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authornfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>2025-03-03 08:25:28 -0800
committernfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>2025-03-03 08:25:28 -0800
commit137ba44f1ee1d50365480921e266eb50cb35eb0a (patch)
treefd8969428a0af1281382ffb4d7fd79ef19674e53 /43444-h/43444-h.html
parent2469df059a55104bef93e67f91d8f7532cec9202 (diff)
Add files from ibiblio as of 2025-03-03 08:25:28HEADmain
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-<title>WHITE HEATHER (VOL. I)</title>
-<meta name="PG.Rights" content="Public Domain" />
-<meta name="PG.Title" content="White Heather (Volume I of 3)" />
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-<meta name="DC.Title" content="White Heather (Volume I of 3) A Novel" />
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-<meta content="Project Gutenberg" name="DCTERMS.publisher" />
-<meta content="Public Domain in the USA." name="DCTERMS.rights" />
-<link href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43444" rel="DCTERMS.isFormatOf" />
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-</head>
-<body>
-<div class="document" id="white-heather-vol-i">
-<h1 class="center document-title level-1 pfirst title"><span class="x-large">WHITE HEATHER (VOL. I)</span></h1>
-
-<!-- this is the default PG-RST stylesheet -->
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-</div>
-<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- -->
-<div class="align-None container language-en pgheader" id="pg-header" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
-<p class="noindent pfirst"><span>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 </span><a class="reference internal" href="#project-gutenberg-license">Project Gutenberg License</a><span>
-included with this eBook or online at
-</span><a class="reference external" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license">http://www.gutenberg.org/license</a><span>.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<div class="align-None container" id="pg-machine-header">
-<p class="noindent pfirst"><span>Title: White Heather (Volume I of 3)
-<br /> A Novel
-<br />
-<br />Author: William Black
-<br />
-<br />Release Date: August 11, 2013 [EBook #43444]
-<br />
-<br />Language: English
-<br />
-<br />Character set encoding: UTF-8</span></p>
-</div>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-start-line"><span>*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK </span><span>WHITE HEATHER (VOLUME I OF 3)</span><span> ***</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-produced-by"><span>Produced by Al Haines.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="noindent pfirst"><span></span></p>
-</div>
-<div class="align-None container titlepage">
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="x-large">WHITE HEATHER</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="large">A Novel</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">BY</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="large">WILLIAM BLACK</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="small">AUTHOR OF 'MACLEOD OF DARE,'
-<br />'JUDITH SHAKESPEARE,' ETC.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><em class="italics small">IN THREE VOLUMES</em></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="medium">VOL. I.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">London
-<br />MACMILLAN AND CO.
-<br />1885</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><em class="italics small">The right of translation is reserved.</em></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-</div>
-<div class="align-None container verso">
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small">Printed by R. &amp; R. Clark, Edinburgh.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">CONTENTS OF VOL. I.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">CHAPTER I.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><a class="medium reference internal" href="#a-journey-northward">A JOURNEY NORTHWARD</a></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">CHAPTER II.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><a class="medium reference internal" href="#meenie">MEENIE</a></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">CHAPTER III.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><a class="medium reference internal" href="#on-the-loch">ON THE LOCH</a></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">CHAPTER IV.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><a class="medium reference internal" href="#a-letter">A LETTER</a></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">CHAPTER V.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><a class="medium reference internal" href="#beginnings">BEGINNINGS</a></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">CHAPTER VI.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><a class="medium reference internal" href="#a-programme">A PROGRAMME</a></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">CHAPTER VII.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><a class="medium reference internal" href="#an-eyrie">AN EYRIE</a></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">CHAPTER VIII.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><a class="medium reference internal" href="#the-new-year-s-feast">THE NEW YEAR'S FEAST</a></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">CHAPTER IX.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><a class="medium reference internal" href="#enticements">ENTICEMENTS</a></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">CHAPTER X.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><a class="medium reference internal" href="#high-festival">HIGH FESTIVAL</a></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">CHAPTER XI.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><a class="medium reference internal" href="#a-revelation">A REVELATION</a></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">CHAPTER XII.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><a class="medium reference internal" href="#when-shadows-fall">'WHEN SHADOWS FALL'</a></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">CHAPTER XIII.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><a class="medium reference internal" href="#a-new-arrival">A NEW ARRIVAL</a></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">CHAPTER XIV.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><a class="medium reference internal" href="#about-illinois">'ABOUT ILLINOIS'</a></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">CHAPTER XV.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><a class="medium reference internal" href="#wild-times">WILD TIMES</a></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">CHAPTER XVI.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><a class="medium reference internal" href="#dreams-and-visions">DREAMS AND VISIONS</a></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst" id="a-journey-northward"><span class="bold x-large">WHITE HEATHER.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER I.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">A JOURNEY NORTHWARD.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>On a certain cold evening in January, and just as the
-Scotch night-mail was about to start for the north, a stranger
-drove up to Euston and alighted, and was glad enough to
-escape from the chill draughts of the echoing station into
-the glow and warmth and comfort of a sleeping-car. He
-was a man of means apparently; for one half of this
-carriage, containing four berths, and forming a room apart,
-as it were, had been reserved for himself alone; while his
-travelling impedimenta—fur-lined coats and hoods and rugs
-and what not—were of an elaborate and sumptuous description.
-On the other hand, there was nothing of ostentation
-about either his dress or appearance or demeanour. He
-was a tall, thin, quiet-looking man, with an aquiline nose,
-sallow complexion, and keen but not unkindly gray eyes.
-His short-cropped hair was grizzled, and there were deep
-lines in the worn and ascetic face; but this may have been
-the result of an exhausting climate rather than of any mental
-care, for there was certainly no touch of melancholy in his
-expression. His costume was somewhat prim and precise;
-there was a kind of schoolmasterish look about the stiff
-white collar and small black tie; his gloves were new and
-neat. For the rest, he seemed used to travelling; he began
-to make himself at home at once, and scarcely looked up
-from this setting of things to rights when the conductor
-made his appearance.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Mr. Hodson, sir?' the latter said, with an inquiring
-glance.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'That's about what they call me,' he answered slowly,
-as he opened a capacious dressing-bag covered with
-crocodile-hide.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Do you expect any friends to join you farther along, sir?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Not that I know of,' was the answer—and a pair of
-dark-blue velvet slippers, with initials worked in gold, were
-fished out and thrown upon the seat beside him.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But when the conductor had got one of the lower
-sleeping-berths made ready and the traveller had completed
-his leisurely arrangements for passing the night in comfort,
-a somewhat one-sided conversation ensued. This gaunt,
-slow-speaking, reserved man proved to be quite talkative—in
-a curious, measured, dry, and staccato fashion; and if
-his conversation consisted chiefly of questions, these showed
-that he had a very honest and simple concern in the welfare
-of this other human being whom chance had thrown in his
-way, and that he could express his friendly interest without
-any touch of patronage or condescension. He asked first
-about the railway-line; how the company's servants were
-paid; what were their hours on duty; whether they had
-formed any associations for relief in case of sickness; what
-this particular man got for his work; whether he could
-look forward to any bettering of his lot, and so forth. And
-then, fixing his eyes more scrutinisingly on his companion,
-he began to ask about his family affairs—where he lived;
-what children he had; how often he saw them; and the
-like; and these questions were so obviously prompted by
-no idle curiosity, but by an honest sympathy, and by the
-apparent desire of one human being to get to understand
-fully and clearly the position and surroundings and prospects
-of this other fellow-creature, that it was impossible for
-any one to take offence.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And how old is your little girl?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Eight, sir: she will be nine in May next.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What do you call her?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Caroline, sir.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Why, you don't say!' he exclaimed, with his eyes—which
-were usually calm and observant—lighting up with
-some surprise. 'That is the name of my girl too—though
-I can't call her little any more. Well now,' he added, as
-he took out his purse and selected a sovereign from the
-mass of coins, 'I think this is about what you ought to do.
-When you get back to Camden Town, you start an account
-in the Post Office Savings Bank, in your little girl's name,
-and you put in this sovereign as a first deposit. Then,
-whenever you have an odd sixpence or shilling to give
-her—a birthday present, or that—you keep adding on and on;
-and there will be a nice little sum for her in after years.
-And if ever she asks, you can tell her it was the father of
-an American Caroline who made her this little present;
-and if she grows up to be as good a girl as the American
-Carry, she'll do very well, I think.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The conductor scarcely knew how to express his thanks,
-but the American cut him short, saying coolly—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I don't give the sovereign to you at all. It is in trust
-for your daughter. And you don't look to me the kind of
-man who would go and drink it.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He took out an evening newspaper, and, at the hint,
-the conductor went away to get ready the berths in the
-other end of the car. When he came back again to see if
-the gentleman wanted anything further for the night, they
-had thundered along the line until they were nearing
-Rugby.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Why, yes,' Mr. Hodson said, in answer to the question,
-'you might get me a bottle of soda-water when we get to
-the station.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I have soda-water in the car, sir.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Bring me a bottle, then, please.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And shall I get anything else for you, sir, at Rugby?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, I thank you.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>When the man returned with the soda-water, the traveller
-had taken from his dressing-bag a bottle labelled 'Bromide
-of Potassium' and he was just about to mix his customary
-sleeping-draught when it occurred to him that perhaps this
-conductor could tell him something of the new and far
-country into which he was about to adventure for the first
-time. And in making these inquiries he showed that he
-was just as frank-spoken about his own plans and
-circumstances as he expected other people to be about theirs.
-When the conductor confessed that he knew next to nothing
-about the north of Scotland, never having been farther than
-Perth, and even then his knowledge of the country being
-confined to the railway-line and the stations, Mr. Hodson
-went on to say—in that methodical way of his, with little
-rising inflexions here and there—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, it's bound to be different from London, anyway.
-It can't be like London; and that's the main thing for me.
-Why, that London fog, never moving, same in the morning,
-same at night, it's just too dismal for anything; the inside
-of a jail is a fool to it. 'Pears to me that a London
-afternoon is just about as melancholy as they make it; if there's
-anything more melancholy than that anywhere, I don't know
-it. Well, now, it can't be like that at Cape Wrath.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I should think not, sir.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I daresay if I lived in the town, and had my club, and
-knew people, it might be different; and my daughter seems
-to get through the time well enough; but young folks are
-easily amused. Say, now, about this salmon fishing in the
-north: you don't know when it begins?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, sir.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'You haven't seen anybody going yet with a bundle of
-rods?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, sir, not this year yet.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Hope they haven't been playing it on me—I was told
-I could begin on the eleventh. But it don't signify much
-so long's I get out of that infernal cut-throat atmosphere of
-London.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>At this point the train began to slow into Rugby
-station, and the conductor left to attend to his duties; and
-by the time they were moving out again and on their way
-to the far north, Mr. Hodson had mixed and drunk his
-nightly potion, and, partially undressed, was wrapped up in
-the thick and warm coverings of the sleeping-berth, where,
-whether owing to the bromide of potassium, or the jog-trot
-rattle of the wheels, he was soon plunged in a profound
-slumber.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, if part of his design in thus venturing upon a
-journey to the north in mid-winter was to get away from
-the monotonous mists of London, the next morning showed
-him that so far he had been abundantly successful. The
-day breaking caused him to open his eyes; and instinctively
-he turned to the window. There before him was a strange,
-and unusual, and welcome sight. No more dismal grays,
-and the gathering down of a hopeless dusk; but the clear,
-glad light of the morning—a band of flashing gold all
-along the eastern horizon, behind the jet-black stems and
-branches of the leafless trees; and over that the heavens
-were all of a pale and luminous lilac, with clouds hanging
-here and there—clouds that were dark and almost thunderous
-in their purple look, but that really meant nothing but
-beauty, as they lay there soft and motionless in the glowing
-and mystical dawn. Quickly he got up. The windows
-were thrown open. And this air that rushed in—so fresh,
-so sweet, so full of all kinds of mellow and fragrant messages
-from the hills, and the pine-woods, and the wide-lying
-straths—did it not bring a strange kind of joy and surprise
-with it?</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'A beautiful morning, sir; we are getting near to Perth
-now,' the conductor said, when he made his appearance.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Are we in time?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes, in very good time.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And no hurry about breakfast?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, sir; you don't start again till nine o'clock.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Even this big hollow station, with its wide stone
-platforms and resounding arch: was it the white light that
-filled it, or the fresh air that blew through it, that made it
-quite a cheerful place? He was charmed with the accent
-of the timid handmaiden who brought him his breakfast in
-the refreshment room, and who waited on him in such a
-friendly, half-anxious, shy fashion; and he wondered whether
-he would dare to offer so pretty and well-mannered a young
-lady anything over the customary charge in token of his
-gratitude to her for her gentle ways. Perth itself: well,
-there had been rain in the night, and the streets near the
-station were full of mud; but then the cart ruts in the mud
-were gleaming lines of gold; and the beautiful sky hung
-over the slowly rising smoke of the houses; and the air was
-everywhere so sweet and welcome. He had got into a new
-world altogether; the weight of the London atmosphere
-was lifted from him; he whistled 'Auld Lang Syne'—which
-was the only Scotch air he knew—and the lugubrious tune
-sounded quite pleasant on so joyous a morning.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Moreover, these were but first and commonplace experiences.
-For by and by, when he had again taken his seat
-to prosecute his journey—and he found himself the sole
-occupant of the carriage—the sunrise had widened into the
-full splendour of a sunlit day; and as the train sped away
-to the north, he, sitting at the window there, and having
-nothing to do but examine the new country he was entering,
-was wholly amazed at the intensity and brilliancy of the
-colouring around, and at the extraordinary vividness of the
-light. The wide stretches of the Tay shone like burnished
-silver; there were yellow straths and fields; and
-beech hedges of a rich russet-red; and fir-woods of a deep
-fresh green; and still farther away low-lying hills of a soft
-and ruddy purple, touched sharp here and there with
-patches of snow; and over all these a blue sky as of
-summer. The moist, warm air that blew in at the window
-seemed laden with pine odours; the country women at the
-small stations had a fresh pink colour in their cheeks;
-everywhere a new and glad and wholesome life seemed to
-be abroad, and cheerfulness, and rich hues, and sunlight.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'This is good enough,' he said to himself. 'This is
-something like what I shipped for.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And so they sped on: through the soft, wide-stretching
-woods of Murthly, and Birnam, and Dunkeld; through the
-shadow and sudden gleams of Killiecrankie Pass; on by
-Blair Athol and the banks of the Garry; until, with slow
-and labouring breath, the train began to force its way up
-the heights of the Grampians, in the lone neighbourhood
-of the Drumouchter Forest. The air was keener here; the
-patches of snow were nearer at hand; indeed, in some
-places the line had evidently been cleared, and large snow
-banks heaped up on each side. But by and by the motion
-of the train seemed to become easier; and soon it was
-apparent that the descent had begun; presently they were
-rattling away down into the wide and shining valley of
-Strathspey; and far over there on the west and north, and
-keeping guard over the plain, as it were, rose the giant
-masses of the Cairngorm Hills, the snow sparkling here
-and there on their shoulders and peaks.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>It was not until half-past four in the afternoon that the
-long railway journey came to an end; and during that time
-he had come upon many a scene of historical interest and
-pictorial beauty. He had been within a short distance
-of the mournful 'haughs of Cromdale;' he had crossed
-Culloden Moor. Nearing Forres, he had come within
-sight of the Northern Sea; and thereafter had skirted the
-blue ruffled waters of the Moray, and Cromarty, and Dornoch
-Firths. But even when he had got to Lairg, a little
-hamlet at the foot of Loch Shin, his travelling for the day
-was not nearly over; there still remained a drive of
-four-and-twenty miles; and although it was now dusk and the
-weather threatened a change, he preferred to push on that
-night. Travelling did not seem to tire him much; no
-doubt he was familiar with immeasurably greater distances
-in his own country. Moreover, he had learned that there
-was nothing particular to look at in the stretch of wild
-moorland that lay between him and his destination; and
-then again, if it was dark now, there would be moonlight
-later on. So he ate his dinner leisurely and in content,
-until a waggonette with two stout horses was brought
-round; then he got in; and presently they were away from
-the little hamlet and out in a strange land of darkness
-and silence, scarcely anything visible around them, the
-only sound the jog-trot clatter of the horses' feet.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>It was a desperately lonely drive. The road appeared
-to go over interminable miles of flat or scarcely undulating
-moorland; and even when the moonlight began to make
-the darkness faintly visible, that only increased the sense
-of solitude, for there was not even a single tree to break the
-monotony of the sombre horizon line. It had begun to rain
-also: not actual rain, but a kind of thin drizzle, that seemed
-to mix itself up with the ineffectual moonlight, and throw
-a wan haze over these far-reaching and desolate wastes.
-Tramp, tramp went the horses' feet through this ghostly
-world; the wet mist grew thicker and thicker and clung
-around the traveller's hair; it was a chilling mist, moreover,
-and seemed to search for weak places about the throat.
-The only sharply defined objects that the eye could rest on
-were the heads and upthrown ears of the horses, that shone
-in the light sent forward by the lamps: all else was a
-formless wilderness of gloom, shadows following shadows, and
-ever the desolate landscape stretching on and on, and
-losing itself in the night.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The American stood up in the waggonette, perhaps to
-shake off for a second the clammy sensation of the wet.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Say, young man,' he observed—but in an absent kind
-of way, for he was regarding, as far as that was possible, the
-dusky undulations of the mournful landscape—'don't you
-think now, that for a good wholesome dose of God-forsakenness,
-this'll about take the cake?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ah beg your paurdon, sir,' said the driver, who was
-apparently a Lowlander.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The stranger, however, did not seem inclined to continue
-the conversation; he sank into his seat again; gathered
-his rugs round him; and contented himself as heretofore
-by idly watching the lamplight touching here and
-there on the harness and lighting up the horses' heads and
-ears.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Mile after mile, hour after hour, went by in this
-monotonous fashion; and to the stranger it seemed as if he were
-piercing farther and farther into some unknown land
-unpeopled by any human creatures. Not a ray of light
-from any hut or farmhouse was visible anywhere. But as
-the time went on, there was at least some little improvement
-in the weather. Either the moonlight was growing stronger,
-or the thin drizzle clearing off; at all events he could now
-make out ahead of him—and beyond the flat moorland—the
-dusky masses of some mountains, with one great peak
-overtopping them all. He asked the name.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'That is Ben Clebrig, sir.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then through the mist and the moonlight a dull
-sheet of silver began to disclose itself dimly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Is that a lake down there?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Loch Naver, sir.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Then we are not far from Inver-Mudal?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No far noo; just a mile or two, sir,' was the consoling
-answer.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And indeed when he got to the end of his journey, and
-reached the little hostelry set far amid these moorland and
-mountain wilds, his welcome there made ample amends.
-He was ushered into a plain, substantially furnished, and
-spacious sitting-room, brightly lit up by the lamp that stood
-on the white cloth of the table, and also by the blazing glare
-from the peats in the mighty fireplace; and when his eyes
-had got accustomed to this bewilderment of warmth and
-light, he found, awaiting his orders, and standing shyly at
-the door, a pretty, tall, fair-haired girl, who, with the
-softest accent in the world, asked him what she should bring
-him for supper. And when he said he did not care to have
-anything, she seemed quite surprised and even concerned.
-It was a long, long drive, she said, in her shy and pretty
-way; and would not the gentleman have some hare-soup—that
-they had kept hot for him? and so forth. But her
-coaxing was of no avail.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'By the way, what is your name, my girl?' he said.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Nelly, sir.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, then, Nelly, do you happen to know whether
-Lord Ailine's keeper is anywhere in the neighbourhood?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'He is in the unn, sir, waiting for you.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, indeed. Well, tell him I should like to see him.
-And say, what is his name?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald, sir.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'That is his first name,' she explained.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'His "first name"? I thought that was one of our
-Americanisms.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She did not seem to understand this.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald Strang is his name, sir; but we jist call him
-Ronald.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Very well, Nelly; you go and tell him I want to see him.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ferry well, sir,' she said; and away she went.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But little indeed did this indefatigable student of nature
-and human nature—who had been but half interested by his
-observations and experiences through that long day's
-travel—know what was yet in store for him. The door opened;
-a slim-built and yet muscular young man of eight-and-twenty
-or so appeared there, clad in a smart deer-stalking costume
-of brownish green; he held his cap in his hand; and round
-his shoulder was the strap from which hung behind the brown
-leather case of his telescope. This Mr. Hodson saw at a
-glance; and also something more. He prided himself on
-his judgment of character. And when his quick look had
-taken in the keen, sun-tanned face of this young fellow, the
-square, intellectual forehead, the firm eyebrows, the finely
-cut and intelligent mouth, and a certain proud set of the
-head, he said to himself, 'This is a </span><em class="italics">man</em><span>: there's something
-here worth knowing.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good evening, sir,' the keeper said, to break the
-momentary silence.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good evening,' said Mr. Hodson (who had been rather
-startled out of his manners). 'Come and sit down by the
-fire; and let's have a talk now about the shooting and the
-salmon-fishing. I have brought the letters from the Duke's
-agent with me.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes, sir,' said Strang; and he moved a bit farther into
-the room; but remained standing, cap in hand.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Pull in a chair,' said Mr. Hodson, who was searching
-for the letters.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Thank ye, sir; thank ye,' said the keeper; but he
-remained standing nevertheless.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Mr. Hodson returned to the table.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Sit down, man, sit down,' said he, and he himself
-pulled in a chair. 'I don't know what your customs are over
-here, but anyhow I'm an American citizen; I'm not a lord.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Somewhat reluctantly the keeper obeyed this injunction,
-and for a minute or two seemed to be rather uncomfortable;
-but when he began to answer the questions concisely
-put to him with regard to the business before them, his
-shyness wholly wore away, for he was the master of this
-subject, not the stranger who was seeking for information.
-Into the details of these matters it is needless to enter
-here; and, indeed, so struck was the American with the
-talk and bearing of this new acquaintance that the
-conversation went far afield. And the farther afield it went,
-the more and more was he impressed with the extraordinary
-information and intelligence of the man, the independence
-of his views, the shrewdness and sometimes sarcasm of his
-judgments. Always he was very respectful; but in his
-eyes—which seemed singularly dark and lustrous here
-indoors, but which, out of doors and when he was after
-the wary stag, or the still more wary hinds, on the far
-slopes of Clebrig, contracted and became of a keen brownish
-gray—there was a kind of veiled fire of humour which, as the
-stranger guessed, might in other circumstances blaze forth
-wildly enough. Mr. Hodson, of Chicago, was entirely
-puzzled. A gamekeeper? He had thought (from his
-reading of English books) that a gamekeeper was a
-velveteen-coated person whose ideas ranged from the ale-house
-to the pheasant-coverts, and thence and quickly back again.
-But this man seemed to have a wide and competent knowledge
-of public affairs; and, when it came to a matter of
-argument (they had a keen little squabble about the
-protection tariffs of America) he could reason hard, and was
-not over-compliant.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'God bless me,' Mr. Hodson was driven to exclaim at
-last, 'what is a man of your ability doing in a place like
-this? Why don't you go away to one of the big cities—or
-over to America—where a young fellow with his wits
-about him can push himself forward?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I would rather be "where the dun deer lie,"' said he,
-with a kind of bashful laugh.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'You read Kingsley?' the other said, still more astonished.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'My brother lends me his books from time to time,'
-Ronald said modestly. 'He's a Free Church minister in
-Glasgow.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'A Free Church minister? He went through college, then?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes, sir; he took his degree at Aberdeen.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But—but—' said the newcomer, who had come upon
-a state of affairs he could not understand at all—'who
-was your father, then? He sent your brother to college,
-I presume?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh no, sir. My father is a small farmer down the
-Lammermuir way; and he just gave my brother Andrew
-his wages like the rest, and Andrew saved up for the
-classes.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'You are not a Highlander, then?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But half-and-half, like my name, sir,' he said (and all
-the shyness was gone now: he spoke to this stranger
-frankly and simply as he would have spoken to a shepherd
-on the hillside). 'My mother was Highland. She was a
-Macdonald; and so she would have me called Ronald;
-it's a common name wi' them.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Mr. Hodson stared at him for a second or two in silence.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well,' said he, slowly, 'I don't know. Different men
-have different ways of looking at things. I think if I were
-of your age, and had your intelligence, I would try for
-something better than being a gamekeeper.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I am very well content, sir,' said the other placidly;
-'and I couldna be more than that anywhere else. It's a
-healthy life; and a healthy life is the best of anything—at
-least that is my way of thinking. I wadna like to try
-the toun; I doubt it wouldn't agree wi' me.' And then he
-rose to his feet. 'I beg your pardon, sir; I've been
-keeping ye late.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, Mr. Hodson was nothing loth to let him go; for
-although he had arrived at the conviction that here was a
-valuable human life, of exceptional quality and distinction,
-being absolutely thrown away and wasted, still he had not
-formed the arguments by which he might try to save it
-for the general good, and for the particular good of the
-young man himself. He wanted time to think over this
-matter—and in cool blood; for there is no doubt that he
-had been surprised and fascinated by the intellectual
-boldness and incisiveness of the younger man's opinions and
-by the chance sarcasms that had escaped him.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I could get him a good opening in Chicago soon
-enough,' he was thinking to himself, when the keeper had
-left, 'but upon my soul I don't know the man who is fit
-to become that man's master. Why, I'd start a newspaper
-for him myself, and make him editor—and if he can't
-write, he has got mother-wit enough to guide them who
-can—but he and I would be quarrelling in a week. That
-fellow is not to be driven by anybody.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He now rang the bell for a candle; and the slim and
-yellow-haired Nelly showed him upstairs to his room, which
-he found to be comfortably warm, for there was a blazing
-peat fire in the grate, scenting all the air with its delicious
-odour. He bade her good-night, and turned to open his
-dressing-bag; but at the same moment he heard voices
-without, and, being of an inquiring turn of mind, he went
-to the window. The first thing he saw was that outside a
-beautiful clear moon was now shining; the leafless
-elm-trees and the heavy-foliaged pines throwing sharp black
-shadows across the white road. And this laughing and
-jesting at the door of the inn?—surely he heard Ronald's
-voice there—the gayest of any—among the jibes that
-seemed to form their farewells for the night? Then there
-was the shutting of a door; and in the silence that ensued he
-saw the solitary, straight-limbed, clean-made figure of a man
-stride up the white road, a little dog trotting behind him.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Come along, Harry, my lad,' the man said to his small
-companion—and that, sure enough, was the keeper's voice.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then, in the stillness of the moonlight night, this
-watcher and listener was startled to hear a clear and powerful
-tenor voice suddenly begin to sing—in a careless fashion,
-it is true, as if it were but to cheer the homeward going—</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'Come all ye jolly shepherds,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">That whistle through the glen,</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">I'll tell ye of a secret</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">That courtiers dinna ken.</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">What is the greatest bliss</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">That the tongue o' man can name?—</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'Tis to woo a bonnie lassie</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">When the kye come hame.'</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>'Great heavens!' said Mr. Hodson to himself, 'such a
-voice—and all Europe waiting for a new tenor! But at
-seven or eight and twenty I suppose he is beyond training.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The refrain became more and more distant:</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'When the kye come hame,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">When the kye come hame,</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'Twixt the gloamin' and the mirk,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">When the kye come hame.'</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>Both the keeper and the little trotting terrier had
-disappeared now, having turned a corner of the road where
-there was a clump of trees. The traveller who had
-wandered into these remote wilds sate down for a minute
-or two to sum up his investigations of the evening, and
-they were these:</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Accounts of the deer seem shaky; but there may have
-been bad shooting this last year, as he says. The
-salmon-fishing sounds more likely; and then Carry could come
-with us in the boat—which would make it less dull for
-her. Anyhow, I have discovered the most remarkable
-man I have met with as yet in the old country; and to
-think of his being thrown away like that!'</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst" id="meenie"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER II.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">MEENIE.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>We may now follow Ronald Strang as he walks along to
-his cottage, which, with its kennels and its shed for hanging
-up the slain deer, stands on a little plateau by the roadside,
-a short distance from the inn. The moonlight night is
-white and beautiful, but far from silent; for the golden
-plover are whistling and calling down by the lochside, and
-the snipe are sending their curious harsh note across the
-moorland wastes. Moreover, he himself seems to be in a
-gay mood (perhaps glad to be over the embarrassment of
-a first meeting with the stranger), and he is conversing
-amicably with his little terrier. The subject is rats.
-Whether the wise little Harry knows all that is said need
-not be determined; but he looks up from time to time
-and wags his stump of a tail as he trots placidly along.
-And so they get up to the cottage and enter, for the outer
-door is on the latch, thieves being unheard of in this
-remote neighbourhood; though here Harry hesitates, for
-he is uncertain whether he is to be invited into the
-parlour or not. But the next moment all consideration of
-this four-footed friend is driven out of his master's head.
-Ronald had expected to find the parlour empty, and his
-little sister, at present his sole housekeeper, retired to rest.
-But the moment he opens the door, he finds that not only
-is she there, sitting by the table near to the solitary lamp,
-but that she has a companion with her. And well he
-knows who that must be.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Dear me, Miss Douglas,' he exclaimed, 'have I kept
-you so late!'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The young lady, who now rose, with something of a
-flush over her features—for she had been startled by his
-sudden entrance—was certainly an extraordinarily pretty
-creature: not so much handsome, or distinguished, or
-striking, as altogether pretty and winning and gentle-looking.
-She was obviously of a pure Highland type: the figure
-slender and graceful, the head small and beautifully formed;
-the forehead rather square for a woman, but getting its
-proper curve from the soft and pretty hair; the features
-refined and intelligent; the mouth sensitive; the expression
-a curious sort of seeking to please, as it were, and ready to
-form itself into an abundant gratitude for the smallest act
-of kindness. Of course, much of this look was owing to her
-eyes, which were the true Highland eyes; of a blue gray
-these were, with somewhat dark lashes; wide apart, and shy,
-and apprehensive, they reminded one of the startled eyes of
-some wild animal; but they were, entirely human in their
-quick sympathy, in their gentleness, in their appeal to all
-the world, as it were, for a favouring word. As for her
-voice—well, if she used but few of the ordinary Highland
-phrases, she had undoubtedly a considerable trace of
-Highland accent; for, although her father was an Edinburgh man,
-her mother (as the elderly lady very soon let her neighbours
-know) was one of the Stuarts of Glengask and Orosay;
-and then again Meenie had lived nearly all her life in the
-Highlands, her father never having risen above the position
-of a parish doctor, and welcoming even such local
-removals as served to improve his position in however slight
-a way.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Maggie,' said Miss Douglas (and the beautiful wide-apart
-eyes were full of a shy apology), 'was feeling a little
-lonely, and I did not like to leave her.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But if I had known,' said he, 'I would not have stayed
-so late. The gentleman that is come about the shooting
-is a curious man; it's no the salmon and the grouse and
-the deer he wants to know about only; it's everything in
-the country. Now, Maggie, lass, get ye to bed. And I
-will see you down the road, Miss Douglas.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Indeed there is no need for that,' said Meenie, with
-downcast eyes.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Would ye have a bogle run away with ye?' he said
-good-naturedly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And so she bade good-night to the little Maggie, and
-took up some books and drawings she had brought to
-beguile the time withal; and then she went out into the
-clear night, followed by the young gamekeeper.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And what a night it was—or rather, might have been—for
-two lovers! The wide waters of the loch lay still and
-smooth, with a broad pathway of silver stretching away into
-the dusk of the eastern hills; not a breath of wind stirred
-bush or tree; and if Ben Clebrig in the south was mostly
-a bulk of shadow, far away before them in the northern
-skies rose the great shoulders of Ben Loyal, pallid in the
-moonlight, the patches of snow showing white up near the
-stars. They had left behind them the little hamlet—which
-merely consisted of a few cottages and the inn; they were
-alone in this pale silent world. And down there, beneath
-the little bridge, ran the placid Mudal Water: and if they
-had a Bible with them?—and would stand each on one
-side of the stream?—and clasp hands across? It was a
-night for lovers' vows.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Maggie is getting on well with her lessons,' the pretty
-young lady said, in that gentle voice of hers. 'She is very
-diligent.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I'm sure I'm much obliged to ye, Miss Douglas,' was
-the respectful answer, 'for the trouble ye take with her.
-It's an awkward thing to be sae far from a school. I'm
-thinking I'll have to send her to my brother in Glasgow,
-and get her put to school there.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, indeed, indeed,' said she, 'that will be a change now.
-And who will look after the cottage for you, Ronald?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She addressed him thus quite naturally, and without
-shyness; for no one ever dreamed of calling him anything
-else.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, I suppose Mrs. MacGregor will give the place a
-redd[#] up from time to time. But a keeper has but half
-learned his business that canna shift for himself; there's
-some of the up-country lodges with ne'er a woman-body
-within a dozen miles o' them.'</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="small">[#] 'Redd,' a setting to rights.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>'It is your brother the minister that Maggie will be
-going to?' she said.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh yes; he is married, and has a family of his own;
-she will be comfortable there.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, it is strange,' said she, 'that you should have a
-brother in Glasgow, and I a sister, and that your mother
-should be Highland and mine too.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But this was putting himself and her on much too
-common a footing; and he was always on his guard against
-that, however far her gentleness and good-nature might
-lead her.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'When is your father coming back, Miss Douglas?'
-said he.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, I really do not know,' she said. 'I do not think
-he has ever had so wide a district to attend to, and we are
-never sure of his being at home.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It must be very lonely for a young lady brought up
-like you,' he ventured to say, 'that ye should have no
-companions. And for your mother, too; I wonder she
-can stand it.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh no,' she said, 'for the people are so friendly
-with us. And I do not know of any place that I like
-better.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>By this time they were come to the little wooden gate
-of the garden, and he opened that for her. Before them
-was the cottage, with its windows, despite the moonlight on
-the panes, showing the neat red blinds within. She gave
-him her hand for a second.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good night, Ronald,' said she pleasantly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good night, Miss Douglas,' said he; 'Maggie must not
-keep you up so late again.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And therewith he walked away back again along the
-white road, and only now perceived that by some accident
-his faithful companion Harry had been shut in when they
-left. He also discovered, when he got home, that his sister
-Maggie had been so intent puzzling over some arithmetical
-mysteries which Meenie had been explaining to her, that
-she had still further delayed her going to bed.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What, what?' said he, good-humouredly. 'Not in bed
-yet, lass?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The little red-headed, freckled-faced lassie obediently
-gathered up her belongings, but at the door she lingered
-for a moment.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald,' said she, timidly, 'why do ye call Meenie
-"Miss Douglas?" It's not friendly.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'When ye're a bit older, lass, ye'll understand,' he said,
-with a laugh.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Little Maggie was distressed in a vague way, for she had
-formed a warm affection for Meenie Douglas, and it seemed
-hard and strange that her own brother should show himself
-so distant in manner.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Do you think she's proud? for she's not that,' the little
-girl made bold to say.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Have ye never heard o' the Stuarts of Glengask?' said
-he; and he added grimly, 'My certes, if ye were two or
-three years older, I'm thinking Mrs. Douglas would have
-told ye ere now how Sir Alexander used to call on them in
-Edinburgh every time he came north. Most folk have
-heard that story. But however, when Meenie, as ye like
-to call her, goes to live in Edinburgh or Glasgow, or some
-o' the big towns, of course she'll be Miss Douglas to every
-one, as she ought to be here, only that she's taken a fancy
-to you, and, my lass, fairly spoils ye with her kindness.
-Now, off with ye, and dinna fash your head about what I
-or any one else calls her; if she's content to be Meenie to
-you, ye should be proud enough.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>As soon as she was gone he stirred up the peats, lit his
-pipe, and drew in a chair to the small table near the fire.
-It was his first pipe that evening, and he wished to have it
-in comfort. And then, to pass the time, he unlocked and
-opened a drawer in the table, and began to rummage
-through the papers collected there—all kinds of shreds and
-fragments they were, scored over mostly in pencil, and
-many of them bearing marks as if the writing had been
-done outside in the rain.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The fact was, that in idle times, when there was no
-trapping to be done, or shooting of hoodie-crows, or
-breaking-in of young dogs, he would while away many an hour
-on the hillside or along the shores of the loch by stringing
-verses together. They were done for amusement's sake.
-Sometimes he jotted them down, sometimes he did not.
-If occasionally, when he had to write a letter to a friend of
-his at Tongue, or make some request of his brother in
-Glasgow, he put these epistles into jingling rhyme, that was
-about all the publication his poetical efforts ever achieved;
-and he was most particular to conceal from the 'gentry'
-who came down to the shooting any knowledge that he
-scribbled at all. He knew it would be against him. He
-had no wish to figure as one of those local poets (and
-alas! they have been and are too numerous in Scotland) who,
-finding within them some small portion of the afflatus of a
-Burns, or a Motherwell, or a Tannahill, are seduced away
-from their lawful employment, gain a fleeting popularity in
-their native village, perhaps attain to the dignity of a notice
-in a Glasgow or Edinburgh newspaper, and subsequently and
-almost inevitably die of drink, in the most abject misery of
-disappointment. No; if he had any ambition it was not
-in that direction; it was rather that he should be known as
-the smartest deerstalker and the best trainer of dogs in
-Sutherlandshire. He knew where his strength lay, and
-where he found content. And then there was another
-reason why he could not court newspaper applause with
-these idle rhymes of his. They were nearly all about
-Meenie Douglas. Meenie-olatry was written all across
-those scribbled sheets. And of course that was a dark
-secret known only to himself; and indeed it amused him,
-as he turned over the loose leaves, to think that all the
-Stuarts of Glengask and Orosay (and that most severe and
-terrible of them all, Mrs. Douglas) could not in the least
-prevent his saying to Meenie just whatever he pleased—within
-the wooden confines of this drawer. And what had
-he not said? Sometimes it was but a bit of careless
-singing—</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Roses white, roses red,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Roses in the lane,</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Tell me, roses red and white,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Where is Meenie gane?</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">O is she on Loch Loyal's side?</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Or up by Mudal Water?</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">In vain the wild doves in the woods</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Everywhere have sought her.</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Roses white, roses red,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Roses in the lane,</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Tell me, roses red and white,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Where is Meenie gane?</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>Well, now, supposing you are far away up on Ben
-Clebrig's slopes, a gun over your shoulder, and idly looking
-out for a white hare or a ptarmigan, if you take to humming
-these careless rhymes to some such tune as 'Cherry Ripe,'
-who is to hinder? The strongest of all the south winds
-cannot carry the tidings to Glengask nor yet to Orosay's
-shores. And so the whole country-side—every hill and
-stream and wood and rock—came to be associated with
-Meenie, and saturated with the praise and glory of her.
