AMELIA E-BARR
 
 
 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 THYRA VARRICK
 
 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 A Love Story 
 
 BY 
 
 AMELIA E. JBARR 
 
 Auttor of " Trinity Bells," " The 
 
 Bow of Orange Ribbon/' 
 
 etc. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 LEE WOODWARD ZE1GLER 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 J. F. TAYLOR & COMPANY 
 1903
 
 COPYRIGHT, igOZ, BY 
 AMELIA E. BARR 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY 
 J. F. TAYLOR AND 
 COMPANY, NEW YORK 
 
 Published April, 1903
 
 r-s 
 
 I6 
 
 T+ 
 
 I Inscribe 'This Book 
 
 To 
 
 My Dear Children 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Edward A. Munro 
 
 THE AUTHOR 
 
 6341 92
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. " The Land of Hills and Glens and Heroes," . i 
 
 II. " Lovely Thyra Varrick," 33 
 
 III. A Daughter of Concealment, .... 64 
 
 IV. Love is Love Forever More, .... 82 
 V. Paul Varrick Proposes, Thyra Varrick Disposes, 97 
 
 VI. The Alternative Robert or India, . . .118 
 
 VII. Between Two Lovers, 140 
 
 VIII. The Forbidden Marriage 163 
 
 IX. Back to the Old Love, 186 
 
 X. Thyra Varrick Runs Away, .... 213 
 
 XI. Welcome Royal Charlie! 241 
 
 XII. All is Well with the Child, 266 
 
 XIII. Thyra Goes Back to Orkney 291 
 
 XIV. Thyra's Marriage, 315 
 
 XV. Two-and-Twenty Years, and More, . . . 336
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 The ashes* * * still lying there, . (page 299), Frontispiece 
 " Children of Clan Argall. There is news," . Page 12 
 
 He was spellbound, "49 
 
 With face uplifted "no 
 
 The two went silently to the boat together, . . " 136 
 
 His hand went to his dirk, " 174 
 
 The man was in his power " 192 
 
 "Gentlemen! A MacDonald!" " 199 
 
 Welcome, Roy al Charlie ! " 260 
 
 The strath was full of shadowy men, ..." 271 
 She fell on her knees, ......" 284 
 
 Good will and blessings were showered on them, " 335
 
 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 " The Land of Hills and Glens and Heroes " 
 
 THE house of MacArgall stood on the slope 
 of a mountain overlooking the loneliest valley 
 in the north of Scotland. A labyrinth of 
 gigantic hills surrounded it, shutting out the world 
 more and more at every step, until it seemed 
 an impossibility either to go further or to go 
 back. But the barrier once passed, the vista opened 
 out into a deep valley and wild tracts of moor 
 land; and then the great gray house standing on 
 the side of Ben Argall was startlingly distinct. It 
 was built of the rocks lying abundantly around ; great 
 blocks of granite mortared together so thoroughly 
 that the storms of five centuries had left no trace on 
 its solid masonry. Bare and firm as a rock, it stood ; 
 a look of defiance on its front, and an air of something 
 sorrowful and implacable in its aspect. 
 
 The mountain rose steeply from the back of the 
 house ; first a stately belt of firs, terminating in juni 
 per, and great bowlders edged with heather ; and then 
 the bare crags where the ravens built ; and still higher
 
 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 up, the tremendous peaks, where the eagles reared 
 their young. Not far away from the house were many 
 small stone huts, built into the clefts of the mountain, 
 and attracting attention only by the aperture of the 
 door, or by the smoke ascending from the opening in 
 their roofs. These were the homes of the clansmen, 
 and from them, at the sound of MacArgall's horn, 
 they poured four hundred strong into the great court 
 which sloped from the front of the house down to the 
 strath or valley of Argall. 
 
 At the time this story opens, the head of Clan Mac- 
 Argall was Chief Murdo Maximus MacArgall, the 
 eighth of his name ; a man of great age, but full of 
 the fire of youth; a ruddy, tall, wrinkled giant, with 
 something Scythian and restless, drawing him to end 
 less antagonism with the world around him a fighter 
 because he loved to fight, and full of that self-appre 
 ciation which could sincerely say, " I do not know a 
 better man than myself." 
 
 He was walking about the large central hall of his 
 house one afternoon in the spring of 1745. The land 
 was lonelier than ruin, but even so, the long strath 
 wore a halo of dandelions, and on the young grass a 
 thousand cattle were straying and feeding. So he 
 rested at the open window watching them, wondering 
 the while how soon his drovers could start southward 
 with their lots of beasts. The sunshine fell on his 
 mighty form, on his white hair and strong face, on the 
 Jacobite tartan he wore; and glinting on his dirk
 
 "THE LAND OF HILLS" 3 
 
 showed on its handle the large silver " S," for Stuart, 
 in the open-work of its hilt. All his garments were 
 large and free, and his checkered hose bound not his 
 stride, for they did not reach his knee by a span. 
 
 The sight of the spring and the cattle was pleas 
 ant to him, and his thoughts were vivid and hopeful, 
 but his molesting temper could not let him be at rest. 
 In a few minutes he turned impatiently and cast his 
 eyes upon a young man and a young woman who were 
 sitting at the upper end of the hall. The woman was 
 threading a string of beads made of transparent gold 
 en-brown crystals of the Cairngorm mountains; the 
 young man was reading a book. Their occupations 
 were alike trivial and idle in the Chief's estimation, and 
 he spoke with an imperious sharpness as he turned : 
 
 " Revan, this is no reading time. Are you a clerk 
 or a priest ? You have five fingers on each hand, were 
 they made to handle bits of paper ? " and he lifted the 
 claymore that lay upon the table, and let it fall again 
 with an angry clang. 
 
 " Father of my father," answered the young man 
 respectfully, " do not fret yourself. When it is the 
 hour of the sword, my five fingers will quiver for the 
 sword ; then the book will fall from them. I am put 
 ting the time past with the tale of Conan." 
 
 " Humf-f-f ! Then learn a lesson from Conan, and 
 let your kindness to your enemies be like the kindness 
 of Conan to the demons cuff for cuff, and claw for 
 claw."
 
 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " I am sunwise [ready] for everything." 
 
 " You are not sunwise. 'Twere better you were on 
 the hills counting the herds, than sitting here reading 
 of the Conan. I was a prince among the beasts at 
 your age. Lachlan, and Clythe, and Tavis might 
 teach you something, if you would only listen to 
 them." 
 
 " Do you wish Revan to be a drover, grandfather ? " 
 asked the girl. " Let him alone. He is doing well ; " 
 and she put her elbows on the arm of her chair and 
 swung the string of beads to and fro in the sunshine. 
 As she did so she looked from them to the Chief, and 
 he caught her glance and smile and grew uncertain 
 and uneasy, and turning to the open door again, took 
 out his snuff-box and tapped on its golden lid some 
 thing he could not bring his tongue to utter. Then 
 the girl let her beads fall to her lap, and with a glance 
 of sympathetic intelligence said softly : " Revan ! " 
 and Revan answered only : " Sara ! " The word was 
 full of tenderness, and he put aside his book and sat 
 smiling and looking at his sister. 
 
 She was conscious of his admiration and pleased to 
 look lovely in his eyes. She began to thread her beads 
 again, and he watched her movements with delight; 
 for though some might have denied her beauty, none 
 could ignore her charm. She was small, with an un 
 commonly slender waist and upright carriage of the 
 head, and her abundant hair was of that shimmering 
 brown which has the effect of a halo, and her com-
 
 "THE LAND OF HILLS" 5 
 
 plexion was delicate and blooming as a rose. She 
 had the beauty of opening flowers, their softness and 
 sweetness, but withal a gravity and clear austerity of 
 mind that was akin to physical light. For Sara Mac- 
 Argall had a spiritual nature of extreme sensibility, 
 evidenced by eyes of that weird blue that can see 
 visions. At times her whole face had this ultra-ter 
 restrial charm, but usually the mystical aspiration of 
 her nature was dominated by the passionate directness 
 of a woman of the world, who regarded daily life and 
 its duties as matters of imperative importance. 
 
 Her brother Revan resembled her in some respects ; 
 in others he differed widely. He had a towering form 
 crowned with the same beautiful shining hair; great 
 mental and physical vigor, blunt speech, and an icy 
 cold expression, with every now and then a look of 
 fire. His dress was simple, if compared with the 
 splendor of the grandfather's; and was remarkable 
 in that he wore the tartan of his clan, rather than the 
 Jacobite one assumed by his Chief. But he was not 
 insensible to fine clothing, for as he looked at Sara, 
 he recognized a richness in her attire which had also 
 the added charm of novelty. 
 
 " This is a beautiful gown, Sara," he said, drawing 
 his chair close to her, and touching gently the soft, 
 rich silk. " Who could have thought that pale green 
 would have become you so completely? It is like the 
 tender green sheath of a rose." 
 
 " Aunt Athol brought me it ; many other pretty
 
 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 gowns also a box full of lovely things. But I did 
 not open the lid until this morning, because aunt was 
 too weary to help me ; and I could not deprive her of 
 the pleasure of seeing my gratitude." 
 
 " That is like you. I wonder what brought our 
 aunt over the mountains at this time ! It was a great 
 journey to take." 
 
 " I have not been motive hunting. Say that she 
 wanted to see our grandfather. He is her brother, 
 and the last of her household that is on the sword- 
 side ; there are women, but there is no man left of her 
 father's sons, save her brother Murdo." 
 
 " I know, but grandfather goes once every year to 
 see her." 
 
 " I ask not why she came. She is ever welcome for 
 herself, and she always brings with her a sough of the 
 great, good world, beyond these mountains." 
 
 " Then you think the great world is a good world? " 
 
 " Yes. I shall never forget the four years I spent 
 with Aunt Athol in Edinburgh. They were a ro 
 mance, a tale better and stranger than any the clans 
 men tell of the olden time." 
 
 As she spoke she was listening, and she added, with 
 a smile, " I hear Aunt Athol coming ; rise, Revan ! " 
 
 Then the young man went to a door and opened it 
 and, bowing and offering his hand, led Lady Atholia 
 Gordon into the room. She was the youngest and 
 only living sister of the Chief ; a tall, stately woman, 
 about sixty years old, with a fresh, handsome face
 
 "THE LAND OF HILLS" 7 
 
 full of good humor and shrewd common-sense. A coif 
 of white lace covered her hair, her gown was of violet 
 silk, and she carried a long ivory cane, though she had 
 not the least real necessity for it. 
 
 " Children," she said cheerfully, " a good day to 
 you ! Brother, is it well with you ? " 
 
 " When you are here, it is always well, Athol." 
 Then he took her to the open door, and pointed out 
 the drovers urging the cattle closer, and the quick- 
 springing grass, which would make the southward 
 journey for them near at hand. And as he said this, 
 he looked into his sister's face with an intelligence she 
 understood, for she asked softly: 
 
 " Coming from the north and west, will the roads 
 now be passable? " 
 
 " Men who want to pass over them can find a way ; 
 men not sure of their hearts may have stumbling 
 feet." 
 
 " You are still on the same side, Murdo? " 
 
 " There is only one side to me." 
 
 " Right or unright? " 
 
 " Right or unright, I am on the same side for 
 ever." 
 
 " You are a good man." 
 
 " There are worse than me at times." Then he 
 left her, and went striding down the strath, and she 
 watched him a few moments, while a shadow of sad 
 ness passed over her face. The brooding power of 
 the great hills, the murmur of running waters, the
 
 8 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 silence, and pastoral melancholy filled her soul with 
 prayer. 
 
 " Bring my chair into the open, Revan," she said ; 
 " the wind streams out of the mountains like living 
 water. And oh, children, the mountains themselves! 
 They are like a great stairway going up to the skies. 
 You lose sight of the ordinaries of life as you look at 
 them. I wonder if they did reach as far as heaven, 
 how many of us would try to win over the heights and 
 depths of such a fearsome road ! " 
 
 " I would try it joyfully, even if I perished in the 
 effort," said Sara. 
 
 " That would be just impossible, my little lambie. 
 No perishing on that road ; for the good Shepherd 
 would be everywhere ; both down in the depths and 
 up on the heights. He is the ' Way.' " 
 
 There was no answer to this remark. Sara looked 
 far off, and far upward to the mystical stairway of 
 mountains ; and Revan sat with his arms on his knees 
 and his head dropped thoughtfully forward, putting 
 his thumbs and forefingers together. The sensitive 
 pause was broken by Lady Gordon, who asked in a 
 tone of solicitude : 
 
 " When shall we have more news ? I can see the 
 anxiety of the Chief; he is very near the end of 
 patience." 
 
 "Hector MacDonald should have been here five 
 weeks ago. His delay means evil. Something has 
 gone wrong, or this house and strath had now been full
 
 "THE LAND OF HILLS" 9 
 
 of fighting men," said Revan. " The meeting at the 
 sign of ' The Blue Bell ' was trysted for the twenty- 
 fourth of last month. The tryst is broken; we can 
 only wait for the reason." 
 
 As he spoke there came down the strath a long, 
 clear whistle, which they heard the Chief instantly 
 answer. 
 
 " Hector has come at last," said Sara joyously. 
 She stood up and waved her scarf, and Lady Gordon 
 also rose; but Revan hurried down the steep path to 
 meet whatever news was coming. 
 
 It was not good news. That was plain enough to 
 the two women before they heard a murmur of it. 
 The Chief's passionate voice and carriage, and Re- 
 van's air of reserve or dejection, told some story of 
 defeat and disappointment. But as the men came 
 closer it was evident that the messenger was not him 
 self much troubled. He said afterward, he had had 
 his fit of despair, and that invincible hope had only 
 grown stronger in it. Certainly at this hour joy was 
 the master emotion; he gazed at Sara with a lover's 
 adoration, and was not then conscious of anything in 
 life to make him miserable. 
 
 Travel-stained and weary with his long tramp 
 through the mountain passes, he was nevertheless 
 singularly attractive. He wore the splendid scarlet 
 and black tartan of the MacDonalds, and on his black 
 hair the picturesque Glengarry with the noble ensign of 
 an eagle's feather in it. A soldier every inch of him,
 
 io THYRA VARRICK 
 
 with all his good qualities in evidence: the handsome 
 face, the cheerful temperament, the aristocratic man 
 ner of one born to command, the brightness of fiery 
 youth, the black mustache soft as silk, shading lips 
 full and tender. His faults were less obvious, for 
 they were of that negative order held in abeyance, 
 until circumstances develop them. He was never as 
 great as he led people to imagine he would be. He 
 was self-indulgent, and not able to practice any self- 
 denial. Faithful unto death where his clan's tradi 
 tions, or his political opinions were concerned ; he was 
 not faithful to his feelings; and after all has been 
 said, it is feeling which lies at the foundation of every 
 man and woman, and which makes them individual. 
 Male and female friends alike called him fickle, and 
 very likely with good reason. 
 
 But he came into the melancholy old hall like a 
 shaft of sunshine. He brought movement and speech 
 with him. Life that had seemed half dead was sud 
 denly alert, noisy, busy. A score of men were run 
 ning hither and thither, preparing his room, cleaning 
 his clothing, hastening the meal, setting the table, 
 bringing in wood for the fire. Somewhere near, the 
 pipes began to play; and though the clan quickly 
 understood that young Hector had not brought good 
 news, the music was the defiant march of MacDonald, 
 " Gainsay Who Dare." 
 
 As the Chief took his place at the table, Dugald, 
 the piper of MacArgall, proudly entered with the fa-
 
 "THE LAND OF HILLS" n 
 
 mous black chanter of his clan; a pipe whose strains 
 were said to inspire all who heard them, with more than 
 mortal courage. Round the table he marched three 
 times, filling the room with wild, passionate music. 
 Then Chief Murdo put into his hand a great silver 
 beaker full of Farintosh, and raising his own glass, 
 he stood up and cried: 
 
 " God save King James! Gainsay who dare! " 
 The enchanted pipes reiterated in frenzied crescen- 
 dos the dauntless challenge, until the room was in a 
 delirious excitement. The Chief was snapping his 
 fingers, as Highlanders do when under great emotion. 
 Lady Gordon was weeping. Sara had risen to her 
 feet, and every strand of her lovely hair seemed in 
 stinct with an individual life ; it waved, it glowed, it 
 appeared to have luminous emanations, to make a ver 
 itable glory round the fair oval face, that had grown 
 white as a lily with feeling. On the contrary, Revan 
 had utterly lost his cold appearance; his cheeks were 
 like a flame, his eyes like living furnaces, and his radi 
 ant hair had the same characteristics as his sister's. 
 Hector, quivering and noisy in his enthusiasm, urged 
 on the piper with the untranslatable vehemence of the 
 Highland battle cry" Sa! Sa! Sa! Sa! Sa! Sa! " 
 A few moments of such vivid life is all the spirit 
 will endure and be restrained in its clay tabernacle! 
 and it was well for the aged Chief that the tumult of 
 the gathering clan in the court brought a diversion of 
 feeling. They made no call on him, but he knew they
 
 12 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 would wait until he appeared. Unbonneted he went to 
 the open door, and stretched his hands out over them. 
 A soft murmur, a perfect silence, followed the action, 
 and gathering his life forces together he said : 
 
 " Children of Clan Argall. There is news, and 
 some will be saying that it is not very good news. I 
 tell you that it is very good news. Yes, indeed ! the 
 best news that has come yet. Listen to me. The 
 French King, as you well know, swore to James the 
 Seventh, as he lay dying, to stand by his son, and help 
 him to his rights. Very well; a promise made to the 
 dying must be kept, or great ill from the dead to the 
 living, and King Louis was not caring to have the ill- 
 will of the dead who would? So to make good his 
 word, he sent with our Prince Charles the great 
 Mareschal Saxe, and fifteen thousand French troops. 
 They were to land in Scotland, and we have been 
 waiting for them, more than two months. They will 
 never come. Things went black ill with them from the 
 first. The devil was in the winds and waves, and * be 
 tween the devil and the deep sea,' and the English 
 navy, they went to wreck and carrion. So far, it 
 seems to be bad news ; now comes the good of it. One 
 is here young Hector MacDonald who was with 
 Prince Charles, and who escaped with him to Paris. 
 And he brings word that Prince Charles will never 
 again look for help from the stranger. He will get 
 more gold and arms, and will come here to his own and 
 trust to our love and valor, and to no others. Then
 
 "THE LAND OF HILLS" 13 
 
 he will come to the beginning of fortune, for the 
 Highland host will bear him on their claymores to 
 Perth; they will crown him King of Scotland; they 
 will seat him in old Edina. And then we will have no 
 ' Union ' with England ; not we ! We will have our 
 own crown and scepter, and our own royal line; and 
 when I see that day, I will pray to depart in peace, 
 for I shall have seen the salvation of Scotland." 
 
 A suppressed sob, which quickly grew to a pro 
 longed shout, answered this speech, and the Chief 
 turned away and went back to his delayed meal. 
 There was obvious weariness of both flesh and spirit in 
 all, and it was only fitfully and gradually that con 
 versation was resumed. MacArgall eat his pea brose 
 and butter in silence, while Sara and Lady Gordon 
 drank their tea, and talked softly to each other, and 
 to Hector, about the appearance of Prince Charles. 
 But when the Chief had finished his bowl of brose, and 
 was dipping his oatcake in his toddy, Lady Gordon 
 said to him : 
 
 " Murdo, you spoke well to-night, as well as you 
 did fifty years ago and how the clan adore you! 
 Who would be a King, if he could be Chief of his 
 clan? If I was Prince Charles, I should come back as 
 Chief of Clan Stuart. But do you really think he 
 will try again next year? " 
 
 " If I did not think so, I had not said it. To Clan 
 Argall I speak nothing but the truth if I know it." 
 
 " Prince Charles will succeed where his father
 
 I 4 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 failed," said Hector. " He has what his father no 
 tably lacked conciliating and charming manners." 
 
 " His father is your King, Hector MacDonald. 
 Speak no ill of the King even in your bedchamber. 
 A man that was wiser than you said that." 
 
 " And yet Hector is right," answered Lady Gor 
 don. " My lord thought a man must love the Stuarts 
 well, to bear his presence ; and I heard you say your 
 self, Murdo, that it was hard to fight for such a 
 man." 
 
 " I will give you good-night. Blessing to you, one 
 and all, but the talk suits me not. He is the King; 
 King by grace of God I do not put my opinion be 
 fore the divine will." 
 
 Every eye was fixed on the positive old man, and 
 Revan and Hector stood up, until he closed the door. 
 After a few moments' silence they drew closer to 
 gether, and began to talk with a freedom not possible 
 in the Chief's presence. 
 
 " Children," said Lady Gordon, " it is not easy to 
 make your grandfather listen to a dissenting word; 
 and yet someone should speak to him. I came here 
 for that purpose, and I hope my few words will bring 
 certain things to his remembrance, that he ought not 
 to forget." 
 
 " Concerning the King? " asked Revan. 
 
 " Concerning the King. The chiefs * out ' in 
 Mar's Rising and the break-up in 1716 will be hard to 
 persuade * out ' again."
 
 "THE LAND OF HILLS" 15 
 
 " But they will not be asked to come out for King 
 James, but for his eldest son, Prince Charles. In the 
 course of thirty years much is forgotten, and, after 
 all, Lady Gordon, a king can do no wrong," said 
 Hector. 
 
 " The hatred and scorn King James inspired thirty 
 years ago have not been forgotten. I am not a ma 
 licious body, but my disappointment and anger is as 
 great to-day as it was when my lord went into hiding 
 after Sheriffmuir. And, Hector MacDonald, the King 
 can do wrong. From the first hour of his landing in 
 Scotland, King James made men's hearts faint and 
 sick. Lord Gordon was in the camp at Perth when he 
 entered it, on the 6th of January, 1716 ; and as soon 
 as men looked on him, their enthusiasm for the Stuarts 
 melted away. You must remember that Highlanders 
 have no belief in the divine right of kings. They 
 have always associated power with strength, wisdom, 
 and courage. Their legends are full of instances 
 where weak chieftains have been replaced by some 
 hardy, daring kinsman who could effectively lead their 
 clans to forage and victory. When King James 
 showed himself to these little kings of the Highland 
 clans, his appearance filled them with the coldness of 
 despair. They could hardly believe him to be a de 
 scendant of the heroic race of Stuart ; and they asked 
 each other if this apparition of a king could speak or 
 move." 
 
 " You are very hard on King James the Eighth,
 
 1 6 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 Aunt Athol," said Revan. " Was he indeed so physi 
 cally wanting in all good qualities ? " 
 
 " His body, always weak and shaffling, was shaken 
 by his dissipations; he had dull, lazy eyes; sallow 
 cheeks ; an imbecile smile ; slow, listless movements. He 
 was as haughty and despotic as if he was an acknowl 
 edged king with unlimited power. He answered all 
 men, and all bodies of men, in brief, chilling words, as 
 if assured authority had made the adulation of obse 
 quious subjects tiresome to him. He surrounded him 
 self with the most particular etiquette and ceremony, 
 and the number of his dinner courses created a hearty 
 contempt for him, among men who, when in arms, 
 found a little oatmeal and water sufficient." 
 
 " But I never heard his courage questioned, Lady 
 Gordon," said Hector. 
 
 " You were not born, Hector, when men's hearts 
 were burning with the shame and wrong King James 
 brought them. I was in the middle of the quarrel, for 
 I was at Perth the whole of that fateful month. I re 
 member the day this royal James was persuaded to at 
 tend a council of war ; and Lord Gordon told me after 
 it, that the King's terror of any warlike preparation 
 which would put him in danger filled the hearts 
 of the Highland chiefs with disgust and despair. 
 Lord Gordon wished, then and there, to send 
 home his clan; and Mar and other leaders began to 
 talk of retreat, as c necessary for the King's safety.' 
 Then tfrere was almost war in the camp itself. The
 
 "THE LAND OF HILLS" 17 
 
 clansmen wanted to know what they had been brought 
 to Perth for? Were they to fight like men, or fly 
 like cowards? Had their King come among them to 
 lead them in battle, or only to see how many of his 
 subjects were ready for the shambles? The grim laird 
 of Glenbucket proposed to the loyal clans to put the 
 King in their center and fight to the death 
 around him a threat which struck the direst 
 terror to the royal heart. Those who wanted 
 to fight and those who wanted to retreat were 
 at open enmity; and doubt and dismay soon 
 spread like a plague. The King had entered the camp 
 on the 16th of January ; on the 30th of January the 
 retreat began, at midnight. You know how High 
 landers melt away among their mountains; and, 
 silently and heartsick, Mar's army dispersed by hun 
 dreds, in the direction of their own particular valleys. 
 Lord Gordon sent home his clan; he himself escaped 
 through Caithness to Orkney, where he found a 
 French vessel going to Sweden ; and in Sweden he re 
 mained seven years ere I obtained a pardon for him. 
 My case was one of many. Do you think people for 
 get such experiences? " 
 
 "But had he no good qualities, Lady Gordon?" 
 asked Hector. 
 
 " He had one positive quality the bitterest, nar 
 rowest bigotry. For the rest," she said, with rising 
 anger and disdain, " he was neither Caesar nor Nullus ; 
 neither a man nor a mouse ; neither soldier nor sailor ;
 
 1 8 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 nor cardinal, without brains or bravery, made in the 
 figure of a man, but just alive, and that's all. He 
 was brought to Scotland to fight battles and lead good 
 soldiers to victory, and he skulked and whined, and 
 speeched and cried, and having smelled gunpowder 
 and dreamed of a fight, ran away at midnight. If 
 this Prince Charles is anything like his father, we 
 want none of him. I would travel from the Hebrides 
 to the Shetlands to keep men from going out with 
 him. I came resolved to hold back your grandfather, 
 but I fear I shall utterly fail." 
 
 " But I assure you, Lady Gordon," said Hector, 
 " that Prince Charles has the opposites of all his 
 father's qualities. He is affable, courageous, and ca 
 pable of friendship. I have been much with him, and 
 I assure you that his character has inspired me with 
 an enthusiastic affection." 
 
 " Why can't we leave the Stuarts alone ? A plague 
 on them all ! To touch them is to catch calamity," said 
 Lady Gordon. 
 
 " We can't leave them alone," answered Sara, " be 
 cause we are Scots, and we want our own royal line to 
 rule us. So God save the Stuarts ! " 
 
 " Well, then, is not King George also a Stuart? 
 He is the son of the Princess Sophia, whose mother 
 was the sister of King Charles the First." 
 
 " He is on the distaff side," said Revan. 
 
 " The distaff side is as good as the sword side, in 
 the English royal house; and the Scotch also. And
 
 "THE LAND OF HILLS" 19 
 
 George is a Protestant, while the other line is unde 
 niably Catholic. For this reason alone, George will 
 succeed, and Charles will fail ! " 
 
 At this remark Revan smiled broadly, and asked: 
 " So you think Providence is Protestant, Aunt 
 Athol? " 
 
 " Yes. Protestant and Presbyterian," she answered 
 promptly. " Our young men like to talk for the Stu 
 arts ; but to echo the language of their fathers is not 
 to echo their spirit. The living force of Jacobitism is 
 dead." 
 
 " Not so ! Not so, Lady Gordon ! " cried Hector 
 hotly. " You will see in a few months that it is very 
 much alive. I am now on a mission to all hopeful 
 clans, and will proceed even to Orkney and Shetland, 
 to raise men and money for the cause." 
 
 " Good Heavens, Hector ! Has not one expedition 
 with the King of France behind it just been blown to 
 the land of Nowhere? Can you not see that you are 
 fighting against Destiny? " 
 
 " Then we will conquer Destiny. She cannot 
 always have her dice loaded. The youth of Scotland 
 are Jacobites at heart. A few days ago I had a mes 
 sage from young MacLauchlan, and he speaks for the 
 whole youth of the Highlands, when he writes ' a stone 
 lies near to the earth, but, tell Prince Charles, nearer 
 than that is our aid when called for.' Remember, not an 
 hour ago, not a man of Clan MacArgall would have 
 hesitated, if called then and there to the battlefield."
 
 20 
 
 " You must remember also, Hector, that they were 
 under the spell of Dugald's chanter. It beguiled even 
 me. But reflection follows the music, and in this case 
 reflection does not step to the war shout." 
 
 " Nevertheless," said Sara, " God save Prince 
 Charles ! Gainsay who dare! " and as soon as she 
 uttered the words the wild music went dirling through 
 their ears and hearts ; for Dugald began to play the 
 clan to their homes, and the night silence was invaded 
 and filled with the frenzy and fury of the warlike 
 challenge. Tingling in every nerve they sat listening 
 to the passionate strains, as they went up and down 
 the mountain, and into the corries, and along the 
 strath until they died away in a long-drawn note that 
 made everyone ready to cry out in sympathy. 
 
 " The devil is in Dugald's pipes," said Lady Gor 
 don. " I'll not listen to them again ! They would 
 make me recant every word I have said ! They're not 
 canny. In a religious sense, they are totally without 
 grace. They are paganish. They make men wild! 
 They call for the dirk and the broadsword ! " And she 
 wrung her hands, and her voice trembled like the voice 
 of one on the point of weeping aloud. 
 
 " King Edward," said Revan, " was obliged to slay 
 the Welsh harpers, ere he could bring the Welsh 
 nation to submission. King George will have to get 
 rid of the pipers, if we want peace in the Highlands. 
 Music is the voice of Freedom, and those old bards 
 and harpers, and our pipers also, are just to-day what
 
 "THE LAND OF HILLS" 21 
 
 a Gaelic poet described them a thousand years 
 
 ago: 
 
 " They can play tunes, 
 Trampling things, tightened strings, 
 Warriors, heroes, and ghosts on their feet ; 
 Ghosts and specters, illness and fever. 
 They could set in sound lasting sleep 
 The whole great world, 
 With the sweetness of the calming tunes, 
 That the pipers could play." 
 
 " ' Warriors, heroes, and ghosts on their feet,' 
 Revan," said Lady Gordon ; " you have named ghosts, 
 and now I shall see them in every corner of this 
 haunted house. Sara, light the candle and we will go 
 to bed ere the night grows dreadful with the coming 
 of the bodiless." 
 
 She rose sighing and gave her hand to Revan. 
 Hector lit the candle and walked with Sara to the foot 
 of the stone stairs ; and there the young men stood and 
 watched the two women ascend the narrow, spiral road 
 that wound round the central tower, until their forms 
 and voices were lost in the void; and even the dull 
 light of the candle was swallowed up in the dark 
 ness. 
 
