Sir Donald

“ The king, Baldy, and the cobbler took the road towards Stirling, and Sir Donald spread out his troop to intercept traffic in that direction. Advancing toward the bewildered crowd, Sir Donald spoke to them.
“You will go quietly to your homes,” he said. [Pg 183] “You have not seen the hanging, but you have witnessed to-day what none in Scotland ever saw before, the king intervene personally to save a doomed man; therefore, be satisfied, and go home.” ”

“ Evidently it was just the same story; no work to be had; or if there was work, it was struggled for by a score of fellows, with age, character, and experience to back them, and Donald had none of the three. But he had one quality, the root of all success in the end, dogged perseverance.
There is a saying, that we British gain our victories, not because we are never beaten, but because we never will see that we are beaten, and so go on fighting till we win. "Never say die," was Donald's word to his mother night after night. ”

“ No joy without the clan Donald. Loud was the sound of their thunder, This race so wise and faithful, Though now they be reproached, There is no joy without the clan Donald. This people so great in fame, In courtesy, mind, and firmness, There is no right without them, There is no joy without the clan Donald. The son of his virgin mother, Who hath earned for us freedom from pain, Though he be faithful and true, There is no joy without the clan Donald. There is no joy. ”

“ Sir Donald's tall, manly figure was singularly striking, especially in old age. A man of shrewdness and sagacity, of large and broad ideas, energetic, tenacious of purpose, and pious, he was a staunch friend and a genial companion. He died on 13 April 1909 at the Manor House, Sidmouth, Devonshire, and was buried in the churchyard of Fortingal, beside his Highland home. A sculptured Iona cross of granite, ten feet in height, was placed above the grave in 1910.
Currie was married in 1851 to Margaret, daughter of John Miller of Liverpool and Ardencraig, Bute, who survived him. ”

“ Nature was very kind to Donald. He had ready wit, a quick invention, an excellent address, an uncommon degree of firmness of mind, strength of body, and activity. Those qualities rendered him a fit leader of a chosen band in those restless and warlike times. ”

“ Pitt's politic genius, serving in our army. It is no surprise to me who have commanded a body of clansmen for a fortnight in the back-end of a retreat.
Donald was a very jewel of a man. He was servant, sergeant, nurse, and companion, and unbeatable in all capacities. My wound had given me more trouble than I expected, even though Mr. Bamford had told me that one of the larger arteries was injured. Once or twice since, as occasion served, a doctor had dressed it, but it was Donald's incessant care that did most for it. ”

“ And na wi' young Donald had gone."
"Yere welcome hame, Sir Donald;
Yere welcome hame to me;
Yere welcome hame, Sir Donald,
And your bonny young lady wi' ye."
"Ye call na me Sir Donald,
But ca me Donald your son."
"Rise up, Lizzie Lindsay,
You have lain too long in the day;
You might have helped my mother
To milk her goats and her kye."
Out it spake Lizzie Lindsay,
The tear blinket her eye;
"The ladies o' Edinburgh city
They neither milk goats nor kye." ”

“ He did not, indeed, propose to surrender to Cumberland's troops, but he asked Donald to carry letters for him to his own chief, MacLeod, and to Sir Alexander MacDonald of Sleat. These men were on the Government side, but he believed that they would do everything in their power for his safety. Donald replied that his life was at the Prince's command, but that nothing would induce him thus to reveal his whereabouts. "Does not your Excellency know that these men have played the rogue to you altogether, and will you trust them for a' that? ”

“ You see, Sir Donald is not a very young man, and so has less to lose. He has no one to please but himself, and so can't hurt anybody's feelings of consequence to him. Then he is an art-collector and dilettante, and has a reputation for eccentricity, so can do with impunity many things that in anybody else would set Mrs. Grundy rampant. Added to all this, he is a man about town of no very exalted moral standard. He has never in his life denied himself a thing he wanted ”

