GOOD-BYE.
"We say it for an hour, or for years;
We say it smiling, say it choked with tears;
We say it coldly, say it with a kiss,
And yet we have no other word than this--
Good-bye!"
Colonel Stewart's very natural mistake in confusing the namesakes, and
Isobel's equal error in believing her grandfather to be Colonel Smith,
were soon explained. The former, full of relief at this unexpected turn
of affairs, paid a visit to Marine Terrace that same evening, and in the
interview with his daughter-in-law which followed he begged her pardon
frankly and freely for his prejudice and injustice.
"It seems late in life for a gray-haired old man to turn over a new
leaf," he said, "but if you can overlook my misconception and neglect of
you in the past, I trust we may prove firm friends in the future. And as
for Isobel, she is a granddaughter after my own heart. Will you forget
that miserable letter which I wrote (it was intended not for you, as I
know you now, but for the mother of that other child), and show your
forgiveness by coming to cheer my loneliness at the Chase? Now that we
understand each other, I think we need have no fear of disagreements,
and our mutual love for the one who is gone and the other who is left
will make a bond of sympathy between us."
Isobel's joyful astonishment may be pictured when she discovered that
her friend of the island was in very truth her own grandfather, and her
happiness when she and her mother removed the next week from Marine
Terrace to the Chase can scarcely be described.
"It's just like a fairy tale!" she declared. "I never thought when I sat
on the top of the Scar that afternoon, looking down at the lovely house
and garden, and saying what I would do if I lived there, that it could
ever really come to pass. It's almost too good to be true, and I
shouldn't be in the least surprised if it were only a dream after all."
It soon proved to be no dream, but a most satisfactory reality, when she
saw herself installed as her grandfather's favourite companion in the
very surroundings which she had so much admired. To Colonel Stewart she
filled the vacant place of the little daughter he had lost in former
years; and so keen was his pleasure in his newly-found grandchild, that
if Isobel had not been of a thoroughly sensible nature I fear she would
have run a very great risk of becoming completely spoilt. Her mother's
influence and her own naturally unselfish disposition saved her from
that, however, and the wholesome discipline of school life afterwards
taught her to be able to take her grandfather's kindness without
acquiring an undue idea of her own importance. She was very happy at the
Chase, and especially delighted when Colonel Stewart made her a formal
present of the desert island.
"It shall be yours, to do what you like with," he declared. "I promised
to lease it to you when you found the runic cross, and I think you
deserve to have it for your own. It shall be one of my presents to you
on your eleventh birthday."
That happy event was to take place in the course of a few days, and to
celebrate the occasion all the Sea Urchins had been invited to a garden
_fete_ at the Chase, as a winding up of the club before the various
children left Silversands; for it was September now--governesses were
returning, schools were reopening, and the holidays were over at last.
It was a lovely autumn morning when Isobel, with a bright birthday face,
looked out of the open window of her pretty bedroom, to see her island
shining in the early sunshine against the sea, and the shadows falling
over the lawns and gardens of the beautiful spot which was now her home.
"I'm the luckiest girl in the world!" she thought, as she ran down to
the breakfast table, to find her plate filled with interesting-looking
packages, and the prettiest white pony waiting for her outside the front
steps, with a new side-saddle, quite ready for her to learn to ride.
"I want you to be a good horsewoman," said the colonel. "I think you are
plucky enough, and when you've had a little practice I hope you'll soon
enjoy a canter with me across the moors. The Skye terrier I spoke of
will be coming next week; I had to send to Scotland for him, so he could
not arrive in time for your birthday, but you will be able to make his
acquaintance later."
To have a pony of her very own had always been one of Isobel's castles
in the air, and she spent the morning trying her new favourite in a
state of rapture that was only equalled by her joy at receiving her
friends in the afternoon. All the Sea Urchins were there, from tall Hugh
Rokeby to the youngest Wright; and though they seemed somewhat shy and
on their best behaviour at first, their restraint soon wore off at the
sight of the splendid cricket pitch, the archery, and the other games
which the colonel had prepared for them. After some hesitation it had
been decided to include Belle in the invitation, and she appeared with
the others dressed in one of her daintiest costumes and her most
becoming hat, not in the least abashed by any remembrance of her former
behaviour.
"So you're really living at this splendid place, darling!" she cried,
clasping Isobel's arm close in hers, with quite her old clinging manner.
"It's _ever_ so much nicer than the Oppenheims', and I suppose it will
all be yours some day, won't it? The pony is simply a beauty. I'm _so_
delighted to come this afternoon! Somehow I haven't seemed to see very
much of you lately, though I don't think it has been my fault. You
always were my dearest friend, and always will be."
"I am pleased to see all my friends here to-day," replied Isobel
quietly, then very gently she drew her arm away.
She knew Belle's affection now for what it was worth; the old love for
her had died that day on the cliff, and however much she might regret
the loss, nothing could ever bring it back to her again. Other and
truer friendships might follow, but this was as utterly gone as a
beautiful iridescent bubble when it has burst.
