"Oh, do go on," said Sweetheart, actually pushing
the narrator's arm, as if to shake more of the tale
out of him. "What a perfectly horrid place to stop
at! Tell us what happened after."
"Nothing more happened to Morris, I can promise
you that!" I replied.
"That's not nice of you," said Sweetheart. "I am
quite sorry for the poor man--in spite of all he
had done!"
"Well, I'm not," said Sir Toady Lion, truculently,
"he deserved it all, and more. He has done nothing
but tell lies and betray people all through the
story--right from the very beginning."
"Besides, he was afraid!" said Hugh John, with whom
this was the sin without forgiveness.
"Well," said Sweetheart, "so am I afraid often--of
mice, and rats, and horrid creeping things."
"Huh," said Sir Toady, crinkling up his nose, "you
are a girl--of course you are afraid!"
"And I know," retorted Sweetheart, "two noble,
brave, gallant, fearless, undaunted BOYS, who
daren't go up to the garret in the dark--_there!_"
"That's not fair," said Hugh John; "that was only
once, after father had been telling us about the
Hand-from-under-the-Bed that pulled the bedclothes
off! Anybody would have been frightened at that.
You, yourself--"
"Oh, but I don't pretend," cried Sweetheart; "I
don't need to. I am only a girl. But for all that,
I went up and lit the candle in a bedroom belonging
to two boys, who dared not even go up the stair
holding each other by the hand!"
"If you say that, I'll hit you," said Sir Toady.
"Will you!" said Sweetheart, clearing for action;
"we'll see about that. It's only mice _I_ am afraid
of--not cowardly boys!"
I hastened to still the rising storm, and in order
to bring the conversation back to the subject of
Rob Roy, I asked Hugh John if this were not more to
his taste in the matter of heroes.
"Oh, Rob Roy's all right," he said; "that is, when
once you get to him. But Frank Osbaldistone is just
like the rest--always being tied up, or taken round
where he doesn't want to go. Besides, he ran away
at the battle!"
"Well," said I, "he had no arms, and besides it was
not his quarrel. He couldn't fight either for the
soldiers or for the Highlanders. At any rate, you
can't deny that he did fight with Rashleigh in the
College Yards of Glasgow!"
"Yes, and he got wounded. And then Rob Roy
threatened to lick them both--I don't count that
much!" said the contemner of heroes. "But, at any
rate, it was something. And he didn't go spooning
about after girls--that's good, anyway."
"Don't be too sure," said Sweetheart; "there's Die
Vernon in the background."
"Well, of course, a fellow _has_ to do some of it
if he's a hero," said Hugh John, who has always
high ideas of the proper thing; "it's in his part,
you see, and he has to--else he wouldn't be
respected. But I think if ever I had to be a hero,
I would dress up Sir Toady for the girl's part.
Then if he monkeyed too much, why--I could welt him
well after. But (he added with a sigh), with a
girl, you can't, of course."
"Well, anyway," said Sweetheart, thinking that
possibly the tale-teller might feel aggrieved at
these uncomplimentary remarks, "_I_ think it is
just a beautiful story, and I love the dear Bailie
for being willing to go all that way with Frank,
and get hung up in the tree by the coat-tails and
all!"
"Rats!" said Hugh John, contemptuously, "think if
he had known _that_, he would ever have left
Glasgow--not much!"
"Well, it was beautiful, I think," said Sweetheart,
"but I _am_ sorry that they drowned the poor man
Morris, especially when he was so very frightened."
But the instant indignant outcry of the boys
silenced her. Lochs twelve feet deep, it speedily
appeared, ought to be provided by law everywhere
over the kingdoms three, for the accommodation of
such "sweeps" and "sneaks" and "cowards."
Then Mistress Margaret spoke up for the first time.
She had been sitting with her eyes fixed dreamily
on the sparkle of the logs in the library
fireplace.
"What a blessing it is," she said, "that this is a
rainy Saturday, and so we do not need to wait for
more. Please go on with the story--JUST where you
left off."
And Maid Margaret's form of government being
absolute monarchy, I did so, and the result was