissioned by Miss Stanley to bring one solitary word to me--one -expression of any kind whatsoever. Why should I return any reply?--she -has not spoken one word." - -"Oh, you ask too much!" Kaethchen exclaimed, in hot indignation. "You -ask too much! Do you think Mary Stanley would send for you? She is as -proud as yourself--every bit as proud! And she is a woman. You are a -man: it is your place to have the courage of yielding--to have the -courage of offering forgiveness, even before it is asked. If I were a -man, and if I loved a woman that I thought loved me, I would not stand -too much on my dignity, even if she did not speak. And what do you -want--that she should say she is sorry? Mr. Ross, she is ill! I tell -you, she is ill. Come and judge for yourself what all this has done to -her!--you will see only too clearly whether she has been sorry or not. -And that superstition of hers, about there being a fatality attending -her family--that they cannot help inflicting injury and insult on you -and yours--who can remove that but yourself? No," she said, a little -stiffly, "I have no message from Mary Stanley to you; and if I had, I -would not deliver it. And now it is for you to say or do what you think -best." - -"Yes, yes; yes, yes," he said, after a moment's deliberation. "I was -thinking too much of the Little Red Dwarf; I was thinking too much of -that side of it. I will go back to Lochgarra, and at once. And this is -Thursday; the steamer will be coming down from Glasgow to-day; that will -be the easiest way for us to go back." - -There was a flash of joy and triumph--and of gratitude--in Kaethchen's -sufficiently pretty eyes. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - - THE BANABHARD. - - -The big steamer was slowly and cautiously making in for Lochgarra -Bay--slowly and cautiously, for though the harbour is an excellent one -after you are in it, the entrance is somewhat difficult of navigation; -and Donald Ross and Kate Glendinning were seated in the after part of -the boat, passing the time in talking. And of course it was mostly of -Miss Stanley they spoke. - -"For one thing, you ought to remember," said Kaethchen, "the amount of -prejudice against you she has had to overcome. If you only knew the -character she received of you the very first evening we arrived here! I -wonder if you would recognise the picture--a terrible outlaw living in a -lonely island, a drunken, thieving, poaching ne'er-do-well, a malignant -conspirator and mischief-maker: Mr. Purdie laid on the colours pretty -thickly. By the way, I wish you would tell me the cause of that bitter -animosity Mr. Purdie shows against you and all your family----" - -"It is simple enough--but it is not worth speaking about," he said, with -a certain indifference. It was not of Purdie, nor of Purdie's doings, -that he was thinking at the moment. - -"But I want to know--I am curious to know," Kaethchen insisted. - -"It is simple enough, then," he repeated. "When the old factor died--old -MacInnes--I hardly remember him, but I fancy he was a decent sort of -man--when he died, my father appointed this Purdie, on the -recommendation of a friend, and without knowing much about him. Well, -Purdie never did get on at all with the people about here. He was an -ill-tempered, ill-conditioned brute, to begin with; spiteful, -revengeful, and merciless; and of course the people hated him, and of -course he came to know it, and had it out with them whenever he got the -chance. You see, my father was almost constantly abroad, and Purdie had -complete control. My mother tried to interfere a little; and he -resented her interference; I think it made him all the more savage. And -at last the discontent of the people broke out in open revolt. Purdie -happened to have come over to Lochgarra; and when they heard of it, the -whole lot of them--from Minard, and Cruagan, and everywhere--came -together in front of the inn, and there was no end of howling and -hooting. Purdie escaped through the back-garden, and took refuge with -the Minister; but the crowd followed him to the Minister's cottage, and -burnt his effigy in front of the door--oh, I don't know what they didn't -do. Only, it got into the papers; it was a public scandal; and my -father, coming to hear of it, at once deposed the twopenny-halfpenny -tyrant. That is all the story. But no doubt his being ignominiously -dismissed was a sore thing for a man of his nature--the public -humiliation, and all the rest of it----" - -"But how did he get back to his former position?" Kaethchen demanded. - -"Miss Stanley's uncle put him back when he bought the estate," Donald -Ross said, quietly. "I fancy he had an idea that Purdie was the right -kind of man for this place, especially as he himself had to be absent a -good deal. Yes, I will say this for Purdie--he is an excellent man of -business; he will squeeze out for you every penny of rent that is to be -got at; and he has no sort of hesitation about calling in the aid of the -sheriff. And of course he came back more malevolent than ever; he knew -they had rejoiced over his downfall; and he was determined to make them -smart for it. As for his honouring me with his hatred, that is quite -natural, I suppose. It was my father who sent him into disgrace; and -then--then the people about here and I are rather friendly, you know; -and they had a great regard for my mother; and all that taken together -is enough for Purdie. We were in league with his enemies; and they with -us." - -"I can imagine what he thought," said Kaethchen, meditatively, "when he -saw the new proprietress taking you into her counsels, and adopting a -new system, and interfering with him, and overriding his decisions at -every turn. He made a bold stroke to sever that alliance between her -and you; but it failed; and now he is sorry--very sorry--exceedingly -sorry, I should think." - -"What do you mean?" he asked, fixing his eyes upon her. - -"Perhaps I should leave Mary herself to tell you," she answered him. -"But that is of little consequence; it cannot be a secret. Very well: -she has ordered Mr. Purdie to prepare a statement of his accounts; and -his factorship ceases at Michaelmas. It was the last thing she told me -before I left Lochgarra." - -Donald Ross laughed. - -"I had intended to have a word with Purdie," said he, "but it seems the -Baintighearna has been before me." - -The arrival of the steamer is always a great event at Lochgarra; there -were several well-known faces on the quay. Here were the Gillie -Ciotach, and Big Archie, and the Minister, and Peter Grant, the -innkeeper; and here also was Anna Clannach. The poor lass was in sad -distress; she was crying and wringing her hands. - -"What is the matter, Anna?" said Donald Ross, in Gaelic, as he stepped -from the gangway on to the pier. - -"I am wishing to go out to Heimra," said the Irish-looking girl with the -dishevelled hair and streaming eyes. - -"Why so?" he asked. - -"It is to find my mother," she made answer, with many sobs. "When I was -sleeping my mother came to me, and said I was to come out to Heimra for -her, and bring her back, but when I offer the money to the men they -laugh at me----" - -"Anna," said he, gently, "you must not think of going out to Heimra. If -you were not to find your mother there, that would be great sorrow for -you. If she is coming for you, you must wait patiently----" - -"But I am going out in the steamer?" said the girl, beginning to cry -afresh. - -"The steamer?" he said. "The steamer does not call at Heimra, not at -any time." - -"But it is Mr. Ross has the mastery,"[#] she pleaded. "It is every one -that must obey Mr. Ross; and the steamer will take me out to Heimra if -he tells the captain." - - -[#] _Tighearnas_--lordship, or dominion. - - -"Now, Anna," he said, trying to reason with her, "listen to what I am -telling you. How can a great boat like that go into the small harbour -of Eilean Heimra? And I have no authority over the captain, nor has any -one: it is to Stornoway he is going now, and to no other place. So you -must wait patiently; and I think you should go and live with the Widow -MacVean, and help to do little things about the croft. For it is not -good for a young lass to be without an occupation." - -Anna Chlannach turned away weeping silently, and refusing to be -comforted; while young Ross was immediately tackled by the Minister, who -had a long tale to tell about some Presbytery case in Edinburgh. - -What now occurred it is difficult to describe consecutively, for so many -things seemed to happen at once, or within the space of a few breathless -seconds. The captain had discharged his cargo (Kate Glendinning and -Donald Ross, with their bodyguard of Coinneach and Calum, were the only -passengers), and was getting under weigh again; and to do this the more -easily he had signalled down to have the engines reversed, while keeping -the stern hawser on its stanchion on the pier, so that the bow of the -boat should gradually slew round. It was to the man who was in charge -of this massive rope that Anna Chlannach, seeing the steamer was -beginning to move, addressed her final and frantic appeal--nay, she even -seized him by the arm, and implored him, with loud lamentations, to let -her go on the boat. The man, intently watching the captain on the -bridge, tried to shake her off; grew more and more impatient of her -importunity; at last he said savagely-- - -"To the devil with you and your mother!