“ On Donald, the language was, of course, utterly lost—he did not comprehend a word of it; but not so the indications of a friendly disposition [Pg 161] to which we have alluded; these he at once appreciated, and they had the effect of allaying his wrath a little, and inducing him to make another attempt at a little civil colloquy.
“Well,” said Donald, now somewhat more calmly, “I was shust ask you a ceevil question, an’ you laugh in my face, which is not ceevil. In my country we don’t do that to anybody, far less a stranger. ”

“ Had they discovered trace of Daniels and O'Brien? Had Donald sent for his men? Question after question rose before me, but I could only guess desperately at the answers. I had nothing to hope for from Calvert Dunn, nor had I perceived any signs of sympathy in the deep-set eyes of his father, but Big Donald was a stronger character than either, and had impressed me much more favorably. Well, it was like the tossing up of a coin, and it was not likely to be long before I learned their decision. Every hour of delay might aid me. ”

“ The duty, the privilege, the joy of mingling with the great congregation in united voice and heart to bless the Creator's name, all this I urged with passionate entreaty.
"Oh, Donald," I cried at last, forgetting his seventy years and the title those years deserved, "come back, come back, man, to the fountain at which you drank with joy long years ago! Oh, Donald, it is springing yet, and its living waters are for you. Years have not quenched their holy stream, nor changed the loving heart of Him who feeds them. Donald man, your pride is playing havoc with your soul. ”

“ While the great ship that bears Donald and Madame René to America is plowing its way across the ocean, we who are on dry land may look into the home at Lakewood.
Uncle George and the two girls have just come in from a twilight walk; the glow of exercise is on their faces, and they are merry, not because anything funny has been seen or said, but because their hearts are full of joy. Donald is coming home.
Down stairs in the housekeeper's pleasant sitting-room are a pair of old friends, and if you could open the door without being seen you would hear two familiar voices. ”

“ And throughout the glad years of his fatherhood, with the stern piety of his race and his faith, he had knelt night and morning beside his bed and prayed his God to help him not to make a fool of Donald—to keep Donald from making a fool of himself.
When Donald entered Princeton, his father decided upon an experiment. He had raised his boy right, and trained him for the race of life, and now The Laird felt that, like a thoroughbred horse, his son faced the barrier. ”

“ I nodded acquiescence, for it is a favourite theory of mine that a man is born of his grandparents just as much as of his father and his mother; they are equally responsible, I hold, but have the advantage of an earlier retreat.
It was Donald's great delight to recount the fighting stories of his highland ancestors. In all that bloody reel he joined again with joy. The slightest reference to it, and Donald was off—over the hills and far away, his guid blue bonnet on his head, his burly knees as bare as the bayonet his fathers bore, and the wild skirl of the bagpipes in his heart. ”

“ He was a farmer under the Earl of Breadalbane, and his son Donald was born at the farm. When very young the sprightly Donald left his paternal home, having been enticed by the fascinating address of a recruiting serjeant to enlist in the united services of Mars and his Majesty, to the great grief of his mother, who did not survive his departure many months. Young Donald soon got discontented with his military duties ”

“ Donald was reared on the farm and received the rudiments of education in the Public school of his native parish, and subsequently pursued his studies in English and mathematics by private tuition. He became interested in politics when quite a young man, and was a strong advocate of the confederation of the provinces. ”

“ Then turning servilely towards Donald, whom he now perceived to be a stranger, 'Ye are welcome, sir, to any ale or Rhenish my poor inn affords, for ye will be a Highland grazier—yen of our best customers,' he ended in an attempt at a bow.
'Draw and defend your nainsel',' was Donald's reply.
The tall man laid his hand to his whinger at his side, and shouted to his 'man,' 'Draw, Jarret, and knife this murdering Scots villain.'
The hunchback, nothing loath, produced an evil-looking jockteleg, and hastened to his master's assistance. ”

“ On discussing the last glass of brandy—
“Now, lads,” said Donald, “I must pe going. It’s gettin late, and I must find oot my brother Tuncan Gorm, as decen’ a lad as between this and Eddernahulish.” Having said this, and paid his reckoning, Donald began shaking hands with his friends, one after the other, previous to leaving them; but his friends had no intention whatever of parting with him in this way. Donald had incautiously exposed his wealth when settling with the landlord; and of his wealth, as well as his wine, they determined on having a share. ”

