With that we shook hands and parted, and within the next twenty minutes
the steamer had started, bearing me far away from the Isle of Skye,
that beautiful, weird and mystic region full of strange legends and
memories, which to me had proved a veritable wonderland. I watched the
'Diana' at anchor in the bay of Portree till I could see her no
more,--and it was getting on towards noon when I suddenly noticed the
people on board the steamer making a rush to one side of the deck to
look at something that was evidently both startling and attractive. I
followed the crowd,--and my heart gave a quick throb of delight when I
saw poised on the sparkling waters the fairylike 'Dream'!--her sails
white as the wings of a swan, and her cordage gleaming like woven gold
in the brilliant sunshine. She was a thing of perfect beauty as she
seemed to glide on the very edge of the horizon like a vision between
sky and sea. And as I pressed forward among the thronging passengers to
look at her, she dipped her flag in salutation--a salutation I knew was
meant for me alone. When the flag ran up again to its former position,
murmurs of admiration came from several people around me--
"The finest schooner afloat!"--I heard one man remark--"They say she
goes by electricity as well as sailing power."
"She's often seen about here," said another--"She belongs to a
foreigner--some prince or other named Santoris."
And I watched and waited,--with unconscious tears in my eyes, till the
exquisite fairy vessel disappeared suddenly as though it had become
absorbed and melted into the sun; then all at once I thought of the
words spoken by the wild Highland 'Jamie' who had given me the token of
the bell-heather--"One way in and another way out! One road to the
West, and the other to the East, and round about to the meeting-place!"
The meeting-place! Where would it be? I could only think and wonder,
hope and pray, as the waves spread their silver foaming distance
between me and the vanished 'Dream.'