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diff --git a/43444.txt b/43444.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d1138c5..0000000 --- a/43444.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7247 +0,0 @@ - WHITE HEATHER (VOL. I) - - - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost -no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - - -Title: White Heather (Volume I of 3) - A Novel -Author: William Black -Release Date: August 11, 2013 [EBook #43444] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHITE HEATHER (VOLUME I OF 3) -*** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - - - WHITE HEATHER - - A Novel - - - BY - - WILLIAM BLACK - - AUTHOR OF 'MACLEOD OF DARE,' - 'JUDITH SHAKESPEARE,' ETC. - - - - _IN THREE VOLUMES_ - - VOL. I. - - - - London - MACMILLAN AND CO. - 1885 - - _The right of translation is reserved._ - - - - - Printed by R. & R. Clark, Edinburgh. - - - - - *CONTENTS OF VOL. I.* - - - CHAPTER I. - -A JOURNEY NORTHWARD - - CHAPTER II. - -MEENIE - - CHAPTER III. - -ON THE LOCH - - CHAPTER IV. - -A LETTER - - CHAPTER V. - -BEGINNINGS - - CHAPTER VI. - -A PROGRAMME - - CHAPTER VII. - -AN EYRIE - - CHAPTER VIII. - -THE NEW YEAR'S FEAST - - CHAPTER IX. - -ENTICEMENTS - - CHAPTER X. - -HIGH FESTIVAL - - CHAPTER XI. - -A REVELATION - - CHAPTER XII. - -'WHEN SHADOWS FALL' - - CHAPTER XIII. - -A NEW ARRIVAL - - CHAPTER XIV. - -'ABOUT ILLINOIS' - - CHAPTER XV. - -WILD TIMES - - CHAPTER XVI. - -DREAMS AND VISIONS - - - - - *WHITE HEATHER.* - - - - *CHAPTER I.* - - *A JOURNEY NORTHWARD.* - - -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. - -'Mr. Hodson, sir?' the latter said, with an inquiring glance. - -'That's about what they call me,' he answered slowly, as he opened a -capacious dressing-bag covered with crocodile-hide. - -'Do you expect any friends to join you farther along, sir?' - -'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. - -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. - -'And how old is your little girl?' - -'Eight, sir: she will be nine in May next.' - -'What do you call her?' - -'Caroline, sir.' - -'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.' - -The conductor scarcely knew how to express his thanks, but the American -cut him short, saying coolly-- - -'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.' - -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. - -'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.' - -'I have soda-water in the car, sir.' - -'Bring me a bottle, then, please.' - -'And shall I get anything else for you, sir, at Rugby?' - -'No, I thank you.' - -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-- - -'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.' - -'I should think not, sir.' - -'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?' - -'No, sir.' - -'You haven't seen anybody going yet with a bundle of rods?' - -'No, sir, not this year yet.' - -'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.' - -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. - -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? - -'A beautiful morning, sir; we are getting near to Perth now,' the -conductor said, when he made his appearance. - -'Are we in time?' - -'Yes, in very good time.' - -'And no hurry about breakfast?' - -'No, sir; you don't start again till nine o'clock.' - -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. - -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. - -'This is good enough,' he said to himself. 'This is something like what -I shipped for.' - -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. - -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. - -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. - -The American stood up in the waggonette, perhaps to shake off for a -second the clammy sensation of the wet. - -'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?' - -'Ah beg your paurdon, sir,' said the driver, who was apparently a -Lowlander. - -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. - -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. - -'That is Ben Clebrig, sir.' - -And then through the mist and the moonlight a dull sheet of silver began -to disclose itself dimly. - -'Is that a lake down there?' - -'Loch Naver, sir.' - -'Then we are not far from Inver-Mudal?' - -'No far noo; just a mile or two, sir,' was the consoling answer. - -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. - -'By the way, what is your name, my girl?' he said. - -'Nelly, sir.' - -'Well, then, Nelly, do you happen to know whether Lord Ailine's keeper -is anywhere in the neighbourhood?' - -'He is in the unn, sir, waiting for you.' - -'Oh, indeed. Well, tell him I should like to see him. And say, what is -his name?' - -'Ronald, sir.' - -'Ronald?' - -'That is his first name,' she explained. - -'His "first name"? I thought that was one of our Americanisms.' - -She did not seem to understand this. - -'Ronald Strang is his name, sir; but we jist call him Ronald.' - -'Very well, Nelly; you go and tell him I want to see him.' - -'Ferry well, sir,' she said; and away she went. - -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 _man_: there's something here worth knowing.' - -'Good evening, sir,' the keeper said, to break the momentary silence. - -'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.' - -'Yes, sir,' said Strang; and he moved a bit farther into the room; but -remained standing, cap in hand. - -'Pull in a chair,' said Mr. Hodson, who was searching for the letters. - -'Thank ye, sir; thank ye,' said the keeper; but he remained standing -nevertheless. - -Mr. Hodson returned to the table. - -'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.' - -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. - -'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?' - -'I would rather be "where the dun deer lie,"' said he, with a kind of -bashful laugh. - -'You read Kingsley?' the other said, still more astonished. - -'My brother lends me his books from time to time,' Ronald said modestly. -'He's a Free Church minister in Glasgow.' - -'A Free Church minister? He went through college, then?' - -'Yes, sir; he took his degree at Aberdeen.' - -'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?' - -'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.' - -'You are not a Highlander, then?' - -'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.' - -Mr. Hodson stared at him for a second or two in silence. - -'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.' - -'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.' - -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. - -'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.' - -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. - -'Come along, Harry, my lad,' the man said to his small companion--and -that, sure enough, was the keeper's voice. - -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-- - -_'Come all ye jolly shepherds,_ - _That whistle through the glen,_ -_I'll tell ye of a secret_ - _That courtiers dinna ken._ -_What is the greatest bliss_ - _That the tongue o' man can name?--_ -_'Tis to woo a bonnie lassie_ - _When the kye come hame.'_ - - -'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.' - -The refrain became more and more distant: - -_'When the kye come hame,_ - _When the kye come hame,_ -_'Twixt the gloamin' and the mirk,_ - _When the kye come hame.'_ - - -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: - -'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!' - - - - - *CHAPTER II.* - - *MEENIE.* - - -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. - -'Dear me, Miss Douglas,' he exclaimed, 'have I kept you so late!' - -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. - -'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.' - -'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.' - -'Indeed there is no need for that,' said Meenie, with downcast eyes. - -'Would ye have a bogle run away with ye?' he said good-naturedly. - -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. - -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. - -'Maggie is getting on well with her lessons,' the pretty young lady -said, in that gentle voice of hers. 'She is very diligent.' - -'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.' - -'Oh, indeed, indeed,' said she, 'that will be a change now. And who will -look after the cottage for you, Ronald?' - -She addressed him thus quite naturally, and without shyness; for no one -ever dreamed of calling him anything else. - -'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.' - -[#] 'Redd,' a setting to rights. - -'It is your brother the minister that Maggie will be going to?' she -said. - -'Oh yes; he is married, and has a family of his own; she will be -comfortable there.' - -'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.' - -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. - -'When is your father coming back, Miss Douglas?' said he. - -'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.' - -'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.' - -'Oh no,' she said, 'for the people are so friendly with us. And I do -not know of any place that I like better.' - -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. - -'Good night, Ronald,' said she pleasantly. - -'Good night, Miss Douglas,' said he; 'Maggie must not keep you up so -late again.' - -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. - -'What, what?' said he, good-humouredly. 'Not in bed yet, lass?' - -The little red-headed, freckled-faced lassie obediently gathered up her -belongings, but at the door she lingered for a moment. - -'Ronald,' said she, timidly, 'why do ye call Meenie "Miss Douglas?" It's -not friendly.' - -'When ye're a bit older, lass, ye'll understand,' he said, with a laugh. - -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. - -'Do you think she's proud? for she's not that,' the little girl made -bold to say. - -'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.' - -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. - -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-- - -_Roses white, roses red,_ - _Roses in the lane,_ -_Tell me, roses red and white,_ - _Where is Meenie gane?