Part 20 (1/2)
”I suppose that lumber's valuable,” Evelyn remarked
”It depends upon whether ye want to buy or sell,” Macallister replied
”They telt us good logs were scarce in Cuba, but I doubt we'll find demand is slack e come to part wi' them”
”Then the trade can't be very profitable”
”It's just changing a shi+lling Sohed
”Which one of you looks after businessit will have to be Walthew The lad shows a natural ability”
”But he's younger than Mr Grahame--and probably has not had as lance
”The skipper's no' a fool, but when he ain he's frank and quick States the fair price and sticks to it He will not spend ti how he can screw a few ift ye must be born with”
”Do you ?”
”No' that exactly,” Macallister replied in a confidential tone ”But, ye see, he's a Grahareat distinction?”
”It depends on how ye look at things His branch o' the family is maybe no' o' much importance noo, but in the old wild days the lairds o'
Calder Ha' were chiefs on the Border They guarded theand Wested a few o' the clan”
”And Calder Hall? Is it one of the rude stone towers you see pictures of?”
Macallister smiled
”Calder Ha's bonny The old tower stands, with the coat o' array house with stone-ribbed s runs back where was once the bailly wall Below's a bit ragged orchard, the bent trees gray with fog, and then the lawn dropping to the waterside Nae soft Southern beauty yonder; but ye feel the chared North” He paused, and resumed with a reminiscent air: ”Iand ro winds to sing; the tales o' the Ettrick shepherd were thought good reading then After a bit plain speaking to the foreear in a neoolen mill, and I left the narrow Border town on a holiday dawn
”There wasthe alders and a smell o' wet dust where the white road followed the waterside, but as the sun came ower the hills I took to the ht upon the ling, rolling on to Cheviot-foot, with the brown grouse crying and the clear sky above At noon I carew a froot wider, the bare hills closed in; and then I calen Black firs behind it, standing stiff like sentinels; the house with the tower in thedoon to a pool
Then I kent why the Grahah ht the place from them”
”Did you tell Mr Grahas easier that he thinks I dinna ken,” said Macallister
Evelyn agreed, for she saw that his reticence was caused by tactful sympathy Afterward she was silent for a time The Scot's admiration for the old Border house appealed to her He had shown a taste and a half-poetical iination that she had not suspected when they firstAfter all, itto a fa about Calder Hall; but sheslowly?” she asked
”Coal's dear in the West Indies, and the slower ye go the less ye use
But if ye are tiring o' the trip, I lanced across the long undulations that were deep-blue in the hollows, and touched upon their suht She liked to feel the easy lift as the _Enchantress_ shouldered off the swell; the drowsy ines were soothing Then there was a pleasant serenity in the wide expanse But she was honest with herself, and she knew that the beauty of the calm sea did not quite account for the absence of any wish to shorten the voyage
”Oh,” she said, ”please don't burn more coal than is necessary I'm quite content I love the sunshi+ne and the smooth water”