DOVE, OR SEA-EAGLE?
But there are no fine visions troubling the mind of Hamish as he stands
here by the tiller in eager consultation with Colin Laing, who has a
chart outspread before him on the deck. There is pride in the old man's
face. He is proud of the performances of the yacht he has sailed for so
many years; and proud of himself for having brought her--always subject
to the advice of his cousin from Greenock--in safety through the salt
sea to the smooth waters of the great river. And, indeed, this is a
strange scene for the _Umpire_ to find around her in the years of her
old age. For instead of the giant cliffs of Gribun and Bourg there is
only the thin green line of the Essex coast; and instead of the rushing
Atlantic there is the broad smooth surface of this coffee-colored
stream, splashed with blue where the ripples catch the reflected light
of the sky. There is no longer the solitude of Ulva and Colonsay, or the
moaning of the waves round the lonely shores of Fladda, and Staffa, and
the Dutchman; but the eager, busy life of the great river--a black
steamer puffing and roaring, russet-sailed barges going smoothly with
the ride, a tug bearing a large green-hulled Italian ship through the
lapping waters, and everywhere a swarming fry of small boats of every
description. It is a beautiful summer morning, though there is a pale
haze lying along the Essex woods. The old _Umpire_, with the salt foam
of the sea incrusted on her bows, is making her first appearance in the
Thames.
"And where are we going, Hamish," says Colin Laing, in the Gaelic, "when
we leave this place?"
"When you are told, then you will know," says Hamish.
"You had enough talk of it last night in the cabin. I thought you were
never coming out of the cabin," says the cousin from Greenock.
"And if I have a master, I obey my master without speaking," Hamish
answers.
"Well, it is a strange master you have got. Oh, you do not know about
these things, Hamish. Do you know what a gentleman who has a yacht would
do when he got into Gravesend as we got in last night? Why, he would go
ashore, and have his dinner in a hotel, and drink four or five different
kinds of wine, and go to the theatre. But your master, Hamish, what does
he do? He stays on board, and sends ashore for time-tables and such
things; and what is more than that, he is on deck all night, walking up
and down. Oh yes; I heard him walking up and down all night, with the
yacht lying at anchor!"
"Sir Keith is not well. When a man is not well he does not act in an
ordinary way. But you talk of my master," Hamish answered, proudly.
"Well, I will tell you about my master, Colin--that he is a better
master than any ten thousand masters that ever were born in Greenock, or
in London either. I will not allow any man to say anything against my
master."
"I was not saying anything against your master. He is a wiser man than
you, Hamish. For he was saying to me last night, 'Now, when I am sending
Hamish to such and such places in London, you must go with him, and show
him the trains, and cabs, and other things like that.' Oh yes, Hamish,
you know how to sail a yacht; but you do not know anything about towns?"
"And who would want to know anything about towns? Are they not full of
people who live by telling lies and cheating each other?"
"And do you say that is how I have been able to buy my house at
Greenock," said Colin Laing, angrily, "with a garden, and a boathouse,
too?"
"I do not know about that," said Hamish; and then he called out some
order to one of the men. Macleod was at this moment down in the saloon,
seated at the table, with a letter enclosed and addressed lying before
him. But surely this was not the same man who had been in these still
waters of the Thames in the by-gone days--with gay companions around
him, and the band playing "A Highland Lad my Love was born," and a
beautiful-eyed girl, whom he called Rose-leaf, talking to him in the
quiet of the summer noon. This man had a look in his eyes like that of
an animal that has been hunted to death, and is fain to lie down and
give itself up to its pursuers in the despair of utter fatigue. He was
looking at this letter. The composition of it had cost him only a whole
night's agony. And when he sat down and wrote it in the blue-gray dawn,
what had he not cast away?