 Then they went back to the hall, and Hector threw 
 more wood on the fire, drew his chair before the blaze, 
 and began to explain more particularly his mission 
 and his hopes. Revan listened silently and without 
 enthusiasm. His attitude was that of a man who faces 
 a destiny which he accepts, rather than approves, and
 
 22 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 when Hector spoke of his proposed visit to Orkney, 
 he interrupted him sharply with an adverse opinion : 
 
 " You need not carry a single hope to the Ork 
 neys," he said ; " you are only taking it into the mouth 
 of disappointment. The memory of Earl Patrick 
 Stuart, his brutalities and tyrannies, is as fresh as 
 ever. One hundred and fifty years have passed over 
 his crimes, and the Orcadians have neither forgiven 
 nor forgotten them. I was in Lerwick with the Mas 
 ter of Nairn two summers ago, and the islanders spit 
 on his name with as hearty a hatred to-day as they 
 ever did. They will neither give a man nor a penny 
 to a Stuart, and you need not ask them." 
 
 " There is no knowing that, Revan. I have a letter 
 to a certain Captain Paul Varrick, who has a notably 
 swift vessel. Did you happen to hear of him ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 Revan spoke with reluctance, and Hector looked 
 inquiringly at him, keeping silence that Revan might 
 add to his simple affirmative. But Revan did not 
 volunteer another word, so Hector asked: 
 
 " Is he a man to be managed ? " 
 
 " Not if you took the length of a day, or a year, to 
 manage him." Then with a sudden flash of feeling 
 " he has a daughter worth going to Orkney to see. 
 Oh, lovely, lovely Thyra Varrick! If her eyes meet 
 yours, you will be spirit-bound, and your feet will not 
 carry you away from Orkney, and your boat will rot 
 and rock at its anchor. Lovely, lovely Thyra 1"
 
 "THE LAND OF HILLS" 23 
 
 " Now you have settled the matter. I should like 
 to see a woman that could come between me and Prince 
 Charles ! Oh, that is a thing that never can be ! " 
 
 " Hector, I am weary of war, and the rumor of it. 
 Let us go to rest. The day is over, and 
 
 " ' Night's doorway ia open, 
 And all unrest 
 May take refuge 
 In her pavilion of sleep.' 
 
 He was lighting his candle as he murmured the 
 words, and as he stood a moment holding Hector's 
 hand, a watcher rose silently from the floor and cov 
 ered up the fire. In a few minutes all was dark and 
 silent in the house of MacArgall. Then came those 
 shades of the bodiless who ask for no man's leave, but 
 lift the latch unseen, and enter and sit down, peopling 
 the dark and solitary space that girds every day of 
 life around. 
 
 The most dangerous temptations nature is liable to 
 are melancholy and impatience. The Chief was im 
 patient, but far from melancholy. He had that daunt 
 less mind that fears no mischance. The destruction 
 of the French fleet did not dash his hopes, for the 
 cause was in his heart, and it is the heart which creates 
 faith. Therefore, he could not be sad beyond a cer 
 tain measure, nor do his soul such great injury as to 
 permit it to fall from its dignity and firmness. 
 
 In the morning he was very early on the hills with 
 the drovers. If there was no fighting to be done, there
 
 24 tHYRA VARRICK 
 
 was money to be made; and money would be very 
 necessary when the time for fighting came. With 
 Revan and Hector he went from drove to drove, di 
 recting which lots were to go to Falkirk and Crieff, 
 and which were to travel as far southward as Barnet 
 and Smithfield. It was a busy and animated scene, 
 and the ladies watched the start from the terrace 
 before the house. Before noon, at least a thousand 
 beasts had begun their long journey, and the Chief 
 was in excellent spirits. 
 
 "They will not lose hoof nor horn by the way," he 
 said to Lady Gordon. " The good creatures are in 
 excellent condition, and Tavish says he'll bring me 
 back the price of every head of them." 
 
 " Can you trust Tavish? " she asked. 
 
 " Can I trust myself? " he answered. " Who ever 
 heard tell of a dishonest drover? Oh! but the men 
 were glad to get away. I wish I could have gone with 
 them ! They'll be having a grand time and be bring 
 ing back plenty of gold and silver. So, when the day 
 comes, MacArgall can be making up with money what 
 he lacks in men and that's fair, you know, Athol. 
 Hector," he cried, but Hector had disappeared, and 
 Sara was also missing; and the Chief looked indig 
 nantly at his sister, and said: 
 
 " You should have kept your eye on the lassie." 
 
 " Hector is with her. He will take care of her." 
 
 " He'll be making love to her." 
 
 " He has made love to her all their lives."
 
 "THE LAND OF HILLS" 25 
 
 " We are going to have war, and is war time a time 
 for love-making? " 
 
 " Men mostly make love then. As soon as they 
 get a commission in arms, they look for a commission 
 in matrimony. That is my observe, Murdo. And if 
 two young hearts are to be one, you'll not keep them 
 apart with a mouthful of words. That's a fact before 
 divines." 
 
 " You should have gone with them." 
 
 " Up to Loch Argall? What way would I climb 
 seven hundred feet? Is not Hector MacDonald to 
 your liking? " 
 
 " He is, and he is not. Much good he has, but 
 withal that, he is like the magpies, and has a drop of 
 devil's blood in his veins." 
 
 " Be discreet, Murdo, in any opposing of this mat 
 ter. Sara has set her heart upon Hector, and what 
 will you do with a woman who has made up her mind ? 
 You'll not move her an inch." 
 
 " It is an astonishing world, Athol ; but I'll be away 
 from it, ere long. Look ! woman, at the grass ; could 
 anything be greener? And yet a few hot suns, and 
 where will it be ? He was a wise man that said, ' All 
 flesh is as grass.' " 
 
 " Yes ; for do you not see, Murdo, that in saying 
 so, he likened us to the most living creature made by 
 God? The feet of trouble pass over it, and trample it, 
 the storm beats it, the wind bleaches it, the mower 
 cuts it down, but it always springs again; never tar-
 
 26 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 rying for man to sow it, or care for it." Then she 
 went to him, and put her hand on his shoulder, and 
 a mist came over his eyes, and he looked down the 
 strath, and up to the jagged peak of Ben Argall, and 
 asked softly: 
 
 " Do you see them? " 
 " I can see the glimmer of Sara's dress." 
 " They will be by the hart's well, no doubt." 
 The Chief judged rightly. Not very far up the 
 mountain side there was a bubbling spring surrounded 
 by trees, and knee-deep in bracken; and there the 
 lovers were resting. The murmur of water, the soft 
 sough of the wind, and the brooding call of birds filled 
 the cool air. They had talked restlessly, as they 
 walked, of the coming struggle, of the loyal clans, 
 and of Hector's mission ; but a spell of silence fell over 
 them as soon as they were seated in the green spot. 
 Sara gazed into the crystal pool with dreamy, intent 
 eyes, as if it was a divining-glass in which she might 
 read her future. Hector clasped her hand and was 
 speechless a while; and the air grew sensitive between 
 them, and the ripple of the water touched their hearts 
 as fingers touch the strings of an instrument until 
 their souls rose from the depths of being, and came 
 almost visibly to their faces; until they were both a 
 little beyond themselves, handsomer than usual, more 
 radiating, more sympathetic, more at one with 
 each other. Quite unconsciously they drew closer 
 together, and feeling, which neither sought to re-
 
 "THE LAND OF HILLS" 27 
 
 strain, soon found speech to be an irresistible ne 
 cessity. 
 
 " Sara," said Hector, in a tone low and passionate, 
 " Sara, I have loved you all my life." 
 
 She smiled and shyly turned her face a little toward 
 him. 
 
 " And I love you far better now than ever before. 
 May I speak to the Chief? Will you be my wife, 
 Sara? You who are heart of my heart, and soul of 
 my soul ! " 
 
 " I will be your wife, Hector," she replied. 
 
 " You love me, Sara ? " 
 
 " I know not when my love began ; I have always 
 loved you, dear one ! " 
 
 This confession, though partly anticipated, was 
 very sweet to the young man. It removed the last 
 element of doubt; it gave him a right so strong and 
 personal in the lovely woman at his side that he felt 
 a kind of transformation in his whole nature. Life 
 seemed grander, more to be desired, more full of obli 
 gation and purpose, and sweeter, ten thousand times 
 sweeter, for the love that was his, and his only love 
 not to be shared with any mortal love without doubt 
 or reservation, his own treasure entirely and forever. 
 
 They found now that every topic had a new in 
 terest ; they lingered until the sun was low westering ; 
 they came home hand in hand in the gloaming, and 
 there was little need of explanations. Indeed, the 
 betrothal was an expected event; every man and
 
 28 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 woman in Clan Argall regarded it is predestined and, 
 therefore, satisfactory. Only the Chief had any sense 
 of dissatisfaction; he would rather have seen Lord 
 Nairn in Hector MacDonald's place. Nairn's estate 
 was a large one lying just over the mountains, and 
 stretching northward to the seacoast; and the noble 
 man was in every other respect a fitting mate for 
 Sara MacArgall. The Chief was not certain in his 
 heart that Hector MacDonald was so. But Sara 
 having decided, there was nothing but acquiescence to 
 be thought of. 
 
 A week of great happiness followed. Good wishes 
 were flowing to the young couple from every heart 
 near them ; and even the fitful, unreasonable Highland 
 weather was wonderfully propitious. In its sunshine 
 for six long sweet days they wandered about the hills, 
 or rested under the firs, dreaming of their future and 
 building fairy castles to pass it in. Hector had not 
 a doubt of Prince Charles's success, and in that case 
 he had been promised a lordship in Sutherland. But 
 his inclinations were toward military and court life; 
 and sitting in the bracken of Ben Argall, with Sara 
 at his side, he talked of their house in Edinburgh; 
 and even considered a dwelling-place for the Mac- 
 Donalds in London. Wherever the Prince might be 
 placed, there Hector would be, and wherever Hector 
 was, there also would Sara find her home. It was a 
 beautiful dream if Fortune would only turn it into 
 reality.
 
 "THE LAND OF HILLS" 29 
 
 The last day of this happy week was wet and 
 stormy. A great gloom was over the ancient house 
 and the lonely valley in which it stood. The lovers 
 sat together silent and thoughtful, smiling occasion 
 ally into each other's faces, but manifestly under the 
 influence of the gloom and gust and pitiless rain. 
 The long morning wore away a little wearily, and 
 Hector began to think of his delayed journey; but 
 when Sara came to him in the afternoon he forgot 
 everything again, in her loveliness and charm. She 
 was most becomingly dressed in a gown of rich satin, 
 woven in the colors and check of her clan; and the 
 dark green, with bars of gold and scarlet, falling 
 away from her white shoulders and arms and hanging 
 in long, broad folds to her feet, set off marvelously the 
 fairness of her skin and the brilliancy of her hair. 
 A girdle of Scotch agates, linked and clasped 
 with gold, defined her slender waist; and bracelets 
 of the same clasped her arms above the elbows, 
 confining there the short full sleeves of tartan 
 satin. 
 
 " We are going to defy the weather, and have a 
 happy evening," she said to Hector, as he clasped her 
 in his arms, " we will put down all sorrowful thought, 
 and take up pleasure and song," and releasing herself 
 from Hector's embrace, she went to her harp, and 
 began to touch the strings to that most enthralling 
 of Jacobite yearnings- 
 
 " ' O send Lewie Gordon hame 1 ' "
 
 3 o THYRA VARRICK 
 
 and the Chief, lifting his glass of Farintosh above his 
 gray head, added the next three lines, 
 
 " ' And the lad we dare not name; 
 Though his back lay at the wa' 
 Here's to Him, that's far awa'! ' " 
 
 Then the song was chanted together, even Lady Gor 
 don joining in the passionate faith of the chorus: 
 
 " ' Weel would I my true love ken 
 Among ten thousand Highlandmen.' " 
 
 Song followed song, and story followed story, till the 
 gloaming brought the evening meal ; then in the move 
 ment incidental to the spreading of the table, Hector 
 lifted the harp, and, standing beside it, amazed every 
 one by the masterful manner in which he swept the 
 music from the strings. Revan laid down his book 
 and listened with delight, while the Chief leaped to his 
 feet, and went towards him. 
 
 " Whence do you take the music, Hector? " he 
 said. 
 
 " From my heart, MacArgall. It comes from there, 
 to my strong fingers." 
 
 " Make the strings speak for my pleasure." 
 
 *' I am the man who is willing," answered Hector. 
 " Listen to the Song of Prince Charles. 
 
 " ' To daunten me, and me so young! 
 And good King Jamie's eldest son! 
 O that is the thing that never can be; 
 The man is not born that can daunten me! 
 But set my foot on Scottish land, 
 And put my broadsword in my hand, 
 And the man is not born who can daunten me.'"
 
 "THE LAND OF HILLS" 31 
 
 At this point the door was hastily opened, and a Gael, 
 storm-splashed and weather-worn, came forward rap 
 idly, and falling on one knee before Hector, gave him 
 a letter. 
 
 " It is from the Master of Nairn," he said, after 
 reading it ; " and he wishes to see me at once. He 
 says that he has late orders, and trysts me at Cawdor 
 Castle to-morrow night. So I must away at the 
 dawning." He was evidently much annoyed, and the 
 frown on his face filled the happy room with anxiety 
 and gloom. 
 
 " The Good Being bless you, Hector ! And may 
 your return be in joy ! " 
 
 There was a murmur of sympathy from all present 
 at this prayer; and then a great solemnity took the 
 place of music and song. They were to part, and who 
 could tell how or when they would meet again. They 
 sat quietly, with soft words and many silences, and 
 separated with tears, though also with words of trust 
 and affection. For a few minutes Lady Gordon left 
 the lovers alone, and they whispered fondly their abid 
 ing affection and certain faithfulness. 
 
 " At this moment, beloved," said Hector, " there 
 are great masses of rain, and there is night, and there 
 is darkness, but yet at this moment the morning is on 
 the way to us ; and it will arrive with sunshine and 
 many good hopes. So, too, our morning of love is 
 even now coming swiftly towards us. Take courage, 
 beautiful one ! I shall be back very soon, and mean-
 
 32 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 while our own matters will grow to ripeness. Fear 
 not ! " and his loving look went further than words 
 could reach. 
 
 He watched her join Lady Gordon and go slowly 
 up the winding stairs with her; and then he turned 
 abruptly away. The letter of Nairn did not please 
 him. He was offended at its authoritative tone, and 
 he wondered why it had come at all. But he went 
 back to the hall and talked with the Chief and Revan 
 on events and probabilities, until the clock struck 
 eleven. Then all stood up. They knew that the time 
 for parting had come. 
 
 " Farewell ! " said Hector. " I think that all things 
 will go well with me." And the Chief answered sol 
 emnly : 
 
 " Thou hast not thy own soul to keep ; so then, all 
 may go well with thee."
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 " Lovely Thyra Varrick" 
 
 DO we attract events, or are they attracted by 
 us? Who can tell? Certainly Hector knew, 
 as he traversed the mountain passes be 
 tween Argall and Nairn, that he was on a 
 road leading him to a change of some kind. 
 The way was rough, and an unwonted depres 
 sion lay heavy on his heart. It was late in the evening 
 when he reached Nairn Castle, and, passing through 
 the solemn shades of the great woods surrounding it, 
 found the dimly lit entrance hall. A servant readily 
 took him to the presence of the Master, and they were 
 soon joined by the Earl of Cawdor and Lord Lovat. 
 Hector could hardly help a feeling of uneasiness. 
 Cruel deeds were not un frequently done in these lonely 
 castles; and his soul divined at once that something 
 unusual was to be demanded of him. And just then 
 he felt too despondent and weary to struggle against 
 decided things. He knew that he must submit to a 
 majority so powerful and determined. 
 
 Nairn did not leave him long in suspense. He 
 ordered food and wine, and as the young man ate, he 
 said: 
 
 33
 
 34 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " MacDonald, I have a late letter from his Majesty 
 King James; and in it he revokes the commission 
 granted you by his son, Prince Charles. Without 
 lessening the power, or prestige of the MacDon- 
 alds " 
 
 " Which none living can do, or dare do," inter 
 rupted Hector. 
 
 " Which none wishes to do," corrected Nairn. 
 
 " His Majesty thinks that I have more years and 
 experience, and possibly more influence among the 
 clans, than you have ; the reason being an evident one. 
 I venture not only my head, you also do that, but 
 I venture likewise the lands of my ancestors, and the 
 patrimony of those who are to come after me." 
 
 At these words Hector took his commission from 
 his breast and laid it on the table. " I can give his 
 Majesty, at least, ready and swift obedience," he said, 
 " and I acknowledge his wisdom, and therefore submit 
 myself to your orders, Nairn." 
 
 Such ready compliance from a MacDonald was not 
 expected, and was received with a relief that ex 
 pressed itself in a sudden access of high spirits and 
 hospitality. But Hector was on his guard every 
 moment, and after he had been told that at present 
 there was no special commission for him, he began to 
 urge his speedy departure. " It was so long since he 
 had seen his family," he said, " and he would fain go 
 back to the Hebrides." 
 
 " That will be the best journey you can take,"
 
 " LOVELY THYRA VARRICK" 35 
 
 answered Nairn. " Then you can find out for me what 
 force the MacDonald can put under arms, and what 
 monies he will be able to send us for ammunition." 
 
 " I have now no authority to question the MacDon 
 ald," said Hector ; " and he would not deign to answer 
 such questions, unless authorized with all proper 
 forms." 
 
 " I beg the MacDonald's pardon," replied Nairn ; 
 " I will send a messenger with the proper cere 
 mony." 
 
 " It were well to do so." 
 
 Then Hector suddenly turned the conversation up 
 on the MacArgall. He spoke warmly of the Chief's 
 loyalty, and said : " It was his intention to lead his 
 own clan, when the question came to Claymore." 
 
 Cawdor thought Revan would be a better leader, 
 but Lovat said : 
 
 " No, no ! The old men are the young men in 
 this quarrel. They have some sense, and they have 
 mense, and they are nearer to King James than the 
 lads." This opinion was warmly supported by Hec 
 tor, who was sure, if Chief Murdo led the MacArgalls, 
 they would fight round him till the last man was 
 slain. 
 
 " I would not deny that," said Cawdor. " I saw 
 Murdo MacArgall at Sheriff muir ; and he towered on 
 that wretched field like some gigantic wraith of re 
 venge. His big sword shone, as it smote right and 
 left incessantly ; it was more like a person than a blade
 
 36 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 of steel. He left three hundred of his clan dead 
 there that tells the story." 
 
 Lovat laughed as he added : " Anyone can lead the 
 Mac Ar galls in a fight. I remember when I was a 
 youngster, that if any quarrel occurred in these parts 
 everyone asked : ' Who beside the MacArgalls ? ' for 
 no matter who were second the MacArgalls behooved 
 to be first in any fight. Chief Murdo has experience 
 of sword ways and plenty of it." 
 
 Here Hector pleaded weariness, and asked permis 
 sion to retire. He had said things wisely so far, and 
 something warned him to go away ere the moment 
 of folly came. But just as he was at the door Nairn 
 spoke the words he had been longing to say, and 
 which Hector had been trying to avoid : 
 
 " The Lady Sara ? Is she in Edinburgh with her 
 Aunt Gordon ? " 
 
 " She is at Argall House." 
 
 " Is she well? " 
 
 " She is well." 
 
 " And lovely as ever ? " 
 
 " Lovely as ever more so, I think." 
 
 The words appeared to be commonplace politeness, 
 but they evoked a certainty that needed no words. 
 Nairn saw in the sudden light leaping into Hector's 
 eyes, and in the unconscious joyful poise of his head, 
 a confirmation of the thing he feared; and in the 
 instant of motiveless silence that fell between them, he 
 understood that Hector had won, and that he had lost.
 
 "LOVELY THYRA VARRICK" 37 
 
 No speech could have been as certain as this over 
 whelming influence of words unsaid. 
 
 Hector knew it as well as Nairn. He was angry at 
 this betrayal of himself. Why had his soul not kept 
 better guard over his voice and eyes yea, and over his 
 telltale silence ? Alas ! personal pride will never keep 
 quiet ; it must assert itself, even if it be folly and risk 
 to do so. A deep chagrin swallowed up all his happi 
 ness ; he could think of nothing comfortable ; and the 
 vast gloomy space of his room soon grew terrifying. 
 He passed some wretched hours in the company of, he 
 knew not what, wretched wraiths; but conscious of 
 such sorrowful presence that he found himself saying 
 over and over the prayer in his breviary for their re 
 pose: 
 
 " ' Grant them eternal rest, O God, 
 
 With Thy saints forever. 
 
 For Thou art merciful; 
 
 May they jest in peace.' " 
 
 And some time after midnight the room became void 
 and quiet, and he fell asleep, and when he awoke it was 
 morning. 
 
 With consciousness came an overpowering impulse 
 to depart from Nairn Castle at once. He waited for 
 no further interview, but, leaving a courteous message 
 for the three great lords, he made his way as swiftly as 
 possible to the town of Nairn. On the journey he did 
 not try to decide on any movement. He contented 
 himself with the knowledge that he was getting away 
 from something inimical. But after reaching the inn
 
 38 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 and refreshing himself, he began to seriously consider 
 his position. 
 
 He had said that he wished to go to his home in 
 the Hebrides, but in reality he had no such desire. 
 His last letter to the MacDonald had been somewhat 
 boastful; he could not follow it as the messenger of 
 his own dismissal from the post of honor which had 
 so much elated him. To return to MacArgall was out 
 of the question. He knew that Sara would sympa 
 thize with his disappointment, and that without 
 shadow of blame ; but he knew also that he could not 
 endure MacArgall's questions, Revan's silent glance, 
 and Lady Gordon's more evident suspicions. The 
 Orkneys he hardly took into account, especially as 
 the commission which would have taken him to a coun 
 try so remote had been revoked. The journey most in 
 accord with his feelings was to go to Paris and in 
 terview Prince Charles. He was burning not only to 
 exonerate himself, but also to learn for what real rea 
 son he had been superseded by the Master of Nairn. 
 
 There was no shipping at Nairn but a fishing-boat 
 that was going to Wick, and in this boat he took 
 passage. At Wick he wrote to his family and to the 
 MacDonald, saying to the latter, " Put not the oak 
 before the heather.* It will not be well for the Mac- 
 Donalds in any way to do so; this I have learned 
 through pain and unkindness." To his family he 
 
 * The oak is the emblem of the Stuarts, the heather of the Mac- 
 Donalds.
 
 "LOVELY THYRA VARRICK" 39 
 
 gave assurance of his well-being, but he left the fu 
 ture blank as to his intentions. For at Wick they 
 changed. He found no ship there which would carry 
 him to the Continent. He spent several anxious days 
 in waiting for what did not come, and in them grew 
 indifferent to his purpose, and ready for any change 
 that Fate might send. In this mood he was accosted 
 one day by the captain of a small vessel lying at 
 anchor. 
 
 " Sir," he said, " you seem to be waiting, or look 
 ing for something. No offense is meant, sir." 
 
 "And where none is meant, none need be taken," 
 answered Hector. " I am looking for a vessel of some 
 kind, that will carry me to the coast of France." 
 
 " Which you will hardly get here, sir. But go with 
 me as far north as Thurso." 
 
 " I shall be more out of the way at Thurso than I 
 am at Wick." 
 
 " But at Thurso you will find plenty of craft going 
 to Kirkwall in the Orkneys, and at Kirkwall there is 
 always Dutch shipping which would land you at The 
 Hague, or at Amsterdam." 
 
 " I had not thought of that. When do you sail? " 
 
 " This hour, if you are ready," replied the cap 
 tain. 
 
 So that evening Hector passed around Noss Head 
 with its fateful chain of old castles, Wick and Acker- 
 gill, and the haunted Girnigo of evil fame and deeds, 
 and on the second day out found shelter from an ad-
 
 40 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 verse wind at the ancient town of Thurso. But on 
 the way he had caught sight of the Orkneys to the 
 north, and had been enchanted by the magnificence 
 of the view, and as they rounded Duncansby Head 
 a passing remark of the captain made a great im 
 pression on him. Pointing out the locality of John 
 o' Groat's house, he said : 
 
 " The Marquis of Montrose landed near there one 
 hundred years ago, with two thousand Orcadians. 
 They were going to fight for King Charles the First, 
 but they just melted away like snow before Cromwell's 
 Roundheads." 
 
 At the moment the remark seemed only to pass in 
 and out of his consciousness, but as he lingered in the 
 old town of Thor, it began to take root. If Mont- 
 rose could gather two thousand men in Orkney for 
 the Stuarts, why could he not do likewise? The ques 
 tion recurred to him again and again, and always 
 without any negative in the answer. So one day he 
 came to a sudden resolution he would go to Ork 
 ney and do wonders for the Stuarts there; then he 
 would visit Prince Charles, and show him what he had 
 accomplished on ground said, by every Highlander, 
 to be hopeless. It is the difficult, yea the impossible, 
 which attracts youth ; and from the moment that Hec 
 tor made this resolution he was anxious to reach Kirk- 
 wall. 
 
 At Thurso it was easy to get a passage northward, 
 and soon after midnight on the following day Hector
 
 "LOVELY THYRA VARRICK" 41 
 
 saw the wonderful cliffs of Hoy ; bleak, cold, clear-cut 
 against the gray north sky. A whispering mystery 
 pervaded everything. The mellow beauty of yes 
 terday was mingling with the dawn of another morn 
 ing, and the aurora waving, in fantastic shapes of 
 marvelous colors, its spears of light from east to 
 west, from the horizon to the zenith. The unbroken 
 stillness of the sea and sky was ghostly and magical ; 
 but a little later the air was thick with millions of sea 
 birds, thick as with snow in a snowstorm; and then 
 amid the aerial clamor, and unceasing beat and whir 
 of wings, came the slow, wonderful sunrise, and the 
 changing of the colorless water to deep blue, and the 
 modified radiance of the misty day-dawn. Every 
 Highlander is at heart a poet, and Hector's soul drank 
 this beauty gladly, as slowly the white-winged vessel 
 stole through the mist, till she dropped her anchor in 
 the noble bay of the old, old town of Kirkwall. 
 
 By this time the sun had fully risen, and he saw 
 the capital of the Orkneys, with the massive Cathe 
 dral of Saint Magnus looming grandly over it. Up 
 through the narrow flagged streets he went, to a com 
 fortable inn in the Parliament Close, being filled 
 anew at every step with a strange sense that some 
 how, and at some time, he had been in the place 
 before. He was in fact walking back into antiquity 
 and seeing a city yet in the twilight of the Sagas. 
 The Norse atmosphere of men and things was in all 
 the gray, still streets, and the Norse murmur was in
 
 42 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 the cold, bright sea, as it beat against the lowly land 
 the Fortunate Isles. 
 
 He felt singularly at home, and, with a lighter heart 
 than he had known for many days, ate and drank, 
 and made the necessary arrangements for his com 
 fort. The place pleased him, and the few men he had 
 met at the pier when he landed pleased him mighty, 
 modest, blue-eyed giants, who looked him straight in 
 the face without a shadow of unkindness, bowing 
 gravely as they did so. He was astonished. He had 
 yet to learn that Norse fishers are gentlemen. So 
 light his heart had become! What could it mean? 
 He concluded it was Sara, and yet he had not thought 
 as much of Sara as of his own aif airs ; and this morn 
 ing as he looked into the queer streets, little more 
 than a yard wide, and watched the men and women 
 he saw in them, he felt as if he had left Sara in a 
 world far and far away from him. 
 
 The sense of isolation was comforting. His soul 
 had been wounded and needed this retirement. He 
 began at once to cast off that sense of injury which 
 had made him so unhappy and purposeless. At 
 Thurso he had written to Sara, telling her he was 
 going to see Prince Charles. In this letter he spoke 
 bitterly of the Master of Nairn, and confided to her 
 his interference with his commission. He knew that 
 Sara would place Nairn's ill-will to jealousy, and so 
 he insured him an unpleasant refusal if he tried in 
 Hector's absence to press his own suit. He sent this
 
 "LOVELY THYRA VARRICK" 43 
 
 letter by a special messenger, and the thought of the 
 gold paid for the service brought him to a considera 
 tion of his finances. He took his money from the 
 various places in which he carried it, and found that 
 he had with him nearly two hundred pounds; a sum 
 that would last him indefinitely in that primitive life. 
 Besides which, there were five hundred pounds to his 
 credit in the bank at Inverness. On the whole, then, 
 he felt that he might take his ease and rest, and grow 
 strong in heart before beginning the canvass which 
 was to make Charles Stuart ashamed of his ingrati 
 tude and want of foresight. 
 
 Suddenly he recollected the royal letter given him 
 to " our trusty friend Captain Paul Varrick," and 
 with remembrance, very naturally, Revan MacAr- 
 gall's comment on its uselessness, and his ejaculation 
 on the beauty of Paul Varrick's daughter, " lovely, 
 lovely Thyra Varrick! " He said the words over three 
 or four times, and they tasted sweet on his lips; and 
 he resolved very soon to test the Captain's loyalty, 
 and see his daughter's beauty. It was mere curiosity 
 so far as the daughter was concerned, he was sure of 
 that; no woman on earth could depose Sara from her 
 place as mistress of his heart and life. And he sat 
 dreaming of the charming girl, until he was com 
 pelled to utter her name aloud, in order to satisfy a 
 little his longing for her presence. 
 
 His dream of Sara was broken by a fisher singing 
 a Norse fishing song. He went to the window and
 
 44 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 looked out. The man was going down the street with 
 oars over his shoulder, and a tall, fair girl walked at 
 his side. She walked like a princess, and spoke to her 
 companion as one used to be obeyed. Hector was in 
 terested, it was so different to the attitude of the 
 Highland fisherwoman. He put on his cap and 
 walked after them to the pier; then he saw that the 
 fishing boats were leaving the harbor; hundreds of 
 them going silently out to sea in that exquisite light, 
 that was neither dayshine nor moonshine. And in all 
 the open doorways women were standing, watching 
 with long, serious gaze the last glimmer of the white 
 sails. 
 
 He went back to the inn like a man in dreamland 
 and sat long at his window. The stillness of the place 
 was remarkable, and it induced in him a delicious con 
 tent, such as he had never felt before ; and yet through 
 its restful peace the thought of war drifted. If he 
 could only raise a regiment of such men as he had 
 seen, for Prince Charles, what a triumph it would be ! 
 He took out the Prince's letter to Captain Varrick 
 and looked at it thoughtfully. He had not been coun 
 ter-ordered on this subject. Nairn had not spoken of 
 Captain Varrick; and he felt that he might lawfully 
 consider himself as yet bound to fulfill the instruction 
 of the Prince respecting what was to be effected 
 through the Orcadian. 
 
