"AND PEACE SHALL BE SURER."
A large party were stationed on the lawn at Collaster when Fred rode
up. His sister and Mrs. Mitchell had come to plan a picnic in honour
of Yaspard, and the Manse boys were of course "to the fore" on such an
occasion. The Holtum girls, with the Doctor, his wife, and the Viking,
were all there. If it had been pre-arranged it could not have been
managed better.
"It's like a bit out of a book," Signy said in a whisper, as Arab
pranced up to the door, and everybody there struck an attitude
(unconsciously) with quite dramatic effect.
Yaspard was the first to speak and act.
"Signy! have you come from Boden on a witch's broomstick? Where did
you find her, Mr. Garson?" he said, as he lifted his little sister from
the saddle.
"I've come to ransom you, brodhor," said she; and then she was given up
to the ladies to be petted and welcomed with the greatest tenderness,
while Fred explained; and the appearance of the boat sent Yaspard and
the Mitchell boys racing off to the quay.
It had been arranged that the picnic should consist of an excursion up
the gill (ravine) near the Ha' at Blaesound, and a strawberry tea in
the Ha' garden. Fred and his mother were very anxious to draw Yaspard
within the circle of their best affections, but they knew they must be
careful not to touch Mr. Adiesen's weak points in extending the hand of
friendship to his nephew. He would, as likely as not, resent their
well-meant intentions if they invited the boy to their house, but a
picnic under Dr. Holtum's auspices to the neighbourhood of the Ha' was
different.
Any of us who remember the recorded adventures of the Lads of Lunda and
the Yarl of Burra Isle, will know with what perfect success
entertainments of the sort were conducted by the Garsons or any of
their friends. There seldom had been a day more happily spent by those
young folks than _that_ day, and each and all combined to make it a
period of unclouded bliss to Yaspard and Signy.
They revelled in the society of so many charming girls and fine boys,
and thought that life could need nothing more than the pleasure such
companionship afforded. How they enjoyed the scramble up the gill, the
fun bubbling up constantly, the manner in which the fathers and mothers
shared in the children's play; the running and singing and laughter;
the dainty meal of cake and chicken and strawberries with rich cream,
dispensed--after a very un-English but wholly satisfactory manner--in
heaped platefuls! The scent of flowers, the sunshine and universal
hilarity, cast a spell over Signy, and she sat on the garden turf
eating her strawberries without speaking for some time, but radiant
with happiness.
"Are you dreaming, or composing an ode, little lady?" Fred asked her,
after having watched the soft play of her expressive features for some
minutes.
"I was--thinking, and I never enjoyed anything so much before;
but"--and she looked up wistfully--"I was wishing too that there had
never been any feud, and that Uncle Brüs could see for himself how good
you all are. _I wish he could!_"
"I hope he will before long. I think, now the ice is broken, that it
will all come right, little one."
I ought to have mentioned before that the Harrison boys had gone with
Gloy to see his mother, and had been directed to return in their own
boat to Boden before night; so when the Holtums, with their guest and
the Viking, returned to Collaster at dayset, they were just in time to
see James Harrison's boat disappear round the Head of Collaster.
"I am so glad," said Yaspard, "that uncle gave you leave to come and to
stay overnight, Mootie."
"I wish she might remain some days," said Mrs. Holtum; but the Doctor,
understanding best the kind of man Mr. Adiesen was, remarked, "That
will be next time. We must not take more than his lairdship has
conceded. By-and-by we may venture to stretch a point with him."
"What has been settled about the captive Viking?" Harry Mitchell then
asked. "I am sorry to remind you, Yaspard, in such an abrupt manner of
your precarious position; but we must not forget that we have to make
capital of you."
"I offered him free, gratis, and for nothing to this high and haughty
miss; but she tossed her curls and declined my civility," answered Tom.
"There would be no fun in that," Yaspard said in an aside; and Signy
remarked, "Brodhor is worth a great deal to me, and he ought to be
worth a lot to his captors. Just put a price on him that I am able to
pay, and you shall have it."
"Bravo!" shouted the boys in chorus.
"Do you then absolutely refuse my princely offer?" Tom asked her, and
the little girl replied boldly--
"Yes. I'd be ashamed to take him for nothing."