"Oh no," he was saying now to his own conscience, "she will not call it
deceiving! She will laugh when it is all over--she will call it a
stratagem--she will say that a drowning man will catch at anything. And
this is the last effort--but it is only a stratagem: she herself will
absolve me, when she laughs and says, 'Oh, how could you have treated
the poor theatres so?'"
A loud rattling overhead startled him.
"We must be at Erith," he said to himself; and then, after a pause of a
second, he took the letter in his hand. He passed up the companion-way.
Perhaps it was the sudden glare of the light around that falsely gave to
his eyes the appearance of a man who had been drinking hard; but his
voice was clear and precise as he said to Hamish,--
"Now, Hamish, you understand everything I have told you?"
"Oh yes, Sir Keith."
"And you will put away that nonsense from your head; and when you see
the English lady that you remember, you will be very respectful to her,
for she is a very great friend of mine; and if she is not at the
theatre, you will go on to the other address, and Colin Laing will go
with you in the cab. And if she comes back in the cab, you and Colin
will go outside beside the driver, do you understand? And when you go
ashore, you will take John Cameron with you, and you will ask the
pier-master about the moorings."
"Oh yes, Sir Keith; have you not told me before?" Hamish said, almost
reproachfully.
"You are sure you got everything on board last night?"
"There is nothing more that I can think of, Sir Keith."
"Here is the letter, Hamish."
And so he pledged himself to the last desperate venture.
Not long after that Hamish, and Laing, and John Cameron went in the
dingy to the end of Erith pier, and left the boat there; and went along
to the head of the pier, and had a talk with the pier-master. Then John
Cameron went back, and the other two went on their way to the
railway-station.
"And I will tell you this, Hamish," said the little black Celt, who
swaggered a good deal in his walk, "that when you go in the train you
will be greatly frightened; for you do not know how strong the engines
are, and how they will carry you through the air."
"That is a foolish thing to say," answered Hamish, also speaking in the
Gaelic; "for I have seen many pictures of trains; and do you say that
the engines are bigger than the engines of the _Pioneer_, or the _Dunara
Castle_, or the _Clansman_ that goes to Stornoway? Do not talk such
nonsense to me. An engine that runs along the road, that is a small
matter; but an engine that can take you up the Sound of Sleat, and
across the Minch, and all the way to Stornoway, that is an engine to be
talked about!"
But nevertheless it was with some inward trepidation that Hamish
approached Erith station; and it was with an awestruck silence that he
saw his cousin take tickets at the office; nor did he speak a word when
the train came up and they entered and sat down in the carriage. Then
the train moved off, and Hamish breathed more freely: what was this to
be afraid of?
"Did I not tell you you would be frightened?" Colin Laing said.
"I am not frightened at all," Hamish answered, indignantly.
But as the train began to move more quickly, Hamish's hands, that held
firmly by the wooden seat on which he was sitting, tightened and still
further tightened their grasp, and his teeth got clinched, while there
was an anxious look in his eyes. At length, as the train swung into a
good pace, his fear got the better of him, and he called out,--
"Colin, Colin, she's run away?"
And then Colin Laing laughed aloud, and began to assume great airs; and
told Hamish that he was no better than a lad kept for herding the sheep,
who had never been away from his own home. This familiar air reassured
Hamish; and then the train stopping at Abbey Wood proved to him that the
engine was still under control.
"Oh yes, Hamish," continued his travelled cousin, "you will open your
eyes when you see London; and you will tell all the people when you go
back that you have never seen so great a place; but what is London to
the cities and the towns and the palaces that I have seen? Did you ever
hear of Valparaiso, Hamish? Oh yes, you will live a long time before you
will get to Valparaiso! And Rio: why, I have known mere boys that have
been to Rio. And you can sail a yacht very well, Hamish; and I do not
grumble that you would be the master of the yacht, though I know the
banks and the channels a little better than you, and it was quite right
of you to be the master of the yacht; but you have not seen what I have
seen. And I have been where there are mountains and mountains of gold--"
"Do you take me for a fool, Colin?" said Hamish, with a contemptuous
smile.
