Gordon Stables

“ The Boo-boo-boo touched at Rio, to land some cargo and take in fresh meat.
Sandie and Willie marvelled much at the romantic beauty of the bay or harbour, with its surroundings of green and rugged mountains. But when they landed they marvelled more. Everything strange, everything wonderful, oceans of fruit and flowers, and the people, whether inky-black or nearly white, all as contented with their lot as doves in a tree, and all chattering away as merry as monkeys. ”

“ In the evening, however, immediately after supper, he retired to his little grain-loft study, and there bent all his energies to the elucidation of the mysteries of mathematics till far on into the night.
He did not find mathematics so very hard after all, when he fairly set himself to tackle it. The problems looked dreadfully dark and difficult a little way off, just as a black cloud does that is approaching the moon, but the moon soon brightens it. And in the same way, Sandie’s determination and study soon illuminated the darkest clouds of mathematics. ”

“ First one broad-sailed boat, then another, and then a third glided slowly into the silvery wake of the moon, looking as black as death against the shimmer of the moonlit sea.
“Sandie!” gasped Willie, “do our eyes deceive us? Or are they phantom boats?”
“No, no,” cried Sandie, recovering his self-possession, “they are part of the fleet that, being driven out to sea, have succeeded in weathering the gale. Come, let us bring the joyful tidings to those honest fisher-folks.” ”

“ CRIED SANDIE What a pleasant voyage that was to Sydney! Our heroes had nothing to do but talk and read, and laze dreamily in the sparkling sunshine, or under the quarter-deck awning.
The ladies on board, and there were several young and not-quite-so-young, appeared determined to make heroes of Sandie and Willie. Moreover, they treated the former as somewhat of an invalid, Willie having told them all his story, so they gave up a deck-chair to him. ”

“ Yes, Sandie was an enthusiast, and so the time glided very quickly by. The rolling thunder-laden lines of Homer carried the lad quite away; the poems of Horace, so full of scenes of country life, were music to his ear, the Bucolics of Virgil brought before his mind’s eye such visions of rustic beauty, of rural joys, as fairly dazzled his senses; while to him the bonnie wee Greek songs of Anacreon gave a pleasure he could not well define, except by saying that Anacreon was the Burns of Greece. But Sandie revelled in History as well. ”

“ The mourners, among whom are Sandie M‘Crae, wait for a moment, each silently breathing a prayer.
Then they look towards Eppie.
She has to throw in the first handful of earth, and she knows it.
But there is a mist before her eyes that is not caused by tears, and a cold feeling at her heart that grief alone cannot account for; she stoops—she lifts a handful of earth. ”

“ The dinner-hour in the hairst (harvest) field was the most delightful of all. The somewhat weary workers lay on the ground, or leant their backs against the stocks. Mrs. M‘Crae herself, with Elsie and Geordie, brought the dinner, and there was no want of appetite. The milk was of the creamiest, the mashed potatoes like snow, the oatcakes crisp and delicious, and the herrings done to a turn. Then there was curds and cream by way of dessert, to say nothing of “swack” cheese, and potato-scones to finish up with. ”

“ Some men had gone away into the Highlands of Inverness, and during all the summer would delve and dig or hold the plough. Others away to wild romantic Skye—the Isle of Wings, and others again far North to that Ultima Thule, Shetland, which some one has likened to “a sea-girdled peat-moss.” It is rather, however, a series of sea-girdled peat-mosses, for the islands are very numerous indeed, their shores, when the purple mantle of summer is thrown like a veil of gauze over them, as romantic as they are lonesome and wild.
And Sandie and Willie had parted. ”

“ When they should make the descent and reach the precipice, nothing on earth could save them!
The ground beneath goes rushing past like a grey bewildering mist, the bank at each side, with its greenery of ferns and its wild flowers yellow and crimson, glides by like a lovely rainbow. Maggie May sits quiet and pale, holding on to the side of the trap; Mackenzie himself has almost ceased his futile endeavours to rein up, and abandoned himself to fate, yet his lips are moving in prayer. ”