_ - -_O is she on Loch Loyal's side?_ - _Or up by Mudal Water?_ -_In vain the wild doves in the woods_ - _Everywhere have sought her._ - -_Roses white, roses red,_ - _Roses in the lane,_ -_Tell me, roses red and white,_ - _Where is Meenie gane?_ - - -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! - -_Ben Loyal spake to Ben Clebrig,_ - _And they thundered their note of war:_ -_'You look down on your sheep and your sheepfolds;_ - _I see the ocean afar._ - -_'You look down on the huts and the hamlets,_ - _And the trivial tasks of men;_ -_I see the great ships sailing_ - _Along the northern main.'_ - -_Ben Clebrig laughed, and the laughter_ - _Shook heaven and earth and sea:_ -_'There is something in that small hamlet_ - _That is fair enough for me--_ - -_'Ay, fairer than all your sailing ships_ - _Struck with the morning flame:_ -_A fresh young flower from the hand of God--_ - _Rose Meenie is her name!'_ - - -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-- - -_O wilt thou be my dear love?_ - _(Meenie and Meenie),_ -_O wilt thou be my ain love?_ - _(My sweet Meenie),_ -_Were you wi' me upon the hill,_ -_It's I would gar the dogs be still,_ -_We'd lie our lane and kiss our fill,_ - _(My love Meenie)._ - -_Aboon the burn a wild bush grows_ - _(Meenie and Meenie),_ -_And on the lush there blooms a rose_ - _(My sweet Meenie);_ -_And wad ye tak the rose frae me,_ -_And wear it where it fain would be,_ -_It's to your arms that I would flee,_ - _(Rose-sweet Meenie!)_ - - -He carefully folded the paper and addressed it outside--so: - -_Miss Wilhelmina Stuart Douglas,_ - _Care of James Douglas, Esq., M.D.,_ - _Inver-Mudal,_ - _Sutherlandshire._ - -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. - -'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.' - -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. - -'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.' - -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. - - - - - *CHAPTER III.* - - *ON THE LOCH.* - - -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. - -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? - -[#] That is, the Hill of the Playing Trout. - -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. - -[#] More properly Ben Laoghal, the Hill of the Calves. - -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. - -'Say, now, has that man come down from Tongue yet?' - -'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.' - -'Keeping the New Year on the 14th of January?' - -'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.' - -'Oh, indeed. Then the festive gentleman won't show up to-day?' - -'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.' - -'_You_ will ask him?' was Mr. Hodson's internal soliloquy. 'It is to -_you_ he will grant the favour. Indeed!' - -He fixed his eyes on her, - -'He is a good-looking young fellow, that Ronald.' - -She did not answer that; she was putting the marmalade, and the honey, -and the cream on the table. - -'He is not married?' - -'No, sir.' - -'Well, now, when he thinks about getting married, I suppose he'll pretty -well have his choice about here?' - -'Indeed there iss others besides him,' said Nelly rather proudly, but -her face was red as she opened the door. - -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. - -'I'm not much on salmon-fishing myself,' the American remarked modestly. - -'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.' - -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? - -'Duncan doesna like that boat,' Ronald said, glancing at Mr. Hodson. - -The melancholy man did not speak, but shook his head gloomily. - -'Why?' - -As the gillie did not answer, Ronald said-- - -'He thinks there is no luck with that boat.' - -'That boat?' the gillie said, with an angry look towards the hapless -coble. 'She has the worst luck of any boat in Sutherland--_tam her_,' -he added, under his breath. - -'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.' - -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. - -'I suppose it is really too early in the season,' he observed, without -much chagrin. - -'Rayther,' said Ronald. - -'Rawther,' said the melancholy gillie. - -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. - -'There he is, sir! there he is, sir!' Ronald called. - -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. - -'Reel in, sir, reel in--keep an even strain on him--let him go--let him -go if he wants----' - -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-- - -'Well, Duncan, how about luck now?' - -'I think it's a kelt,' the man answered morosely. - -But the sinister meaning of this reply was not understood. - -'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.' - -'Then he heard Ronald say, in an undertone, to the gillie-- - -'A kelt? No fears. The first rush was too heavy for that.' - -And the gillie responded sullenly-- - -'He's following the boat like a cow.' - -'What is a kelt, anyway?' the American called out. 'Something that -swims, I suppose? It ain't a man?' - -'I hope it's no a kelt, sir,' said Ronald--but doubtfully. - -'But what is a kelt, then, when he's at home?' - -'A salmon, sir, that hasna been down to the sea; we'll have to put him -back if he is.' - -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. - -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? - -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. - -'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. - -'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.' - -'It's the luck of this tammed boat,' Duncan said gloomily. - -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. - -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-- - -'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--' - -Mr. Hodson, as he opened the little basket that had been provided for -him, answered cheerfully enough-- - -'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.' - -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. - -'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.' - -'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.' - -'What night did you say?' - -'Monday next, sir.' - -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. - -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. - -'Suppose we'd better be going home now,' Mr. Hodson remarked at a -venture, and with no great disappointment in his tone. - -'I'm afraid, sir, there's no much chance now,' Ronald said. - -'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. - -He was doing so slowly, and the men were as slowly pulling in for the -shore in the gathering dusk, when _whirr!_ 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. _Whirr!_ went another dozen yards of line; and -again the fish sprang into the air--this time plainly visible. - -'A clean fish, sir! a clean fish!' was the welcome cry. - -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. - -'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. - -'A clean fish, sir,' was the confident answer. - -'No doubt o' that, sir,' even the melancholy Duncan admitted; for he -foresaw a dram now, if not a tip in actual money. - -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. - -'He's off, sir,' the melancholy gillie said in a tone of sad -resignation. - -'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. - -'He's showing the white feather now, sir; give him a little more of the -butt.' - -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. - -'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. - -'He's twelve pounds, and no more,' the melancholy Duncan said, eyeing -him all over. - -'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.' - -'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. - -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. - - - - - *CHAPTER IV.* - - *A LETTER.* - - -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:-- - -'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 _vertu_. 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. - -'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 _employes_, 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 -_natural_ 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 _applied_. 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.' - -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. - -'Say, my girl, when will this letter go south?' Mr. Hodson asked. - -'To-morrow moarning,' was the answer. - -'And the fish, too?' - -'Yes, sir, by the mail cart.' - -'Has Duncan packed it in the rushes yet?' - -'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.' - -'_Ich auch!_' 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. - -'What's that now, Nelly?' - -'It will be Ronald tuning his pipes,' said she, as she was going to the -door. - -'Oh, he can play the pipes too?' - -'Indeed, yes, sir; and better as any in Sutherland, I hef heard them -say,' she added. - -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. - -'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.' - -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-- - -'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.' - -He returned to his letter. - -'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. - -'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.' - -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-- - -'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.' - -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: - -_The blossom was white on the blackthorn tree,_ - _And the mavis was singing rarely;_ -_When Meenie, Love Meenie, walked out wi' me,_ - _All in the springtime early._ - -_'Meenie, Love Meenie, your face let me see,_ - _Meenie, come answer me fairly;_ -_Meenie, Love Meenie, will you wed me,_ - _All in the springtime early?'_ - -_Meenie but laughed; and kentna the pain_ - _That shot through my heart fu' sairly:_ -_'Kind sir, it's a maid that I would remain,_ - _All in the springtime early.'_ - - -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.' - - - - - *CHAPTER V.