"Not quite that," said the other, "but am I not to believe my own eyes?"
"And if there were the great mountains of gold," said Hamish, "why did
you not fill your pockets with the gold? and would not that be better
than selling whiskey in Greenock?"
"Yes; and that shows what an ignorant man you are, Hamish," said the
other, with disdain. "For do you not know that the gold is mixed with
quartz and you have got to take the quartz out? But I dare say now you
do not know what quartz is; for it is a very ignorant man you are,
although you can sail a yacht. But I do not grumble at all. You are
master of your own yacht, just as I am the master of my own shop. But if
you were coming into my shop, Hamish, I would say to you, 'Hamish, you
are the master here, and I am not the master; and you can take a glass
of anything that you like.' That is what people who have travelled all
over the world, and seen princes and great cities and palaces, call
_politeness_. But how could you know anything about _politeness?_ You
have lived only on the west coast of Mull; and they do not even know how
to speak good Gaelic there."
"That is a lie, Colin!" said Hamish, with decision, "We have better
Gaelic there than any other Gaelic that is spoken."
"Were you ever in Lochaber, Hamish?"
"No, I was never in Lochaber."
"Then do not pretend to give an opinion about the Gaelic--especially to
a man who has travelled all over the world, though perhaps he cannot
sail a yacht as well as you, Hamish."
The two cousins soon became friends again, however. And now, as they
were approaching London, a strange thing became visible. The blue sky
grew more and more obscured. The whole world seemed to be enveloped in
a clear brown haze of smoke.
"Ay, ay," said Hamish, "that is a strange thing."
"What is a strange thing, Hamish?"
"I was reading about it in a book many a time--the great fire that was
burning in London for years and years and years, and have they not quite
got it out yet, Colin?"
"I do not know what you are talking about, Hamish," said the other, who
had not much book-learning, "but I will tell you this, that you may
prepare yourself now to open your eyes. Oh yes, London will make you
open your eyes wide; though it is nothing to one who has been to Rio,
and Shanghai, and Rotterdam, and other places like that."
Now these references to foreign parts only stung Hamish's pride, and
when they did arrive at London Bridge he was determined to show no
surprise whatever. He stepped into the four-wheeled cab that Colin Laing
chartered, just as if four-wheeled cabs were as common as sea-gulls on
the shores of Loch-na-Keal. And though his eyes were bewildered and his
ears dinned with the wonderful sights and sounds of this great roaring
city--that seemed to have the population of all the world pouring
through its streets--he would say nothing at all. At last the cab
stopped; the two men were opposite the Piccadilly Theatre.
Then Hamish got out and left his cousin with the cab, He ascended the
wide steps; he entered the great vestibule; and he had a letter in his
hand. The old man had not trembled so much since he was a schoolboy.
"What do you want, my man?" some one said, coming out of the box-office
by chance. Hamish showed the letter.
"I wass to hef an answer, sir if you please, sir, and I will be
opliged," said Hamish, who had been enjoined to be very courteous.
"Take it round to the stage entrance," said the man, carelessly.
"Yes, sir, if you please, sir," said Hamish; but he did not understand;
and he stood.
The man looked at him; called for some one: a young lad came, and to him
was given the letter.
"You may wait here, then," said he to Hamish; "but I think rehearsal is
over, and Miss White has most likely gone home."
The man went into the box-office again; Hamish was left alone there, in
the great empty vestibule. The Piccadilly Theatre had seldom seen within
its walls a more picturesque figure than this old Highlandman, who stood
there with his sailor's cap in his hand, and with a keen excitement in
the proud and fine face. There was a watchfulness in the gray eyes like
the watchfulness of an eagle. If he twisted his cap rather nervously,
and if his heart beat quick, it was not from fear.
Now, when the letter was brought to Miss White, she was standing in one
of the wings, laughing and chatting with the stage manager. The laugh
went from her face. She grew quite pale.
