Life flowed on very quietly and uneventfully at the Nag's Head during
the next few days. The clergyman and his son were determined walkers,
who set out each morning on a new expedition over the countryside, and
at the evening dinner boasted of the number of miles they had traversed.
What they had seen appeared to be of secondary importance, and they
were correspondingly depressed or elated according as they had fallen
short of, or surpassed previous records of distance.
Mr Macalister sat in the garden, reading day-old editions of the
"_Glasga He-rald_" from the front page to the last, while his wife made
pilgrimages to the village shop to buy infinitesimal articles of
drapery, and exchange details of domestic history with the good lady in
charge of the emporium.
Mr George Elgood went out fishing in a river two or three miles
distant, accompanied sometimes by his brother, but for the most part by
himself. He also sat at his bedroom window, writing by the hour
together, and always and at all times he avoided his fellow-guests with
a quiet persistence which could not be gainsaid. By the time that
Margot had been in the inn for four days, he had advanced to the point
of bidding her good-night and good morning, staring steadily at a point
about a yard above her head, while on one historic occasion he even
brought himself to remark that it was a fine day. Once also, looking up
suddenly at dinner, she met his eyes fixed upon her with an expression
of intent scrutiny; but he turned aside in evident perturbation at being
discovered, and though the little puss thereafter wore her prettiest
dresses, and took special pains with the arrangement of her hair, the
incident was never repeated.
Goaded thereto by his sister's entreaties, Ronald had proposed himself
as the companion of a morning's fishing expedition, but he returned home
bored and irritated, and could not be persuaded to repeat the
experiment. As Mr Elgood had left him at one point in the stream, and
himself repaired to another some two hundred yards distant, the
opportunities for conversation had been limited, while not even a twitch
of the line had rewarded his amateur efforts.
Margot coaxed, reasoned, and finally stormed, but to no avail. In a
quiet, amiable fashion, Ronald could be as obstinate as a mule, and he
was plainly determined to go his own way. The sun shone; the
surroundings were magnificent; he was free from the jarring dissensions
of home; in easy, light-hearted manner he was content to live for the
moment, and shut his eyes to troubles ahead.
"Remember what the Chieftain said to as the first day we were here!" he
protested vigorously. "We ought to cultivate the spirit of children; to
rejoice in the present, and trust for the future; whereas you want me to
begin worrying the very first thing. I do call it stupid of you,
Margot!"
"But, my dear boy--remember September! September is coming, and if you
don't bestir yourself to take advantage of this last chance, you will be
bemoaning your hard fate, and calling out that your life is ruined! Do,
for goodness' sake, descend from the clouds and be practical for once!
I'd help you if I could, but how can I, when the man refuses even to
look at me?"
Margot's voice took a plaintive tone as she uttered those last words.
She was so unaccustomed to be ignored, that the editor's avoidance
rankled in her mind. She found her thoughts persistently returning to
him in every period of leisure; when he was near, she was acutely
conscious of his presence; when he was absent, her mind followed after
him, wondering where he was, what he was doing, and of what he was
thinking. Having once seen a glimpse of the real man when, in the
character of Elspeth, she had looked into his face, sparkling with
youth, kindliness, and humour, she understood that the abstracted figure
which sat at the table at meal-times was but the shell of the real
George Elgood, and that, if the barriers of shyness and reserve could
once be overcome, he would prove an even more fascinating companion than
his brother. The desire to know him grew daily in intensity, while,
unconsciously to herself, the personal element slowly predominated the
thought of Ron and Ron's future.
Now, as the brother and sister argued together, they were hurrying along
by the edge of the tarn on their way to service at the kirk, for this
was Sunday morning, the fifth day after their arrival at the Glen.
Ron, as usual, had been late in starting, and before the village was
reached his watch showed that it was already five minutes past the time
when service began. They had been sternly directed by Mrs McNab to go
to the kirk at the far end of the village, and inquire for the inn pew,
but as it would take several minutes longer to traverse the length of
the straggling street, Margot suggested that it would be wise to attend
the nearer of the two churches.
"There can be no difference. They are both Presbyterian," quoth she, in
her ignorance; so in they went, to be met in the doorway by an elder in
his Sabbath "blacks," his solemn face surrounded by a fringe of sandy
whisker. The pews were very narrow and very high, shut in a box-like
seclusion by wooden doors; the minister, in his pulpit, was just giving
out the number of the psalm, and the precentor, after tapping his
tuning-fork and holding it to his ear, burst forth into wailing notes of
surprising strength and volume. Margot rose automatically to her feet,
to subside in confusion, as the seated congregation gazed at her in
stolid rebuke. In this kirk it was the custom to sit while singing, and
stand during prayers--a seemly and decorous habit which benighted
Southerners had difficulty in understanding.