* - - *BEGINNINGS.* - - -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. - -[#] No doubt corrupted from _Strath Tairibh_, the Strath of the Bull. - -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. - -'I am afraid I cannot ask him a second day,' he remarked. - -'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.' - -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. - -'Ronald!' - -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. - -'Ronald, do you hear!' she called; and she would not move another yard -towards them. - -And then he happened to notice her. - -'Well, lass, what is't ye want?' - -'Come away at once!' she called, in not the most friendly way. 'The -gentleman wants you to go down to the loch.' - -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. - -'What!' he called to her, 'hasna Fraser come down from Tongue yet?' - -'No, he has not.' - -'Bless us; the whisky must have been strong,' said he, as he picked up -his jacket. 'I'll be there in a minute, Nelly.' - -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. - -'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. - -'I'll take it, sir,' said he; 'and if you're ready now we'll be off. -Come along, Duncan.' - -And he was striding away with his long deerstalker step, when Mr. Hodson -stopped him. - -'Wait a bit, man; I will walk down to the loch with you.' - -So Duncan went on, and the American and Ronald followed. - -'Sharp this morning.' - -'Rayther sharp.' - -'But this must be a very healthy life of yours--out in the fresh air -always--plenty of exercise--and so forth.' - -'Just the healthiest possible, sir.' - -'But monotonous a little?' - -''Deed no, sir. A keeper need never be idle if he minds his business; -there's always something new on hand.' - -'Then we'll say it is a very enjoyable life, so long as your health -lasts, and you are fit for the work?' - -This was apparently a question. - -'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.' - -'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?' - -'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.' - -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. - -'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!"' - -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. - -'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.' - -'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?' - -'Oh, they were saying things about his lordship,' Ronald said -carelessly. - -'Then he is not worshipped as a divinity by everybody?' the American -said shrewdly. - -But the keeper answered, with much nonchalance-- - -'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.' - -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. - -'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. - -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-- - -'Good morning, Ronald.' - -He was forced to look up. - -'Good morning, Miss Douglas,' said he, with studied respect; and they -went on. - -'Miss Douglas?' Mr. Hodson repeated, as soon as they were beyond -hearing. 'The doctor's daughter, I presume?' - -'Yes, sir.' - -'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.' - -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. - -'What do you think?' Mr. Hodson said, half turning round, and not giving -plainer voice to his anxieties. - -'I'm afraid it's a kelt, sir,' the dismal gillie answered. - -'Looks like it, don't it?' the fisherman said rather dolefully; for the -fish showed no sign of life whatever. - -'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. - -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. - -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. - -'No kelt is he, Ronald?' he called aloud. - -'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.' - -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. - -'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--_the butt now, sir!_' 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. - -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. - -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. - -'Indeed, sir, it's no much use going on in this weather,' Ronald said, -'unless maybe you were to try the fly.' - -'I thought you said it was rather early for the fly.' - -'Rayther early,' Ronald admitted. - -'Rawther,' said Duncan. - -'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.' - -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. - -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. - -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. - - - - - *CHAPTER VI.* - - *A PROGRAMME.* - - -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. - -'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.' - -And then she said--with some touch of anger-- - -'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?' - -'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.' - -'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?' - -She laughed; but the little, red-haired, freckled girl looked rather -frightened. - -'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-- - -'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."' - -'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.' - -But here the good humour left Meenie Douglas's face--that was suddenly -grown red and embarrassed. - -'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!' - -A timid appealing hand was put on her arm. - -'I am sure that Ronald would rather never see or hear of any jersey than -have anything make you angry, Meenie.' - -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. - -'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 soiree? 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.' - -She was quite excited over this matter. - -'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?' - -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. - - - CHILDREN'S SOIREE. - - _Inver-Mudal, Wednesday, January 23._ - - MR. RONALD STRANG in the Chair. - - PROGRAMME. - -_Psalm_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _Old Hundredth_. - - _Service of Tea and Cake._ - -_Address_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CHAIRMAN. - - _Service of Raisins._ - -_Song_ . . . 'My love she's but a lassie yet.' . . MR. RONALD STRANG. -_Reading_ . . 'The Cameronian's Dream.' . . . . . . Miss M. DOUGLAS. -_Song_ . . . 'O dinna cross the burn, Willie.' . . MR. RONALD STRANG. -_Pipe-Music_ 'Lord Breadalbane's March.' . . . . . MR. RONALD STRANG. - - _Service of Oranges._ - -_Hymn_ . . . 'Whither, pilgrims, are you going?' . . CHILDREN. -_Duet_ . . . 'Huntingtower.' . . . . . . . . . . . . { Miss M. DOUGLAS - { & Miss M. STRANG. - - -But at this point Maggie broke into pure affright. - -'Oh, Meenie!' she cried--'how can I?---before them all!' - -'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?' - -'But you, Meenie--you can sing so well and without trouble--I know I -will spoil everything----' - -'No, no, you will spoil nothing; and we will get through very well.' - -'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: - -_Song_ . . . . 'The Laird o' Cockpen.' . . . . . MR. RONALD STRANG. -_Reading_ . . 'Jeanie Morrison.' . . . . . . . Miss M. DOUGLAS. - - _Service of Shortbread._ - -_Song_ . . . . 'Gloomy Winter's now awa'.' . . . MR. RONALD STRANG. -_Song_ . . . . 'Auld Lang Syne.' . . . . . . . . THE COMPANY. -_Vote of thanks to the Chairman_ . . . . . . . . Miss M. DOUGLAS. - - _Finale._ - -_Pipe-Music, 'Caidil gu lo'_ (Sleep on till day) MR. RONALD STRANG. - - -Meenie looked and laughed with pleasure; she was quite proud of her -skill of arrangement. - -'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?' - -Meenie's face flushed somewhat; and she would have evaded the question -with a little laugh but that it was repeated. Whereupon she said-- - -'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?' - -'Indeed no, I'm sure,' Maggie said promptly. 'There's just nothing that -he wouldna do for you, Meenie.' - -'But I will wait till I see him in a good humour,' said her friend, -laughing, 'before I ask him for so much.' - -'Mich,' she said; unawares she had caught up a good many of the local -touches. - -'And do ye think ye could ever find him in an ill-humour wi' you?' -Maggie said, almost reproachfully. - -There was no answer to the question; the programme was put aside. - -'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.' - -She had got a lot of large printed designs; and a heap of stiff paper of -various colours. - -'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 soiree.' - -Maggie looked up quickly. - -'But, Meenie, you are coming to the party on Monday night too?' - -There was no embarrassment on the beautiful, fine, gentle face. She -only said-- - -'Well, no one has asked me.' - -And the little Maggie flushed with shame and vexation. - -'Indeed, now! Did Ronald not speak to you about it?' - -'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.' - -'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.' - -'But that is nonsense, Maggie,' the other said good-naturedly. 'Of -course you must go. And I should like well enough----' - -'I am sure Mr. Murray would put you at the head of the table--by his own -side--and proud, too!' Maggie exclaimed warmly. - -'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.' - -'Oh, Meenie,' her companion said, with eyes full of earnestness, 'did -you ever see Ronald dance the sword-dance?' - -'No, I have not, Maggie.' - -'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.' - -'I am glad that he does not go to the Highland meetings,' Meenie said, -rather quietly, and with her eyes cast down. - -'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.' - -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: - -'But he is so careless, Maggie! Why don't you speak to him? You really -must make him more heedful of himself.' - -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. - - - - - *CHAPTER VII.* - - *AN EYRIE.* - - -'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.' - -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-- - -_Roses red, roses white,_ - _Roses in the lane,_ -_Tell me, roses white and red,_ - _Where is Meenie gane!