--I tell you your mother is dead -and buried these three years!" - -At this Anna Chlannach uttered a piercing shriek--she seemed to reel -under the blow, in a wild horror--then, with her hands raised high above -her head, she rushed to the end of the quay, and threw herself over, -right under the stern-post of the steamer. Donald Ross, startled by -that despairing cry, wheeled round just in time to see her disappear; -and in a moment he was after her, heedless of the fact that the steamer -was still backing, the powerful screw churning up the green water into -seething and hissing whirlpools. But the captain had seen this swift -thing happen; instantly he recognised the terrible danger; he rapped -down to the engine room "Full speed ahead!"--while the man in charge of -the hawser, who had not seen, taking this for a sufficient signal, -slipped the noose off the post, and let the ponderous cable drop into -the sea. - -"The raven's death to you, what have you done!" Archie MacNichol cried, -as he ran quickly to the edge of the quay, and stared over, his eyes -aghast, his lips ashen-grey. - -There was nothing visible but the seething and foaming water, with its -million million bells of air showing white in the pellucid green. Had -the girl been struck down by the revolving screw? Had Donald Ross been -knocked senseless by a blow from the heavy cable? Big Archie pulled off -his jacket and flung it aside. He clambered over the edge of the quay, -and let himself down until he stood on one of the beams below. His -eyes--a fisherman's eyes--were searching those green deeps, that every -moment showed more and more clear. - -All this was the work of a second, and so was Archie's quick plunge into -the sea when he beheld a dark object rise to the surface, some -half-dozen yards away from him--the tangled black hair and the wan face -belonging to a quite listless if not lifeless form. It needed but a few -powerful strokes to take him along--then one arm was placed under the -apparently inanimate body--while with the other he began to fight his -way back again to the pier. Of course, bearing such a burden, it was -impossible for him to drag himself up to his former position; he could -only cling on to one of the mussel-encrusted beams, waiting for the boat -that the people were now hurriedly pushing off from the shore. And if, -while bravely hanging on there, he looked back to see if there was no -sign of that other one, then he looked in vain: the corpse of the -hapless Anna Chlannach was not found until some two days thereafter. - -Meanwhile, this was what was taking place at Lochgarra House. Barbara -had come to tell her young mistress, who was lying tired and languid on -the sofa, of the arrival of the steamer. - -"Go to the window, Barbara," said she, rather faintly, "and--and tell me -who are coming ashore. Maybe you can make them out?" - -"Oh, yes, indeed, mem," said Barbara, who had been famous for her -eyesight, even among the keepers and stalkers, when she was parlour-maid -up at Glen Orme. - -She went to the window. - -"There is Miss Glendinning, mem," said Barbara, in her soft-spoken way; -"and glad I am of that: it is not good for Miss Stanley to be so much -alone. Yes, and Mr. Ross coming ashore too--no, he is going back down -the gang way--maybe he is going onto Stornoway?--no, no, I think he is -only calling something to Coinneach Breac, and the lad Calum--and they -are carrying a portmanteau. And there is Anna Chlannach going from the -one to the other on the quay--yes, and Mr. Ross now speaking to her--and -Miss Glendinning speaking to the Minister. And now Mr. Ross speaking to -the Minister--and--and Miss Glendinning watching the steamer--ay, just -waiting to see her go aweh.... Oh, mem!--oh, mem!--there is something -happening on the quay!" exclaimed Barbara, in terrified accents. "The -people are running--and I am not seeing Mr. Ross anywhere--and they are -shoving out a boat from the shore----" - -"What is it!--what is it, Barbara! Tell me!--tell me!" - -"Oh, mem, do not be afraid," cried Barbara, even amidst her own wild -alarm. "There's a boat going out--oh, yes, they are pulling hard--they -will be at the end of the quay in a moment or two--and the people are -all looking over--oh, yes, yes, mem, if anyone is in the water, they -have found him--and--and the boat--now the boat has gone by the end of -the quay, and I am not seeing it any more--yes, yes, it is there -now--and they are coming this way, mem--they will be coming into the -slip--oh, yes--I am sure they have got the one that was in the -water--and Big Archie in the stern of the boat, mem--and the people now -running to meet them at the slip--now it is Big Archie that is lifting -the one out of the stern of the boat----" Suddenly Barbara uttered a -plaintive cry, "Oh, _Dyeea_, it is the young master himself!" - -"What do you say? Mr. Ross? What has happened, Barbara?" She -struggled to her feet, pale and shuddering; and Barbara was at her side -in an instant. "Quick, Barbara!--come with me!--help me!--I must go -down to the slip--your arm, Barbara--help me!