The singing of the metrical psalm sounded strangely in unaccustomed
ears. Of melody there seemed little or none. The notes ascended and
fell, and quavered into odd, unexpected trills and shakes, but it was
sung with an earnestness and an intensity which could not fail to be
impressive. The women, clean and tidy in their Sabbath bravery, sat
with eyes fixed unwaveringly on their books; the children piped lustily
by their sides; at the door of the pews the heads of the different
families peered over their spectacles at the printed words, their
solemn, whiskered faces drawn out to abnormal length.
In a corner by himself sat a weather-beaten old shepherd, singing with
closed eyes, his shaggy head waving to and fro in time with the strain.
Up in this lonesome glen those words had been his stay and comfort
during a life of hardship. Like David of old, he had sung them on the
mountainside, and they had been as a guide unto his feet, a lamp unto
his eyes. He needed no book and no spectacles to enable him to join his
note to the strain. Margot looked at him with a thrill of understanding
and reverence. A saint of God, a lowly dweller on earth, for whom was
waiting one of the "higher" places in the kingdom of heaven.
The sermon was long and rambling, and somewhat difficult for Southern
ears to follow; there was a solemn collection taken in small boxes
secured to long wooden handles, thrust in turns down the various pews
with somewhat comical effect; then the service was over, and Margot and
Ron came out into the village street, to find themselves face to face
with a stream of worshippers who were returning from the farther kirk.
Foremost among the number was Mrs McNab, large and imposing to behold
in her Sabbath best, with her small husband ambling meekly by her side.
Margot smiled at her in friendly fashion, and was dismayed to receive in
return a glare of incredulous anger. What had she done to offend? She
could not imagine what was wrong, and continued to stare blankly after
the unbending figure, until presently her eye encountered another well-
known face bent upon her with a smile. The Chieftain and his brother
were close behind; so close that even the Editor's shyness could not
attempt an escape. In another moment they were walking together, Margot
between the two men, Ron on the outside, a few paces apart from the
rest.
Margot glanced from one to the other with puzzled eyes. The Chieftain
beamed upon her frankly. The Editor looked, and looked away, knitting
his brows in embarrassment.
"What have I done?" she cried eagerly. "Why is Mrs McNab so cross?
All was peace and joy when we left the inn. I had done my very best to
help her, and now--you saw how she scowled! How can I possibly have
offended her in this short time?"
The Chieftain chuckled softly.
"A good deal, I'm afraid! I'm sorry for you, after all your efforts at
conciliation. It's bad luck that you should have stumbled upon an
unforgivable offence. I'm afraid that there is no doubt that you will
be turned out of the inn, neck and crop. Not to-day, perhaps, as she
won't send out the trap, but certainly to-morrow morning."
"I shan't go!" protested Margot defiantly. If eviction had been
probable, she did not believe that the Chieftain would have taken it in
so unperturbed a fashion; but it was evident that she had committed some
offence, and that he was aware of its nature. "But what have I done?"
she continued urgently. "That's what I want to discover. There can't
be any harm in going to church!"
"Oh, can't there, just? That's the whole crux of the matter. You went
to the wrong church!"
There was a pause of stunned surprise while Margot gasped, and Ron's
sleepy eyes brightened with curiosity.
"The wrong church! How can that be? They are both Scotch
Presbyterians? There is no difference between them?"
"Only this difference, that the members of one kirk are hardly on
speaking terms with the members of the other! That their leaders are at
law together in the Courts, and that feeling runs so high, even in this
sleepy hollow, that Mrs McNab, being a Free, refuses to sell milk to
the `Wees,' and is shamed to the heart to think that a guest living
under her house-roof should have condescended to attend their service.
It will be all over the Glen this afternoon that the bonny lady fra the
inn chose to give her offering of siller to the `Wees,' and they will
bear themselves haughtily in consequence. Mrs McNab feels that she has
been humiliated the day in the eyes of the neighbourhood. No wonder she
looks coldly upon you!"
Margot flushed with resentment and indignation, but before she could
speak Ron burst into impetuous speech.
"They quarrel? Up here? A handful of men and women among the great
mountains? How can they do it? How can they harbour ill-feeling?
"And what can they quarrel about? There must be such tiny, trivial
differences. I am thankful I am not a Dissenter!" cried Margot proudly.
"There are so many sects that one gets muddled among them all, and even
in the same one it appears that there are differences! I am thankful
that I belong to the Church."
The Chieftain looked at her quietly.
"To which Church?"
"The Church of England, of course."
"Oh!" He elevated his light eyebrows expressively. "Because its
members have no quarrels with one another?"
Margot frowned uneasily.
"Oh, well--I suppose they have. But at the worst there are two parties,
as compared to a dozen. You cannot deny that we are more united?"