_ - -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-- - -'There's Ronald outside, mem, and I think he might go away and shoot -something for the gentleman's dinner.' - -'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.' - -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. - -'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.' - -'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.' - -'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. - -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. - -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. - -'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!' - -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. - -'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.' - -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. - -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! - -'Good!' he says to himself--with a kind of sigh of satisfaction as if he -had himself taken part in the struggle and capture. - -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 - - MUDAL IN JUNE. - -_Mudal, that comes from the lonely mere,_ - _Silent or whispering, vanishing ever,_ -_Know you of aught that concerns us here?--_ - _You, youngest of all God's creatures, a river._ - -_Born of a yesterday's summer shower,_ - _And hurrying on with your restless motion,_ -_Silent or whispering, every hour,_ - _To lose yourself in the great lone ocean._ - -_Your banks remain; but you go by,_ - _Through day and through darkness swiftly sailing:_ -_Say, do you hear the curlew cry,_ - _And the snipe in the night-time hoarsely wailing?_ - -_Do you watch the wandering hinds in the morn;_ - _Do you hear the grouse-cock crow in the heather;_ -_Do you see the lark spring up from the corn,_ - _All in the radiant summer weather?_ - -_O Mudal stream, how little you know_ - _That Meenie has loved you, and loves you ever;_ -_And while to your ocean home you flow,_ - _She says good-bye to her well-loved river!--_ - -_O see you her now--she is coming anigh--_ - _And the flower in her hand her aim discloses:_ -_Laugh, Mudal, your thanks as you're hurrying by--_ - _For she flings you a rose, in the month of roses!_ - -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?' - -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: - -_Through the long sad centuries Clebrig slept,_ - _Nor a sound the silence broke,_ -_Till a morning in Spring a strange new thing_ - _Betrayed him and he awoke;_ - -_And he laughed, and his joyous laugh was heard_ - _From Erribol far to Tongue;_ -_And his granite veins deep down were stirred,_ - _And the great old mountain grew young._ - -_'Twas Love Meenie he saw, and she walked by the shore,_ - _And she sang so sweet and so clear,_ -_That the sound of her voice made him see again_ - _The dawn of the world appear;_ - -_And at night he spake to the listening stars_ - _And charged them a guard to keep_ -_On the hamlet of Inver-Mudal there_ - _And the maid in her innocent sleep,_ - -_Till the years should go by; and they should see_ - _Love Meenie take her stand_ -_'Mong the maidens around the footstool of God--_ - _She gentlest of all the band!_ - - -He tore the leaf out, folded it, and put it in his pocket. - -'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. - -'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.' - -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. - -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. - -'There you are, Nelly, lass,' said he, as the fair-haired Highland maid -happened to go by. - -'All right,' said she, which was no great thanks. - -But Mr. Murray, in the parlour, had heard the keeper's voice. - -'Ronald,' he cried, 'come in for a minute, will ye?' - -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. - -'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?' - -'Where?' said Ronald--but he knew well enough, and was only seeking time -to make an excuse. - -'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?' - -'How could I do that?' Ronald said. 'It's you that's giving the party, -Mr. Murray.' - -'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.' - -'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!' - -'But Ronald, lad, if ye should see the young lass herself----' - -'No, no; take your own message, Mr. Murray; they can but give you a -civil answer.' - -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. - - - - - *CHAPTER VIII.* - - *THE NEW YEAR'S FEAST.* - - -Loud and shrill in the empty barn arose the strains of the _Athole -March_, 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. - -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. - -'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.' - -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. - -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. - -'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. - -But another of the girls, still bent on mischief, was bold enough to -say. - -'Oh, it's Ronald that's going to sing us a song.' - -'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.' - -But this was not heard up the table. - -'Very well, then, Ronald,' the innkeeper cried, graciously. 'Come away -with it now. There is no one at all can touch you at that.' - -'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.' - -He glanced at her; and then he seemed to make up his mind. - -'Very well, then,' said he, 'I'll sing ye a song--and let's have a -chorus, lads.' - -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: - -_O lasses, lasses, gang your ways,_ -_And dust the house, or wash the claes,_ -_Ye put me in a kind o' blaze--_ - _Ye'll break my heart among ye!_ - - -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-- - -_Ye'll break my heart among ye!_ - -And then the singer proceeded--gravely-- - -_At kirk or market, morn or e'en,_ -_The like o' them was never seen,_ -_For each is kind, and each a queen;--_ - _Ye'll break my heart among ye!_ - -And again came the roaring chorus from the delighted lads-- - -_Ye'll break my heart among ye!_ - -There was but one more verse-- - -_There's that one dark, and that one fair,_ -_And yon has wealth o' yellow hair;_ -_Gang hame, gang hame--I can nae mair--_ - _Ye'll break my heart among ye!_ - - -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-- - -'My lad, when I get you by yourself, I'll give it to you!' - -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 _quaich_--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--'_To the goodman of the inn_'; '_To the young girls that are -kind, and old wives that keep a clean house_'; '_Good health; and good -luck in finding things washed ashore_,' and so forth--and when it came -to Mr. Hodson's turn, he would have a try at the Gaelic too. - -'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. - -'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. - -'But I want to have my turn. If it's anything a white man can do, I can -do it.' - -'Say _air do shlainte_--that is, your good health,' said Jeannie, -blushing more furiously than ever. - -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. - -'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.' - -'And besides, he's thinking of the lass he left behind in the Lothians,' -said her neighbour. - -'And they're all black-haired girls there,' continued the fair-haired -Nelly. 'Ronald, drink "_mo nighean dubh_."' - -He fixed his eyes on her steadily, and said: '_Tir nam beann, nan -gleann, s'nan gaisgeach;_[#] and may all the saucy jades in Sutherland -find a husband to keep them in order ere the year be out.' - -[#] The land of hills and glens and heroes. - -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 _schwaermerei_. -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-- - -_'And trow ye as I sing, my lads,_ - _The burden o't shall be,_ -_Auld Scotland's howes, and Scotland's knowes,_ - _And Scotland's hills for me,_ -_I'll drink a cup to Scotland yet,_ - _Wi' a' the honours three.'_ - -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 - -_I'll drink a cup to Scotland yet,_ - _Wi' a' the honours three.'_ - - -'I feel half a Scotchman already,' said he gaily to his hostess. - -'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.' - -'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. - -'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.' - -'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.' - -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: - -_'The news frae Moidart cam' yestreen,_ - _Will soon gar many ferlie,[#]_ -_For ships o' war hae just come in_ - _And landed royal Charlie.'_ - -[#] 'Ferlie,' wonder. - -It was a well-known song, with a resounding chorus: - -_'Come through the heather, around him gather,_ - _Ye're a' the welcomer early;_ -_Around him cling wi' a' your kin,_ - _For wha'll be king but Charlie?'_ - -Nay, was not this the right popular kind of song--to have two choruses -instead of one?-- - -_'Come through the heather, around him gather,_ - _Come Ronald, and Donald, come a'thegither_ -_And claim your rightfu' lawfu' king,_ - _For who'll be king but Charlie?'_ - - -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: - -'Ronald, sing "Doon the burn, Davie lad."' - -'Ronald, will you not give us "Logan Water" now?' - -'Ronald, "Auld Joe Nicholson's Bonnie Nannie" or "My Peggy is a young -thing" whichever you like best yourself.' - -'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.' - -'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.' - -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 _Miss -Jenny Gordon's Favourite_--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. - -Little Maggie stole up to her brother. - -'I'm going home now, Ronald,' she said. - -'Very well,' he said. 