Donald was talking. "And, Mother, I've got the house and everything
all ready for you. All you've got to do is step into it. It's a pretty
little place up on a hill overlooking the harbor. Of course, it isn't
anything like our old home in Maxwell Park, but it'll do until I can
save some money to build another--"
Mrs. McKenzie, looking just a shade older, but there were little lines
around the eyes and mouth which told a story not of Time's making,
gazed lovingly at her sea-bronzed son. How he had grown! And how
strong and handsome he was! The sight of him revived memories ... he
reminded her of him who went out to Eternity in the maw of a big
Atlantic comber not so many years ago. She realized that the
pale-faced, sensitive little chap of two years ago had vanished, and
in his place was a strapping, ruddy-visaged youth who was almost a
man. His dark eyes flashed with the fire of life and the enjoyment of
it, and there was a timbre in his voice which expressed confidence,
fearlessness, and the ability to command if necessary. The sea had
worked wonders in him. It had given her a new son, and her heart
filled with pride at the capable, possessive manner in which he
sketched out her future with him. She drew his face down to hers and
kissed him on the cheek. "Anywhere with you, my bonny, will be home.
Be it cot or palace, it will be yours, Don, and it's proud I'll be to
keep it neat and sweet for my laddie."
Donald laughed happily. "Mother, do you remember when the
_Kelvinhaugh_ towed out? I saw you standing at the ferry slip by
Shearer's Yard that morning. My, but I was feeling miserable then! I
was ready to run away if I could."
The mother rose and opened a drawer. They were seated in her room at
the Home for the Aged, and Donald had just arrived from Glasgow but an
hour before. "Here's a clipping from a paper I saved for you," she
said. "It's about the _Kelvinhaugh_, and many's the prayer I've made
in thankfulness." Donald took the piece of newspaper, read it, and
whistled. It ran--a terse, unsentimental record of disaster:--