It was the first time that the Rokebys had met Colonel Stewart since
they had uprooted his cherished maidenhair, and with a good deal of
blushing and poking at each other they blurted out an apology for their
conduct on that occasion.
"We won't speak of it," said the colonel. "You wouldn't do it again, I'm
sure, nor shirk the matter afterwards. Certainly" (with a twinkle in his
eye) "you vanished like the wind, and I shall expect to have a wonderful
exhibition of such running capabilities on the cricket-ground. It's an
excellent pitch, and if you don't make a record I shall be surprised."
With both Charlie and Hilda Chester he was more than pleased, and hoped
they might be frequent visitors at the Chase if they returned to
Silversands, while he extended a hearty and kindly welcome to all the
young guests, who echoed Bertie Rokeby's opinion that it was "the most
ripping party that ever was given."
The first half of the afternoon was devoted to cricket, which, I really
believe, the colonel enjoyed as much as his visitors; it recalled his
old school days, and he had many a tale to tell of matches played fifty
years ago on the fields at Eton by boys who had since made their mark in
life. Tea was served in the large dining-room, which looked cool with
the light falling through the stained-glass window at the end on to the
white marble statues which stood in recesses along the walls. It was "a
real jolly tea--not one of those affairs where you get nothing but a
cucumber sandwich and a square inch of cake, and have to stand about and
wait on the girls!" as Bertie Rokeby ungallantly observed, but a
sit-down meal of a character substantial enough to satisfy youthful
appetites, and lavish in the matter of ripe fruit and cakes. Mrs.
Stewart took care that Ruth and Edna Barrington, who, for a wonder, had
come unattended, were well looked after, and provided with such few
dainties as they permitted themselves to indulge in, being under a
solemn pledge to their mother to abstain from all doubtful dishes. There
were crackers, although it was not Christmas time, and a pretty box of
bon-bons laid beside every plate; but I think the leading glory of the
table was the birthday cake, which, according to Charlotte Wright,
reminded one of a wedding or a christening, so elaborate were the
designs of flowers and birds in white sugar and chocolate on its iced
surface, while the letters of Isobel's name were displayed on six little
flags in red, white, and blue which adorned the summit.
After tea came a variety of sports for prizes--archery, quoits, jumping,
vaulting, and obstacle races, in the latter of which considerable
ingenuity had been shown. It was an amusing sight to watch the boys
clumsily trying to thread the requisite number of needles before they
might make a start, and toilsomely sorting red and white beans in the
little three-divisioned boxes supplied to them, or the girls picking up
marbles and disentangling coloured ribbons with eager fingers. The
potato races were voted great fun, for it was a difficult matter to run
carrying a large and knobby potato balanced upon an egg spoon, and it
was almost sure to be dropped just as the triumphant candidate was on
the point of tipping it into the box at the end, giving the enemy an
opportunity of making up arrears, and of proving the truth of the
proverb that the race sometimes goes to the slow and sure instead of to
the swift. Three-legged races were popular among the boys, and Bertie
Rokeby and Eric Wright, with their respective right and left legs firmly
tied together, against Charlie Chester and Arnold Rokeby similarly
handicapped, made quite an exciting struggle, the former couple winning
in the end, owing to Charlie's undue haste upsetting both himself and
his partner. The jumping and vaulting were mostly appreciated by the
older children, but both big and little exclaimed with delight when one
of the gardeners brought out a famous "Aunt Sally," which he had been
very busy making, with a turnip for her head, carved with a penknife
into some representation of a human face, over which reposed an ancient
bonnet, a shawl being wrapped round her shoulders, and a large pipe
placed between her simpering lips. She was tied securely to the top of a
post, and the children threw sticks at her, the game being to see who
could first knock the pipe from her mouth, a feat which proved to be
more difficult than they had at first supposed, and which caused much
merriment, the prize being won in the end by Letty Rokeby, whose aim was
as true as that of any of the boys.
The sun had set, and the September twilight was just beginning to deepen
into dark, when the young guests were arranged in rows on the terrace
steps to witness the final treat--an exhibition of fireworks, which the
colonel had sent a special telegram to London to obtain in time. It was
a very pretty display of Catherine wheels, Roman candles, rockets, and
golden rain, finishing with the Royal Arms in crimson fire; and it made
such a splendid close to the day that twenty pairs of hands clapped
loudly, and twenty voices joined in ringing cheers, as the little red
stars winked themselves out into the darkness. The party was at an end,
and an omnibus was in waiting to drive the visitors, all unwilling to
go, back to their lodgings at Silversands. Isobel kissed Belle with a
feeling that it was a last farewell; their ways for the future lay
apart; they had different ideals and different hopes in life. Alike in
name, they had been so unlike in character as to render any true
friendship impossible, though their chance meeting had been fraught with
such unforeseen consequences. It was little more than six weeks since
Isobel had first arrived at Silversands, yet so much seemed to have
happened in the time that, as she stood upon the steps holding her
grandfather's hand, she could scarcely realize the strange things which
had come to pass.