"Oh, Mr. Cartwright," said she, "do you think I could go down to Erith
and be back before six in the evening?"
"Oh yes, why not?" said he carelessly.
But she scarcely heard him. She was still staring at that sheet of
paper, with its piteous cry of the sick man. Only to see her once
more--to shake hands in token of forgiveness--to say good-by for the
last time: what woman with the heart of a woman could resist this
despairing prayer?
"Where is the man who brought this letter?" said she.
"In front, miss," said the young lad, "by the box-office."
Very quickly she made her way along the gloomy and empty corridors, and
there in the twilit hall she found the gray-haired old sailor, with his
cap held humbly in his hands. "Oh, Hamish," said she, "is Sir Keith so
very ill?"
"Is it ill, mem?" said Hamish; and quick tears sprang to the old man's
eyes. "He iss more ill than you can think of, mem; it iss another man
that he iss now. Ay, ay, who would know him to be Sir Keith Macleod?"
"He wants me to go and see him; and I suppose I have no time to go home
first--"
"Here is the list of the trains, mem," said Hamish, eagerly, producing a
certain card. "And it iss me and Colin Laing, that's my cousin, mem; and
we hef a cab outside; and will you go to the station? Oh, you will not
know Sir Keith, mem; there iss no one at all would know my master now."
"Come along, then, Hamish," said she, quickly. "Oh, but he cannot be so
ill as that. And the long sea-voyage will pull him round, don't you
think?"
"Ay, ay, mem," said Hamish; but he was paying little heed. He called up
the cab, and Miss White stepped inside, and he and Colin Laing got on
the box.
"Tell him to go quickly," she said to Hamish, "for I must have
something instead of luncheon if we have a minute at the station."
And Miss White, as the cab rolled away, felt pleased with herself. It
was a brave act.
"It is the least I can do for the sake of my bonny Glenogie," she was
saying to herself, quite cheerfully. "And if Mr. Lemuel were to hear of
it? Well, he must know that I mean to be mistress of my own conduct. And
so the poor Glenogie is really ill. I can do no harm in parting good
friends with him. Some men would have made a fuss."
At the station they had ten minutes to wait; and Miss White was able to
get the slight refreshment she desired. And although Hamish would fain
have kept out of her way--for it was not becoming in a rude sailor to be
seen speaking to so fine a lady--she would not allow that.
"And where are you going, Hamish, when you leave the Thames?" she asked,
smoothing the fingers of the glove she had just put on again.
"I do not know that, mem," said he.
"I hope Sir Keith won't go to Torquay or any of those languid places.
You will go to the Mediterranean, I suppose?"
"Maybe that will be the place, mem," said Hamish.
"Or the Isle of Wight, perhaps," said she, carelessly.
"Ay, ay, mem--the Isle of Wight--that will be a ferry good place, now.
There wass a man I wass seeing once in Tobbermorry, and he wass telling
me about the castle that the Queen herself will hef on that island. And
Mr. Ross, the Queen's piper, he will be living there too."
But, of course, they had to part company when the train came up; and
Hamish and Colin Laing got into a third-class carriage together. The
cousin from Greenock had been hanging rather in the background; but he
had kept his ears open.
"Now, Hamish," said he, in the tongue in which they could both speak
freely enough, "I will tell you something; and do not think I am an
ignorant man, for I know what is going on. Oh yes. And it is a great
danger you are running into."
"What do you mean, Colin?" said Hamish; but he would look out of the
window.
"When a gentleman goes away in a yacht, does he take an old woman like
Christina with him? Oh no; I think not. It is not a customary thing.
And the ladies' cabin; the ladies' cabin is kept very smart, Hamish. And
I think I know who is to have the ladies' cabin?"