"The lads of Lunda," answered he loftily, "don't make bargains with
ladies. If you won't take my offer you're 'out of it,' miss! Now, Sir
Viking, let me tell you under what condition I will set you free. You
shall give me your royal word--on the faith of a Viking--that you will
give me your assistance in a deed of high emprise which I have vowed to
perform."
"Why, Harry," exclaimed Bill, "you could not have said that in a more
booky way yourself!"
"I haven't got another word of the sort in my vocabulary, so must
return to my usual style, gentlemen," said Tom. "The long and the
short of it is, when I was a prisoner at Trullyabister, I discovered
that I was not the only poor wretch whom the ogre had nabbed. There
are others----"
"Oh, goloptious!" shouted Yaspard, interrupting Tom without the least
ceremony. "You have found out the very thing I meant to tell you. I
meant to ask you fellows to help me."
"Then it would seem," said Dr. Holtum, smiling--for he had had a
private talk with Tom, and had come to a conclusion of his own--"that
Yaspard's 'knightly quest' and Tom's 'deed of high emprise' are one and
the same. You have my approval, boys; only let me warn you to be very
wary, for if you do _not_ succeed you will have no support from any
one, and may find yourselves in an awkward fix."
"Doctor!" Harry exclaimed, "did the lads of Lunda ever fail to carry
out their schemes, or squirm out of the ugliest fix in creation?"
"I must own," laughed the Doctor, "that collectively you have a
wonderful faculty for emerging with _eclat_ from every adventure; but I
can't say as much for you individually."
"One for you, Tom," whispered Bill.
"And one for yourself," retorted Tom.
Meantime Signy had crept into Yaspard's arms, and was coaxing him to
tell her the secret; but he put her off with a promise of telling it
when they were on the way home. "And, Mootie," he added thoughtfully,
"I believe we ought not to stay here very long to-morrow, just that
Uncle Brüs may see that we aren't anxious to take the greatest
advantage of his permission. Besides, we don't want him to feel that
we like being away from Boden so awfully much."
She squeezed his hand. She understood him perfectly, and Yaspard,
laughing into her upraised eyes, said aloud, "Here is a little girl who
wouldn't contradict me for worlds, and is agreed with me in stating
that the _Osprey_ must be on wing to-morrow morning."
But when to-morrow morning came there had been a breeze in the night
which had raised the sea a bit, and Dr. Holtum would not permit them to
leave until it had subsided, notwithstanding the Viking's declaration
that he never minded such a small thing as that.
"My boat and I go out in rough weather," he declared; "and even Signy
would laugh at the idea of calling this a 'rough morning!'"
The Doctor was firm, however, and the morning slipped happily away in
the pleasant companionship of so many new and agreeable friends.
It was arranged that the Lunda boys were to run across to Boden on the
evening of the following day, to carry out the mysterious plans of Tom
and Yaspard. They were to wait at the geo for Yaspard and his chums,
and the mighty deed was to be done at the witching hour of night. So
they planned, and put aside with unwonted impatience the Doctor's
declaration that there was going to be unsettled weather, and that they
must not count upon being able to carry out their scheme in such an
expeditious way.
"I don't know what has come to father," Tom muttered; "he is quite
scarey: he proposes that some of us go in the boat with you, Yaspard;
or that we escort you in our own boat!"
The Viking's face flushed hotly, for he knew himself to be an expert
"seaman," and it was exasperating that anybody should be afraid for
him; but Harry Mitchell soothed his wounded pride by saying, "I expect
the Doctor is thinking of Signy. He is always so careful that girls
shall not be frightened--and she might be, you know, if she saw a big
wave alongside, and no one with her but you."
"Signy wouldn't be afraid if she were left floating in mid-ocean on a
plank _with me_," Signy's brother made answer.
So the _Laulie_ did not go farther than the Head of Collaster, but took
the way to Westervoe when the _Osprey_ set her face to Boden.
There was not much wind, but a long and gentle swell, and the little
boat went dancing over the waves in a manner wholly delightful to the
brother and sister.
"This is delicious, brodhor," said Signy, "and we have had a splendid
time; but it is nice to be going home. Now tell me about your quest."