-Why, he made the very mountains fight about her!</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Ben Loyal spake to Ben Clebrig,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And they thundered their note of war:</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'You look down on your sheep and your sheepfolds;</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">I see the ocean afar.</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'You look down on the huts and the hamlets,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And the trivial tasks of men;</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">I see the great ships sailing</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Along the northern main.'</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Ben Clebrig laughed, and the laughter</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Shook heaven and earth and sea:</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'There is something in that small hamlet</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">That is fair enough for me—</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'Ay, fairer than all your sailing ships</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Struck with the morning flame:</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">A fresh young flower from the hand of God—</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Rose Meenie is her name!'</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>But at this moment, as he turned over this mass of
-scraps and fragments, there was one, much more audacious
-than the rest, that he was in search of, and when he found
-it a whimsical fancy got into his head. If he were to make
-out a fair copy of the roughly scrawled lines, and fold that
-up, and address it to Meenie, just to see how it looked?
-He took out his blotting-pad, and selected the best sheet
-of note-paper he could find; and then he wrote (with a
-touch of amusement, and perhaps of something else, too,
-in his mind the while) thus—</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">O wilt thou be my dear love?</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">(Meenie and Meenie),</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">O wilt thou be my ain love?</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">(My sweet Meenie),</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Were you wi' me upon the hill,</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">It's I would gar the dogs be still,</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">We'd lie our lane and kiss our fill,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">(My love Meenie).</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Aboon the burn a wild bush grows</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">(Meenie and Meenie),</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And on the lush there blooms a rose</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">(My sweet Meenie);</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And wad ye tak the rose frae me,</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And wear it where it fain would be,</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">It's to your arms that I would flee,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">(Rose-sweet Meenie!)</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>He carefully folded the paper and addressed it outside—so:</span></p>
-<dl class="docutils">
-<dt class="noindent"><span class="italics">Miss Wilhelmina Stuart Douglas,</span></dt>
-<dd><dl class="docutils first last">
-<dt class="noindent"><span class="italics">Care of James Douglas, Esq., M.D.,</span></dt>
-<dd><dl class="docutils first last">
-<dt class="noindent"><span class="italics">Inver-Mudal,</span></dt>
-<dd><p class="first last noindent pfirst"><span class="italics">Sutherlandshire.</span></p>
-</dd>
-</dl>
-</dd>
-</dl>
-</dd>
-</dl>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>And then he held it out at arm's length, and regarded it,
-and laughed, in a contemptuous kind of way, at his own
-folly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well,' he was thinking to himself, 'if it were not for
-Stuart of Glengask, I suppose the day might come when I
-could send her a letter like that; but as it is, if they were
-to hear of any such madness, Glengask and all his kith and
-kin would be for setting the heather on fire.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He tossed the letter back on the blotting-pad, and rose
-and went and stood opposite the blazing peats. This
-movement aroused the attention of the little terrier, who
-immediately jumped up from his snooze and began to
-whimper his expectation. Strang's heart smote him.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'God bless us!' he said aloud. 'When a lass gets
-into a man's head, there's room for nothing else; he'll
-forget his best friends. Here, Harry, come along, and I'll
-get ye your supper, my man.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He folded up the blotting-pad and locked it in the drawer,
-blew out the candles, called Harry to follow him into the
-kitchen, where the small terrier was duly provided for and
-left on guard. Then he sought out his own small room.
-He was whistling as he went; and, if he dreamt of
-anything that night, be sure it was not of the might and
-majesty of Sir Alexander Stuart of Glengask and Orosay.
-These verses to Meenie were but playthings and
-fancies—for idle hours.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst" id="on-the-loch"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER III.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">ON THE LOCH.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>A considerable wind arose during the night; Mr. Hodson
-did not sleep very well; and, lying awake towards morning,
-he came to the conclusion that he had been befooled, or
-rather that he had befooled himself, with regard to that
-prodigy of a gamekeeper. He argued with himself that
-his mental faculties must have been dulled by the long
-day's travel; he had come into the inn jaded and tired;
-and then finding himself face to face with an ordinarily
-alert and intrepid intellect, he had no doubt exaggerated
-the young man's abilities, and made a wonder of him where
-no wonder was needed. That he was a person of considerable
-information and showed common sense was likely
-enough. Mr. Hodson, in his studies of men and things,
-had heard something of the intelligence and education to
-be found among the working classes in Scotland. He had
-heard of the handloom weavers who were learned botanists;
-of the stone-masons who were great geologists; of the village
-poets who, if most of their efforts were but imitations of
-Ferguson and Burns and Tannahill, would here and there,
-in some chance moment of inspiration, sing out some true
-and pathetic song, to be taken to the hearts of their
-countrymen, and added to a treasure-store of rustic
-minstrelsy such as no other nation in the world has ever
-produced. At the same time he was rather anxious to meet
-Strang again, the better to get the measure of him. And
-as he was also curious to see what this neighbourhood into
-which he had penetrated looked like, he rose betimes in
-the morning—indeed, before the day was fully declared.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The wind still moaned about the house, but outside
-there was no sign of any storm; on the contrary, everything
-was strangely calm. The lake lay a dark lurid purple
-in the hollow of the encircling hills; and these, along the
-eastern heavens, were of the deepest and softest olive
-green; just over them was a line of gleaming salmon-red,
-keen and resplendent as if molten from a furnace; and
-over that again soft saffron-dusky clouds, deepening in tone
-the higher they hung in the clear pale steel hues of the
-overhead sky. There was no sign of life anywhere—nothing
-but the birch woods sloping down to the shore;
-the moorland wastes of the lower hills; and above these
-the giant bulk and solemn shadows of Ben Clebrig,[#] dark
-against the dawn. It was a lovely sight; he began to
-think he had never before in his life felt himself so much
-alone. But whence came the sound of the wind that
-seemed to go moaning down the strath towards the purple
-lake?</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="small">[#] That is, the Hill of the Playing Trout.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>Well, he made no doubt that it was up towards the
-north and west that the storm was brewing; and he
-remembered that a window in the sitting-room below looked
-in that direction; there he would be able to ascertain
-whether any fishing was practicable. He finished his
-dressing and went down. The breakfast table was laid; a
-mighty mass of peats was blazing cheerfully in the spacious
-fireplace. And the storm? Why, all the wide strath on
-this northern side of the house was one glow of yellow
-light in the now spreading sunrise; and still farther away
-in the north the great shoulders of Ben Loyal[#] had caught
-a faint roseate tinge; and the same pale and beautiful
-colour seemed to transfuse a large and fleecy cloud that
-clung around the snow-scarred peak. So he came to
-the conclusion that in this corner of the glen the wind
-said more than it meant; and that they might adventure
-on the loch without risk of being swamped or blown
-ashore.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="small">[#] More properly Ben Laoghal, the Hill of the Calves.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>The slim tall Highland lass made her appearance with
-further plenishings for the table, and 'Good moarning!'
-she said, in her pretty way, in answer to his greeting.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Say, now, has that man come down from Tongue yet?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, sir,' said Nelly, 'he wass no come down yet.' And
-then she looked up with a demure smile. 'They
-would be keeping the New Year at Tongue last night.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Keeping the New Year on the 14th of January?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It's the twelfth is the usual day, sir,' she explained,
-'but that was Saturday, and they do not like a Saturday
-night, for they have to stop at twelve o'clock, and so most
-of them were for keeping it last night.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, indeed. Then the festive gentleman won't show
-up to-day?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But it is of no matter whateffer whether he comes or
-no; for I am sure that Ronald will be willing to lend a
-hand. Oh, I am sure of it. I will ask him myself.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'</span><em class="italics">You</em><span> will ask him?' was Mr. Hodson's internal soliloquy.
-'It is to </span><em class="italics">you</em><span> he will grant the favour. Indeed!'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He fixed his eyes on her,</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'He is a good-looking young fellow, that Ronald.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She did not answer that; she was putting the marmalade,
-and the honey, and the cream on the table.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'He is not married?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, sir.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, now, when he thinks about getting married, I
-suppose he'll pretty well have his choice about here?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Indeed there iss others besides him,' said Nelly rather
-proudly, but her face was red as she opened the door.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, whether it was owing to the intervention of Nelly
-or not, as soon as Mr. Hodson was ready to start he found
-Ronald waiting for him without; and not only that, but he
-had already assumed command of the expedition, having
-sent the one gillie who had arrived down to bale the boat.
-And then he would overhaul Mr. Hodson's fishing-gear—examining
-the rods, testing the lines and traces, and rejecting
-all the spoon baits, angels, sand-eels, and what not, that
-had been supplied by the London tackle-maker, for two or
-three of the familiar phantom minnows. Mr. Hodson
-could scarcely believe that this was the same man who last
-night had been discussing the disestablishment of state
-churches and the policy of protecting native industries.
-He had not a word for anything but the business before
-him; and the bold fashion in which he handled those
-minnows, all bristling with hooks, or drew the catgut traces
-through his fingers (Mr. Hodson shivered, and seemed to
-feel his own fingers being cut to the bone), showed that he was
-as familiar with the loch as with the hillside or the kennel.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I'm not much on salmon-fishing myself,' the American
-remarked modestly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It's rather early in the season, sir, I'm afraid,' was the
-answer. 'But we might get a fish after all; and if we do
-it'll be the first caught in Scotland this year, I warrant.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>They set out and walked down to the shore of the loch,
-and there Mr. Hodson seated himself on the gunwale of
-the flat-bottomed coble, and watched the two men putting
-the rods together and fixing the traces. The day had now
-declared itself; wild and stormy in appearance, but fair on
-the whole; great floods of sunshine falling suddenly on the
-yellow slopes and the russet birch woods; and shadows
-coming as rapidly across the far heights of Clebrig, steeping
-the mountains in gloom. As for the gillie who had been
-proof against the seductions of keeping the New Year, and
-who was now down on one knee, biting catgut with his
-teeth, he was a man as tall and as sallow as Mr. Hodson
-himself, but with an added expression of intense melancholy
-and hopelessness. Or was that but temporary?</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Duncan doesna like that boat,' Ronald said, glancing
-at Mr. Hodson.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The melancholy man did not speak, but shook his head
-gloomily.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Why?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>As the gillie did not answer, Ronald said—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'He thinks there is no luck with that boat.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'That boat?' the gillie said, with an angry look towards
-the hapless coble. 'She has the worst luck of any boat in
-Sutherland—</span><em class="italics">tam her</em><span>,' he added, under his breath.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'In my country,' the American said, in his slow way,
-'we don't mind luck much; we find perseverance about as
-good a horse to win with in the end.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He was soon to have his perseverance tried. Everything
-being ready they pushed off from the shore, Ronald
-taking stroke oar, the gillie at the bow; Mr. Hodson left
-to pay out the lines of the two rods, and fix these in the
-stern, when about five-and-thirty yards had gone forth. At
-first, it is true, he waited and watched with a trifle of anxiety.
-He wanted to catch a salmon; it would be something to
-write about to his daughter; it would be a new experience
-for himself. But when time passed and the boat was slowly
-rowed along the loch at a measured distance from the shore,
-without any touch of anything coming to make the point
-of either rod tremble, he rather gave up his hope in that
-direction, and took to talking with Ronald. After all, it
-was not salmon-fishing alone that had brought him into
-these wilds.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I suppose it is really too early in the season,' he
-observed, without much chagrin.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Rayther,' said Ronald.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Rawther,' said the melancholy gillie.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But at that instant something happened that startled
-every one of them out of their apathy. The top of one of
-the rods was violently pulled at, and then there was a long
-shrill yell of the reel.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'There he is, sir! there he is, sir!' Ronald called.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Mr. Hodson made a grab blindly—for he had been
-looking at the scenery around—at one of the rods. It was
-the wrong one. But before he knew where he was, Ronald
-had got hold of the other and raised the top so as to keep
-a strain on the fish. The exchange of the rods was effected
-in a moment. Then when Ronald had wound in the other
-line and put the rod at the bow, he took to his oar again,
-leaving Mr. Hodson to fight his unknown enemy as best
-he might, but giving him a few words of direction from
-time to time, quietly, as if it were all a matter of course.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Reel in, sir, reel in—keep an even strain on him—let
-him go—let him go if he wants——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, the fish was not a fierce fighter; after the first
-long rush he scarcely did anything; he kept boring
-downwards, with a dull, heavy weight. It seemed easy work;
-and Mr. Hodson—triumphant in the hope of catching his
-first salmon—was tempted to call aloud to the melancholy
-gillie—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, Duncan, how about luck now?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I think it's a kelt,' the man answered morosely.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But the sinister meaning of this reply was not understood.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I don't know what you call him,' said Mr. Hodson,
-holding on with both hands to the long, lithe grilse-rod
-that was bent almost double. 'Celt or Saxon, I don't
-know; but I seem to have got a good grip of him.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Then he heard Ronald say, in an undertone, to the
-gillie—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'A kelt? No fears. The first rush was too heavy for
-that.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And the gillie responded sullenly—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'He's following the boat like a cow.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What is a kelt, anyway?' the American called out.
-'Something that swims, I suppose? It ain't a man?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I hope it's no a kelt, sir,' said Ronald—but doubtfully.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But what is a kelt, then, when he's at home?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'A salmon, sir, that hasna been down to the sea; we'll
-have to put him back if he is.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Whirr! went the reel again; the fish, kelt or clean
-salmon, had struck deep down. But the melancholy
-creature at the bow was taking no further interest in the
-fight. He was sure it was a kelt. Most likely the minnow
-would be destroyed. Maybe he would break the trace.
-But a kelt it was. He knew the luck of this 'tammed'
-boat.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The struggle was a tedious one. The beast kept boring
-down with the mere force of its weight, but following the
-coble steadily; and even Ronald, who had been combating
-his own doubts, at length gave in: he was afraid it was a
-kelt. Presently the last suspicion of hope was banished.
-With a tight strain on him, the now exhausted animal
-began to show near the surface of the water—his long
-eel-like shape and black back revealing too obviously what
-manner of creature he was. But this revelation had no
-effect on the amateur fisherman, who at last beheld the
-enemy he had been fighting with so long. He grew quite
-excited. A kelt?—he was a beautiful fine fish! If he
-could not be eaten he could be stuffed! Twenty pounds
-he was, if an ounce!—would he throw back such a trophy
-into the loch?</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Ronald was crouching in the stern of the boat, the big
-landing-net in his hand, watching the slow circling of the
-kelt as it was being hauled nearer and nearer. His
-sentiments were of a different kind.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ah, you ugly brute!—ah, you rascal!—ah—ah!'—and
-then there was a deep scoop of the landing-net; and the
-next minute the huge eel-like beast was in the bottom of
-the boat, Duncan holding on to its tail, and Ronald gripping
-it by the gills, while he set to work to get the minnow out
-of its jaws. And then without further ado—and without
-stopping to discuss the question of stuffing—the creature
-was heaved into the water again, with a parting benediction
-of 'Bah, you brute!' It took its leave rapidly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, it's a pity, sir,' Ronald said; 'that would have been
-a twenty-four-pound salmon if he had been down to the sea.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It's the luck of this tammed boat,' Duncan said gloomily.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But Mr. Hodson could not confess to any such keen
-sense of disappointment. He had never played so big a
-fish before, and was rather proud that so slight a grilse-rod
-and so slender a line should (of course, with some discretion
-and careful nursing on his part) have overmastered so big
-a beast. Then he did not eat salmon; there was no loss
-in that direction. And as he had not injured the kelt in
-any way, he reflected that he had enjoyed half-an-hour's
-excitement without doing harm to anything or anybody,
-and he was well content. So he paid out the two lines
-again, and set the rods, and began to renew his talk with
-Ronald touching the customs connected with the keeping
-of the New Year.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>After all, it was a picturesque kind of occupation, kelts
-or no kelts. Look at the scene around them—the lapping
-waters of the loch, a vivid and brilliant blue when the skies
-were shining fair, or black and stormy again when the clouds
-were heavy in the heavens; and always the permanent
-features of the landscape—the soft yellows of the lower
-straths, where the withered grass was mixed with the orange
-bracken; the soft russet of the leafless birch woods fringing
-the shores of the lake; the deep violet shadows of Ben
-Clebrig stretching up into the long swathes of mist; and
-then the far amphitheatre of hills—Ben Hee, and Ben
-Hope, and Ben Loyal—with sunlight and shade inter-mingling
-their ethereal tints, but leaving the snow-streaks
-always sparkling and clear. He got used to the monotony
-of the slow circling of the upper waters of the lake. He
-forgot to watch the points of the rods. He was asking all
-kinds of questions about the stags and the hinds, about
-ptarmigan, and white hares, and roe, about the price of
-sheep, the rents of crofts, the comparative wages of gillies,
-and shepherds, and foresters, and keepers, and stalkers, and
-the habits and customs of land-agents and factors. And at
-length, when it came to lunch-time, and when they landed,
-and found for him a sheltered place under the lee of a big
-rock, and when Ronald pointed out to him a grassy bank,
-and said rather ruefully—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I dinna like to see that place empty, sir. That's where
-the gentlemen have the salmon laid out, that they may look
-at them at lunch-time—'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Mr. Hodson, as he opened the little basket that had
-been provided for him, answered cheerfully enough—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'My good friend, don't you imagine that I feel like
-giving it up yet. I'm not finished with this lake, and I'll
-back perseverance against luck any day. Seems to me
-we've done very well so far; I'm con-tent.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>By and by they went back into the coble again, and
-resumed their patient pursuit; and there is little doubt that
-by this time Ronald had come to the conclusion that this
-stranger who had come amongst them was a singularly odd
-and whimsical person. It was remarkable enough that he
-should have undertaken this long and solitary journey in
-order to fish for salmon, and then show himself quite
-indifferent as to whether he got any or not; and it was
-scarcely human for any one to betray no disappointment
-whatever when the first fish caught proved to be a kelt;
-but it was still stranger that a man rich enough to talk
-about renting a deer-forest should busy himself with the
-petty affairs of the very poorest people around. Why, he
-wanted to know how much Nelly the housemaid could
-possibly save on her year's wages; whether she was supposed
-to lay by something as against her wedding-day; or whether
-any of the lads about would marry her for her pretty face
-alone. And when he discovered that Mr. Murray, the
-innkeeper, was about to give a New Year supper and dance
-to the lads and lasses of the neighbourhood, he made no
-scruple about hinting plainly that he would be glad of an
-invitation to join that festive party.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Not if I'm going to be anything of a wet blanket,' he
-said candidly. 'My dancing days are over, and I'm not
-much in the way of singing; but I'll tell them an American
-story; or I'll present them with a barrel of whisky—if that
-will keep the fun going.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I'm sure they'll be very glad, sir,' Ronald said, 'if ye
-just come and look on. When there's gentlemen at the
-Lodge, they generally come down to hear the pipes, and
-the young gentlemen have a dance too.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What night did you say?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Monday next, sir.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, he had only intended remaining here for a day or
-two, to see what the place was like; but this temptation
-was too great. Here was a famous opportunity for the
-pursuit of his favourite study—the study of life and manners.
-This, had Ronald but known it, was the constant and
-engrossing occupation that enabled this contented traveller
-to accept with equanimity the ill-luck of kelt-catching; it
-was a hobby he could carry about with him everywhere;
-it gave a continuous interest to every hour of his life. He
-cared little for the analyses of science; he cared less for
-philosophical systems; metaphysics he laughed at; but
-men and women—the problems of their lives and surroundings,
-their diverse fortunes and aspirations and dealings
-with each other—that was the one and constant subject
-that engrossed his interest. No doubt there was a little
-more than this; it was not merely as an abstract study
-that he was so fond of getting to know how people lived.
-The fact was that, even after having made ample provision
-for his family, he still remained possessed of a large fortune;
-his own expenditure was moderate; and he liked to go
-about with the consciousness that here or there, as occasion
-served, he could play the part of a little Providence. It
-was a harmless vanity; moreover, he was a shrewd man,
-not likely to be deceived by spurious appeals for charity.
-Many was the young artist whom he had introduced to
-buyers; many the young clerk whom he had helped to a
-better situation; more than one young woman in the
-humblest of circumstances had suddenly found herself
-enabled to purchase her wedding outfit (with a trifle over,
-towards the giving her greater value in her lover's eyes),
-through the mysterious benevolence of some unknown
-benefactor. This man had been brought up in a country
-where every one is restlessly pushing forward; and being
-possessed of abundant means, and a friendly disposition,
-it seemed the most natural thing in the world that here or
-there, at a fitting opportunity, he should lend a helping
-hand. And there was always this possibility present to
-him—this sense of power—as he made those minute
-inquiries of his into the conditions of the lives of those
-amongst whom he chanced to be living.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The short winter day was drawing to a close; the
-brilliant steely blue of the driven water had given place
-to a livid gray; and the faint gleams of saffron-yellow
-were dying out in the western skies.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Suppose we'd better be going home now,' Mr. Hodson
-remarked at a venture, and with no great disappointment in
-his tone.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I'm afraid, sir, there's no much chance now,' Ronald said.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'We must call again; they're not at home to-day,' the
-other remarked, and began with much complacency to reel
-in one of the lines.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He was doing so slowly, and the men were as slowly
-pulling in for the shore in the gathering dusk, when </span><em class="italics">whirr!</em><span>
-went the other reel. The loud and sudden shriek in this
-silence was a startling thing; and no less so was the
-springing into the air—at apparently an immense distance
-away—of some creature, kelt or salmon, that fell into the water
-again with a mighty splash. Instinctively Mr. Hodson had
-gripped this rod, and passed the other one he had been
-reeling in to Strang. It was an anxious moment. </span><em class="italics">Whirr!</em><span>
-went another dozen yards of line; and again the fish sprang
-into the air—this time plainly visible.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'A clean fish, sir! a clean fish!' was the welcome cry.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But there was no time to hazard doubts or ask questions;
-this sudden visitor at the end of the line had not at all
-made up his mind to be easily captured. First of all he
-came sailing in quietly towards the boat, giving the
-fisherman all he could do to reel in and keep a strain on him;
-then he whirled out the line so suddenly that the rod was
-nearly bent double; and then, in deep water, he kept
-persistently sulking and boring, refusing to yield an inch.
-This was a temporary respite.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, now, is this one all right?' Mr. Hodson called
-out—but he was rather bewildered, for he knew not what
-this violent beast might not be after next, and the gathering
-darkness looked strange, the shadows of Clebrig overhead
-seeming to blot out the sky.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'A clean fish, sir,' was the confident answer.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No doubt o' that, sir,' even the melancholy Duncan
-admitted; for he foresaw a dram now, if not a tip in
-actual money.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Then slowly and slowly the salmon began to yield to
-the strain on him—which was considerable, for this was the
-heavier of the two rods—and quickly the line was got in,
-the pliant curve of the rod remaining always the same;
-while Mr. Hodson flattered himself that he was doing very
-well now, and that he was surely becoming the master of
-the situation. But the next instant something happened
-that his mind was not rapid enough to comprehend:
-something dreadful and horrible and sudden: there was a
-whirring out of the reel so rapid that he had to lower the
-point of the rod almost to the water; then the fish made
-one flashing spring along the surface—and this time he saw
-the creature, a gleam of silver in the dusk—and then, to
-his unspeakable dismay and mortification, he felt the line
-quite slack. He did utter a little monosyllable.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'He's off, sir,' the melancholy gillie said in a tone of
-sad resignation.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Not a bit, sir, not a bit! Reel in, quick!' Ronald
-called to him: and the fisherman had sense enough to
-throw the rod as far back as he could to see if there was
-yet some strain on it. Undoubtedly the fish was still
-there. Moreover, this last cantrip seemed to have taken
-the spirit out of him. By and by, with a strong, steady
-strain on him, he suffered himself to be guided more
-and more towards the boat, until, now and again, they
-could see a faint gleam in the dark water; and now
-Ronald had relinquished his oar, and was crouching down
-in the stern—this time not with the landing-net in his
-hand, but with the bright steel clip just resting on the
-gunwale.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'He's showing the white feather now, sir; give him a
-little more of the butt.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>However, he had not quite given in yet: each time he
-came in sight of the boat he would make another ineffectual
-rush, but rarely getting down deeper than three or four
-yards. And then, with a short line and the butt well
-towards him, he began to make slow semicircles this way
-and that; and always he was being steadily hauled nearer
-the coble; until with one quick dip and powerful upward
-pull Ronald had got him transfixed on the gaff and
-landed—the huge, gleaming, beautiful silver creature!—in the
-bottom of the boat.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well done, sir!—a clean fish!—a beauty—the first
-caught in Scotland this year, I know!'—these were the
-exclamations he heard now; but he scarcely knew how it
-had all happened, for he had been more excited than he
-was aware of. He felt a vague and general sense of
-satisfaction; wanted to give the men a glass of whisky, and had
-none to give them; thought that the capture of a salmon
-was a noble thing; would have liked his daughter Carry
-to hear the tidings at once; and had a kind of general
-purpose to devote the rest of that year to salmon-fishing in
-the Highlands. From this entrancement he was awakened
-by a dispute between the two men as to the size of the fish.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'He's twelve pounds, and no more,' the melancholy
-Duncan said, eyeing him all over.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Look at his shoulders, man,' Ronald rejoined. 'Fourteen
-pounds if he's an ounce. Duncan, lad, ye've been
-put off your guessing by the sight of the kelt.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'He's a good fish whateffer,' Duncan was constrained
-to admit—for he still foresaw that prospect of a dram when
-they returned to the inn, with perhaps a more substantial
-handselling of good luck.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Of course, they could do no more fishing that afternoon,
-for it was nearly dark; but it was wonderful how the
-capture of this single salmon seemed to raise the spirits of
-the little party as they got ashore and walked home. There
-was a kind of excitement in the evening air. They talked
-in a rapid and eager way—about what the fish had done;
-what were the chances of such and such a rush; the
-probable length of time it had been up from the sea; the
-beauty of its shape; the smallness of its head; the
-freshness of its colour, and so forth—and there was a kind of
-jubilation abroad. The first fish caught in Scotland that
-year!—of course, it must be packed forthwith and sent
-south to his daughter Carry and her friends. And Mr. Hodson
-was quite facetious with the pretty Nelly when she
-came in to lay the table for dinner; and would have her
-say whether she had not yet fixed her mind on one or other
-of these young fellows around. As for the small hamlet of
-Inver-Mudal, it was about as solitary and forlorn a
-habitation as any to be found in the wilds of northern Scotland;
-and he was there all by himself; but with the blazing
-peat-fire, and the brilliant white cloth on the dinner-table, and
-the consciousness that the firm, stout-shouldered, clean-run
-fourteen-pounder was lying in the dairy on a slab of cold
-stone, he considered that Inver-Mudal was a most enjoyable
-and sociable and comfortable place, and that he had not
-felt himself so snug and so much at home for many and
-many a day.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst" id="a-letter"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER IV.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">A LETTER.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>After dinner he found himself with a pretty long evening
-before him, and thought he could not do better than
-devote the major part of it to writing to his daughter. He
-would not confess to himself that he wanted her to know
-at once that he had caught his first salmon; that was but
-a trivial incident in the life of a philosopher and student
-of mankind; still she would be glad to hear of his
-adventures; and it was not an unpleasant way of passing the
-time. So he wrote as follows:—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'MY DARLING CARRY—You will be rejoiced to learn that
-I have discovered a harbour of refuge for you, where that
-minute organ you call your mind may lay aside its heaviest
-load of trouble. Here, at last, is one corner of Europe where
-you need have no fear of anybody mistaking you for one
-of the Boston girls of fiction; indeed you might go about
-all day talking your beloved Texas with impunity; although,
-my dear young lady, that is a habit you would do well to
-drop, for sooner or later it will get you into trouble when
-you are least expecting it. But short of scalping children
-or using a bowie-knife for a fork, I think you might do
-or say anything you pleased here; it is the most out-of-the-world
-sort of place; a community of fifteen or twenty, I
-should guess, hidden away in a hole of a valley, and
-separated from the rest of the universe by great ranges of
-mountains and interminable miles of moorland. The people
-seem very friendly, but shy; and I don't quite catch on to
-them yet, for their speech bothers me—scarcely any two
-of them seem to have the same accent; but I hope to get
-to know something more about them next Monday, when
-they have a New Year celebration, which I am invited to
-the same. Would you like to join in? By all means come
-if you care to; the station is Lairg; wire, and I will meet
-you there. You will miss the wild excitement of paying
-afternoon calls and drinking tea; but you will get sunlight
-and fresh air into your lungs. The talk about the fierce
-weather is all nonsense. There is a sprinkling of snow on
-the higher hills, but the temperature is quite agreeable.
-In any case I expect you to come here with me in March,
-when the salmon-fishing will begin in earnest; and I have
-no doubt you will have made the acquaintance of the
-whole of the people in a couple of days, shy as they are.
-There is another point I have not forgotten. As you seem
-determined to set yourself up for your lifetime with
-reminiscences of your travels in Europe, I have had to consider
-what you could carry away from here. I am afraid that
-Inver-Mudal jewellery wouldn't make much of a show;
-and I haven't seen any shell necklaces or silk scarves or
-blue pots about. But what about a Highland maid? I
-suppose the N.Y. Customs officers wouldn't charge much
-for that article of </span><em class="italics">vertu</em><span>. Now the maid who waits on me
-here is very pretty and gentle in manner; and I suppose
-she could be induced to go—for a proper consideration;
-and you could begin the training of her now, and have her
-quite accomplished by the time we got home. Sounds
-rather like slavery, don't it?—but she would be going to
-the land of the free, and the banner would wave over her.
-She gets eighty dollars a year and her board; I'd go better
-than that, if you took a fancy to her.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But the most remarkable person here—perhaps it is
-the contrast between his personal abilities and his position
-that is the striking thing—is a deerstalker and gamekeeper
-whom they familiarly call Ronald; and I confess that,
-with all I had heard of the intelligence of the Scotch
-peasantry, this fellow, before I had been talking with him
-ten minutes, rather made me open my eyes. And yet,
-looking back over the different subjects we fell upon, I
-don't know that he said anything so very remarkable on
-any one of them. I think it is rather the personal character
-of the man that is impressive—the manliness and independence
-of his judgment, and yet his readiness to consider
-the other side if you can convince him; his frank (and, I
-should say, foolish) recognition of the differences of social
-position; and then a kind of curious self-respect he has
-which refuses to allow him to become quite friendly, though
-you may be willing enough to forget that you are talking
-of taking a shooting on which he is one of the </span><em class="italics">employés</em><span>,
-and anxious only to converse with him as man to man.
-I'm afraid this is rather mixed, but you would have to see
-him to understand quite well what manner of person he is—a
-good-looking fellow too, well knit together, with a
-keen, hard face, full of life and a half-concealed force of
-humour. I should judge he would make a pretty fair king
-of good company in the unrestrained intercourse of a few
-boon companions; and I imagine he has a hard head if
-there should be any drinking going on. What to do with
-him I don't know. It is absurd he should be where he is.
-His brother has been to college, taken his degree, and is
-now in the Scotch Church somewhere. But this fellow
-seems quite content to trap foxes and shoot gray crows,
-and, in the autumn, look after the grouse-shooting and
-deerstalking of other people. A man of his brains would
-not be in that position for a fortnight in our country.
-Here everything is fixed. He thinks it is </span><em class="italics">natural</em><span> for him
-to be in a subservient position. And yet there is a curious
-independence about the fellow; I don't know what inducement
-I could put before him to get him out of it. Suppose
-we said, "Come you with us to America, and we'll run
-you for President;" I'm afraid he'd quote Kingsley in our
-face, and be off to "where the dun deer lie." In fact his
-reverence for the star-spangled banner appears to be of a
-mitigated description. I found he knew more than I
-expected about our wire-pulling gentry at home; but then,
-on the other hand, I discovered that he knew nothing
-about the necessity of protecting the industries of a young
-country beyond what he had read in the English papers,
-and you know what high old Mother Hubbardism that is.
-Now I want to do something for this fellow, and don't know
-how. He's too good a man to be thrown away—a kind
-of upper servant, as it were, of his lordship. He has
-plenty of ability and he has plenty of knowledge in a dozen
-different directions, if they could only be </span><em class="italics">applied</em><span>. But
-then he is a dogged kind of a creature—he is not pliant;
-if you can show him sufficient reason for changing he
-might change, otherwise not one inch will he budge. What
-is the inducement to be? It is useless offering him an
-allotment of land in Nebraska; here he has miles and
-miles of the most picturesque territory conceivable, of
-which, save for a month or two in the autumn, he is the
-absolute master. He enjoys an ownership over these hills
-and moors and lochs more obvious than that of the Duke
-himself; he would not exchange that for the possession of a
-bit of table-land on the Platte Valley, unless he were a fool,
-and that he is far from being. The Presidentship? Well, I
-waved your beloved banner over him, but he didn't enthuse
-worth a cent. However, I must cast about and see what is
-to be done with him, for I am really interested in the man.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>At this moment there was a tapping at the door, and
-Nelly appeared with a huge armful of peats, which she
-began to build up dexterously in the fireplace, always
-leaving a central funnel open.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Say, my girl, when will this letter go south?' Mr. Hodson
-asked.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'To-morrow moarning,' was the answer.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And the fish, too?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes, sir, by the mail cart.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Has Duncan packed it in the rushes yet?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh no, sir, Ronald will do that; he can do it better
-as any of them; he would not let any one else do it, for
-they're saying it iss the first fish of the year, and he's very
-proud of your getting the fish, sir.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'</span><em class="italics">Ich auch!</em><span>' observed Mr. Hodson to himself; and he
-would probably have continued the conversation, but that
-suddenly a strange noise was heard, coming from some
-distant part of the inn—a harsh, high, note, all in monotone.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What's that now, Nelly?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It will be Ronald tuning his pipes,' said she, as she
-was going to the door.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, he can play the pipes too?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Indeed, yes, sir; and better as any in Sutherland, I
-hef heard them say,' she added.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Just as she opened the door the drones and chanter
-broke away into a shrill and lively march that seemed to
-flood the house with its penetrating tones.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I think it's "Dornoch Links" he's playing,' Nelly said,
-with a quiet smile, 'for there's some of the fisher-lads come
-through on their way to Tongue.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She left then; but the solitary occupant of the sitting-room
-thought he could not do better than go to the door
-and listen for a while to this strange sort of music, which
-he had never heard played properly before. And while he
-could scarcely tell one tune from another except by the
-time—the slow, wailing, melancholy Lament, for example,
-was easily enough distinguished from the bright and lively
-Strathspey—here and there occurred an air—the '79th's
-Farewell,' or the 'Barren Rocks of Aden,' or the 'Pibroch
-of Donald Dhu,' had he but known the names of them—which
-had a stately and martial ring about it; he guessed
-that it was meant to lead the tramp of soldiers. And he
-said to himself—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Here, now, is this fellow, who might be piper to a
-Highland regiment, and I daresay all the use he makes of
-his skill is to walk up and down outside the dining-room
-window of the Lodge and play to a lot of white-kneed
-Englishmen when they come down for the autumn shooting.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He returned to his letter.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I have the honour to inform you that the first salmon
-caught on any Scotch loch this year was caught by me this
-afternoon, and to-morrow will be on its way to you. If
-you don't believe the story, look at the salmon itself for
-evidence. And as regards this loch-fishing, it appears to
-me you might have a turn at it when we come up in March—taking
-one of the two rods; a little practice with Indian
-clubs meanwhile would enable you to make a better fight
-of it when you have to keep a continuous strain on a
-fourteen-pound fish for twenty minutes or half an hour.
-You must have some amusement or occupation; for there
-is no society—except, by the way, the doctor's daughter,
-who might be a companion for you. I have not seen her
-yet; but the handmaiden I have mentioned above informs
-me that she is "a ferry pretty young lady, and ferry much
-thought of, and of a ferry great family too." I should not
-imagine, however, that her Highland pride of blood would
-bar the way against your making her acquaintance; her
-father is merely the parish doctor—or rather, the district
-doctor, for he has either two or three parishes to look
-after—and I don't suppose his emoluments are colossal. They
-have a pretty cottage; it is the swell feature of the village,
-if you can call the few small and widely scattered houses a
-village. You could practise Texas talk on her all day
-long; I daresay she wouldn't know.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good-night; it's rather sleepy work being out in that
-boat in the cold. Good-night, good-night; and a kiss from
-the Herr Papa.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, by this time the fisher-lads had left the inn and
-were off on the way to Tongue—and glad enough to have
-a moonlight night for the weary trudge. Ronald remained
-behind for a while, drinking a glass of ale with the
-inn-keeper; and generally having to keep his wits about him,
-for there was a good deal of banter going on. Old John
-Murray was a facetious person, and would have it that Nelly
-was setting her cap at Ronald; while the blushing Nelly,
-for her part, declared that Ronald was nothing but a poor
-south-country body; while he in fair warfare had to retort
-that she was 'as Hielan's a Mull-drover.' The quarrel
-was not a deadly one; and when Ronald took up his pipes
-in order to go home, he called out to her in parting—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Nelly, lass, see you get the lads to clean out the barn
-ere Monday next; and put on your best ribbons, lassie;
-I'm thinking they'll be for having a spring o' Tullochgorum.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The pipes were over his shoulder as he walked away
-along the moonlit road; but he did not tune up; he had
-had enough playing for that evening. And be sure that in
-his mind there was no discontent because he had no
-allotment of land on the Platte Valley, nor yet a place in a
-Chicago bank, nor the glory of being pipe-major to a
-Highland regiment. He was perfectly content as he was; and
-knew naught of these things. If there was any matter
-troubling him—on this still and moonlight night, as he
-walked blithely along, inhaling the keen sweet air, and
-conscious of the companionship of the faithful Harry—it
-was that the jog-trot kind of tune he had invented for
-certain verses did not seem to have sufficient definiteness
-about it. But then the verses themselves—as they kept
-time to his tramp on the road—were careless and
-light-hearted enough:</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">The blossom was white on the blackthorn tree,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And the mavis was singing rarely;</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">When Meenie, Love Meenie, walked out wi' me,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">All in the springtime early.</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'Meenie, Love Meenie, your face let me see,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Meenie, come answer me fairly;</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Meenie, Love Meenie, will you wed me,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">All in the springtime early?'</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Meenie but laughed; and kentna the pain</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">That shot through my heart fu' sairly:</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'Kind sir, it's a maid that I would remain,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">All in the springtime early.'</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>And 'Hey, Harry, lad,' he was saying, as he entered
-the cottage and went into the little parlour, where a candle
-had been left burning, 'we'll have our supper together
-now; for between you and me I'm just as hungry as a gled.'</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst" id="beginnings"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER V.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">BEGINNINGS.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>Next day promised to give them sharper work on the loch.