"Good-bye! good-bye!" sounded on all sides, as the reluctant Sea Urchins
at length took their departure. To-morrow most of them would be
scattered to their own homes, and the club would be a thing of the past.
"I shall never forget any of you, never!" said Isobel. "We've had
glorious fun together, and it's been the very jolliest holiday I ever
remember in my life. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed your coming
here to-day, and I wish every one of you as happy a birthday as mine.
Good-bye!"
THE END.
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN AT THE PRESS OF THIS PUBLISHERS.
JUVENILE LIBRARY.
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_Books suitable for Boys, Girls, or Children are denoted by the letters
(_B_), (_G_), and (_C_) respectively placed after the title._
GIRLS OF CROMER HALL (_G_). R. Jacberns.
OLIVE ROSCOE (_G_). E. Everett-Green.
DORIS HAMLYN (_G_). R. O. Chester.
KITTY TRENIRE (_G_). Mabel Quiller-Couch.
BOSOM FRIENDS (_G_). Angela Brazil.
WASTE CASTLE (_G_). W. M. Letts.
LITTLE WOMEN (_G_). Louisa M. Alcott.
A PAIR OF RED POLLS (_G_). Mabel Quiller-Couch.
THE LITTLE HEIRESS (_G_). Margaret B. Clarke.
GLADYS OR GWENYTH (_G_). E. Everett-Green.
STAR (_G_). Mrs. L. B. Walford.
MADAMSCOURT (_G_). H. Poynter.
PRISCILLA (_G_). E. Everett-Green.
MOTHER MAUD (_G_). Mrs. Arthur.
ADA AND GERTY (_G_). Louisa Gray.
POPPY (_G_). Isla Sitwell.
VERA'S TRUST (_G_). E. Everett-Green.
FALLEN FORTUNES (_G_). E. Everett-Green.
SALE'S SHARPSHOOTERS (_B_). Harold Avery.
HIGHWAY PIRATES (_B_). Harold Avery.
PRESTER JOHN (_B_). John Buchan.
HOW WE BAFFLED THE GERMANS (_B_). Eric Wood.
DOING HIS BIT (_B_). Tom Bevan.
SECRET SERVICE SUBMARINE (_B_). Guy Thorne.
HIGHWAY DUST (_B_). G. G. Sellick.
MOBSLEY'S MOHICANS (_B_). Harold Avery.
DIAMOND ROCK (_B_). J. M. Oxley.
THE FELLOW WHO WON (_B_). Andrew Home.
FRANK'S FIRST TERM (_B_). Harold Avery.
WON IN WARFARE (_B_). C. R. Kenyon.
ADVENTURERS ALL (_B_) K. M. Eady.
CASTAWAYS OF HOPE ISLAND (_B_). H. A. Hinkson.
IN A HAND OF STEEL (_B_). Paul Creswick.
KNIGHTS OF THE ROAD (_B_). E. Everett-Green.
RED DICKON (_B_). Tom Bevan.
THE CABIN IN THE CLEARING (_B_). E. S. Ellis.
THE STORY OF HEATHER (_C_). May Wynne.
NELLIE O'NEILL (_C_). Agnes C. Maitland.
SQUIB AND HIS FRIENDS (_C_). E. Everett-Green.
SIX DEVONSHIRE DUMPLINGS (_C_). M. Batchelor.
THE GREEN TOBY JUG (_C_). Mrs. E. Hohler.
TELL ME SOME MORE (_C_). Mary Few.
WHEN MOTHER WAS IN INDIA (_C_). Ursula Temple.
HUMPTY DUMPTY AND THE PRINCESS (_C_). Lilian Timpson.
GOLDEN FAIRY TALES (_C_).
THE TWINS AND SALLY (_C_). E. L. Haverfield.
DADDY'S LAD (_C_). E. L. Haverfield.
THE LITTLE RAJAH (_C_). E. Hobart-Hampden.
CAPTAIN MUGFORD (_B_). W. H. G. Kingston.
THE GUN-RUNNERS (_B_). W. Dingwall Fordyce.
BEGGARS OF THE SEA (_B_). Tom Bevan.
THE ADVENTURE LEAGUE (_G_). Hilda T. Skae.
PEGGY'S LAST TERM (_G_). Ethel Talbot.
A SEA-QUEEN'S SAILING (_G_). Charles W. Whistler.
T. NELSON & SONS, Ltd., London, Edinburgh, & New York.
ESTABLISHED 1798
[Illustration]
T. NELSON & SONS, LTD.
PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS
Transcriber's Note:
Punctuation has been standardised. Variations in hyphenation have been
retained as they appear in the original publication. Changes have been
made as follows:
Page 29
by no means an oncommon _changed to_
by no means an uncommon
Page 209
daisy mat as Harriet crotcheted _changed to_
daisy mat as Harriet crocheted
Page 220
torquoise bracelet, and I have _changed to_
turquoise bracelet, and I have