“ Donald had prudence enough to perceive that any attempt to resent the insult that had been offered him—seeing that it was perpetrated by a dozen men armed with musket and bayonet—would be madness, and therefore contented [Pg 177] himself with muttering in Gaelic some expressions of high indignation and contempt. Having delivered himself to this effect, he proudly adjusted his plaid, and stalked majestically away. ”

“ I cannot help feeling worried about Donald, for, although his letter makes light of his illness, I have a troublesome presentiment that he is worse than he will acknowledge. He is the kind to spend every ounce of his wonderful vitality without thought of self, and the two and a half years during which he has been laboring so hard, and so effectively, must have drained even his great strength. Slight, wiry people are like the willows that bend easily, but return to normal quickly, after the stress of storm has ended; but, when big ones—like Donald—break, it is like the fall of a mighty oak. ”

“ Donald, you mean? Certainly not, it was most ill-advised, probably some quixotic idea about not wanting to testify against his friend. If you knew the boy you would understand what a hot-headed, harum-scarum person he is. He was my pupil at one time and I grew quite fond of him. He has ability, undoubted ability, but he is a ship without a rudder ”

“ Poor dear little mamma, she never suspected a bit."
As we walked to the museum I caught glimpses of what Donald's past life had been, learning incidentally that his father was rich, but since Donald was sixteen he had been considered a ne'er-do-well. He had gone away to sea when he was a boy, and had been third mate on a merchant ship; in a hotel in America he had been a boot-black, and just before he came to Paris he fought a drunken stoker and won a purse of five pounds. ”

“ Again Rose dashed to the door, with the cry, "Why, thet's Judd Amos; I knows his call."
Without reason or warning Donald experienced a quick tightening about his heart, the absurdity of which caused him to smile. What on earth was it to him if this mountain child's color heightened a shade at a familiar call in a masculine voice?
The next instant a tall youth, as lean and sinewy as an Indian, stumbled into the room, with his rough coat about his head, and water streaming from his drenched clothing and the barrel of a gun, which was every whit as modern and efficient as Donald's own. ”

“ Their conversation shall be translated here, however.
"Have you ever seen this before, sir?" asked Donald, taking the precious necklace from the box and handing it to him over the little counter.
"No," answered the shop-keeper, shaking his head as he took the trinket. "Ah! that is very pretty. No, not a very old chain. It is modern, but very odd—very fine—unique, we say. Here are letters," as he turned the clasp and examined its under side. "What are they? They are so small. Your young eyes are sharp. Eh?" Here Monsieur bent his head and looked inquiringly at Donald from over his spectacles. ”

“ Donald walked back to the hotel lightly as though treading the air. Everything looked bright to him. Havre, he perceived, was one of the most delightful cities in the world. He felt like sending a cable message home about the chain, but on second thought resolved to be cautious. It would not do to raise hopes that might yet be disappointed. It was just possible that after that visit to Monsieur Bajeau, his mother, for some reason, had transferred the necklace to baby Delia's neck. He would wait. His work was not yet finished ”

“ I can answer for myself—but how soon my letter is received, I beg remittance. You’ll think all this very strange, and confus’d, but I assure you, there you’l soon hear of a hurly Burly; but I will see my friend or that can happen. I wish I had the Highland pistoles. If Donald wants mony, pray give him. He is to come with a Shoot of Close to me, when I receive Credit. I will run at least tow Hundred leagues post. You’l hear from me when I write to my friend. ”

“ He then explained to his relations what had occurred, and did not fail to give Donald’s promptitude and courage a due share of his laudations. With a gratitude not less earnest than his own had been, the mother and sister of Don Antonio took Donald by the [Pg 185] hand; the one taking the right, and the other the left, and, looking in his face, with an expression of the utmost kindness, thanked him for the great obligation he had conferred on them. These thanks were expressed in Spanish ”