-The weather had changed towards the morning; showers
-of hail had fallen; and now all the hills around—Ben
-Hee and Ben Hope and Ben Loyal—had their far peaks
-and shoulders powdered over, while the higher slopes
-and summit of the giant Clebrig were one solid mass of
-white. It was much colder, too; and the gusts of wind that
-came hurling along Strath Terry[#] struck down on the loch,
-spreading out like black fans, and driving the darkened
-water into curling crisp foam. It was a wild, changeable,
-blowy morning; sunlight and gloom intermingled; and
-ever the wind howled and moaned around the house, and
-the leafless trees outside bent and shivered before the
-wintry blast.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="small">[#] No doubt corrupted from </span><em class="italics small">Strath Tairibh</em><span class="small">,
-the Strath of the Bull.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>When the tall Highland lass brought in breakfast it
-appeared that the recusant gillie had not yet come down
-from Tongue; but it was no matter, she said; she would
-call Ronald. Now this exactly suited Mr. Hodson, who
-wanted to have some further speech with the young man—in
-view of certain far-reaching designs he had formed;
-and what better opportunity for talk than the placid trolling
-for salmon on the lake there? But courtesy demanded
-some small protest.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I am afraid I cannot ask him a second day,' he
-remarked.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh,' said she (for she did not wish the gentleman to
-imagine that she thought over much of the smart young
-keeper), 'he ought to be ferry glad if he can be of use
-to any one. He is jist amusing himself with the other
-lads.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Which was strictly true at this moment. On the little
-plateau outside Ronald's cottage two or three of them were
-standing together. They had got a heavy iron ball, to
-which was attached about a yard and a half of rope, and
-one after another was trying who could launch this ball the
-farthest, after swinging it three or four times round his
-head. It came to Ronald's turn. He was not the most
-thick-set of those young fellows; but he was wiry and
-muscular. He caught the rope with both hands, swung
-the heavy weight round his head some four or five times—his
-teeth getting ever and ever more firmly clenched the
-while—and then away went the iron ball through the air,
-not only far outstripping all previous efforts, but unluckily
-landing in a wheelbarrow and smashing sadly a jacket
-which one of the lads had thrown there when he entered
-upon this competition. When he somewhat ruefully took
-up the rent garment, there was much ironical laughing;
-perhaps that was the reason that none of them heard Nelly
-calling.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald!'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The tall, slim Highland maid was pretty angry by this
-time. She had come out of the house without any
-head-gear on; and the cold wind was blowing her yellow hair
-about her eyes; and she was indignant that she had to
-walk so far before attracting the attention of those idle lads.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald, do you hear!' she called; and she would not
-move another yard towards them.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then he happened to notice her.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, lass, what is't ye want?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Come away at once!' she called, in not the most
-friendly way. 'The gentleman wants you to go down to
-the loch.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But he was the most good-natured of all these young
-fellows; the lasses about ordered him this way or that just
-as they pleased.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What!' he called to her, 'hasna Fraser come down
-from Tongue yet?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, he has not.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Bless us; the whisky must have been strong,' said he,
-as he picked up his jacket. 'I'll be there in a minute,
-Nelly.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And so it was that when Mr. Hodson went into the
-little front hall, he found everything in trim readiness for
-getting down to the loch—the proper minnows selected;
-traces tried; luncheon packed; and his heavy waterproof
-coat slung over Ronald's arm.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Seems you think I can't carry my own coat?' Mr. Hodson
-said; for he did not like to see this man do anything
-in the shape of servant work; whereas Ronald performed
-these little offices quite naturally and as a matter of
-course.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I'll take it, sir,' said he; 'and if you're ready now we'll
-be off. Come along, Duncan.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And he was striding away with his long deerstalker step,
-when Mr. Hodson stopped him.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Wait a bit, man; I will walk down to the loch with you.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>So Duncan went on, and the American and Ronald
-followed.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Sharp this morning.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Rayther sharp.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But this must be a very healthy life of yours—out in
-the fresh air always—plenty of exercise—and so forth.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Just the healthiest possible, sir.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But monotonous a little?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>''Deed no, sir. A keeper need never be idle if he
-minds his business; there's always something new on hand.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Then we'll say it is a very enjoyable life, so long as
-your health lasts, and you are fit for the work?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>This was apparently a question.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, sir, the head stalker on the Rothie-Mount forest
-is seventy-two years of age; and there is not one of the
-young lads smarter on the hill than he is.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'An exception, doubtless. The betting is all against
-your matching that record. Well, take your own case:
-what have you to look forward to as the result of all your
-years of labour? I agree with you that in the meantime it
-is all very fine; I can understand the fascination of it, even,
-and the interest you have in becoming acquainted with the
-habits of the various creatures, and so forth. Oh yes, I
-admit that—the healthiness of the life, and the interest of
-it; and I daresay you get more enjoyment out of the
-shooting and stalking than Lord Ailine, who pays such a
-preposterous price for it. But say we give you a fairly long
-lease of health and strength sufficient for the work: we'll
-take you at sixty; what then? Something happens—rheumatism,
-a broken leg, anything—that cripples you. You
-are superseded; you are out of the running; what is to
-become of you?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, sir,' said Ronald instantly, 'I'm thinking his
-lordship wouldna think twice about giving a pension to a
-man that had worked for him as long as that.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>It was a luckless answer. For Mr. Hodson, whose first
-article of belief was that all men are born equal, had come
-to Europe with a positive resentment against the very
-existence of lords, and a detestation of any social system
-that awarded them position and prestige merely on account
-of the accident of their birth. And what did he find now?
-Here was a young fellow of strong natural character, of
-marked ability, and fairly independent spirit, so corrupted
-by this pernicious system that he looked forward quite
-naturally to being helped in his old age by his lordship—by
-one of those creatures who still wore the tags and rags
-of an obsolete feudalism, and were supposed to 'protect'
-their vassals. The House of Peers had a pretty bad time
-of it during the next few minutes; if the tall, sallow-faced,
-gray-eyed man talked with little vehemence, his slow,
-staccato sentences had a good deal of keen irony in them.
-Ronald listened respectfully. And perhaps the lecture was
-all the more severe that the lecturer had but little opportunity
-of delivering it in his own domestic circle. Truly it
-was hard that his pet grievance won for him nothing but a
-sarcastic sympathy there; and that it was his own daughter
-who flouted him with jibes and jeers.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Why, you know, pappa dear,' she would say as she
-stood at the window of their hotel in Piccadilly, and
-watched the carriages passing to and fro beneath her,
-'lords may be bad enough, but you know they're not half
-as bad as the mosquitoes are at home. They don't worry
-one half as much; seems to me you might live in this
-country a considerable time and never be worried by one
-of them. Why, that's the worst of it. When I left home,
-I thought the earls and marquises would just be crowding
-us; and they don't seem to come along at all. I confess
-they are a mean lot. Don't they know well enough that
-the first thing ['the fooist thing,' she said, of course; but
-her accent sounded quite quaint and pretty if you happened
-to be looking at the pretty, soft, opaque, dark eyes] the
-first thing an American girl has to do when she gets to
-Europe is to have a lord propose to her, and to reject him?
-But how can I? They won't come along! It's just too
-horrid for anything; for of course when I go back home
-they'll say—"It's because you're not a Boston girl.
-London's full of lords; but it's only Boston girls they run
-after; and, poor things, they and their coronets are always
-being rejected. The noble pride of a Republican country;
-wave the banner!"'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But here Mr. Hodson met with no such ill-timed and
-flippant opposition. Ronald the keeper listened
-respectfully, and only spoke when spoken to; perhaps the
-abstract question did not interest him. But when it came
-to the downright inquiry as to whether he, Strang,
-considered his master, Lord Ailine, to be in any way whatever
-a better man than himself, his answer was prompt.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes, sir, he is,' he said, as they walked leisurely along
-the road. 'He is a better man than me by two inches
-round the chest, as I should guess. Why, sir, the time
-that I hurt my kneecap, one night we were coming down
-Ben Strua, our two selves, nothing would hinder his
-lordship but he must carry me on his back all the way
-down the hill and across the burn till we reached the
-shepherd's bothy. Ay, and the burn in spate; and the
-night as dark as pitch; one wrong step on the swing-bridge,
-and both of us were gone. There's Peter McEachran at
-Tongue, that some of them think's the strongest man in
-these parts; and I offered to bet him five shillings he
-wouldna carry me across that bridge—let alone down the
-hill—on a dark night. But would he try? Not a bit, sir.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I should think Peter Mac—what's his name?—was a
-wiser man than to risk his neck for five shillings,'
-Mr. Hodson said drily. 'And you—you would risk
-yours—for what?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, they were saying things about his lordship,' Ronald
-said carelessly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Then he is not worshipped as a divinity by everybody?'
-the American said shrewdly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But the keeper answered, with much nonchalance—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I suppose he has his ill-wishers and his well-wishers,
-like most other folk; and I suppose, like most other folk,
-he doesna pay ower great attention to what people say of
-him.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>They did not pursue the subject further at this moment,
-for a turn of the road brought them suddenly within sight
-of a stranger, and the appearance of a stranger in these
-parts was an event demanding silence and a concentration
-of interest. Of course, to Ronald Strang Miss Meenie
-Douglas was no stranger; but she was obviously a source
-of some embarrassment: the instant he caught sight of her
-his face reddened, and as she approached he kept his eyes
-fixed on the ground. It was not that he was ashamed she
-should see him acting the part of a gillie; for that he did
-not care in the least, it was as much a part of his work as
-anything else; what vexed him was lest some sign of
-recognition should show the stranger gentleman that Miss
-Douglas had formed the acquaintance of the person who
-was at the moment carrying his waterproof and his
-fishing-rods. And he hoped that Meenie would have the sense to
-go by without taking any notice of him; and he kept his
-eyes on the road, and walked forward in silence.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Who is she?' Mr. Hodson asked, in an undertone,
-and with some astonishment, for he had no idea there
-was any such neatly-dressed and pretty young lady in the
-neighbourhood.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Ronald did not answer, and they drew nearer. Indeed,
-Meenie was looking quite beautiful this morning; for the
-cold air had brightened up the colour in her cheeks; and
-the wide-apart blue-gray eyes were clear and full of light;
-and her brown hair, if it was tightly braided and bound
-behind, had in front been blown about a little by the wind,
-and here and there a stray curl appeared on the fair white
-forehead. And then again her winter clothing seemed to
-suit the slight and graceful figure; she looked altogether
-warm, and furry, and nice, and comfortable; and there
-was a sensible air about her dress—the blue serge skirt,
-the tight-fitting sealskin coat (but this was a present from
-the laird of Glengask and Orosay) and the little brown
-velvet hat with its wing of ptarmigan plumage (this was a
-present not from Glengask, and probably was not of the
-value of three halfpence, but she wore it, nevertheless,
-when she was at her smartest). And if Ronald thought
-she was going to pass him by without a word, he was
-mistaken. It was not her way. As she met them, one
-swift glance of her Highland eyes was all she bestowed on
-the stranger; then she said, pleasantly, as she passed—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good morning, Ronald.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He was forced to look up.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good morning, Miss Douglas,' said he, with studied
-respect; and they went on.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Miss Douglas?' Mr. Hodson repeated, as soon as
-they were beyond hearing. 'The doctor's daughter, I
-presume?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes, sir.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But—but—I had no idea—why, she is a most uncommonly
-pretty young lady—one of the most interesting
-faces I have seen for many a day. You did not say there
-was such a charming young person in the place; why, she
-adds a new interest altogether; I fancy my daughter won't
-be long in making her acquaintance when she comes here.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Indeed, as they got down to the boat, and the two men
-set about getting the rods ready, all his talk was about the
-pretty young lady he had seen; and he scarcely noticed
-that Ronald, in answering these questions, showed a very
-marked reserve. He could not be got to speak of her
-except in curt answers; perhaps he did not like to have
-the melancholy Duncan listening; at all events, he showed
-a quite absorbing interest in the phantom minnows, and
-traces, and what not. Moreover, when they got into the
-boat, there was but little opportunity for conversation.
-The day had become more and more squally; there was a
-considerable sea on; it was all the two men could do to
-keep sufficient way on the coble so that the phantoms
-should spin properly. Then every few minutes a rain-cloud
-would come drifting across—at first mysterious and awful,
-as if the whole world were sinking into darkness; then a
-few big drops would patter about; then down came the
-sharp clattering shower, only to be followed by a marvellous
-clearing up again, and a burst of watery sunshine along the
-Clebrig slopes. But these changes kept Mr. Hodson
-employed in sheltering himself from the rain while it lasted,
-and then getting off his waterproof again lest perchance
-there might come a salmon at one of the lines. That event
-did actually occur; and when they least expected it. In
-one of the heaviest of the squalls they had such a fight to
-get the boat along that the minnows, sinking somewhat,
-caught the bottom. Of course the rowers had to back
-down—or rather to drift down—to get the lines released;
-and altogether the prospect of affairs seemed so unpromising—the
-heavens darkening with further rain, the wind blowing
-in sharper and sharper gusts, and the water coming heavily
-over the bows—that Mr. Hodson called out that, as soon
-as he had got the minnows free, they might as well run the
-coble on to the land, and wait for calmer weather. But
-this was a lee shore. The men were willing to give up for
-a time—but not until they had got to the sheltered side;
-so he was counselled to put out the lines again, slowly,
-and they began anew their fight against the gale. Well,
-he was actually paying out the first of the lines with his
-hand, when suddenly—and without any of the preliminary
-warnings that usually tell of a salmon being after a
-minnow—the line was snatched from his fingers, and out went the
-reel with that sharp long shriek that sends the whole boat's
-crew into an excitement of expectation. But there was
-no spring into the air away along there in the darkened
-and plunging waters; as he rapidly got in his line, he
-knew only of a dull and heavy strain; and the men had
-to keep on with their hard pulling against the wind, for
-the fish seemed following the boat in this sulky and heavy
-fashion.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What do you think?' Mr. Hodson said, half turning
-round, and not giving plainer voice to his anxieties.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I'm afraid it's a kelt, sir,' the dismal gillie answered.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Looks like it, don't it?' the fisherman said rather
-dolefully; for the fish showed no sign of life whatever.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'We'll see by and by,' was Ronald's prudent answer;
-but even he was doubtful; the only good feature being
-that, if the fish showed no fight, at least he kept a heavy
-strain on the rod.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But it seemed as if everything was conspiring against
-them. The black heavens above them burst into a torrent
-of rain; and with that came a squall that tore the water
-white, and blew them down on the fish in spite of their
-hardest efforts. Shorter and shorter grew the line as it was
-rapidly got in, and still the fish did not show; it was now
-so near to the boat that any sudden movement on its part
-was almost certain to produce a catastrophe. Nor could
-they drive the boat ashore; the beach was here a mass of
-sharp stones and rocks; in three minutes the coble would
-have been stove in. With faces set hard the two men
-pulled and pulled against the storm of wind and rain; and
-Mr. Hodson—seated now, for he dared not attempt to stand
-up, the boat was being thrown about so by the heavy
-waves—could only get in a little more line when he had the
-chance, and look helplessly on, and wait.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Then, all of a sudden, there was a long shrill shriek—heard
-loud above the din of wind and water—continued
-and continued, and in vain he tried to arrest this wild rush;
-and then, some seventy or eighty yards away, there was a
-great white splash among the rushing black waves—and
-another—and another—and then a further whirling out of
-some fifteen yards of line, until he glanced with alarm at
-the slender quantity left on the reel. But presently he
-began to get some in again; the men were glad to let the
-boat drift down slowly; harder and harder he worked at
-the big reel, and at last he came to fighting terms with the
-animal—kelt or salmon, as it might be—with some five-and-twenty
-yards out, and the squall moderating a little, so that
-the men could keep the boat as they wanted. Nay, he
-ventured to stand up now, wedging his legs and feet so that
-he should not be suddenly thrown overboard; and it was
-quite evident, from the serious purpose of his face, that all
-possibility of this being a kelt had now been thrown aside.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No kelt is he, Ronald?' he called aloud.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Not a bit, sir! There's no kelt about that one. But
-give him time; he's a good big fish, or I'm sore mistaken.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>They were far from the end yet, however. The long rush
-and the splashing had exhausted him for a while; and the
-fisherman, with a firm application of the butt, thought he
-could make the fish show himself; but still he kept boring
-steadily down, sometimes making little angry rushes of a
-dozen yards or so. And then all of a sudden began some
-wild cantrips. There was another rush of ten or a dozen
-yards; and a clear leap into the air—a beautiful, great,
-silvery creature he looked amid all this hurrying gloom;
-and then another downward rush; and then he came to the
-surface again, and shook and tugged and struck with his tail
-until the water was foaming white about him. These were
-a few terribly anxious seconds, but all went happily by,
-and then it was felt that the worst of the fighting was over.
-After that there was but the sullen refusal to come near
-the boat—the short sheering off whenever he saw it or one
-of the oars; but now, in the slow curves through the water,
-he was beginning to show the gleam of his side; and
-Ronald was crouching down in the stern, gaff in hand.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Steady, sir, steady,' he was saying, with his eye on
-those slow circles; 'give him time, he's no done yet; a
-heavy fish, sir—a good fish that—twenty pounds, I'm
-thinking—come along, my beauty, come along—</span><em class="italics">the butt
-now, sir!</em><span>' And then, as the great gleaming fish, head up,
-came sheering along on its side, there was a quick dive of
-the steel clip, and the next second the splendid creature
-was in the bottom of the coble.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Mr. Hodson sank down on to his seat; it had been a long
-fight—over half an hour; he was exhausted with the strain
-of keeping himself balanced; and he was also (what he had
-not perceived in this long spell of excitement) wet to the
-skin. He pulled out a spirit-flask from the pocket of his
-waterproof—as ill-luck would have it, that useful garment
-happened to be lying in the bottom of the boat when the
-fight began—and gave the two men a liberal dram; he
-then took a sip himself; and when there had been a general
-quarrel over the size of the fish—nineteen the lowest,
-twenty-two the highest guess—they began to consider what
-they ought to do next. The weather looked very ugly. It
-was resolved to get up to the head of the loch anyhow,
-and there decide; and so the men took to their oars again,
-and began to force their way through the heavy and
-white-crested waves.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But long ere they had reached the head of the loch
-Mr. Hodson had become aware of a cold feeling about his
-shoulders and back, and quickly enough he came to the conclusion
-that sitting in an open boat, with clothes wet through,
-on a January day, did not promise sufficient happiness. He
-said they might put him ashore as soon as possible.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Indeed, sir, it's no much use going on in this weather,'
-Ronald said, 'unless maybe you were to try the fly.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I thought you said it was rather early for the fly.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Rayther early,' Ronald admitted.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Rawther,' said Duncan.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Anyhow,' observed Mr. Hodson, 'I don't feel like sitting
-in this boat any longer in wet clothes. I'm going back to
-the inn right now; maybe the afternoon will clear up—and
-then we might have another try.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>They got ashore at last, and Mr. Hodson at once started
-off for the inn; and when the two men had got the rods
-taken down, and the fish tied head and tail for the better
-carrying of it, they set out too. But Ronald seemed
-unusually depressed and silent. Where was the careless
-joke—the verse of an idle song—with which he was wont to
-brave the discomforts of wind and weather? The two men
-strode along without a word; and it was not likely that
-Duncan the dismal should be the first to break the silence.
-Nay, when they got to the inn, Ronald would not go in for
-a minute or two, as was his custom, to see the fish weighed
-and have a chat. He went on to his own cottage; got the
-key of the kennel; and presently he and the dogs were
-leaving the little scattered hamlet, taking the lonely
-moorland road that led away up the Mudal valley.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He knew not why he was so ill at ease; but something
-had gone wrong. Had his mind been disturbed and disquieted
-by the American gentleman's plainly hinting to him
-that he was living in a fool's paradise; and that old age, and
-illness, and the possible ingratitude of his master were things
-to be looked forward to? Or was it that the sudden
-meeting with Meenie, with this stranger looking on, seemed
-to have revealed to him all at once how far away she was
-from him? If she and he had met, as every day they did,
-and passed with the usual friendly greeting, it would all
-have been quite simple and ordinary enough; but with this
-stranger looking on,—and she appearing so beautiful and
-refined and neatly dressed, and wearing moreover the
-present given her by Glengask and Orosay—while he, on
-the other hand, was carrying the gentleman's waterproof
-and a bundle of rods—well, that was all different somehow.
-And why had she said 'Good-morning!' with such a pointed
-friendliness? He did not wish this stranger to imagine that
-Miss Douglas and he were even acquaintances. And then
-he thought that that very night he would burn all those
-stupid verses he had written about her; that secret and
-half-regretful joy of his—of imagining himself in a position
-that would entitle him to address her so—was all too daring
-and presuming. It is true, she wore the ptarmigan's wing
-she had begged him to get for her (and never in all the
-years had he so gladly sped up the Clebrig slopes as when
-she sent him on that errand), but that was a trifle; any
-young lady, if she wanted such a thing, would naturally
-ask the nearest gamekeeper. And then the other young
-lady—the American young lady—when she came, and
-made Meenie's acquaintance: would not they be much
-together? Meenie would be still farther and farther away
-then. He would himself have to keep studiously aloof, if
-in the generosity of her heart she wished to be as friendly
-as ever.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, these were not very bitter or tragic thoughts; and
-yet—and yet—there was something wrong. He scarcely
-knew what it was, but only that the little hamlet—as he
-returned to it after a long and solitary wandering—did not
-seem to be the simple and natural and happy place that it
-used to be. But one thing he was glad of. The second
-gillie had now arrived from Tongue. Consequently his
-services would no longer be needed in the coble; he would
-return to his own ways; and be his own master. And as
-for companions?—well, Clebrig and he had long been
-friends.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst" id="a-programme"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER VI.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">A PROGRAMME.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>That same evening little Maggie, having made herself as
-smart and neat as possible, went along the dark road to the
-doctor's house, was admitted, and forthwith passed upstairs
-to Miss Douglas's own room. It was an exceedingly small
-apartment; but on this cold winter night it looked remarkably
-warm and snug and bright, what with the red peats in
-the fireplace, and the brilliant little lamp on the table; and
-it was prettily decorated too, with evidences of feminine
-care and industry everywhere about. And Meenie herself
-was there—in her gown of plain blue serge; and apparently
-she had been busy, for the table was littered with patterns
-and designs and knitting-needles and what not, while a large
-mass of blue worsted was round the back of a chair, waiting
-for the winding.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Help me to clear the table, Maggie,' she said good-naturedly,
-when her visitor entered, 'and then we will get
-tea over: I declare I have so many things to think of that
-I am just driven daft.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then she said—with some touch of anger—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Do you know that I saw your brother—on a cold, wet
-day like this—and he was walking along the road, with his
-jacket open, and paying no heed at all to the weather?
-Maggie, why do you not make him take some care of
-himself? In January—and he goes about as if it were
-June! How would you like it if he were to catch a bad
-cold and have to take to his bed? Why do you not make
-him take care of himself?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'He would only laugh at me,' the little Maggie said
-ruefully. 'He doesna mind anything. I do my best to
-get his clothes dried when he comes in wet; but he doesna
-like to be bothered—especially if he's writing or reading;
-he says that a pipe keeps the harm away. I'm sure if you
-would speak to him, Meenie, he would take a great deal
-more care.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What, me!' the girl said—and there was a touch of
-colour in the pretty refined face; and then she added, with
-a good-humoured smile, 'No, he would not mind what I
-said, I know. But it is little matter; for with such a
-wilful man you can do nothing except by cunning. Do you
-see the wool there, Maggie?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She laughed; but the little, red-haired, freckled girl
-looked rather frightened.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh no, Meenie, I dare not take it,' she said. 'He
-would know I had not the money to buy all that wool; and
-then he would ask; and I should be scolded—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Nonsense, nonsense!' the other cried, in her friendly
-way. 'Do you think a man would ask any such questions?
-It would never occur to him at all! When the jersey is all
-knitted and complete, you will just say to him, "Ronald,
-here is a jersey that I have knitted for you all by myself;
-and you are to put it on whenever there is a cold morning;"
-and you will see he will think your knitting it yourself
-explains everything. Ask about the wool?—he will never
-think of such a thing. If you hang the jersey on the nail
-of his bedroom door, it will be all a matter of course; I
-should not wonder, now, if he forgot to say "Thank you."'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And then there is another thing,' Maggie said, rather
-timidly and wistfully. 'How am I to tell him that I knitted
-the jersey when you know that you will do the most of it?
-For it is always that; you did nearly all the socks that we
-gave to Ronald; and he thinks it was me.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But here the good humour left Meenie Douglas's face—that
-was suddenly grown red and embarrassed.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'How can you talk such foolishness?' she said, rather
-sharply. 'If I show you here or there how you are to go
-on, is that doing the knitting for you? I wonder you have
-no more sense, Maggie. Of course, I will have to begin
-the jersey for you; and if I cast on the stitches for the
-width of the neck, what is that? It is what any one would
-do for you—Mrs. Murray, or one of the girls at the inn.
-And I hope you are not going away with that idea in your
-head; or sooner or later you will be telling somebody that
-I am knitting a jersey for your brother—that would be a
-fine thing!'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>A timid appealing hand was put on her arm.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I am sure that Ronald would rather never see or hear
-of any jersey than have anything make you angry, Meenie.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The trouble was over in a moment: the girl was
-essentially quick and generous and kind-hearted; and this
-small lassie was about her only companion. Moreover, tea
-was brought in at this moment by the maidservant; and so
-the question of the proportion of work contributed by either
-of them to Ronald's woollen gear was put aside.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And what do you think of this now, Maggie?' the elder
-said, with some eagerness in her face and eyes. 'You know
-the great preparations they are making for Monday
-night—the long barn is to be cleared; and they are going to have
-a chimney made and a fireplace; and long tables all the
-way down, and wooden forms to sit on; and some of the
-lads, they say, are talking of a chandelier to be made out of
-hoops, and candles stuck all the way round. And all that
-trouble for the grown-up folk! Is it fair? Oh, it is quite
-absurd to have such a deal of trouble; and all for the
-grown-up people. Now, if Ronald would help me—and
-you know he is such a favourite he always has his own way
-with everybody—would it not be a fine thing to ask Mr. Murray
-to leave all those preparations as they are for a day
-or two—perhaps till Wednesday—and by that time we
-could have messages sent to the farms round about, and all
-the children brought in for a soirée? Why should the
-grown-up people have everything? And there would be
-nobody but ourselves,—that's Ronald and you and I,
-Maggie,—for the children would have more freedom and amusement
-that way—you see my father is not likely to be back
-by then, or we might ask him—and then, with nearly a
-week, we could send to Tongue for a great many
-things—and—and—have a splendid children's party just as fine as
-fine could be.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She was quite excited over this matter.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Look,' she said, going and fetching a sheet of paper
-which was written over in a bold, large hand (her own
-handwriting was small and neat enough, but this had been
-assumed for so important a public purpose); 'look at the
-programme—it is all guess work as yet, of course, for I
-have not asked Ronald; but I am sure he will help us;
-and if he says it is to be done, then everything will go
-right—they will keep the barn for us; and the people will send
-the children; and those of them who can't go back will stay
-the night at the inn. I have saved my pocket-money for
-months for it; but who could have expected such a chance—the
-barn all fitted up, and the fire to keep it warm, and
-the chandelier? There now, Maggie, what do you think?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The little Maggie took up the big sheet of paper, wondering;
-for all this was a wild and startling project amid
-the monotony of their life in this remote and small hamlet.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span>CHILDREN'S SOIREE.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><em class="italics">Inver-Mudal, Wednesday, January 23.</em></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span>MR. RONALD STRANG in the Chair.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span>PROGRAMME.</span></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><em class="italics">Psalm</em><span> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . </span><em class="italics">Old Hundredth</em><span>.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><em class="italics">Service of Tea and Cake.</em></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><em class="italics">Address</em><span> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAIRMAN.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><em class="italics">Service of Raisins.</em></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><em class="italics">Song</em><span> . . . 'My love she's but a lassie yet.' . . MR. RONALD STRANG.
-<br /></span><em class="italics">Reading</em><span> . . 'The Cameronian's Dream.' . . . . . . Miss M. DOUGLAS.
-<br /></span><em class="italics">Song</em><span> . . . 'O dinna cross the burn, Willie.' . . MR. RONALD STRANG.
-<br /></span><em class="italics">Pipe-Music</em><span> 'Lord Breadalbane's March.' . . . . . MR. RONALD STRANG.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><em class="italics">Service of Oranges.</em></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><em class="italics">Hymn</em><span> . . . 'Whither, pilgrims, are you going?' . . CHILDREN.
-<br /></span><em class="italics">Duet</em><span> . . . 'Huntingtower.' . . . . . . . . . . . . { Miss M. DOUGLAS
-<br /> { &amp; Miss M. STRANG.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>But at this point Maggie broke into pure affright.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, Meenie!' she cried—'how can I?—-before them all!'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But only before children!' was the quick remonstrance.
-'Would you have Ronald do everything? Why, look—an
-address—a song—a song—a march on the pipes—is he
-to have no rest at all?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But you, Meenie—you can sing so well and without
-trouble—I know I will spoil everything——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, no, you will spoil nothing; and we will get through
-very well.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ferry well,' she said, in spite of her Edinburgh birth;
-and she was evidently vastly proud of her skill in drawing
-up so brilliant and varied a programme. Maggie continued
-her reading—but now in some alarm:</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="noindent pfirst"><em class="italics">Song</em><span> . . . . 'The Laird o' Cockpen.' . . . . . MR. RONALD STRANG.
-<br /></span><em class="italics">Reading</em><span> . . 'Jeanie Morrison.' . . . . . . . Miss M. DOUGLAS.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><em class="italics">Service of Shortbread.</em></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><em class="italics">Song</em><span> . . . . 'Gloomy Winter's now awa'.' . . . MR. RONALD STRANG.
-<br /></span><em class="italics">Song</em><span> . . . . 'Auld Lang Syne.' . . . . . . . . THE COMPANY.
-<br /></span><em class="italics">Vote of thanks to the Chairman</em><span> . . . . . . . . Miss M. DOUGLAS.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><em class="italics">Finale.</em></p>
-<p class="noindent pnext"><em class="italics">Pipe-Music, 'Caidil gu lo'</em><span> (Sleep on till day) MR. RONALD STRANG.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>Meenie looked and laughed with pleasure; she was quite
-proud of her skill of arrangement.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But, Meenie,' her companion said, 'why have ye not
-put down a duet between you and Ronald? He can sing
-so well; and you; and that would be prettier far than
-anything. Do ye no mind the time we were a' away fishing
-at Loch Loyal; and we were walking back; and Ronald
-was telling us of what he saw in a theatre in Edinburgh?
-And when he told us about the young lady's sweetheart
-coming in a boat at night, and singing to her below the
-window, you knew what it was well enough—and you tried
-it together—oh! that was so fine! Will ye no ask him to
-sing that with ye?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Meenie's face flushed somewhat; and she would have
-evaded the question with a little laugh but that it was
-repeated. Whereupon she said—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Why, now, Maggie, you have such a memory! And I
-have no doubt there was nonsense going on as we were
-walking back from Loch Loyal—for a beautiful night it
-was, in the middle of summer, when there is no darkness
-at all in the skies all the night long. Oh yes, I remember
-it too; and very well; but it was amongst ourselves; we
-are not going to have any such nonsense before other
-people. And if we were to sing "O hush thee, my baby,"
-would not the children be thinking it was a hint for them
-to go away to bed? And besides, surely I have asked
-Ronald to do enough for us; do you not think he will be
-surprised, and perhaps angry, when he sees how often his
-name comes there?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Indeed no, I'm sure,' Maggie said promptly. 'There's
-just nothing that he wouldna do for you, Meenie.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But I will wait till I see him in a good humour,' said
-her friend, laughing, 'before I ask him for so much.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Mich,' she said; unawares she had caught up a good
-many of the local touches.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And do ye think ye could ever find him in an ill-humour
-wi' you?' Maggie said, almost reproachfully.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>There was no answer to the question; the programme
-was put aside.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Very well, then,' Meenie said, 'we will suppose that is
-settled. And what is next? Why, Maggie, if I had not
-the brain of a prime minister, I could never get through so
-many schemes. Oh, this is it: of course we shall be very
-much obliged to them if they lend us the barn and all its
-fittings and we should do something for them in return.
-And I am sure the lads will be thinking of nothing but the
-carpentering; and the lasses at the inn will be thinking
-only of the cooking of the supper, and their own ribbons
-and frocks. Now, Maggie, suppose you and I were to do
-something to make the barn look pretty; I am sure Ronald
-would cut us a lot of fir-branches, for there's nothing else
-just now; and we could fix them up all round the barn;
-and then—look here.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She had got a lot of large printed designs; and a heap
-of stiff paper of various colours.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'We will have to make paper flowers for them, because
-there's none growing just now; and very well they will look
-among the fir-branches. Oh yes, very well indeed. Red
-and white roses do not grow on fir-branches—it does not
-need the old man of Ross to tell us that; but they will
-look very well whatever; and then large orange lilies, and
-anything to make a bold show in so big a place. And if
-the lads are making a chandelier out of the hoops of a
-barrel, we will ask them to let us put red worsted round
-the hoops; that will look very well too. For we must
-do something to thank them, Maggie; and then, indeed,
-when it comes to our turn, we will have the chance too
-of looking at the decorations when we have the children's
-soirée.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Maggie looked up quickly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But, Meenie, you are coming to the party on Monday
-night too?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>There was no embarrassment on the beautiful, fine,
-gentle face. She only said—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, no one has asked me.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And the little Maggie flushed with shame and vexation.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Indeed, now! Did Ronald not speak to you about it?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, I have known about it for a long time,' she said
-lightly, 'and I was very glad to hear of it, for I thought it
-was a great chance for me to get the loan of the barn.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But you—you, Meenie—that they did not ask you first
-of all!' the younger girl cried. 'But it can only be that
-every one is expected to come—every one except the small
-children who canna sit up late. And I'm sure I did not
-expect to go; but Mr. Murray, he was joking and saying
-that I would have to dance the first dance wi' him; and
-Ronald said I might be there for a while. But—but—I'm
-no going if you're no going, Meenie.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But that is nonsense, Maggie,' the other said
-good-naturedly. 'Of course you must go. And I should like
-well enough——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I am sure Mr. Murray would put you at the head of
-the table—by his own side—and proud, too!' Maggie
-exclaimed warmly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And I am sure I should not wish anything like that,'
-Meenie said, laughing. 'I would far rather go with you.
-I would like to see some of the dancing.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, Meenie,' her companion said, with eyes full of
-earnestness, 'did you ever see Ronald dance the sword-dance?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, I have not, Maggie.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'They say there is none can do it like him. And if he
-would only go to the Highland meetings, he could win prizes
-and medals—and for the pipe-playing too, and the tossing
-the caber. There is not one of the lads can come near
-him; but it is not often that he tries; for he is not proud.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I am glad that he does not go to the Highland meetings,'
-Meenie said, rather quietly, and with her eyes cast down.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, he is not proud,' said Maggie, continuing (for she
-had but the one hero in all the world), 'although there is
-nothing he canna do better than any of them. There was
-one of the gentlemen said to him last year—the gentleman
-hadna been shooting very well the day before—he said,
-"Ronald, let one of the gillies look after the dogs to-day,
-and go you and bring your gun, and make up for my
-mistakes;" and when he came home in the evening, he
-said, "It was a clean day's shooting the day; we did not
-leave one wounded bird or hare behind us." And another
-gentleman was saying, "Ronald, if ye could sell your
-eye-sight, I would give ye five hundred pounds for't." And
-Duncan was saying that this gentleman that's come for the
-fishing, he doesna talk to Ronald about the salmon and the
-loch, but about everything in the country, and Ronald
-knows as well as him about such things. And his lordship,
-too, he writes to Ronald, "Dear Ronald," and quite
-friendly; and when he was going away he gave Ronald his
-own pipe, that has got a silver band on it, and his
-tobacco-pouch, with the letters of his name worked in silk. And
-there's not one can say that Ronald's proud.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, this was very idle talk; and moreover it was continued,
-for the red-haired and freckled little sister was never
-weary of relating the exploits of her handsome brother—the
-adventures he had had with wild-cats, and stags, and seals,
-and eagles, and the like; and, strangely enough, Miss
-Douglas showed no sign of impatience whatever. Nay, she
-listened with an interest that scarcely allowed her to
-interrupt with a word; and with satisfaction and approval, to
-judge by her expression; and all that she would say from
-time to time—and absently—was:</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But he is so careless, Maggie! Why don't you speak to
-him? You really must make him more heedful of himself.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>However, the night was going by; and Maggie's praises
-and recitals had come to an end. Meenie went down to
-the door to see her friend comfortably wrapped up; but
-there was no need of escort; the stars were shining clear,
-though the wind still howled blusteringly. And so they
-said good-bye; and Maggie went on through the dark to
-the cottage, thinking that Meenie Douglas was the most
-beautiful and sweet and warm-hearted companion she was
-ever likely to meet with through all her life, and wondering
-how it came about that Ronald and Mr. Murray and the rest
-of them had been so disgracefully neglectful in not inviting
-her to the New Year's festivities on the forthcoming
-Monday. Ronald, at least, should hear of his remissness,
-and that at once.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst" id="an-eyrie"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER VII.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">AN EYRIE.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>'Come along, Harry, my lad,' the young keeper cried next
-morning to his faithful terrier, 'and we'll go and have a
-look up the hill.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He slipped a cartridge or two into his pocket, more by
-custom than design as it were; put his gun over his
-shoulder; and went out into the cold clear air, the little
-terrier trotting at his heels. The vague unrest of the
-previous evening was altogether gone now; he was his
-natural self again; as he strode along the road he was
-lightly singing—but also under his breath, lest any
-herd-laddie should overhear—</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Roses red, roses white,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Roses in the lane,</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Tell me, roses white and red,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Where is Meenie gane!</span></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>And when he got as far as the inn he found that the
-mail-cart had just arrived, so he turned aside to have a little
-gossip with the small group of shepherds and others who
-had come to see whether there were any newspapers or
-letters for them. He was a great favourite with these;
-perhaps also an object of envy to the younger of the lads;
-for he lived the life of a gentleman, one might say, and was
-his own master; moreover, where was there any one who
-looked so smart and dressed so neatly—his Glengarry cap,
-his deerstalking jacket, his knickerbockers, his hand-knitted
-socks, and white spats, and shoes, being all so trim and
-well cared for, even in this wild winter weather? There
-was some laughing and joking about the forthcoming
-supper-party; and more than one of them would have had
-him go inside with them to have 'a glass,' but he was proof
-against that temptation; while the yellow-haired Nelly,
-who was at work within, happening to turn her eyes to the
-window, and catching sight of him standing there, and being
-jealous of his popularity with all those shepherd-lads and
-gillies, suddenly said to her mistress—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'There's Ronald outside, mem, and I think he might go
-away and shoot something for the gentleman's dinner.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Very well,' said Mrs. Murray; 'go and say that I
-would be very much obliged to him indeed if he would
-bring me a hare or two the first time he is going up the
-hill, but at his own convenience, to be sure.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But that was not the message that Nelly went to deliver.