“ More than once Sandie could see tears glistening in the moonbeams on his sister’s cheeks.
But one o’clock came at last, and he had to send her away.
“Anyhow, Sandie,” she said, as she rose to go, “you will promise not to study too, too hard. Mind you are all I have, Sandie, and if anything happened to you, the grave would soon close over your poor sister Elsie.”
“I promise,” said Sandie, “to take care of myself for mother’s sake and yours. ”

“ But every time has an end, and the more we are enjoying ourselves, the faster does old Father Time fly. This is very nasty of old Father Time, only he will have his own way, despite anything we can say or do.
The last night had come and gone, and Willie had retired to his room, and was seated by the window, through which the bright moonlight was streaming, when Elsie, looking in her long night-dress like a sheeted ghost, came gliding in. Her dark hair all undone was streaming down her back. Sandie hastened to place a seat for her, and to wrap her from top to toe in a Highland plaid. ”

“ But the young—no, sorrow ought to be neither kith nor kin to them.
Back again, then, at the dear old farm of Kilbuie, with Willie as his constant companion, for the lad had come to spend a long holiday, with frequent visits to the house of his best of friends, Mackenzie the minister, with many a little fishing excursion, in company with little Maggie May and happy-go-lucky Tyro the collie—excursions that somehow always ended in a kind of picnic—Sandie began to forget the sad and gloomsome ending to his fishing experiences. ”

“ Sandie obeyed the Rector to the letter. He went home and went to bed. But to sleep, alas! he found was out of the question. He could not keep himself from thinking what a pleasant life might be before him if he were successful. Ah! if. But what if he failed in winning a bursary big enough to support him? That was the “if” that caused his heart to beat and kept him wide-awake. Back he would have to go to the slush and the drudgery of farm labour, the plough, the harrow, the mud, the snow, the hard work, wet day or dry day, the stiff joints and the aching bones. ”

“ He was shy, however, and a little taken aback when ushered into the splendidly furnished and well-lighted drawing-room, more particularly as Willie’s mother and ever so many sisters were there. The mother rallied him about the battle with the bully, and Willie arriving just then, Sandie was soon completely at his ease. He soon found that he was among real friends, in the bosom of a family of kind-hearted people, who, though very well-to-do in the world, had none of that foolish pride only too common to people in such a station. ”

“ John, too, had other accomplishments besides that of reading, one of which, and not the least clever either, was his ability to stamp a reel or a strathspey on an old fiddle, that hung in its green baize bag on the wall behind his chair; how he loved that old instrument too! It was the only thing in the world that Eppie had ever had reason to be jealous of. John called his violin by the not over-euphonious name of “Janet.” ”

“ What, he could not help saying to himself, would dear old Horace and Homer the thunderer do without him? Then he remembered his promise to Rector Geddes and refrained. He knew in his own heart that the Rector really was right, for by giving the brain a complete rest, it would be all the fresher when it came to stand the test. The first part of the brain-power to get weak is the memory; and rest, and rest alone, can restore this.
So whenever Sandie longed for his books, he jumped up and went in search of Willie, who was never far away, and together they would plan some new amusement. ”

“ Sandie knew the place at once.
He nudged Willie, who was half asleep.
“Willie, Willie,” he cried, “we are saved. The horse has saved us from a terrible death.”
“Where are we?” muttered Willie.
“At Bruce’s cavern. I know it well. We must all get in before the storm comes on again. Arise, Willie, pull yourself together; there is no time to lose.”
Willie did arise, and leapt as nimbly down as his half-frozen legs would permit him.
Then Lord Raglan was unharnessed and led into the cave. Next the sleigh was dragged in, and hardly was this secured ere the blizzard came on again with redoubled fury. ”

“ Sandie answers quite as cheerily, and conversation becomes general.
The captain is a short, stoutish individual, very rosy and jolly as to face, very white as to whiskers and hair. His age might be sixty-and-five, but he has all the activity of a youth of twenty.
It seems to me, to put it parenthetically, that a life on the ocean wave really tends to keep people young. Somehow, it makes men brave, because they are always face to face with danger, till in course of time they become so inured to its presence that they can afford to despise it. ”