 In the morning he dressed himself with great care. 
 Traveling he had worn a cloth suit of the style usual
 
 "LOVELY THYRA VARRICK" 45 
 
 to the gentlemen of the period, but in going to call 
 on Varrick he assumed the tartan, which testified to 
 his nationality and his politics. He told himself that, 
 being a royal messenger, it was fitting he should do 
 so; but Vanity had her full share in his decision. He 
 knew that the splendid coloring and picturesque make 
 of his Highland dress added much to his natural good 
 looks, and though he was going about the business of 
 kings, he was very much influenced by the memory of 
 Revan's glowing ejaculation, " lovely, lovely Thyra 
 Varrick! " 
 
 His appearance attracted great attention. The 
 women, sitting with their water jugs by the fountains, 
 looked at him with modestly open admiration; the 
 men gave him by their salutation both welcome and 
 respect ; and he stayed one of them, and asked the way 
 to Captain Varrick's house. He was pointed out a 
 rambling gray stone dwelling which he reached by 
 the seashore ; in fact, though it was beyond the bound 
 ary of the high tides, it stood boldly on its granite 
 ledge, directly over a rocky beach covered with tangle 
 and brilliant red seaweed. 
 
 The Captain was standing at the door smoking and 
 watching the sea. He was always watching the sea. 
 He had no faith in its smiles, and no fear of its wrath ; 
 but it was a habit of his blood never to give it a chance 
 to get the better of him. Just then he was looking 
 at its dimpling surface with toleration; there was no 
 immediate warfare between them. A lustrously white
 
 46 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 bird lay on the blue water, and a multitude of terns, 
 like handsome feathers, were balancing themselves up 
 on the little breakers, swiftly weaving their wings to 
 gether. He had a smile for the birds, but his interest 
 was fixed on a large ship, which, with all canvas set, 
 was lazily dropping away to the south. 
 
 The appearance of Hector diverted his attention. 
 A frown passed over his face as he noticed the dress 
 of the Gael, and he did not go a few steps to meet 
 him, as was his custom when a welcome visitor was 
 nearing his dwelling. He was a man thick-set and 
 broad-faced, swift-eyed and ruddy-fair, with the 
 frank, fearless manner of a North Sea rover ; and as 
 Hector came near, he was the first to speak. 
 
 " A good day, sir," he said ; " whom, then, dost 
 thou seek? " His voice was the hoarse, melancholy 
 voice of a constant seafarer, and his tone brusque but 
 courteous. 
 
 " I am sent to see one Captain Paul Varrick." 
 
 " I am the man. At whose bidding hast thou come 
 to seek Paul Varrick? " 
 
 Hector then handed him the Prince's letter, and he 
 read it without any appearance of pride or pleasure, 
 holding it in his hand afterward some moments before 
 he said, " These tidings have already been heard far 
 and wide." 
 
 " The Prince relies on your help in some matters of 
 importance, Captain. I know so much." 
 
 " I am ever good at need, to my friends, sir ; but
 
 "LOVELY THYRA VARRICK" 47 
 
 Prince Charles is not my friend. I have washed my 
 hands of him. He has lost me a ship, and in this let 
 ter he makes no mention of the money he owes me. 
 For him I will no more fly in the face of good- 
 fortune? " 
 
 " You will think of the matter, Captain, and later 
 you may change your mind." 
 
 " Later I shall wax to no more folly. My mind is 
 fixed. I will let this man alone. I will not back him 
 up in any way ; not while my life days last. But come 
 thou into my house and I will talk with thee. I can 
 tell thee one thing : I am in no hurry to meet trouble. 
 And as for these Stuarts, their evil destiny follows 
 them, even in their dreams. Something, or someone, 
 always stands in their way even the winds of Heaven 
 are against them. No mortal man can help their 
 quarrel. Come in and rest thee. What is thy 
 name ? " 
 
 " Hector MacDonald." 
 
 " Thou art a man of many friends. Come into my 
 house." 
 
 They turned into a flagged passage, and Varrick 
 opened a door at his right hand. It let into a room 
 which caused an involuntary exclamation of pleasure 
 from Hector a large room with a fire of peat and 
 driftwood on the stone hearth, and much handsome 
 furniture of oak, elaborately carved. But these 
 things were only background for curious and valuable 
 ornaments from many parts of the world; costly
 
 48 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 porcelain from Holland and China, corals and Vene 
 tian work from the Middle Sea, birds of marvelous 
 plumage in glass cases, dried flying fish, treasures of 
 amber from the Baltic and of gorgeous shells and sea 
 weeds from the tropics; and, mingling with all, the 
 ivory and sandalwood, the strange bowls, and boxes 
 and beads, and little gods, which were the spoils from 
 the sacred cities of the Ganges cities then ruled by 
 native princes, full of perils and malign enchantments, 
 remote and unsubstantial as ancient fables. 
 
 Every strange object was a text for Varrick; and 
 as he shortly indicated the story of each, he revealed 
 the fact that his own story must be one of marvelous 
 and romantic adventure. But at this hour Hector was 
 most anxious to secure the friendship and help of such 
 a man for the cause of the Stuarts. He talked to no 
 purpose. Varrick only reiterated the fact, that in his 
 experiences with that royal family he had found them 
 ungrateful and unreliable. He had already lost 
 money by meddling in their affairs, and he would 
 have no more dealings with them. 
 
 " I hired them the Sea King a good ship," he 
 continued ; " and I bought five hundred stands of arms 
 for the man who calls himself King James ; and here 
 come orders for * our trusty servant ' to find another 
 ship, and no mention of the debt owing me. I think 
 it no honor to give my money to the Stuarts ; and it 
 is not my pleasure to peril my life for them. As a 
 family, they are being cut down, as one would cut
 
 "LOVELY THYRA VARRICK" 49 
 
 down a tree, joint by joint, but the last crash will 
 come, and I care not to be near it." 
 
 " Then you will not help at all? Oh, yes, you will 
 surely help ? " 
 
 " I will neither back the Stuarts, nor go against 
 them. There is a broad way between these two 
 ways." 
 
 As he spoke the door moved slowly inward, and 
 Thyra Varrick stood in the open space. In a mo 
 ment her eyes caught Hector's eyes, and then it was, 
 as Revan said it would be, he was spellbound by her 
 loveliness, and his whole being absorbed by her as 
 tonishing beauty. 
 
 She was very tall, and nobly formed. Her hair was 
 of rich, light-brown color, and, though partially con 
 fined by an amber comb on the top of her head, fell 
 in long, bright waves about her; blown by the sea 
 winds into the most picturesque confusion. Her face 
 was oval in form, her features perfect, her complexion 
 beyond expression delicate and lovely. Her eyes were 
 deeply violet in color, mysterious, fascinating, and 
 shaded by long lashes; and her mouth, shaped like 
 Cupid's bow, was rosy, smiling, and tender. Without 
 a doubt she was fleshly perfect; and she apparently 
 owed little to her dress, which was only a dark-blue 
 flannel gown, closed to her white throat and falling 
 to her feet. But as she stood thus in the open door, 
 with one hand full of tangle and purple and scarlet 
 seaweeds, she was a revelation of womanly loveliness,
 
 50 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 of visible feminine sweetness, that subjugated the 
 heart by its simple presence. 
 
 A fierce, abrupt passion, flaming up at the first 
 sight of her, took entire possession of Hector. All his 
 past was consumed to ashes by it. His home in the 
 Hebrides, his Prince in Paris, his love in the strath of 
 MacArgall, they were tales that were told and forgot 
 ten. In an instant he became the thrall of a passion 
 so great, and so importunate, that it was as resistless 
 as one of the great forces of nature. 
 
 Varrick ceased speaking; he saw that Hector had 
 become all sight, and that he heard nothing that was 
 said. Then there came an instant of that strange 
 silence, when all understand that a star is rising or 
 falling, that a fight is over, or a destiny decided. In 
 this case, it was Hector's destiny. This moment had 
 been waiting for him, and Thyra's first glance warned 
 him of it. The captain understood it as it related 
 to himself. He smiled sarcastically; he was quite 
 aware of his daughter's beauty and of the power it 
 exercised; but his look at Hector said as plainly as 
 words could have done: 
 
 " So, then, this is thy leyalty. A woman drives it 
 into a corner at once. It is just as I thought." But 
 he rose and said, " Thyra, this is Major MacDonald. 
 Give him some welcome," and she lifted her eyes to 
 his eager gaze, and in that moment he wished to kiss 
 her ten thousand times. 
 
 Then Thyra went to hang up the long strand of
 
 "LOVELY THYRA VARRICK" 51 
 
 tangle behind the parlor door, saying, " It is to tell 
 us how the weather is going to be." And Hector pre 
 tended ignorance, and so he went to her side and 
 watched her, and even touched her hand, while his 
 soul drank in her simple words: 
 
 " Hast thou not heard that if the tangle be wet 
 then we shall have rain ; and if it be dry then we shall 
 have sunshine? " 
 
 He had heard it from his childhood, but from 
 Thyra's lips it seemed a new and wonderful fact. 
 Then the tangle fell, and they lifted it together, and 
 together hung it up again, laughing like children at 
 play. And there was no human reason at all for their 
 laughter, only Destiny. The captain watched them 
 with a grim sarcasm. Many a man he had seen smit 
 ten like Hector, and for none of them was he sorry 
 but for Robert Thorson. Robert he loved in his mas 
 terful way, and it was to Robert Thorson he was de 
 termined to give Thyra, when he would make up his 
 mind to give her to anyone. 
 
 He sat still and watched them, watched Thyra go 
 to a mirror and confine with exquisite art her golden, 
 wind-blown hair with her amber comb. Her uplifted 
 arms, her stately form, her radiant face, made her a 
 living picture that held Hector spellbound. He for 
 got Captain Varrick entirely, and Varrick scornfully 
 remembered how anxious he had been to please him, 
 and with what interest he had listened to his tales of 
 strange cities, and sea wonders, and adventures.
 
 52 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 Just at this time Thyra had begun to spread the 
 table for the midday meal, and it was a charming sight 
 to Hector to see her hands among the white linen, and 
 glass and china; to see her cutting the bread, and 
 making the butter into little crinkled pats, but as 
 Paul Varrick did not ask him to eat with them, it was 
 evidently time to go away. He made the best of the 
 leave-taking. It gafre him an opportunity of exhibit 
 ing his fine person, and manners, and even dress, and 
 he took every advantage of it; but Thyra's manner 
 indicated no special or unusual interest. She gave 
 him one glance that thrilled him to the center of his 
 being, and appeared to be quite unconscious that she 
 had done so. It was apparently a mere digression 
 from the more important affair of the dinner-table. 
 But at the last moment Varrick's heart troubled him ; 
 he felt that he was wanting in the national virtue of 
 his country hospitality ; and he tried to atone for it 
 by an adieu, which invited a future and more friendly 
 intercourse. 
 
 For a moment Thyra looked at Hector as he stood 
 with her father outside the door. It was the Glen 
 garry cap with its eagle feather that attracted atten 
 tion. " What a becoming head-dress ! " she thought ; 
 " it makes a man look like a man should look. And 
 he is truly very much to my liking ; how black are his 
 eyes ! and his mustache ! None of our men wear the 
 mustache; it is very becoming. I must go and tell 
 Cousin Maran about him."
 
 "LOVELY THYRA VARRICK" 53 
 
 Such were her thoughts, and a dreamy smile of sat 
 isfaction accompanied them. But as her father re- 
 entered the house, she put both thoughts and smile 
 away, and met his fatherly nod and steady look of 
 inquiry with one of the most ordinary kind, affection 
 ate and confidential, but indicating no particular con 
 cern or curiosity. 
 
 He was silent a few minutes, but restless; walking 
 about the room, and lifting and putting down va 
 rious little ornaments of which he was usually very 
 careful. Thyra knew better than to open the conver 
 sation; she went quietly about her duties, humming 
 to herself, and, when they were finished, drew forward 
 her wheel and distaff and sat down to spin until din 
 ner was served. 
 
 " Asta is so slow," she remarked. " She is ever late 
 with the meat. She is little to my mind." 
 
 " Then rid thyself of her. Who is to thy mind? 
 What did you think of the young man that has just 
 been here? Is he not much of a man? " 
 
 " I have known all my life good men, and men good 
 to see, so then, I am not out of my senses about a tar 
 tan kilt and a velvet jacket and an eagle's feather." 
 
 " That is the truth, Thyra. Thou art one of the 
 wise women, and God knows how few they be. Now 
 there is Robert Thorson if he were dressed like a 
 Gael he would look " 
 
 " Like a fool ! Robert in his blue flannel is twice 
 the man this dandy Gael could ever be."
 
 54 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " Yet I advise thee to be careful of him. Thou art 
 a very cat of a woman, and his heart, I see, is to be a 
 very mouse in thy claws. Mind this, he will be hard 
 to deal with, fickle yet obstinate and on some day the 
 catcher is caught." 
 
 Thyra laughed merrily as she answered, " If I am 
 not caught till this Gael catch me, I shall go free to 
 the grave. What heart I have is thine only." 
 
 " But the time comes for all girls to marry, and I 
 think thou hadst better name thy wedding-day ; then 
 I will speak to Robert Thorson, and he shall make thee 
 a wife." 
 
 " I will not leave thee, father not yet. And I am 
 not sure about Robert; a girl should be in love with 
 her husband. I know not anything about love. Wert 
 thou ever in love, father? " 
 
 " I have loved once yes." 
 
 " Then I also wish to love once." 
 
 " I fear this young Highlandman. It was easy to 
 see he went over head in love with thee. And he would 
 be nothing to my wish. I tell thee plainly he shall not 
 have thee! Many things I have against him. He is 
 not of thy race; he is not of thy religion I am sure 
 he is a Papist and he is not of thy rank. He has 
 lived with princes, and in camps and courts, and there 
 is not a prouder clan in the wide world than these Mac- 
 Donalds. I dreamed a dream last night, and this 
 man was in it. I like it not." 
 
 " Well, father, nothing will come from him. There
 
 "LOVELY THYRA VARRICK" 55 
 
 is little risk of that. But he is a man to be much 
 noticed, and I will not be put behind. Thou wouldst 
 like it so. If I am not civil to him, very civil indeed, 
 some others will be. As thou knowest, there are plenty 
 of pretty girls in Kirkwall, and a man so unlike other 
 men will not be let alone by them. It is to our house 
 he came first ; and I am not in the mind of letting any 
 other woman take a lover from me. Wouldst thou like 
 to be outsailed? " 
 
 " Thou hast too many lovers already ; so it goes 
 that people speak ill of thee." 
 
 " Few women do people speak well of." 
 
 " Well, the rumor has gone abroad that thou and 
 Robert are to be man and wife." 
 
 " If Robert is the worst fate I have to bear, lightly 
 shall I bear it ; but there is a right and a wrong time 
 for all things, and it is not the right marrying time 
 with me. I am not weary of thee yet, father; for 
 there is none like thee." 
 
 Varrick looked happy at her words, and he stood 
 still a moment and looked at his lovely daughter smil 
 ing, and spinning, and saying such pleasant words 
 to him. He had no heart to urge her further. He 
 had, indeed, little to lean upon, but he had at least 
 let Thyra know that there could be no question of 
 marriage between her and the stranger; and she had 
 never yet disobeyed him in anything. Why, then, 
 should he distrust her on his own fears? That would 
 be a manifest injustice.
 
 56 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 So the days wore fretlessly on, and Thyra sat spin 
 ning to her thoughts the long, long thoughts of 
 youth and hope. But after the evening meal Captain 
 Varrick walked down to the pier to see the boats go 
 out, and Thyra knew it was his custom to stop at the 
 inn afterward and drink a glass of toddy, and smoke 
 a pipe with such of his acquaintances as happened 
 to be present. Therefore, as soon as he was out of 
 sight, she said to herself: 
 
 " Now I shall go and tell Cousin Maran all about 
 this young man. And what I do not know she will 
 find out ; and it will be something new for us to talk 
 about." 
 
 She did as she was minded, and her light, swift 
 steps soon took her to a house about half a mile fur 
 ther up the beach; the dwelling of the well-to-do 
 widow of Captain Christian Flett, first cousin of Cap 
 tain Paul Varrick. Maran Flett had been the friend 
 and confidant of Thyra for many years. She was 
 old enough to be Thyra's mother, but perhaps of this 
 very circumstance the affection of the older woman 
 was all the more motherly and sincere. There was 
 no room in their intercourse for rivalry of any kind ; 
 and the girl's great beauty and many lovers were a 
 source of supreme pride and interest to Mistress Flett. 
 
 She saw Thyra coming, and went to meet her. And 
 Thyra quickened her steps, and was soon in the arms 
 of the rosy- faced middle-aged woman. She was not 
 an Orcadian. Captain Flett had met her in a Fife
 
 "LOVELY THYRA VARRICK" 57 
 
 village, where his vessel had been driven by stress of 
 weather; and he thought so highly of her Scotch 
 beauty and shrewd common-sense that he had gone 
 back, there voluntarily the next year to ask her to 
 marry him. She had lived very happily for some 
 years with her Norse husband; and now lived very 
 happily on the little estate and comfortable sum of 
 money which he had left her. 
 
 Only one trouble had come to her Captain Var- 
 rick's indifference to her. She thought it the most 
 natural thing in the world that, being a widower, he 
 would marry his cousin's widow. People generally 
 thought so, and she had suffered much mortification 
 from the failure of the evidently fair arrangement. 
 Indeed, it was whispered Paul Varrick had made his 
 indifference more positive and pronounced than was 
 necessary; though some asserted Maran's too effusive 
 affection deserved the abrupt rejection it received. 
 But years had apparently healed this wound, and if 
 Maran did not visit Paul's house, except on such oc 
 casions as included all his acquaintances, Thyra was 
 constantly with her, and that without Paul's oppo 
 sition or even limitation; so that the habit of affec 
 tion was both warm and confidential. 
 
 " Dear Maran," said .Thyra, " how goes it with 
 thee to-day? I was coming before, but " 
 
 " I am not bad, considering and why didn't you 
 come before? You left Barbara Valzain to tell me of 
 the visitor you had. She is an ill-bred, forwardsome
 
 58 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 girl, and I told her if she could only learn to hold 
 her tongue, such a thing as a husband might cast up 
 for her." 
 
 " I will tell thee why I did not come sooner, Maran. 
 I thought the visitor might come back in the after 
 noon, but he did not; and besides, father was jealous 
 of him at once, and began talking of Robert Thorson 
 to me. The stranger is a Scot." 
 
 " He could hardly be better." 
 
 " I mean a Highlander. He wore the grandest 
 dress, and he is the handsomest man I ever saw." 
 
 " I don't think so much of the Highlanders. They 
 are all tainted with Jacobitism and Popery." 
 
 " Father said he was certain to be a Papist." 
 
 " Your father is a narrow-minded man anent some 
 things, Thyra. I have no objections to the Stuarts if 
 they would only win ; but I think it right to hold with 
 the side that is uppermost. It is natural to believe 
 Providence knows best what is good for Scotland. 
 Many a time my father honest man used to say, 
 ' You may cast more bread on the Stuart water than 
 you'll ever find again. No, no; at present I'm, for 
 the Hanovers ; I would be for the Stuarts if they were 
 in power ; but as things are, they can never do me any 
 good, but perhaps make Buchan a lord, or my brother- 
 in-law, Willie Morrison, a sheriff ; or the like of that. 
 I am for the Hanovers.' " 
 
 " I care neither for one nor the other. I am for 
 the Highlander that came to-day. He is a splen-
 
 "LOVELY THYRA VARRICK" 59 
 
 did man, and no other girl shall take him from 
 me." 
 
 " You will be having your fun, Thyra, no matter 
 who suffers, but come ben the house, and tell me all 
 about him." 
 
 Then it was evident that Thyra, in spite of her 
 apparent indifference, had taken good heed of the 
 stranger of his eyes and hair, his form and height, 
 the expression of his handsome face, the clothep he 
 wore, the gestures he made and his conversation with 
 her father. She was in the midst of a description of 
 him as he stood by her side hanging up the tangle, 
 when there was the sound of swift footsteps approach 
 ing. Both women listened, and both said at the same 
 moment : 
 
 " It is Robert Thorson." 
 
 He came into the room in his sea-beaten beauty, 
 a man straight-faced, wise of speech, swift of action, 
 masterful, and generous. He could swim like a seal, 
 and was the fastest runner in the Islands ; his yellow 
 hair was crisp and curly with sea salt, and his blue 
 shirt open at the throat a modest, shy hero, of great 
 size and strength, who had been to regions of tremen 
 dous heat and tremendous cold, and shirked the trial 
 of neither. With every kind of life pertaining to the 
 sea Robert was familiar; but most of all, he was a 
 notable whale fisher, a brave harpooner, trampling 
 over mountains of ice, triumphing over sea monsters 
 that smashed his boat with a blow, and running out
 
 60 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 in league-long chases a thousand fathoms of line. 
 Paul Varrick trusted him like his own soul, and they 
 owned together a boat for the deep sea fishing, to 
 which they had given the name of the Meum and 
 Tuum. And to this man Paul was willing to give 
 Thyra, for he knew that Robert loved her with a great 
 and true affection. 
 
 But the real hero is always modest; and Robert, 
 who feared neither the monsters of the deep, nor heat, 
 nor cold, nor stormy winds, and who had stood pa 
 tient, watchful, calm at the helm in the hour of ship 
 wreck, was shy and fearful in the presence of Thyra. 
 He adored her and he trembled before her. He would 
 'have given his life to make her happy, but he could 
 not find the courage to tell her so. 
 
 He had been quickly told of the Scot who visited 
 his partner; and his beauty and fine appearance had 
 been magnified to him. Then some instinct of his un 
 selfish love warned him of some danger to Thyra, and 
 learning that she had gone to her Cousin Flett's, he 
 followed her there ; hoping to walk home with her, and 
 to find some suitable words to say. 
 
 As it happened, Thyra was in a mood for his com 
 pany. She was not going to give up her old love, even 
 if a new love should have come into her life. She 
 thought also that in walking home they might meet 
 Hector. All the girls were yet at the public foun 
 tains, and in the bewitching light and glorious calm, 
 who would not be out to enjoy the heavenly hours?
 
 "LOVELY THYRA VARRICK" 61 
 
 So she met Robert with a frank freedom of manner 
 that almost intoxicated him with joy. She said, 
 " Thou art the man I was wishing for ! Wilt thou 
 convoy me home? " she stretched out her hand 
 and he took it, and they went along the beach to 
 gether like two happy children. Maran watched them 
 with a look in her face that was not quite pleasant, 
 for there had suddenly entered her mind memories not 
 favorable to either Paul Varrick or Robert Thorson. 
 The first had lightlied her love, and made her a spec 
 ulation to the islands; the latter had in another way 
 given her just as great a slight. She had offered him 
 house room and board with her, and that at such a 
 rate, and with such advantages, as could not be re 
 fused except for personal reasons. And, though Rob 
 ert had denied any personal reason, no one believed 
 him. Had he not taken board with Annie Valzain? 
 And was he not paying double the money Maran Flett 
 asked him? The gossips had a score of conclusions 
 for this condition, and, though they had to invent 
 every one of them, Maran was as sorely wounded and 
 offended as if they were true. So, then, she had a 
 grievance against Paul Varrick and Robert Thorson, 
 and she was a Fife woman, and not likely to for 
 get it. 
 
 " Here is a pretty kettle of fish," she said to her 
 self, as she shut and locked her door, " and it is un- 
 telling what may come of it. If what Thyra says be 
 half true, this Scot is a nonesuch in his line, and Rob-
 
 62 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 ert Thorson is another in his line ; and where will Paul 
 Varrick come in between them? I am not sorry for 
 Paul. I would like well to see him drink the cup of 
 scorn he mixed for me. I mind yet that night I said 
 a few loving words to him, and he stood up and but 
 toned his coat, and put on his hat, as if he was feared 
 for me! I'm not forgetting it, Paul Varrick! It is 
 a queer world, and if Thyra, who is a contrary crea 
 ture, sets her heart on this Scot, I will not hinder true 
 love, not I! He is a Scot, and I am a Scot, and 
 Heaven knows these Norsemen have left off sucking 
 their thumbs centuries gone by; they can fight their 
 own battles, and take what they want without me 
 helping them to it." To such thoughts she fell asleep, 
 for it is the heart wounds inflicted by our fellow crea 
 tures that remain unhealed; while those that come 
 from God are sanative, remedial, and often strangely 
 comforting. 
 
 And meanwhile, while Maran fretted her soul into 
 troublous dreams, Thyra and Robert walked hand in 
 hand along the sea-shore. In the exquisite light they 
 looked like Immortals. For once they were sweetly 
 consonant, and there was little need of speech between 
 them. Thyra's wordless presence was beatitude 
 enough. But as they began to climb the rocks, Rob 
 ert put Thyra's arm within his own, and he lifted her 
 hand and kissed it, saying in a voice so low that it 
 amazed him : 
 
 " Sweet Thyra, how I love thee ! "
 
 "LOVELY THYRA VARRICK" 63 
 
 She looked up and smiled, and had he then been 
 brave enough to clasp her to his heart, and kiss her 
 lips, and ask her promise, it might perchance have 
 been given perchance ! But alas for love that 
 misses its opportunity! Can it ever return and find 
 that heavenly hour again? Or has Hope sown what 
 Love shall never reap ? Silently they reached the door 
 of the Varrick house, and there they lingered, stand 
 ing hand in hand, until Paul came out and said : 
 
 " It grows late, Robert, and there are many to 
 morrows." 
 
 And none of the three noticed the dark figure of 
 Hector sitting at the foot of a great rock and watch 
 ing them. But he was a link in that chain of invin 
 cible necessity which says to mortals, " Whatever is, 
 could not but so have been."
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 A Daughter of Concealment. 
 
 IF Hector had passed through the gates of reincar 
 nation into Orkney, he could hardly have ignored 
 more completely his previous existence. Any re 
 membrance of it caused him to knit his brows, to rise 
 hastily and plunge the more deeply into his present 
 life. He found it full of interest. There was some 
 thing tangible to overcome; something sweetly visible 
 to win. He could thoroughly estimate his position, 
 and if he carried it, his reward was a present and a 
 lasting one, even the love, and the hand, of the most 
 beautiful creature he had ever seen. And Prince 
 Charles' rewards were words cast into the air ; nobody 
 knew that he would ever redeem them; nobody really 
 trusted that he would have the desire, or the honor, 
 to redeem them. 
 
 Being a MacDonald, he was accustomed to the 
 sight, and sound, and labor of the sea, and he took 
 naturally to the life of the sea, which, indeed, in the 
 Orkneys was one of continual romance and adventure, 
 as well as of mere business and subsistence. From 
 Kirkwall's deep harbor ships of great size went to 
 and fro in the world; one had just returned from 
 
 64
 
 CONCEALMENT 65 
 
 Madagascar ; and there were two taking in their last 
 fresh water and stores before proceeding to the ex 
 treme northern ports of America, with their supplies 
 for the Hudson's Bay Company. Heroes of the floods 
 and the wilderness, conquerors of terrific wild animals, 
 patient bearers of hunger and cold, brave fighters of 
 the cruel, wily, wild men of those regions, were in 
 them; and Hector never wearied of the tales they 
 could tell him. 
 
 It was soon noticed that Paul Varrick and Hector 
 were much together; and men and women invented 
 many reasons, mostly evil ones, for this companion 
 ship. Some said that Varrick was privately a Jaco 
 bite, a Stuart man; it was even possible that Hector 
 had bought him, and in that case the Islands might 
 be led into serious trouble. Women were sure that he 
 wanted to marry Thyra to Hector. It was evident 
 that the young man was rich and noble, and well 
 known. Not a few supposed Hector might be Var- 
 rick's own son by some Scotch woman. His cousin 
 Flett had married a Fife girl who could tell what 
 alliance Varrick might have formed in the strange 
 countries he had visited? After all, Thyra might not 
 be as rich as she thought she would be. The subject 
 was a most serviceable topic for social gossip; it was 
 so many-sided, taking in, not only Paul and Hector, 
 and Thyra and Robert Thorson, but also Maran 
 Flett; for Hector had quite captivated Varrick's 
 cousin, and was living and boarding in her house.
 
 66 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 But though everyone was talking of this singular 
 friendship and its rapid growth, there was really noth 
 ing singular in it. Men of fifty years old are often 
 greatly attracted by young men. If they are bright 
 and handsome, of good birth and not in want of 
 money, and yet desirous of the company of their eld 
 ers, they pay them a very subtle and attractive com 
 pliment. 
 
 Among the men of his own age Paul found few to 
 do him reverence. All of them had gone through dif 
 ficulties and dangers they considered quite as remark 
 able as those of Varrick. Many of them thought Paul 
 Varrick gave himself unnecessary admiration; others 
 thought he assumed an air of superiority that had no 
 foundation but money to rest on ; and not a few looked 
 down on him from the Kirk point of view, for he was 
 not as mindful of Sabbath-Day ordinances as he 
 should have been, nor as generous concerning stipends 
 and religious expenses as people thought his wealth 
 demanded. Therefore, Hector's frank admiration 
 was pleasant to him. Had it been mere talk, he would 
 not have been caught by any amount of praise; but 
 the young man sought his company constantly; re 
 peated his stories, and insisted on hearing them over 
 again for the pleasure of the company. Indeed, he 
 flattered him so naturally, that it would have been un 
 natural not to believe in applause so hearty and enthu 
 siastic. 
 
 But Paul went no further than this ; he was grati-
 
 CONCEALMENT 67 
 
 fied, but only to a certain extent. His infatuation did 
 not blind him to real interests at stake. He never 
 for a moment lowered his estimation of Robert Thor- 
 son; never, for a moment, wavered in his resolve to 
 have Robert, and no one but Robert, for his son-in- 
 law. But Robert could not believe this, and he suf 
 fered accordingly; though neither by word or look 
 had he revealed his anguish. He had a feeling that 
 to give voice to his fears might give reality; he was 
 almost angrily resolved to see no change in Thyra, 
 to hear no change in her voice, to put from him, as 
 nonsensical, anything like coolness in her manner. It 
 was an article not only of faith in his heart, but of 
 confidence in his existence, that Thyra could not, 
 would not, break the unspoken contract between them ; 
 it was as inviolable and certain as life and death. 
 
 Paul Varrick warmly countenanced Robert in this 
 position; and the sorrow and fear he had frequently 
 seen of late in his eyes, when Thyra was with Hector, 
 touched him to the quick, for he had encouraged Rob 
 ert from the first and had privately promised him his 
 daughter. Besides which, he was tenacious beyond 
 expression of his word, or of any promise or obliga 
 tion in which his word stood for a fact. He knew, 
 also, that he could die comfortably if Thyra was Rob 
 ert's wife; he was not at all sure he could live com 
 fortably if she was the wife of Hector. 
 
 One evening growing toward the herring fishing, 
 Paul walked down to the pier, hoping to see Robert.
 
 68 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 He found him on the Meum and Tuum, busy at 
 work among the nets, which were likely to be needed 
 at any hour. Paul's heart smote him. Hector had 
 been much with Thyra of late, and the lifted face of 
 Robert was full of anxious sadness. He nodded and 
 smiled faintly, but went on sorting the nets without 
 a word. 
 