'Mind you go to bed as soon as ye get in. -Good-night, lass.' - -'Good-night, Ronald.' - -She was going away, when he said to her-- - -'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.' - -In truth he had had his eye on the door all the time he was playing -_Miss Jenny Gordon's Favourite_. - -'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.' - -'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. - -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 _quadrille_, -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. - -'Well, sir, the girls are asking if you would not like to have a dance -too; and they could have a quadrille.' - -'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?' - -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 -_Highland Schottische_--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. - -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. - -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. - - - - - *CHAPTER IX.* - - *ENTICEMENTS.* - - -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. - -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. - -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. - -'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. - -'Good-morning, Miss Douglas,' said he; he was far more shy than she was. - -'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?' - -She took out her purse, and selected a shilling from the very slender -store of coins there. - -'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?' - -'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. - -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. - -'Give me the letter, Ronald,' said she, 'and I will find some one -myself. You are going away now with the dogs.' - -'Oh no,' said he, 'I will see that the Crask folk get your message.' - -'And the money to pay the lad?' said she timidly. - -'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.' - -'For me?' she said, with her eyes opening somewhat. - -'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?' - -And then Meenie laughed. - -'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.' - -'I'm not afraid o't,' he answered simply. - -'But you do not know yet.' - -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. - -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. - -'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.' - -'Me?' said he, in astonishment. 'I never tried such a thing in my -life.' - -'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.' - -There was a touch of flattery in the proposal. - -'Indeed, yes,' said he at once. 'We will manage well enough, if ye wish -it that way.' - -'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.' - -'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. - -'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.' - -He scarcely glanced at the programme. - -'And what have you to speak about, Miss Douglas?' - -She laughed. - -'About you.' - -'About me?' he said, rather aghast. - -'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.' - -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.' - -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. - -'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----' - -She looked up again, with an air of apology. - -'Do you think I am asking too much from you, Ronald?' she said. - -'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.' - -'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. - -She rose; and he whistled in the dogs, as if he would return to the -village. - -'I thought you were taking them for a run,' said she. - -'Oh, they have been scampering about; I will go back now.' - -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. - -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. - -'Good morning, Mrs. Douglas,' Ronald said respectfully, and he raised -his cap as they drew near. - -'Good morning, Mr. Strang,' she said, with much precision, and scarcely -glancing at him. - -She turned to Meenie. - -'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.' - -'It cannot do much harm at this time of the year,' Meenie said lightly. - -'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?' - -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. - -'Why, mother, it only came yesterday, and I haven't looked over it yet,' -Meenie said. - -'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.' - -'Very well, mother,' said Meenie, with perfect equanimity; and then she -called 'Good morning, Ronald!' and went indoors. - -What was he to do to pacify this imperious little dame? As a gamekeeper, -he knew but the one way. - -'Would a hare or two, or a brace of ptarmigan be of any use to you, Mrs. -Douglas?' said he. - -'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.' - -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. - -'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.' - -'Good morning,' said she, a little stiffly, and she turned and walked -towards the cottage. - -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.' - -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:-- - -_'"'Tis not beneath the burgonet,_ - _Nor yet beneath the crown,_ -_'Tis not on couch of velvet,_ - _Nor yet on bed of down."_ - -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:-- - -_"'Tis beneath the spreading birch,_ - _In the dell without a name,_ -_Wi' a bonnie, bonnie lassie,_ - _When the kye come hame."_ - -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. - -_"When the kye come hame, when the kye come hame,_ -_Twixt the gloaming and the mirk, when the kye come hame."_ - - - - - *CHAPTER X.* - - *HIGH FESTIVAL.* - - -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. - -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? - -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. - -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. - -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-- - -'Well, now, for a young married couple, you have a very large family.' - -But Miss Douglas was not a self-conscious young person, nor easily -alarmed, and she merely laughed and said-- - -'I am sure they are a very well-behaved family indeed.' - -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. - -'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."' - -'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.' - -'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. - -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. - -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--_Caidil gu lo_ 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. - -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. - -'Ronald,' said Meenie, with her pretty eyes smiling at him, 'do you know -that Maggie and I are rather tired----' - -'Well, I dinna wonder,' said he. - -'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?' - -'Here?' said he, with his face lighting up with pleasure: were those -three to have supper all by themselves? - -'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-- - -'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.' - -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-- - -'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. - -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. - -'And what will you have yourself, Ronald?' Meenie asked. - -'Oh,' said he, 'that will do by and by. I am not so hungry as you.' - -'Did you have so much of the shortbread?' said she, laughing. - -He went and stirred up the peats--and the red glow sent a genial warmth -across towards them. - -'Come, Ronald,' said the little Maggie, 'and have some supper.' - -'There is no hurry,' he said evasively. 'I think I will go outside and -have a pipe now; and get something by and by.' - -'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.' - -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. - -'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. - -'I was wishing this could go on for ever,' was the simple answer. - -'What? A perpetual supper? Oh, you greedy girl! Why, you must be -looking forward to the Scandinavian heaven----' - -'No, it's to be with Ronald and you, Meenie dear--just like now--for you -seem to be able to keep everybody happy.' - -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-- - -'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? - -'But--but I'm not used to it--I should be putting you wrong----' - -'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.' - -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? - - - - - *CHAPTER XI.* - - *A REVELATION.* - - -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. - -Suddenly the little Maggie appeared. - -'Ronald,' she said, 'the Doctor's come home.' - -'What--at this time in the morning?' he said turning to her. - -'Yes, I am sure; for I can see the dog-cart at the door of the inn.' - -'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.' - -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. - -'Good morning, Doctor!' he cried. - -'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. - -'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.' - -'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.' - -'What is the use of that?' said Ronald, 'there's aye plenty o' time for -sleep in the winter.' - -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. - -'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-- - -'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.' - -It was an offer, at all events, that the big doctor could not withstand. - -'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.' - -Ronald turned to one of the stable-lads (all of whom were transformed -into beaters on this occasion). - -'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.' - -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. - -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. - -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. - -'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.' - -'I wish they may come upon a stag,' said the little Maggie--with -reckless and irresponsible generosity. - -'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?' - -'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.' - -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. - -'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.' - -'Oh yes, when he was told that you had something to do with them,' was -the simple answer. - -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. - -'I wonder, now,' she said, 'he does not get frames for these -photographs; they will be spoiled by finger marks and the dust.' - -Maggie said shyly-- - -'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.' - -'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. - -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? - -'Well!' she exclaimed, as she took it up. 