--quick quick----" - -And so, with trembling limbs and dazed eyes--dazed by the fear of some -dread unknown thing--she managed to cross the hall and get down the -steps and across the road. It was but a short distance to the slip. -The little crowd made way on her approach: and there, lying extended on -the stone, she beheld the senseless body of her lover, while the big -fisherman, kneeling, was making such examination as was possible. Big -Archie rose at once. - -"Oh, he will be ahl right directly, mem--I'm sure of it!--he has been -struck on the back of the head--mebbe by the keel of the steamer----" - -She paid no heed to him--no, nor to any who were standing there. She -threw herself on her knees beside the prostrate figure; with her warm -hands she pushed back the coal-black tangled hair; she bent down close -to him; she spoke to him, almost in a whisper--but with a passionate -tenderness that might have thrilled the dead. - -"Donald!--speak to me!--tell me I have not killed you!--I sent you -away--yes--but my heart has cried for you to come back--speak to -me!--speak to me!--Donald!--do you not hear me?--Donald----" - -Was it the touch of her warm, trembling fingers about his face, or was -it the low-breathing, piteous cry of her voice that seemed to stir his -pulses and call him slowly back to life? The eyelids opened wearily--to -find this wonderful vision hanging over him, and they seemed to rest -there and understand. - -"_Mo-lua!_"[#] he murmured. - - -[#] _Mo-luaidh_--My dearest one, or my most-prized one. - - -She did not know the meaning of the phrase; but the look in his eyes was -enough. She held his hand as they carried him up to the house. - - * * * * * - -It was on a clear and white-shining morning in the following spring that -Donald Ross and his newly-wedded bride were walking arm-in-arm through -the budding larch-woods, the sun warm on the green bracken, on the -golden furze, and on the grey rocks. She was angry with him; though the -anger did not show much in her dimpled and fresh-tinted cheeks, nor yet -in her eyes, where the love-light lay only half-concealed by the modest -lashes. - -"It is a pestilent language!" she was saying, with frowning brows. "I -do believe the heavens and the earth shall pass away before I become -thoroughly acquainted with that awful grammar; and unless, as Barbara -says, I 'have the Gaelic,' how am I ever to get into proper relationship -with the people about here?--yes, and how am I to be sure that you are -not stealing away their hearts from me? Oh, it is a very pretty trick, -the stealing away of hearts--you are rather clever at it," said she, -with downcast and smiling eyes. - -"_Mo-ghaol_," said he (and there were some Gaelic phrases, at least, of -which she had by this time got to know the meaning well enough), "I -thought you were going to let me be your interpreter." - -"Why do you not begin, then? Where are the verses that Mrs. Armour -sent?" she said. "You promised you would write out a translation for -me." - -"And so I have," he answered her--yet with some apparent unwillingness. -"I have written out a translation, in a kind of a way, because you -insisted on it. But it is a shame. For the Gaelic is a most expressive -language; and all the subtlety and grace of the original escape when you -come down to a literal rendering in English. Besides, what skill have I -in such things? If you like, I will send it to the editor of the -_Celtic Magazine_, and ask him to get it properly translated--he has -printed some of Mrs. Armour's pieces before now--in Gaelic, of -course----" - -"I want your version--none other," she said, imperatively. - -"Very well, very well; I will read it to you," said he, taking a sheet -of paper from his pocket. "Here is a seat for you." - -It was a rock mostly covered by soft green moss; and when she had seated -herself, he threw himself down on the bracken by her side, leaning his -head against her knee. And this is what the old dame out there in -Canada had sent them as her humble wedding-gift--perhaps, as to the form -of it, with some recollection of the song of the Princess Deirdri -influencing her unequal lines:-- - - _I am far from the land of my fathers._ - _I sit and mourn because of the great distance._ - _My old age brings me no comfort,_ - _Since I am far from my own land._ - - _My eyes strain across the wide ocean._ - _I see the lofty hills, and the peaks, and the glens;_ - _I see the corries where the wide-antlered deer wander._ - _Joyful to me was my youth there._ - - _I see the woods, deep-sheltered;_ - _I see the rivers flowing by the rocks;_ - _I see the sandy bays, and the headlands;_ - _I see the sun [setting] behind Eilean Heimra._ - - _Ru-Minard, O Ru-Minard!--_ - _The promontory facing the great waves:_ - _Often as a girl have I sate and watched the ships,_ - _Singing to myself on Ru-Minard._ - - _Loch-Heimra, O Loch-Heimra!