Lindy

“ Such spirits are indeed few. God lends them to earth for but a short time; and we should entertain them well, for, though they come in forms unrecognized, yet must we, despite the guise of humanity, do reverence to the shrined seraph. This boy now became to me an object of more intense interest. I felt assured, by the power of that magnetic glance, that he was not unacquainted with the facts of Lindy's flight. ”

“ We’ll be leaving the lad up in the air, so to speak.”
“Ignore that ape,” said Captain Bill, “and proceed.”
“Lindbergh didn’t listen to them. He just went ahead and did what he thought was right, and by golly, he was right. It makes a fellow feel that even if he is young he can do things. He doesn’t just have to sit around and do what everybody else has done before. There’s got to be a first every time. Lindy wasn’t afraid just because nobody had ever flown the Atlantic alone before, and the wiseacres said that it couldn’t be done. ”

“ I couldn't exaggerate Lindy if I tried. And if you imagine it's cheerin' to have a human being as humble as all that around, you're mistaken. Kind of made me feel as if I was a slave driver crackin' the whip.
And there wa'n't any special reason that I could see for her actin' that way. Outside of her clothes, she wa'n't such a freak. That is, she wa'n't deformed, or anything like that. ”

“ You sees dese old legs is gettin' right stiff; dese jints ain't limber like Jake and Dan's dar, yet I tink, Masser, I did de bestest, an' I ought to hab a leetle drap de most, please, sar."
"Come, 'long, come 'long, boys, arter we stores dis gal away I'll gib you yer dram."
There had stood poor Lindy, never once looking up, crestfallen, broken in heart, and bruised in body, awaiting a painful punishment, scarce hoping to escape with life and limb. Striking her a blow with his huge riding-whip, Mr. Peterkin shouted, "off with you to the lock-up!" ”

“ Lindsay never married, I believe,’ said Miss Mowbray.
‘No; he has no relations nearer than’—‘nearer than I am,’ he was going to have said; but he stopped and substituted—‘nearer than nephews and nieces.’
‘And he has plenty of them, I suppose? All Scotch people seem to have so many relations; it is quite bewildering.’
‘Uncle James is my father’s uncle, you understand,’ said Alec; ‘and there are only two in our family, my sister and I; that is not so very many.’
‘No. But have you really a sister?’ exclaimed Laura, turning round so as to face her companion for an instant. ”

“ She listened for the postman’s ring, and, crossing the hall apparently by chance, said to the servant who had answered the door-bell:
‘Is that letter for Mr. Lindsay?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then you may give it to me. I am going to his room now.’
On reaching the old man’s bedroom, she closed the door softly behind her, and going up to him with swift, noiseless steps, she said:
‘Dr. Mackenzie and James have gone out, uncle; and Miss Lindsay is asleep; so I have come to you for company. Do you mind my sitting here half an hour, while nurse goes to supper? ”

“ And Alec looked as if he meant to have his way, whether it pleased Mr. William Beattie or not.
Beattie was half inclined to laugh in the other’s face, and yet he was impressed in spite of himself. In one moment he had mentally run over the circumstances again. It was one of his maxims never to make an enemy if he could help it. Was it worth while making an enemy of young Lindsay? True, he saw no way in which Lindsay could injure him—things were rather the other way. But he might be a rich and influential man some day. ”

“ Lindsay. ‘I think I will go with you, and go on to Netherburn about those tiles.’
‘I wish you would come with us, Maggie,’ said Alec. ‘Father will be passing the loch on his way back in half an hour, and he can pick you up and bring you home. The drive will do you good.’
To this arrangement Margaret consented, and early next morning the little party set out in the keen wintry air. The sun, not long risen, was making the snow sparkle on the fields, and turning the desolate scene into fairyland. ”

“ Lindsay, in a feeble tone. ‘The whole world will know soon enough. But don’t blame me, lads, after I am gone, I did it for the best. God knows, I did it for the best.’
And Semple, having received permission to stay in the room, walked over to the window.
‘We must get two witnesses,’ said Alec, drawing the will from its envelope. ‘Marks and the cook will do.’
‘The will had better be read first,’ put in Dr. Mackenzie. ‘There’s no need for the servants knowing its contents.’
‘True,’ said Mr. Lindsay; and Alec, standing at the old man’s bedside, began to read in a clear firm tone. ”