-She wanted to show her authority before all these half-critical
-idlers, and also, as a good-looking lass, her independence
-and her mastery over men-folk.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald,' said she, at the door of the inn, 'I think you
-might just as well be going up the hill and bringing us
-down a hare or two, instead of standing about here doing
-nothing.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Is that Highland manners, lass?' he said, but with
-perfect good humour. 'I'm thinking ye might say "if ye
-please." But I'll get ye a hare or two, sure enough, and
-ye'll keep the first dance for me on Monday night.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Indeed I am not sure that I will be at the dancing at
-all,' retorted the pretty Nelly; but this was merely to cover
-her retreat—she did not wish to have any further conversation
-before that lot of idle half-grinning fellows.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>As for Ronald, he bade them good-morning, and went
-lightly on his way again. He was going up the hill
-anyway; and he might as well bring down a brace of hares for
-Mrs. Murray; so, after walking along the road for a mile or
-so, he struck off across some rough and partly marshy
-ground, and presently began to climb the lower slopes of
-Clebrig, getting ever a wider and wider view as he ascended,
-and always when he turned finding beneath him the
-wind-stirred waters of the loch, where a tiny dark object,
-slow-moving near the shores, told him where the salmon fishers
-were patiently pursuing their sport.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>No, there were no more unsettling notions in his brain;
-here he was master and monarch of all he surveyed; and
-if he was profoundly unconscious of the ease with which he
-breasted this steep hillside, at least he rejoiced in the
-ever-widening prospect—as lochs and hills and stretches of
-undulating moorland seemed to stretch ever and ever
-outward until, afar in the north, he could make out the Kyle
-of Tongue and the faint line of the sea. It was a wild and
-changeable day; now filled with gloom, again bursting
-forth into a blaze of yellow sunshine; while ever and anon
-some flying tag of cloud would come sweeping across the
-hillside and engulf him, so that all he could then discern
-was the rough hard heather and bits of rock around his
-feet. It was just as one of these transient clouds was
-clearing off that he was suddenly startled by a loud
-noise—as of iron rattling on stones; and so bewildering was this
-unusual noise in the intense silence reigning there that
-instinctively he wheeled round and lowered his gun. And
-then again, the next second, what he saw was about as
-bewildering as what he had heard—a great creature, quite
-close by, and yet only half visible in the clearing mist, with
-huge outspread wings, dragging something after it across
-the broken rocks. The truth flashed upon him in an
-instant; it was an eagle caught in a fox-trap; the strange
-noise was the trap striking here and there on a stone. At
-once he put down his gun on an exposed knoll and gave
-chase, with the greatest difficulty subduing the eager desire
-of the yelping Harry to rush forward and attack the huge
-bird by himself. It was a rough and ludicrous pursuit
-but it ended in capture—though here, again, circumspection
-was necessary, for the eagle, with all his neck-feathers
-bristling, struck at him again and again with the talons that
-were free, only one foot having been caught in the trap.
-But the poor beast was quite exhausted; an examination of
-the trap showed Ronald that he must have flown with this
-weight attached to his leg all the way from Ben Ruach, some
-half dozen miles away; and now, though there was yet an
-occasional automatic motion of the beak or the claws, as
-though he would still strike for liberty, he submitted to be
-firmly seized while the iron teeth of the trap were being
-opened. And then Ronald looked at his prize (but still with
-a careful grip). He was a splendid specimen of the golden
-eagle—a bird that is only found here and there in
-Sutherlandshire, though the keepers are no longer allowed to kill
-them—and, despite himself, looking at the noble creature,
-he began to ask himself casuistical questions. Would not
-this make a handsome gift for Meenie?—he could send the
-bird to Macleay at Inverness, and have it stuffed and
-returned without anybody knowing. Moreover, the keepers
-were only charged to abstain from shooting such golden
-eagles as they might find on their own ground; and he knew
-from the make of the trap that this one must have come
-from a different shooting altogether; it was not a Clebrig
-eagle at all. But he looked at the fierce eye of the beast,
-and its undaunted mien; he knew that, if it could, it would
-fight to the death; and he felt a kind of pride in the
-creature, and admiration for it, and even a sort of sympathy
-and fellow-feeling.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'My good chap,' said he, 'I'm not going to kill you in
-cold blood—not me. Go back to your wife and weans,
-wherever they are. Off!'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And he tried to throw the big beast into the air. But
-this was not like flinging up a released pigeon. The eagle
-fell forward, and stumbled twice ere it could get its great
-wings into play; and then, instead of trying to soar
-upward, it went flapping away down wind—increasing in
-speed, until he could see it, now rising somewhat, cross
-the lower windings of Loch Naver, and make away for the
-northern skies.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It's a God's mercy,' he was saying to himself, as he
-went back to get his gun, 'that I met the creature in the
-daytime; had it been at night, I would hae thought it was
-the devil.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Some two or three hundred feet still farther up the
-hillside he came to his own eyrie—a great mass of rock,
-affording shelter from either southerly or easterly winds,
-and surrounded with some smaller stones; and here he
-sate contentedly down to look around him—Harry crouched
-at his feet, his nose between his paws, but his eyes
-watchful. And this wide stretch of country between Clebrig
-and the northern sea would have formed a striking prospect
-in any kind of weather—the strange and savage loneliness
-of the moorlands; the solitary lakes with never a sign of
-habitation along their shores; the great ranges of mountains
-whose silent recesses are known only to the stag and the
-hind; but on such a morning as this it was all as unstable
-and unreal as it was wildly beautiful and picturesque;—for
-the hurrying weather made a kind of phantasmagoria of
-the solid land; bursts of sunlight that struck on the yellow
-straths were followed by swift gray cloud-wreaths blotting
-out the world; and again and again the white snow-peaks
-of the hills would melt away and become invisible only to
-reappear again shining and glorious in a sky of brilliant
-blue; until, indeed, it seemed as if the earth had no
-substance and fixed foundation at all, but was a mere dream,
-an aerial vision, changed and moved and controlled by
-some unseen and capricious hand.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then again, on the dark and wind-driven lake far
-below him, that small object was still to be made out—like
-some minute, black, crawling water insect. He took
-out his glass from its leather case, adjusted it, and placed
-it to his eye. What was this? In the world suddenly
-brought near—and yet dimly near, as though a film
-interposed—he could see that some one was standing up in the
-stern of the boat, and another crouching down, by his side.
-Was that a clip or the handle of the landing-net; in other
-words, was it a salmon or a kelt that was fighting them
-there? He swept the dull waters of the loch with his
-glass; but could make out no splashing or springing
-anywhere near them. And then he could see by the curve of
-the rod that the fish was close at hand; there was a minute
-or two longer of anxiety; then a sudden movement on the
-part of the crouching person—and behold a silver-white
-object gleams for a moment in the air and then disappears!</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good!' he says to himself—with a kind of sigh of
-satisfaction as if he had himself taken part in the struggle
-and capture.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>How peaceful looks the little hamlet of Inver-Mudal!
-The wild storm-clouds, and the bursts of sunlight, and the
-howling winds seem to sail over it unheeded; down in the
-hollow there surely all is quiet and still. And is Meenie
-singing at her work, by the window; or perhaps
-superintending Maggie's lessons; or gone away on one of the
-lonely walks that she is fond of—up by the banks of the
-Mudal Water? It is a bleak and a bare stream; there is
-scarce a bush on its banks; and yet he knows of no other
-river—however hung with foliage and flowers—that is so
-sweet and sacred and beautiful. What was it he wrote in
-the bygone year—one summer day when he had seen her
-go by—and he, too, was near the water, and could hear
-the soft murmuring over the pebbles? He called the
-idle verses</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span>MUDAL IN JUNE.</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Mudal, that comes from the lonely mere,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Silent or whispering, vanishing ever,</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Know you of aught that concerns us here?—</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">You, youngest of all God's creatures, a river.</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Born of a yesterday's summer shower,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And hurrying on with your restless motion,</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Silent or whispering, every hour,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">To lose yourself in the great lone ocean.</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Your banks remain; but you go by,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Through day and through darkness swiftly sailing:</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Say, do you hear the curlew cry,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And the snipe in the night-time hoarsely wailing?</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Do you watch the wandering hinds in the morn;</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Do you hear the grouse-cock crow in the heather;</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Do you see the lark spring up from the corn,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">All in the radiant summer weather?</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">O Mudal stream, how little you know</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">That Meenie has loved you, and loves you ever;</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And while to your ocean home you flow,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">She says good-bye to her well-loved river!—</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">O see you her now—she is coming anigh—</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And the flower in her hand her aim discloses:</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Laugh, Mudal, your thanks as you're hurrying by—</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">For she flings you a rose, in the month of roses!</span></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>Well, that was written as long ago as last midsummer; and
-was Meenie still as far away from him as then, and as
-ignorant as ever of his mute worship of her, and of these
-verses that he had written about her? But he indulged
-in no day-dreams. Meenie was as near to him as he had
-any right to expect—giving him of an assured and constant
-friendship; and as for these passing rhymes—well, he tried
-to make them as worthy of her as he could, though he
-knew she should never see them; polishing them, in so
-far as they might be said to have any polish at all, in
-honour of her; and, what is more to the point, at once
-cutting out and destroying any of them that seemed to
-savour either of affectation or of echo. No: the rude
-rhymes should at least be honest and of his own invention
-and method; imitations he could not, even in fancy, lay
-at Meenie's feet. And sometimes, it is true, a wild
-imagination would get hold of him—a whimsical thing, that he
-laughed at: supposing that life—the actual real life here
-at Inver-Mudal—were suddenly to become a play, a poem,
-a romantic tale; and that Meenie was to fall in love with
-him; and he to grow rich all at once; and the Stuarts of
-Glengask to be quite complaisant: why, then, would it not
-be a fine thing to bring all this collection of verses to
-Meenie, and say 'There, now, it is not much; but it shows
-you that I have been thinking of you all through these
-years?' Yes, it would be a very fine thing, in a romance.
-But, as has been said, he was one not given to day-dreams;
-and he accepted the facts of life with much equanimity;
-and when he had written some lines about Meenie that he
-regarded with a little affection—as suggesting, let us say,
-something of the glamour of her clear Highland eyes, and
-the rose-sweetness of her nature, and the kindness of her
-heart—and when it seemed rather a pity that she should
-never see them—if only as a tribute to her gentleness
-offered by a perfectly unbiassed spectator—he quickly
-reminded himself that it was not his business to write verses
-but to trap foxes and train dogs and shoot hoodie-crows.
-He was not vain of his rhymes—except where Meenie's
-name came in. Besides, he was a very busy person at
-most seasons of the year; and men, women, and children
-alike showed a considerable fondness for him, so that his
-life was full of sympathies and interests; and altogether
-he cannot be regarded, nor did he regard himself, as a
-broken-hearted or blighted being. His temperament was
-essentially joyous and healthy; the passing moment was
-enough; nothing pleased him so much as to have a grouse,
-or a hare, or a ptarmigan, or a startled hind appear within
-sure and easy range, and to say 'Well, go on. Take your
-life with you. Rather a pleasant day this: why shouldn't
-you enjoy it as well as I?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>However, on this blustering and brilliant morning he
-had not come all the way up hither merely to get a brace of
-hares for Mrs. Murray, nor yet to be a distant spectator of
-the salmon-fishing going on far below. Under this big
-rock there was a considerable cavity, and right at the back
-of that he had wedged in a wooden box lined with tin, and
-fitted with a lid and a lock. It was useful in the autumn;
-he generally kept in it a bottle of whisky and a few bottles
-of soda-water, lest any of the gentlemen should find
-themselves thirsty on the way home from the stalking. But on
-this occasion, when he got out the key and unlocked the
-little chest, it was not any refreshment of that kind he was
-after. He took out a copy-book—a cheap paper-covered
-thing such as is used in juvenile schools in Scotland—and
-turned to the first page, which was scrawled over with
-pencilled lines that had apparently been written in time of
-rain, for there were plenty of smudges there. It had
-become a habit of his that, when in these lonely rambles
-among the hills, he found some further rhymes about
-Meenie come into his head, he would jot them down in
-this copy-book, deposit it in the little chest, and probably
-not see them again for weeks and weeks, when, as on the
-present occasion, he would come with fresh eyes to see it
-there were any worth or value in them. Not that he took
-such trouble with anything else. His rhyming epistles to
-his friends, his praises of his terrier Harry, his songs for
-the Inver-Mudal lasses to sing—these things were thrown
-off anyhow, and had to take their chance. But his solitary
-intercommunings away amid these alpine wastes were of a
-more serious cast; insensibly they gathered dignity and
-repose from the very silence and awfulness of the solitudes
-around; there was no idle and pastoral singing here about
-roses in the lane. He regarded the blurred lines, striving
-to think of them as having been written by somebody else:</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Through the long sad centuries Clebrig slept,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Nor a sound the silence broke,</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Till a morning in Spring a strange new thing</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Betrayed him and he awoke;</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And he laughed, and his joyous laugh was heard</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">From Erribol far to Tongue;</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And his granite veins deep down were stirred,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And the great old mountain grew young.</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'Twas Love Meenie he saw, and she walked by the shore,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And she sang so sweet and so clear,</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">That the sound of her voice made him see again</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">The dawn of the world appear;</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And at night he spake to the listening stars</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And charged them a guard to keep</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">On the hamlet of Inver-Mudal there</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And the maid in her innocent sleep,</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Till the years should go by; and they should see</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Love Meenie take her stand</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'Mong the maidens around the footstool of God—</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">She gentlest of all the band!</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>He tore the leaf out, folded it, and put it in his pocket.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Another one for the little bookie that's never to be
-seen,' said he, with a kind of laugh; for indeed he treated
-himself to a good deal of satire, and would rather have
-blown his brains out than that the neighbourhood should
-have known he was writing these verses about Meenie
-Douglas.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And hey, Harry, lad!' he called, as he locked the
-little cupboard again, 'I'm thinking we must be picking up
-a hare now, if it's for soup for the gentleman's dinner the
-night. So ye were bauld enough to face an eagle? I
-doubt, if both his feet had been free, but ye might have
-had a lift in the air, and seen the heavens and the earth
-spread out below ye.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He shouldered his gun and set out again—making his
-way towards some rockier ground, where he very soon
-bagged the brace of hares he wanted. He tied their legs
-together, slung them over his shoulder, and began to
-descend the mountain again—usually keeping his eye on
-the minute black speck on the loch, lest there might be
-occasion again for his telescope.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He took the two hares—they looked remarkably like
-cats, by the way, for they were almost entirely white—into
-the inn, and threw them on to the chair in the passage.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'There you are, Nelly, lass,' said he, as the fair-haired
-Highland maid happened to go by.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'All right,' said she, which was no great thanks.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But Mr. Murray, in the parlour, had heard the keeper's
-voice.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald,' he cried, 'come in for a minute, will ye?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Mr. Murray was a little, wiry, gray-haired, good-natured
-looking man, who, when Ronald entered the parlour, was
-seated at the table, and evidently puzzling his brains over
-a blank sheet of paper that lay before him.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Your sister Maggie wass here this morning,' the inn-keeper
-said—still with his eyes fixed upon the paper—'and
-she wass saying that maybe Meenie—Miss Douglas—would
-like to come with the others on Monday night—ay, and
-maybe Mrs. Douglas herself too as well—but they would hef
-to be asked. And Kott pless me, it is not an easy thing, if
-you hef to write a letter, and that is more polite than
-asking—it is not an easy thing, I am sure. Ronald,' he said,
-raising his eyes and turning round, 'would you tek a
-message?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Where?' said Ronald—but he knew well enough, and
-was only seeking time to make an excuse.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'To Mrs. Douglas and the young lass; and tell them
-we will be glad if they will come with the others on Monday
-night—for the doctor is away from home, and why should
-they be left by themselves? Will you tek the message,
-Ronald?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'How could I do that?' Ronald said. 'It's you that's
-giving the party, Mr. Murray.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But they know you so ferry well—and—and there will
-be no harm if they come and see the young lads and lasses
-having a reel together—ay, and a song too. And if
-Mrs. Douglas could not be bothered, it's you that could bring
-the young lady—oh yes, I know ferry well—if you will
-ask her, she will come.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I am sure no,' Ronald said hastily, and with an
-embarrassment he sought in vain to conceal. 'If Miss
-Douglas cares to come at all, it will be when you ask her.
-And why should ye write, man? Go down the road and
-ask her yourself—I mean, ask Mrs. Douglas; it's as simple
-as simple. What for should ye write a letter? Would ye
-send it through the post too? That's ceremony for
-next-door neighbours!'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But Ronald, lad, if ye should see the young lass
-herself——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, no; take your own message, Mr. Murray; they
-can but give you a civil answer.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Mr. Murray was left doubting. It was clear that the
-awful shadow of Glengask and Orosay still dwelt over the
-doctor's household; and that the innkeeper was not at all
-sure as to what Mrs. Douglas would say to an invitation
-that she and her daughter Meenie—or Williamina, as the
-mother called her—should be present at a merry-meeting
-of farm lads, keepers, gillies, and kitchen wenches.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst" id="the-new-year-s-feast"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER VIII.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">THE NEW YEAR'S FEAST.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>Loud and shrill in the empty barn arose the strains of the
-</span><em class="italics">Athole March</em><span>, warning the young lasses to hasten with the
-adjustment of their ribbons, and summoning the young
-lads about to look sharp and escort them. The long and
-narrow table was prettily laid out; two candelabra instead
-of one shed a flood of light on the white cover; the walls
-were decorated with evergreens and with Meenie's
-resplendent paper blossoms; the peats in the improvised
-fireplace burned merrily. And when the company began
-to arrive, in twos and threes, some bashful and hesitating,
-others merry and jocular, there was a little embarrassment
-about the taking of places until Ronald laid down his pipes
-and set to work to arrange them. The American gentleman
-had brought in Mrs. Murray in state, and they were
-at the head of the table; while Ronald himself took the
-foot, in order, as he said, to keep order—if he were
-able—among the lasses who had mostly congregated there. Then
-the general excitement and talking was hushed for a minute,
-while the innkeeper said grace; and then the girls—farm
-wenches, some of them, and Nelly, the pretty parlour-maid,
-and Finnuala, the cook's youngest sister, who was but lately
-come from Uist and talked the quaintest English, and
-Mr. Murray's two nieces from Tongue, and the other young
-lasses about the inn—all of them became demure and
-proper in their manner, for they were about to enjoy the
-unusual sensation of being waited upon.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>This, of course, was Ronald's doing. There had been
-a question as to which of the maids were to bring in supper
-for so large a number; so he addressed himself to the
-young fellows who were standing about.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'You lazy laddies,' he said, 'what are ye thinking o'?
-Here's a chance for ye, if there's a pennyworth o' spunk
-among the lot o' ye. They lasses there wait on ye the
-whole year long, and make the beds for ye, and redd the
-house; I'm thinking ye might do worse than wait on them
-for one night, and bring in the supper when they sit down.
-They canna do both things; and the fun o' the night
-belongs to them or to nobody at all.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>At first there was a little shamefaced reluctance—it was
-'lasses' work,' they said—until a great huge Highland tyke—a
-Ross-shire drover who happened to be here on a visit—a
-man of about six feet four, with a red beard big enough
-for a raven to build in, declared that he would lend a hand,
-if no one else did; and forthwith brought his huge fist
-down on the bar-room table to give emphasis to his words.
-There was some suspicion that this unwonted gallantry was
-due to the fact that he had a covetous eye on Jeannie,
-Donald Macrae's lass, who was a very superior
-dairy-mistress, and was also heir-presumptive to her father's
-farmstead and about a score of well-favoured cattle; but
-that was neither here nor there; he was as good as his
-word; he organised the brigade, and led it; and if he
-swallowed a stiff glass of whisky before setting out from
-the kitchen for the barn, with a steaming plate of soup in
-each hand, that was merely to steady his nerves and
-enable him to face the merriment of the whole gang of those
-girls. And then when this red-bearded giant of a Ganymede
-and his attendants had served every one, they fetched
-in their own plates, and sat down; and time was allowed
-them; for the evening was young yet, and no one in a hurry.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Now if Mr. Hodson had been rather doubtful lest his
-presence might produce some little restraint, he was speedily
-reassured, to his own great satisfaction, for he was really a
-most good-natured person and anxious to be friendly with
-everybody. In the general fun and jollity he was not even
-noticed; he could ask Mrs. Murray any questions he chose
-without suspicion of being observant; the young lady next
-him—who was Jeannie Macrae herself, and to whom he
-strove to be as gallant as might be—was very winsome and
-gentle and shy, and spoke in a more Highland fashion than
-he had heard yet; while otherwise he did not fare at all
-badly at this rustic feast, for there were boiled fowls and
-roast hares after the soup, and there was plenty of ale
-passed round, and tea for those who wished it. Nay, on
-the contrary, he had rather to push himself forward and
-assert himself ere he could get his proper share of the work
-that was going on. He insisted upon carving for at least
-half a dozen neighbours; he was most attentive to the
-pretty Highland girl next him; and laughed heartily at
-Mrs. Murray's Scotch stories, which he did not quite
-understand; and altogether entered into the spirit of the
-evening. But there was no doubt it was at the other end
-of the table that the fun was getting fast and furious; and
-just as little doubt that Ronald the keeper was suffering
-considerably at the hands of those ungrateful lasses for
-whom he had done so much. Like a prudent man, he
-held his tongue and waited his opportunity; taking their
-teasing with much good humour; and paying no heed to
-the other young fellows who were urging him to face and
-silence the saucy creatures. And his opportunity came in
-the most unexpected way. One of the girls, out of pure
-mischief, and without the least notion that she would be
-overheard, rapped lightly on the table, and said:
-'Mr. Ronald Strang will now favour us with a song.' To her
-amazement and horror there was an almost instant silence;
-for an impression had travelled up the table that some
-announcement was about to be made.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What is it now? What are you about down there?'
-their host called to them—and the silence, to her who had
-unwittingly caused it, was terrible.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But another of the girls, still bent on mischief, was bold
-enough to say.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, it's Ronald that's going to sing us a song.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Sing ye a song, ye limmer, ere ye're through with your
-supper?' Ronald said sharply. 'I'd make ye sing
-yourself—with a leather strap—if I had my will o' ye.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But this was not heard up the table.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Very well, then, Ronald,' the innkeeper cried, graciously.
-'Come away with it now. There is no one at all can
-touch you at that.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, do not ask him,' the pretty Nelly said—apparently
-addressing the company, but keeping her cruel eyes on him.
-'Do not ask Ronald to sing. Ronald is such a shy lad.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He glanced at her; and then he seemed to make up
-his mind.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Very well, then,' said he, 'I'll sing ye a song—and
-let's have a chorus, lads.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Now in Sutherlandshire, as in many other parts of the
-Highlands, the chief object of singing in company is to
-establish a chorus; and the audience, no matter whether
-they have heard the air or not, so soon as it begins, proceed
-to beat time with hand and heel, forming a kind of accompanying
-tramp, as it were; so that by the time the end of
-the first verse is reached, if they have not quite caught the
-tune, at least they can make some kind of rhythmic noise
-with the refrain. And on this occasion, if the words were
-new—and Ronald, on evil intent, took care to pronounce
-them clearly—the air was sufficiently like 'Jenny dang the
-Weaver' for the general chorus to come in, in not more
-than half a dozen keys. This was what Ronald sang—and
-he sang it in that resonant tenor of his, and in a rollicking
-fashion—just as if it were an impromptu, and not a weapon
-that he had carefully forged long ago, and hidden away to
-serve some such chance as the present:</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">O lasses, lasses, gang your ways,</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And dust the house, or wash the claes,</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Ye put me in a kind o' blaze—</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Ye'll break my heart among ye!</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>The girls rather hung their heads—the imputation that
-they were all setting their caps at a modest youth who
-wanted to have nothing to do with them was scarcely what
-they expected. But the lads had struck the tune somehow;
-and there was a roaring chorus, twice repeated, with heavy
-boots marking the time—</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Ye'll break my heart among ye!</span></div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>And then the singer proceeded—gravely—</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">At kirk or market, morn or e'en,</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">The like o' them was never seen,</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">For each is kind, and each a queen;—</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Ye'll break my heart among ye!</span></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>And again came the roaring chorus from the delighted lads—</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Ye'll break my heart among ye!</span></div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>There was but one more verse—</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">There's that one dark, and that one fair,</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And yon has wealth o' yellow hair;</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Gang hame, gang hame—I can nae mair—</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Ye'll break my heart among ye!</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>Yellow hair? The allusion was so obvious that the
-pretty Nelly blushed scarlet—all the more visibly because
-of her fair complexion; and when the thunder of the
-thrice-repeated refrain had ceased, she leant forward and
-said to him in a low voice, but with much terrible meaning—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'My lad, when I get you by yourself, I'll give it to you!'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>They had nearly finished supper by this time; but ere
-they had the decks cleared for action, there was a formal
-ceremony to be gone through. The host produced his
-</span><em class="italics">quaich</em><span>—a small cup of horn, with a handle on each side;
-and likewise a bottle of whisky; and as one guest after
-another took hold of the quaich with the thumb and forefinger
-of each hand, the innkeeper filled the small cup with
-whisky, which had then to be drank to some more or less
-appropriate toast. These were in Gaelic for the most
-part—'</span><em class="italics">To the goodman of the inn</em><span>'; '</span><em class="italics">To the young girls that are
-kind, and old wives that keep a clean house</em><span>'; '</span><em class="italics">Good health;
-and good luck in finding things washed ashore</em><span>,' and so
-forth—and when it came to Mr. Hodson's turn, he would have
-a try at the Gaelic too.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I think I can wrestle with it, if you give me an easy one,'
-he remarked, as he took the quaich between his fingers and
-held it till it was filled.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh no, sir, do not trouble about the Gaelic,' said his
-pretty neighbour Jeannie—blushing very much, for there
-was comparative silence at the time.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But I want to have my turn. If it's anything a white
-man can do, I can do it.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Say </span><em class="italics">air do shlàinte</em><span>—that is, your good health,' said
-Jeannie, blushing more furiously than ever.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He carefully balanced the cup in his hands, gravely
-turned towards his hostess, bowed to her, repeated the
-magic words with a very fair accent indeed, and drained off
-the whisky—amid the general applause; though none of
-them suspected that the swallowing of the whisky was to
-him a much more severe task than the pronunciation
-of the Gaelic. And then it came to Ronald's turn.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh no, Mr. Murray,' said the slim-waisted Nelly, who
-had recovered from her confusion, and whose eyes were
-now as full of mischief as ever, 'do not ask Ronald to say
-anything in the Gaelic; he is ashamed to hear himself speak.
-It is six years and more he has been trying to say "a young
-calf," and he cannot do it yet.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And besides, he's thinking of the lass he left behind in
-the Lothians,' said her neighbour.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And they're all black-haired girls there,' continued the
-fair-haired Nelly. 'Ronald, drink "</span><em class="italics">mo nighean dubh</em><span>."'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He fixed his eyes on her steadily, and said: '</span><em class="italics">Tir nam
-beann, nan gleann, s'nan gaisgeach;</em><span>[#] and may all the saucy
-jades in Sutherland find a husband to keep them in order
-ere the year be out.'</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="small">[#] The land of hills and glens and heroes.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>And now two or three of the lasses rose to clear the
-table; for the red-bearded drover and his brigade had not
-the skill to do that; and the men lit their pipes; and there
-was a good deal of joyous </span><em class="italics">schwärmerei</em><span>. In the midst of it
-all there was a rapping of spoons and knuckles at the upper
-end of the table; and it was clear, from the importance of
-his look, that Mr. Murray himself was about to favour the
-company—so that a general silence ensued. And very well
-indeed did the host of the evening sing—in a shrill, high-pitched
-voice, it is true, but still with such a multitude of
-small flourishes and quavers and grace notes as showed
-he had once been proud enough of his voice in the days
-gone by. 'Scotland yet' he sang; and there was a
-universal rush at the chorus—</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'And trow ye as I sing, my lads,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">The burden o't shall be,</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Auld Scotland's howes, and Scotland's knowes,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And Scotland's hills for me,</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">I'll drink a cup to Scotland yet,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Wi' a' the honours three.'</span></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>And was their American friend to be excluded?—not if he
-knew it. He could make a noise as well as any; and he
-waved the quaich—which had wandered back to him—round
-his head; and strident enough was his voice with</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">I'll drink a cup to Scotland yet,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Wi' a' the honours three.'</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>'I feel half a Scotchman already,' said he gaily to his
-hostess.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Indeed, sir, I wish you were altogether one,' she said
-in her gentle way. 'I am sure I think you would look a
-little better in health if you lived in this country.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But I don't look so ill, do I?' said he—rather
-disappointed; for he had been striving to be hilarious, and
-had twice drank the contents of the quaich, out of pure
-friendliness.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, no, sir,' said Mrs. Murray politely, 'not more
-than most of them I hef seen from your country; but
-surely it cannot be so healthy as other places; the young
-ladies are so thin and delicate-looking whatever; many a
-one I would like to hef kept here for a while—for more
-friendly young ladies I never met with anywhere—just to see
-what the mountain air and the sweet milk would do for her.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, then, Mrs. Murray, you will have the chance of
-trying your doctoring on my daughter when she comes up
-here a few weeks hence; but I think you won't find much
-of the invalid about her—it's my belief she could give
-twenty pounds to any girl I know of in a go-as-you-please
-race across the stiffest ground anywhere. There's not much
-the matter with my Carry, if she'd only not spend the whole
-day in those stores in Regent Street. Well, that will be
-over when she come here; I should think it'll make her
-stare some, if she wants to buy a veil or a pair of gloves.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But the girls at the foot of the table had been teasing
-Ronald to sing something; silence was forthwith procured;
-and presently—for he was very good natured, and sang
-whenever he was asked—the clear and penetrating tenor
-voice was ringing along the rafters:</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'The news frae Moidart cam' yestreen,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Will soon gar many ferlie,[#]</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">For ships o' war hae just come in</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And landed royal Charlie.'</span></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="noindent pfirst"><span class="small">[#] 'Ferlie,' wonder.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>It was a well-known song, with a resounding chorus:</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'Come through the heather, around him gather,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Ye're a' the welcomer early;</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Around him cling wi' a' your kin,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">For wha'll be king but Charlie?'</span></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>Nay, was not this the right popular kind of song—to have
-two choruses instead of one?—</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'Come through the heather, around him gather,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Come Ronald, and Donald, come a'thegither</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And claim your rightfu' lawfu' king,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">For who'll be king but Charlie?'</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>This song gave great satisfaction; for they had all taken
-part in the chorus; and they were pleased with the melodious
-result. And then the lasses were at him again:</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald, sing "Doon the burn, Davie lad."'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald, will you not give us "Logan Water" now?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald, "Auld Joe Nicholson's Bonnie Nannie" or
-"My Peggy is a young thing" whichever you like best
-yourself.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, no,' said the pretty Nelly, 'ask him to sing, "When
-the kye come hame," and he will be thinking of the
-black-haired lass he left in the Lothians.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Gae wa', gae wa',' said he, rising and shaking himself
-free from them. 'I ken what'll put other things into your
-heads—or into your heels, rather.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He picked up his pipes, which had been left in a corner,
-threw the drones over his shoulder, and marched to the
-upper end of the barn; then there was a preliminary groan
-or two, and presently the chanter broke away into a lively
-reel tune. The effect of this signal, as it might be called,
-was magical; every one at once divined what was needed;
-and the next moment they were all helping to get the long
-table separated into its component parts and carried out
-into the dark. There was a cross table left at the upper
-end, by the peat-fire, for the elderly people and the
-spectators to sit at, if they chose; the younger folk had
-wooden forms at the lower end; but the truth is that they
-were so eager not to have any of the inspiriting music
-thrown away that several sets were immediately formed, and
-off they went to the brisk strains of </span><em class="italics">Miss Jenny Gordon's
-Favourite</em><span>—intertwisting deftly, setting to partners again,
-fingers and thumbs snapped in the air, every lad amongst
-them showing off his best steps, and ringing whoops sent
-up to the rafters as the reel broke off again into a quick
-strathspey. It was wild and barbaric, no doubt; but
-there was a kind of rhythmic poetry in it too; Ronald
-grew prouder and prouder of the fire that he could infuse
-into this tempestuous and yet methodical crowd; the
-whoops became yells; and if the red-bearded drover,
-dancing opposite the slim-figured Nelly, would challenge
-her to do her best, and could himself perform some
-remarkable steps and shakes, well, Nelly was not ashamed to
-raise her gown an inch or two just to show him that he was
-not dancing with a flat-footed creature, but that she had
-swift toes and graceful ankles to compare with any. And
-then again they would trip off into the figure 8, swinging
-round with arms interlocked; and again roof and rafter
-would 'dirl' with the triumphant shouts of the men. Then
-came the long wailing monition from the pipes; the sounds
-died down; panting and laughing and rosy-cheeked the
-lasses were led to the benches by their partners; and a
-general halt was called.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Little Maggie stole up to her brother.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I'm going home now, Ronald,' she said.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Very well,' he said. 'Mind you go to bed as soon as
-ye get in. Good-night, lass.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good-night, Ronald.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She was going away, when he said to her—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Maggie, do ye think that Miss Douglas is not coming
-along to see the dancing? I thought she would do that if
-she would rather no come to the supper.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>In truth he had had his eye on the door all the time he
-was playing </span><em class="italics">Miss Jenny Gordon's Favourite</em><span>.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I am sure if she stays away,' the little Maggie said, 'it
-is not her own doing. Meenie wanted to come. It is
-very hard that everybody should be at the party and not
-Meenie.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, well, good-night, lass,' said he; for the young folk
-were choosing their partners again, and the pipes were
-wanted. Soon there was another reel going on, as fast and
-furious as before.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>At the end of this reel—Meenie had not appeared, by the
-way, and Ronald concluded that she was not to be allowed
-to look on at the dancing—the yellow-haired Nelly came
-up to the top of the room, and addressed Mrs. Murray in
-the Gaelic; but as she finished up with the word </span><em class="italics">quadrille</em><span>,
-and as she directed one modest little glance towards
-Mr. Hodson, that amiable but astute onlooker naturally inferred
-that he was somehow concerned in this speech. Mrs. Murray
-laughed.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, sir, the girls are asking if you would not like to
-have a dance too; and they could have a quadrille.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I've no cause to brag about my dancing,' he said
-good-humouredly, 'but if Miss Nelly will see me through, I dare
-say we'll manage somehow. Will you excuse my ignorance?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Now the tall and slender Highland maid had not in any
-way bargained for this—it was merely friendliness that had
-prompted her proposal; but she could not well refuse; and
-soon one or two sets were formed; and a young lad called
-Munro, from Lairg, who had brought his fiddle with him for
-this great occasion, proceeded to tune up. The quadrille,
-when it came off, was performed with more of vigour than
-science; there was no ignominious shirking of steps—no
-idle and languid walking—but a thorough and resolute
-flinging about, as the somewhat bewildered Mr. Hodson
-speedily discovered. However, he did his part gallantly,
-and was now grown so gay that when, at the end of the
-dance, he inquired of the fair Nelly whether she would like
-to have any little refreshment, and when she mildly
-suggested a little water, and offered to go for it herself, he
-would hear of no such thing. No, no; he went and got
-some soda-water, and declared that it was much more
-wholesome with a little whisky in it; and had some himself
-also. Gay and gallant?—why, certainly. He threw off
-thirty years of his life; he forgot that this was the young
-person who would be waiting at table after his daughter
-Carry came hither: he would have danced another quadrille
-with her; and felt almost jealous when a young fellow
-came up to claim her for the </span><em class="italics">Highland Schottische</em><span>—thus
-sending him back to the society of Mrs. Murray. And it
-was not until he had sate down that he remembered he had
-suggested to his daughter the training of this pretty
-Highland girl for the position of maid and travelling companion.
-But what of that? If all men were born equal, so were
-women; and he declared to himself that any day he would
-rather converse with Nelly the pretty parlour-maid than
-(supposing him to have the chance) with Her Illustrious
-Highness the Princess of Pfalzgrafweiler-Gunzenhausen.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>In the meantime Ronald, his pipes not being then
-needed, had wandered out into the cold night-air. There
-were some stars visible, but they shed no great light; the
-world lay black enough all around. He went idly and
-dreamily along the road—the sounds in the barn growing
-fainter and fainter—until he reached the plateau where
-his own cottage stood. There was no light in it anywhere;
-doubtless Maggie had at once gone to bed, as she had
-been bid. And then he wandered on again—walking a
-little more quietly—until he reached the doctor's house.