'Meenie, here is a letter for -you! why didna he send it along to you?' - -'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.' - -'But look!' - -Meenie took the letter in her hand; and regarded the address; and -laughed. - -'It is very formal,' said she. 'There is no mistake about it. "_Miss -Wilhelmina Stuart Douglas_"--when was I ever called that before? And -"_Inver-Mudal, Sutherlandshire, N.B._" He should have added _Europe_, -as if he was sending it from the moon. Well, it is clearly meant for -me, any way--oh, and open too----' - -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-- - -_'O wilt thou be my dear love?_ - _(Meenie and Meenie)_ -_O wilt thou be my ain love?_ - _(My sweet Meenie)?_ - -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. - -'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.' - -She took the younger girl out of the room, and herself shut the door, -firmly, although her fingers were all trembling. - -'Maggie,' she said, 'you must promise never to tell any one that you -gave me that letter--that I saw it----' - -'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. - -'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.' - -'But I will go with you, Meenie.' - -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. - -'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. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -'Well, Maggie, lass,' said he, as they set out through the dark, 'did -you see all the bairns safely off this morning?' - -'No, Ronald,' she said, 'Meenie did not seem to want me; so I stayed at -home.' - -'And did you find Harry sufficient company for ye? But I suppose Miss -Douglas came and stayed with ye for a while.' - -'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.' - -'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.' - -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. - - - - - *CHAPTER XII.* - - *'WHEN SHADOWS FALL.'* - - -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-- - -_'O we aft hae met at e'en, bonnie Peggie, O,_ -_On the banks o' Cart sae green, bonnie Peggie, O,_ - _Where the waters smoothly rin,_ - _Far aneath the roarin' linn,_ -_Far frae busy strife and din, bonnie Peggie, O'--_ - -when the little Maggie came stealing in. - -'Ronald,' she said, with an air of reproach, 'why are ye going about on -such a morning without your jacket, and bare-headed, too?' - -'Toots, toots, lassie, it's a fine morning,' said he indifferently. - -'It was Meenie said I was not to let you do such foolish things,' the -little lass ventured to say diffidently. - -Of course this put a new aspect on the case, but he would not admit as -much directly. - -'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.' - -And then she hesitated. - -'Ronald,' said she, 'I will take them to Mrs. Douglas, if you like.' - -'You?' said he. - -'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?' - -He laughed. - -'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.' - -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. - -He went forward unsuspectingly. - -'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. - -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-- - -'I suppose Maggie is at home?' - -'Oh yes,' said he, and her manner was so changed that he also scarce -knew what to say or to think. - -And again she was going on, and again she lingered--with a sudden fear -that she might be thought ungracious or unkind. - -'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. - -'So I heard,' he answered. - -'I am sure they must have enjoyed the evening,' she said, as if forcing -herself to speak. - -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-- - -'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.' - -'Good morning,' said she--still without looking at him--and then she -went. - -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. - -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. - -'I have brought ye two or three hares, Mrs. Douglas, if they're of any -use to ye,' Ronald said modestly. - -'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.' - -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. - -'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. - -'Yes,' she said, 'to Tongue. There is a consultation there. I am sure -he has had very little peace and quiet lately.' - -'I am glad he had a holiday yesterday,' Ronald said, with an endeavour -to be agreeable. - -But she answered severely-- - -'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.' - -'He enjoys a day's sport as much as any man I ever saw,' said he--not -knowing very well what to talk about. - -'Yes, I daresay,' she answered shortly. - -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. - -'Miss Douglas is looking very well at present.' he said, at a venture. - -'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.' - -There was a little sigh of resignation. - -'Some of us,' said he good-naturedly, 'were expecting her to come over -on Monday night to see the dancing.' - -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. - -'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.' - -'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. - -'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.' - -'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. - -'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.' - -'It will be lonely for you with your daughter away,' said he. - -'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.' - -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. - -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:-- - -_Mudal, that comes from the lonely loch,_ - _Down through the moorland russet and brown,_ -_Know you the news that we have for you?--_ - _Meenie's away to Glasgow town._ - -_See Ben Clebrig, his giant front_ - _Hidden and dark with a sudden frown;_ -_What is the light of the valley to him,_ - _Since Meenie's away to Glasgow town?_ - -_Empty the valley, empty the world,_ - _The sun may arise and the sun go down;_ -_But what to do with the lonely hours,_ - _Since Meenie's away to Glasgow town?_ - -_Call her back, Clebrig! Mudal, call._ - _Ere all of the young spring time be flown;_ -_Birds, trees, and blossoms--you that she loved--_ - _O summon her back from Glasgow town!_ - - -'_Call her back, Clebrig! Mudal, call!_' 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? - -_O Glasgow town, how little you know_ - _That Meenie has wandered in_ -_To the very heart of your darkened streets,_ - _Through all the bustle and din._ - -_A Sutherland blossom shining fair_ - _Amid all your dismal haze,_ -_Forfeiting the breath of the summer hills,_ - _And the blue of the northern days._ - -_From Dixon's fire-wreaths to Rollox stalk,_ - _Blow, south wind, and clear the sky,_ -_Till she think of Ben Clebrig's sunny slopes,_ - _Where the basking red-deer lie._ - -_Blow, south wind, and show her a glimpse of blue_ - _Through the pall of dusky brown;_ -_And see that you guard her and tend her well,_ - _You, fortunate Glasgow town!_ - - -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: - -_The clouds lay heavy on Clebrig's crest,_ - _For days and weeks together;_ -_The shepherds along Strath-Terry's side_ - _Cursed at the rainy weather;_ -_They scarce could get a favouring day_ - _For the burning of the heather._ - -_When sudden the clouds were rent in twain_ - _And the hill laughed out to the sun;_ -_And the hinds stole up, with wondering eyes,_ - _To the far slopes yellow and dun;_ -_And the birds were singing in every bush_ - _As at spring anew begun,_ - -_O Clebrig, what is it that makes you glad,_ - _And whither is gone your frown?_ -_Are you looking afar into the south,_ - _The long, wide strath adown?_ -_And see you that Meenie is coming back--_ - _Love Meenie, from Glasgow town!_ - - -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. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIII.* - - *A NEW ARRIVAL.* - - -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. - -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. - -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 -_camaraderie_ 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 _Chicago Citizen_, -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. - -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 _Texas Siftings_--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. - -'But, pappa, dear,' she would say, regarding the book before her with -some amazement, 'will the people in Europe think I am like _that_?' - -'They won't think anything about you,' he would say roughly. - -'What a shame--what a shame--to say American girls are like _that_!' 