“ Linden's attention; men whose boys were at the school; and who now in various states of gratification, but all gratified, came one after another to grasp his hand and thank him for the good he had done and was doing them.
"You're the first man, sir," said one, a broad-shouldered, tall, strong man, with a stern reserved face,—"you're the first man that has been able to make that boy of mine—Phil—attend to anything, or go to school regular. He talks hard sometimes,—but you do what you like with him, Mr. Linden! I give you my leave. He's smart, and he aint a bad boy, at heart ”

“ Did you ever see a perfectly beautiful woman, Sophy? I doubt it. I never did till I saw Margaret Lindsay. I was so astonished to see a lady at the Castle Farm that I positively stared at the girl for a moment, but she came forward and shook hands with the utmost self-possession.
‘I’m afraid you have had a cold drive, Mr. Blake,’ she said; and though she spoke in a very decidedly Scotch accent, the words did not sound so harshly from her lips as they had done when spoken by her father. For the first time I thought that the Doric might have an agreeable sound. ”

“ Lindsay’s house was already for her a thing of the past. What the future had in store for her she had no means of guessing. A cousin of her mother’s, who had married a Mr. Crosby, had offered her a home, and she had accepted the offer. Of Mr. Crosby she only knew that he was a coal merchant, and that he lived at Richmond Villa, Brighton. He might be a poor man, or he might be well-to-do; though from the fact that Mrs. Crosby had accepted Laura’s proposal to pay her sixty pounds a year for her board and lodging, it might be supposed that the Crosbys were not rich. ”

“ What a good thing it was that she had not committed [Pg 89] herself definitely to Semple! But Alec—would he ever come back to her? She remembered only too well the look in his face when he met her outside Mr. Lindsay’s bedroom door with the will in her hand.
Yet, if he were the victim of a plot, and if she were to deliver him from the snare in which he had been taken, surely gratitude would make him turn to her then! And she would be a good wife to him; faithful, and true, and loving. How happy they might be! And the girl’s eyes softened as the idea crossed her mind. ”

“ A man whom she did not recognise joined Semple. They seemed to have been travelling by the same train without knowing it. The two men passed her, walking slowly on account of the crowd, and conversing together as they went.
‘And Alec Lindsay is ill?’ she heard Semple say to his companion.
‘Yes; a bad cold, he says. I hope he won’t be able to leave the house for a week,’ was the reply.
‘Why?’
‘Ah! you don’t understand. You think we are in sight of land. Not yet. In fact——’
Laura could hear no more, for Semple and Beattie (who was his companion) had passed her. But her curiosity was excited. ”

“ If he had lingered a minute or two longer he would have heard Miss Lindsay’s voice calling out in some anxiety, and Laura Mowbray’s silvery accents replying:
‘Yes; here I am, Miss Lindsay—it is so much cooler out of doors. My headache is almost quite gone, thank you; the cool sea-breeze has driven it away. How did you enjoy your party? How I wish I could have gone with you!’
But before Laura reached the house, Alec was once more far out in the loch. He wished to be alone, to indulge the sweet intoxication which was burning in his veins. ”

“ And so it is, all the world over. I should think myself very hardly used by fortune, if I had to live alone in a grimy city for six months on five-and-thirty pounds, and had to get up every day before dawn to grind away at Latin and Greek; yet here is young Lindsay with his blue eyes ready to leap out of his head with excitement and delight at the bare prospect of it! It is a curious world. But I must look after my packing; for in order to reach Glasgow to-morrow, we must be stirring long before daylight. Till we meet, then,
Your affectionate cousin ”

“ Alec waited till they came up, and then he said:
‘I have borrowed Mr. Fraser’s light skiff; suppose we all go for a row? You can row one skiff and I the other,’ he added, turning to Semple.
‘Oh, delightful!’ cried Laura. ‘It is just the evening for a row. You will come, Miss Lindsay, won’t you?’
‘I have no objections,’ said Margaret, quite indifferently.
Laura turned and ran into the house for wraps, while a rather awkward silence fell upon the rest of the party. ”