 So Paul laid his arm across his shoulder and said : 
 
 " Art thou unhappy? What is there on thy mind? 
 Does it not go well between us ? " 
 
 Then Robert gave words to his trouble. " I 
 thought," he said, " that thou of all mortal men 
 wouldst deal fairly with me." 
 
 " I will stand by thee while life lasts, Robert." 
 
 " I thought thou wert willing I should wed Thyra, 
 but now, the rumor goes abroad that thou wilt give 
 her to this stranger Scot. It is not like the rest of 
 thy dealings with me." 
 
 " Dost thou think, Robert Thorson, that Paul Var- 
 rick will ever tread his word under his feet? Not one 
 letter of what I have promised thee will I call back." 
 
 " Thy cousin Maran told me that the match is de 
 termined, and that it was a great match, and to thy 
 contentment." 
 
 " Maran's tongue seldom finds a true tale. That 
 talk is like the rest of her lying. I have said I would 
 give Thyra to thee for thy wife, and, by Saint Mag 
 nus ! I will do it." 
 
 " Thy word is good enough, and great enough,
 
 CONCEALMENT 69 
 
 without Saint Magnus to bind it. We are Christian 
 men, and our ' yes ' and * no ' is our oath." 
 
 " Be it so, Robert, thou art a good man, and will 
 it please thee to marry Thyra ? " 
 
 " Paul, thou knowest well, that all my life's joy 
 is folded up in that day. But let Thyra say the word ; 
 that is her right." 
 
 " I will tell her to do so this night. It is time she 
 settled herself, and put a stop to envious tongues. As 
 it is, every woman has something to say about it, and 
 I like not such lying words thrown about. I wish only 
 that the talkers were men; then those who spoke of 
 Thyra wrongfully should smart for it. Come, now, 
 let us speak of our affairs. Hast thou hired all the 
 men for the fishing that we need? " 
 
 " Save two. Dick Brough has asked for a place, 
 but he is one of the worst of men." 
 
 " I like him not. He is sulky and quarrelsome. 
 We shall not be the better for him." 
 
 " Donald Groat was here." 
 
 " There is not a pin to choose between Brough and 
 Groat. With them on the boat there would always be 
 some quarrel to ward off, or to fight out. Groat also 
 is an unlucky man ; from the first he is unlucky. Fore- 
 speak others. Wilt thou see to it? " 
 
 " I am ready to do so." 
 
 " Then I will go home, and I will say my mind to 
 Thyra this hour,, and the upshot of our talk I will 
 tell thee in the morning."
 
 70 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " And I pray thee be not hard with her. A few 
 stiff words from thee may shut every door of her 
 heart against me. I could not bear to lose all hope. 
 Oh, Paul, I know not what is best to urge, or to 
 wait." 
 
 " Thou knowest the saying of old about faint 
 hearts and fair women. Fear not ; I tell thee, on mine 
 honor, thou shalt have Thyra to wife." 
 
 But who is strong enough to struggle against de 
 cided things? That night as soon as Paul went out, 
 Thyra began to prepare herself for a visit to her 
 cousin. But as soon as she did so a strange lassitude, 
 a sudden indifference to the visit, came over her. She 
 could not dress her hair; it was up and down with it, 
 until her arms were tired and her head ached ; and 
 even then she was dissatisfied with results. She could 
 not find her belt; Asta had not cleaned her shoes; 
 there was a rent in her gown, and the right colored 
 thread to mend it had disappeared. She felt as if 
 her hands were crossed she was dressing as we do 
 in troublous dreams, when the Fates are undressing 
 us as fast as we proceed. At length, with some tem 
 per, she took out her comb and said crossly, "Very 
 well, then, do without it ! " and so let her fair hair fall 
 into the freedom it was apparently determined to 
 have. Then she put back in their places the gar 
 ments she could not manage, and in her simplest 
 gown went to the open door of the house, and sat 
 down on the topmost step.
 
 CONCEALMENT 71 
 
 " Why should I trouble myself for Maran ? " she 
 thought. " Let her get news from somebody else to 
 night. Last night I dressed myself and Hector was 
 not there ; he has got over the sea fever, and nothing 
 but the fishing pleases him. Well, then, let him go 
 to the boats, I will not run after him; he thinks him 
 self above all other men in the Islands, so it seems to 
 me. I will stay at home. My heart tells me this is 
 the best way." 
 
 She sat still in the place she had chosen. There 
 was no work, no book, in her hand, and she did not 
 think of such a thing as knitting or reading. Her 
 eyes were fixed upon some boats lying far out on the 
 horizon, and she wondered in which one Hector was 
 singing and telling stories, and making all the men 
 wonder, and smile at his cleverness. He had become 
 a great favorite with these silent Norse fishermen; 
 for he paid his way generously into their boats, and 
 was as good at work as he was clever and amusing 
 in words. While they lay on the decks waiting for the 
 fish to fill their nets, he would stir their hearts with 
 tales of Fingal, or the songs of Ossian, but as soon 
 as work was to be done, he would break a word in 
 the middle, be on his feet, and ready to help in a 
 moment. 
 
 Thyra was intensely proud of his influence and 
 intensely jealous of the men over whom it was ex 
 ercised. During the few weeks which had elapsed 
 since Hector's arrival, their intimacy had become very
 
 72 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 near and lover-like; and all the more dangerous be 
 cause it was so carefully hid from Thyra's father. 
 Hector was determined to win Thyra, but also deter 
 mined to avoid the powerful obstacle of Paul's opposi 
 tion. So he wooed the girl in all those sweet ways 
 which love teaches ; he wooed her thus even in Paul 
 Varrick's house and presence, finding many delightful 
 opportunities, which by their very secrecy and reti 
 cence had that power, inscrutable and deep-reaching, 
 which more candid and open endearments would have 
 lacked. 
 
 She was deeply in love, but as yet did not herself 
 know how deeply. A restless longing to be ever in 
 Hector's presence consumed her; yet when they were 
 together she was generally ill at ease, and half -resent 
 ful of his control. And, oh ! when he was absent for 
 a whole day, the world was void, and life desolate, and 
 not to be borne ! At such times she had begun to say 
 to herself, " I am either in love or bereft of my wits ; 
 and Maran says he is going away in the summer! 
 Then I shall also go away, but it will be to the kirk- 
 yard ; I know that things have come to this pass with 
 me. But what is in my heart must be quiet. Oh, 
 Hector ! Hector ! " 
 
 It was this intense secret love, and the thoughts it 
 bred, that brought her to the hour and the place where 
 Love and Sorrow were waiting for her. In that still, 
 strange, heavenly twilight, sifted through with au 
 roras, as she sat motionless, thinking, dreaming, long-
 
 CONCEALMENT 73 
 
 ing, she suddenly heard someone coming. She stood 
 up to listen. It was Hector! It was Hector! The 
 Inner Woman told her at once, and she regarded the 
 omen told her with a hopelessness that was almost 
 terror. For in the midst of her joy, tears sprang 
 to her eyes; she trembled, she was as cold as death, 
 premonitory grief and fear were in her soul; but she 
 asked neither question nor advice from this august 
 friend. Her heart throbbed wildly to the music of 
 the approaching footsteps, and when Hector came 
 close to her, he saw in her face and in her attitude 
 that the hour so ardently desired had come. 
 
 For, erect as she stood before him, there was an un 
 doubted, though invisible, humility in her appearance. 
 It was not in her unbound hair, or her dropped arms, 
 or her timid greeting ; it was her apprehending inner 
 self that confessed resistance to Fate no longer pos 
 sible. Thyra was unconscious of this spiritual defeat, 
 this withdrawal, as it were, of her good angel; but 
 Hector felt that all opposition had been removed ; he 
 did not ask how. His love instantly grew impetuous, 
 and more imperative, as he joyfully understood that 
 Thyra's heart was ready to surrender to his summons. 
 Without question or permission he seated her at his 
 side, and then gazed with rapture at her loveliness. 
 
 " Oh, beautiful Thyra ! Oh, lovely Thyra ! Oh, 
 darling ! darling ! I love you ! I love you ! I love 
 you ! " 
 
 Softer, and lower, grew every word of this pas-
 
 74 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 sionate declaration; and his arm was around her 
 waist when he whispered the last word; and Thyra 
 had a joy past believing a joy wonderful, immeas 
 urable, transporting ! But with a strange contradic 
 tion she remained silent and apparently unmoved. He 
 took her hands, he blessed her beauty, he wooed her 
 with all those flaming, persuasive words the Gael can 
 always bring from his heart to his lips. Not one of 
 them fell to the ground. They burned in her heart, 
 they leaped to her eyes, they loosened her tongue, and 
 she lifted the full splendor of her face to his, and 
 looked straight into his eyes. 
 
 " Dear one ! " she said, " the Good Being knows 
 that I love thee ! " 
 
 Then his soul sprang to her, and he kissed her from 
 hands to mouth, and called her , " His wife ! His 
 sweet wife! " until his words grew faint with joy, and 
 were broken on her lips with kisses, and then ceased 
 in that divine silence that, falling between lovers, is 
 the surest and sweetest of revealers. For in love it 
 is thus a look and a kiss and all has been said. Oh, 
 how wonderful is this mere fact of loving ! 
 
 In this transporting hour they thought only of 
 themselves. They forgot her father; Hector forgot 
 Sara; and the New Love, glorying in its success, 
 cast not one look behind to where the Old Love waited 
 vainly for some token of faithfulness. Infolded by 
 each other's arms, their happy faces beaming with 
 smiles of youthful felicity, shadeless, cloudless, sad-
 
 CONCEALMENT 75 
 
 dened by no yesterdays and fearing no to-morrows. 
 This halcyon trance, this truce of sorrowful life, 
 was interrupted by the harsh, melancholy voice of 
 Paul Varrick singing: 
 
 " ' Oh, the Sea! the Sea! 
 A cruel Mistress she. 
 Her winds are full of moans, 
 Her deeps of dead men's bones. 
 Oh, the Sea! the Sea!'" 
 
 Thyra started up in the greatest alarm. " Now, 
 Hector, thou must go ! " she said ; " indeed thou 
 must." 
 
 " But I want to see the Captain. I must tell him." 
 
 " No, no, no ! Thou must not say a word. Little 
 thou knowest what sorrow it may bring to us. And 
 to-night I beg thee to go away, to make haste when 
 my father is at singing point, he is masterful to talk 
 to. Thou wilt not be able to manage him. Hector, 
 I pray thee go quickly ! It is the best way ! " 
 
 Her eager, trembling voice, her anxious face, her 
 urgent manner, were an imperative command. And 
 Hector was not averse to put off a conversation whose 
 satisfaction was, at least, doubtful. Indeed, his very 
 appearance in that hour, triumphantly joyous and 
 confident, would have provoked Paul. Thyra knew 
 this, so with entreaties and embraces he kissed her, and 
 slipped quietly away among the coast cliffs to Maran's 
 house. But in that hour all roads were heavenly 
 roads to Hector. The cliffs, and the ocean, the
 
 76 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 lonely land under the glorious sky, the sleeping town, 
 the dreamlike ships on the horizon all these things 
 seemed but part and parcel of his love and his felicity. 
 For there is a mystical communion of touch between 
 man and nature; and the earth and the sea, and the 
 heavens reflected in a thousand ways, the happiness 
 Hector knew not how to express. 
 
 Paul came slowly homeward, singing and talking 
 to himself; and Thyra had time to call up all the 
 strength that joy had scattered. She resumed her 
 seat on the step and, leaning her head against the 
 lintel of the door, greeted her father with the air and 
 manner of one weary with watching for him. 
 
 " I am later than my custom, Thyra," he said at 
 once ; " but as I was coming home I met Captain Yell, 
 and for three years he has been away on the whaling 
 grounds. Hast thou been alone ? " 
 
 " I did not go to Maran's ; I could not dress my 
 self ; I think the fairies were in my clothes I was 
 weary for thee." 
 
 " Good girl ! To-night was a night by itself. It 
 was Yell's night. Everyone was right glad to see 
 him a brisk brave man, well to do, a proper man 
 in all things. In that he is like Robert. Wait a 
 moment, I want to speak to thee." 
 
 " Father, I am sleepy." 
 
 " Put out the candle, and listen to what I say. I 
 am not minded to let thee sleep, or to sleep myself, till 
 I have said the words I promised to say. This night
 
 CONCEALMENT 77 
 
 Robert Thorson asked me to give thee to him for his 
 wife." 
 
 " There is no need that I should tell thee, father, 
 Norse women give themselves away." 
 
 " With the consent of their parents ; that is the 
 first step with a good girl." 
 
 " Robert has never the said the word ' wife ' to me. 
 Let him speak for himself ; that is only right." 
 
 " He will speak fast enough. He knows, now, th..t 
 he may do so. I have said thou shalt marry him, and 
 so it shall be. I mean it." 
 
 " I will not marry anyone just yet. Art thou tired 
 of me? Never did I hear of a father bargaining 
 away his daughter." 
 
 " I gave thee to a good man." 
 
 " And what did he give thee for the gift ? " 
 
 " Thou'rt a temper- try ing woman. Listen to what 
 I say. I have heard much ill report of thy doings 
 lately." 
 
 " Why didst thou not strike those who spoke ill of 
 me? Because I am beautiful they hate and defame 
 me, and thou wert not quick to defend me. I am much 
 to be pitied." 
 
 " Well, then, if thou are to be pitied and defended, 
 Robert Thorson is the man who can do it. When 
 thou art married to him thou wilt not have me to jeer 
 at." 
 
 " I am sorry I spoke those words ; but when I hear 
 thee saying * Get married, get married,' I am down-
 
 78 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 cast about it; so I do not say wise words. I am 
 sorry to grieve thee." 
 
 " As for me, I forgive, for I love thee. But I have 
 made up my mind about Robert. I have good ground 
 to stand on in this matter, and I will not move an inch. 
 Robert will speak to thee." 
 
 " Why should he? If thou hast given me away 
 why should he speak ? Thou hast made me in his eyes 
 a thing, not a woman. Very well, if I marry him I 
 will teach him that I am not a woman. Yes, I will do 
 nothing to his pleasure." 
 
 " Thou wilt make a town's talk of thyself. I know 
 well the secret of thy disobedience. It is Hector Mac- 
 Donald. Do not think he will ever mate with thee. 
 That is as likely as that the eagle and the gray gull 
 should nest together. Moreover, Bor Black says that 
 one told him MacDonald was already betrothed to a 
 Highland chief's daughter." 
 
 " And that is a lie." 
 
 "How canst thou tell?" 
 
 " Now I se that he also has thy ill-will." 
 
 " I trouble not myself about him. He is good com 
 pany for me, but not for thee, and I may as well say 
 now what I shall say later: it is time thou broke off 
 going about with him. He is full of talk about 
 princes and ladies ; and to be short on this matter, 
 many people have told my very self, to my face, that 
 he makes love to thee. Is that a lie ? " 
 
 " And what didst thou say to that? "
 
 CONCEALMENT 79 
 
 " I said what I said." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " I said neither more nor less than I would rather 
 see thee dead than the wife of Hector MacDonald. I 
 said moreover thou wert promised to Robert Thorson. 
 Pass thy word that thou wilt marry no one else." 
 
 " No, I will not do that. I will be free as thou 
 art. Do I trouble thee about marrying? Yet many 
 a time I have heard this and that about Vesta Skade, 
 Norna Vedder, and my cousin Maran." 
 
 " Wilt thou keep thy tongue in bridle ? My mar 
 rying or not marrying is quite another affair. Thou 
 art to marry Robert, and that before winter comes 
 again. Do not set about to thwart my plans, for I 
 am able to bring this thing to pass. I have given it 
 out that thou wilt marry Robert Thorson, and I will 
 take no other thing in hand till it be done." 
 
 " Thou hast taken in hand a thing greater than 
 thou can manage without my will go with 
 thine." 
 
 " I will do the thing I have said ; if thou thwart 
 me it will be worse for thee than thou dreamest." 
 
 " If thou threaten me I will do nothing ; I will do 
 nothing at all." 
 
 " It is thy bounden duty to obey me." 
 
 "Did not I tell thee I am bound to no man? I 
 am as free as Magnus Varrick, who came here first 
 of all the Varricks, because he would not be bound to 
 obey even King Hacon."
 
 8o THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " What is the use of talking ; thou wilt be the wife 
 of Robert Thorson. I will make that come to 
 pass." 
 
 " Then thou wilt do something worth talking about. 
 I am aching with sleep and the trouble thou hast laid 
 on me; and I will go now." 
 
 " Go then, but for the time to come I will put little 
 trust in thee. And why wilt thou strive against what 
 is to be? It is sure to happen." 
 
 " The future will put that to the proof. I think 
 thou hast forgotten how to love me ! That Scot with 
 whom thou now spendest thy days has weaned thee 
 from me. Before he came thou wert ever kind to 
 Thyra; now thy good words are all for him. When 
 wilt thou send him away ? Or is he to take my place in 
 thy heart? Yes, I have heard that he is thy own son ; 
 many have told me so, and that is the wherefore thou 
 art ready to give me away to Robert Thorson. It is 
 such a shame to me ! I cannot show my face to my 
 friends; thou art cruel, cruel, and my heart is like 
 to break," and she threw herself on the sofa and 
 sobbed aloud. 
 
 And then that happened that always happens in 
 such cases. Paul humbled himself before his lovely 
 weeping child, and said: 
 
 " I love thee ! I do love thee, and that beyond all 
 others. I have no child but thee ; those who say I have 
 I will reckon with. I seek only thy happiness thy 
 mother in heaven, she knows that, Thyra ! Thyra !
 
 CONCEALMENT 81 
 
 Cease weeping. Wilt thou cease now, at once? Thy 
 tears blister my heart." 
 
 "Thou dost love me, father?" 
 
 " As my life." 
 
 " Thou wilt always love me? " 
 
 " I swear it. Not while my life days last will I 
 cease to love thee. I lay this vow in the hands of 
 God." 
 
 At these words she rose, put her arms around his 
 neck and kissed him, and then they parted. She 
 thought she had conquered. But as Paul undressed 
 that night, he muttered to himself : 
 
 " My heart tells me what she would not tell me. 
 Where there is smoke there is fire. Lovely and dear 
 is Thyra Varrick, but also she is a woman, and there- 
 fere a Daughter of Concealment."
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Love Is Love Forever More 
 
 THE reconciliation was not as complete as it 
 appeared to be. Thyra had been neither 
 frank nor confidential, and Paul felt it. The 
 morning light brought a revelation of this fact he 
 could not reason away; and he was glum and un 
 happy in consequence. 
 
 " She has sailed all around me again," he mut 
 tered, as he made the knot in his neckerchief; 
 " sailed all around me. She put me in the wrong, 
 when I was in the right; she made me make promises 
 instead of making them herself. I may be a match 
 for winds and waves, and rough men and whales, and 
 polar bears, but I am a simpleton on a waterlogged 
 ship, in the hands of a woman of a child not nine 
 teen years old yet. I will see if Robert Thorson can 
 do any better ; he ought to have looked after the girl 
 before this. Little time I lost when I wanted Thyra's 
 mother. I told her I wanted her, and I would not 
 take * no ' from her. And I shall tell Robert, if he 
 does not pluck up his courage soon, that Scot will 
 carry off Thyra in his very sight. I wonder if she 
 believed he was her half-brother ! Nonsense, she did
 
 LOVE IS LOVE FOREVER 83 
 
 not! It was only another of her tricks very clever 
 in the little witch, but I will outsail her yet." And 
 something within him answered scornfully " Per 
 haps ! " but he did not voice the doubt. 
 
 Such thoughts naturally made him silent at his 
 breakfast, but Thyra was unusually merry and 
 affectionate. She had taken pains to look lovely; 
 and she had gathered from Asta and Elga in the 
 kitchen the gossip of the town " There was a whale 
 in the shallow water by Copinsay," she said ; " and 
 two strange ships had been seen off Stromness." She 
 even asked Paul if he would take a message to Robert 
 for her, but Paul, like the majority of men, grew 
 cross as the woman coaxing him grew kind; and he 
 answered with indifference: 
 
 " Take thy own love messages. Thou hast treated 
 Robert as badly as can be, but I'll be bound thou wilt 
 beguile him as easy as if he was about four years 
 old." 
 
 "Father!" 
 
 " To be sure. Thou art much the same as all other 
 women." 
 
 " Why are men so fain and ready to marry, if 
 women are so ill-made ? " 
 
 " Good or bad, wives must be had ; bad, most of 
 them, full of faults. But I have something better 
 than women to think about, if the whale at Copinsay 
 is not another bit of trickery; but like enough that 
 tale was bred and born in my own kitchen."
 
 84 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " Thy tongue should not be a sword, father. I 
 have tried to speak to thee kindly, and thou wouldst 
 not be kind. Some day thou wilt remember and be 
 sorry for it." 
 
 " Thou art always chattering. There is no good 
 in all that we have said. Fate rules in this thing, I 
 see." 
 
 He spoke no more, and went out with an air of 
 sadness that made Thyra very unhappy. After her 
 selfish fashion she loved her father; and, also, his 
 reticence troubled her. He was generally so ready 
 to say what he wished and what he expected, and what 
 he was resolved to have and te do. If, then, he 
 should now begin to keep his own counsel, how could 
 she order her life so as to avoid open disobedience 
 and open disputing? 
 
 Paul found Robert on the Meum and Tuum, 
 which was ready to sail. The report of the stranded 
 whale was true, and he had just sent the news to 
 Paul's house, being sure he would desire to join in 
 the capture. 
 
 " That is true," said Paul when Robert had ex 
 plained the matter ; " I will surely go to Copinsay, 
 but thou hast other fishing to do. I have had a talk 
 with Thyra; now it is thy turn. She is expecting 
 thee, and delays in love are not fortunate." 
 
 " Thou givest me the best of good news," said Rob 
 ert, flushing scarlet with pleasure, as he lifted his 
 coat and leaped to the pier. And Paul laughed
 
 LOVE IS LOVE FOREVER 85 
 
 within himself, a laugh not devoid of irony, for he 
 saw that Paul Varrick had instantly become a person 
 of no importance, and that Robert took no further 
 interest in the whale, or the boat, or indeed in any 
 thing concerning the matter in hand. 
 
 *' He will walk a little slower, and hold his head 
 a little lower, in an hour or two," he thought. " For 
 whether Thyra takes his love or not, she will make 
 him feel in some of her queer ways that he has been 
 grievously in the wrong, or else forwardsome beyond 
 measure. He will be either in a kind of shamefaced 
 heaven, or down in the depths of the sea, when I see 
 him next. What fools men are ! Here is a big whale 
 to harpoon and bring to shore, and Robert leaves the 
 fun and profit to beg a girl's kiss and a promise. 
 Love is a great mystery ! " And then after a 
 thoughtful pause, " After all, it may be the mystery 
 that makes life worth having." 
 
 Thyra was expecting Robert. If he had spoken 
 to her father on the previous night, he was sure to 
 follow her father's acceptance of his suit by an im 
 mediate appeal to herself. Probably this thought 
 and expectation was accountable for the pains she had 
 taken with her toilet; for never is a woman more 
 desirous to look her best than when she is going to 
 refuse herself to her lover. Robert found her lean 
 ing over the wall that divided the yard of Paul's 
 house from the edge of the cliffs, and the breaking 
 waves below them. She turned with a smile as he
 
 86 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 greeted her, and pointed out the gulls feeding on the 
 bread and fish she had just cast to them, talking and 
 laughing merrily as she did so. 
 
 He was disturbed by her exuberant spirits, and 
 found it hard to say the words burning his tongue. 
 But his love was too great to be silenced by such de 
 lusive mirth as Thyra was indulging; and the invin 
 cible truth of his atmosphere quickly dashed the 
 mockery of her affected mood. He could not answer 
 its insincerity, and she soon became quieter and turned 
 toward the house, talking of her father and the whale, 
 but aware through all her words of Robert's absolute 
 indifference to them. For the man's heart was so 
 full of love that all other subjects passed him like the 
 wind; and she understood that he was no longer 
 to be put off. She had come to the answering of 
 questions, and she accepted the situation. 
 
 Therefore, as they crossed the yard together Thyra 
 looked well at her lover. " He is very much of a 
 man," she thought, " and until I am married to Hec 
 tor, I will not let him go. Little knows a woman 
 what friends she will need ; and no friend better than 
 an old lover." In fact she was resolved on a policy 
 of procrastination, tempered by that sweet coercion 
 which throws itself upon the forbearance and affec 
 tion it intends to use for its own advantage. 
 
 When they entered the house she made him sit 
 down, took his cap from his head, and brought him 
 a glass of blanda. Her face had become kind and
 
 LOVE IS LOVE FOREVER 87 
 
 serious; and her smile, as she offered him the drink, 
 was delightful. He drew her to his side, and tried 
 to speak, but could not find the words he had been 
 preparing all night long. And Thyra saw his diffi 
 culty, and began the conversation for him, in a man 
 ner so direct that it opened the gates of speech at 
 once. 
 
 " Robert," she said, " my father told me thou 
 wouldst be here; so then I have not gone to Maran's 
 as I intended. He said thou hadst something to tell 
 me. Is.it about thy cousin Barbara? That news is 
 late ; I know already that she is to be married at the 
 Feast." 
 
 " I am not thinking of Barbara. I am thinking 
 of nothing but thee; and I have only one thing to 
 tell thee, though I may tell it to all eternity. It is 
 that I love thee! I can say no more, and no less, 
 if I speak forever." 
 
 " Well, then, I have known this ; ever since I was 
 as high as thy knee, I have known thou lovedst me. I 
 am not blind to true love. Always thou hast been 
 kind as Heaven to me." 
 
 " Dost thou, then, love me? " 
 
 " How could I help loving thee ? If I did not love 
 thee, I would scorn the best of friends, for I put thee 
 next to my father." 
 
 " That is what thy father told me, or I had feared 
 to say the words I came to say. Wilt thou be my 
 wife? "
 
 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " Now thou art going too fast. A girl wants her 
 girlhood. I am too young to marry. Why wilt thou 
 torment me ? " 
 
 " Thy father says " 
 
 " Yes, I know. It is a shame for him ! I think 
 he wants to go sailing again ; and so he would be rid 
 of the charge of me. It makes me hide my face from 
 all the women in the town. * Paul Varrick is egging 
 on Robert Thorson to marry his daughter/ that is 
 what many say; and others go further and vow 
 
 * Paul Varrick is trying to make the young MacDon- 
 ald marry her.' Robert, it is not fair! It is very 
 cruel ! And thou ! thou ! to crown all ; thou of all 
 men, to back up these gossips ! I cannot bear it ! " 
 
 " My love ! My love ! What dost thou wish me 
 to do? " 
 
 " I will tell thee. When my father speaks to thee 
 again, say to him, Thyra is not ready to name her 
 wedding day. I wish not that she should be put 
 under force to be my wife. When she is willing, that 
 is my time. Say these words, wilt thou, neither more 
 nor less, and stick to them? Am I not reasonable? " 
 
 " I cannot deny thee." 
 
 " I am weary to death of people saying, Thyra is 
 to be married to this man, and that man ; on this day, 
 and that day ; for this reason, and that reason ; but 
 always the beginning and the tag end of every talk 
 is, Thyra is to be married. Say thou to such gossips, 
 
 * None of you know the truth.' I wish that they
 
 LOVE IS LOVE FOREVER 89 
 
 would talk of their own weddings ; they have talked 
 me out of all love for mine." 
 
 " But thou wilt think of it anon? " 
 
 " Anon, and anon, if I am let alone. Did thou 
 hear that my father, also, is to be married? " 
 
 " That story is beyond likelihood. I give it a deaf 
 ear always." 
 
 " I know not, Robert. Why, then, is my father 
 so anxious to give me to thy care? It makes me 
 hot with shame. Cannot thou feel how I must 
 feel?" : ***ff 
 
 " Yes, I can. And, oh, thou dear thing ! It will 
 go ill with those who talk of thee, and thy affairs, 
 where I can hear them." 
 
 Then she began to cry softly, and to cover 
 her face with her hands ; and Robert comforted her, 
 and said she was altogether right, and only modest 
 as a maid should be ; and he vowed on her hands lying 
 in his hands, that he would " live waiting for her 
 word, and suffer no one to make her miserable in his 
 name, or for his pleasure." 
 
 And he looked so manly and tender in his self-sac 
 rifice that her heart smote her. For to Robert her 
 distress was very real, and it seemed an incredible 
 cruelty to him that for anything she should be made 
 to weep. Her lovely, piteous face, her dropped eyes, 
 her air of humiliation, bred anger against himself, 
 as well as against all others who could wound by word 
 or deed a creature so beautiful and helpless.
 
 90 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 He would not distress her by any further pleading 
 of his own cause; but, lifting her hands, kissed them, 
 and went away so softly, that Thyra did not know 
 he had left her, until she opened her eyes to see if 
 he was present or not. And when she perceived that 
 she was alone she was strangely unhappy. The som 
 ber, piteous power of his silent, patient acceptance 
 of her uncertain affection and dubious promise 
 affected her as no reproaches could have done. 
 
 " He is a good man," she said, weeping a little 
 more, and going to the yard to watch his slow, 
 dolorous footsteps as they took him from love and 
 hope to the lonely places of suspense and accepted 
 sacrifice. For who, in the first moments of such bit 
 ter disappointment, can lift up the heart and sing 
 cheerfully the Hymn of Renunciation? 
 
 Yet in spite of her little compunctions she could 
 not resist the feminine instinct of cruelty in her heart. 
 She called him back in a voice so clear and sweet that 
 he could not shut his ears to her invitation. Hesitat 
 ing, with hope striving against doubt, he went back 
 to where she stood bending over the stone wall, a 
 vision of youth and perfect beauty, and apparent 
 affection. 
 
 " Robert," she said, avoiding the look of speechless 
 inquiry in his sad eyes, " Robert, I have something 
 to ask of thee. It is that thou wilt stand up for me, 
 and for my good name, against all who slander me, 
 men or women."
 
 LOVE IS LOVE FOREVER 91 
 
 " I will do that. Was it for this only thou called 
 me?" 
 
 " There is another thing, I fear so much my 
 father's anger. Thou knowest when he is angry he 
 is beyond all reason, and then I am afraid to be near 
 him. Let him not blame me, Robert, for anything." 
 
 " If there is blame, it is mine, and I will answer it." 
 
 " Say nothing to him about Thyra that he can pick 
 a quarrel on. Wilt thou do this for me? " 
 
 " I have promised. It is but a little thing. Is 
 this all of thy wish?" 
 
 " I am afraid of father and of evil tongues." 
 
 " Fear not. I am between thee and all that can 
 give thee trouble. Is this all? quite all? " 
 
 " One thing more ; I would not like thee to be 
 angry with me." 
 
 " My heart is so full of love for thee there is not 
 room in it for one angry thought." 
 