-Here all the lights were out but one; there was a red glow
-in that solitary window; and he knew that that was
-Meenie's room. Surely she could not be sitting up and
-listening?—even the skirl of the pipes could scarcely be
-heard so far; and her window was closed. Reading,
-perhaps? He knew so many of her favourites—'The
-Burial March of Dundee,' 'Jeannie Morrison,' 'Bonny
-Kilmeny,' 'Christabel,' the 'Hymn before Sunrise in the
-Valley of Chamounix,' and others of a similar noble or
-mystical or tender kind; and perhaps, after all, these
-were more in consonance with the gentle dignity and
-rose-sweetness of her mind and nature than the gambols of a lot
-of farm-lads and wenches? He walked on to the bridge,
-and sate down there for a while, in the dark and the silence;
-he could hear the Mudal Water rippling by, but could see
-nothing. And when he passed along the road again, the
-light in the small red-blinded window was gone; Meenie
-was away in the world of dreams and phantoms—and he
-wondered if the people there knew who this was who had
-come amongst them, with her wondering eyes and sweet ways.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He went back to the barn, and resumed his pipe-playing
-with all his wonted vigour—waking up the whole thing, as
-it were; but nothing could induce him to allow one or
-other of the lads to be his substitute, so that he might go
-and choose a partner for one of the reels. He would not
-dance; he said his business was to keep the merry-making
-going. And he and they did keep it going till between
-five and six in the morning, when all hands were piped for
-the singing of 'Auld Lang Syne:' and thereafter there was
-a general dispersal, candles going this way and that through
-the blackness like so many will-o'-the-wisps; and the last
-good-nights at length sank into silence—a silence as
-profound and hushed as that that lay over the unseen
-heights of Clebrig and the dark and still lake below.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst" id="enticements"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER IX.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">ENTICEMENTS.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>At about eleven o'clock on the same morning Miss Douglas
-was standing at the window of her own little room looking
-rather absently at the familiar wintry scene without, and
-occasionally turning to a letter that she held in her hand,
-and that she had apparently just then written. Presently,
-however, her face brightened. There was a faint sound in
-the distance as of some one singing; no doubt that was
-Ronald; he would be coming along the road with the dogs,
-and if she were in any difficulty he would be the one to
-help. So she waited for a second or two, hoping to be
-able to signal him to stop; and the next minute he was in
-sight, walking briskly with his long and steady stride, the
-small terrier at his heels, the other dogs—some handsome
-Gordon setters, a brace of pointers, and a big brown
-retriever—ranging farther afield.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But why was it, she asked herself, that whenever he
-drew near her father's cottage he invariably ceased his
-singing? Elsewhere, as well she knew, he beguiled the
-tedium of these lonely roads with an almost constant
-succession of songs and snatches of songs; but here he invariably
-became mute. And why did he not raise his eyes to the
-window—where she was waiting to give him a friendly wave
-of the hand, or even an invitation to stop and come within-doors
-for a minute or two? No, on he went with that long
-stride of his, addressing a word now and again to one or
-other of the dogs, and apparently thinking of nothing else.
-So, as there was nothing for it now but to go out and
-intercept him on his return, she proceeded to put on her
-ulster and a close-fitting deerstalker's cap; and thus fortified
-against the gusty north wind that was driving clouds and
-sunshine across the loch and along the slopes of Clebrig, she
-left the cottage, and followed the road that he had taken.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>As it turned out, she had not far to go; for she saw
-that he was now seated on the parapet of the little bridge
-spanning the Mudal Water, and no doubt he was cutting
-tobacco for his pipe. When she drew near, he rose; when
-she drew nearer, he put his pipe in his waistcoat pocket.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good-morning, Ronald!' she cried, and the pretty
-fresh-tinted face smiled on him, and the clear gray-blue
-Highland eyes regarded him in the most frank and friendly
-way, and without any trace whatever of maiden bashfulness.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good-morning, Miss Douglas,' said he; he was far
-more shy than she was.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What a stupid thing happened this morning,' said she.
-'When I heard that the American gentleman was going
-south, I wanted to tell the driver to bring the children from
-Crask with him as he came back in the evening; and I
-sent Elizabeth round to the inn to tell him that; and
-then—what do you think!—they had started away half an hour
-before there was any need. But now I have written a letter
-to the Crask people, asking them to stop the waggonette as
-it comes back in the afternoon, and telling them that we
-will make the children very comfortable here for the night;
-and if only I could get it sent to Crask everything would
-be arranged. And do you think now you could get one of
-the young lads to take it to Crask if I gave him a shilling?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She took out her purse, and selected a shilling from the
-very slender store of coins there.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It is not much for so long a walk,' she said, rather
-doubtfully. 'Eight miles there and eight back—is it
-enough, do you think?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, I'll get the letter sent for ye, Miss Douglas, easily
-enough,' said he—and indeed he had already taken it from
-her hand.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Then she offered him the shilling, but with a little
-gesture he refused it. And then—for there flashed upon
-her mind a sudden suspicion that perhaps he might choose
-to walk all that way himself just to please her (indeed, he
-had done things like that before)—she became greatly
-embarrassed.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Give me the letter, Ronald,' said she, 'and I will find
-some one myself. You are going away now with the dogs.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh no,' said he, 'I will see that the Crask folk get
-your message.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And the money to pay the lad?' said she timidly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Dinna bother your head wi' that,' he answered.
-'There's enough money scattered about the place just
-now—the American gentleman was free-handed this morning.
-Ay, and there's something I've got for you.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'For me?' she said, with her eyes opening somewhat.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well,' said he (and very glad he was to have the letter
-safe and sound in his possession), 'I was telling him about
-the children's party to-morrow night; and he's a friendly
-kind o' man, that; he said he would like to have been at
-it, if he could have stayed; and I'm sure he would have
-got on wi' them well enough, for he's a friendly kind o' man,
-as I say. Well, then, I couldna tell him the exact number
-o' the bairns; but no matter what number, each one o' them
-is to find sevenpence under the teacup—that's a penny for
-each fish he got. Ay, he's a shrewd-headed fellow, too;
-for says he "I suppose, now, the old people will be for
-having the children save up the sixpence, so at least they'll
-have the penny to spend;" and he was curious even to find
-out where the bairns in a place like this got their toys, or
-if sweeties ever came their way. "It's little enough of
-either o' them," I said to him, "they see, except when Miss
-Douglas has been to Lairg or Tongue;" and he was very
-anxious to make your acquaintance, I may tell ye, but he
-said he would wait till his daughter came with him the next
-time. I'm thinking the bairns will be pleased to find a
-little packet of money in the saucers; and it's not too much
-for a man to pay for the luck o' getting seven salmon in the
-middle of January—for who could have expected that?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then Meenie laughed.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It's little you know, Ronald, what is in store for you
-to-morrow night. It will be the hardest night's work you
-ever undertook in your life.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I'm not afraid o't,' he answered simply.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But you do not know yet.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She opened her ulster and from an inside pocket
-produced the formidable document that she had shown to
-Ronald's sister; and then she buttoned the long garment
-again, and contentedly sate herself down on the low stone
-parapet, the programme in her hand. And now all trace
-of embarrassment was fled from her; and when she spoke
-to him, or smiled, those clear frank eyes of hers looked
-straight into his, fearing nothing, but only expecting a
-welcome. She did not, as he did, continually remember
-that she was Miss Douglas, the doctor's daughter, and he
-merely a smart young deerstalker. To her he was simply
-Ronald—the Ronald that every one knew and liked; who
-had a kind of masterful way throughout this neighbourhood,
-and was arbiter in all matters of public concern; but who,
-nevertheless, was of such amazing good nature that there
-was no trouble he would not undertake to gratify her
-slightest wish. And as he was so friendly and obliging
-towards her, she made no doubt he was so to others; and
-that would account for his great popularity, she considered;
-and she thought it was very lucky for this remote little
-hamlet that it held within it one who was capable of
-producing so much good feeling, and keeping the social
-atmosphere sweet and sound.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>As for him, he met this perfect friendship of hers with a
-studied respect. Always, if it was on the one side 'Ronald,'
-on the other it was 'Miss Douglas.' Why, her very costume
-was a bar to more familiar relations. At this moment, as
-she sate on the stone parapet of the bridge, looking down at
-the document before her, and as he stood at a little distance,
-timidly awaiting what she had to say, it occurred to him
-again, as it had occurred before, that no matter what dress
-it was, each one seemed to become her better than any
-other. What was there particular in a tight-fitting gray
-ulster and a deerstalker's cap? and yet there was grace
-there, and style, and a nameless charm. If one of the
-lasses at the inn, now, were sent on an errand on one of
-these wild and blustering mornings, and got her hair blown
-about, she came back looking untidy; but if Miss Douglas
-had her hair blown about, so that bits and curls of it got free
-from the cap or the velvet hat, and hung lightly about her
-forehead or her ears or her neck, it was a greater witchery
-than ever. Then everything seemed to fit her so well and
-so easily, and to be so simple; and always leaving her—however
-it was so managed—perfect freedom of movement, so
-that she could swing a child on to her shoulder, or run
-after a truant, or leap from bank to bank of a burn without
-disturbing in the least that constant symmetry and neatness.
-To Ronald it was all a wonder; and there was a still
-further wonder always seeming to accompany her and
-surround her. Why was it that the bleakest winter day, on
-these desolate Sutherland moors, suddenly grew filled with
-light when he chanced to see a well-known figure away
-along the road—the world changing into a joyful thing, as
-if the summer were already come, and the larks singing in
-the blue? And when she spoke to him, there was a kind
-of music in the air; and when she laughed—why, Clebrig
-and Ben Loyal and the whispering Mudal Water seemed
-all to be listening and all to be glad that she was happy
-and pleased. She was the only one, other than himself,
-that the faithful Harry would follow; and he would go with
-her wherever she went, so long as she gave him an
-occasional word of encouragement.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Will I read you the programme, Ronald?' said she,
-with just a trace of mischief in the gray-blue eyes. 'I'm
-sure you ought to hear what has to be done, for you are
-to be in the chair, you know.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Me?' said he, in astonishment. 'I never tried such
-a thing in my life.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh yes,' she said cheerfully. 'They tell me you are
-always at the head of the merry-makings: and is not this
-a simple thing? And besides, I do not want any other
-grown people—I do not want Mr. Murray—he is a very
-nice man—but he would be making jokes for the grown-up
-people all the time. I want nobody but you and Maggie
-and myself besides the children, and we will manage it
-very well, I am sure.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>There was a touch of flattery in the proposal.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Indeed, yes,' said he at once. 'We will manage well
-enough, if ye wish it that way.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Very well, then,' said she, turning with a practical air
-to the programme. 'We begin with singing Old Hundred,
-and then the children will have tea and cake—and the
-sixpence and the penny. And then there is to be an
-address by the Chairman—that's you, Ronald.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Bless me, lassie!' he was startled into saying; and
-then he stammered an apology, and sought safety in a
-vehement protest against the fancy that he could make a
-speech—about anything whatever.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, that is strange,' said Meenie looking at him, and
-rather inclined to laugh at his perplexity. 'It is a strange
-thing if you cannot make a little speech to them; for I
-have to make one—at the end. See, there is my name.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He scarcely glanced at the programme.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And what have you to speak about, Miss Douglas?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She laughed.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'About you.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'About me?' he said, rather aghast.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It is a vote of thanks to the chairman—and easy enough
-it will be, I am sure. For I have only to say about you
-what I hear every one say about you; and that will be
-simple enough.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The open sincerity of her friendship—and even of her
-marked liking for him—was so apparent that for a second
-or so he was rather bewildered. But he was not the kind
-of man to misconstrue frankness; he knew that was part
-of herself; she was too generous, too much inclined to
-think well of everybody; and the main point to which he
-had to confine himself was this, that if she, out of her
-good-nature, could address a few words to those children—about
-him or any other creature or object in the world—it
-certainly behoved him to do his best also, although he
-had never tried anything of the kind before. And then a
-sudden fancy struck him; and his eyes brightened eagerly.
-'Oh yes, yes,' he said, 'I will find something to say.
-I would make a bad hand at a sermon; but the bairns
-have enough o' that at times; I dare say we'll find
-something for them o' another kind—and they'll no be sorry
-if it's short. I'm thinking I can find something that'll
-please them.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And what was this that was in his head?—what but
-the toast of the Mistress of the Feast! If Meenie had
-but known, she would doubtless have protested against the
-introduction of any mutual admiration society into the
-modest hamlet of Inver-Mudal; but at that moment she
-was still scanning the programme.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Now you know, Ronald,' she said, 'it is to be all quiet
-and private; and that is why the grown-up people are to be
-kept out except ourselves. Well, then, after they have had
-raisins handed round, you are to sing "My love she's but a
-lassie yet"—that is a compliment to the little ones; and then
-I will read them something; and then you are to sing "O
-dinna cross the burn, Willie"—I have put down no songs
-that I have not heard you sing. And then if you would
-play them "Lord Breadalbane's March" on the pipes——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She looked up again, with an air of apology.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Do you think I am asking too much from you, Ronald?'
-she said.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Indeed not a bit,' said he promptly. 'I will play or
-sing for them all the night long, if you want; and I'm sure
-it's much better we should do it all ourselves, instead o'
-having a lot o' grown-up folk to make the bairns shy.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It is not the chairman anyway, that will make them
-shy—if what they say themselves is true,' said Meenie very
-prettily; and she folded up her programme and put it in
-her pocket again.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She rose; and he whistled in the dogs, as if he would
-return to the village.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I thought you were taking them for a run,' said she.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, they have been scampering about; I will go back now.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Nor did it occur to her for a moment that she would
-rather not walk back to the door of her mother's house
-with him. On the contrary, if she had been able to attract
-his notice when he passed, she would have gone down to
-the little garden-gate, and had this conversation with him
-in view of all the windows. If she wanted him to do
-anything for her, she never thought twice about going along
-to his cottage and knocking at the door; or she would, in
-the event of his not being there, go on to the inn and ask
-if any one had seen Ronald about. And so on this
-occasion she went along the road with him in much
-good-humour; praising the dogs, hoping the weather would
-continue fine, and altogether in high spirits over her plans
-for the morrow.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>However, they were not to part quite so pleasantly.
-At the small garden-gate, and evidently awaiting them,
-stood Mrs. Douglas; and Ronald guessed that she was in
-no very good temper. In truth, she seldom was. She
-was a doll-like little woman, rather pretty, with cold clear
-blue eyes, fresh-coloured cheeks, and quite silver-white hair,
-which was carefully curled and braided—a pretty little old
-lady, and one to be petted and made much of, if only she
-had had a little more amiability of disposition. But she was
-a disappointed woman. Her big good-natured husband had
-never fulfilled the promise of his early years, when, in a
-fit of romance, she married the penniless medical student
-whom she had met in Edinburgh. He was not disappointed
-at all; his life suited him well enough; he was
-excessively fond of his daughter Meenie, and wanted no
-other companion when she was about; after the hard work
-of making a round of professional visits in that wild district,
-the quiet and comfort and neatness of the little cottage at
-Inver-Mudal were all that he required. But it was far
-otherwise with the once ambitious little woman whom he
-had married. The shadow of the dignity of the Stuarts of
-Glengask still dwelt over her; and it vexed her that she
-had nothing with which to overawe the neighbours or to
-convince the passing stranger of her importance. Perhaps
-if she had been of commanding figure, that might have
-helped her, however poor her circumstances might be; as
-it was, being but five feet two inches in height—and rather
-toy-like withal—everything seemed against her. It was
-but little use her endeavouring to assume a majestic manner
-when her appearance was somehow suggestive of a glass
-case; and the sharpness of her tongue, which was considerable,
-seemed to be but little heeded even in her own house,
-for both her husband and her daughter were persons of an
-easy good humour, and rather inclined to pet her in spite
-of herself.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good morning, Mrs. Douglas,' Ronald said respectfully,
-and he raised his cap as they drew near.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good morning, Mr. Strang,' she said, with much
-precision, and scarcely glancing at him.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She turned to Meenie.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Williamina, how often have I told you to shut the gate
-after you when you go out?' she said sharply. 'Here
-has the cow been in again.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It cannot do much harm at this time of the year,'
-Meenie said lightly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I suppose if I ask you to shut the gate that is enough?
-Where have you been? Idling, I suppose. Have you
-written to Lady Stuart to thank her for the Birthday Book?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>It seemed to Ronald (who wished to get away, but
-could scarcely leave without some civil word of parting)
-that she referred to Lady Stuart in an unmistakably clear
-tone. She appeared to take no notice of Ronald's presence,
-but she allowed him to hear that there was such a person
-as Lady Stuart in existence.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Why, mother, it only came yesterday, and I haven't
-looked over it yet,' Meenie said.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I think when her ladyship sends you a present,' observed
-the little woman, with severe dignity, 'the least you can
-do is to write and thank her at once. There are many
-who would be glad of the chance. Go in and write the
-letter now.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Very well, mother,' said Meenie, with perfect
-equanimity; and then she called 'Good morning, Ronald!'
-and went indoors.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>What was he to do to pacify this imperious little dame?
-As a gamekeeper, he knew but the one way.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Would a hare or two, or a brace of ptarmigan be of
-any use to you, Mrs. Douglas?' said he.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Indeed,' she answered, with much dignity, 'we have
-not had much game of any kind of late, for at Glengask
-they do not shoot any of the deer after Christmas.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>This intimation that her cousin, Sir Alexander, was the
-owner of a deer-forest might have succeeded with anybody
-else. But alas! this young man was a keeper, and very
-well he knew that there was no forest at all at Glengask,
-though occasionally in October they might come across a
-stag that had been driven forth from the herd, or they might
-find two or three strayed hinds in the woods later on; while,
-if Mrs. Douglas had but even one haunch sent her in the
-year—say at Christmas—he considered she got a very fair
-share of whatever venison was going at Glengask. But of
-course he said nothing of all this.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, very well,' said he, 'I'm thinking o' getting two or
-three o' the lads to go up the hill for a hare-drive one o'
-these days. The hares 'll be the better o' some thinning
-down—on one or two o' the far tops; and then again, when
-we've got them it's no use sending them south—they're no
-worth the carriage. So if ye will take a few o' them, I'm
-sure you're very welcome. Good morning, ma'am.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good morning,' said she, a little stiffly, and she turned
-and walked towards the cottage.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>As for him, he strode homeward with right goodwill;
-for Meenie's letter was in his pocket; and he had forthwith
-to make his way to Crask—preferring not to place any
-commission of hers in alien hands. He got the dogs
-kennelled up—all except the little terrier; he slung his
-telescope over his shoulder, and took a stick in his hand.
-'Come along, Harry, lad, ye'll see your friends at Crask ere
-dinner time, and if ye're well-behaved ye'll come home in
-the waggonette along wi' the bairns.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>It was a brisk and breezy morning; the keen north wind
-was fortunately behind him; and soon he was swinging
-along through the desolate solitudes of Strath Terry, his
-footfall on the road the only sound in the universal
-stillness. And yet not the only sound, for sometimes he
-conversed with Harry, and sometimes he sent his clear tenor
-voice ringing over the wide moorland, and startling here or
-there a sheep, the solitary occupant of these wilds. For
-no longer had he to propitiate that domineering little dame;
-and the awful shadow of Glengask was as nothing to him;
-the American, with his unsettling notions, had departed;
-here he was at home, his own master, free in mind, and
-with the best of all companions trotting placidly at his
-heels. No wonder his voice rang loud and clear and
-contented:—</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'"'Tis not beneath the burgonet,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Nor yet beneath the crown,</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'Tis not on couch of velvet,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Nor yet on bed of down."</span></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>Harry, lad, do ye see that hoodie? Was there ever such
-impudence? I could maist kill him with a stone. But
-I'll come along and pay a visit to the gentleman ere the
-month's much older:—</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">"'Tis beneath the spreading birch,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">In the dell without a name,</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Wi' a bonnie, bonnie lassie,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">When the kye come hame."</span></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>What think ye o' that now?—for we'll have to do our best
-to-morrow night to please the bairns. Ah, you wise wee
-deevil!—catch you drinking out o' a puddle when ye see
-any running water near.</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">"When the kye come hame, when the kye come hame,</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Twixt the gloaming and the mirk, when the kye come hame."</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst" id="high-festival"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER X.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">HIGH FESTIVAL.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>A children's tea-party in a Highland barn sounds a trivial
-sort of affair; and, as a spectacle, would doubtless suffer in
-contrast with a fancy-dress ball in Kensington or with a
-State concert at Buckingham Palace. But human nature
-is the important thing, after all, no matter what the
-surroundings may be; and if one considers what the ordinary
-life of these children was—the dull monotony of it in those
-far and bleak solitudes; their ignorance of pantomime
-transformation scenes; their lack of elaborately illustrated
-fairy tales, and similar aids to the imagination enjoyed by
-more fortunate young people elsewhere—it was surely an
-interesting kind of project to bring these bairns away from
-the homely farm or the keeper's cottage, in the depth of
-mid-winter, and to march them through the blackness of a
-January evening into a suddenly opening wonderland of
-splendour and colour and festivity. They were not likely
-to remember that this was but a barn—this beautiful place,
-with its blazing candelabra, and its devices of evergreens
-and great white and red roses, and the long table
-sumptuously set forth, and each guest sitting down, finding
-himself or herself a capitalist to the extent of sevenpence. And
-so warm and comfortable the lofty building was; and so
-brilliant and luminous with those circles of candles; and
-the loud strains of the pipes echoing through it—giving
-them a welcome just as if they were grown-up people: no
-wonder they stared mostly in silence at first, and seemed
-awestruck, and perhaps were in doubt whether this might
-not be some Cinderella kind of feast, that they might
-suddenly be snatched away from—and sent back again
-through the cold and the night to the far and silent cottage
-in the glen. But this feeling soon wore off; for it was no
-mystical fairy—though she seemed more beautiful and
-gracious, and more richly attired than any fairy they had
-ever dreamed about—who went swiftly here and there and
-everywhere, arranging their seats for them, laughing and
-talking with them, forgetting not one of their names, and
-as busy and merry and high-spirited as so great an occasion
-obviously demanded.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Moreover, is it not in these early years that ideals are
-unconsciously being formed—from such experiences as are
-nearest?—ideals that in after-life may become standards of
-conduct and aims. They had never seen any one so
-gentle-mannered as this young lady who was at once their
-hostess and the little mother of them all, nor any one so
-dignified and yet so simple and good-humoured and kind.
-They could not but observe with what marked respect
-Ronald Strang (a most important person in their eyes)
-treated her—insisting on her changing places with him, lest
-she should be in a draught when the door was opened;
-and not allowing her to touch the teapots that came hot
-and hot from the kitchen, lest she should burn her fingers;
-he pouring out the tea himself, and rather clumsily too.
-And if their ideal of sweet and gracious womanhood
-(supposing it to be forming in their heads) was of but a
-prospective advantage, was there not something of a more
-immediate value to them in thus being allowed to look on
-one who was so far superior to the ordinary human creatures
-they saw around them? She formed an easy key to the
-few imaginative stories they were familiar with. Cinderella,
-for example: when they read how she fascinated the prince
-at the ball, and won all hearts and charmed all eyes, they
-could think of Miss Douglas, and eagerly understand. The
-Queen of Sheba, when she came in all her splendour: how
-were these shepherds' and keepers' and crofters' children
-to form any notion of her appearance but by regarding
-Miss Douglas in this beautiful and graceful attire of hers?
-In point of fact, her gown was but of plain black silk; but
-there was something about the manner of her wearing it
-that had an indefinable charm; and then she had a
-singularly neat collar and a pretty ribbon round her neck; and
-there were slender silver things gleaming at her wrists from
-time to time. Indeed, there was no saying for how many
-heroines of history or fiction Miss Meenie Douglas had
-unconsciously to herself to do duty—in the solitary
-communings of a summer day's herding, or during the dreary
-hours in which these hapless little people were shut up in
-some small, close, overcrowded parish church, supposing
-that they lived anywhere within half a dozen miles of such
-a building: now she would be Joan of Arc, or perhaps
-Queen Esther that was so surpassing beautiful, or Lord
-Ullin's daughter that was drowned within sight of Ulva's
-shores. And was it not sufficiently strange that the same
-magical creature, who represented to them everything that
-was noble and beautiful and refined and queen-like, should
-now be moving about amongst them, cutting cake for them,
-laughing, joking, patting this one or that on the shoulder,
-and apparently quite delighted to wait on them and serve
-them?</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The introductory singing of the Old Hundredth Psalm
-was, it must be confessed, a failure. The large majority of
-the children present had never either heard or seen a piano;
-and when Meenie went to that strange-looking instrument
-(it had been brought over from her mother's cottage with
-considerable difficulty), and when she sate down and struck
-the first deep resounding chords—and when Ronald, at his
-end of the table, led off the singing with his powerful
-tenor voice—they were far too much interested and
-awestruck to follow. Meenie sang, in her quiet clear way, and
-Maggie timidly joined in, but the children were silent.
-However, as has already been said, the restraint that was at
-first pretty obvious very soon wore off; the tea and cake
-were consumed amid much general hilarity and satisfaction;
-and when in due course the Chairman rose to deliver his
-address, and when Miss Douglas tapped on the table to
-secure attention, and also by way of applause, several of
-the elder ones had quite enough courage and knowledge of
-affairs to follow her example, so that the speaker may be
-said to have been received with favour.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And if there were any wise ones there, whose experience
-had taught them that tea and cake were but a snare to
-entrap innocent people into being lectured and sermonised,
-they were speedily reassured. The Chairman's address
-was mostly about starlings and jays and rabbits and ferrets
-and squirrels; and about the various ways of taming these,
-and teaching them; and of his own various successes and
-failures when he was a boy. He had to apologise at the
-outset for not speaking in the Gaelic; for he said that if he
-tried they would soon be laughing at him; he would have
-to speak in English; but if he mentioned any bird or beast
-whose name they did not understand, they were to ask him,
-and he would tell them the Gaelic name. And very soon
-it was clear enough that this was no lecture on the wanderings
-of the children of Israel, nor yet a sermon on justification
-by faith; the eager eyes of the boys followed every
-detail of the capture of the nest of young ospreys; the girls
-were like to cry over the untimely fate of a certain tame
-sparrow that had strayed within the reach—or the spring
-rather—of an alien cat; and general laughter greeted the
-history of the continued and uncalled-for mischiefs and evil
-deeds of one Peter, a squirrel but half reclaimed from its
-savage ways, that had cost the youthful naturalist much
-anxiety and vexation, and also not a little blood. There
-was, moreover, a dark and wild story of revenge—on an
-ill-conditioned cur that was the terror of the whole village, and
-was for ever snapping at girls' ankles and boys' legs—a most
-improper and immoral story to be told to young folks,
-though the boys seemed to think the ill-tempered beast got
-no more than it deserved. That small village, by the way,
-down there in the Lothians, seemed to have been a very
-remarkable place; the scene of the strangest exploits and
-performances on the part of terriers, donkeys, pet kittens,
-and tame jackdaws; haunted by curious folk, too, who
-knew all about bogles and kelpies and such uncanny
-creatures, and had had the most remarkable experiences of them
-(though modern science was allowed to come in here for a
-little bit, with its cold-blooded explanations of the
-supernatural). And when, to finish up this discursive and
-apparently aimless address, he remarked that the only thing
-lacking in that village where he had been brought up, and
-where he had observed all these incidents and wonders,
-was the presence of a kind-hearted and generous young
-lady, who, on an occasion, would undertake all the trouble
-of gathering together the children for miles around, and
-would do everything she could to make them perfectly happy,
-they knew perfectly well whom he meant; and when he
-said, in conclusion, that if they knew of any such an one
-about here, in Inver-Mudal, and if they thought that she
-had been kind to them, and if they wished to show her that
-they were grateful to her for her goodness, they could not
-do better than give her three loud cheers, the lecture came
-to an end in a perfect storm of applause; and Meenie—blushing
-a little, and yet laughing—had to get up and say
-that she was responsible for the keeping of order by this
-assembly, and would allow no speech-making and no
-cheering that was not put down in the programme.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>After this there was a service of raisins; and in the
-general quiet that followed Mr. Murray came into the room,
-just to see how things were going on. Now the innkeeper
-considered himself to be a man of a humorous turn; and
-when he went up to shake hands with Miss Douglas, and
-looked down the long table, and saw Ronald presiding at
-the other end, and her presiding at this, and all the children
-sitting so sedately there, he remarked to her in his waggish
-way—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, now, for a young married couple, you have a
-very large family.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But Miss Douglas was not a self-conscious young person,
-nor easily alarmed, and she merely laughed and said—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I am sure they are a very well-behaved family indeed.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But Ronald, who had not heard the jocose remark, by
-the way, objected to any one coming in to claim Miss
-Douglas's attention on so important an occasion; and in
-his capacity of Chairman he rose and rapped loudly on the
-table.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ladies and gentlemen,' he said, 'we're not going to
-have any idlers here the night. Any one that bides with
-us must do something. I call on Mr. Murray to sing his
-well-known song, "Bonnie Peggie, O."'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Indeed no, indeed no,' the innkeeper said, instantly
-retreating to the door. 'There iss too many good judges
-here the night. I'll leave you to yourselfs; but if there's
-anything in the inn you would like sent over, do not be
-afraid to ask for it, Ronald. And the rooms for the children
-are all ready, and the beds; and we'll make them very
-comfortable, Miss Douglas, be sure of that now.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It's ower soon to talk about beds yet,' Ronald said,
-when the innkeeper had gone; and he drove home the
-wooden bolt of the door, so that no other interloper should
-get in. Meenie had said she wanted no outsiders present;
-that was enough.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then they set about getting through the programme—the
-details of which need not be repeated here. Song
-followed song; when there was any pause Meenie played
-simple airs on the piano; for 'The Cameraman's Dream,'
-when it came to her turn to read them something, she
-substituted 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin,' which was listened
-to with breathless interest. Even the little Maggie did her
-part in the 'Huntingtower' duet very creditably—fortified
-by the knowledge that there were no critics present. And
-as for the children, they had become quite convinced that
-there was to be no sermon; and that they were not to be
-catechised about their lessons, nor examined as to the
-reasons annexed to the Fourth Commandment; all care
-was gone from them; for the moment life was nothing but
-shortbread and raisins and singing, with admiration of Miss
-Douglas's beautiful hair and beautiful kind eyes and soft
-and laughing voice.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then, as the evening wore on, it became time to
-send these young people to the beds that had been prepared
-for them at the inn; and of course they could not break
-up without singing 'Auld Lang Syne'—Meenie officiating
-at the piano, and all the others standing up and joining
-hands. And then she had to come back to the table to
-propose a vote of thanks to the Chairman. Well, she
-was not much abashed. Perhaps there was a little extra
-colour in her face at the beginning; and she said she had
-never tried to make a speech before; and, indeed, that now
-there was no occasion, for that all of them knew Ronald
-(so she called him, quite naturally), and knew that he was
-always willing to do a kindness when he was asked. And
-she said that he had done a great deal more than had been
-originally begged of him; and they ought all of them,
-including herself, to be very grateful to him; and if they
-wished to give him a unanimous vote of thanks, they were
-all to hold up their right hand—as she did. So that vote
-was carried; and Ronald said a few words in reply—mostly
-about Miss Douglas, in truth, and also telling them to whom
-they were indebted for the money found in each saucer.
-Then came the business of finding wraps for them and
-muffling them up ere they went out into the January night
-(though many a one there was all unused to such
-precautions, and wondered that Miss Douglas should be so
-careful of them), while Ronald, up at the head of the room, was
-playing them a parting salute on the pipes—</span><em class="italics">Caidil gu lo</em><span> it
-was, which means 'Sleep on till day.' Finally, when
-Maggie and Meenie were ushering their small charges
-through the darkness to the back-door of the inn, he found
-himself alone; and, before putting out the candles and fastening
-up, he thought he might as well have a smoke—for that
-solace had been denied him during the long evening.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, he was staring absently into the mass of smouldering
-peats, and thinking mostly of the sound of Meenie's
-voice as he had heard it when she sang with the children
-'Whither, pilgrims, are you going?' when he heard
-footsteps behind him, and turning found that both Meenie
-and Maggie had come back.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald,' said Meenie, with her pretty eyes smiling at
-him, 'do you know that Maggie and I are rather tired——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, I dinna wonder,' said he.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes, and both of us very hungry too. And I am sure
-there will be no supper waiting for either Maggie or me
-when we go home; and do you think you could get us
-some little thing now?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Here?' said he, with his face lighting up with pleasure:
-were those three to have supper all by themselves?</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh yes,' said she, in her friendly way. 'I am not sure
-that my mother would like me to stay at the inn for supper;
-but this is our own place; and the table laid; and Maggie
-and I would rather be here, I am sure. And you—are
-you not hungry too—after so long a time—I am sure you
-want something besides raisins and shortbread. But if it
-will be any trouble—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Trouble or no trouble,' said he quickly, 'has nothing
-to do wi't. Here, Maggie, lass, clear the end of the table;
-and we'll soon get some supper for ye.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And away he went to the inn, summoning the lasses
-there, and driving and hurrying them until they had
-arranged upon a large tray a very presentable
-supper—some cold beef, and ham, and cheese, and bread, and ale;
-and when the fair-haired Nelly was ready to start forth with
-this burden, he lit a candle and walked before her through
-the darkness, lest she should miss her footing. And very
-demure was Nelly when she placed this supper on the table;
-there was not even a look for the smart young keeper; and
-when Meenie said to her—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I hear, Nelly, you had great goings-on on Monday
-night'—she only answered—'Oh yes, miss, there was that'—and
-could not be drawn into conversation, but left the
-moment she had everything arranged.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But curiously enough, when the two girls had taken
-their seats at this little cross table, Ronald remained
-standing—just behind them, indeed, as if he were a waiter.
-And would Miss Douglas have this? and would Miss
-Douglas have that? he suggested—mostly to cloak his
-shamefacedness; for indeed that first wild assumption that
-they were all to have supper together was banished now as
-an impertinence. He would wait on them, and gladly;
-but—but his own supper would come after.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And what will you have yourself, Ronald?' Meenie asked.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh,' said he, 'that will do by and by. I am not so
-hungry as you.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Did you have so much of the shortbread?' said she,
-laughing.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He went and stirred up the peats—and the red glow
-sent a genial warmth across towards them.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Come, Ronald,' said the little Maggie, 'and have some
-supper.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'There is no hurry,' he said evasively. 'I think I will go
-outside and have a pipe now; and get something by and by.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I am sure,' said Meenie saucily, 'that it is no compliment
-to us that you would rather go away and smoke. See, now,
-if we cannot tempt you.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And therewith, with her own pretty fingers, she made
-ready his place at the table; and put the knife and fork
-properly beside the plate; and helped him to a slice of beef
-and a slice of ham; and poured some ale into his tumbler.
-Not only that, but she made a little movement of arranging
-her dress which was so obviously an invitation that he
-should there and then take a place by her, that it was not
-in mortal man to resist; though, indeed, after sitting down,
-he seemed to devote all his attention to looking after his
-companions. And very soon any small embarrassment was
-entirely gone; Meenie was in an unusually gay and merry
-mood—for she was pleased that her party had been so
-obviously a success, and all her responsibilities over. And
-this vivacity gave a new beauty to her face; her eyes seemed
-more kind than ever; when she laughed, it was a sweet
-low laugh, like the cooing of pigeons on a summer afternoon.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And what are you thinking of, Maggie?' she said,
-suddenly turning to the little girl, who had grown rather
-silent amid this talking and joking.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I was wishing this could go on for ever,' was the simple
-answer.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What? A perpetual supper? Oh, you greedy girl!
-Why, you must be looking forward to the Scandinavian
-heaven——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, it's to be with Ronald and you, Meenie dear—just
-like now—for you seem to be able to keep everybody
-happy.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Miss Douglas did blush a little at this; but it was an
-honest compliment, and it was soon forgotten. And then,
-when they had finished supper, she said—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald, do you know that I have never played an
-accompaniment to one of your songs? Would you not
-like to hear how it sounds?</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But—but I'm not used to it—I should be putting you
-wrong——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, no; I'm sure we will manage. Come along,' she
-said briskly. 'There is that one I heard you sing the other
-day—I heard you, though you did not see me—"Gae bring
-to me a pint o' wine, and fill it in a silver tassie; that I
-may drink, before I go, a service to my bonnie lassie"—and
-very proud she was, I suppose. Well, now, we will try
-that one.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>So they went to the other end of the barn, where the
-piano was; and there was a good deal of singing there, and
-laughing and joking—among this little party of three.
-And Meenie sang too—on condition (woman-like) that
-Ronald would light his pipe. Little Maggie scarcely knew
-which to admire the more—this beautiful and graceful
-young lady, who was so complaisant and friendly and kind,
-or her own brother, who was so handsome and manly and
-modest, and yet could do everything in the world. Nor
-could there have been any sinister doubt in that wish of hers
-that these three should always be together as they were
-then; how was she to know that this was the last evening
-on which Meenie Douglas and Ronald were to meet on
-these all too friendly terms?</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst" id="a-revelation"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER XI.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">A REVELATION.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>Early the next morning, when as yet the sunrise was still
-widening up and over the loch, and the faint tinge of red
-had not quite left the higher slopes of Clebrig, Ronald had
-already finished his breakfast, and was in his own small
-room, smoking the customary pipe, and idly—and with
-some curious kind of whimsical amusement in his brain—turning
-over the loose sheets of scribbled verses. And that
-was a very ethereal and imaginary Meenie he found there—a
-Meenie of lonely hillside wanderings—a Meenie of daydreams
-and visions: not the actual, light-hearted, shrewd-headed
-Meenie of the evening before, who was so merry
-after the children had gone, and so content with the little
-supper-party of three, and would have him smoke his pipe
-without regard to her pretty silk dress. This Meenie on
-paper was rather a wistful, visionary, distant creature; whereas
-the Meenie of the previous evening was altogether
-good-humoured and laughing, with the quaintest mother-ways in
-the management of the children, and always a light of
-kindness shining in her clear Highland eyes. He would have
-to write something to portray Meenie (to himself) in this
-more friendly and actual character. He could do it easily
-enough, he knew. There never was any lack of rhymes
-when Meenie was the occasion. At other things he had to
-labour—frequently, indeed, until, reflecting that this was
-not his business, he would fling the scrawl into the fire, and
-drive it into the peats with his heel, and go away with much
-content. But when Meenie was in his head, everything
-came readily enough; all the world around seemed full of
-beautiful things to compare with her; the birds were singing
-of her; the mountains were there to guard her; the burn,
-as it whispered through the rushes, or danced over the open
-bed of pebbles, had but the one continual murmur of
-Meenie's name. Verses? he could have written them by
-the score—and laughed at them, and burned them, too.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Suddenly the little Maggie appeared.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald,' she said, 'the Doctor's come home.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What—at this time in the morning?' he said turning
-to her.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes, I am sure; for I can see the dog-cart at the door
-of the inn.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well now,' said he, hastily snatching up his cap, 'that
-is a stroke of luck—if he will come with us. I will go
-and meet him.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But he need not have hurried so much; the dog-cart
-was still at the door of the inn when he went out; and
-indeed remained there as he made his way along the road.