"Then you are very clever, Colin," said Hamish, contemptously. "But it
is too clever you are. You think it strange that the young English lady
should take that cabin. I will tell you this--that it is not the first
time nor the second time that the young English lady has gone for a
voyage in the _Umpire_, and in that very cabin too. And I will tell you
this, Colin; that it is this very year she had that cabin; and was in
Loch Tua, and Loch-na-Keal, and Loch Scridain, and Calgary Bay. And as
for Christina--oh, it is much you know about fine ladies in Greenock! I
tell you that an English lady cannot go anywhere without someone to
attend to her."
"Hamish, do not try to make a fool of me," said Laing angrily. "Do you
think a lady would go travelling without any luggage? And she does not
know where the _Umpire_ is going!"
"Do you know?"
"No."
"Very well, then. It is Sir Keith Macleod who is the master when he is
on board the _Umpire_, and where he wants to go the others have to go."
"Oh, do you think that? And do you speak like that to a man who can pay
eighty-five pounds a year of rent?"
"No, I do not forget that it is a kindness to me that you are doing,
Colin; and to Sir Keith Macleod, too; and he will not forget it. But as
for this young lady, or that young lady, what has that to do with it?
You know what the bell of Scoon said, '_That which concerns you not,
meddle not with._'"
"I shall be glad when I am back in Greenock," said Colin Laing, moodily.
But was not this a fine, fair scene that Miss Gertrude White saw around
her when they came in sight of the river and Erith pier?--the flashes of
blue on the water, the white-sailed yachts, the russet-sailed barges,
and the sunshine shining all along the thin line of the Essex shore. The
moment she set foot on the pier she recognized the _Umpire_ lying out
there, the great white mainsail and jib idly flapping in the summer
breeze: but there was no one on deck. And she was not afraid at all; for
had he not written in so kindly a fashion to her; and was she not doing
much for his sake too?
"Will the shock be great?" she was thinking to herself. "I hope my
bonnie Glenogie is not so ill as that; for he always looked like a man.
And it is so much better that we should part good friends."
She turned to Hamish.
"There is no one on the deck of the yacht, Hamish," said she.
"No, mem," said he, "the men will be at the end of the pier, mem, in the
boat, if you please, mem."
"Then you took it for granted I should come back with you?" said she,
with a pleasant smile.
"I wass thinking you would come to see Sir Keith, mem," said Hamish,
gravely. His manner was very respectful to the fine English lady; but
there was not much of friendliness in his look.
She followed Hamish down the rude wooden steps at the end of the pier;
and there they found the dingy awaiting them, with two men in her.
Hamish was very careful of Miss White's dress as she got into the stern
of the boat; then he and Colin Laing got into the bow; and the men half
paddled and half floated her along to the _Umpire_--the tide having
begun to ebb.
And it was with much ceremony, too, that Hamish assisted Miss White to
get on board by the little gangway; and for a second or two she stood on
deck and looked around her while the men were securing the dingy. The
idlers lounging on Erith pier must have considered that this was an
additional feature of interest in the summer picture--the figure of this
pretty young lady standing there on the white decks and looking around
her with a pleased curiosity. It was some little time since she had been
on board the _Umpire_.
Then Hamish turned to her, and said, in the same respectful way,
"Will you go below, mem, now? It iss in the saloon that you will find
Sir Keith; and if Christina iss in the way, you will tell her to go
away, mem."
The small gloved hand was laid on the top of the companion, and Miss
White carefully went down the wooden steps. And it was with a
gentleness equal to her own that Hamish shut the little doors after her.
But no sooner had she quite disappeared than the old man's manner
swiftly changed. He caught hold of the companion hatch, jammed it across
with a noise that was heard throughout the whole vessel; and then he
sprang to the helm, with the keen gray eyes afire with a wild
excitement.
"---- her, we have her now!" he said, between his teeth; and he called
aloud: "Hold the jib to weather there! Off with the moorings, John
Cameron! ---- her, we have her now!--and it is not yet that she has put
a shame on Macleod of Dare!"