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 _that_? "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.' - -'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.' - -'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.' - -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. - -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. - -'Well,' she said, 'who are you? Would you like to go for a walk?' - -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. - -'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?' - -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. - -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-- - -'Ah, you rascal! you rascal! Bolted again?' - -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. - -'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. - -'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. - -'Why, he seems a most gentle creature,' she said, walking on with the -man. - -'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.' - -'Killed other dogs? Oh, Dr. Johnson!' she exclaimed. - -'He's sweirt[#] to begin, miss; but when he does begin he _maun_ -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.' - -[#] _Sweirt_, reluctant. - -'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.' - -'_Why, of cois_' 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. - -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. - -'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?' - -'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.' - -'What are those things for?' she asked, indicating certain tall poles -that stood at intervals along the roadside. - -'Why, don't you know? These are poles to tell them where the road is in -snow time.' - -'Then it is not always May in these happy latitudes?' she observed -shrewdly. - -He laughed. - -'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.' - -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. - -'And what do you think of your future maid?' her father asked, when the -pretty Nelly had left the room. - -'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.' - -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. - -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 _Paradise Regained_, and -manfully resisting the temptation to slip on to the gracious melody of -_L'Allegro_, and _Il Penseroso_, and _Lycidas_; 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. - -'How are you, Ronald?' said Mr. Hodson. 'I have brought my daughter to -see you.' - -'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----' - -'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.' - -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. - -'You need not trouble about these things for us; we have just had -lunch,' Mr. Hodson said. - -'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. - -'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. - -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.' - -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? - -'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----' - -'Yes, but the gillies----' - -'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.' - -'Do you hear this, Carry?' her father said. - -'What, pappa?' - -'Ronald wants you to start off salmon-fishing to-morrow, in a boat all -to yourself-- - -'Alone?' - -'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----' - -'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. - -'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.' - -'My!' she exclaimed. 'If I caught a salmon, I'd have it stuffed right -away----' - -'With sage and onions, I suppose,' her father said severely. - -'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?----' - -'I think you might as well thank Ronald for his offer,' her father said. -'I should never have thought of it.' - -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. - -'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.' - -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. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIV.* - - *'ABOUT ILLINOIS.'* - - -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-- - -'Pappa dear, I met such a pretty girl.' - -'Have you been out?' he asked. - -'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.' - -'There's safety in numbers,' observed her father grimly; and then he -proceeded to explore the contents of the covers. - -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. - -'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.' - -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. - -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 -_unter vier Augen_, for the boy at the bow was mostly hidden. - -'Pappa dear,' she said to her father that evening, 'he is a very nervous -man.' - -'Who?' - -'Ronald.' - -'Nonsense. He is hard as nails. He don't know what nerves mean.' - -'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.' - -'Perhaps they're not used to having the cold gaze of science turned on -them,' her father remarked drily. - -'Is that me?' - -'You may take it that way.' - -'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.' - -'Very well, then,' said her father, who left this young lady pretty much -the mistress of her own actions. - -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-- - -'Nothing yet?' - -And the answer-- - -'Not a touch.' - -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. - -Suddenly there was a quick, half-suppressed exclamation. - -'There he is!--there he is!' - -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? - -'All right,' said he, very quietly. 'Reel in now--as quick as ye can, -please.' - -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-- - -'We've beat them this time--a clean fish!' - -'Do you think we'll get him?' she said breathlessly. - -'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!' - -'But this thing is so heavy!' she pleaded. - -'Never mind--that's right--that's right--keep a good strain on -him--we'll soon bring him to his senses.' - -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. - -'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. - -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. - -The other boat was passing--but of course at a respectful distance. - -'Hold on to him, Carry!' her father called. - -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-- - -'How long is he going on like this?' - -'We'll give him his own time, Miss,' Ronald said. - -'Don't call me Miss,' she said, with a little vexation. - -'I--I beg your pardon--what then?' - -'Oh, anything you like. Mind you catch me if I fall into the water.' - -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. - -'No, no,' said he, 'there's no fear o' your falling into the water. -We've got to get this gentleman out first.' - -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. - -'My gracious!' she said--she was quite breathless. - -'It's all right,' he said quietly; but he had been pretty breathless -too, and for several seconds in blank despair. - -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. - -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-- - -'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. - -'Eleven pounds and a half--well done the Duke's boat!' Ronald cried. -'Is it your first salmon, Miss Hodson?' - -'Why, certainly.' - -'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. - -'But where is my father?' she said--she was anxious he should hear the -news. - -'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.' - -'Have they got one?' she cried. - -'They've got something--and I dinna think it's a kelt from the way -they're working.' - -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. - -'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. - -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. - -'What do I care?' she said--pointing to the salmon. - -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. - -They passed the other boat. - -'What weight?' was the cry. - -'Eleven and a half. Have you got one?' - -'Yes.' - -'How much?' - -'Just over seven.' - -'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.' - -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. - -'Ronald,' Mr. Hodson called to him, 'ain't you going to have some -lunch?' - -'Yes, sir.' - -'Come along, then; there's plenty of room right here.' - -'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. - -'Well?' said her father, when they were left alone. - -'Oh, it's just too delightful for anything.' - -This was her summing up of the whole situation. And then she added-- - -'Pappa, may I send my salmon to Lily Selden?' - -'I wouldn't call it kindness,' said he. 'Looks more like boasting. And -what's the good, since she is staying at a hotel?' - -'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?' - -'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.' - -'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. - -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. - -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. - -'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.' - -'I will give a sovereign to the young fellow,' said she, 'and willingly; -but I can't offer money to Ronald.' - -'Why not? it is the custom here.' - -'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.' - -'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----' - -'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.' - -'You? About what?' - -'About Illinois,' she said. - - - - - *CHAPTER XV.* - - *WILD TIMES.* - - -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. - -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. - -'We should only be driven across to the shore yonder,' Ronald said; 'or -maybe capsized.' - -'Oh, but that would be delightful,' she remarked instantly. 'I never -had my life saved. It would read very well in the papers.' - -'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.' - -Ronald had been watching the clouds and the direction of the squalls on -the loch; there was some appearance of a lull. - -'We'll chance it now,' he said to the lad; and forthwith they shoved the -boat into the water, and arranged the various things. - -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. - -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. - -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. - -'This'll never do, Johnnie, lad,' she heard Ronald call out. 'We'll -have to fight her back, and get ashore at the top.' - -'Very well; we can try.' - -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? - -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-- - -'Sit still--sit still--don't move--never mind the fish--let him -go--he'll break away with the fly and welcome.' - -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. - -'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?' - -'Yes, yes!' she said, eagerly enough. - -'You will get wet.' - -'I don't care a cent about that--I will do whatever you say----' - -He spoke a few words to the lad at the bow; and suddenly shifted his oar -thither. - -'As hard as ye can, my lad.' - -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. - -'Do ye see the point down there, this side the bay?' - -'Yes.' - -'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.' - -'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. - -'Hold on to the rod--and get in what line ye can.' - -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. - -Then Ronald was by her side again--rather breathless. - -'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.' - -And then he said, rather shamefacedly-- - -'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.' - -'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?' - -'Oh, that's nothing--there, let him go!