“ Genius depends greatly on brain power and brain formation. I never would expect much except a grunt from a sow, however much she applied herself to study.
Sandie went home. The spring and merry May were now almost gone. The joy of June would soon be here. The men, and even Jeannie, the simple servant lassie, were busily engaged thinning the young turnips. As Sandie drove slowly down the loanings in the gig, he could hear their merry voices as they talked and laughed, with now and then Jeannie’s gentle voice raised in song, to which Jamie appended a deep broad bass. ”

“ Many a strange and beautiful wild bird made wood and welkin ring with his glad notes, but Larnie heard not the songs. Up yonder in a green corn patch a hare pauses in the act of washing his face, that he may sit up and stare curiously at the fast flying equipage—Larnie takes no heed. Rabbits in little groups of five or six scurry here and there among the boulders on bare hillsides, but Larnie takes not the slightest notice. Oats alone absorb his thoughts, so on he flies. ”

“ Straight as the bee flies he leads them to the snowed-up entrance to Bruce’s cavern, and here Tyro begins to tear and scratch at the snow in the most frantic way.
“To work, men,” cries M‘Crae. “Dead or alive, the boys are inside the cave.”
And the men did work too, as hard as ever men worked in life.
The snow, however, was powdery, and difficult to dig, and it must have been fifteen feet deep if a single inch.
Willie and Sandie had both fallen into an uneasy kind of slumber, worn out with cold and hunger, when they were aroused by hearing Raglan neigh. ”

“ The old man’s bright eyes sparkled as he spoke, and his rosy cheeks seemed to grow rosier. “The boys,” he said, “will tease you for a bit, but don’t you take any notice of them. There is nothing really bad at their hearts.”
“Thank you,” said Sandie; “I’ll try to take your advice.”
By-and-bye the young men began to arrive in swarms, and Sandie at once became the centre of attraction. It must be confessed that Sandie’s clothes, if not decidedly countrified, were not over fashionable.
“Hullo, Geordie,” cried one fellow, rushing up and seizing Sandie by the hand; “man, I’m awfu’ glaid to see you.” ”

“ Among these is a young girl of about sixteen, so innocently beautiful that many an opera-glass is turned towards her by the students—who as a class are by no means shy. She sits by the side of an elderly clergyman with mild blue eyes and a pleasant smile. The girl is Maggie May, the gentleman her father. Next her on the other side is Elsie herself, flanked by Willie Munro. She too is beautiful, and commands a greater share of attention than she desires, for more than once the colour suffuses her face, and she feels anything but happy. ”

“ If the fishing should be good, there was no doubt about making money, for they were not only paid good wages, but a certain percentage on the takes or crans.
There was no great hurry, so Willie and Sandie sauntered about for hours, looking at the strange and busy scene, which was so unlike anything they had ever witnessed before.
Not only young men had swarmed into the town, but modest-looking young lassies too. These latter would be employed in gutting the herring, in salting them, and packing them in barrels for the Southern markets. ”

“ Besides, we are still among them. We must not hulloo till we are out of the wood.”
Very little sail, comparatively speaking, could now be carried, for to a sailing ship the passage of the Straits presents dangers innumerable.
But to those days, so bright and clear, succeed nights of inky darkness and silence, a darkness that the light streaming from the binnacle, or upwards from the dead-lights, seemed to pierce as with arrows of gold.
There was a mystery, nay, even a strange fascination to Sandie—who was deeply imbued with romance and superstition—in nights like these. ”

“ THE LOVE-DARG—THE BALL AT KILBUIE Home with Sandie to his rural residence went Willie Munro. Willie had invited himself. Willie would not be denied. It was all in vain that Sandie had told him flatly that he would be a stranger to all luxury, that he would have to live on milk, oatmeal, sheep’s-head broth, and new-laid eggs, and sleep in a closet not big enough to swing a cat in.
“I don’t care,” cried Willie determinedly; “I’m going. Rural fare will be a delightful change, and I don’t want to swing a cat, so I’m going, Sandie. ”