-The Doctor, who was a most sociable person, had stopped
-for a moment to hear the news; but Mr. Murray happened
-to be there, and so the chat was a protracted one. In the
-meantime Ronald's long swinging stride soon brought him
-into their neighbourhood.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good morning, Doctor!' he cried.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good morning, Ronald,' said the other, turning round.
-He was a big man, somewhat corpulent, with an honest,
-wholesome, ruddy face, soft brown eyes, and an expressive
-mouth, that could temper his very apparent good-nature
-with a little mild sarcasm.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'You've come back in the nick of time,' the keeper
-said—for well he knew the Doctor's keen love of a gun.
-'I'm thinking of driving some of the far tops the day, to
-thin down the hares a bit; and I'm sure ye'd be glad to
-lend us a hand.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Man, I was going home to my bed, to tell ye the truth,'
-said the Doctor; 'it's very little sleep I've had the last ten
-days.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What is the use of that?' said Ronald, 'there's aye
-plenty o' time for sleep in the winter.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then the heavy-framed occupant of the dog-cart
-glanced up at the far-reaching heights of Clebrig, and there
-was a grim smile on his mouth.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It's all very well,' said he, 'for herring-stomached young
-fellows like you to face a hill like that; but I've got weight
-to carry, man; and—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Come, come, Doctor; it's not the first time you've been
-on Clebrig,' Ronald said—he could see that Meenie's father
-wanted to be persuaded. 'Besides, we'll no try the highest
-tops up there—there's been too much snow. And I'll tell
-ye how we'll make it easy for ye; we'll row ye down the
-loch and begin at the other end and work home—there,
-it's a fair offer.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>It was an offer, at all events, that the big doctor could
-not withstand.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, well,' said he, 'I'll just drive the dog-cart along
-and see how they are at home; and then if the wife lets
-me out o' her clutches, I'll come down to the loch side as
-fast as I can.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Ronald turned to one of the stable-lads (all of whom
-were transformed into beaters on this occasion).</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Jimmy, just run over to the house and fetch my gun;
-and bid Maggie put twenty cartridges—number 4, she
-knows where they are—into the bag; and then ye can
-take the gun and the cartridge-bag down to the boat—and
-be giving her a bale-out till I come along. I'm going to the
-farm now, to get two more lads if I can; tell the Doctor
-I'll no be long after him, if he gets down to the loch first.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Some quarter of an hour thereafter they set forth; and
-a rough pull it was down the loch, for the wind was
-blowing hard, and the waves were coming broadside on. Those
-who were at the oars had decidedly the best of it, for it
-was bitterly cold; but even the others did not seem to
-mind much—they were chiefly occupied in scanning the
-sky-line of the hills (a habit that one naturally falls into in
-a deer country), while Ronald and the Doctor, seated in
-the stern, were mostly concerned about keeping their guns
-dry. In due course of time they landed, made their way
-through a wood of young birch-trees, followed the channel
-of a burn for a space, and by and by began to reach the
-upper slopes, where the plans for the first drive were
-carefully drawn out and explained.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Now it is unnecessary to enter into details of the day's
-achievements, for they were neither exciting nor difficult
-nor daring. It was clearly a case of shooting for the pot;
-although Ronald, in his capacity of keeper, was anxious to
-have the hares thinned down, knowing well enough that
-the over-multiplying of them was as certain to bring in
-disease as the overstocking of a mountain farm with sheep.
-But it may be said that the sport, such as it was, was done
-in a workmanlike manner. In Ronald's case, each cartridge
-meant a hare—and no praise to him, for it was his business.
-As for the Doctor, he was not only an excellent shot, but
-he exercised a wise and humane discretion as well. Nothing
-would induce him to fire at long range on the off-chance
-of hitting; and this is all the more laudable in the
-shooting of mountain hares, for these, when wounded, will
-frequently dodge into a hole among the rocks, like a rabbit,
-baffling dogs and men, and dying a miserable death.
-Moreover, there was no need to take risky shots. The two guns
-were posted behind a stone or small hillock—lying at full
-length on the ground, only their brown-capped heads and
-the long barrels being visible. Then the faint cries in the
-distance became somewhat louder—with sticks rattled on
-rocks, and stones flung here and there; presently, on the
-sky-line of the plateau, a small object appeared, sitting
-upright and dark against the sky; then it came shambling
-leisurely along—becoming bigger and bigger and whiter
-and whiter every moment, until at length it showed itself
-almost like a cat, but not running stealthily like a cat,
-rather hopping forward on its ungainly high haunches; and
-then again it would stop and sit up, its ears thrown back,
-its eyes not looking at anything in front of it, its
-snow-white body, with here and there a touch of bluish-brown,
-offering a tempting target for a pea-rifle. But by this time,
-of course, numerous others had come hopping over the
-sky-line; and now as the loud yells and shouts and striking of
-stones were close at hand, there was more swift running
-instead of hobbling and pausing among the white frightened
-creatures; and as they cared for nothing in front (in fact
-a driven hare cannot see anything that is right ahead of it,
-and will run against your boots if you happen to be standing
-in the way), but sped noiselessly across the withered
-grass and hard clumps of heather—bang! went the first
-barrel, and then another and another, as quick as fingers
-could unload and reload, until here, there, and everywhere—but
-always within a certain radius from the respective
-posts—a white object lay on the hard and wintry ground.
-The beaters came up to gather them together; the two
-guns had risen from their cold quarters; there were found
-to be thirteen hares all told—a quite sufficient number for
-this part—and not one had crawled or hobbled away
-wounded.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But we will now descend for a time from these bleak
-altitudes and return to the little hamlet—which seemed to
-lie there snugly enough and sheltered in the hollow, though
-the wind was hard on the dark and driven loch. Some
-hour or so after the shooters and beaters had left, Meenie
-Douglas came along to Ronald's cottage, and, of course,
-found Maggie the sole occupant, as she had expected.
-She was very bright and cheerful and friendly, and spoke
-warmly of Ronald's kindness in giving her father a day's
-shooting.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'My mother was a little angry,' she said, laughing, 'that
-he should go away just the first thing after coming home;
-but you know, Maggie, he is so fond of shooting; and it
-is not always he can get a day, especially at this time of
-the year: and I am very glad he has gone; for you know
-there are very few who have to work so hard.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I wish they may come upon a stag,' said the little
-Maggie—with reckless and irresponsible generosity.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Do you know, Maggie,' said the elder young lady,
-with a shrewd smile on her face, 'I am not sure that my
-mother likes the people about here to be so kind; she is
-always expecting my father to get a better post—but I know
-he is not likely to get one that will suit him as well with
-the fishing and shooting. There is the Mudal—the gentlemen
-at the lodge let him have that all the spring through;
-and when the loch is not let, he can always have a day by
-writing to Mr. Crawford; and here is Ronald, when the
-hinds have to be shot at Christmas, and so on. And if
-the American gentleman takes the shooting as well as the
-loch, surely he will ask my father to go with him a day or
-two on the hill; it is a lonely thing shooting by one's self.
-Well now, Maggie, did you put the curtains up again in
-Ronald's room?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes, I did,' was the answer, 'and he did not tear them
-down this time, for I told him you showed me how to hang
-them; but he has tied them back so that they might just
-as well not be there at all. Come and see, Meenie dear.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She led the way into her brother's room; and there,
-sure enough, the window-curtains (which were wholly
-unnecessary, by the way, except from the feminine point of
-view, for there was certainly not too much light coming
-in by the solitary window) had been tightly looped and
-tied back, so that the view down the loch should be
-unimpeded.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No matter,' said Meenie; 'the window is not so bare-looking
-as it used to be. And I suppose he will let them
-remain up now.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh yes, when he was told that you had something to
-do with them,' was the simple answer.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Meenie went to the wooden mantelpiece, and put the
-few things there straight, just as she would have done in
-her own room, blowing the light white peat-dust off them,
-and arranging them in neater order.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I wonder, now,' she said, 'he does not get frames for
-these photographs; they will be spoiled by finger marks
-and the dust.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Maggie said shyly—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'That was what he said to me the other day—but not
-about these—about the one you gave me of yourself. He
-asked to see it, and I showed him how careful I was in
-wrapping it up; but he said no—the first packman that
-came through I was to get a frame if he had one, and
-glass too; or else that he would send it in to Inverness to
-be framed. But you know, Meenie, it's not near so
-nice-looking—or anything, anything like so nice-looking—as
-you are.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Nothing could be that, I am sure,' said Meenie lightly;
-and she was casting her eyes about the room, to see what
-further improvements she could suggest.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But Maggie had grown suddenly silent, and was standing
-at the little writing-table, apparently transfixed with
-astonishment. It will be remembered that when Ronald,
-in the morning, heard that the Doctor was at the door of
-the inn, he had hurriedly hastened away to intercept him;
-and that, subsequently, in order to save time, he had sent
-back a lad for his gun and cartridges, while he went on to
-the farm. Now it was this last arrangement that caused
-him to overlook the fact that he had left his writing
-materials—the blotting-pad and everything—lying exposed
-on the table; a piece of neglect of which he had scarcely
-ever before been guilty. And as ill-luck would have it, as
-Maggie was idly wandering round the room, waiting for
-Meenie to make any further suggestions for the smartening
-of it, what must she see lying before her, among these
-papers, but a letter, boldly and conspicuously addressed?</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well!' she exclaimed, as she took it up. 'Meenie,
-here is a letter for you! why didna he send it along to
-you?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'A letter for me?' Meenie said, with a little surprise.
-'No! why should Ronald write a letter to me?—I see him
-about every day.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But look!'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Meenie took the letter in her hand; and regarded the
-address; and laughed.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It is very formal,' said she. 'There is no mistake about
-it. "</span><em class="italics">Miss Wilhelmina Stuart Douglas</em><span>"—when was I ever
-called that before? And "</span><em class="italics">Inver-Mudal, Sutherlandshire,
-N.B.</em><span>" He should have added </span><em class="italics">Europe</em><span>, as if he was sending
-it from the moon. Well, it is clearly meant for me, any
-way—oh, and open too——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The next minute all the careless amusement fled from
-her face; her cheeks grew very white, and a frightened,
-startled look sprang to her eyes. She but caught the first
-few lines—</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'O wilt thou be my dear love?</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">(Meenie and Meenie)</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">O wilt thou be my ain love?</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">(My sweet Meenie)?</span></div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>and then it was with a kind of shiver that her glance ran
-over the rest of it; and her heart was beating so that she
-could not speak; and there was a mist before her eyes.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Maggie,' she managed to say at length—and she
-hurriedly folded up the paper again and placed it on the
-table with the others—'I should not have read it—it was
-not meant for me—it was not meant that I should read
-it—come away, come away, Maggie.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She took the younger girl out of the room, and herself
-shut the door, firmly, although her fingers were all trembling.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Maggie,' she said, 'you must promise never to tell any
-one that you gave me that letter—that I saw it——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But what is the matter, Meenie?' the smaller girl
-said in bewilderment, for she could see by the strange
-half-frightened look of Miss Douglas's face that something
-serious had happened.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, it is nothing—it is nothing,' she forced herself to
-say. 'It will be all right. I shouldn't have read the
-letter—it was not meant for me to see—but if you say nothing
-about it, no harm will be done. That's all; that's all.
-And now I am going to see if the children are ready that
-are to go by the mail-car.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But I will go with you, Meenie.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Then the girl seemed to recollect herself; and she
-glanced round at the interior of the cottage, and at the little
-girl, with an unusual kind of look.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, no, not this morning, Maggie,' she said. 'You have
-plenty to do. Good-bye—good-bye!' and she stooped and
-kissed her, and patted her on the shoulder, and left,
-seeming anxious to get away and be by herself.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Maggie remained there in considerable astonishment.
-What had happened? Why should she not go to help with
-the children? and why good-bye—when Meenie would be
-coming along the road in less than an hour, as soon as the
-mail-car had left? And all about the reading of something
-contained in that folded sheet of paper. However, the
-little girl wisely resolved that, whatever was in that letter,
-she would not seek to know it, nor would she speak of it
-to any one, since Meenie seemed so anxious on that point;
-and so she set about her domestic duties again—looking
-forward to the end of these and the resumption of her
-knitting of her brother's jersey.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, the winter's day went by, and they had done good
-work on the hill. As the dusk of the afternoon began to
-creep over the heavens, they set out for the lower slopes on
-their way home; and very heavily weighted the lads were
-with the white creatures slung over their backs on sticks.
-But the dusk was not the worst part of this descent; the
-wind was now driving over heavy clouds from the north;
-and again and again they would be completely enveloped,
-and unable to see anywhere more than a yard from their
-feet. In these circumstances Ronald took the lead; the
-Doctor coming next, and following, indeed, more by sound
-than by sight; the lads bringing up in the wake in solitary
-file, with their heavy loads thumping on their backs. It
-was a ghostly kind of procession; though now and again
-the close veil around them would be rent in twain, and they
-would have a glimpse of something afar off—perhaps a spur
-of Ben Loyal, or the dark waters of Loch Meidie studded
-with its small islands. Long before they had reached
-Inver-Mudal black night had fallen; but now they were on easier
-ground; and at last the firm footing of the road echoed to
-their measured tramp, as the invisible company marched on
-and down to the warmth and welcome lights of the inn.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The Doctor, feeling himself something of a truant,
-went on direct to his cottage; but the others entered
-the inn; and as Ronald forthwith presented Mrs. Murray
-with half a dozen of the hares, the landlord was right willing
-to call for ale for the beaters, who had had a hard day's
-work. Nor was Ronald in a hurry to get home; for he
-heard that Maggie was awaiting him in the kitchen; and so
-he and Mr. Murray had a pipe and a chat together, as was
-their custom. Then he sent for his sister.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, Maggie, lass,' said he, as they set out through
-the dark, 'did you see all the bairns safely off this morning?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, Ronald,' she said, 'Meenie did not seem to want
-me; so I stayed at home.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And did you find Harry sufficient company for ye? But
-I suppose Miss Douglas came and stayed with ye for a while.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, Ronald,' said the little girl, in a tone of some
-surprise; 'she has not been near the house the whole day, since
-the few minutes in the morning.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh,' said he, lightly, 'she may have been busy, now her
-father is come home. And ye maun try and get on wi' your
-lessons as well as ye can, lass, without bothering Miss
-Douglas too much; she canna always spend so much time with ye.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The little girl was silent. She was thinking of that
-strange occurrence in the morning of which she was not to
-speak; and in a vague kind of way she could not but
-associate that with Meenie's absence all that day, and also
-with the unusual tone of her 'good-bye.' But yet, if there
-were any trouble, it would speedily pass away. Ronald
-would put everything right. Nobody could withstand him—that
-was the first and last article of her creed. And so,
-when they got home, she proceeded cheerfully enough to
-stir up the peats, and to cook their joint supper in a manner
-really skilful for one of her years; and she laid the cloth;
-and put the candles on the table; and had the tea and
-everything ready. Then they sate down; and Ronald was
-in very good spirits, and talked to her, and tried to amuse her.
-But the little Maggie rather wistfully looked back to the
-brilliant evening before, when Meenie was with them; and perhaps
-wondered whether there would ever again be a supper-party
-as joyful and friendly and happy as they three had been when
-they were all by themselves in the big gaily-lit barn.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst" id="when-shadows-fall"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER XII.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">'WHEN SHADOWS FALL.'</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>The deershed adjoining the kennels was a gloomy place,
-with its bare walls, its lack of light, and its ominous-looking
-crossbeams, ropes, and pulley for hanging up the slain
-deer; and the morning was dark and lowering, with a bitter
-wind howling along the glen, and sometimes bringing with
-it a sharp smurr of sleet from the northern hills. But these
-things did not seem to affect Ronald's spirits much as he
-stood there, in his shirt-sleeves, and bare-headed, sorting
-out the hares that were lying on the floor, and determining
-to whom and to whom such and such a brace or couple of
-brace should be sent. Four of the plumpest he had already
-selected for Mrs. Douglas (in the vague hope that the useful
-present might make her a little more placable), and he was
-going on with his choosing and setting aside—sometimes
-lighting a pipe—sometimes singing carelessly—</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">'O we aft hae met at e'en, bonnie Peggie, O,</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">On the banks o' Cart sae green, bonnie Peggie, O,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Where the waters smoothly rin,</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Far aneath the roarin' linn,</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Far frae busy strife and din, bonnie Peggie, O'—</span></div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>when the little Maggie came stealing in.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald,' she said, with an air of reproach, 'why are ye
-going about on such a morning without your jacket, and
-bare-headed, too?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Toots, toots, lassie, it's a fine morning,' said he
-indifferently.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It was Meenie said I was not to let you do such foolish
-things,' the little lass ventured to say diffidently.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Of course this put a new aspect on the case, but he
-would not admit as much directly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, well,' said he, 'if you bring me out my coat and
-bonnet I will put them on, for I'm going down to the
-Doctor's with two or three of the hares.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then she hesitated.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald,' said she, 'I will take them to Mrs. Douglas, if
-you like.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'You?' said he.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'For I would give them to her with a nice message from
-you; and—and—if you take them, you will say nothing at
-all; and where is the compliment?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He laughed.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ye're a wise little lass; but four big hares are heavy
-to carry—with the wind against ye; so run away and get
-me my coat and my Glengarry; and I will take them along
-myself, compliment or no compliment.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>However, as it turned out, Mrs. Douglas was not the
-first of the family he was fated to meet that morning. He
-had scarcely left the deershed when he perceived Meenie
-coming along the road; and this was an auspicious and
-kindly event; for somehow the day seemed to go by more
-smoothly and evenly and contentedly when he had chanced
-to meet Meenie in the morning, and have a few minutes'
-chat with her about affairs in general, and an assurance that
-all was going well with her. So he went forward to meet
-her with a light heart; and he thought she would be pleased
-that he was taking the hares to her mother; and perhaps,
-too, he considered that they might be a little more frank
-in their friendship after the exceeding good fellowship of
-the night of the children's party.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He went forward unsuspectingly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good morning, Miss Douglas!' said he, slackening in
-his pace, for naturally they always stopped for a few seconds
-or minutes when they met thus.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But to his astonishment Miss Douglas did not seem
-inclined to stay. Her eyes were bent on the ground as
-she came along; she but timidly half lifted them as she
-reached him; and 'Good morning, Ronald!' she said,
-and would have passed on. And then it seemed as if, in
-her great embarrassment, she did not know what to do.
-She stopped; her face was suffused with red; and she said
-hurriedly—and yet with an effort to appear unconcerned—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I suppose Maggie is at home?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh yes,' said he, and her manner was so changed that
-he also scarce knew what to say or to think.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And again she was going on, and again she lingered—with
-a sudden fear that she might be thought ungracious
-or unkind.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'The children all got away safely yesterday morning,'
-said she—but her eyes never met his; and there was still
-tell-tale colour in her cheeks.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'So I heard,' he answered.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I am sure they must have enjoyed the evening,' she
-said, as if forcing herself to speak.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then it suddenly occurred to him—for this encounter
-had been all too brief and bewildering for any proper
-understanding of it—that perhaps her mother had been reproving
-her for being too friendly with the people about the inn
-and with himself, and that he was only causing her
-embarrassment by detaining her, and so he said—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh yes, I'm sure o' that. Well, good morning, Miss
-Douglas; I'm going along to give your mother these two
-or three hares.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Good morning,' said she—still without looking at
-him—and then she went.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And he, too, went on his way; but only for a brief
-space; presently he sate down on the low stone dyke by
-the roadside, and dropped the hares on the ground at his
-feet. What could it all mean? She seemed anxious to
-limit their acquaintanceship to the merest formalities; and
-yet to be in a manner sorry for having to do so. Had he
-unwittingly given her some cause of offence? He began
-to recall the minutest occurrences of the night of the
-children's party—wondering if something had then happened
-to account for so marked a change? But he could think
-of nothing. The supper-party of three was of her own
-suggestion; she could not be angry on that account.
-Perhaps he ought to have asked this person or that person
-over from the inn to join them, for the sake of propriety?
-Well, he did not know much about such matters; it seemed
-to him that they were very happy as they were; and that
-it was nobody else's business. But would she quarrel with
-him on that account? Or on account of his smoking in
-her presence? Again and again he wished that his pipe
-had been buried at the bottom of the loch; and indeed
-his smoking of it that evening had given him no enjoyment
-whatever, except in so far as it seemed to please her; but
-surely, in any case, that was a trifle? Meenie would not
-suddenly become cold and distant (in however reluctant a
-way) for a small matter like that? Nor could she be angry
-with him for taking her father away for a day on the hill;
-she was always glad when the Doctor got a day's shooting
-from anybody. No; the only possible conclusion he could
-come to was that Mrs. Douglas had more strongly than
-ever disapproved of Meenie's forming friendships among
-people not of her own station in life; and that some
-definite instructions had been given, which the girl was
-anxious to obey. And if that were so, ought he to make
-it any the more difficult for her? He would be as reserved
-and distant as she pleased. He knew that she was a very
-kindly and sensitive creature; and might dread giving pain;
-and herself suffer a good deal more than those from whom
-she was in a measure called upon to separate herself. That
-was a reason why it should be made easy for her; and he
-would ask Maggie to get on with her lessons by herself, as
-much as she could; and when he met Miss Douglas on the
-road, his greeting of her would be of the briefest—and yet
-with as much kindness as she chose to accept in a word or
-a look. And if he might not present her with the polecat's
-skin that was now just about dressed?—well, perhaps the
-American gentleman's daughter would take it, and have it
-made into something, when she came up in March.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The pretty, little, doll-like woman, with the cold eyes
-and the haughty stare, was at the front-door of the cottage,
-scattering food to the fowls.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I have brought ye two or three hares, Mrs. Douglas, if
-they're of any use to ye,' Ronald said modestly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Thank you,' said she, with lofty courtesy, 'thank you;
-I am much obliged. Will you step in and sit down for a
-few minutes?—I am sure a little spirits will do you no
-harm on such a cold morning.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>In ordinary circumstances he would have declined that
-invitation; for he had no great love of this domineering
-little woman, and much preferred the society of her big,
-good-natured husband; but he was curious about Meenie,
-and even inclined to be resentful, if it appeared that she
-had been dealt with too harshly. So he followed
-Mrs. Douglas into the dignified little parlour—which was more
-like a museum of cheap curiosities than a room meant for
-actual human use; and forthwith she set on the crimson-dyed
-table-cover a glass, a tumbler, a jug of water, and a
-violet-coloured bulbous glass bottle with an electro-plated
-stopper. Ronald was bidden to help himself; and also, out
-of her munificence, she put before him a little basket of
-sweet biscuits.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I hear the Doctor is away again,' Ronald said—and a
-hundred times would he rather not have touched the violet
-bottle at all, knowing that her clear, cold, blue eyes were
-calmly regarding his every movement.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes,' she said, 'to Tongue. There is a consultation
-there. I am sure he has had very little peace and quiet
-lately.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I am glad he had a holiday yesterday,' Ronald said,
-with an endeavour to be agreeable.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But she answered severely—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It might have been better if he had spent the first day
-of his getting back with his own family. But that has
-always been his way; everything sacrificed to the whim of
-the moment—to his own likings and dislikings.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'He enjoys a day's sport as much as any man I ever
-saw,' said he—not knowing very well what to talk about.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes, I daresay,' she answered shortly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Then she pushed the biscuits nearer him; and returned
-to her attitude of observation, with her small, neat, white
-hands crossed on her lap, the rings on the fingers being
-perhaps just a little displayed.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Miss Douglas is looking very well at present.' he said,
-at a venture.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Williamina is well enough—she generally is,' she said
-coldly. 'There is never much the matter with her health.
-She might attend to her studies a little more and do
-herself no harm. But she takes after her father.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>There was a little sigh of resignation.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Some of us,' said he good-naturedly, 'were expecting
-her to come over on Monday night to see the dancing.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But here he had struck solid rock. In a second—from
-her attitude and demeanour—he had guessed why it was
-that Meenie had not come over to the landlord's party: a
-matter about which he had not found courage to question
-Meenie herself.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Williamina,' observed the little dame, with a magnificent
-dignity, 'has other things to think of—or ought to have, at
-her time of life, and in her position. I have had occasion
-frequently of late to remind her of what is demanded of
-her; she must conduct herself not as if she were for ever
-to be hidden away in a Highland village. It will be necessary
-for her to take her proper place in society, that she is
-entitled to from her birth and her relatives; and of course
-she must be prepared—of course she must be prepared.
-There are plenty who will be willing to receive her; it will
-be her own fault if she disappoints them—and us, too, her
-own parents. Williamina will never have to lead the life
-that I have had to lead, I hope; she belongs by birth to
-another sphere; and I hope she will make the most of her
-chances.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Miss Douglas would be made welcome anywhere, I am
-sure,' he ventured to say; but she regarded him with a
-superior look—as if it were not for him to pronounce an
-opinion on such a point.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Soon,' she continued—and she was evidently bent on
-impressing him, 'she will be going to Glasgow to finish in
-music and German, and to get on with her Italian: you
-will see she has no time to lose in idle amusement. We
-would send her to Edinburgh or to London, but her sister
-being in Glasgow is a great inducement; and she will be
-well looked after. But, indeed, Williamina is not the kind
-of girl to go and marry a penniless student; she has too
-much common sense; and, besides, she has seen how it
-turns out. Once in a family is enough. No; we count
-on her making a good marriage, as the first step towards
-her taking the position to which she is entitled; and I am
-sure that Lady Stuart will take her in hand, and give her
-every chance. As for their taking her abroad with them—and
-Sir Alexander almost promised as much—what better
-could there be than that?—she would be able to show off
-her acquirements and accomplishments; she would be
-introduced to the distinguished people at the ministerial
-receptions and balls; she would have her chance, as I say. And
-with such a chance before her, surely it would be nothing
-less than wicked of her to fling away her time in idle follies.
-I want her to remember what lies before her; a cottage
-like this is all very well for-me—I have made my bed and
-must lie on it; but for her—who may even be adopted
-by Lady Stuart—who knows? for stranger things have
-happened—it would be downright madness to sink into
-content with her present way of life.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And when do you think that M— that Miss Douglas
-will be going away to Glasgow?' he asked—but absently,
-as it were, for he was thinking of Inver-Mudal, and Clebrig,
-and Loch Loyal, and Strath-Terry, and of Meenie being
-away from them all.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'That depends entirely on herself,' was the reply. 'As
-soon as she is sufficiently forward all round for the finishing
-lessons, her sister is ready to receive her.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It will be lonely for you with your daughter away,'
-said he.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Parents have to make sacrifices,' she said. 'Yes, and
-children too. And better they should make them while
-they are young than all through the years after. I hope
-Williamina's will be no wasted life.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He did not know what further to say; he was dismayed,
-perplexed, downhearted, or something: if this was a lesson
-she had meant to read him, it had struck home. So he
-rose and took his leave; and she thanked him again for
-the hares; and he went out, and found Harry awaiting him
-on the doorstep. Moreover, as he went down to the little
-gate, he perceived that Meenie was coming back—she had
-been but to the inn with a message; and, obeying some
-curious kind of instinct, he turned to the left—pretending
-not to have seen her coming; and soon he was over the
-bridge, and wandering away up the lonely glen whose
-silence is broken only by the whispering rush of Mudal
-Water.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He wandered on and on through the desolate moorland,
-on this wild and blustering day, paying but little heed to
-the piercing wind or the driven sleet that smote his eyelids.
-And he was not so very sorrowful; his common sense had
-told him all this before; Rose Meenie, Love Meenie, was
-very well in secret fancies and rhymes and verses; but
-beyond that she was nothing to him. And what would
-Clebrig do, and Mudal Water, and all the wide, bleak
-country that had been brought up in the love of her, and
-was saturated with the charm of her presence, and seemed
-for ever listening in deathlike silence for the light music of
-her voice? There were plenty of verses running through
-his head on this wild day too; the hills and the clouds and
-the January sky were full of speech; and they were all of
-them to be bereft of her as well as he:—</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Mudal, that comes from the lonely loch,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Down through the moorland russet and brown,</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Know you the news that we have for you?—</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Meenie's away to Glasgow town.</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">See Ben Clebrig, his giant front</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Hidden and dark with a sudden frown;</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">What is the light of the valley to him,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Since Meenie's away to Glasgow town?</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Empty the valley, empty the world,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">The sun may arise and the sun go down;</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">But what to do with the lonely hours,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Since Meenie's away to Glasgow town?</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Call her back, Clebrig! Mudal, call.</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Ere all of the young spring time be flown;</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Birds, trees, and blossoms—you that she loved—</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">O summon her back from Glasgow town!</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>'</span><em class="italics">Call her back, Clebrig! Mudal, call!</em><span>' he repeated to
-himself as he marched along the moorland road; for
-what would they do without some one to guard, and some
-one to watch for, and some one to listen for, in the first
-awakening of the dawn? Glasgow—the great and grimy
-city—that would be a strange sort of guardian, in the
-young Spring days that were coming, for this fair Sutherland
-flower. And yet might not some appeal be made
-even there—some summons of attention, as it were?</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">O Glasgow town, how little you know</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">That Meenie has wandered in</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">To the very heart of your darkened streets,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Through all the bustle and din.</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">A Sutherland blossom shining fair</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Amid all your dismal haze,</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Forfeiting the breath of the summer hills,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And the blue of the northern days.</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">From Dixon's fire-wreaths to Rollox stalk,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Blow, south wind, and clear the sky,</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Till she think of Ben Clebrig's sunny slopes,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Where the basking red-deer lie.</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Blow, south wind, and show her a glimpse of blue</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Through the pall of dusky brown;</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And see that you guard her and tend her well,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">You, fortunate Glasgow town!</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>But then—but then—that strange, impossible time—during
-which there would be no Meenie visible anywhere
-along the mountain roads; and Mudal Water would go by
-unheeded; and there would be no careless, clear-singing
-girl's voice along Loch Naver's shores—that strange time
-would surely come to an end, and he could look forward
-and see how the ending of it would be:</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">The clouds lay heavy on Clebrig's crest,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">For days and weeks together;</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">The shepherds along Strath-Terry's side</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Cursed at the rainy weather;</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">They scarce could get a favouring day</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">For the burning of the heather.</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">When sudden the clouds were rent in twain</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And the hill laughed out to the sun;</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And the hinds stole up, with wondering eyes,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">To the far slopes yellow and dun;</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And the birds were singing in every bush</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">As at spring anew begun,</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">O Clebrig, what is it that makes you glad,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And whither is gone your frown?</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Are you looking afar into the south,</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">The long, wide strath adown?</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">And see you that Meenie is coming back—</span></div>
-<div class="inner line-block">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Love Meenie, from Glasgow town!</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>He laughed. Not yet was Love Meenie taken away
-from them all. And if in the unknown future the Stuarts
-of Glengask and Orosay were to carry her off and make a
-great lady of her, and take her to see strange places, and
-perhaps marry her to some noble person, at least in the
-meantime Ben Clebrig and Ben Loyal and the wide straths
-between knew that they still held in the mighty hollow of
-their hand this sweet flower of Sutherlandshire, and that
-the world and the skies and the woods and lakes seemed
-fairer because of her presence. And as regarded himself,
-and his relations with her? Well, what must be must.
-Only he hoped—and there was surely no great vanity nor
-self-love nor jealousy in so modest a hope—that the change
-of her manner towards him was due to the counsels of her
-mother rather than to anything he had unwittingly said or
-done. Rose Meenie—Love Meenie—he had called her in
-verses; but always he had been most respectful to herself;
-and he could not believe that she thought him capable of
-doing anything to offend her.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst" id="a-new-arrival"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER XIII.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">A NEW ARRIVAL.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>Very early one Sunday morning, while as yet all the world
-seemed asleep, a young lady stole out from the little hotel
-at Lairg, and wandered down by herself to the silent and
-beautiful shores of Loch Shin. The middle of March it
-was now, and yet the scene around her was quite summer-like;
-and she was a stranger from very far climes indeed,
-who had ventured into the Highlands at this ordinarily
-untoward time of the year; so that there was wonder as
-well as joy in her heart as she regarded the fairyland
-before her, for it was certainly not what she had been
-taught to expect. There was not a ripple on the glassy
-surface of the lake; every feature of the sleeping and
-faintly sunlit world was reflected accurately on the perfect
-mirror: the browns and yellows of the lower moorland;
-the faint purple of the birch-woods; the aerial blues of the
-distant hills, with here and there a patch of snow; and the
-fleecy white masses of the motionless clouds. It was a
-kind of dream-world—soft-toned and placid and still, the
-only sharp bit of colour being the scarlet-painted lines of a
-boat that floated double on that sea of glass. There was
-not a sound anywhere but the twittering of small birds;
-nor any movement but the slow rising into the air of a tiny
-column of blue smoke from a distant cottage; summer
-seemed to be here already, as the first light airs of the
-morning—fresh and clear and sweet—came stealing along
-the silver surface of the water, and only troubling the
-magic picture here and there in long trembling swathes.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The young lady was of middle height, but looked taller
-than that by reason of her slight and graceful form; she
-was pale, almost sallow, of face, with fine features and a
-pretty smile; her hair was of a lustrous black; and so,
-too, were her eyes—which were large and soft and
-attractive. Very foreign she looked as she stood by the
-shores of this Highland loch; her figure and complexion
-and beautiful opaque soft dark eyes perhaps suggesting
-more than anything else the Spanish type of the Southern
-American woman; but there was nothing foreign about her
-attire; she had taken care about that; and if her jet-black
-hair and pale cheek had prompted her to choose unusual
-tones of colour, at all events the articles of her costume
-were all correct—the warm and serviceable ulster of some
-roughish yellow and gray material, the buff-coloured,
-gauntleted gloves, and the orange-hued Tam o' Shanter
-which she wore quite as one to the manner born. For the
-rest, one could easily see that she was of a cheerful
-temperament; pleased with herself; not over shy, perhaps;
-and very straightforward in her look.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>However, the best description of this young lady was
-the invention of an ingenious youth dwelling on the
-southern shores of Lake Michigan.—'Carry Hodson,' he
-observed on one occasion, 'is just a real good fellow, that's
-what she is.' It was a happy phrase, and it soon became
-popular among the young gentlemen who wore English
-hats and vied with each other in driving phantom vehicles
-behind long-stepping horses. 'Carry Hodson?—she's just
-the best fellow going,' they would assure you. And how
-better can one describe her? There was a kind of frank
-</span><em class="italics">camaraderie</em><span> about her; and she liked amusement, and was
-easily amused; and she laboured under no desire at all of
-showing herself 'bright'—which chiefly reveals itself in
-impertinence; but, above all, there was in her composition
-not a trace of alarm over her relations, however frank and
-friendly, with the other sex; she could talk to any man—old
-or young, married or single—positively without wondering
-when he was about to begin to make love to her. For
-one thing, she was quite capable of looking after herself;
-for another, the very charm of her manner—the delightful
-openness and straightforwardness of it—seemed to drive
-flirtation and sham sentiment forthwith out of court. And
-if, when those young gentlemen in Chicago called Miss
-Carry Hodson 'a real good fellow,' they could not help
-remembering at the same time that she was an exceedingly
-pretty girl, perhaps they appreciated so highly the privilege of
-being on good-comrade terms with her that they were
-content to remain there rather than risk everything by seeking
-for more. However, that need not be discussed further
-here. People did say, indeed, that Mr. John C. Huysen,
-the editor of the </span><em class="italics">Chicago Citizen</em><span>, was more than likely to
-carry off the pretty heiress; if there was any truth in the
-rumour, at all events Miss Carry Hodson remained just
-as frank and free and agreeable with everybody—especially
-with young men who could propose expeditions and amusements.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Now there was only one subject capable of entirely
-upsetting this young lady's equanimity; and it is almost a
-pity to have to introduce it here; for the confession must
-be made that, on this one subject, she was in the habit of
-using very reprehensible language. Where, indeed, she
-had picked up so much steamboat and backwoods slang—unless
-through the reading of </span><em class="italics">Texas Siftings</em><span>—it is impossible
-to say; but her father, who was about the sole
-recipient of these outbursts, could object with but little
-show of authority, for he was himself exceedingly fond, not
-exactly of slang, but of those odd phrases, sometimes
-half-humorous, that the Americans invent from day to day
-to vary the monotony of ordinary speech. These phrases
-are like getting off the car and running alongside a little
-bit; you reach your journey's end—the meaning of the
-sentence—all the same. However, the chief bugbear and
-grievance of Miss Carry Hodson's life was the Boston girl
-as displayed to us in fiction; and so violent became her
-detestation of that remarkable young person that it was
-very nearly interfering with her coming to Europe.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But, pappa, dear,' she would say, regarding the book
-before her with some amazement, 'will the people in
-Europe think I am like </span><em class="italics">that</em><span>?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'They won't think anything about you,' he would say
-roughly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What a shame—what a shame—to say American girls
-are like </span><em class="italics">that</em><span>!' she would continue vehemently. 'The
-self-conscious little beasts—with their chatter about tone,
-and touch, and culture! And the men—my gracious,
-pappa, do the people in England think that our young
-fellows talk like </span><em class="italics">that</em><span>? "Analyse me; formulate me!" he
-cries to the girl; "can't you imagine my environment by the
-aid of your own intuitions?"—I'd analyse him if he came
-to me; I'd analyse him fast enough: Nine different sorts
-of a born fool; and the rest imitation English prig. I'd
-formulate him if he came to me with his pretentious idiotcy;
-I'd show him the kind of chipmunk I am.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'You are improving, Miss Carry,' her father would say
-resignedly. 'You are certainly acquiring force in your
-language; and sooner or later you will be coming out with
-some of it when you least expect it; and then whether it's
-you or the other people that will get fits I don't know.