--give him his own way!--now, -reel in a bit--quicker--quicker--that'll do, now.' - -As soon as she had got the proper strain on the fish again, she held out -her right hand. - -'Pull off my glove, please,' she said--but still with her eyes intent on -the whirling waves. - -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. - -There was a sudden steady pull on the rod; and away went the reel. - -'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.' - -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. - -'But how shall we ever get him to come in here?' she said. - -'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.' - -She shifted the rod to her right hand; her left arm was beginning to -feel the continued strain. - -'Has the other boat been out?' she asked. - -'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.' - -'We' and 'us' he said quite naturally; and she, also, had got into the -way of calling him Ronald--as every one did. - -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. - -'Twenty pounds, you'll see,' she heard the lad Johnnie say to his -companion; and Ronald answered him-- - -'I would rather than ten shillings it was.' - -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. - -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. - -'Lower the top, Miss,' the lad John said, 'or ye can put the rod down -altogether.' - -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. - -'Seventeen pounds--and a beauty: as pretty a fish as ever I saw come out -of the loch.' - -'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.' - -'There was twice I thought ye had lost him,' said he gravely. 'The line -got desperately slack after ye jumped ashore----' - -'Jumped ashore?' she said. 'Seems to me I was flung ashore, like a sack -of old clothes.' - -'But ye were not hurt?' said he, glancing quickly at her. - -'No, no; not a bit--nor even wet; and if I had been, _that_ is enough -for anything.' - -'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.' - -'And can we get back?' she said. - -'We'll try, anyway--oh yes--it's no so bad now.' - -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. - -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. - -'Well, you caught something if it wasn't a salmon,' her father said, -glancing at her dripping hat and hair. - -'Yes, we did,' she answered innocently. - -'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?' - -'Not much--a little.' - -'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.' - -'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-- - -'Stop it, Carry,' said he angrily, 'I'm tired of your Texas talk. What -do you mean?' - -'I only want to show my hand,' she said sweetly; and she called -aloud--'Johnnie!' - -The young lad jumped up from the group that were cowering under the -shelter of the stone dyke. - -'Bring the fish out of the boat, please.' - -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. - -'You see, pappa dear, you would have bet your boots against it, wouldn't -you?' she remarked. - -'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.' - -'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.' - -'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!' - -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. - -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. - -'"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.' - -'Perhaps we may get the other eight yet, pappa,' said she lightly. - -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-- - -'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. - -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. - -'That's bad luck,' said he composedly. - -'What?' she asked, quickly. 'They are not in danger?' - -'Oh no,' said he. 'But they've got both minnows aground, as far as I -can make out.' - -'But what about that? why don't they throw the rods and everything -overboard, and get into safety?' - -'Oh, they'll try to save the minnows, I'm thinking.' - -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. - -'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.' - -'Then I will go with you, pappa,' she said promptly. - -'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.' - -'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?' - -'I don't know what the society rules are here,' he answered. 'I suspect -you will have to find out.' - -'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.' - -'Well, I should like that too,' said he: for he could not forsake the -theories which he had so frequently propounded to her. - -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. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVI.* - - *DREAMS AND VISIONS.* - - -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-- - -'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.' - -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 soiree 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. - -'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.' - -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. - -'I know my mother says that I speak in the Highland way,' Meenie said, -with a smile. - -'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.' - -'Then it cannot be a very disagreeable accent,' said Meenie, laughing in -her quiet way. - -'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.' - -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-- - -'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.' - -Meenie hesitated. - -'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----' - -'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----' - -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. - -'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.' - -'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.' - -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-- - -'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.' - -She rose. - -'What a nice room--it is all your own, I suppose?' - -'Oh yes; that is why it is so untidy.' - -'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. - -'These are medicines.' - -'Why, you don't look sick,' the other said, turning suddenly. - -'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.' - -'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. - -Meenie went downstairs with her, and at the door would see that she was -all properly protected and buttoned up about the throat. - -'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.' - -'Then you will let me come and have some tea with you at times, will you -not?' - -'Oh yes--if you will be so kind.' - -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. - -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. - -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. - -'What will I tell him ye want, sir?' she said, naturally assuming that -Ronald was to be ordered to do something. - -'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.' - -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-- - -'Ronald, you're wanted in the parlour.' - -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. - -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. - -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. - -'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.' - -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? - -'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.' - -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. - -'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.' - -'Nonsense, man,' the other said. 'You have the knowledge already, if -you only knew how to apply it.' - -'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. - -Mr. Hodson took out his note-book; and began to look over the leaves. - -'And you don't need to go as far as Chicago, if you would rather not,' -said he. - -'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.' - -Ronald laughed; but her father was too busy to attend to such idiotcy. - -'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.' - -'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.' - -'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. - -'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?' - -'I could manage for a while,' was the modest answer. - -'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.' - -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! - -'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.' - -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. - -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. - -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, _then_? - -_Small birds in the corn_ -_Are cowering and quailing:_ -_O my lost love,_ -_Whence are you sailing?_ - -_Fierce the gale blows_ -_Adown the bleak river;_ -_The valley is empty_ -_For ever and ever._ - -_Out on the seas,_ -_The night-winds are wailing:_ -_O my lost love,_ -_Whence are you sailing?_ - - - - - END OF VOL. I. - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHITE HEATHER (VOLUME I OF 3) -*** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43444 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the -General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and -distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works to protect the -Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a -registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, -unless you receive specific permission. If you do not charge anything -for copies of this eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. 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