 " And wilt thou remember me always ? " 
 
 " I could no more forget thee than forget to draw 
 the breath of life. Is this all ? " and he looked at her 
 with eyes so full of wistful inquiry that she could 
 only shake her head and turn away. 
 
 Then he hurried to his lodging, and shut out the 
 light, and bolted the door, and threw himself on his 
 bed in despair. For he knew that in some measure 
 Thyra was deceiving him. His truthful soul felt the 
 insincerity and evasion of her words. It was as if 
 she had put a dagger of distrust up to the very hilt
 
 92 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 in his heart. He was bleeding inwardly. But after 
 an hour of such misery, he found the solace of tears, 
 and he wept blindly, passionately, with great sobs 
 and utter abandon; hiding his face and burying his 
 voice in his pillow, so that none but God might know. 
 And he was not long uncomforted, for it is just such 
 tears God wipes with His own hand away;a9f{j "tl 
 
 In the meantime Thyra had dressed herself and 
 gone to Maran's. She had the disappointment she de 
 served. Maran told her that Paul had come himself 
 for Hector, and had so insisted on his going to the 
 whale hunt that the young man found no way to 
 escape his invitation. 
 
 " Your father, as is well known, wants every 
 man ? s will, as well as his own; and after more clash 
 and clavers than I had patience to listen to, MacDon- 
 ald had to go with him. For, as I said, the prime 
 and notable quality in Paul Varrick is, that people 
 be to do his pleasure whether they want to, or 
 not." bfoto I j; 
 
 " I am sure Hector did not want to go-.'fifiioid '- 
 "And I am sure he was not much averse to 
 seeing the ploy. At the long last he went off very 
 gay-hearted, and he asked me to give you this bit 
 of a letter. I am not sure, Thyra, if I ought to give 
 you it." runor! ni irAj wapi arf. fol .lijs 
 
 " It is mine. You ought to give me what is mine." 
 " There is your father ; and he is a contrary, hard 
 hearted creature as ever drew the breath of life. I
 
 LOVE IS LOVE FOREVER 03 
 
 . ' *j 
 
 think I will give you the paper, for I am hot sorry to 
 be against such a mortal tyrant as he is." 
 
 " It is mine, anyway," said Thyra, taking the let 
 ter; and then there was silence, for the girl was 
 troubled and angry, and not inclined at that moment 
 to confidence. Her attitude was indeed provoking, 
 and not for long did Maran endure it. She had too 
 good a card to play to wait for opportunity. 
 
 " Thyra," she said, " there is no use in being 
 double with a woman like me. I have had experi 
 ence, and I knew as quick as I set eyes on MacDon- 
 ald last night that something beyond ordinary had 
 happened. The change in him was not to be told, and 
 I thought, maybe, Prince Charles had landed, or the 
 like of that ; and so I asked him plain out, and lie 
 answered, far better than Prince Charles had come 
 to him. And after a few more questions for I am 
 a curious creature he could keep the secret no 
 longer. He said he was in love with the most beau 
 tiful woman in the world, and then he clapped his 
 two hands and went on : ' The wonderful thing is that 
 she loves me ! I am going to marry her ! It is Thyra 
 Varrick ! ' And so out with all, name and surname, 
 till I could scarce keep my composure. I had to tell 
 him to speak lower, or the servant lass in the kitchen 
 would be keckling over the news, and then away to 
 the town cross with it." 
 
 " It was very presuming of him making me a com 
 mon talk between you. I came this morning to tell
 
 94 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 you the news myself, and then I find you know every 
 thing." 
 
 " Like as not, I do. We got on a very easy foot 
 ing together ; I know everything, all the outs and ins 
 of the matter, so there is no use holding things back 
 from me, Thyra." 
 
 " Well, Maran, nothing is settled. And what we 
 are to do with father is more than I can tell. And to 
 be very true, I am frightened this morning. There 
 is sure to be quarreling and trouble about such a 
 marriage, and no one knows what comes of it. A girl 
 should look before she leaps." 
 
 " You will look before you leap far. You are 
 a prudent body, maybe it is well, for MacDonald is 
 a mortal idiot, for love's sake. I like it in him. He 
 gave me a silver thistle, and a Cairngorm brooch, 
 and he made promises I'm not minding them. I 
 think it pleasure and pay both to be on the side of 
 true love." 
 
 " Yet you are always setting me against Robert 
 Thorson, and there is no love truer than his." 
 
 " Robert is a presumptuous creature. The like of 
 him casting his thoughts on you! A sailor and a 
 fisherman, when you may come to be Lady MacDon 
 ald. Take off your bonnet and mantilla. Your 
 father will not be back for three days, and he has 
 your lad with him, safe and sure." 
 
 " Father thinks he has done a very clever thing 
 we shall see. Now we are pulling at opposite ends of
 
 LOVE IS LOVE FOREVER 95 
 
 a rope, and he thinks he is the strongest; but if you 
 and Hector are with me, it will be three against one." 
 
 " Three against one, and so you may bring your 
 marriage to a head like a wish. I will stand by you 
 for the love of it ; and I'll go against your father and 
 Robert Thorson for the love of it." 
 
 Then they sat down to talk the affair to the bottom, 
 and Maran was as happy as she could be. The Evil 
 One has always plenty of arguments to prove that 
 wrong is right; and two women helping one another 
 to understand them soon make out a clear case for 
 their own desires. So the three days, in spite of a 
 drizzling rain that kept them in the house, went very 
 quickly away; and if Paul Varrick would only play 
 the part his daughter and cousin laid out for him 
 to play, there was not likely to be any difficulty in 
 carrying out the most splendid marriage ceremony 
 Kirkwall had ever seen. 
 
 Unfortunately Paul was not so easily disposed of; 
 indeed, he was simply a quite unaccountable man. No 
 one, for instance, had anticipated his device of car 
 rying off Hector in order to clear the ground for 
 Robert Thorson. As soon as the Meum and Tuum 
 came into the harbor, Robert was on hand to meet his 
 partner; and in the moment of meeting, Paul saw 
 that all was not as he wished. As soon as circum 
 stances permitted, he opened the subject without any 
 preface. 
 
 " Where is Thyra? " he asked.
 
 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " She is at Maran Flett's. When thou art away 
 she is best there."j 0( j [[[* ft f9m fa- rn 91B tojbsH bn 
 
 " Go and tell her that I am back and bring her 
 with thee, wilt thou? " 
 
 " Thou knowest that Maran hates me. I have no 
 heart to go to her house, but I will send word to 
 Thyra." ij * lifift* srfi >' 
 
 " Hast thou spoken to Thyra, or hast thou not? " 
 
 " I have spoken. It is all right." 
 
 " She has named the wedding-day ? " 
 
 " Not yet. She has a maiden's hesitation. I like 
 it in her. v-ndi 9dJ or !: n^o iwrfi 
 
 " I like it not. Such shilly-shally wooing ! I never 
 saw nor heard tell of a lover so easily put off, 
 and " fcfjsf nrai 
 
 " I am satisfied. Thyra behaved to me more kindly 
 than I hoped. She is not to be blamed nor shamed, 
 or scolded on this question. I will not have her made 
 to weep for me. That is all about it." .atio'inU 
 
 Paul looked as if he did not comprehend, but after 
 a moment's reflection he laughed and said, with a grim 
 attempt at a joke, " I think, then, it is Paul Varrick ' 
 who must set the wedding-day." Robert did not an 
 swer; there was no joking on this subject for him, 
 and he let it drop without further notice, 
 -muoiio BB nooa sA .fodt.hr >ii ZR ion gfivr OB Jurfi
 
 AflYHT 
 
 
 
 ma bria" t fc ; rnoQ t ri9ili SBW I 
 
 ,nilliw JIB uorii 'il *i* vlnsrll f 9mo 
 
 it o* ift^ue oi <jAit bluow I 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 ) ,9m nJj /=! uodL 
 
 Paul Varrick Proposes ; Thyra Varrick Disposes 
 
 BUT the idea having entered Paul's mind took 
 root there in more than one form ; and as Thyra 
 was not present to talk to him, he pondered it as 
 he ate his lonely meal. For several little circumstances 
 delayed the boy Robert sent to Maran Flett's with the 
 news of Paul's return; and it was mid-afternoon be 
 fore Thyra knew her father was back from Copinsay. 
 By this time Paul Varrick had made for himself an 
 extraordinary resolution he had resolved to go to the 
 Minister for advice. Never before had he done such 
 a thing. He had been used to say that " Minister's 
 counsel was unlucky counsel " ; but he considered in 
 this case, that it was counsel about a woman, and not 
 about business or boats. 
 
 He went to the manse with that little bravado in 
 his carriage which men assume when they suspect the 
 thing they do will cause social wonder or comment, 
 and are yet resolved to assert their freedom in the 
 matter. The Minister was walking in his garden, 
 and when Paul lifted the latch of the gate, he looked 
 at him with a pleased surprise, and said heartily : 
 
 " Come in, Captain Varrick ; come in, and welcome. 
 I heard thou wert gone to Copinsay." 
 
 97
 
 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " I was there, Dominie," he answered, " and am 
 safe home, thank the Almighty ! If thou art willing, 
 I would like to speak to thee." 
 
 " Thou mayst speak freely with me, Captain. My 
 complaint is thou speakest seldom to me." 
 
 " I will do better, Dominie. In the thick of the 
 fight, the other day, I lost my footing, and but for 
 Bele Peterson I had never got it again. I wish to 
 give thee ten pounds for the poor, as a thank-offer 
 ing ; " and he laid the gold upon the table. 
 
 " That is well, Captain, but thou must understand 
 it is not the gift, but the heart behind the gift, which 
 Heaven accepts ; it is the obedience, the love, the grat 
 itude, that makes thee give the gold, that is pleasant 
 in God's sight. What does He care for the gold? 
 The earth is His, and the fullness thereof. But He 
 does care that Paul Varrick is grateful for his saved 
 life, and that he not only praises Him with his heart 
 and lips, but permits his hand to praise Him with 
 a gift. And now it is time for me to say once more, 
 let thy feet tread the way to His house more fre 
 quently. Seldom do I see thee in the kirk." 
 
 " I will do better ; I will come next Sunday ; other 
 Sundays, too, when I can. I have reached a time in 
 life when I find my own wisdom not enough. Be 
 kind to me and tell me what is to be done." 
 
 "What about, Paul?" 
 
 " It is my daughter." 
 
 " I thought so. She has been too much talked of
 
 PAUL VARRICK PROPOSES 99 
 
 lately. I have heard the talk. It is not good. Yet 
 I believe no wrong of Thyra Varrick." 
 
 " There is no wrong none at all. But I want to 
 put a stop to the talk, for that is wrong. Now Rob 
 ert Thorson loves her as his own soul. Thou knows 
 Robert? " 
 
 " I know no better man." 
 
 " That is the truth. He is good. Thyra was will 
 ing to be his wife till this young Scot, Hector Mac- 
 Donald, came to see me." 
 
 " And what came he for ? " 
 
 " He came on business for one we do not name." 
 
 " Yet I will name him ; he came for Charles 
 Stuart ! " 
 
 " Yes. He wanted my ship for the bringing over 
 of arms and troops." 
 
 " Thou wilt not surely be so wicked? Once before 
 thou ventured this man. I told thee then, nothing 
 good would come of such business. Did good come of 
 it?" 
 
 " Nothing but loss and evil came of it." 
 
 " Perhaps thou hast not done with the evil. Hadst 
 thou not meddled with this Charles Stuart, thou hadst 
 not lost thy ship, and this MacDonald had not come 
 to put in danger thy daughter. Varrick! Varrick! 
 Start an evil deed, and no man can tell where it will 
 end, or whom it will injure on its way. Wilt thou 
 be led astray a second time in this respect ? " 
 
 ** I have no such thought."
 
 ioo THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " Then tell the young man so, and send him away." 
 
 " I have told him with the straightest, strongest 
 words I own, that I will not help him in any way 
 whatever." .gnmw si isrfi TO! ..jlffii s.ffi o 
 
 " What then, does he stay here for? " 
 
 " He says that after the fishing is over he can 
 raise five hundred men for the Stuart." 
 
 " He cannot raise five ; and he is not such a fool 
 as to hold this hope. Our men have spoken plain 
 out of him. I know this. It is not for Prince Charles 
 he stays; it is for Thyra Varrick." 
 
 " That is what I think. So then, I want Thyra 
 married to Robert Thorson. It is for her salvation. 
 Help me in this matter. I am sure thou wilt." 
 
 " What am I to do for thee? " 'ia* 
 
 " Thyra is shy, and will not bind herself to Robert ; 
 and Robert is too careful of her fancies, and will not 
 urge, lest he offend her. So then, between her I will 
 and I won't, and Robert's fear of making her angry 
 with him, this Scot has all the opportunity he wants." 
 
 " Now tell me why the Scot is not a proper hus 
 band for Thyra ? " ono 
 
 " He is a Scot that is one thing, and it means 
 many things. He is a gentleman nobleman if you 
 please and Thyra is a sailor's daughter. He has 
 more learning than I can tell thee, and Thyra is not 
 a scholar, so he will soon despise her. He is a soldier, 
 and Thyra has been with sailormen and fishermen all 
 her life. He is from the mountains, and Thyra will
 
 PAUL VARRICK PROPOSES 101 
 
 be as wretched as a lapwing in a cage, if she lives not 
 near the sea; I have vowed that Thyra shall not marry 
 him, if by any mortal means I can help it. I say by 
 any means, I care not what they are," j^nmgjB og oi 
 " Now I understand. How am I to help thee? " 
 " Next Tuesday is my birthday, and I will ask my 
 friends, men and women, to eat supper with me. And 
 when the pleasure is at the highest, I will ask all 
 present to drink health and happiness to my daughter 
 and Robert Thorson, naming them together, and 
 there will be good wishes, and so on. And everybody 
 present will understand the betrothal. And thou! 
 Thou wilt make it thus, and rise and bless them. And 
 after that there may come a good moment to call on 
 them to name the wedding-day and bid the company 
 present to the bridal and the bridal feast. Then 
 also, MacDonald will see that he is wasting time to 
 stay here longer, and it will be a good day for Thyra 
 when he sails away. Am I right? Or am I wrong? 
 
 I ask thee.",, rn u* ^M&nwanau sri norU bn* ;b9)Jirn 
 " I am sure thou art right. And I am with thee." 
 " I thought I could trust thee. And I will do all 
 
 after thy advice in this matter of my daughter. 
 
 Also, I will behave better for the future." . [ flf { J O H 
 " Thou couldst be such a brave helper in all good 
 
 works, Paul; turn now into the right way, my 
 
 brother." ..,,{> r 
 
 Paul was much affected; his eyes grew dim, but 
 
 he was likewise much pleased. " I am not worthy,"
 
 102 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 he answered, " but I will surely try to do better. 
 And thou wilt be sure to come next Tuesday night ? " 
 
 " I will come. And I do not think Thyra will dare 
 to go against such a public avowal. No ! no ! The 
 girl does not live who would do such a thing." 
 
 Paul knew the Dominie spoke truth. No girl 
 could bear to live in such isolation and reproach as 
 Thyra would suffer, if she publicly allowed her be 
 trothal and then gave the lie to her father and lover, 
 and the slight to her friends, which such a course 
 implied. He felt as he walked homeward that he had 
 taken a step so far ahead of Thyra that she would be 
 compelled to order hers as he directed. Yet he was 
 sorry for his girl. He knew her love of freedom from 
 the domineering love of it in his own heart; and he 
 did not forget that Thyra's mother had played fast 
 and loose with his own love, much longer than he 
 approved. 
 
 " It is a kind of right that women have," he ad 
 mitted; and then he unreasonably turned all his an 
 noyance on Robert. " Such a wooer ! " he ejaculated 
 contemptuously ; " he ought to know that women like 
 to be made to do the thing they want to do. Robert is 
 not half masterful enough; Thyra wants a master." 
 Then he stopped his mental dictation, for he sud 
 denly remembered that he himself had often signally 
 failed in making Thyra feel that she had a master. 
 So he began to whistle and then to wonder that no 
 one was at the door to watch his coming. For Thyra
 
 PAUL VARRICK PROPOSES 103 
 
 was busy with her own thoughts and did not hear his 
 footsteps till he was on the threshold. She was kneel 
 ing before the fire toasting a bannock for him, and 
 she turned with a face so bright and smiling that 
 he forgot everything in his pleasure at her pleasure. 
 
 " I heard thou wert safe home, father, and I am 
 making tea for thee. I knew thou wouldst want a cup. 
 And so glad as I am to see thee! I have been at 
 Maran's, and she is not thee; and her house is not 
 thy house. There is a difference ; oh, yes ! " 
 
 And as she stood smiling at him, so tall and slender, 
 so lovely and loving, he did not wonder at Robert's 
 fear of her. He was bound to acknowledge within 
 himself a reverential admiration for beauty so great, 
 and so bewitchingly enhanced by the little air of 
 authority which Thyra quite unconsciously expressed. 
 It was an air she did not assume ; as Paul said, " she 
 was heritage born to it." It was the gift of her race, 
 and of centuries of womanhood dominant in affairs. 
 
 Then they sat down to drink their tea, and Paul 
 said his bannock of barley meal, his kippered herring, 
 and fine hot tea made a meal fit for a king; and 
 Thyra gave him a smile which made it so. And then 
 he told her all about the whale hunt, and also of his 
 own momentary danger. 
 
 " It was a God's mercy I was saved," he said ; " and 
 I have been to see the Dominie, and left a thank- 
 offering with him; and I will tell thee what I think, 
 Thyra. It is my birthday next Tuesday, and I ara
 
 104 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 in the mind to ask the chief of my friends to sup 
 with me. The Dominie has promised to come; and 
 what is thy wish about it? " 
 
 " Whatever is thy wish, father, is mine. There is 
 the fishing " 
 
 " I have thought of that, and the supper need not 
 hinder it. I have reckoned the tide in ; we can drop 
 out to lift the nets before midnight. Here is gold; 
 get all things necessary, and spare not." 
 
 " When it is for thy birthday I will see that the 
 feast is good and plentiful." 
 
 Then the subject was dropped, but the premoni 
 tory nature of the girl, even in this first hour of the 
 supper question, gave her some sort of dim warning. 
 I wonder why father wants a birthday supper," she 
 asked herself. " He never had such a thing before. 
 What is it the beginning of? " 
 
 Such questions are more readily suggested than 
 answered. We seem to be forced to do things, and 
 then as soon as this bondage is accepted, we are weak 
 ened and made irresolute by half-warnings, by pre 
 sentiments, wavering and ironical; and by advices 
 that it is all but impossible to follow. Such instruc 
 tions come from those enemies which we all cherish 
 in our souls ; and the soul friends we might have, and 
 whose whispers would be our salvation, are not heard 
 for false, predictive fears, so importunate that 
 they destroy that serenity in which alone the voice of 
 the divine within can be heard.
 
 PAUL VARRICK PROPOSES 105 
 
 Busy, and apparently very happy, Thyra passed 
 the interval between her father's return and the birth 
 day festival. The house was in that confusion which 
 is necessary to a more exquisite order; and Paul, 
 keeping much away from it, left plenty of sweet 
 opportunities for Hector's visits. Indeed, he made 
 himself so useful that Thyra had no hesitation in 
 saying to her father, " I have done this and that to 
 day, but Hector has been helping or I had not done 
 it. He went with thy message to Stromness, and the 
 Sweyns will be pleased to come ; and he brought home 
 some early heather and has made posies and wreaths, 
 and wilt thou but look how beautifully he has ar 
 ranged the Indian shells," etc., etc. Paul did not like 
 to make objections. He was going to break up that 
 affair very soon, and it would be more kind to do so 
 with one strong wrench, than with perpetual little 
 twists. So in these days the young man came and 
 went as he wished, even in Paul's very presence, and 
 withal was so kind and so respectful, that Paul some 
 times wished he was a Norseman then then per 
 haps who could tell? 
 
 At length Tuesday arrived, and Thyra met her 
 father in the morning with a kiss; and the servants 
 came bowing and smiling, and giving him good 
 wishes; and Paul felt a little foolish and ashamed. 
 He had not wanted such a fuss as Thyra had made; 
 a good supper and some hot toddy, and his friends 
 to eat and drink with him, that was all he had desired ;
 
 io6 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 but he could not find it in his heart to make objec 
 tions to the decorated room, and beflowered table, 
 though he felt sure the silly idea came out of Maran's 
 sentimental Scotch nature. 
 
 However, the company was charmed with the gay 
 house and the pretty arrangements for the feast, and 
 Paul easily fell into the general mood of approbation. 
 And when the Dominie entered, and took the head of 
 the table, the pride and satisfaction of every guest 
 were complete. Cheerfully the meal was eaten to a 
 general conversation regarding the captured whale, 
 and the prospects of the fishing season; but over the 
 sweetmeats and hot toddy they began to tell stories, 
 and to sing songs, the Dominie opening this part of 
 the entertainment with a clever fable very suitable to 
 the fishing then in progress, as it accounted in its way 
 for the herring being counted king of all the fish in 
 the North Sea ; and also gave a little reproof to Vesta 
 Hay, on whose pretty face he had seen a scornful 
 look, as she shook out her new skirt, in passing the 
 cheaper home-made gown of Christina Bork. 
 
 " Listen, friends," he said, " and I will tell you 
 how our dear good herring came to be king of the 
 fish in the North Sea. On a certain day all the fish 
 in these waters were gathered together to choose a 
 king. And the fluke, he that has the red spots on him, 
 stayed at home to make himself gay, putting on all 
 his red spots to see if he would be king, and so he 
 was too late, for when he came, the herring had been
 
 PAUL VARRICK PROPOSES 107 
 
 made king of the North Sea. Then this red-spotted 
 fluke curled his mouth up on one side and said scorn 
 fully, ' A simple fish like the herring to be a king ! ' 
 and as you know, my friends, his mouth has been to 
 one side ever since. Now who will tell us something 
 next?" 
 
 And Hector rose and said, " We have a tale about 
 king-making in the West Highlands; and it shows 
 how those who think they will win in a race, because 
 all things seem for them, may be left behind by a 
 rival, clever and wily enough to outwit strength and 
 circumstances. The eagle and the wren once tried 
 which could fly highest, and the one who flew highest 
 was to be king of the birds. The wren flew 
 straight up. The eagle flew in great circles. And 
 when the wren was tired he settled on the eagle's back. 
 By and by the eagle was tired, and he stopped and 
 cried, ' Where art thou, wren ?' ' I am here above 
 thee,' said the wren ; and so the wren won, and the 
 eagle's strength only helped the little bird's clever 
 ness." 
 
 Then Olaf Peterson told a story from the Orkney 
 sagas; and Paul recited a poem about the whaler's 
 hard life; and others sang old Norse sea songs; and 
 Thyra and Hector chanted some of Fionn's 
 Questions; Hector asking, and Thyra answering 
 them: 
 
 " ' What is swifter than the wind? ' " 
 " ' A woman's tJwught between two men.' "
 
 io8 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " ' What is blacker than the raven? ' " 
 " ' There is death.' " 
 
 " ' What is whiter than the snow? ' " 
 " ' There is the truth.' " 
 
 " ' What is more plenteous than the grass? ' " 
 " ' The dew on the grass.' " 
 
 " ' What is sharper than the sword? ' " 
 " ' The reproach of an enemy.' " 
 
 " ' What is the best jewel? ' " 
 " ' A sharp knife.' " 
 
 " ' What is the best of actions? ' " 
 
 " ' A high deed and a low conceit of it.' " 
 
 Gazing into each other's eyes, and musically 
 chanting this catechism, Hector and Thyra made a 
 charming picture. He was in his finest Highland cos 
 tume, and Thyra in a white gown, brightened with 
 beautiful coral ornaments her father had brought her 
 from the Mediterranean. 
 
 " That is a very good piece," said the Dominie, 
 when they had ceased, " and I have not heard it before. 
 Where did thou learn it, Thyra? " 
 
 " Hector MacDonald taught me it," she answered, 
 bending her head first to the Dominie and then to Hec 
 tor. " He said that Fionn would only marry the 
 woman who answered all his questions, and that Graid- 
 hue, daughter of the King of Ullin, answered them. 
 There are many more, but I have not learned them 
 yet." 
 
 Then Paul said : " Robert Thorson, it were ill in 
 deed to have a friendly meeting, and not have a few
 
 PAUL VARRICK PROPOSES 109 
 
 verses from ' The Lily.' " * And the Dominie added : 
 " That is well said. It is the best of hymns." 
 
 " There are a hundred verses in it, Dominie. It is 
 longer than a sermon, thou knowest." 
 
 " But say for us only those few verses thou spokest 
 on Peterson's boat. Thou must remember; we were 
 waiting for the nets to fill." 
 
 Then Thyra, who was sitting at Robert's right 
 hand, leaned toward him and said in a whisper: 
 " Speak to us, Robert ; I would like it." And blush 
 ing with the pleasure of her kind glance and voice, 
 Robert rose. There was a few moments' silence, full 
 of a serious expectation, while Robert spoke to his 
 soul and called it to reverent recital : 
 
 " ' Sweet Jesus, O my blessed light, 
 Who dead men dost to life invite, 
 Lift me from out the devil's hold, 
 Dear Lord, and keep me in Thy fold. 
 With folded hands, in loving way, 
 Let all created beings say 
 Upon their knees, in sweet accord, 
 Their praise before Thy face, O Lord! 
 
 " ' All skill of words would be in vain, 
 Though man endeavored to explain 
 
 * " The Lily," a great Norse religious poem of the early part of 
 the Fourteenth Century, written by Eyestein Asgrimsson. It 
 consists of one hundred stanzas, the subject being the life of 
 Christ and Mary. Asgrimsson was a monk of the Augustine 
 order, in the monastery of Thikkirboer, Iceland. The poem is 
 remarkable for its noble sentiments, the natural flow of the story, 
 and the musical stream of its verse.
 
 no THYRA VARRICK 
 
 What joy to Adam old it gave 
 When Christ came sinful man to save. 
 Then from the dead triumphant rose 
 On Sunday morning to disclose 
 To me His immortality; 
 This gracious Lord who chose to die. 
 
 " ' And now He holds his Kingly seat 
 On God's right hand in glory meet; 
 With open arms He bids all come, 
 To Heaven, their true, their glorious home. 
 Thee, Jesus, by Thy mercy great, 
 Thy body and manhood, I entreat, 
 O sweet Lord, to acknowledge me; 
 Me, in Thy Kiugdom graciously. 
 With folded hands in loving way 
 Let all created beings say 
 On kneeling knees, with sweet accord, 
 Their praise before Thy face, O Lord! ' " 
 
 The sweet solemnity induced by Robert's exquisite 
 rendering of this most holy and loving prayer was 
 the happy climax of the feast. Robert could hardly 
 have shown to more advantage, as with face uplifted 
 and hands outstretched he entreated the " Sweet Lord 
 Jesus by his body and manhood to acknowledge him." 
 In those moments he forgot earthly love or care, and 
 his countenance was calm and beautiful with the in 
 terior light of the soul. 
 
 Thyra gazed at him with a noble admiration; but 
 Hector's eyes flashed such anger and hatred, that he 
 was fain to veil their evil spirit behind his drooped 
 eyelids. The prevailing feeling, however, was so full 
 of mutual good-will that Paul knew the best moment
 
 PAUL VARRICK PROPOSES in 
 
 for his purpose had arrived. As soon, therefore, as 
 Robert sat down, he rose; and the solemnly happy 
 hush that had reigned for a few moments was broken 
 by these astonishing words: 
 
 " I ask you all, my friends, to rise and drink to 
 the health and happiness of Thyra Varrick and Rob 
 ert Thorson." 
 
 An immediate confusion of joyful exclamations, 
 good wishes, and clinking glasses followed; but 
 shocked as Thyra was, she instantly recovered her 
 self and decided on what was to be done. The happy 
 confusion allowed her a minute's time, and in it she 
 whispered to Robert, " I do not blame thee. Say 
 nothing to the purpose. Keep thyself to thyself." 
 So, when the noise ceased, he said simply : 
 
 " My friend Paul has done me a great honor. I 
 thank him and all." 
 
 Immediately one of Paul's sailors, who had been 
 instructed for this purpose by Paul, cried out: 
 
 " But when, then, is the wedding-day ? Shall not 
 the bride tell us the day? Shall she not bid all pres 
 ent to the bride feast ? I say yes ! " There was a 
 smiling silence, and every eye was fixed on Thyra. 
 
 She was white as snow with anger ; but she steadied 
 herself as if she was frozen to ice, and answered: 
 " Friends of my life long, I keep my own counsel 
 about my own affairs; but I will name my wedding- 
 day in time for all of you to get new clothes to dance 
 on it." There was more acclaim at these words, but
 
 ii2 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 the Dominie saw the passion burning to white heat in 
 the girl's face and eyes, and he was just going to 
 speak some calming words, when Thyra added: 
 
 " As it seems we are to be named in pairs, let us 
 now drink a good wish to the two best friends of my 
 life days my father, Paul Varrick, and my kind 
 cousin, Maran Flett ; " and as she said these words 
 she looked steadily in her father's face. He struck 
 the table with his hand, but the Dominie's hand was 
 on his in a moment, and then he smiled in a sickly, 
 scornful way, and held his peace; while Maran 
 uttered a little cry, covered her face, and laughed 
 hysterically. " Speak ! " said the Dominie authorita 
 tively. And Paul rose and said: 
 
 " Thyra is right. I have done my best. Maran 
 Flett also." Then, with a sudden passion, " Let 
 Thyra Varrick see that she lives accordingly ! " 
 
 There was a threat in his voice, and the Dominie, 
 shocked at the sudden change of feeling round the 
 table, stood up and, taking out his watch, looked at 
 it attentively. " The time has come to part," he said. 
 " The Meum and Tuum will take all out to their 
 boats; and half an hour is left to change the gar 
 ments of feasting for the garments of fishing. May 
 the Good Being bless us, one and all. Amen ! " 
 
 Then he moved his chair from the table and, taking 
 Paul's arm, said : " I will walk with thee to thy boat, 
 and Robert will take her out; and MacDonald will 
 look after the women folk and see them to their homes,
 
 PAUL VARRICK PROPOSES 113 
 
 There have been a few good hours, good foods, and 
 good thoughts, and some innocent mirth, but now, 
 men: 
 
 " ' Come! Come! Come! 
 For the tide runs right, 
 And the blessed herring 
 Are silvery white. 
 Thousands and millions 
 For you and for me; 
 Filling the nets 
 In the Great North Sea! ' " 
 
 His resonant bass voice, with its imperative " Come! 
 Come! Come! " stirred the men like a battle-cry. 
 Chairs were turned over in the hurry of departure; 
 adieus forgotten in song; and the women gathered 
 round the door and watched the men hastening to 
 work, yet filling the night spaces with their rough, mel 
 ancholy voices as they turned away, here and there, to 
 wards their own homes, until even the Dominie's re 
 sounding call was lost in the sound of the sea. 
 
