Part 17 (1/2)

We sat down to a meal of roasted fowl, very tasty, and a very good drop of spirits to it, and I would be laughing inside of myself because of the boldness of McKinnon to be praising his wife's cooking before his ain mother, and Mirren was greatly pleased too; indeed, many's the time I will be thinking that the road to a quiet la.s.s's heart will be to praise her cooking. When we had made an end of the eating I gave McKinnon the story of the stranger that came whistling at uncanny hours, and asked him where I would be like to find McGilp, for it appeared the man wanted speech with me.

”You are on the right tack,” says he, ”for I am waiting for his hand on the sneck any time this two hours past,” and the dishes were hardly cleared away when the smuggler bent his head to be coming in the door, for in these days there were no locks in the Isle of the Peaks.

There came in with the man a kind of waft of the sea as he threw off his great-coat and clattered his cutla.s.s in a corner--a fine figure of a man, towering up to the rafters, and his voice held in as though it would be more comfortable to hurl an order in the teeth of a gale.

”Ha!” says he, looking from McKinnon to his wife; ”she has brought you to port finely.” But he was mightily complimentary, and gave many good wishes with his gla.s.s in his great hand.

”And how are you, Mister Hamish?” says he. ”Every plank sailing--in fine trim--and that's good hearing these days.”

With that McKinnon got his fiddle, and played us many sprightly airs, for he was a very creditable performer, and the smuggler would be asking for this or that one, and nodding his head with great spirit.

”You would have speech with the Pagan,” said he, when the night was wearing on. ”An' cold eneuch he was when I picked him up at the mouth o' the Rouen river, for I had an express from a compatriot, Mr Hamish, serving overseas”--this with a very grand air.

”Were you wanting speech with me?” said I, for I could see the drink was going to his head.

”It's a wee thing private,” says he; ”but tak' up your dram. I canna thole a man that loiters wi' drink till the pith is out of it.”

At that we drew our chairs close before the fire.

”Many's the time we would be talking about ye, Mr Hamish,” says he, ”Dan and myself; yon time we left ye in the haar at Loch Ranza--a senseless job, too, by all accounts, and Alastair rowing to the suthard, and us creeping out to the nor'west; he'll be hard to find now, by Gully--ay, Dan will be hard to find.

”I am hoping you are not close-hauled for time,” says he, ”for it's hard to come at my tale, Mr Hamish; but ye see, Dan McBride had some notion o' what might occur--I am thinking ye will see with me there.

”I am giving you the man's words, ye see, for he had great faith in ye.

”'Ye'll say to Hamish,' says he, and I'm telling you he was a sober man--'ye'll say, I am not wanting the wean to grow up like a cadger's dog, to be running from kicks and whining for a bone.'

”I am no' great hand at this wean business, Mr Hamish, but McBride was a fine man.”

At that I made mention of the wean he had taken to the convent in France.

”I'm with you there,” says he. ”I was paid good money for that job, and I ken what I ken, and mair--what I've found out. Ye'll no' hiv great mind o' Scaurdale's son? No? Aweel, he was a bog-louper, and wild, wild at that, but he fell in wi' some south-country lady--a cousin o' his ain, that stopped for years at Scaurdale--a young thing that was feart to haud the man, but fond o' him too. I canna mind the name o' her. The long and short of it was jeest this--she married on an Englishman, a landed man and weel bred--Stockdale they ca'ed him--but he turned oot ill after a', and the first wean was a la.s.s instead o' a boy. And I'm jalousin' she would be getting her keel-haulings for that, poor lady. Ye ken weel that young Scaurdale broke his neck, and ye ken where.

”'I'll be in h.e.l.l or hame,' says he, 'in forty minutes.' At the Quay Inn it was, and his horse lathered and foaming and wild wi' fear.

Aweel, Mr Hamish, he's no _hame_ yet.

”Things were going from bad to worse with the la.s.s he lost, and her man aye at the bottle, and sometimes she would be finding him lookin' at the wean and cursing, so what does she do but get word to the old Laird o' Scaurdale, who was fond o' her and a just man. I'll wager ye, he did not hang long in irons. The thing was done circ.u.mspectly, mind you--nae high-handedness--but Belle's folk were about Glen Scaur, a droll wandering band, claiming great descent from Eastern folk, and with horses and dogs and spaewife among them; and Belle (as they will be calling her) was the daughter o' the Chief, a very proud man.

”They were a wandering tribe, Mr Hamish, and they wandered into the south country, and I'm thinking ye saw the bonny spaewife coming back her lane, except for a wean, on a morning ye ploughed stubble.

”But here's the droll bit,” says he. ”Stockdale was kilt an his horse, too, in his ain park, for he scoured the place like a madman after the wean was lost. Weel, weel, that finished the lady, poor body. Ye'll see how things are now, Mr Hamish,” says he.

”Yon's an heiress. An' that's a' I'll be saying,” says he, for McKinnon came in from his stable, ”but the Laird, your uncle, was in the ploy,” says he, ”or I'm sair mistaken, and the Mistress too.”

With that we rose to be going, and had a gla.s.s, and the captain's last words were--”Ye'll mind yon: 'I'm not wanting the wean to grow up like a cadger's dog.'”

As I was walking home that night the thought came into my head of the wisdom of Betty at the big house.

I minded her saying to me on the Sunday that Belle took the wean in the tartan shawl to the Mistress--her very words came back to me--