-You'll make them jump.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, no, pappa, dear,' she would answer good-naturedly;
-for her vehemence was never of long duration. 'I have my
-company manners when it is necessary. Don't I know
-what I am? Oh yes, I do. I'm a real high-toned North
-Side society lady; and can behave as sich—when there's
-anybody present. But when it's only you and me, pappa,
-I like to wave the banner a little—that's all.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>This phrase of hers, about waving the banner, had come
-to mean so many different things that her father could not
-follow half of them, and so it was handy in winding up a
-discussion; and he could only remark, with regard to her
-going to Europe, and her dread lest she should be suspected
-of resembling one of the imaginary beings for whom she
-had conceived so strong a detestation, that really people in
-Europe were as busy as people elsewhere, and might not
-show too absorbing an interest in declaring what she was
-like; that perhaps their knowledge of the Boston young
-lady of fiction was limited, and the matter not one of
-deep concern; and that the best thing she could do was
-to remember that she was an American girl, and that she
-had as good a right to dress in her own way and speak in
-her own way and conduct herself in her own way as any
-French, or German, or English, or Italian person she might
-meet. All of which Miss Carry received with much
-submission—except about dress: she hoped to be able to study
-that subject, with a little attention, in Paris.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, she was standing there looking abroad on the
-fairy-like picture of lake and wood and mountain—and
-rather annoyed, too, that, now she was actually in the midst of
-scenes that she had prepared herself for by reading, she could
-recollect none of the reading at all, but was wholly and
-simply interested in the obvious beauty of the place
-itself—when she became conscious of a slow and stealthy footstep
-behind her, and, instantly turning, she discovered that a
-great dun-coloured dog, no doubt belonging to the hotel,
-had come down to make her acquaintance. He said as
-much by a brief and heavy gambol, a slow wagging of his
-mighty tail, and the upturned glance of his small, flat,
-leonine eyes.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well,' she said, 'who are you? Would you like to go
-for a walk?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Whether he understood her or no he distinctly led the
-way—taking the path leading along the shores of the loch
-towards Inver-shin; and as there did not seem to be any
-sign yet of anybody moving about the hotel, she thought she
-might just as well take advantage of this volunteered
-escort. Not that the mastiff was over communicative in
-his friendliness; he would occasionally turn round to see
-if she was following; and if she called to him and spoke to
-him, he would merely make another heavy effort at a
-gambol and go on again with his slow-moving pace. Now
-and again a shepherd's collie would come charging down on
-him from the hillside, or two or three small terriers, keeping
-sentry at the door of a cottage, would suddenly break the
-stillness of the Sunday morning by the most ferocious barking
-at his approach; but he took no heed of one or the other.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Do you know that you are an amiable dog—but not
-amusing?' she said to him, when he had to wait for her to
-let him get through a swinging stile. 'I've got a dog at
-home not a quarter as big as you, and he can talk twice as
-much. I suppose your thoughts are important, though.
-What do they call you? Dr. Johnson?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He looked at her with the clear, lionlike eyes, but only for
-a second; seemed to think it futile trying to understand her;
-and then went on again with his heavy, shambling waddle.
-And she liked the freshness of the morning, and the novelty
-of being all alone by herself in the Scottish Highlands, and
-of going forward as a kind of pioneer and discoverer; and
-so she walked on in much delight, listening to the birds,
-looking at the sheep, and thinking nothing at all of breakfast,
-and the long day's drive before her father and herself.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then a sudden conviction was flashed on her mind
-that something was wrong. There was a man coming rushing
-along the road after her—with neither coat nor cap
-on—and as he drew near she could hear him say—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ah, you rascal! you rascal! Bolted again?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He seemed to pay no attention to her; he ran past her
-and made straight for the mastiff; and in a couple of
-minutes had a muzzle securely fastened on the beast, and
-was leading him back with an iron chain.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Surely that is not a ferocious dog?' said she, as they
-came up—and perhaps she was curious to know whether
-she had run any chance of being eaten.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'The master had to pay five pounds last year for his
-worrying sheep—the rascal,' said the man; and the great
-dog wagged his tail as if in approval.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Why, he seems a most gentle creature,' she said,
-walking on with the man.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ay, and so he is, miss—most times. But he's barely
-three years old, and already he's killed two collies and a
-terrier, and worried three sheep.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Killed other dogs? Oh, Dr. Johnson!' she exclaimed.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'He's sweirt[#] to begin, miss; but when he does begin
-he </span><em class="italics">maun</em><span> kill—there's no stopping him. The rascal! he
-likes fine to get slippin' away wi' one of the gentlefolks, if
-he's let off the chain for a few minutes—it's a God's mercy
-he has done no harm this morning—it was the ostler let
-him off the chain—and he'd have lost his place if there
-had been ony mair worrying.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>[#] </span><em class="italics">Sweirt</em><span>, reluctant.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, no, no, he would not,' she said confidently. 'I
-took the dog away. If any mischief had been done, I
-would have paid—why, of course.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'</span><em class="italics">Why, of cois</em><span>' was what she really said; but all the
-man knew was that this American young lady spoke with a
-very pleasant voice; and seemed good-natured; and was
-well-meaning, too, for she would not have had the ostler
-suffer. Anyway, the mastiff, with as much dignity as was
-compatible with a muzzle and an iron chain, was conducted
-back to his kennel; and Miss Hodson went into the hotel,
-and expressed her profound sorrow that she had kept
-breakfast waiting; but explained to her father that it was
-not every morning she had the chance of exploring the
-Highlands all by herself—or rather accompanied by a huge
-creature apparently of amiable nature, but with really dark
-possibilities attached.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>In due course of time the waggonette and horses were
-brought round to the door of the little hotel; their baggage
-was put in; and presently they had set forth on their drive
-through the still, sunlit, solitary country. But this was a
-far more pleasant journey than his first venturing into these
-wilds. He had been warning his daughter of the bleak
-and savage solitude she would have to encounter; but now
-it appeared quite cheerful—in a subdued kind of way, as if
-a sort of Sunday silence hung over the landscape. The
-pale blue waters of Loch Shin, the beech-woods, the russet
-slopes of heather, the snow-touched azure hills along the
-horizon—all these looked pretty and were peacefully
-shining on this fair morning; and even after they had got
-away from the last trace of human habitation, and were
-monotonously driving through mile after mile of the wide,
-boggy, hopeless peatland, the winter colours were really
-brighter than those of summer, and the desolation far from
-overpowering. If they met with no human beings, there
-were other living objects to attract the eye. A golden
-plover—standing on a hillock not half a dozen yards off,
-would be calling to his mate; a wild duck would go
-whirring by; a red-plumed grouse-cock would cease dusting
-himself in the road, and would be off into the heather as
-they came along, standing and looking at them as they
-passed. And so on and on they went, mile after mile,
-along the fair shining Strath-Terry; the morning air blowing
-freshly about them; the sunlight lying placidly on those
-wide stretches of russet and golden bogland; and now and
-again a flash of dark blue showing where some mountain-tarn
-lay silent amid the moors.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And you thought I should be disappointed, pappa
-dear?' said Miss Carry, 'or frightened by the loneliness?
-Why, it's just too beautiful for anything! And so this is
-where the Clan Mackay lived in former days?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Is it?' said her father. 'I wonder what they lived on.
-I don't think we'd give much for that land in Illinois.
-Give for it? You couldn't get a white man to trade for
-that sort of land; we'd have to ask Wisconsin to take it
-and hide it away somewhere.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What are those things for?' she asked, indicating
-certain tall poles that stood at intervals along the roadside.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Why, don't you know? These are poles to tell them
-where the road is in snow time.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Then it is not always May in these happy latitudes?'
-she observed shrewdly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He laughed.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I heard some dreadful stories when I was here in
-January—but I don't believe much in weather stories.
-Anyhow, we've got to take what comes now; and so far
-there is not much to howl about.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And at last they came in sight of the ruffled blue waters
-of Loch Naver; and the long yellow promontories running
-out into the lake; and the scant birch-woods fringing here
-and there the rocky shore; with the little hamlet of
-Inver-Mudal nestling down there in the hollow; and far away in
-the north the mountain-masses of Ben Hope and Ben Loyal
-struck white with snow. And she was very curious to see
-the kind of people who lived in these remote solitudes; and
-the pretty sloe-black eyes were all alert as the waggonette
-rattled along towards the two or three scattered houses;
-and perhaps, as they drove up to the inn, she was
-wondering whether Ronald the gamekeeper, of whom she had
-heard so much, would be anywhere visible. But there was
-scarcely any one there. The Sabbath quiet lay over the
-little hamlet. Mr. Murray appeared, however,—in his
-Sunday costume, of course,—and an ostler; and presently
-Miss Carry and her father were in the sitting-room that
-had been prepared for them—a great mass of peats cheerfully
-blazing in the capacious fireplace, and the white-covered
-table furnished with a substantial luncheon.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And what do you think of your future maid?' her
-father asked, when the pretty Nelly had left the room.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, I think she has the softest voice I ever heard a
-woman speak with,' was the immediate answer. 'And
-such a pretty way of talking—and looking at you—very
-gentle and friendly. But she won't do for my maid,
-pappa; she's too tall; I should want to put a string round
-her neck and lead her about like a giraffe.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>However, she was pleased with the appearance and
-manner of the girl, and that was something; for, oddly
-enough, Mr. Hodson seemed to imagine that he had
-discovered this remote hamlet, and was responsible for it,
-and anxious that his daughter should think well of it, and
-of the people she might meet in it. He called her attention
-to the scent of the peat; to the neatness with which
-the joints on the table had been decorated with little paper
-frills; to the snugness and quiet of the sitting-room; to
-the spacious character of the views from the windows—one
-taking in Clebrig and the loch, the other reaching away up
-to Ben Loyal. All these things he had provided for her,
-as it were; and it must be said that she was a most
-excellent travelling-companion, always content, easily
-interested, never out of humour. So, when he proposed, after
-luncheon, that they should go along and call on Ronald
-Strang, she readily consented; no doubt a keeper's dwelling
-in these wilds would be something curious—perhaps
-of a wigwam character, and of course filled with all kinds
-of trophies of his hunting.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, they went along to the cottage, and Mr. Hodson
-knocked lightly on the door. There was no answer. He
-rapped a little more loudly; then they heard some one
-within; and presently the door was thrown open, and
-Ronald stood before them—a book in one hand, a pipe in
-the other, no jacket covering his shirt-sleeves, and the
-absence of any necktie showing a little more than was
-necessary of the firm set of his sun-tanned throat. He had
-been caught unawares—as his startled eyes proclaimed; in
-fact, he had been reading </span><em class="italics">Paradise Regained</em><span>, and manfully
-resisting the temptation to slip on to the gracious melody
-of </span><em class="italics">L'Allegro</em><span>, and </span><em class="italics">Il Penseroso</em><span>, and </span><em class="italics">Lycidas</em><span>; and when he
-heard the tapping he fancied it was merely one of the lads
-come for a chat or the last newspaper, and had made no
-preparations for the reception of visitors.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'How are you, Ronald?' said Mr. Hodson. 'I have
-brought my daughter to see you.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Will ye step in, sir?' said Ronald hastily, and with a
-terrible consciousness of his untidy appearance. 'Ay, in
-there—will ye sit down for a few minutes—and will ye
-excuse me—I thought you werena coming till to-morrow——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, I thought they might object to driving me on a
-Sunday. I can't make it out. Perhaps what I have read
-about Scotland is not true. Or perhaps they have altered
-of late years. Anyhow they made no objection, and here
-I am.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>In the midst of these brief sentences—each pronounced
-with a little rising inflexion at the end—Ronald managed
-to slip away and get himself made a little more presentable.
-When he returned the apparent excuse for his absence
-was that he brought in some glasses and water and a bottle
-of whisky; and then he went to a little mahogany sideboard
-and brought out a tin case of biscuits.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'You need not trouble about these things for us; we
-have just had lunch,' Mr. Hodson said.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Perhaps the young lady——?' said Ronald timidly,
-and even nervously, for there was no plate handy, and he
-did not know how to offer her the biscuits.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh no, I thank you,' she said, with a pretty and
-gracious smile; and he happened to meet her eyes just at
-that time; and instantly became aware that they were
-curiously scrutinising and observant, despite their apparent
-softness and lustrous blackness.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Now Miss Carry Hodson had an abundance of shrewd
-feminine perception, and it was easy for her to see that
-this handsome and stalwart young fellow had been grievously
-disturbed, and was even now unnerved, through his
-having been caught in disarray on the occasion of a young
-lady visiting him; and accordingly, to allow him to recover,
-she deliberately effaced herself; saying not a word, nor even
-listening, while her father and he proceeded to talk about
-the salmon-fishing, and about the distressingly fine weather
-that threatened to interfere with that pursuit. She sate
-silent, allowing those observant eyes of hers to roam freely
-round the room, and indeed wondering how a man of his
-occupations could so have contrived to rob his home of all
-distinctive character and to render it so clearly
-common-place. There was nothing wild or savage about it; not
-the skin of any beast, nor the plumage of any bird;
-everything was of a bourgeois neatness and respectability—the
-ornaments on the mantel-shelf conspicuously so; and what
-was strangest of all—though this will scarcely be
-believed—the two roebucks' heads that adorned the wall, in a
-country where roe abound, were earthenware casts, and
-very bad casts too, obviously hailing from Germany. She
-observed, however, that there were a good many books
-about—some of them even piled in obscure corners; and
-to judge by the sober character of their cloth binding she
-guessed them to be of a rather superior class. The pictures
-on the walls were some cheap reprints of Landseer; a
-portrait of the Duke of Sutherland, in Highland garb; a
-view of Dunrobin Castle; and a photograph of Mr. Millais'
-'Order of Release.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>After a while she began to know (without looking) that
-the young man had assumed sufficient courage to glance at
-her from time to time; and she allowed him to do that;
-for she considered that the people in Regent Street had
-fitted her out in Highland fashion in a sufficiently accurate
-way. But it soon appeared that he was talking about her;
-and what was this wild proposal?</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It seems a pity,' he was saying, 'if the fish are taking,
-not to have two boats at the work. And there's that big
-rod o' yours, sir—you could use that for the trolling; and
-let the young lady have one o' your grilse rods. Then
-there's mine—she can have that and welcome——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes, but the gillies——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, I'll take a turn myself; I'm no so busy the now.
-And I can get one o' the lads to lend a hand.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Do you hear this, Carry?' her father said.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What, pappa?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald wants you to start off salmon-fishing to-morrow,
-in a boat all to yourself—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Alone?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Why, no! He says he will go with you, and one of
-the lads; and you will have all the best advice and
-experience—I don't think it's fair, myself—but it's very
-good-natured anyhow——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And do you think there's a chance of my catching a
-salmon?' she said eagerly, and she turned her eloquent
-black eyes, all lit up with pleasure, full upon him.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh yes, indeed,' said he, looking down, 'and many
-and many a one, I am sure, if we could only get a little
-wet weather.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'My!' she exclaimed. 'If I caught a salmon, I'd have
-it stuffed right away——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'With sage and onions, I suppose,' her father said
-severely.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And we begin to-morrow? Why, it's just too delightful—I
-was looking forward to days and days indoors, with nothing
-but books. And I shall really have a chance?——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I think you might as well thank Ronald for his offer,'
-her father said. 'I should never have thought of it.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, she hesitated; for it is a difficult thing to make
-a formal little speech when it is asked for by a third
-person; but the young keeper quickly laughed away her
-embarrassment.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, no, sir; we'll wait for that till we see how our
-luck turns out. And we'll have the Duke's boat, mind, that
-Duncan says is the lucky one; you'll have to look sharp,
-sir, or we'll have the biggest show on the grass at the end
-of the day.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Mr. Hodson now rose to take his leave, for he wanted
-his daughter to walk down to the shores of the loch where
-they were next day to begin their labours. And thus it
-was that Miss Carry—who had looked forward at the most
-to sitting in the boat with her father and looking
-on—found herself pledged to a course of salmon-fishing, under
-the immediate guidance and instruction of the young keeper;
-and she had noticed that he had already talked of the
-occupants of the Duke's boat as 'we'—assuming that he
-and she were in a sort of partnership, and pitted against
-the others. Well, it would be amusing, she thought. She
-also considered that he was very good-looking; and that it
-would be pleasanter to have a companion of that kind than
-a surly old boatman. She imagined they might easily
-become excellent friends—at least, she was willing enough;
-and he seemed civil and good-humoured and modest;
-and altogether the arrangement promised to work very well.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst" id="about-illinois"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER XIV.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">'ABOUT ILLINOIS.'</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>There was a good deal of bustle in the inn next morning;
-Ronald busy with the fishing-tackle for the second boat;
-luncheon being got ready for six; and the gillies fighting
-as to which party should have the landing-net and which
-the clip. In the midst of all this Miss Carry—looking
-very smart in her Highland costume, Tam o' Shanter and
-all—came placidly in to breakfast, and as she sate down
-she said—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Pappa dear, I met such a pretty girl.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Have you been out?' he asked.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Only as far as the bridge. I met her as I was coming
-back. And she looked so pretty and shy that I spoke to
-her; I think she was a little frightened at first; but anyway
-I got to know who she is—the Doctor's daughter. Oh, you
-should hear her speak—the accent is so pretty and gentle.
-Well, it's all settled, pappa; I'm just in love with the
-Highland people, from this out.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'There's safety in numbers,' observed her father grimly;
-and then he proceeded to explore the contents of the
-covers.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>When they were ready to go down to the loch they
-found that the men had already set out—all but Ronald,
-who had remained behind to see if there was nothing further
-he could carry for the young lady. So these three started
-together; and of course all the talk was about the far too
-fine weather, and the chances of getting a fish or two in
-spite of it, and the betting on the rival boats. Miss Carry
-listened in silence; so far she had heard or seen nothing
-very remarkable about the handsome young keeper who
-had so impressed her father. He spoke frankly and freely
-enough, it is true (when he was not speaking to her), and
-he was recounting with some quiet sarcasm certain
-superstitious beliefs and practices of the people about there;
-but, apart from the keen look of his eyes, and the manly
-ring of his voice, and the easy swing of the well-built figure,
-there was nothing, as she considered, very noticeable about
-him. She thought his keeper's costume rather picturesque,
-and weather-worn into harmonious colour; and wondered
-how men in towns had come to wear the unsightly garments
-of these present days. And so at last they arrived at the
-loch; and found that the gillies had got the rods fixed and
-everything ready; and presently the black boat, with
-Mr. Hodson and his two gillies, was shoved off, and Ronald,
-before asking the young lady to step into the green boat—the
-Duke's boat—was showing her what she should do if
-a salmon should attach itself to either of the lines.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I don't feel like catching a salmon somehow,' she
-remarked. 'I don't think it can be true. Anyway you'll
-see I shan't scream.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She stepped into the boat and took her seat; the rods
-were placed for her; the coble was shoved farther into the
-water, and then Ronald and the young lad got in and took
-to the oars. Miss Carry was bidden to pay out one of the
-lines slowly as they moved away from the bank; and in
-due course she had both lines out and the two rods fixed
-at the proper angle, and the reels free. She obeyed all
-his instructions without haste or confusion. She was a
-promising pupil. And he wondered what nerve she would
-show when the crisis came.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Now it may be explained for the benefit of those
-inexperienced in such things that these fishing cobles have a
-cross bench placed about midway between the stern and
-the thwart occupied by the stroke oar; and the usual
-custom is for the fisherman to sit on this bench facing the
-stern, so that he can see both rods and be ready for the
-first shaking of the top. But Miss Carry did not understand
-this at all. In entering the coble she naturally took
-her place right astern, facing the rowers. It never entered
-her head to be guilty of the discourtesy of turning her back
-on them; besides, Ronald was directing her with his eyes
-as much as with his speech, and she must be able to see
-him; moreover he did not tell her she was sitting the
-wrong way; and then again was not the first signal to be
-the shrieking of the reel?—and both reels were now under
-her observation, so that she could snatch at either rod in
-a second. The consequence of all this was that she and
-Ronald sate face to face—not more than a yard and a half
-between them—their eyes exactly on a level—and when
-they spoke to each other, it was very distinctly </span><em class="italics">unter vier
-Augen</em><span>, for the boy at the bow was mostly hidden.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Pappa dear,' she said to her father that evening, 'he
-is a very nervous man.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Who?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Nonsense. He is hard as nails. He don't know what
-nerves mean.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'He is a very nervous man,' she insisted (and had she
-not been studying him for a whole day?). 'His eyes throb
-when you meet them suddenly. Or rather he seems to
-know they are very powerful and penetrating—and he does
-not like to stare at you—so you can see there is a tremor
-of the lid sometimes as he looks up—as if he would partly
-veil his eyes. It's very curious. He's shy—like a wild
-animal almost. And that pretty girl I met this morning
-has something of that look too.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Perhaps they're not used to having the cold gaze of
-science turned on them,' her father remarked drily.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Is that me?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'You may take it that way.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Then you're quite wrong. It isn't science at all. It
-is an active and benevolent sympathy; I am going to make
-friends with every one of them. Ronald says her name is
-Miss Douglas—and I mean to call.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Very well, then,' said her father, who left this young
-lady pretty much the mistress of her own actions.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>However, to return to the fishing: the morning did not
-promise well, the weather being too bright and clear, though
-there was a very fair breeze—of a curious sultry character
-for the middle of March—blowing up from the south and
-making a good ripple on the loch. Again and again the
-two boats crossed each other; and the invariable cry was—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Nothing yet?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And the answer—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Not a touch.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>By this time Miss Carry had got to know a good deal
-about the young keeper whose eyes were so directly on a
-level with hers. He had been to Aberdeen, and to Glasgow,
-and to Edinburgh; but never out of Scotland?—no. Had
-he no wish to see London and Paris? Had he no wish to
-see America?—why, if he came over, her father would
-arrange to have him put in the way of seeing everything.
-And perhaps he might be tempted to stay?—there were
-such opportunities for young men, especially in the west.
-As for her, she was most communicative about herself; and
-apparently she had been everywhere and seen everything—except
-Stratford-on-Avon: that was to be the climax; that
-was to be the last thing they should visit in Europe—and
-then on to Liverpool and home. She had been a great
-deal longer in Europe than her father, she said. Her
-mother was an invalid and could not travel; her brother
-George (Joidge, she called him) was at school; so she and
-a schoolfellow of hers had set out for Europe, accompanied
-by a maid and a courier, and had 'seen most everything'
-from St. Petersburg to Wady Halfa. And all this and more
-she told him with the black soft eyes regarding him openly;
-and the pale, foreign, tea-rose tinted face full of a friendly
-interest; and the pretty, white, delicate small fingers idly
-intertwisting the buff-coloured gloves that she had taken off
-at his request. Inver-Mudal, Clebrig, Ben Loyal, the straths
-and woods around looked to him small and confined on
-this quiet morning. She seemed to have brought with her
-a wider atmosphere, a larger air. And for a young girl like
-this to know so much—to have seen so much—and to talk
-so simply and naturally of going here, there, or anywhere,
-as if distance were nothing, and time nothing, and money
-nothing; all this puzzled him not a little. She must have
-courage, then, and daring, and endurance, despite the pale
-face and the slender figure, and the small, white,
-blue-veined hands? Why, she spoke of running over to Paris,
-in about a fortnight's time, to be present at the wedding of
-a friend, just as any one about here would speak of driving
-on to Tongue and returning by the mail-cart next day.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Suddenly there was a quick, half-suppressed exclamation.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'There he is!—there he is!'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And all in a second, as it seemed, Ronald had flung his
-oar back to the lad behind, seized one of the rods and
-raised it and put it in her hands, and himself got hold of
-the other, and was rapidly reeling in the line. What was
-happening she could hardly tell—she was so bewildered.
-The rod that she painfully held upright was being violently
-shaken—now and again there was a loud, long whirr of the
-reel—and Ronald was by her shoulder, she knew, but not
-speaking a word—and she was wildly endeavouring to
-recall all that he had told her. Then there was a sudden
-slackening of the line—what was this?</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'All right,' said he, very quietly. 'Reel in now—as
-quick as ye can, please.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, she was reeling in as hard as her small and
-delicate wrist was able to do—and in truth she was too
-bewildered to feel excited; and above all other earthly
-things was she anxious that she shouldn't show herself a
-fool, or scream, or let the thing go—when all at once the
-handle of the reel seemed to be whipped from her grasp;
-there was a long whirring shriek of the line; she could
-hear somewhere a mighty splash (though she dared not look
-at anything but what was in her hands), and at the same
-moment she fancied Ronald said, with a quiet laugh—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'We've beat them this time—a clean fish!'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Do you think we'll get him?' she said breathlessly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'We'll hold on to him as long as he holds on to us,'
-Ronald said; and she heard him add to himself, 'I would
-rather than five shillings we got the first fish!'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But this thing is so heavy!' she pleaded.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Never mind—that's right—that's right—keep a good
-strain on him—we'll soon bring him to his senses.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Again there was a sudden slackening of the line; and
-this time she actually saw the animal as it sprang into the
-air—a white gleaming curved thing—but instantly her
-attention was on the reel.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'That's it—you're doing fine,' he said, with an
-intentional quietude of tone, so that she might not get
-over-nervous and make a mistake.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Then he made her stand up, and fortunately the coble
-was rocking but little; and he moved her left hand a little
-higher up the rod, so that she should have better leverage;
-and she did all that she was bid mutely and meekly, though
-her arm was already beginning to feel the heavy strain.
-She vowed to herself that so long as she could draw a
-breath she would not give in.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The other boat was passing—but of course at a respectful
-distance.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Hold on to him, Carry!' her father called.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She paid no heed. She dared not even look in his
-direction. The fish seemed to be following up the coble
-now, and it was all that the slender wrist could do to get
-in the line so as to keep the prescribed curve on the rod.
-And then she had to give way again; for the salmon went
-steadily and slowly down—boring and sulking—and they
-pulled the boat away a bit, lest he should suddenly come
-to the surface and be after some dangerous cantrip. She
-took advantage of this period of quiet to pass the rod from
-her left hand to her right; and that relieved her arm a
-little; and she even ventured to say—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'How long is he going on like this?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'We'll give him his own time, Miss,' Ronald said.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Don't call me Miss,' she said, with a little vexation.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I—I beg your pardon—what then?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, anything you like. Mind you catch me if I fall
-into the water.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The truth was she was a little bit excited, and desperately
-anxious that her strength should hold out; and even
-permitting herself an occasional gleam of hope and joy and
-triumph. Her first salmon? Here would be tidings for
-the girls at home! If only the beast would do something—or
-show signs of yielding—anything rather than she should
-have to give in, and weakly resign the rod to Ronald! As
-for him, he stood almost touching her shoulder.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, no,' said he, 'there's no fear o' your falling into
-the water. We've got to get this gentleman out first.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then her feeble efforts at talking (meant to show
-that she was not excited, but having exactly the contrary
-effect) all went by the board. Something was happening—she
-knew not what—something wild, terrifying, violent,
-desperate—and apparently quite near—and all the line was
-slack now—and the handle of the reel stuck in her frantic
-efforts to turn it with an impossible quickness—and her
-heart was choking with fright. For why would this beast
-spring, and splash, and churn the water, while the line
-seemed to go all wrong and everything become mixed?
-But her trembling fingers got the reel to work at last; and
-she wound as quickly as she could; and by this time the
-salmon had disappeared again, and was bearing an even,
-dead strain on the rod, but not so heavily as before.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'My gracious!' she said—she was quite breathless.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It's all right,' he said quietly; but he had been pretty
-breathless too, and for several seconds in blank despair.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The fish began to show signs of yielding—that last fierce
-thrashing of the water had weakened him. She got in
-more and more line—Ronald's instructions being of the
-briefest and quietest—and presently they could see a faint
-gleam in the water as the big fish sailed this way or that.
-But still, she knew not what he might not do. That terrible
-time had been altogether unexpected. And yet she knew—and
-her left arm was gratefully conscious—that the strain
-was not so heavy now; the line was quite short; and she
-became aware that she was exercising more and more power
-over her captive and could force him to stop his brief and
-ineffectual rushes.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Once or twice he had come quite near the boat—sailing
-in on his side, as it were—and then sheering off again
-at the sight of them; but these efforts to get away were
-growing more and more feeble; and at last Ronald called—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'We'll try him this time—give him the butt well—that's
-right—lift his head—now——' and then there was a
-quick stroke of the clip, and the great monster was in the
-boat, and she sank down on to the bench, her arms limp
-and trembling, but her hand still grasping the rod. And
-she felt a little inclined to laugh and to cry; and she
-wondered where her father was; and she looked on in a
-dazed way as they killed the fish, and got the phantom-minnow
-out of its mouth, and proceeded to the weighing
-of the prize.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Eleven pounds and a half—well done the Duke's
-boat!' Ronald cried. 'Is it your first salmon, Miss Hodson?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Why, certainly.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'You'll have to drink its health, or there'll be no more
-luck for you this season,' said he, and he reached back
-for a pocket-flask.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But where is my father?' she said—she was anxious
-he should hear the news.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh,' said he coolly, 'they've been into a fish for the
-last ten minutes; I wouldna tell ye, in case it might
-distract ye.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Have they got one?' she cried.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'They've got something—and I dinna think it's a kelt
-from the way they're working.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She clapped her hands in delight. Yes, and that
-involuntary little action revealed to her what she had not
-known before—that one of her fingers was pretty badly cut,
-and bleeding.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What's this?' she said, but she did not heed much—now
-that the great beautiful gleaming fish lay in the bottom
-of the boat.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Ronald cared a great deal more. He threw aside the
-flask. A cut?—it was his own stupidity was the cause of
-it; he ought to have known that her delicate fingers could
-not withstand the whirring out of the line; he should have
-allowed her to keep on her gloves. And nothing would
-do but that she must carefully bathe the wound in the fresh
-water of the loch; and he produced a piece of plaster; and
-then he cut a strip off her handkerchief, and bound up the
-finger so.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What do I care?' she said—pointing to the salmon.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then he begged her to drink a little whisky and
-water—for luck's sake—though he had been rather scornful
-about these customs in the morning; and she complied—smiling
-towards him as the Netherby bride may have looked
-at Young Lochinvar; but yet he would not drink in her
-presence; he put the flask aside; and presently they were
-at their work again, both lines out, and the southerly breeze
-still keeping up.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>They passed the other boat.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What weight?' was the cry.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Eleven and a half. Have you got one?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'How much?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Just over seven.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Duncan will be a savage man,' said Ronald, with a
-laugh. 'It's all the bad luck of his boat, he'll be saying;
-though it's good enough luck for the two first fish to be clean
-fish and no kelt.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>However, the Duke's boat fell away from its auspicious
-beginning that morning. When lunch time arrived, and
-both cobles landed at a part of the shore agreed upon,
-where there was a large rock for shelter, and a good ledge
-for a seat, Miss Carry had but the one fish to be taken out
-and placed on the grass, while her father had two—respectively
-seven and thirteen pounds. And very picturesque,
-indeed, it was to see those white gleaming creatures lying
-there; and the two boats drawn up on the shore, with the
-long rods out at the stern; and the gillies forming a group at
-some distance off under the shelter of the stone dyke; and
-the wide waters of the lake all a breezy blue in the cup of the
-encircling sunlit hills. Ronald got out the luncheon, for he
-had seen to the packing of it—and he knew more about
-table-napkins and things of that sort than those men; and then,
-when he had made everything right, and brought ashore a
-cushion for Miss Carry to sit upon, and so forth, he went away.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald,' Mr. Hodson called to him, 'ain't you going
-to have some lunch?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes, sir.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Come along, then; there's plenty of room right here.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Thank ye, sir; I know where they've put my little
-parcel,' said he—and he went and sate down with the
-gillies; and soon there was enough talking and laughing
-amongst them—faintly heard across the wind.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well?' said her father, when they were left alone.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, it's just too delightful for anything.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>This was her summing up of the whole situation. And
-then she added—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Pappa, may I send my salmon to Lily Selden?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I wouldn't call it kindness,' said he. 'Looks more
-like boasting. And what's the good, since she is staying at
-a hotel?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, she will be as glad as I am even to see it. But
-can't they cook it at a hotel anyway? I want to be even with
-Lily about that balloon. I don't see much myself in going
-up in a balloon. I would just like to have Lily here
-now—think she wouldn't fall down and worship those beautiful
-creatures?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, you may send her yours, if you like,' her father
-said. 'But you needn't dawdle so over your luncheon.
-These days are short; and I want to see what we can do
-on our first trial.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I'm ready now, if it comes to that,' said she placidly;
-and she put a couple of sweet biscuits in her pocket, to
-guard against emergency.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And soon they were afloat again. But what was this
-that was coming over the brief winter afternoon? The
-sultry south wind did not die away, nor yet did any
-manifest clouds appear in the heavens, but a strange gloom
-began to fill the skies, obscuring the sun, and gradually
-becoming darker and darker. It was very strange; for,
-while the skies overhead were thus unnaturally black, and
-the lapping water around the boats similarly livid, the
-low-lying hills at the horizon were singularly keen and intense in
-colour. The air was hot and close, though the breeze still
-came blowing up Strath-Terry. There was a feeling as if
-thunder were imminent, though there were no clouds
-anywhere gathering along the purple mountain-tops.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>This unusual darkness seemed to affect the fishing.
-Round after round they made—touching nothing but one
-or two kelts; and this Ronald declared to be a bad sign,
-for that when the kelts began to take, there was small chance
-of a clean fish. However, Miss Carry did not care. She
-had caught her first salmon—that was enough. Nay, it
-was sufficient to make her very cheerful and communicative;
-and she told him a good deal about her various friends in
-the Garden City—but more especially, as it seemed to the
-respectful listener, of the young men who, from a humble
-beginning, had been largely successful in business; and she
-asked him many questions about himself, and was curious
-about his relations with Lord Ailine. Of course, she went
-on the assumption that the future of the world lay in
-America, and that the future of America lay in the bountiful
-lap of Chicago: and she half intimated that she could not
-understand how any one could waste his time anywhere
-else. Her father had been born in a log-cabin; but if
-he—that is, Ronald—could see the immense blocks devoted
-to 'Hodson's reaper' 'on Clinton and Canal Streets' he
-would understand what individual enterprise could achieve
-out west. The 'manifest destiny' of Chicago loomed large
-in this young lady's mind; the eastern cities were 'not in
-it,' so to speak; and Ronald heard with reverence of the
-trade with Montana, and Idaho, and Wyoming, and
-Colorado, and Utah, and Nevada. It is true that she was
-recalled from this imparting of information by a twenty-five
-minutes' deadly struggle with a creature that turned out
-after all to be a veritable clean salmon: and with this
-triumph ended the day's sport; for the afternoon was
-rapidly wearing to dusk. The gloom of the evening, by
-the way, was not decreased by a vast mass of smoke that
-came slowly rolling along between the black sky and the
-black lake; though this portentous thing—that looked as if
-the whole world were on fire—meant nothing further than
-the burning of the heather down Strath-Terry way. When
-both cobles were drawn up on the beach, it was found that
-Mr. Hodson had also added one clean salmon to his score;
-so that the five fish, put in a row on the grass, made a very
-goodly display, and were a sufficiently auspicious beginning.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Carry,' said her father, as they walked home together
-in the gathering darkness, 'do you know what you are
-expected to do? You have caught your first salmon: that
-means a sovereign to the men in the boat.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I will give a sovereign to the young fellow,' said she,
-'and willingly; but I can't offer money to Ronald.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Why not? it is the custom here.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, I declare I couldn't do it. My gracious, no! I
-would sooner—I would sooner—no, no, pappa dear, I
-could not offer him money.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, we must do something. You see, we are taking
-up all his time. I suppose we'll have to send for another
-gillie—if you care to go on with that boat——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I should think I did!' she said. 'But why should
-you send for another gillie so long as Ronald says he is not
-busy? I dare say he can tell us when he is; I don't
-believe he's half so shy as he looks. And he's much better
-fun than one of these Highlanders; he wants his own way;
-and, with all his shyness, he has a pretty good notion of
-himself and his own opinions. He don't say you are a fool
-if you differ from him; but he makes you feel like it. And
-then, besides,' she added lightly, 'we can make it up to
-him some way or other. Why, I have been giving him a
-great deal of good advice this afternoon.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'You? About what?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'About Illinois,' she said.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst" id="wild-times"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER XV.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">WILD TIMES.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>What that mysterious gloom had meant on the previous
-evening was revealed to them the next morning by a roaring
-wind that came swooping down from the Clebrig slopes,
-shaking the house, and howling through the bent and
-leafless trees. The blue surface of the lake was driven white
-with curling tips of foam; great bursts of sunlight sped
-across the plains and suddenly lit up the northern hills;
-now and again Ben Hope or Ben Hee or Ben Loyal would
-disappear altogether behind a vague mass of gray, and then as
-quickly break forth again into view, the peaks and shoulders
-all aglow and the snow-patches glittering clear and sharp.
-The gillies hung about the inn door, disconsolate. Nelly
-made no speed with the luncheon-baskets. And probably
-Mr. Hodson and his daughter would have relapsed into
-letter-writing, reading, and other feeble methods of passing a
-rough day in the Highlands, had not Ronald come along and
-changed the whole aspect of affairs. For if the wind was
-too strong, he pointed out, to admit of their working the
-phantom-minnow properly, they might at least try the fly.
-There were occasional lulls in the gale. It was something
-to do. Would Miss Hodson venture? Miss Hodson replied
-by swinging her waterproof on her arm; and they all set out.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, it was a wild experiment. At first, indeed, when
-they got down to the shores of the loch, the case was quite
-hopeless; no boat—much less a shallow flat-bottomed
-coble—could have lived in such a sea; and they merely
-loitered about, holding themselves firm against the force of
-the wind, and regarding as best they might the savage
-beauty of the scene around them—the whirling blue and
-white of the loch, the disappearing and reappearing hills,
-the long promontories suddenly become of a vivid and
-startling yellow, and then as suddenly again steeped in
-gloom. But Miss Carry was anxious to be aboard.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'We should only be driven across to the shore yonder,'
-Ronald said; 'or maybe capsized.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, but that would be delightful,' she remarked
-instantly. 'I never had my life saved. It would read very
-well in the papers.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes, but it might end the other way,' her father
-interposed. 'And then I don't see where the fun would come
-in—though you would get your newspaper paragraph all
-the same.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Ronald had been watching the clouds and the direction
-of the squalls on the loch; there was some appearance of
-a lull.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'We'll chance it now,' he said to the lad; and forthwith
-they shoved the boat into the water, and arranged the
-various things.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Miss Carry was laughing. She knew it was an
-adventure. Her father remonstrated; but she would not be
-hindered. She took her seat in the coble, and got hold of
-the rod; then they shoved off and jumped in; and
-presently she was paying out the line, to which was attached
-a 'silver doctor' about as long as her forefinger. Casting,
-of course, was beyond her skill, even had the wind been
-less violent; there was nothing for it but to trail the fly
-through these rushing and tumbling and hissing waves.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And at first everything seemed to go well enough—except
-that the coble rolled in the trough of the waves so
-that every minute she expected to be pitched overboard.