 Then Thyra had a hard half-hour. The women 
 had their hoods and cloaks to put on ; and they wanted 
 to talk, to ask questions, and to express with half- 
 veiled sarcasm their opinions. And Thyra would not 
 talk, so that at last they went away ill-pleased and 
 critical of the whole evening. Before they were well 
 beyond the gate she shut the door with a passionate 
 clang and, putting out the lights, left the deserted 
 festival board in all its confusion and disorder. Then 
 she ran swiftly upstairs and locked herself in her room.
 
 ii4 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 She could not endure the dreadful thing that had 
 been forced on her. She cried out against it. No 
 love, no care for her future was excuse enough for 
 such a pitiless ambuscade. And beside her own 
 wrong, she was chagrined beyond measure at the 
 wrong she had done Maran, and the spoiling and 
 breaking up of the feast an hour before the time 
 appointed. This last the least of her troubles she 
 took up first. She could not find words to complain 
 of it, but as yet no words were able to relieve her 
 anguish about wrongs more personal. 
 
 " I worked so hard I had everything so good and 
 so well ordered I could see that all of the women 
 were astonished. None of them could have found 
 the least thing to complain about ; and now they will 
 get up early to talk of Thyra Varrick's failure of a 
 party. They will say oh, what will they not say? 
 It is dreadful ! I can't endure it ! How could father 
 do such a cruel thing ? " And this last question, re 
 peated over and over, at length helped her to excuse 
 herself. 
 
 " Father brewed his own bitter yeast, and he must 
 eat the bread made from it. Yet I am truly sorry. 
 The Dominie was angry, too ; he sent me a glance that 
 turned me sick. I shall have to answer him next. 
 And Hector did not do right. No, he did not! If 
 father had named me with Hector, and I had prom 
 ised myself to Robert, I know well that neither 
 Dominie nor father had kept Robert silent. He
 
 PAUL VARRICK PROPOSES 115 
 
 would up and speak such plain words that no one 
 would have dared to deny them. He would have said 
 straight out : i Paul Varrick, thou art behind time ; 
 thy daughter Thyra is to be my wife. She herself 
 has said so; and I will not have her name joined 
 with any other name but my own.' Such words as 
 these Robert would have given father, and I would 
 have been a proud girl this night if Hector had stood 
 up in that way for my promise to him. But he was 
 silent ; he left me to speak, and he went off laughing 
 with Maran and the rest of the girls. 'Tis true, he 
 whispered he would come back, but he need not trouble 
 himself. I will not see him. I am not in love with 
 him to-night. In my humiliation he did not help me. 
 Robert would have instantly thrown my father's 
 words back in his face if I had been betrothed to him, 
 and father had schemed to make me publicly disown 
 him and say another man was my lover. Hector Mac- 
 Donald, thou didst not prove as true as thou shouldst 
 have been! Well, then, I stood up for myself, and 
 not so badly. I wonder how father likes being 
 given away, without his ' yes ' or ' no ' about it ? I 
 had the best of him to-night; but what shall I do? 
 What shall I say in the morning? " 
 
 All night long she wrestled with these questions. 
 All night long torturing spasms of chagrin about 
 Hector's passivity, and the social failure of her party, 
 made her shiver, and hide her face in the pillow, and 
 cry out in stifled misery. And when morning came
 
 n6 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 and she ought to have gone downstairs she could not 
 do it. She heard her father scolding the servants 
 and directing the putting in order of the untidy 
 room, with a kind of language whose meaning was 
 plain; and her fear and sorrow turned to indiffer 
 ence, and she set herself against him with all her 
 might. 
 
 It was not long before he came to the foot of the 
 stairs and called her. She did not answer him at all. 
 Then she heard him ascending, and as steps have 
 voices, she understood her father's angry mood by his 
 feet: his tongue was not necessary. And the sound 
 of his feet made her stubborn. 
 
 " Very well," she muttered, " stamp thy utmost. 
 I am not like thee for nothing." 
 
 He knocked peremptorily at her door. He knocked 
 louder, and Thyra sobbed the louder. He tried to 
 open the door. It was firmly locked and bolted. He 
 knocked louder, and cried in a passionate voice, " Wilt 
 thou answer me ? " And only the same sound of 
 ungovernable weeping answered him. 
 
 " Come to thy breakfast. 
 
 " I have something to say to thee. 
 
 " Thou hadst better answer me, thou good-for-noth 
 ing woman ! 
 
 " Wilt thou come downstairs? 
 
 " Art thou sick ? 
 
 " Speak ! Thyra, speak ! or it will be the worse 
 for. thee."
 
 PAUL VARRICK PROPOSES 117 
 
 These and many more demands and chidings and 
 passionate threats she answered only with the same 
 sounds of distressful wailing; and Paul finally went 
 away without any satisfaction. He could not eat 
 his breakfast. His food tasted like ashes ; he pushed 
 away his plate and went once more to the foot of the 
 stairs. Thyra was still weeping. He began to feel 
 in the wrong. He was miserable. He was sick. He 
 was angry with everyone. He went up and down 
 the house like a madman, but there was no response 
 from Thyra's closed room. In a couple of hours his 
 passion wore itself out; and he went to the boat. 
 Robert was busy on her, but he would hardly see him. 
 
 " Now, then, what is the matter with thee? " 
 he asked. " I have done nothing to ihee" 
 
 " Thou hast done me the greatest wrong that was 
 possible. Thou art no longer my friend. Wilt thou 
 sell me thy half of the boat? Or wilt thou rather 
 buy my half of her. We will not sail together any 
 more." 
 
 " Robert ! What the devil Robert ! Kinsman! " 
 
 " That is what I mean." 
 
 Then Paul turned on his heel and walked away 
 without a word.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 The Alternative Robert or India 
 
 A soon as Paul went to the pier Thyra went 
 to Maran Flett's. She was sure Maran also 
 would be angry, but, on the contrary, Maran 
 gave her an affectionate welcome. 
 
 " You did fine last night, Thyra," she cried ; " fine, 
 both for yourself and for me. You have given me 
 the stroke oar in Paul Varrick's boat. It is myself 
 that can now shrug the shoulder, and pity poor Paul 
 and say I am too fond of my freedom to be ringed 
 for any man. Half Kirkwall will be here, soon or 
 late, and I can now give your father payment in his 
 own coin. Paul Varrick and Maran Flett! I have 
 come o'er the names a hundred times since you joined 
 them. This taste of revenge is just a cordial o' glad 
 ness to me, though I'm a bit frightened at liking it 
 so well. We are curious creatures, Thyra; wonder 
 ful and fearful; and the less we are tempted the 
 better we are." 
 
 " Father will have his say, too, Maran." 
 " Ay, will he ! He will go up and down cuckooing 
 about the matter, explaining and denying, till he 
 simply wearies everybody. I shall keep my com- 
 
 118
 
 THE ALTERNATIVE 119 
 
 posure and a smile, and a shrug or a word of pity 
 or friendly liking will do the whole business. But 
 mind this, Thyra, changes not to be told will come 
 out of last night's ploy. I can testify to that truth 
 afar off." 
 
 " Maran, I came away without any breakfast. 
 Father was in one of his rages, and I was afraid of 
 him." Then she told Maran what her tactics had 
 been, and Maran laughed heartily. 
 
 " You did right to give him nothing but tears," 
 she said ; " he can match the devil with words, but 
 he can't cry and sob." She looked admiringly at 
 Thyra, and then, with a smile of satisfaction, ejac 
 ulated, " My certie ! the sense of the creature ! " 
 
 " If you had ever seen father in a bad temper." 
 
 " I have. Your father is one of the useless bodies 
 that can attend only to one thing at a time, so when 
 he is in a passion he is in a passion from head to feet. 
 He is perilous to trifle with then, and a discreet woman 
 may well keep behind a bolted door. Women folk 
 have a natural perception anent such things; your 
 mother had." 
 
 " There is the Dominie, too, Maran. He gave 
 me a look beyond words. Maybe it was not right to 
 put my father to open shame. There is the Fifth 
 Commandment ; and the Dominie will be saying, as he 
 did once before, that nothing but punishment comes 
 from breaking it." 
 
 no t require, at this time, Thyra, to go into
 
 120 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 what we may call the ethics of the matter. You have 
 not yet asked after the lad you love; and I can tell 
 you he was in a rage last night to match the worst 
 your father ever blew up." 
 
 " I am not pleased with Hector. He ought to have 
 spoken out there and then. It was a good oppor 
 tunity." 
 
 " Well, then, argol-bargol it out with him. I am 
 going to take in his breakfast ; and you can have a 
 cup of tea with him. I see Isabel Sinclair coming; 
 she is just gasping to hear the news, no doubt. Go 
 ben the parlor and have your eating, but I'll give one 
 word of advice ere you go let this strange lad alone 
 and marry the lad you know. That Robert will make 
 the best and most biddable of husbands, you may be 
 sure. You may have as much faith in him as in your 
 Bible. Fact!" 
 
 " I will give up Hector when he gives me up. Till 
 then never." 
 
 " Well, well, you have a stubborn will, and you be 
 to take your own way." 
 
 " I thought you were all for Hector. Now you 
 are going against us." 
 
 " Not I. It was my duty to say a few words on 
 the other side. I've said them, and they'll do for a 
 passing remark ; you can take or leave it as you like 
 best. But I'll stand by Hector and you through 
 thick and thin, sure as I am a christened widow 
 woman! There, now, Isabel is at the gate, and'
 
 THE ALTERNATIVE 121 
 
 Hector is ringing his bell. You may as well answer 
 it, for Isabel's clatter will do for the next hour, 
 doubtless." 
 
 So Thyra answered Hector's call, and he was 
 amazed and delighted at her early visit. Then they 
 had their breakfast together, and a wonderful meal 
 it proved. The clock was striking the noon-hour 
 when they had finished their tea and conversation, and 
 the upshot of the talk was an immense increase of 
 Hector's power over the girl. He foresaw that with 
 Paul and Robert against him he would soon find Kirk- 
 wall an unpleasant residence, and he was quite de 
 termined not to leave the island without Thyra. But 
 how to manage this matter was a subject full of diffi 
 culty. There was not the slightest hope that the 
 Dominie would perform the marriage ceremony; but 
 it was in the discussion of this matter that the first 
 hint of the common Scotch civil marriage was 
 dropped. Maran, though well accustomed to its ac 
 ceptance in Fife, frowned when it was mentioned; 
 and Thyra looked from her doubtful countenance to 
 that of her lover's with an inquiry in her eyes she did 
 not like to voice. It was only the mere supposition 
 at that hour, but it was a supposition with all the pos 
 sibilities of the mustard-seed to grow into a great 
 tree. Thoughts and likelihoods, as yet without any 
 more distinct form than the rack of a dream, were 
 present in each heart. And the very admission that 
 such a likelihood might or could become a reality,
 
 122 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 though it was so dim and obscure, was the mustard- 
 seed of the possible event. For the first step of any 
 wrong-doing is to ask the heart if such a wrong 
 doing is possible. 
 
 The day passed like a dream, for the discussion 
 of what is personal is always interesting ; and Hector 
 knew, as he bade Thyra good-night at her father's 
 door, that when he left Orkney she would go with 
 him. She had not, indeed, said so, but she had not 
 refused as those refuse to whom the idea presented 
 is an impossible one to realize. She had hesitated, 
 and the woman who hesitates has lost. Her attitude 
 had, indeed, infused Hector with such a degree of 
 courage that he took no pains to avoid Captain Var- 
 rick, but walked boldly through the town with Thyra 
 on his arm, and so to the very threshold of her 
 home. 
 
 It was well for all that Paul did not see him; for 
 after Robert's offer to sell his share of the Meum 
 and Tuum Paul was in a mood whose very silence 
 was terrifying. Thyra escaped without notice to her 
 room, and the next morning met him silently with 
 downcast eyes and a manner full of sadness and con 
 trition. She did not speak during the morning meal ; 
 neither did her father; and in this voiceless antago 
 nism several days wore wretchedly away. During 
 them Robert sent the money for his share of the 
 Meum and Tuum and Paul sent it back with this mes 
 sage:
 
 THE ALTERNATIVE 123 
 
 " It is worse than blood-money. Thou mayst fling 
 it to the bottom of the sea ! " 
 
 Paul really felt it to be what he said, " worse than 
 blood-money." He looked at the gold with anger 
 and loathing. It was the ineffectual price of a friend 
 ship he had believed to be lasting as life. He would 
 not go near the boat ; neither would Robert ; and she 
 lay rocking on the water with almost a sentient look 
 of unhappiness and desertion about her. 
 
 This state of affairs between men so prominent as 
 Paul and Robert could not long be ignored among the 
 sailors and fishers of Kirkwall. It was discussed 
 everywhere but in Paul's presence, and his presence 
 was in itself the most eloquent of all decisions. He 
 looked like a man possessed. Some thought him fey, 
 and slipped out of any boat he entered, lest they 
 might share his doom. Others knew thai, he was in 
 the throes of an almost unendurable sense of injury 
 he had not deserved, and of friendship true and faith 
 ful, counted treacherous and trodden under foot. It 
 was pitiable to see the men if they met Paul's long 
 ing, angry look and Robert's unseeming consciousness 
 of it; the intense feeling of both men so filling the 
 narrow street that, if there were twenty others pres 
 ent, there seemed to be only these two. 
 
 It was Thyra who stood between them. The day 
 after the party Robert had tried to have some ex 
 planation with her; but she was at Maran's all day, 
 and though Paul did not witness her return on Hec-
 
 124 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 tor's arm, Robert did. He told himself then that 
 Thyra, out of simple contradiction, was giving Hec 
 tor opportunities she would not have done if events 
 had been left to her decision or even to their natural 
 course. And when he learned that the Dominie had 
 been Paul's adviser in the matter he was not con 
 ciliated. What right had Paul to take his affairs 
 to the Dominie? He could understand by his own 
 sense of rebellion and indignation against the inter 
 ference of others how indignant Thyra must feel, had 
 even a right to feel. Thus, all his anger settled on 
 Paul and the Dominie; he partly excused the latter 
 because of his office, for if Paul went to him for advice 
 it was his duty to give it; and how could he, an old 
 bachelor without wife or daughter, and who had per 
 haps forgotten his own love passage, if he had ever 
 had one, judge a girl like Thyra? 
 
 It was the evening of the second day after the un 
 fortunate party before Robert saw Thyra, who cov 
 ered her face and wept when he spoke to her ; indeed, 
 she was apparently so troubled that Robert wept with 
 her. She was also very quiet and sorrowful as she 
 said again: 
 
 " I do not blame thee at all, Robert. It was such 
 a thing as could not have come out of thy heart." 
 
 " Thy father was ill-advised," answered Robert. 
 " It was the Dominie. If one word of this plan had 
 been said to me I would have told him, 'Thyra Varrick 
 is beyond making-do, either by cunning or force.'
 
 THE ALTERNATIVE 125 
 
 Nor do I want thee on such terms. If thou comest not 
 to me of thine own good-will I must walk alone to the 
 grave. I shall arrive at rest some time, either on 
 land or sea. What comfort canst thou give me, dear 
 Thyra? " 
 
 " I cannot give thee what I have not myself. I do 
 not know yet what I must do." 
 
 " But in time, in time, Thyra? " 
 
 " Yes, in time it is to be hoped I shall feel better. 
 Oh, Robert, be sorry for me now." 
 
 " God knows I am sorry for thee ! " 
 
 " Then let me alone a little while. I cannot bear 
 even to think of that dreadful night. Not one pres 
 ent has ever been to see me since. Oh, Robert! 
 Robert ! " 
 
 " My dear, sweet Thyra ! " 
 
 " I have heard that you had quarreled with my 
 father." 
 
 " That is the truth. I will sail with him no 
 more." 
 
 " It was for love of thee he did this foolish cruel 
 thing. Thou must not be angry with him." 
 
 " I will forgive him as soon as I can. And wilt 
 thou think kindly of me! Thou wert so sweet, so 
 dear, that night I brought thee from Maran's. I 
 thought then thou lovedst me." 
 
 " I thought so, too." 
 
 " Then MacDonald " 
 
 " Speak not of him."
 
 126 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " I will not if it grieve thee. Thyra, give me 
 a word of hope before I go." 
 
 " I have said that I do not blame thee. I have 
 said that in time I may feel better. What more is 
 possible? Often thou hast been patient when I said 
 * wait.* This is the worst strait that has ever come 
 to me. Pity Thyra, and ask her not for what she 
 has not." 
 
 Then he rose and drew her to his side and, lifting 
 a handful of her flowing hair, kissed it with passionate 
 tenderness. She spoke not, she moved not, but when 
 he disappeared she lifted the same tress and gazed at 
 it, and on her face there was, for a moment, that wist 
 ful look of affection given to persons and things seen 
 for the last time. 
 
 This interview did not bear fruit at once. Paul 
 and Robert were not desirous to meet. Paul went 
 to Stromness in Grimm's boat; Robert took a place 
 in Erik Bork's ; and the Meum and Tuum lay at 
 her anchor lonely and melancholy; a visible proof 
 of broken faith and slain love. Men averted their 
 eyes from the forlorn creature, for she looked as 
 wretched as if she had a soul. To them she had a 
 kind of life. They had often seen her battling with 
 mighty winds and baring her breast against moun 
 tainous billows, safely keeping the charge of life com 
 mitted to her. And, in some occult way, she was to 
 them Paul and Robert's sorrow and quarrel made 
 manifest. They had only to look at her a few mo-
 
 THE ALTERNATIVE 127 
 
 ments in silence, and they became oppressed with the 
 trouble that left her idle and desolate in the very 
 heart of the fishing season. So they averted their 
 eyes and fell suddenly into silence as they passed ; for 
 their primitive natures divined that certain objects 
 as well as certain persons attract misfortune and may 
 not even be looked at with safety. 
 
 The days wore on, and in their unhappy passage 
 the anger between Paul and his daughter died out, 
 or appeared to do so. They began gradually to 
 speak a few words to each other about the daily events 
 common to both their lives ; thus, Paul would say, " I 
 am going to Stromness " ; and Thyra ask in reply, 
 " When wilt thou return? " But it had been better 
 if some passionate explanation, followed by recon 
 ciling tears and kisses, had brought them back to their 
 old confidence and freedom of speech. As it was, 
 they grew further apart with every day's formal in 
 tercourse; and to Paul it seemed as if his child was 
 indifferent to his affection, and that he was continu 
 ally looking at a blank wall. They were two separate, 
 divided silences which, brought together, might have 
 found loving voice. 
 
 In this trinity of unhappy souls Thyra alone had 
 compensating affection. Indeed, the very separation 
 existing between them gave her unusual freedom and 
 advantages with her lover; while she added to these 
 things a reckless disregard for public opinion. And 
 if Maran reasoned with her on the consequences which
 
 128 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 public opinion would surely visit her with, she at once 
 threw the responsibility upon the Dominie and her 
 father. 
 
 " They have brought things about," she said ; 
 " and they must look after the consequences. Father 
 ought to have known I could not be driven into mar 
 rying Robert, even by the Dominie. Why does not 
 the Dominie himself get married? Let him answer 
 that question. Surely he ought to take the road he 
 wants other people to walk in." 
 
 Yet she had been glad when she heard of the Dom 
 inie's interference; it allowed her to lay the burden 
 of her disobedience and anger upon his shoulders in 
 stead of her father's. But even with the Dominie to 
 blame, no woman can safely and happily defy the con 
 ventionalities of her era and locality. Those people 
 who admitted " Thyra had not been wisely con 
 strained " were yet soon angry at her pronounced 
 preference for the stranger Scot. She was too fre 
 quently seen with him on the streets or on the water, 
 and they began to say, " she had gone far enough," 
 and to reason with and advise her. And Thyra was 
 in no mood for advice, and so flagrantly defied it. 
 
 " If father does not like the talk," she said to 
 Maran, " let him stop it. He set the tongues of the 
 town wagging against me. It is his affair, not mine. 
 And why should I stop walking and sailing with Hec 
 tor? All the other girls walk and sail with the lads 
 that love them. Let me alone ! "
 
 THE ALTERNATIVE 129 
 
 In that small isolated community it was not possible 
 to let her alone. It came to a time when the matrons 
 said, " Thyra Varrick is a bad example. She is dis 
 obeying her father, flinging his words in his face 
 morning, noon, and night. She is coquetting with a 
 stranger only for the pleasure of wounding a good 
 father, who has offended her." They set their 
 tongues and faces against Thyra ; they forbade their 
 daughters to speak to her ; they quarreled with Maran 
 for keeping Hector in her house and thus giving him 
 daily opportunities of influencing Thyra. 
 
 For he did undoubtedly influence her; and, indeed, 
 was gradually bringing her to a point where she 
 could find no other refuge but in his love and pres 
 ence; then then, he would leave Orkney, and Thyra 
 would go with him. The Scotch marriage law was 
 broad and easy. A simple confession before witnesses 
 that they were man and wife was a perfectly legal 
 ceremony. The absence of the clerical blessing and ele 
 ment was indeed deprecated and even seriously disap 
 proved among the religious, respectable citizens; but 
 this disapproval did not invalidate the civil marriages ; 
 and they were by no means obsolete or even infre 
 quent. 
 
 But a marriage of this simple kind had never en 
 tered Thyra's imagination until Hector put it there; 
 and its first inception Avas not encouraged. The 
 eclat of a public ceremony, of the bridal march to the 
 kirk, of the solemn joy of the religious office and
 
 130 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 sanction, of the almost public feast and dance, were 
 the circumstances surrounding Thyra's conception 
 of herself as a bride. Yet in these lovely sum 
 mer days she was herself preparing events which 
 would make such a triumphant transit from maiden 
 hood to wifehood an impossible thing. 
 
 For the progress of this love affair was greatly 
 accelerated by the fishing season. Every able man 
 was then in the boats, and the women were quite as 
 busy on shore, selling and curing the fish caught. The 
 Dominie was out and in with the men, and there were 
 few evenings in which his clear, resonant voice was 
 not heard leading the fishers in the evening hymn, as 
 they lay waiting for the nets to fill. He had the sea 
 and the men of the sea in his heart, and was as much 
 at home with them in the boats as in the pulpit. 
 
 He was going to the pier one day when Deacon 
 Hacon came out of his house and stayed him. " Dom 
 inie," he said, " there is something to tell thee ; and 
 maybe I have already kept it too long. Last night 
 I dreamed a dream, and I dream true ; and now I know 
 that I must speak what is on my mind, or I also may 
 be in the fault. One of the babes thou christened is 
 not on Christ's road far from it; and thou art off 
 to catch herring while the devil is after her soul. I 
 must tell thee what I know." 
 
 " Speak out, deacon. Is it about Thyra Varrick? " 
 
 " It is. She is with that MacDonald lad from 
 morning to night, and Maran is not willing, perhaps
 
 THE ALTERNATIVE 131 
 
 not able, to bring her to reason. None of our women 
 speaks to her now, and there is no man that cares to 
 speak to her father or to Robert Thorson about the 
 girl and her doings. None but thee can speak to 
 Paul; and as for Robert, he came near to striking 
 one who named Thyra in a way he liked not. The 
 girl is clever and deceives both men. She has no 
 mother; her father is only half friends with her. 
 Thou must be mother and father both." 
 
 " I interfered once, deacon, and got blame on every 
 hand." 
 
 " Wilt thou neglect thy duty because thou gettest 
 blame for doing it? A lamb of thy flock is being 
 carried off into the wilderness ; wilt thou go to the 
 boats with the ninety-and-nine, or wilt thou leave 
 them and go seek the one straying in such evil com 
 pany ? " 
 
 " Thou hast left me no choice. I must do what I 
 can." Then he turned back and, as he went slowly 
 and sorrowfully homeward, he saw Hector and Thyra 
 climbing the hill on which Paul's house stood. He 
 followed and soon overtook them. At his greeting 
 they turned and separated, and he stepped between 
 them. In this way he walked in their company until 
 they reached the door of Paul's house. There he 
 bade Thyra good-night, and, taking Hector's arm, 
 said: 
 
 " I want to say some words to thee. Walk back 
 with me."
 
 132 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 Rather reluctantly Hector agreed. The sweet, 
 lingering adieu and the last kiss at the gate had to 
 be omitted, and the lovers were not pleased at the 
 Dominie's interference. They understood what kind 
 of words were to be said, and Thyra smiled scornfully 
 at their uselessness. " But I am glad Hector is to 
 bear the brunt this time," she thought. 
 
 Indeed, nothing was gained by this interview, 
 though the Dominie blinked no truth. He began at 
 the first. He spoke of the hopelessness of any at 
 tempt in favor of Prince Charles, and, because of this 
 futility, he begged Hector to leave a place where his 
 presence could only breed quarreling and heartache 
 and perhaps sin. He described Paul's grief and 
 anger at his daughter's disobedience, and without 
 scruple he included Hector in the punishment certain 
 to follow. " Sin and punishment grow out of the 
 same stem," he said, " and, besides, it is well known 
 to thee that Thyra Varrick has always been regarded 
 as Robert Thorson's wife. She willingly accepted 
 this position until thou interfered." 
 
 " I intend to make Thyra my wife," said Hec 
 tor, with the indifference of one sure of success. 
 
 " It is not a good marriage for thee, nor yet for 
 Thyra. Thy own people will not want a Norse fisher- 
 girl among them, and Thyra's people are just as bit 
 terly set against a Highlandman. I promise thee I 
 will prevent such a calamity if I can." 
 
 " Sir," answered Hector, " you cannot prevent it.
 
 THE ALTERNATIVE 133 
 
 I will marry Thyra if she will marry me and I think 
 she will." " 
 
 " Thou art teaching her to disobey her father, to 
 offend all her friends, to neglect her religious duties, 
 to be reckless of her good name. Dost thou expect 
 a bad daughter to make a good wife? She will not, 
 never ! " 
 
 " What my wife will be does not concern you, sir. 
 She will not have to watch the sea and count fish. I 
 shall make her a lady." 
 
 " Thou wilt make her miserable, I see that. Well, 
 then, I must do all I can to save the girl from thee. 
 And yet," he said solemnly, as he laid his hand on 
 Hector's arm, " yet if thou hast a mother or a sister 
 spare her for her sake. If thou believest in the man 
 hood of the Lord Jesus Christ, for his sake, spare 
 her." 
 
 Then Hector shook himself free and, without an 
 swer, went swiftly toward his lodging. 
 
 That night the Dominie did not sleep. Spiritually, 
 he took Thyra in his arms as if she were a babe and 
 brought her again with prayer to her Maker and 
 Saviour. He walked restlessly about, blaming him 
 self both for interference and non-interference. He 
 watched the day-spring and the return of the boats 
 with sorrowful impatience, for he had sent a message 
 to Robert, and at this hour he wanted him and him 
 only. Surely it was Robert who had the best right 
 to reason with the woman he loved ; and even yet the
 
 i 3 4 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 Dominie could not give up the hope that such reason 
 ing would be effectual. He told himself that old love 
 was easily rekindled; and when he thought of Rob 
 ert's beauty and sincerity and natural eloquence, 
 he could not believe that a girl who had once list 
 ened to him with love would now be deaf to his 
 pleading. 
 
 Robert received the Dominie's message as soon as 
 he reached his home. He was tired and sleepy, but 
 it drove weariness and sleep far off, for he instantly 
 understood the call to relate to Thyra. He drank 
 some tea, dressed himself for the visit, and then went 
 quickly to the manse. The Dominie was waiting for 
 him, and there was no delay in their confidence and no 
 reservation. Then the question came to both men 
 with such imperative force, that they asked it with 
 a simultaneous anxiety in the same moment: 
 
 "What is to be done?" 
 
 " Thou must go and see Thyra," said the Dominie 
 to Robert. " The time for patience and putting off 
 has gone by. Thou must now be willing to take her, 
 if needs be, against her will. It is for her salvation ; 
 think of that." 
 
 " There is her father ; Paul and I are unfriends 
 now." 
 
 " Then go first to Paul. It was not well in thee 
 to quarrel with him. Thou must humble thyself for 
 Thyra's sake. Thou must tell him all I have told 
 thee. Other men have feared to do so; but be thou
 
 THE ALTERNATIVE 135 
 
 not afraid. He will listen if thou speak. Tell him 
 that his daughter's good name is in danger, that none 
 of our women is her friend, and if the opportunity 
 comes remind him of Thyra's mother. If I could 
 speak for thee or go for thee I would be thy servant ; 
 but all is in thy mouth. Speak, and be no coward. 
 Thy words must find the heart of both Paul and his 
 daughter. It is now August. The fair will soon be 
 on. At the end of the month the weather will change, 
 and the man will hardly venture the winter here. 
 When he goes away from Orkney, will he go alone? 
 Ask thyself this question. Thou, of all men, must 
 answer it." 
 
 Without another word Robert went about the busi 
 ness before him. It was very painful in all its as 
 pects, but if such danger threatened Thyra he could 
 put his own feelings aside without a care. He went 
 at once to the Inn to look for Paul, and found him 
 there with three of his acquaintances. Two of the 
 men were arguing noisily about the " takes " of the 
 different boats during the past night; the third was 
 sleepily smoking with closed eyes. Paul sat with 
 them, but taking no part in the talk. His eyes were 
 fixed upon a letter which he held in his hand, and his 
 mind evidently wandering afar off. When Robert 
 entered there was a sudden silence. Paul looked up 
 and then down, and his face showed scarlet below the 
 tan. All intently regarded the two men whose rup 
 tured friendship had somehow or other influenced and
 
 136 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 interested the whole fishing and sailor population of 
 Kirkwall. 
 
 Without hesitation Robert walked up to his friend 
 and, extending his hand, said softly: 
 
 " Paul! " 
 
 " Thou! " 
 
 " Wilt thou come to our boat ? I would like so say 
 some words to thee." 
 
 "Our boat?" 
 
 " Thine and mine. Wilt thou come ? " 
 
 Then Paul rose, and the men walked away together. 
 Two of those present went to the window to watch 
 them; the other resumed his pipe and his dozing, 
 merely grunting an assent to Grimm's remark : 
 
 " The two that were two yesterday, will be one to 
 day." 
 
 The two that were yet two went silently to the boat 
 together. She appeared to welcome the tread of 
 their feet upon her deck, for she danced on the rising 
 and falling water as if she already felt the wind in her 
 canvas and the billows under her keel. Robert led 
 the way to a bench and, seating himself, lifted his 
 clear, honest face to Paul's and said : 
 
 " I am sorry, Paul. Life is too hard without thy 
 friendship." 
 
 " I am well pleased that it is so with thee. Bear 
 in mind that all this trouble is thine own fault." 
 
