Part 8 (1/2)
”It must be a very solitary sort of grandeur, in my opinion,” said Mr.
George, ”which a man enjoys by living in such a place as this.”
”Why, I suppose he can have company if he wishes,” said Rollo.
”Yes,” said Mr. George. ”Perhaps he lives in Edinburgh, or in London, in the winter, and in the summer he has company here. But then when he has company at all he must have them all the time, and he must have all the care and responsibility of entertaining them; and that, I should think, would be a great burden.”
Mr. George and the boys rambled over these grounds about half an hour, and then they returned to the hotel. They were obliged to walk fast the last part of the way, for dark, driving clouds began to be seen in the sky, and just before they reached the hotel some drops of fine rain began to fall.
”To-morrow is going to be a rainy day, I expect,” said Rollo.
”Very likely,” said Mr. George.
”And shall you go on over the lake if it is?” asked Rollo.
”I think we shall go as far as to the foot of Ben Lomond,” said Mr.
George.
CHAPTER VIII.
ROWERDENNAN INN.
Ben Lomond is one of the highest peaks in Scotland. There are one or two that are higher, but they are more remote, and consequently less known.
Ben Lomond is the one most visited, and is, accordingly, the one that is most renowned.
It lies on the east side of Loch Lomond, about half way between the head of the lake and the outlet. Our party were now at the outlet of the lake, and were going the next morning towards the head of it. The outlet of the lake is towards the south. In this southern part, as I believe I have already said, the lake is about ten miles wide, and its banks are formed of hills and valleys of fertile land, every where well cultivated, and presenting charming scenes of verdure and fruitfulness.
The lake, too, in this portion of it, is studded with a great number of very picturesque and pretty islands.
As you go north, however, the lake, or loch, as the Scotch call it, contracts in breadth, and the land rises higher and higher, until at length you see before you a narrow sheet of water, shut in on either hand with dark and gloomy mountains, the sides of which are covered every where with ferns and heather, and seem entirely uninhabited. They descend, moreover, so steep to the water that there seems to be not even room for a path between the foot of the mountains and the sh.o.r.e.
The highest peak of these sombre-looking hills is Ben Lomond; which rises, as I have before said, on the eastern side of the loch, about midway between the head of the loch and the outlet. At the foot of the mountain there is a point of land projecting into the water, where there is an inn. Tourists stop at this inn when they wish to ascend the mountain. Other persons come to the inn for the purpose of fis.h.i.+ng on the loch, or of making excursions by the footpaths which penetrate, here and there, among the neighboring highlands. There is a ferry here, too, across the loch. There is no village, nor, indeed, are there any buildings whatever to be seen; so that the place is as secluded and solitary as can well be imagined. It is known by the name of Rowerdennan Inn. It was at this point that Mr. George proposed to stop, in case the day should prove rainy.
When the boys rose the next morning, the first thing was to look out of the window, to see what the promise was in respect to the weather. It was not raining, but the sky was overcast and heavy.
”Good,” said Waldron. ”It does not rain yet, but it will before we get to Rowerdennan Inn.”
Waldron was glad to see that there was a prospect of unfavorable weather, for he wished to stop at the inn. He had read in the guide book that they had boats and fis.h.i.+ng apparatus there, and he thought that if they stopped perhaps another plan might be formed for going out on the loch a-fis.h.i.+ng.
The steamer was to leave at nine o'clock. The boys could see her lying at the pier, about half a mile distant from them. The air was misty, and there were some small trees in the way, but the boys could see the chimney distinctly. They dressed themselves as soon as they could, and went to Mr. George's room. They knocked gently at the door. Mr. George said, ”Come in.” They went in and found Mr. George seated at a table, writing in his journal. It was about seven o'clock.
Mr. George laid aside his writing, and after bidding the boys good morning, and talking with them a few minutes about the plans of the day, took a testament which he had upon a table before him, and read a few verses from one of the Gospels, explaining the verses as he read them. Then they all knelt down together, and Mr. George made a short and simple prayer, asking G.o.d to take care of them all during the day, to guard them from every danger, to make them kind and considerate towards each other, and towards all around them, and to keep them from every species of sin.
This was the way in which Mr. George always commenced the duties of the day, when travelling with Rollo, whether there were any other persons in company or not; and a most excellent way it was, too. Besides the intrinsic propriety of coming in the morning to commit ourselves to the guardian care and protection of Almighty G.o.d, especially when we are exposed to the vicissitudes, temptations, and dangers that are always hovering about the path of the traveller in foreign lands, the influence of such a service of devotion, brief and simple as it was, always proved extremely salutary on Rollo's mind, as well as on the minds of those who were a.s.sociated with him in it. It made them more gentle, and more docile and tractable; and it tended very greatly to soften those asperities which we often see manifesting themselves in the intercourse of boys with each other.
When the devotional service was finished, Mr. George sent the boys down stairs, to make arrangements for breakfast. In about half an hour Rollo came up to say that breakfast was ready in the coffee room, and Mr.
George went down.
After breakfast Mr. George took the valise, and the boys took the other parcels of baggage, and they all went over the bridge to the railway station. They waited here a short time, until at length the train came.