-They were drifting down the wind; with the two oars held
-hard in the water to retard the pace; and the dancing
-movement of the coble was rather enjoyable; and there
-was a kind of fierceness of sunlight and wind and hurrying
-water that fired her brain. These poor people lingering on
-the shore—what were they afraid of? Why, was there ever
-anything so delightful as this—the cry of the wind and the
-rush of the water; and everything around in glancing lights
-and vivid colours; for the lake was not all of that intense
-and driven blue, it became a beautiful roseate purple
-where the sunlight struck through the shallows on the long
-banks of ruddy sand. She would have waved her cap to
-those poor forlorn ones left behind, but that she felt both
-hands must be left free in case of emergency.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But alas! that temporary lull in which they had started
-was soon over. A sharper squall than any before came
-darkening and tearing across the loch; then another and
-another; until a downright gale was blowing, and apparently
-increasing every moment in violence. Whither were they
-drifting? They dared not run the coble ashore; all along
-those rocks a heavy sea was breaking white; they would
-have been upset and the boat stove in in a couple of
-minutes.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'This'll never do, Johnnie, lad,' she heard Ronald call
-out. 'We'll have to fight her back, and get ashore at the top.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Very well; we can try.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then the next moment all the situation of affairs
-seemed changed. There was no longer that too easy and
-rapid surging along of the coble, but apparently an effort
-to drive her through an impassable wall of water; while
-smash after smash on the bows came the successive waves,
-springing into the air, and coming down on the backs of
-the men with a rattling volley of spray. Nay, Miss Carry,
-too, got her Highland baptism—for all her crouching and
-shrinking and ducking; and her laughing face was running
-wet; and her eyes—which she would not shut, for they
-were fascinated with the miniature rainbows that appeared
-from time to time in the whirling spray—were half-blinded.
-But she did not seem to care. There was a fierce excitement
-and enjoyment in the struggle—for she could see how
-hard the men were pulling. And which was getting the
-better of the fight—this firm and patient endeavour, or the
-fell power of wind and hurrying seas?</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then something happened that made her heart
-stand still: there was a shriek heard above all the noise
-of the waves—and instinctively she caught up the rod and
-found the line whirling out underneath her closed fingers.
-What was it Ronald had exclaimed? 'Oh, thunder!' or
-some such thing; but the next moment he had called to
-her in a warning voice—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Sit still—sit still—don't move—never mind the fish—let
-him go—he'll break away with the fly and welcome.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But it seemed to him cowardly advice too; and she one
-behind her father in the score. He sent a glance forward
-in a kind of desperation: no, there was no sign of the
-squall moderating, and they were a long way from the head
-of the loch. Moreover, the salmon, that was either a strong
-beast or particularly lively, had already taken out a large
-length of line, in the opposite direction.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Do you think,' said he hurriedly, 'you could jump
-ashore and take the rod with you, if I put you in at the
-point down there?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes, yes!' she said, eagerly enough.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'You will get wet.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I don't care a cent about that—I will do whatever
-you say——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He spoke a few words to the lad at the bow; and suddenly
-shifted his oar thither.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'As hard as ye can, my lad.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then he seized the rod from her, and began reeling
-in the line with an extraordinary rapidity, for now they were
-drifting down the loch again.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Do ye see the point down there, this side the bay?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'There may be a little shelter there; and we're going
-to try to put ye ashore. Hold on to the rod, whatever ye
-do; and get a footing as fast as ye can.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And then?' she said. 'What then? What am I to do?'—for
-she was rather bewildered—the water still blinding
-her eyes, the wind choking her breath.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Hold on to the rod—and get in what line ye can.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>All this wild, rapid, breathless thing seemed to take
-place at once. He gave her the rod; seized hold of his
-oar again, and shifted it; then they seemed to be turning the
-bow of the boat towards a certain small promontory where
-some birch trees and scattered stones faced the rushing
-water. What was happening—or going to happen—she
-knew not; only that she was to hold on to the rod; and
-then there was a sudden grating of the bow on stones—a
-smash of spray over the stern—the coble wheeled round—Ronald
-had leapt into the water—and, before she knew
-where she was, he had seized her by the waist and swung
-her ashore—and though she fell, or rather slipped and quietly
-sat down on some rocks, she still clung to the rod, and
-she hardly had had her feet wet! This was what she knew
-of her own position; as for Ronald and the lad, they paid
-no further heed to her, for they were seeking to get the
-coble safe from the heavy surge; and then again she had
-her own affairs to attend to; for the salmon, though it was
-blissfully sulking after the first long rushes, might suddenly
-make up its mind for cantrips.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Then Ronald was by her side again—rather breathless.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'You've still got hold of him?—that's right—but give
-him his own time—let him alone—I don't want him in
-here among the stones in rough water like this.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then he said, rather shamefacedly—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I beg your pardon for gripping ye as I had to do—I—I
-thought we should have been over—and you would
-have got sorely wet.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, that's all right,' she said—seeking in vain amid the
-whirling waste of waters for any sign or glimpse of the
-salmon. 'But you—you must be very wet—why did you
-jump into the water?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, that's nothing—there, let him go!—give him his
-own way!—now, reel in a bit—quicker—quicker—that'll
-do, now.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>As soon as she had got the proper strain on the fish
-again, she held out her right hand.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Pull off my glove, please,' she said—but still with her
-eyes intent on the whirling waves.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, he unbuttoned the long gauntlet—though the
-leather was all saturated with water; but when he tried the
-fingers, he could not get them to yield at all; so he had
-to pull down the gauntlet over the hand, and haul off the
-glove by main force—then he put it in his pocket, for there
-was no time to waste on ceremony.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>There was a sudden steady pull on the rod; and away
-went the reel.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Let him go—let him go—ah, a good fish, and a clean
-fish too! I hope he'll tire himself out there, before we
-bring him in among the stones.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Moreover, the gale was abating somewhat, though the
-big waves still kept chasing each other in and springing
-high on the rocks. She became more eager about getting
-the fish. Hitherto, she had been rather excited and
-bewildered, and intent only on doing what she was bid; now
-the prospect of really landing the salmon had become
-joyful.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But how shall we ever get him to come in here?' she said.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'He's bound to come, if the tackle holds; and I'm
-thinking he's well hooked, or he'd been off ere now, with
-all this scurrying water.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She shifted the rod to her right hand; her left arm was
-beginning to feel the continued strain.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Has the other boat been out?' she asked.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, no,' said he, and then he laughed. 'It would be
-a fine thing if we could take back a good fish. I know
-well what they were thinking when we let the boat drift
-down the second time—they were thinking we had got the
-line aground, and were in trouble. And now they canna
-see us—it's little they're thinking that we're playing a
-fish.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'We' and 'us' he said quite naturally; and she, also,
-had got into the way of calling him Ronald—as every
-one did.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, that was a long and a stiff fight with the salmon;
-for whenever it found that it was being towed into the
-shallows, away it went again, with rush on rush, so that
-Miss Carry had her work cut out for her, and had every
-muscle of her arms and back aching.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Twenty pounds, you'll see,' she heard the lad Johnnie
-say to his companion; and Ronald answered him—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I would rather than ten shillings it was.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Twenty pounds! She knew that this was rather a rarity
-on this loch—ten or eleven pounds being about the average;
-and if only she could capture this animal—in the teeth of
-a gale too—and go back to the others in triumph, and
-also with another tale to tell to Lily Selden! She put more
-and more strain on; she had both hands firm on the butt;
-her teeth were set hard. Twenty pounds! Or if the hook
-should give way? Or the line be cut on a stone? Or the
-fish break it with a spring and lash of its tail? Fortunately
-she knew but little of the many and heart-rending
-accidents that happen in salmon-fishing, so that her fears
-were fewer than her hopes; and at last her heart beat
-quickly when she saw Ronald take the clip in his hand.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But he was very cautious; and bade her take time; and
-spoke in an equable voice—just as if she were not growing
-desperate, and wondering how long her arms would hold
-out! Again and again, by dint of tight reeling up and
-putting on a deadly strain, she caught a glimpse of the
-salmon; and each of these times she thought she could
-guide it sailingly towards the spot where Ronald was
-crouching down by the rocks; and then again it would turn and
-head away and disappear—taking the line very slowly now,
-but still taking it. She took advantage of one of these
-pauses in the fight to step farther back some two or three
-yards; this was at Ronald's direction; and she obeyed
-without understanding. But soon she knew the reason;
-for at last the salmon seemed to come floating in without
-even an effort at refusal; and as she was called on to give
-him the butt firmly, she found she could almost drag him
-right up and under Ronald's arm. And then there was a
-loud 'hurrah!' from the lad John as the big silver fish
-gleamed in the air; and the next second it was lying there
-on the withered grass and bracken. Miss Carry, indeed,
-was so excited that she came near to breaking the top of
-the rod; she forgot that the struggle was over; and still
-held on tightly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Lower the top, Miss,' the lad John said, 'or ye can
-put the rod down altogether.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Indeed he took it from her to lay it down safely, and
-right glad was she; for she was pretty well exhausted by
-this time, and fain to take a seat on one of the rocks
-while they proceeded to weigh the salmon with a pocket-scale.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Seventeen pounds—and a beauty: as pretty a fish as
-ever I saw come out of the loch.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, we've managed it, Ronald,' said she, laughing,
-'but I don't know how. There he is—sure; but how we
-got him out of that hurricane I can't tell.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'There was twice I thought ye had lost him,' said he
-gravely. 'The line got desperately slack after ye jumped
-ashore——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Jumped ashore?' she said. 'Seems to me I was flung
-ashore, like a sack of old clothes.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But ye were not hurt?' said he, glancing quickly at her.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, no; not a bit—nor even wet; and if I had been,
-</span><em class="italics">that</em><span> is enough for anything.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Johnnie, lad, get some rushes, and put the fish in the
-box. We'll have a surprise for them when we get back,
-I'm thinking.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And can we get back?' she said.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'We'll try, anyway—oh yes—it's no so bad now.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But still it was a stiff pull; and they did not think it
-worth while to put out the line again. Miss Carry devoted
-her whole attention to sheltering herself from the spray;
-and was fairly successful. When, at length, they reached
-the top of the loch and landed, they were treated to a little
-mild sarcasm from those who had prudently remained on
-shore; but they said nothing; the time was not yet come.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Then came the question as to whether all of them could
-pull down the opposite side of the loch to the big rock; for
-there they would have shelter for lunch; while here in the
-open every gust that swooped down from the Clebrig slopes
-caught them in mid career. Nay, just then the wind seemed
-to moderate; so they made all haste into the cobles; and
-in due time the whole party were landed at the rock, which,
-with its broad ledges for seats, and its overhanging ferns,
-formed a very agreeable and sheltered resort. Of course,
-there was but the one thing wanting. A fishing party at
-lunch on the shores of a Highland loch is a very picturesque
-thing; but it is incomplete without some beautiful
-silver-gleaming object in the foreground. There always is a bit
-of grass looking as if it were just meant for that display;
-and when the little plateau is empty, the picture lacks its
-chief point of interest.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, you caught something if it wasn't a salmon,' her
-father said, glancing at her dripping hat and hair.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes, we did,' she answered innocently.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'You must be wet through in spite of your waterproof.
-Sometimes I could not see the boat at all for the showers
-of spray. Did you get much shelter where you stopped?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Not much—a little.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'It was a pretty mad trick, your going out at all.
-Of course Ronald only went to please you; he must have
-known you hadn't a ghost of a chance in a gale like that.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Pappa dear,' said she, 'there's nothing mean about me.
-There's many a girl I know would play it on her pa; but
-I'm not one of that kind. When I have three kings and a
-pair—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Stop it, Carry,' said he angrily, 'I'm tired of your Texas
-talk. What do you mean?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I only want to show my hand,' she said sweetly; and
-she called aloud—'Johnnie!'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>The young lad jumped up from the group that were
-cowering under the shelter of the stone dyke.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Bring the fish out of the boat, please.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He went down to the coble, and got the salmon out of
-the well; and then, before bringing it and placing it on the
-grass before the young lady, he held it up in triumph for
-the gillies to see: the sarcasm was all the other way now.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'You see, pappa dear, you would have bet your boots
-against it, wouldn't you?' she remarked.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But where did you get it?' he said, in amazement. 'I
-was watching your boat all the time. I did not see you
-playing a fish.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Because we got ashore as fast as we could, and had
-the fight out there. But please, pappa, don't ask me
-anything more than that. I don't know what happened. The
-wind was choking me, and I was half-blind, and the stones
-were slippery and moving, and—and everything was in a
-kind of uproar. Perhaps you don't think I did catch the
-salmon. If my arms could speak, they could tell you a
-different tale just at this minute; and I shall have a back
-to-morrow morning, I know that. Seventeen pounds,
-Ronald says; and as prettily shaped a fish as he has ever
-seen taken out of the lake.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'He is a handsome fish,' her father admitted; and then
-he looked up impatiently at the wind-driven sky. 'There
-is no doubt there are plenty of fish in the lake, if the weather
-would only give us a chance. But it's either a dead calm
-or else a raging gale. Why, just look at that!'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>For at this moment a heavier gust than ever struck
-down on the water—and widened rapidly out—and tore
-the tops of the waves into spray—until a whirling gray
-cloud seemed to be flying over to the other shores. The
-noise and tumult of the squall were indescribable; and
-then, in five or six minutes or so, the loch began to reappear
-again, black and sullen, from under that mist of foam; and
-the wind subsided—only to keep moaning and howling as
-if meditating further springs. There was not much use
-in hurrying lunch. The gillies had comfortably lit their
-pipes. Two of the younger lads were trying their strength
-and skill at 'putting the stone;' the others merely lay and
-looked on; an occasional glance at the loch told them they
-need not stir.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>It was not jealousy of his daughter having caught a fish
-that made Mr. Hodson impatient; it was the waste of time.
-He could not find refuge in correspondence; he had no
-book with him; while gazing at scenery is a feeble substitute
-for salmon-fishing, if the latter be your aim. And then
-again the loch was very tantalising—awaking delusive hopes
-every few minutes. Sometimes it would become almost
-quiet—save for certain little black puffs of wind that fell
-vertically and widened and widened out; and they would
-be on the point of summoning the men to the cobles when,
-with a low growl and then a louder roar, the gale would be
-rushing down again, and the storm witches' white hair
-streaming across the suddenly darkened waters.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'"Ben Clebrig—the Hill of the Playing Trout,"' said
-he peevishly. 'I don't believe a word of it. Why, the
-Celtic races were famous for giving characteristic names to
-places—describing the things accurately. "The Hill of
-the Playing Trout!" Now, if they had called it "The Hill
-of the Infernal Whirlwinds," or "The Hill of Blasts and
-Hurricanes," or something of that kind, it would have been
-nearer the mark. And this very day last year, according
-to the list that Ronald has, they got nine salmon.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Perhaps we may get the other eight yet, pappa,' said
-she lightly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And indeed, shortly after this, the day seemed to be
-getting a little quieter; and her father decided upon a start.
-The men came along to the coble. Ronald said to her—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'We will let them get well ahead of us; it's their turn
-now.' And so he and she and the lad John remained on
-the shore, looking after the departing boat, and in all sincerity
-wishing them good luck.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Presently she said, 'What's that?'—for something had
-struck her sharply on the cheek. It was a heavy drop of
-rain, that a swirl of wind had sent round the side of the
-rock; and now she became aware that everywhere beyond
-their shelter there was a loud pattering, becoming every
-moment heavier and heavier, while the wind rose and rose
-into an ominous high screeching. And then all round
-there was a hissing and a roar and from under the rock
-she looked forth on the most extraordinary phantasmagoria—for
-now the sheets of rain as they fell and broke on the
-water were caught by the angry mountain blasts and torn
-into spindrift, so that the whole lake seemed to be a mass
-of white smoke. And her father?—well, she could see
-something like the ghost of a boat and two or three
-phantom figures; but whether they were trying to fight their
-way, or letting everything go before the tempest, or what,
-she could not make out—for the whirling white rain-smoke
-made a mere spectral vision of them. Ronald came to her.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'That's bad luck,' said he composedly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What?' she asked, quickly. 'They are not in danger?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh no,' said he. 'But they've got both minnows
-aground, as far as I can make out.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But what about that? why don't they throw the rods
-and everything overboard, and get into safety?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, they'll try to save the minnows, I'm thinking.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And they did succeed in doing so—after a long and
-strenuous struggle; and then Mr. Hodson was glad to have
-them row him back to the shelter of the rock. Apparently
-his success with regard to the minnows had put him into
-quite a good humour.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Carry,' said he, 'I'm not an obstinate man—I know
-when I've got enough. I will allow that this battle is too
-much for me. I'm going home. I'm going to walk.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Then I will go with you, pappa,' she said promptly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'You may stay if you choose,' said he. 'You may stay
-and take my share as well as your own. But I'm going to
-see what newspapers the mail brought this morning; and
-there may be letters.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And I have plenty to do also,' said she. 'I mean to
-call on that pretty Miss Douglas I told you of—the Doctor's
-daughter. And do you think she would come along and
-dine with us?—or must I ask her mother as well?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I don't know what the society rules are here,' he
-answered. 'I suspect you will have to find out.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And Ronald—do you think he would come in and
-spend the evening with us? I can't find out anything
-about him—it's all phantom-minnows and things when he
-is in the boat.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, I should like that too,' said he: for he could
-not forsake the theories which he had so frequently
-propounded to her.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And so they set forth for the inn, leaving the men to
-get the boats back when they could; and after a long and
-brave battling with rain and wind they achieved shelter at
-last. And then Miss Carry had to decide what costume
-would be most appropriate for an afternoon call in the
-Highlands—on a day filled with pulsating hurricanes.
-Her bodice of blue with its regimental gold braid she
-might fairly adopt—for it could be covered over and
-protected; but her James I. hat with its gray and saffron
-plumes she had to discard—she had no wish to see it
-suddenly whirling away in the direction of Ben Loyal.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst" id="dreams-and-visions"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER XVI.</span></p>
-<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold medium">DREAMS AND VISIONS.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em">
-</div>
-<p class="pfirst"><span>Miss Hodson was in no kind of anxiety or embarrassment
-about this visit; she had quite sufficient reliance on her
-own tact; and when, going along to the Doctor's cottage,
-she found Meenie alone in that little room of hers, she
-explained the whole situation very prettily and simply and
-naturally. Two girls thrown together in this remote and
-solitary place, with scarcely any one else to talk with; why
-should they not know each other? That was the sum and
-substance of her appeal; with a little touch here and there
-about her being a stranger, and not sure of the ways and
-customs of this country that she found herself in. And
-then Meenie, who was perhaps a trifle overawed at first by
-this resplendent visitor, was almost inclined to smile at the
-notion that any apology was necessary, and said in her
-gentle and quiet way—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh, but it is very kind of you. And if you had lived
-in one or two Scotch parishes, you would know that the
-minister's family and the doctor's family are supposed to
-know every one.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She did not add 'and be at every one's disposal'—for
-that might have seemed a little rude. However, the
-introduction was over and done with; and Miss Carry set
-herself to work to make herself agreeable—which she could
-do very easily when she liked. As yet she kept the
-invitation to dinner in the background; talked of all kinds
-of things—the salmon-fishing, the children's soirée she had
-heard of; Ronald; Ronald's brother the minister; and her
-wonder that Ronald should be content with his present
-position; and always those bright dark eyes seemed to be
-scanning everything in the room with a pleased curiosity,
-and then again and again returning to Meenie's face, and
-her dress, and her way of wearing her hair, with a frank
-scrutiny which made the country mouse not a little shy in
-the presence of this ornate town mouse. For Miss Carry,
-with her upper wrappings discarded, was not only very
-prettily attired, but also she had about her all kinds of
-nick-nacks and bits of finery that seemed to have come
-from many lands, and to add to her foreign look. Of
-course, a woman's glance—even the glance of a shy
-Highland girl—takes note of these things; and they seemed
-but part of the unusual character and appearance of this
-stranger, who seemed so delicate and fragile, and yet was
-full of an eager vivacity and talkativeness, and whose soft,
-large, black eyes, if they seemed to wander quickly and
-restlessly from one object to another, were clearly so full of
-kindness and a wish to make friends. And very friendly
-indeed she was; and she had nothing but praise for the
-Highlands, and Highland scenery, and Highland manners,
-and even the Highland accent.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I suppose I have an accent myself; but of course
-I don't know it,' she rattled on. 'Even at home they
-say our western accent is pretty bad. Well, I suppose I
-have got it; but anyway I am not ashamed of it, and I
-am not in a hurry to change it. I have heard of American
-girls in Europe who were most afraid to speak lest they
-should be found out—-found out! Why, I don't see that
-English girls try to hide their accent, or want to copy any
-one else; and I don't see why American girls should be
-ashamed of having an American accent. Your accent,
-now; I have been trying to make out what it is, but I
-can't. It is very pretty; and not the least like the
-English way of talking; but I can't just make out where the
-difference is.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>For this young lady had a desperately direct way of
-addressing any one. She seemed to perceive no
-atmosphere of conventionality between person and person; it
-was brain to brain, direct; and no pausing to judge of the
-effect of sentences.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I know my mother says that I speak in the Highland
-way,' Meenie said, with a smile.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'There now, I declare,' said Miss Hodson, 'that did not
-sound like an English person speaking, and yet I could not
-tell you where the difference was. I really think it is more
-manner than accent. The boatmen and the girls at the
-inn—they all speak as if they were anxious to please you.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Then it cannot be a very disagreeable accent,' said
-Meenie, laughing in her quiet way.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'No, no; I like it. I like it very much. Ronald now,
-has nothing of that; he is positive and dogmatic—I would
-say gruff in his way of talking, if he was not so obliging.
-But he is very obliging and good-natured; there is just
-nothing he won't do for us—and we are perfect strangers
-to him.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And so she prattled on, apparently quite satisfied that
-now they were good friends; while Meenie had almost
-forgotten her shyness in the interest with which she
-listened to this remarkable young lady who had been all over
-the world and yet took her travelling so much as a matter
-of course. Then Miss Hodson said—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'You know my father and I soon exhaust our remarks
-on the events of the day when we sit down to dinner;
-and we were wondering whether you would take pity on
-our solitude and come along and dine with us this evening.
-Will you? I wish you would—it would be just too kind
-of you.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Meenie hesitated.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I would like very well,' said she, 'but—but my mother
-and the lad have driven away to Tongue to fetch my
-father home—and it may be late before they are back——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'The greater reason why you should come—why, to
-think of your sitting here alone! I will come along for
-you myself. And if you are afraid of having too much of
-the star-spangled banner, we'll get somebody else in who
-is not an American; I mean to ask Ronald if he will come
-in and spend the evening with us—or come in to dinner
-as well, if he has time——'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Now the moment she uttered these words she perceived
-the mistake she had made. Meenie all at once looked
-troubled, conscious, apprehensive—there was a touch of
-extra colour in her face: perhaps she was annoyed that
-she was betraying this embarrassment.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I think some other night, if you please,' the girl said,
-in a low voice, and with her eyes cast down, 'some other
-night, when mamma is at home—I would like to ask her
-first.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Class distinctions,' said Miss Carry to herself, as she
-regarded this embarrassment with her observant eyes.
-'Fancy class distinctions in a little community like this—in
-mid-winter too! Of course the Doctor's daughter must
-not sit down to dinner with Lord Ailine's head keeper.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But she could not offer to leave Ronald out—that
-would but have added to the girl's confusion, whatever was
-the cause of it. She merely said lightly—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Very well, then, some other evening you will take
-pity on us—and I hope before I go to Paris. And then
-I want you to let me come in now and again and have a
-cup of tea with you; and I get all the illustrated periodicals
-sent me from home—with the fashion-plates, you know.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>She rose.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What a nice room—it is all your own, I suppose?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh yes; that is why it is so untidy.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But I like to see a room look as if it was being used.
-Well, now, what are these?' she said, going to the
-mantel-shelf, where a row of bottles stood.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'These are medicines.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Why, you don't look sick,' the other said, turning
-suddenly.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh no. These are a few simple things that my father
-leaves with me when he goes from home—they are for
-children mostly—and the people have as much faith in me
-as in anybody,' Meenie said, with a shy laugh. 'Papa
-says I can't do any harm with them, in any case; and the
-people are pleased.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Hush, hush, dear, you must not tell me any secrets of
-that kind,' said Miss Carry gravely; and then she
-proceeded to get on her winter wraps.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Meenie went downstairs with her, and at the door
-would see that she was all properly protected and buttoned
-up about the throat.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'For it is very brave of you to come into
-Sutherlandshire in the winter,' said she; 'we hardly expect to see
-any one until the summer is near at hand.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Then you will let me come and have some tea with
-you at times, will you not?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Oh yes—if you will be so kind.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>They said good-bye and shook hands; and then Miss
-Carry thought that Meenie looked so pretty and so shy,
-and had so much appealing gentleness and friendliness in
-the clear, transparent, timid blue-gray eyes, that she kissed
-her, and said 'Good-bye, dear,' again, and went out into
-the dusk and driving wind of the afternoon, entirely well
-pleased with her visit.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But it seemed as though she were about to be disappointed
-in both directions; for when she called in at
-Ronald's cottage he was not there; and when she returned
-to the inn, he was not to be found, nor could any one say
-whither he had gone. She and her father dined by
-themselves. She did not say why Meenie had declined to come
-along and join them; but she had formed her own opinion
-on that point; and the more she thought of it, the more
-absurd it seemed to her that this small handful of people
-living all by themselves in the solitude of the mountains
-should think it necessary to observe social distinctions.
-Was not Ronald, she asked herself, fit to associate with
-any one? But then she remembered that the Highlanders
-were said to be very proud of their descent; and
-she had heard something about Glengask and Orosay; and
-she resolved that in the future she would be more
-circumspect in the matter of invitations.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>About half-past eight or so the pretty Nelly appeared
-with the message that Ronald was in the inn, and had
-heard that he was being asked for.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'What will I tell him ye want, sir?' she said, naturally
-assuming that Ronald was to be ordered to do something.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Give him my compliments,' said Mr. Hodson, 'and say
-we should be obliged if he would come in and smoke a pipe
-and have a chat with us, if he has nothing better to do.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But Nelly either thought this was too much politeness
-to be thrown away on the handsome keeper, or else she
-had some small private quarrel with him; for all she said
-to him, and that brusquely, was—</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald, you're wanted in the parlour.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Accordingly, when he came along the passage, and
-tapped at the door and opened it, he stood there uncertain,
-cap in hand. And Mr. Hodson had to repeat the
-invitation—explaining that they had wanted him to have some
-dinner with them, but that he could not be found; and
-then Ronald, with less of embarrassment than might have
-been expected—for he knew these two people better
-now—shut the door, and laid down his cap, and modestly
-advanced to the chair that Mr. Hodson had drawn in
-towards one side of the big fireplace. Miss Carry was
-seated apart on a sofa, apparently engaged in some sort of
-knitting work; but her big black eyes could easily be
-raised when there was need, and she could join in the
-conversation when she chose.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>At first that was mostly about the adjacent shooting,
-which Mr. Hodson thought of taking for a season merely
-by way of experiment; and the question was how long he
-would in that case have to be away from his native country.
-This naturally took them to America, and eventually and
-alas! to politics—which to Miss Carry was but as the
-eating of chopped straw. However, Mr. Hodson (if you
-could keep the existence of lords out of his reach) was no
-very violent polemic; and moreover, whenever the Bird of
-Freedom began to clap its wings too loudly, was there not
-on the sofa there a not inattentive young lady to interfere
-with a little gentle sarcasm? Sometimes, indeed, her
-interpositions were both uncalled for and unfair; and
-sometimes they were not quite clearly intelligible. When,
-for example, they were talking of the colossal statue of
-Liberty enlightening the World which the French Republic
-proposed to present to the American Republic to be set
-up in New York Bay, she pretended not to know in which
-direction—east or west—the giant figure was to extend
-her light and liberty-giving arm; and her objection to her
-father's definition of the caucus system as a despotism
-tempered by bolting, was a still darker saying of which
-Ronald could make nothing whatever. But what of that?
-Whatever else was veiled to him, this was clear—that her
-interference was on his behalf, so that he should not be
-overpressed in argument or handicapped for lack of
-information; and he was very grateful to her, naturally; and
-far from anxious to say anything against a country that
-had sent him so fair and so generous an ally.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>But, after all, was not this laudation of the institutions
-of the United States meant only as a kindness—as an
-inducement to him to go thither, and better his position?
-There was the field where the race was to the swiftest,
-where the best man got to the front, and took the prize
-which he had fairly won. There no accident of birth, no
-traditional usage, was a hindrance. The very largeness of
-the area gave to the individual largeness of view.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Yes,' said Miss Carry (but they took no heed of her
-impertinence) 'in our country a bar-tender mixes drinks
-with his mind fixed on Niagara.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Nay, the very effort to arouse dissatisfaction in the
-bosom of this man who seemed all too well contented with
-his circumstances was in itself meant as a kindness. Why
-should he be content? Why should he not get on? It
-was all very well to have health and strength and high
-spirits, and to sing tenor songs, and be a favourite with the
-farm-lasses; but that could not last for ever. He was
-throwing away his life. His chances were going by him.
-Why, at his age, what had so-and-so done, and what had
-so-and-so not done? And how had they started? What
-did they owe to fortune—what, rather, to their own
-resolution and brain?</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Ronald, my good fellow,' said his Mentor, in the most
-kindly way, 'if I could only get you to breathe the
-atmosphere of Chicago for a fortnight, I am pretty sure you
-wouldn't come back to stalk deer and train dogs for Lord
-Ailine or any other lordship.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Miss Carry said nothing; but she pictured to herself
-Ronald passing down Madison Street—no longer, of course,
-in his weather-tanned stalking costume, but attired as the
-other young gentlemen to be found there; and going into
-Burke's Hotel for an oyster luncheon; and coming out
-again chewing a toothpick; and strolling on to the Grand
-Pacific to look at the latest telegrams. And she smiled
-(though, indeed, she herself had not been behindhand in
-urging him to get out of his present estate and better his
-fortunes), for there was something curiously incongruous in
-that picture; and she was quite convinced that in Wabash
-Avenue he would not look nearly as handsome nor so much
-at his ease as now he did.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I am afraid,' said he, with a laugh, 'if ye put me down
-in a place like that, I should be sorely at a loss to tell what
-to turn my hand to. It's rather late in the day for me to
-begin and learn a new trade.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Nonsense, man,' the other said. 'You have the knowledge
-already, if you only knew how to apply it.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'The knowledge?' Ronald repeated, with some surprise.
-Most of his book-reading had been in the field of
-English poetry; and he did not see how he could carry
-that to market.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Mr. Hodson took out his note-book; and began to
-look over the leaves.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And you don't need to go as far as Chicago, if you
-would rather not,' said he.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'If you do,' said Miss Carry flippantly, 'mind you don't
-eat any of our pork. Pappa dear, do you know why a
-wise man doesn't eat pork in Illinois? Don't you know?
-It is because there is a trichinosis worth two of that.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Ronald laughed; but her father was too busy to attend
-to such idiotcy.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Even if you would rather remain in the old country,'
-he continued, 'and enjoy an out-of-door life, why should
-you not make use of what you already know? I have
-heard you talk about the draining of soil, and planting of
-trees, and so on: well, look here now. I have been
-inquiring into that matter; and I find that the Highland
-and Agricultural Society of Scotland grants certificates for
-proficiency in the theory and practice of forestry. Why
-shouldn't you try to gain one of those certificates; and
-then apply for the post of land-steward? I'll bet you
-could manage an estate as well as most of them who are at
-it—especially one of those Highland sporting estates.
-And then you would become a person of importance; and
-not be at any lordship's beck and call; you would have an
-opportunity of beginning to make a fortune, if not of making
-one at once; and if you wanted to marry, there would be
-a substantial future for you to look to.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'And then you would come over and see us at Chicago,'
-said Miss Carry. 'We live on North Park Avenue; and
-you would not feel lonely for want of a lake to look
-at—we've a pretty big one there.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'But the first step—about the certificate?' said Ronald
-doubtfully—though, indeed, the interest that these two kindly
-people showed in him was very delightful, and he was
-abundantly grateful, and perhaps also a trifle bewildered
-by these ambitious and seductive dreams.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'Well, I should judge that would be easy enough,'
-continued Mr. Hodson, again referring to his note-book in
-that methodical, slow-mannered way of his. 'You would
-have to go to Edinburgh or Glasgow, and attend some
-classes, I should imagine, for they want you to know
-something of surveying and geology and chemistry and botany.
-Some of these you could read up here—for you have plenty
-of leisure, and the subjects are just at your hand. I don't
-see any difficulty about that. I suppose you have saved
-something now, that you could maintain yourself when you
-were at the classes?'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I could manage for a while,' was the modest answer.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I have myself several times thought of buying an estate
-in the Highlands,' Mr. Hodson continued, 'if I found that
-I have not forgotten altogether how to handle a gun; and
-if I did so, I would give you the management right off. But
-it would not do for you to risk such a chance; what you
-want is to qualify yourself, so that you can take your stand
-on your own capacity, and demand the market value for it.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>Well, it was a flattering proposal; and this calm,
-shrewd-headed man seemed to consider it easily practicable—and
-as the kind of thing that a young man in his country would
-naturally make for and achieve; while the young lady on
-the sofa had now thrown aside the pretence of knitting,
-and was regarding him with eloquent eyes, and talking as
-if it were all settled and attained, and Ronald already
-become an enterprising and prosperous manager, whom
-they should come to see when they visited Scotland, and
-who was certainly to be their guest when he crossed the
-Atlantic. No wonder his head was turned. Everything
-seemed so easy—why, both she and her father appeared to
-be surrounded, when at home, with men who had begun
-with nothing and made fortunes. And then he would not
-be torn away altogether from the hills. He might still have
-a glimpse of the dun deer from time to time; there would
-still be the dewy mornings by lake and strath and mountain-tarn,
-with the stumbling on a bit of white heather, and the
-picking it and wearing it for luck. And if he had to bid
-farewell to Clebrig and Ben Loyal and Ben Hope and
-Bonnie Strath-Naver—well, there were other districts far
-more beautiful than that, as well he knew, where he would
-still hear the curlew whistle, and the grouse-cock crow in
-the evening, and the great stags bellow their challenge
-through the mists of the dawn. And as for a visit to
-Chicago?—and a view of great cities, and harbours, and
-the wide activities of the world?—surely all that was a
-wonderful dream, if only it might come true!</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>'I'm sure I beg your pardon,' said he, rising, 'for letting
-ye talk all this time about my small affairs. I think you'll
-have a quieter day to-morrow; the wind has backed to the
-east; and that is a very good wind for this loch. And I've
-brought the minnows that I took to mend; the kelts are
-awful beasts for destroying the minnows.'</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>He put the metal box on the mantelpiece. They would
-have had him stay longer—and Miss Carry, indeed, called
-reproaches down on her head that she had not asked him
-to smoke nor offered him any kind of hospitality—but he
-begged to be excused. And so he went out and got home
-through the cold dark night—to his snug little room and
-the peat-fire, and his pipe and papers and meditations.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>A wonderful dream, truly—and all to be achieved by
-the reading up of a few subjects of some of which he
-already knew more than a smattering. And why should
-he not try? It seemed the way of the world—at least, of
-the world of which he had been learning so much from
-these strangers—to strive and push forward and secure, if
-possible, means and independence. Why should he remain
-at Inver-Mudal? The old careless happiness had fled from
-it. Meenie had passed him twice now—each time merely
-giving him a formal greeting, and yet, somehow, as he
-imagined, with a timid trouble in her eyes, as if she was
-sorry to do that. Her superintendence of Maggie's lessons
-was more restricted now; and never by any chance did she
-come near the cottage when he was within or about. The
-old friendliness was gone; the old happy companionship—however
-restricted and respectful on his side; the old,
-frank appeal for his aid and counsel when any of her own
-small schemes had to be undertaken. And was she in
-trouble on his account?—and had the majesty of Glengask
-and Orosay been invoked? Well, that possibility need
-harrow no human soul. If his acquaintanceship—or
-companionship, in a measure—with Meenie was considered
-undesirable, there was an easy way out of the difficulty.
-Acquaintanceship or companionship, whichever it might be,
-it would end—it had ended.</span></p>
-<p class="pnext"><span>And then again, he said to himself, as he sate at the
-little table and turned over those leaves that contained
-many a gay morning song and many a midnight musing—but
-all about Meenie, and the birds and flowers and hills
-and streams that knew her—soon she would be away from
-Inver-Mudal, and what would the place be like then?
-Perhaps when the young corn was springing she would take
-her departure; and what would the world be like when she
-had left? He could see her seated in the little carriage;
-her face not quite so bright and cheerful as usually it was;
-her eyes—that were sometimes as blue as a speedwell in
-June, and sometimes gray like the luminous clear gray of
-the morning sky—perhaps clouded a little; and the
-sensitive lips trembling? The children would be there, to
-bid her good-bye. And then away through the lonely glens
-she would go, by hill and river and wood, till they came in
-sight of the western ocean, and Loch Inver, and the great
-steamer to carry her to the south. Meenie would be
-away—and Inver-Mudal, </span><em class="italics">then</em><span>?</span></p>
-<div class="line-block outermost">
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Small birds in the corn</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Are cowering and quailing:</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">O my lost love,</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Whence are you sailing?</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Fierce the gale blows</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Adown the bleak river;</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">The valley is empty</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">For ever and ever.</span></div>
-<div class="line"> </div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Out on the seas,</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">The night-winds are wailing:</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">O my lost love,</span></div>
-<div class="line"><span class="italics">Whence are you sailing?</span></div>
-</div>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em">
-</div>
-<p class="center pfirst"><span>END OF VOL. I.</span></p>
-<div class="vspace" style="height: 6em">
-</div>
-<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- -->
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