 " The blame is mine, all of it ; but many things 
 say to me we are not happy apart. Cast my fault
 
 THE ALTERNATIVE 137 
 
 behind thee into the deep sea. Wilt thou, Paul? My 
 friend Paul." 
 
 " Yes," he answered with strong emotion, " yes, 
 Robert, I will cast all memory of the ill between us 
 out of my mind forever." 
 
 " Good be with thee for thy words. Now it is 
 ' Mine and Thine ' again ; and there is much need 
 that we put our love and wisdom together for the sake 
 of one dear to both of us. I am in a great strait, 
 Paul." 
 
 " Well, then, ask counsel or help of none but 
 me. That is my wish. Everyone has something to 
 weep for. What is thy strait? Is it about 
 Thyra? " 
 
 Then Robert opened the father's eyes with many 
 strong, sad words. He told him all he had heard 
 from many sources, all he had seen, all he surmised 
 would happen ; and, as Paul listened, he felt as if he 
 must choke; the angry blood surged from his heart 
 to the brain till he had to lean against Robert for 
 support. He was beyond measure distressed and full 
 of passion. But when Robert had finished all his con 
 fidence he answered: 
 
 " The mad creature is to be saved from herself 
 and the handsome devil that has bewitched her. I 
 will take no other thing in hand till this be done. But 
 how may it be managed? I know not." 
 
 " I will do as the Dominie bid me. I will ask her 
 plain and straight to be my wife between the 15th and
 
 138 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 31st of this month. I will no more give way for her 
 weeping. I will make her my wife if possible and 
 then trust to God and the love he makes grow in the 
 heart of a good woman." 
 
 " You give her too much time say between the 
 il5th and the 20th." 
 
 " I will give her two weeks, so much is only right." 
 
 "Well, then, until the 31st I will let the matter 
 alone. Tell Thyra this much from me. If she 
 becomes thy wife on any day before the end of 
 August, I will give her the farm and the house that is 
 by Finstown and the furnishings of the house, and, 
 moreover, fifty sovereigns to be for her own, to do 
 her pleasure with." 
 
 " I will tell her." 
 
 " And if she will not marry " 
 
 " I will not think of that. I give thee my word 
 to do my best." 
 
 " Listen to me. This morning I got a letter from 
 Thomas Reid of Aberdeen. He offers me the 
 Indian Queen, a ship of renown, for two years' traf 
 fic in the Eastern seas. Now, then, if Thyra will not 
 marry thee she will go with me. On the night of the 
 31st I will take her on board the Maid of Orkney, 
 which sails then for Aberdeen. I will give her 
 two years in strange seas and foreign countries; and 
 if this do not bring her back to her senses, she may 
 take her own ill way forever." 
 
 " Say not that. She is as deep in thy heart as in
 
 THE ALTERNATIVE 139 
 
 mine. Whatever comes we must stand by her thou 
 and I." 
 
 Then they looked silently at each other for a mo 
 ment or two, and in parting clasped hands. Robert's 
 face was serious; it was his manifest heart, full of 
 anguish and love. Paul dropped his eyes and sat in 
 an attitude of despair. Something had gone to ruin 
 at his side; it was the future of his child.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 Between Two Lovers 
 
 FOR a few minutes Robert stood on the pier 
 considering his clothing. Would it help his 
 plea if he went home and put on his best suit? 
 He asked himself this question, and stood looking 
 down at the blue flannel jacket and trousers he had 
 on. He came speedily to the conclusion to see 
 Thyra, just as he stood. " I must look thus in her 
 eyes, when we are man and wife, all day and every 
 day but Sunday," he thought ; " and Thyra will not 
 take or refuse me for the coat I have on." Then 
 the thought of Hector's picturesque garb came to his 
 mind, and he felt sure that it had influenced Thyra, 
 for he muttered bitterly, " If he had been a fisher-lad 
 in blue flannels he had not put me aside." Never 
 theless, the reflection did not change his purpose, and 
 he went without further delay to Paul's house. 
 
 As he approached the door he heard Thyra moving 
 about and singing, or rather droning, " The Lay of 
 Diarmaid," a very ancient Highland song. He 
 watched her a few moments unseen. She was dust 
 ing the curiosities her father valued so much, and she 
 was dressed like himself in the blue flannel woven and 
 
 140
 
 BETWEEN TWO LOVERS 141 
 
 dyed in every household. But in this simple gown, 
 with its small, white collar, she was neat as a bird, 
 and straight as a pine, and in Robert's sight loveliest 
 of all. As she lifted a gorgeously colored tropical 
 shell, and put it to her ear a moment, she looked so 
 bewitching that he could not help uttering her name. 
 She stopped singing and turned her face to him, ask 
 ing with a little anxiety: 
 
 " What is the matter, Robert? Why art thou here 
 so early in the day ? Is father well ? " 
 
 " Thy father is well, Thyra. Sit down at my side 
 and I will tell thee why I have come so early." 
 
 She sat down, but with reluctance, and waited for 
 him to speak. She had the shell in her hand, and 
 she kept her eyes upon it as she passed it to and fro. 
 It was hard for Robert to open the conversation, and 
 so without preface he plunged into the depth of his 
 desire, and said : 
 
 " I have come, dear one, to ask thee to marry me 
 without longer waiting. Thou must answer ' yes ' 
 this time ; thou must, indeed ! " 
 
 " But why? How comes that? " 
 
 " I will tell thee all the * why ' and the * where 
 fore. 5 ' Then he told her the things said far and 
 wide about Hector MacDonald and herself, adding, 
 " The guessing is not all one way, but most people 
 are sure he will leave Orkney this month. If so, every 
 tongue will be pitying thee for a forsaken woman; 
 and even that will be the best of their talk. Be my
 
 142 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 wife, at once, to-day? No! Well, then, to-morrow? 
 Have I not told thee what Vesta, and Jocunda, and 
 Bork's wife, and Petersen's wife, and a score of 
 others are saying? Make their evil prophecies lying 
 words. Give me the right to shut up their ill 
 thoughts in their ill hearts." 
 
 " I wish to do so, Robert. I hate the women of this 
 town; envious, malicious creatures, every one of 
 them." 
 
 " Then why not hold thy head above all of them? 
 See, I am thy very servant in this matter. There is 
 nothing I have that I will not give thee. Thy father, 
 also, he has promised to see the law man, and deed 
 over to thee at once the house and farm at Finstown, 
 and to furnish it with all things necessary; and, be 
 side that, he will put in thy hand fifty gold sov 
 ereigns for thine own use and pleasure. If it is thy 
 will, we might go to Aberdeen for a month perhaps 
 even to Edinburgh. And as to fine clothing, I will 
 not hinder thee in any of thy wishes. Thyra, dear 
 est, sweetest of women; Thyra, my love! My life! 
 My very soul ! listen to me. It is for thy happiness 
 as well as my happiness, or Robert Thorson would not 
 ask thee in such a stress and hurry. I will give thee 
 a week, Thyra; be my wife at the end of a week. 
 Say * yes ' to me, darling. Say * yes, Robert.' If 
 thou couldst only know how I love thee ; none can love 
 thee as I do. My soul waits trembling for thy 
 word. Thyra! Thyra! I am faint with fear!
 
 BETWEEN TWO LOVERS 143 
 
 Speak to me, woman; hast thou no pity? My heart 
 is full; I can say no more but wilt thou not 
 speak?" 
 
 The last word was almost a cry, and the clasp of 
 his hand hurt her. 
 
 " Robert," she answered, " let loose my hand. Thou 
 hurtest me. Thou shouldst have some pity on me." 
 
 " I am all pity and love for thee. And if thou wilt 
 but trust me I will teach thee to love me thou wilt 
 not be able to help loving me, I will be so good, so 
 true, so patient, that in time thou wilt say in thy 
 very heart, * I have the best husband in the world.' " 
 
 " Wilt thou not wait just a little longer? It is the 
 last time I will ask this favor." 
 
 " No, I will not wait longer any more. My haste 
 is for thy sake. If that man go away and he will 
 go the scorn and the talk that will follow, thou wilt 
 not be able to brave, or to bear." 
 
 " My father will " 
 
 " He is going to the East Indies for two years." 
 
 "Thou?" 
 
 " Think of this. If I marry thee after he has 
 gone away, then all will say Robert Thorson is sorry 
 for Thyra Varrick, so then he marries her out of 
 pity. God only knows what they will say of thee 
 and me. I must speak thus to thee; someone must 
 tell thee the truth. It is my hard lot. Wilt thou 
 be my wife one week from to-day ? " 
 
 " No."
 
 144 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " Then two weeks from to-day? " 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Three weeks from to-day that will be the last 
 day of August. So long will I stand waiting for thy 
 pleasure." 
 
 "Three weeks?" 
 
 " Well, then, three weeks. So, it is three weeks. 
 Is it so? " 
 
 " Perhaps " then she burst into passionate 
 weeping and complaining. She buried her face in 
 the soft cushion, and her slight form shook with emo 
 tion. Robert was in great distress. He knelt at her 
 side, kissed her hair and her hands, and talked to her 
 like lover and mother both. At length she said : 
 
 " It were well if thou left me now. Let me cry all 
 my tears away. Wouldst thou like it if I wept at my 
 bridal? Wouldst thou take me unwillingly and in 
 tears to be thy wife, crying in the sight of all Kirkwall 
 at my marriage to thee? " 
 
 " Yes, I would take thee joyfully ; I would soon 
 turn thy tears into smiles. Have some faith in me. 
 I am begging thee now to take a happy life from my 
 hand. I will marry thee to love, and honor, and many 
 good days. Sweetest Thyra, say I may do so, in one 
 week?" 
 
 " No, I will not. One week is too short a time." 
 
 " Yes, that is so. A girl must have many things 
 to prepare. And we will have a great wedding; all 
 Kirkwall shall go with us to the kirk, and sing with
 
 BETWEEN TWO LOVERS 145 
 
 us the wedding psalm, and hear the Dominie bless us, 
 and say amen to it." 
 
 " Thou art talking foolishly. Dost thou think I 
 will give these women any share in what concerns me? 
 I hate such ways; I do hate them. When I marry 
 thee I will go with my father to the Dominie's house, 
 and thou wilt meet me there, and very few words shall 
 be about it; and no one shall have an hour's merry 
 making, or feast, or wine, at my expense. And then, 
 when the women get together to lie about me, they 
 must make all of the lie up; I will not give them a 
 shred of truth or likelihood to dress it in." 
 
 " Thou are wise and right. I am of thy opinion 
 in this matter." 
 
 " There is another thing. I will not have my wed 
 ding spoken of. If it was known it would be talked 
 of to life-long sorrow in a week. There is no sacred 
 thing woman's tongue will not defile. My marriage 
 shall not be named with their bad thoughts and words. 
 They would wish me evil in their hearts, and their 
 lips would send the evil abroad to hunt me out. Ill 
 tongues shall not bring me ill luck." 
 
 " Again thou art wise and right. No one but thy 
 father and thyself and Robert Thorson shall know 
 anything at all about our marriage. There is, how 
 ever, the Dominie." 
 
 " He least of all. When we go to his house it is 
 time enough. He talks much with the women, and 
 they read his very thoughts. They would see the
 
 146 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 secret in his eyes, and if he happened to think of it 
 they would catch the thought going from him and 
 send it far and wide." 
 
 " That is true also. Well, then, for so simple a 
 plan is not one week sufficient? " 
 
 " I have said ' no ' to thee." 
 
 " Then two weeks? " 
 
 " I know not." 
 
 " Yes, dear one, two weeks. Say two weeks." 
 
 There was a pause of a minute. It seemed like an 
 hour to Robert. He kept his eyes upon her lovely, 
 troubled face, watching its changing expression, and 
 trembling as he watched. At length she raised her 
 eyes and asked, " When is my father going away ? 
 He has said nothing to me. Thou wouldst not lie to 
 me, Robert? " 
 
 " I would not lie to thee, or to anyone. He got 
 the word this morning early. He told me he would 
 go on the 31st of August to Aberdeen. There he will 
 take command of the Indian Queen. 1 ' 
 
 " How does he go to Aberdeen? " 
 
 " In the Maid of Orkney. She leaves with the 
 mail on that day." 
 
 " Then I will be married on the 31st. We can all 
 go together to Aberdeen." 
 
 " It is a good thought, but it puts off our mar 
 riage for three weeks. I like not that." 
 
 " Be content, Robert. Three weeks are not long 
 in coming and going. As they pass, see thou lettest
 
 BETWEEN TWO LOVERS 147 
 
 them go without suspicion. Go about thy business, 
 and trouble me not more than usual. Thou mayst 
 have too much of me when the three-weeks' wait is 
 over." 
 
 " I can never have enough of thee, not in all eter 
 nity." 
 
 " I am cross and ill to manage ; " and she could 
 not help looking shyly into his eyes, and her glance 
 shook and bewildered him. He took both her hands 
 and kissed them. " Thou hast made me happier than 
 any mortal man," he said ; " thou art goodness and 
 beauty, and I could give my life for thee gladly, to 
 do thee good in every way. I lay this vow in the 
 hands of God." 
 
 Then the high tide of his love came into his blood, 
 rose to his heart, lifted him off his feet, and he went 
 drifting upon some unearthly sea of rapture. She 
 had at last consented ; and he took no account of her 
 reluctance, no account of her limitations and evasions 
 and singular conditions; she had promised, and all 
 heaven and earth was in her promise. 
 
 " O true love! true love! the strength of it! 
 And the height, and the depth, and the breadth, and the length 
 of it! " 
 
 For nearly half an hour after Robert's departure 
 Thyra sat motionless, thinking with all her mind and 
 heart. Not for a moment did she doubt a word Rob 
 ert had said to her ; and she was wise enough to fore 
 see all the future consequences of the position in
 
 148 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 which she had placed herself. If Hector should leave 
 Orkney without her ! She was forced to whisper the 
 words audibly in order to realize them. The thought 
 in vague, terrifying indistinctness had lain at the 
 bottom of her consciousness for some time. He had 
 said little lately of their marriage, though always 
 speaking of their departure together after the sum 
 mer. 
 
 Certainly that presupposed their marriage. She 
 would not allow her thoughts to consider any other 
 possibility. But it was now the time for him to be 
 definite and in earnest, or else what then? If her 
 father went on a long voyage, and she was left with 
 Maran, she needed no one to tell her that her life 
 would be made unbearable by the scorn and isolation 
 sure to be meted out to her. " And the women's 
 tongues," she muttered ; " nothing can bind them, not 
 even the Fourth Commandment. They will slay me 
 like swords." As for Maran, she was already fretful 
 and weary of her authority and interference ; she was 
 resolved not to be left at her will and mercy. A mar 
 riage with Robert would be better than that; only, 
 as he had pointed out to her, the marriage must take 
 place before the townspeople imputed it to pity or 
 some other humiliating reason. 
 
 She had just arrived at the conclusion that Hector 
 must decide the subject, when she heard him coming 
 up the road. He was whistling merrily, and the sound 
 aggravated her. She did not know why, but she
 
 BETWEEN TWO LOVERS 149 
 
 understood, without any analysis, that men whistle 
 when their minds are vacant and careless that, in 
 short, a whistling man is a thoughtless, indifferent 
 man ; and this attitude in her lover was so antagonistic 
 to her own that it angered her. She would not turn 
 her face to him as he entered, and he did not notice 
 the omission. He was only eager to tell her that he 
 had seen her father and Thorson go off to sea to 
 gether in the Meum and Tuum. 
 
 " So the Captain and that big sea-dog are friendly 
 again," he said ; " and by Saint Ninian my dirk 
 quivers in its sheath when I see the fellow ! " 
 
 " Dost thou mean my father ? Thou shalt not 
 speak so of my father ; no, nor yet of Robert Thorson. 
 Robert is my friend ; and he may be my husband ; 'tis 
 like enough." 
 
 " Do you wish to quarrel with me, Thyra ? " 
 
 " There is no knowing." 
 
 " What is it you mean ? " 
 
 " This : I hear that thou art soon to leave Orkney ; 
 and yet I have not been told of thy journey. Well, 
 then, it is my destiny to wed Robert, and I will do 
 that at once, for I will not have the women say to 
 me, ' Robert married thee out of pity.' Nor the men 
 say to Robert, ' Thou art a kind man to console the 
 deserted one.' " 
 
 Then he took her hands, put his face close to hers, 
 looked straight into her eyes, and said, " Thyra, I 
 love you. Could I go away and leave you? "
 
 1 50 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " I know not," she answered. 
 
 " How much further can I prove it ? I have 
 lingered here month after month for your sake. I 
 have forgotten all other love for your sake. I have 
 neglected my duty for your sake. And I will vow to 
 you I will never, never leave Orkney unless you leave 
 it with me." 
 
 " My father sails for the East Indies on the last 
 day of this month. He is to be away for about two 
 years. I cannot be left alone; I need not tell thee 
 why. So then Robert Thorson will give me his name 
 to shield my name ; and before my father goes he will 
 see that it is so." 
 
 " You are my wife. Where are all the promises 
 you have made me? " 
 
 " They are left forever where I made them." 
 
 Then Hector was really alarmed. He had sup 
 posed hitherto that Thyra was in one of those little 
 tempers she often gave way to. " My dearest," he 
 said, " you must not play with my very life in such 
 words. You are mine ! You are mine ! It will go ill 
 with any man who tries to take you from me. I say 
 a thousand times in one, you are mine! " 
 
 " I am no more thine than a promise makes me. A 
 promise is but a little breath. And it seems, also, 
 that I have no power to promise myself to anyone. I 
 am under my father's will till I am twenty- one, as 
 thou knowest; and it is his will that before he sails 
 for the East Indies I marry Robert Thorson."
 
 BETWEEN TWO LOVERS 151 
 
 *' Then, Thyra, we must leave Orkney at once." 
 
 She did not answer him a word. 
 
 " We must away with all haste. Some time ago I 
 made arrangements for just such a crisis in our 
 affairs. There is in the fishing fleet a good boat from 
 the east coast of Ireland. Her captain is an Irish 
 man, but the three men with him are MacDonalds 
 from Skye. They will do my pleasure, whatever it 
 is; and the captain is already bought by me. I have 
 but to make a certain signal and their boat will be 
 presently behind the rocky point near Maran's. 
 There they will stay until we are ready. Let me give 
 the signal now; I will wait at Maran's until you are 
 ready to join me, and we may be at Thurso before 
 we are missed." 
 
 She looked at him with the angry words in her eyes 
 that would not slip from her tongue; then she rose 
 with a sudden great dignity. 
 
 "What hast thou in thy mind?" she asked. 
 " Know this, that in the time to come I shall put no 
 trust in thee ; " and though he rose hastily and fol 
 lowed her she went indignantly away, and neither 
 answered his words nor delayed her steps for his 
 entreaties. He remained for an hour or more await 
 ing her return, pacing the room in such angry agita 
 tion that Thyra heard his movements upstairs; and 
 three times he sent a servant with a note of passionate 
 petition for some explanation of her displeasure. 
 
 Thyra was deeply offended at his attitude. She
 
 152 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 was young and ignorant of life, but she knew well 
 that before Hector asked her to leave her father and 
 home he ought to have spoken of their marriage. 
 Only as his wife could she go with him, and yet he 
 had not named their marriage, which was the first 
 and foremost step to be taken. As a fact, she had 
 not given him time to do so. The only marriage pos 
 sible had been so often talked over with Maran, and 
 gone over in his own mind, that it lay there a cir 
 cumstance as presupposed and necessary as the boat 
 in which they were to sail. The slight importance he 
 attached to the ceremony caused him to name the boat 
 first ; and Thyra's anger and desertion put a stop to 
 further discussion. Indeed, it was a little time before 
 he realized the mistake he had made, and understood 
 the reason of her steady refusal to answer his 
 entreaties. 
 
 Finally he went away and was very wretched. He 
 had felt so sure of Thyra's love, so sure of her readi 
 ness to obey all his wishes, that he was stunned by 
 her conduct; and her words relating to a possible 
 marriage with Robert Thorson assumed an impor 
 tance which would have been absurd in his eyes the day 
 preceding. 7f, after all, he should lose her! The 
 thought fired him from head to feet. Lose her ! after 
 deceiving Sara MacArgall for her sake. Lose her! 
 after deserting his Prince and the cause of his Prince, 
 for her sake! He was stupefied by the idea. He 
 could not speak until he brought out the words with
 
 BETWEEN TWO LOVERS 153 
 
 a stamp of his foot. He went straight to Maran and 
 begged her to send for Thyra and help him to pacify 
 and persuade the girl. Maran promised to do so, but 
 advised him to have patience until evening. 
 
 " Paul will be at his lodge to-night," she said, 
 " and there will be time for talking and for listening. 
 Thyra is an independent little cutty, but I know 
 her mind. Oh, yes, before a bird flies you can see its 
 wings." 
 
 " Is there any use, even now, in going to Captain 
 Varrick?" 
 
 " None whatever. You might as well plow sand 
 for a harvest as ask him to change his mind, especially 
 when he has brought his mind to speech without 
 action. In a few hours I will send for Thyra. She 
 will, perhaps, have won over her temper then, and so 
 listen to what you have to say. Only, you will require 
 to open this conversation with matrimony. Dear me, 
 the wrestle and care of this life are perfectly awe 
 some ! " 
 
 " You know as well as I do, Mistress Flett, that 
 a religious ceremony is out of the question at 
 present." 
 
 " Well, then, there is the civil form ; good enough 
 it is, and many a happy wedding through it. My own 
 Cousin Sandiford and Ann Scott asked no better, and 
 it was sufficient to the last hour of their lives; and 
 their children heiring property on it, without dispute, 
 let alone law which is ever doubtful and endless."
 
 154 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " And all is ready for a civil marriage. Terence 
 Sullivan and Eneas MacDonald and Angus MacDon- 
 ald and yourself will be the witnesses. We can do no 
 better." 
 
 " Not in the present circumstances ; and there is a 
 kind of wisdom in building your wall with the stones 
 you find at the foot of it. However, I counsel you to 
 have the religious ceremony as soon as may be; noth 
 ing less will do to ask for a reconciliation on; not 
 with Paul Varrick." 
 
 " For that we shall want both a Protestant and 
 Popish clergyman." 
 
 " And a Popish priest you could not find in all Ork 
 ney. But, this or that, I do not know what I can say 
 to Cousin Paul when you two are away. I know one 
 thing: he will give me as many ill names as he can 
 stick on one another; for he will be as full of passion 
 as the Baltic is full of sea water." 
 
 " He is a brute in his passion. I do not fear him, 
 any more than I do a mad bull." 
 
 " To be sure, just so, but there are times and sea 
 sons when a man might fear a mad bull and be no 
 coward for it." 
 
 Thus they talked, and the day waxed and waned 
 while Thyra fretted her anger away, and was sorry 
 and forlorn and wretchedly uneasy. In the afternoon 
 her father returned home. She heard him talking to 
 the servants before she came down, and she under 
 stood the pleasant tone of his voice, and the hearty
 
 BETWEEN TWO LOVERS 155 
 
 laugh with which he answered some of old Elga's 
 grumblings. 
 
 " He thinks that he has got his way," she said, with 
 a toss of her head. " Honest man ! he may yet find 
 my way of crossing it." 
 
 But she went down with a smile, and Paul kissed 
 her, and gave her five gold pieces ; and she made him 
 tea, and told him how glad she was that he had made 
 friends with Robert. He waived aside that subject 
 with a lofty magnanimity and answered: 
 
 " I have forgot all evil in the good tidings Robert 
 has brought me. Now I shall carry a light heart on 
 my long voyage. In the Indies I hope to gain much 
 gold for thee ; and I will bring thee home such Dacca 
 muslins and embroideries and jewelry as no one in 
 Kirkwall has ever seen or heard tell of. When thou 
 art married to Robert " 
 
 " Oh," she interrupted with a laugh, " there is 
 many a slip between the cup and the lip, father." 
 
 " There must be no slip here," he answered, with a 
 darkening face. " No slip here, Thyra ! A slip here 
 is to spill thy whole share of life happiness. If there 
 is a slip here, then " 
 
 " Then what? " she asked, with a bravado that hid 
 a quaking heart. 
 
 " I will tell thee what. If for any reason thou 
 refusest to stay with Robert Thorson as his wife, then 
 thou wilt go with me. Wherever I go thou wilt go. 
 That is what."
 
 156 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " Father ! " she cried, in a kind of terror, " thou 
 couldst not! Thou couldst not! It would be too 
 dreadful. Two years at sea ! And the storms, and the 
 pirates, and the strange, cruel men, and the strange, 
 cruel beasts I have heard thee tell about ! Shut up in 
 a ship for two years ! I would rather die." 
 
 " I would rather thou didst die than marry one 
 strange, cruel man we both wot of. Now then, thou 
 hast the very truth. It is Robert or myself. It is 
 this house, with Robert for thy husband; or it is the 
 Indian Queen with me as thy protector; for, indeed, 
 I think thou no more lovest me as thy father." 
 
 " I do love thee ! I do love thee ! " 
 
 " If thou dost love me then thou wilt cheerfully 
 obey me. It is for thy happiness, thy welfare, I am 
 striving; thy happiness, not for a day or a year, but 
 for thy whole life. Thou madest Robert a promise 
 this morning ; thou must keep it." 
 
 " I know not." 
 
 " Thou must keep thy promise ! " And with these 
 words he pushed aside the table so violently that his 
 cup and glass fell to the floor and were broken. He 
 kicked the pieces aside and, lighting his pipe, went 
 into the yard, leaned over the wall, and looked at the 
 misty waters like a man reading a book. With sheer 
 indifference he watched a boat, a fishing boat, cross 
 his vision and disappear behind a rocky point to the 
 northward. He had no idea that it was in any way 
 connected with his life, or love, or fortune; yet he
 
 BETWEEN TWO LOVERS 157 
 
 was conscious, as it sailed out of sight, of a chill and 
 of a great sadness that sunk his heart to his feet. 
 
 There is a long, dead roll coming up from the 
 south, he thought ; and if the hands in that boat don't 
 stand by to reef they will have trouble beyond the 
 point. For he saw the gray, colorless water, and he 
 heard in his ears, and in his heart, the old, mysterious, 
 hungering sound of the sea. Finding no comfort in 
 sight or sound, he went down to the village inn, with 
 a pain in his heart, muttering to himself as he walked 
 slowly and heavily, " Sorrow and bad weather come 
 uncalled, but we have them to fight and to bear." 
 
 As for Thyra, she was quite unconscious of the 
 dilemma in which she stood, but she did not lose heart. 
 The bravery of her race was in her, and at this crisis 
 of her fate she never thought of weeping. Tears 
 might induce others to work her will, but she was too 
 wise to throw tears upon her own efforts. Her soul 
 rather erected itself, and looked around about to see 
 what way of escape was like to be the most possible 
 and fortunate. She had her father's instinctive draw 
 ing to the sea; in her joy or her sorrow she wanted 
 it, as a good child wants its mother. The face of the 
 waters was the face that gave her the most intimate 
 sympathy, so she went to the wall and looked into the 
 misty space and felt the low moan of the breaking 
 surf voicing her complaint. 
 
 If she had been sure of Hector there would not 
 have been any uncertainty to decide; but, by her
 
 158 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 impatience with her lover, she had sown doubt and 
 fear in her heart regarding his intentions. He was, 
 therefore, at present an indeterminate result. But she 
 quickly came to a conclusion about Robert and her 
 father. To marry Robert and remain in her father's 
 house with him did not please her in any way. She 
 had accustomed herself to dreams of an entirely new 
 life with Hector a full, rich, stirring life set to 
 mrrtial bravery and social splendor; and to settle 
 down for scores of years to the homely pleasures, the 
 small, social squabblings and triumphs of the fishing 
 community of Kirkwall, and the tragedies of its sul 
 len, tempestuous seas, was a destiny she could not 
 endure to contemplate. It would be far better to 
 go with her father. There would be dangers of many 
 kinds, she realized ; also that the ship would be to 
 her a kind of sea kennel, in which she would be as 
 little free as the hound Vigo would be in their yard 
 kennel. But there would be at least many changes 
 and adventures, and, above all, the repulsion and fas 
 cination of India's splendor and wonderful life. 
 
 " Between Robert and my father," she said softly 
 to herself, " there is no doubt. I will go with my 
 father. But if Hector now stands up to every word 
 he has said I will go with Hector." She spoke the 
 last sentence audibly and firmly, for there are times 
 when we must speak aloud in order to convince our 
 selves of the validity of our thoughts. 
 
 She had scarcely come to this conclusion when
 
 BETWEEN TWO LOVERS 159 
 
 Maran's messenger arrived. She was glad to see her. 
 The time of conflict had come; she did not wish to 
 shirk it, no matter what the result might be. Very 
 proudly and swiftly she walked through the village 
 to Maran's ; and the women who came to their doors 
 to criticise, and the girls who stood silent with averted 
 eyes, were both aware of a presence in the streets that 
 defied their disapproval and their dislike. She had 
 passed the Arctic circle of their enmity, and was in 
 some neutral zone where the lance thrusts of their 
 envy and censure could not reach her. 
 
 Hector met her before she was past the town, and 
 she took his hand before disapproving eyes, and was 
 pleased at his unconcealed devotion. And he soon 
 made clear to her what her own impatience had de 
 ferred his unswerving resolution to marry her, so 
 that before they reached the privacy of Maran's par 
 lor they were lovers again. With a glance and a word 
 Hector had resolved all her uncertainty. She was 
 now determined to be his wife, and to go with him 
 to whatever fate was in store for them. The only 
 point to settle was the best way in which to manage 
 the thing they were resolved to carry out. 
 
 " There is no necessity to delay," said Hector. 
 " To-morrow is sufficient for all our preparations. 
 We can be married early the day after and slip away 
 in Terence Sullivan's boat. Terence and the three 
 O'Briens with him do not get on well with the Norse 
 fishers, and he is anxious to be off. There is no cause
 
 160 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 for delay. Whatever you wish to take with you, 
 Thyra, must be brought here to-morrow, and I will see 
 that it is put on board." 
 
 " You will go through the black gate if you go 
 in any such-like hurry," said Maran, " and you will 
 hardly win over the Firth at all if you try it earlier 
 than the night of the 30th." 
 
 " One day is as good as another, and the earlier 
 the welcomer," replied Hector. " Why should we 
 wait?" 
 
 " More reasons than one. The main one is, that 
 by that time the fishing fleet will have scattered, and 
 every boat be taking its own way home. And also 
 that Cousin Paul, bound by his promise to be in Aber 
 deen, will be unable to follow you. Before the boats 
 scatter, at one word from Paul, the whole fishing fleet 
 would be searching the Pentland seas for you. Bide 
 your time, and you'll get your way." 
 
 " Sullivan's boat is a fast sailer we will risk the 
 chase; eh, Thyra? " 
 
 Turning to him, she smiled a bewitching assent. 
 