“ Lindsay.
I protested again that I could find my way perfectly well, and moved off, while Alec turned into the field with a set look about his mouth that was not pleasant to see.
The cause of the discontent I had seen in the lad’s face was plain enough now. He is treated like a child, as if he had no mind or will of his own. I wonder how the boy will turn out. It seems to me a toss-up; or rather, the chances are that he will break away altogether, and ruin himself.
I went on my way to the bank of the river, by the side of a double row of Scotch firs. ”

“ How can you decide on a point that must lie between each man and his Maker?’
‘Because I have asked them,’ answered Alec. ‘Each chooses his own road. Some differ from the orthodox Presbyterian belief on one point, some on another, but none hold it in its entirety.’
‘There are many non-essential points,’ began the minister; but he was not sorry that at this point the door opened, and Miss Lindsay, followed by Laura, entered the room.
Presently luncheon was announced, and Semple, who was just then paying one of his frequent visits from Glasgow, joined the others on their way to the dining-room. ”

“ Lindsay,’ said the girl, with a little laugh.
‘I don’t want to be educated!’ said Alec stoutly. ‘I think half the things here are coarse, stupid daubs, and half the rest are pretty, but senseless. They have no meaning. They don’t help you to love beauty or nature more—not one bit.’
‘Pray, sir,’ said a caustic voice behind Alec, ‘did you ever try to paint a picture?’
An old man, with keen black eyes, deep-set under bushy gray eyebrows, was the speaker. ”

“ Lindo obeyed, being only too glad of the help thus given him; for though the men seemed to move about with ease and certainty, he could make out nothing but shapeless gloom. “Now you sit right down there,” continued the collier, when they had moved a few yards, “and you will get the sight of your eyes in a bit.”
He did as he was bid, and one by one the objects about him became visible. His first feeling was one of astonishment. He had put a quarter of a mile of solid earth between himself and the sunlight, and yet, for all he could see, he might be merely in a cellar under a street. ”

“ Hatchett, who had brought the will in the pocket of his overcoat, made a formal search among James Lindsay’s papers for another testament. He was still busy in the library when Miss Lindsay and Laura entered the dining-room.
Miss Mowbray walked slowly, with downcast eyes. She knew that her mourning dress was very becoming to her, and she secretly determined to be often in mourning, or half-mourning, at least, in the future. Dr. Mackenzie met the two ladies, and conducted Laura to a seat; while Mr. Carnegie, an old acquaintance of Miss Lindsay’s, came forward and led her to a chair. ”

“ Mackenzie out for the evening, and yet be in my uncle’s room when the post comes in, to see what he does with the paper.’
‘It is a difficulty; but you must try to find a way out of it. Come now, Semple, you have plenty of brains. Is there no one in the house that will help you?’
‘No one—unless—I might try it,’ he added, as if speaking to himself.
‘Is it of any use to try to get Alec Lindsay on our side? ”

“ In another moment we were off, the sturdy old mare between the shafts carrying us along at a very fair pace.
There are some people, Sophy, who wear their characters written on their faces, and Alec Lindsay is one of them. I could see, even as we drove together along that solitary lane in the autumn twilight, that his was a frank, ingenuous nature, shy, sensitive, and reserved. I mean that his shyness made him reserved, but his thoughts and feelings showed themselves in his face without his knowing it, so little idea had he of purposely concealing himself. Such a face is always interesting ”

“ But Laura was not satisfied with this. If he would only turn and look at her! But he stood there, gazing at the red embers without seeing them.
‘Surely,’ thought Laura, ‘he has not ceased to love me? He is not one who easily forgets.’
‘Won’t you sit down?’ she said gently. But he did not seem to hear her. She was determined that he should speak.
‘Miss Lindsay is going north sooner than she intended,’ she said, almost sharply. ”

“ A very fair sum. Enough to be the foundation of a first-rate fortune,’ And with this pleasant thought in his mind he set out for Theobald’s Road.
Mr. Hatchett was before him that morning, and was busy opening letters when he arrived.
‘There’s a note from that Mr. Lindsay whom you saw last night,’ said the solicitor, tossing it across the table. ‘He wants his nephew to draw his will. He can do it, I suppose?’
Beattie stood with the note in his hand without answering. ”