--_ - _Pleasant its shores, with the many birches;_ - _Sweet were the youthful moments I spent watching_ - _For one that I used to meet by Loch-Heimra._ - - _Lochgarra, O Lochgarra!--_ - _The fair town--the Town of the Big House----_ - -"I wonder if the Americans know the meaning of Baltimore?" he said; and -then he went on again-- - - _Dear to me were my friends, happy the hours._ - _We spent together at Lochgarra._ - - _But to-day there is no more of mourning;_ - _To-day my old age is comforted;_ - _To-day I lift up my voice, I send a message,_ - _Across the sea to the dear one of my heart._ - - _Well I remember him, the young boy fearless;_ - _Fearless on the land, fearless on the sea;_ - _Clinging to the crags seeking the ravens' nests._ - _Proud was I of Young Donald----_ - -"There are some more verses about me," he again interpolated. "I will -skip them." - -"You shall not," she said. "Not a single word." - -"Oh, how can I read all this about myself!" he protested. - -"Well, then, give me the paper," said she, and she leant over and took -it from him. Nor did she return it. She read right on to the -end--though not aloud-- - - _My eyes have beheld him come to man's estate._ - _Proudly I name him: Donald, son of John, son of Roderick._ - _Of the ancient Clan Anrias, high he holds his head._ - _Joyful were my eyes when I beheld him._ - - _Swift and alert, firm-sinewed as a man._ - _Laughing and light-hearted: dangerous to his foe._ - _Strong as an eagle to choose his mate,_ - _Strong likewise to defend her._ - - _Bold-eyed and resolute; confident at the helm;_ - _Long-enduring; scornful of danger._ - _Small his possessions, but rich-chambered his mind:_ - _Wealth has he other than Eilean Heimra._ - - _I see the people as they go along the road:_ - _Their regard is turned upon Young Donald;_ - _There is deep love in their bosom for him;_ - _They wish him many days and prosperity._ - - _I see her whom he has chosen:_ - _The lady of the Big House near to the trees:_ - _The fair mistress, the beautiful one,_ - _The generous daughter of the Saxon._ - - _Mild of speech, smiling pleasantly:_ - _My heart was warm towards her;_ - _Much did I hear of the kindness_ - _Of the generous, open-handed maiden._ - - _Tall of stature, graceful in step as a young fawn;_ - _Glad was I when I gazed on her;_ - _I regarded her many beauties, and I said--_ - _Well has young Donald chosen his mate._ - - _Now I hear the sound of rejoicings;_ - _I hear the festivities wide-echoing;_ - _Across the ocean I hear the shouts of the wedding:_ - _Hail to the young chief of Clan Anrias!_ - - _The wine-cup is lifted by many hands;_ - _The bride and bridegroom are smiling among their friends;_ - _To-night the bonfires will blaze on the hills;_ - _I hear the loud sound of the pipes._ - - _No gifts have I for the home-coming;_ - _No amulet of secret virtue;_ - _But the voice of the woman-bard[#] is welcome to her chief:_ - _Young Donald will not despise what I send._ - - -[#] _Banabhard._ - - - _Salutations and blessings I send:_ - _Happy may his days be with his love:_ - _Long years, many friends, a warm heart--_ - _These are the things I wish for him._ - - _For her also the same:_ - _For her, the chosen one, the fair-haired one, the beautiful - Saxon;_ - _Many years, and love through all of them,_ - _For the bride of Young Donald of Heimra!_ - -She carefully folded the paper and put it in her pocket. - -"This is to be mine," she said. "For if Young Donald despises that -message from across the sea, Young Donald's wife does not." - - - - - THE END. - - - - - LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, - STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. - - - - - * * * * * * * * - - - - - NOVELS BY WILLIAM BLACK. - - _Crown 8vo. 6s. each._ - - -STAND FAST, CRAIG-ROYSTON! -THE NEW PRINCE FORTUNATUS. -IN FAR LOCHABER. -THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF A HOUSE-BOAT. -A DAUGHTER OF HETH. -KILMENY. -THREE FEATHERS. -LADY SILVERDALE'S SWEETHEART. -IN SILK ATTIRE. -SUNRISE. -THE PENANCE OF JOHN LOGAN. - - SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON AND COMPANY, LTD., LONDON. - - -A PRINCESS OF THULE. -THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF A PHAETON. -THE MAID OF KILLEENA. -MADCAP VIOLET. -GREEN PASTURES AND PICCADILLY. -MACLEOD OF DARE. -WHITE WINGS. -THE BEAUTIFUL WRETCH. -SHANDON BELLS. -YOLANDE. -JUDITH SHAKESPEARE. -THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. -WHITE HEATHER. -SABINA ZEMBRA. - - MACMILLAN AND CO., LONDON. - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DONALD ROSS OF HEIMRA (VOLUME -III OF 3) *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43054 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. 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