"I should not boast too much about the unity of a Church in which civil
war is permanently in progress; and what about charity and humility of
mind? Suppose now, suppose for a moment that a family of strangers come
to live in the house next your own in town, and you discover among other
things that they are Dissenters. How does it influence your attitude
towards them?" He thrust his ruddy face nearer, staring fixedly into
hers. "Answer me that! Feel just the same? Exactly the same? No
cooling off in the intention to call? _Quite_ sure you never used the
expression, `only Dissenters!' and passed by on the other side?"
Margot's cheeks blazed. Her lids dropped, and the corners of her mouth
drooped in self-conscious shame. There was a moment's silence, then a
low murmur sounded on her ear, and, looking up quickly, she saw the
Editor's dark face turned upon his brother, with reproach written large
in frowning brow and flashing eye. He was taking up the cudgels in her
defence; reproaching his own brother for forcing her into an awkward
position.
Margot's heart gave a leap of joy at the discovery; in the flash of an
eye her mood, her outlook on life, the very scene itself, seemed
transfused with new radiance and joy. The sun seemed to peep out
through the grey clouds, the underlying anxiety and worry of the past
days took to itself wings, and disappeared. Her brown eyes thanked him
with a glance more eloquent than she was aware; she laughed softly, and
her laugh was sweet as a chime of bells.
"Yes, I have! I confess it. I've been narrow-minded and uncharitable,
and a snob into the bargain. I've no right to throw stones... What
Church do you belong to, Mr Elgood?"
The little man stood still in the middle of the road, throwing out his
arms on either side, with a gesture wonderfully eloquent. His round,
chubby face shone with earnestness and exaltation.
"To the Church of Christ! The Church of loyalty, and obedience, and
love towards the brethren! To the Church of Christ, wherever I find it!
When will Christians learn to remember the points on which they agree,
rather than those on which they differ? The questions of form and
ceremony; of Church government and ritual; how small they are, how
unutterably trivial, compared to the great facts of the Fatherhood of
God, and the sacrifice of Christ! Did the Power who made every one of
us with different faces and different forms, expect us all to think
mathematically alike? I cannot believe it! It is our duty to trust in
God and love our brethren; to live together in peace, seeing the best in
each other, acknowledging the best, thinking no evil! To see men who
make a profession of religion quarrelling and persecuting each other for
trivial differences, is a ghastly spectacle--a ghastly spectacle!" He
walked on, swinging his short arms to and fro, then suddenly looked up
with a keen glance into Ron's eager face.
There were no traces of dreaminess in the brown eyes at this moment; the
dilated pupil gave to them an appearance of extraordinary depth and
intensity; it was easy to see that the lad had been swept off his feet
by the rugged force of the speaker's words, and was kindled into a like
enthusiasm.
Lads of nineteen and twenty make it so much a matter of principle to
suppress all exhibition of feeling, that it is almost startling to come
across one who is not ashamed to betray a little human emotion. Mr
Elgood evidently found it so, for he continued to cast those quick
peering glances until the inn was reached, and the little party
separated, to prepare for the midday dinner.
Margot walked slowly up the steep staircase leading to her room, and sat
herself down on the bed to think out the problem. More and more did she
long to pierce through the armour by which the strange, silent man was
enveloped; but how was it to be done? Opportunities were few and far
between, and now, for the first time in her life, confidence in her own
powers deserted her, and she was overcome by a strange new feeling of
humility and doubt. Who and what was she, that such a man should stoop
to accept her friendship; poor, unlettered girl that she was, while he
was acknowledged as one of the leading intellects of the day? Yet deep
in her heart the thought lingered that between this man and herself
existed a certain affinity, which, given an opportunity, might bridge
over greater gaps than that of intellect and learning. How was that
opportunity to be gained? She might be willing to sacrifice much to
attain it, but there was one thing that could never be thrown on one
side--her natural maidenly pride and dignity! Not even for Ron's sake
could she bring herself to make advances to a man who, so far from
exhibiting any desire for her company, had gone markedly out of his way
to avoid it.
Ron himself was useless in such circumstances, a creature of moods,
living for the moment only, content to forget the future in the
enjoyment of present good. To drive him into the Editor's company
against his will could do no good, since he would certainly reveal
himself in his worst light, and in aggravating, topsy-turvy fashion he
had taken a violent fancy for the wrong brother.
The Chieftain's geniality and candour, his boy-like lightness of heart
on the one hand, his passion for right on the other, were fast
developing a species of hero-worship in the lad's mind. Margot foresaw
that, as time passed by, the two would grow closer together, and that
any chance of intimacy with the other brother would retreat helplessly
into the background. Unless--! Her face flamed as a possible solution
of the difficulty darted suddenly into her mind. Could she? Dared she
risk it? Yes, she could. It would be difficult, but she could bring
herself to face it, if after a few days' consideration it still seemed
the only way out of the difficulty.
Margot rose from the bed, and began quietly to prepare for dinner. Her
face looked grave and anxious, but it had lost its troubled, fretted
expression. She had made up her mind what to do, and with the decision
came rest and ease of mind.