 " The fishing fleet does not frighten us off, Maran. 
 We will fly in the face of it." 
 
 " Just so. You would fly in the face of Provi 
 dence, or any other face that was in your way; but 
 there is more than flying to be thought of. For 
 instance, where are the witnesses to the ceremony? 
 You are to have at least four, or I will not be one of 
 them. Who are to be the others? "
 
 BETWEEN TWO LOVERS 161 
 
 " There is Terence Sullivan, and Con O'Brien , and 
 his cousin James, and Maran Flett." 
 
 " I know nothing about the first three you might 
 have named one worse than the last; and when folks 
 can't choose they must take. Furthermore, a wedding 
 garment is a Bible ordinance, and Thyra is necessi 
 tated to have a wedding gown. I would not believe 
 in any ceremony without it." 
 
 " That is most unnecessary," said Hector impa 
 tiently ; " most unnecessary." 
 
 " Is that your thought ? Do I need to remind you 
 of what happened to the man who went to 'the wed 
 ding without a wedding garment? A parable, of 
 course, but all the same for our guiding and directing. 
 I am a kind of a mother to Thyra, and I must see that 
 all is done as near right as circumstances will permit." 
 
 It was finally settled that the marriage should take 
 place on the evening of the 30th, and that all arrange 
 ments should be made with reference to that date. 
 In furtherance of this decision Thyra asked her 
 father, the next morning, if he could send a man to 
 take a box of her clothing to Maran's. 
 
 " She is going to help me alter and mend my 
 dresses," she said ; " a girl cannot be married without 
 plenty of things to wear." 
 
 " That is the truth ; I had forgotten," answered 
 Paul; and he took out his purse and laid ten sov 
 ereigns on the table. " Get whatever is right and 
 necessary for thee," he said kindly ; " if the money be
 
 1 62 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 too little I wish to give thee more. Ask me. Thou must 
 have a new dress ; yes, I ought to have thought of that." 
 
 " I have my mother's wedding dress. It is best 
 of all. Maran will make it to fit me." 
 
 " That is good. I remember yes, I remember." 
 Then he sighed and let his thoughts run backward 
 a few moments to fetch again the golden hours of 
 his own life. Thyra did not interrupt him, and he 
 went out without further speech. In a few moments 
 he returned, and drawing Thyra within his arm, said 
 gently : " Trust me for a short time, Thyra ; some 
 day thou wilt be glad and thank me. I will wait and 
 hope for that day. In half an hour I will send Bar- 
 naby Hay to carry thy box to Maran's." 
 
 In this box Thyra packed all her simple fineries 
 and her mother's white satin wedding gown. There 
 was really little sewing necessary, but Maran had her 
 own ideas as to what was necessary, and Hector's 
 opinion were set at naught when he attempted to 
 reason with the two women on this subject. 
 
 " Thyra Varrick can't go into a married life in a 
 state of perfect beggary, as it were, without clothes 
 to her back," said Maran. " A few decent dresses 
 are one of the fundamentals. Thyra is marrying 
 a little up in the world, and I would think shame of 
 myself if she had not the means of making herself 
 look genteel." And Hector smiled and privately 
 assured himself that he would dress Thyra in the 
 MaoDonald tartan as soon as they reach Inverness.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 The Forbidden Marriage 
 
 THE days went slowly by and were full of 
 anxieties and suspicions. Robert could not 
 bear Thyra out of his sight, and he was so 
 continually making excursions to Paul's or Maran's 
 house, that Thyra soon began to believe she was being 
 watched and to protest indignantly against having 
 a spy set over her. Then Robert kept more out of 
 sight, but she was aware that all her movements 
 were known to him. Once every day she was com 
 pelled to endure his company and to listen to her 
 father's plans for their comfort during his lotig ab 
 sence; she had also to answer difficult questions, to 
 put off or encourage preparations, to parry allusions, 
 to submit to endearments, to allay and divert jealousy 
 and distrust, and to make promises she had no inten 
 tion of redeeming. The interval was full of painful, 
 anxious diplomacy, and Hector was not able to help 
 her ; it was the policy of his position to keep as much 
 out of sight as possible. 
 
 At length the desired day dawned, and Thyra 
 opened her eyes to the thought that this was the very 
 last of life as she had hitherto known it. And there 
 
 163
 
 164 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 is a world of pity and regret in those two words, the 
 last the last day at her home, the last breakfast and 
 dinner with the father who loved her so dearly and 
 whom she was going to betray and deceive so cruelly. 
 She was not so selfish as to be careless of these 
 things; they oppressed her as soon as she opened 
 her eyes and made her cheeks pallid with anxious 
 sorrow. 
 
 Paul truly pitied her. He reminded himself that 
 she had no mother to give her love and counsel at this 
 critical time of her life, and he tried to be very gentle 
 with her. Yet it was necessary to speak of the event 
 so close at hand, and as they drank their tea, he 
 said: 
 
 " Thyra, my dear girl, hast thou fully decided 
 about thy marriage? Even yet, it is not too late to 
 ask all thy acquaintances. I will send 'round the 
 bell, if it is thy wish." 
 
 " Thou wouldst kill me. I will have no one but thee 
 present thee, and the Dominie. Men and women, 
 both, have driven me to this pass with their envy and 
 malice and wicked tongues, and they shall not see me 
 in my suffering.** 
 
 " Thou hast no need to suffer. Thou art speaking 
 idle words, only to make me suffer and I am going 
 away and may never come back to thee." 
 
 Then she arose and kissed him, and said whatever 
 she believed would be the most comforting. And so 
 he ventured to ask her at what hour she would be
 
 FORBIDDEN MARRIAGE 165 
 
 ready the following morning, adding, " The Maid of 
 Orkney sails at the noon tide. Tell me what thou 
 wishest and it shall be done." 
 
 " This is what I wish, father," she answered ; " my 
 dress is at Maran's. I will sleep at Maran's to-night. 
 Thou can come there for me at about ten o'clock. I 
 and Maran will go with thee to the manse, and Robert 
 will meet us there. See that nobody else knows any 
 thing about the matter." 
 
 " But thy dress ? Thy white satin dress in the 
 morning? What will the women say? " 
 
 " Maran thought of that. I have a blue flannel 
 skirt made to go over it ; and my cloak and hood cover 
 me well. I will slip them off at the Dominie's and put 
 them on again in order to reach the ship. Maran 
 will take back my wedding dress to her house and put 
 it in my box; and thou must have Barnaby there to 
 bring it quickly before we sail. Is there any better 
 way?" 
 
 " It is as good as any, since thou art ashamed of 
 thy wedding and wishful to hide thyself from all thy 
 friends." 
 
 " I have no friends but thee and Robert. Perhaps 
 when I come back they may forgive me for being 
 beautiful." 
 
 " My poor little girl ! My heart aches for thee ! 
 If this is the way of thy wedding, I like it not. It is 
 too sorrowful. Let it be ended. I will speak myself 
 to Robert. It is better he suffer than thee. Come
 
 1 66 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 with me to India. I will make thy life as easy as 
 I can." 
 
 Then she kissed him and with many tears and en 
 dearments promised to be more cheerful; and said 
 she was grieving most at leaving him and all that 
 had made her life with him so pleasant. But for all 
 these words Paul went out wretched, and half -inclined 
 to put off a marriage which appeared so repugnant 
 to his daughter. " But she did love Robert once," 
 he thought, " and when she is his wife she will love 
 him again I wonder what her mother would say ! " 
 And this thought was an aching wonder in his heart 
 all the morning. 
 
 At the dinner hour Thyra was apparently happy. 
 She said Robert had been there ; and she had told him 
 what arrangements had been made for the marriage. 
 " And he is dissatisfied, and hard to please," she said ; 
 " wilt thou see him and make things plain and 
 straight? Men are so triumphant," she added in a 
 tone of anger ; " they get what they desire, and then 
 it is worth nothing unless they glory about it, and ring 
 bells, and twang fiddles, and call every other man and 
 woman to look at the one poor girl they have won a 
 victory over. I won't have any shouting and dancing 
 over my defeat." 
 
 " Thou wilt turn thy defeat into a victory, a joy 
 ful victory! If I thought different, I would carry 
 thee off from them all. This thing is for thy life's 
 happiness, or thy father would not move a finger in it."
 
 FORBIDDEN MARRIAGE 167 
 
 " Perhaps! " she replied with a smile, and then she 
 put out her hand, and Paul could not bear the look 
 in her eyes. He arose and went out to find Robert, 
 being not quite certain at that hour whether he would 
 not ask him to put off the marriage until he came back 
 from the Indies. But one word in this direction 
 roused Robert; he would not listen to another delay; 
 he was sure that if they went for a month to Aberdeen 
 Thyra would love him well before it was past. " And 
 when we return," he said, " that man will have left 
 Orkney forever. Paul, if the chance of our happi 
 ness were smaller than it is, I would take the risk and 
 win the love that is more than life to me." 
 
 " Thou art a brave man, Robert," answered Paul. 
 " Meet me here to-morrow morning, and we will 
 saunter toward the manse together. Maran and 
 Thyra will be there soon after ten. Now I must see 
 Barnaby Hay; he is to carry Thyra's box on board 
 after the ceremony is over." 
 
 " The Maid leaves at the noon-hour." 
 
 " I know that. I am not apt to be behind 
 hand." 
 
 " I am so anxious, Paul." 
 
 " Well, I am anxious, too." 
 
 " Thou art not her lover." 
 
 " I am her father." 
 
 " I love her so dearly." 
 
 " I loved her before thou 'didst ; years before thee ! 
 Man, Robert ! After her mother died she slept in my
 
 1 68 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 breast, and I carried her in these arms, and her life 
 twined itself around my life ; and to give her, even to 
 thee, is like tearing our hearts apart. When thou 
 hast a little daughter in thy arms, then thou mayst 
 understand ; not till then, Robert ! " 
 
 " Forgive me, Paul." 
 
 Paul nodded assent, and turned away. He had a 
 father's sorrow, and Robert had not a bridegroom's 
 joy. Both men were very unhappy. Paul did not 
 like to go to his dismantled home. Thyra, he knew, 
 was putting away the treasures he valued so much, 
 and otherwise busy about the house, which was to be 
 locked up during their absence; and he feared he 
 could not endure the painful joy of her presence. So 
 he went to the Inn and sat down in his favorite chair 
 by the window. And as he sat there, he noticed a 
 fisherman pass and repass who looked earnestly at 
 him. Presently the man came in, and, sitting down 
 in a chair opposite Paul, said : 
 
 " I have something to tell thee, if thou wilt pay me 
 for the news." 
 
 " I am not apt to pay for news," answered Paul ; 
 " the tongues of Kirkwall will give it to me free." 
 
 '' Wait a bit. This news is your business. It is 
 about your daughter." 
 
 "What is it worth?" 
 
 " It is worth twenty pounds now. In a few "hours 
 it will be worth nothing at all. It will be too 
 late."
 
 FORBIDDEN MARRIAGE 169 
 
 " God help me ! What dost thou mean ? " 
 
 The man was silent. 
 
 " What is thy name? " 
 
 " Terence Sullivan, master of the Sea Gull. I 
 came here for the herring fishing, but I will never 
 come again ; these Norse fishers are poor bodies." 
 
 " Where is thy news ? " 
 
 " Where is thy money? If I am taking my feet 
 out of this place without telling my news, it is sorry 
 enough you will be, and it will be too late then." 
 
 " I have not twenty pounds with me." 
 
 " Get it. I will wait." 
 
 Then Paul went to the innkeeper and borrowed 
 the money. " Here is thy twenty pounds," he said to 
 Sullivan ; " now speak." 
 
 " Faith ! you may have the news now, and none too 
 soon. Thyra Varrick is to be married at seven o'clock 
 to young MacDonald. The marriage is to be at Mis 
 tress Flett's house. I and two of my boys, Con and 
 James O'Brien, are to be the witnesses." 
 
 " How dost thou know this ? " 
 
 " Sure, I am telling you, we are to be witnesses, 
 and moreover my boat is hired to carry them to the 
 mainland by Wick or Thurso. The Sea Gull lies 
 now off Flett's Point ; you may see her yourself. We 
 are to set sail at half-past seven. I have daughters 
 myself, and I am heart-scalded to see a good father so 
 wronged as you are like to be. It is little thanks I'm 
 getting for "
 
 170 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " Thou art getting gold. Art thou lying to me? " 
 
 " By Mary ! No. The MacDonald's portman 
 teau and your daughter's box of clothing are on 
 the Sea Gull now." 
 
 " Did the MacDonald pay thee yet ? " 
 
 " A trifle." 
 
 " And thou hast betrayed him ! Forsworn thy 
 honor for twenty pounds ! How can I trust thee ? " 
 
 " Let not that set you thinking. Wait a bit, and 
 I will tell you." 
 
 " No. There is no time for talk. I see that thou 
 art a man I can buy. If I give thee five pounds more, 
 wilt thou do my bidding exactly ? " 
 
 " I will do it entirely. God knows my heart is not 
 in the deceiving of a gentleman like you and a 
 father like myself. What is your will, Captain? " 
 
 " Thou wilt not be wanted as a witness, for there 
 will be no marriage to witness. Go back to thy boat 
 at once, and get out of sight as soon as possible. 
 Where are the two O'Briens ? " 
 
 " Waiting in the dory for me." 
 
 Then Paul gave the man five pounds more, saying, 
 " Keep thy word." 
 
 " Bad luck to me and mine if I do not ! " 
 
 " So be it. The deep sea and the devil, if thou 
 break faith with me." 
 
 " There is a rogue of a breeze rising, and I will 
 away with it, as soon as the hour strikes seven." 
 
 " Why wait till seven o'clock? "
 
 FORBIDDEN MARRIAGE 171 
 
 " Because if the Sea Gull leaves her moorings 
 MacDonald will be seeing the same ; he's a wonderful 
 suspicious creature." 
 
 Paul nodded and dismissed the man. He felt sure 
 that he would keep his promise, because having 
 already received Hector's money, and having posses 
 sion of the effects of the fugitives, there was nothing 
 more to be gained from anyone; and flight was the 
 only safe course for a man so treacherous. For, 
 though Sullivan had been but a few weeks with Norse 
 men, he had seen enough to convince him they would 
 punish his perfidious, rascally conduct in some way 
 or other. 
 
 Paul watched him a moment as he hastened to the 
 shore, and muttering, " Thou scoundrel ! " he raised 
 himself with a great effort and looked at his watch. 
 It was then four o'clock, and he knew not where to 
 find Robert. As he went here and there seeking him, 
 his anger gathered until his breath seemed to burn 
 him, but outwardly he was strangely calm. Other 
 wrongs had often troubled the surface of his nature 
 and raised those waves and billows of passion with 
 which he usually met any deception or opposition; 
 but this supreme outrage on his love and trust 
 plowed itself away to the lowest depths of his being 
 and left the surface apparently tranquil and unruffled. 
 It was six o'clock when he found Robert, and he 
 was then very angry with him. " Thou art off to thy 
 tailor or filling thy stomach always when thou art
 
 172 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 wanted," he cried ; " and it serves thee well to lose 
 thy bride. If Thyra is worth having she is worth 
 watching. I told thee ! I told thee ! Now then, 
 MacDonald is to carry her off in our very sight in 
 one hour, and thou wert sleeping, no doubt, while he 
 was getting ready to outwit us both. Not much of a 
 lover art thou ! " 
 
 Robert made no excuses ; he was too anxious to get 
 at the whole truth, and Paul was not slack in telling it. 
 Robert listened like one who hears terrible things in 
 a dream. He had known that Thyra was averse to 
 her marriage with him, but he had not suspected her 
 of such deception. It seemed an incredible thing 
 that Paul was telling him ; his soul refused, for a few 
 minutes, to believe it, and when at last the cruel news 
 found credence he spoke heavily, as if the words were 
 too far down the shoal of being to be dragged forth 
 by the tired tongue and trembling lips. 
 
 " Come this way," he said to Paul. " My cousin 
 Hakon must go with us. I shall need him." 
 
 So they stopped at a small hut on the road to 
 Maran's house, and Hakon, after a few words with 
 Robert, lifted a coil of rope and went with them 
 there. It was striking seven when they reached the 
 place, and Terence Sullivan and Con and James 
 O'Brien were just leaving the house by the kitchen 
 door. Paul and Robert intercepted them, and Sulli 
 van with a cunning leer said: 
 
 "He has just been in the kitchen and looked us
 
 FORBIDDEN MARRIAGE 173 
 
 over. He said we would be needed in a few minutes. 
 You three can stand in our places. Good luck to 
 you ! " 
 
 " Thou art a great scoundrel, Terence Sullivan ! 
 Thou hast not one decent feeling in thy soul ! " 
 
 " Ah, then, I have forty-five pounds in my pocket ! 
 They stand for decent feelings, well enough." 
 
 Paul and the two men with him did not hear the 
 remark. They were at Maran's house. They en 
 tered by the kitchen door and saw Hector standing 
 at the foot of the stairs, watching, waiting for his 
 bride. The front door was wide open at his back, 
 and he could have seen Sullivan and the O'Briens if he 
 had turned his face toward it ; but all his life was set 
 toward the stairway by which Thyra was coming to 
 him. 
 
 In a moment or two he called her impatiently and 
 Paul and Robert heard the hurried movements and 
 broken speech of the women as they answered his 
 impatience. Then their footsteps were in the hall, 
 on the stairs, and there was a cry of joy from Hector, 
 a low laugh and an endearing word from Thyra. 
 Paul strode forward, Robert and Hakon followed, 
 and Thyra saw them and uttered a shriek of terror. 
 It was echoed by Maran, who ran back to her room 
 and bolted the door. But Thyra stood still. She 
 was halfway down the stairs, and Hector's arms were 
 outstretched to receive her, but she stood as still and 
 white as if she had suddenly been turned into marble.
 
 1 74 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 Then Hector faced the intruders. He had heard them 
 coming, but thought only of Sullivan and his men; 
 his eyes were full of Thyra's ravishing beauty; he 
 could see no other thing until her scream and atti 
 tude of petrified terror caused him to turn his head. 
 
 " Ten thousand devils ! " he shouted when he saw 
 Paul and Robert, and his hand went to his dirk. 
 There was murder in his eyes, and Robert spoke to 
 Hakon, and before Hector realized his position he was 
 firmly held by the two strong men. Paul heeded noth 
 ing at all of the struggle that followed. The cries, 
 the oaths, the struggles of the desperate bridegroom, 
 what were they to him? His eyes were fixed on 
 Thyra, and her resemblance to her mother angered 
 him. In that very gown of white satin, his darling 
 Ebba had come to him on their wedding-day, and just 
 as his deceiving daughter looked to-day Ebba had 
 looked twenty years ago. He felt that the girl was 
 profaning her mother's memory and her mother's gar 
 ment. " Come here ! " he said in a voice no one ever 
 disobeyed, least of all Thyra, and she made an effort 
 to descend to him. She could not move, and he went 
 forward to assist her. His approach warmed her into 
 anger. 
 
 " Let me alone ! " she cried. " Thou shalt not 
 touch me ! " 
 
 " Thou shalt come with me." 
 
 " Thyra ! Thyra ! My love ! My wife ! " en 
 treated Hector in a voice of more than human grief
 
 HIS HAND WENT TO HIS DIRK.
 
 FORBIDDEN MARRIAGE 175 
 
 and passion ; " do not leave me ! Do not leave me, 
 Thyra!" 
 
 She answered him with equal fervor, but Paul would 
 not suffer her to approach the chain in which Robert 
 and Hakon had bound her lover. He was swearing 
 in Gaelic and English, he was mad with rage, he 
 shrieked and struggled, and vowed a thousand deaths 
 to his captors. But he was powerless. Even if he 
 had not been tied so securely for the men of the sea 
 know how to tie knots he could not have escaped 
 their grasp and their vigilance. Thyra saw in a mo 
 ment that all was useless and hopeless, and she 
 straightened herself and tightened her heart for any 
 thing. For in her slender form there was a great 
 spirit, one that believed that even in the inevitable, 
 something may be kept back. 
 
 " May I whisper five words to Hector? " she asked 
 her father; and he answered: 
 
 " Not one." 
 
 " Thou art a cruel man. May I kiss him fare 
 well?" 
 
 " Thou may not. Little thou cared to kiss thy 
 father or Robert Thorson farewell." 
 
 She made a movement, and Paul clasped her hand 
 tightly. " Now thou wilt come with me." 
 
 " Let me go upstairs and change my dress. Wilt 
 thou drag me through Kirkwall streets in my wed 
 ding dress ? " 
 
 " I will not trust thee out of my sight and touch,
 
 176 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 till I have thee on board the Indian Queen. 
 Come!" 
 
 " Father, do not shame me before the whole town ! " 
 
 " It is not I that will shame thee. Thyra Varrick 
 mingled the cup of shame for herself, when she in 
 tended it for her father and Robert Thorson." 
 
 " Let me put on my blue flannel. I pray thee, 
 grant this kindness to me." 
 
 " I will not let thee go upstairs ; Maran is upstairs ; 
 no man is a match for two desperate women." He 
 took her firmly by the hand and drew her toward the 
 door. She called a piteous farewell to her lover, and 
 he could only sob and cry, and assure her with every 
 oath he could think of that he would follow her to 
 the ends of the earth and marry her. She answered 
 him with a promise of undying love, but he saw her 
 forced from his presence and could not take a step 
 or lift a finger for her rescue. 
 
 As soon as Thyra reached the highway she took 
 possession of herself and accepted the position forced 
 on her with silence and dignity. Fortunately it was 
 nearly dark, and the women were mostly busy tidying 
 up their homes after the evening meal. The dusk 
 wrapped her like a veil, but here and there a woman 
 at her door, or a girl going to the public fountain, 
 stared curiously at the couple, and then hastened to 
 some neighbor, to tell what she had seen and wonder 
 at it. 
 
 Not a word was spoken by either Paul or Thyra as
 
 FORBIDDEN MARRIAGE 177 
 
 they traversed this Way of Shame and Sorrow. 
 Thyra knew it would not help her to complain. If 
 death comes there is nothing to say, and Thyra Var- 
 rick felt that she had died that night. She never 
 could be the same girl again. The house had a de 
 serted look. Everything was covered up and pushed 
 aside, and the dull glow of smoldering peats on the 
 hearth did not light the further corners of the room. 
 Paul locked the door of the forlorn, forsaken-looking 
 home as they entered it and put the key in his pocket. 
 Then he drew Thyra toward the hearth, and when 
 she stood in its lurid light said peremptorily: 
 
 " Take off that gown." 
 
 She let the satin skirt fall and unfastened the 
 narrow waist and stood before him in her white slip 
 and petticoat, the very image of desolate womanhood. 
 And he lifted the wedding garment from the floor, 
 kissed it, and threw it upon the burning peat. It was 
 in a blaze in a moment; in five minutes it was ashes. 
 With the face of a tortured spirit Paul watched the 
 immolation; then he turned to Thyra. Her eyes 
 glittered like stars, and she was white as snow. 
 
 " Go to thy room," he said. 
 
 She left him without a word, stumbled up the dark 
 staircase, and threw herself upon the denuded bed. 
 She did not cry, even in her solitude ; it was not tears 
 that could help her now. No one's life could be more 
 bitter than hers at that hour ; it would be inhuman not 
 to pity her. And she needed no one to tell her she
 
 178 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 had done wrong; she accused herself without mercy. 
 Her perception of things was clear enough ; she could 
 see the very place at which the first wrong step on 
 the wrong road had been taken, and in this time of 
 blaming and excusing she did not blame her father 
 for consequences as much as she did Hector. 
 
 " I told him," she moaned ; " I told him that Sulli 
 van was false as Satan. I told him every man in that 
 boat was wicked and double-minded. When I first 
 looked in their faces I told Hector they would sell 
 souls or slay bodies for a dirty sixpence. But just 
 because they were Celts they must be trusted. Could 
 he not see the selfish, greedy look of the Celt through 
 their fawning and smiling? I did. Even Maran 
 did. But Hector? Oh, no! They were not Norse, 
 and that was sufficient for him. That ought to have 
 made me think. I was Norse. Why was I better? 
 Only for my beauty? My fatal beauty, that has 
 never brought me anything but envy and ill-will." 
 
 When she thought of her father she was amazed 
 that she could not be more angry at him. What was 
 the reason? The reason was, that she understood 
 him, understood his love, his prejudices, his ways of 
 dealing with her. Below all, and through all, and 
 above all, she understood that he most truly loved 
 her ; and we are never long angry with those whom we 
 love, whom we understand, and who love and under 
 stand us. So it is that we love God. He knows us. 
 He understands us, even afar off. He will not blame
 
 FORBIDDEN MARRIAGE 179 
 
 beyond measure, or always chide, or keep His anger 
 forever, just because He understands. 
 
 Yet in spite of these just concessions she was uncon- 
 quered. She was resolved to marry Hector Mac- 
 Donald, no matter how this object was to be accom 
 plished. Right or wrong, she would drag this 
 happiness through the iron gates of pain and dis 
 obedience if necessary. Then she began to consider 
 the steps she must take, and, as she thought, Hope 
 stole into her heart and Courage brought a smile to 
 her lips. 
 
 " It is this way with my father," she said to her 
 self ; " if I submit to him, I conquer him ; and I shall 
 find the opportunity, yes, yes I shall find the op 
 portunity." 
 
 Thus she groped among the sorrowful shadows 
 that encompassed her toward the unknown; groped, 
 truly, for uncertain and dolorous are the steps of all 
 who wander from the path of visible right and duty. 
 In this respect Thyra was willingly wrong. Her de 
 termination to marry Hector grew out of a willful and 
 wicked sacrifice of the old, true love of her father to 
 the young, untried affection of her lover. Her father 
 had loved her with perfect unselfishness; given her 
 all the fruit of a fatherly, motherly devotion, which 
 could either have lived and toiled, or suffered and died, 
 for her true welfare. Nineteen years had this love 
 filled her cup of life with happiness. She was now 
 willing to spill it on the ground for a stranger whose
 
 i8o THYRA VARRICK 
 
 handsome face and martial manner had captivated her 
 senses, willing to make a castaway of the old true love 
 for the new love that had never given her anything 
 but promises ; a love quite untested, and whose first 
 care had been to separate her from all other loves; a 
 love she must take on its own assurance ; without war 
 ranty, but the passionate words and kisses of its selfish 
 pleasure. Shame, indeed, to the girl so ungrateful! 
 Shame and sorrow to her who can take from a good 
 father, and then wrong and slander him, and grumble 
 that he has never done enough. 
 
 Thyra knew she had been guilty in this respect. 
 It was her fault mainly that the two men had come 
 to hate each other. At the first there had been liking, 
 and in time, if both had been left unprejudiced, they 
 would have understood and respected the differences 
 which divided them. A marriage in such circum 
 stances might have come with good-will and blessing; 
 and Thyra comprehended this night that it would 
 have been better if she had sown good words between 
 them as carefully as she had sown evil ones. What 
 had she gained ? A few passing words of pity. And 
 what had they done for her? They had prepared 
 the way for a disrespectful and doubtful marriage; 
 they had separated her from all who loved her; they 
 had wrought a great wrong against her own life, as 
 well as against the lives of others. 
 
 Well, then, let her reap the harvest of treachery and 
 ingratitude ; let her reap it ! In binding these sor-
 
 FORBIDDEN MARRIAGE 181 
 
 rowful sheaves she may find the grace of penitence, 
 perchance of pardon. 
 
 In the morning Paul called her, and at first she did 
 not answer. Then he said, " Thy blue flannels are 
 outside the door Maran sent them and thy break 
 fast is ready. Come quickly." 
 
 In a short time she went downstairs and took her 
 place at the table. Paul made her a cup of tea and 
 put some buttered scone and toasted fish on a plate 
 beside her. "There is no one in the kitchen," he 
 said; " I did the best I could." He glanced into her 
 face as he spoke, and was glad to see that the storm 
 of anger and trouble was apparently over. She ate 
 and drank and answered him when he spoke, and he 
 had a great compassion for her. She was suffering; 
 and, right or wrong, he suffered with her. 
 
 At eleven o'clock he said: 
 
 " It is time we were on board the Maid." And she 
 rose without a word, put on her long, blue flannel 
 cloak and pulled the hood over her head, lifted a little 
 bundle of clothing she had prepared, and took the 
 hand he offered her. She knew there was not the 
 slightest chance of escape; she knew there was no 
 possible hope of moving her father. What then was 
 the use of opposition? Tears and talk were alike in 
 effectual ; she would not so gratify anyone who might 
 be watching her. 
 
 As she sat in her cabin listening vaguely to the 
 clamor overhead she heard Robert's voice. He was
 
 1 82 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 in the narrow passageway with her father, and every 
 word they said was clearly audible to her. Perhaps 
 they meant it to be so, for Paul asked plainly: 
 
 " What hast thou to say of MacDonald? " 
 
 " He has worn himself out with struggling and 
 cursing. At midnight he asked for water, but would 
 not take it from me. I told Maran, and she brought 
 him water, also tea and food. When it is fully one 
 o'clock he will be released." 
 
 "And thou?" 
 
 " I shall be far off. He has sworn by his own 
 life to kill me within forty-eight hours. I will not 
 lead him into such sin and danger. I have friends 
 in Stromness, and Stennis, and Wistra, and Sanda. 
 I will keep him moving; he will tire sooner than I. 
 I must live my life day's out ; I have love to help me. 
 A man who loves as I do never loses hope. She might 
 come when all likelihoods were over seventy years 
 hence at the death hour love is never too late." 
 
 " God bless thee, Robert." 
 
 " Yes, for that blessing holds all other blessings. 
 And thee, too, Paul ! May He go with thee, and stay 
 with thee, and bring thee and and Thyra safe 
 home." 
 
 The trip to Aberdeen was stormy. It was the 
 fourth day before Paul's watch was over, and Thyra 
 safe on the Indian Queen. He gave her his own 
 cabin, and he hired a douce, kindly Scotch woman to 
 wait upon her, buy her such things as were necessary
 
 FORBIDDEN MARRIAGE 183 
 
 before sailing, and keep her company during the long 
 voyage. The ship was nearly ready for sea, two more 
 days' loading would fill her cargo, and Paul was not 
 unhappy in the hurry of his last preparations. 
 Proudly he had taken his daughter on board the big, 
 unwieldy Indiaman and introduced her to his officers, 
 and some cadets of great Scotch houses who were 
 going to that wonderful Land of Promise in various 
 capacities, though mostly military. He began to 
 hope at the end of the first day that the voyage might 
 be a pleasant one ; and Maggie Hislop, Thyra's hand 
 maid, was delighted with its possibilities. 
 
 " There will be more chances for matrimony here," 
 she said, " than in the big town of Aberdeen itself. I 
 am well content to go with you, lady." And Thyra 
 professed to be equally so. She could see that even 
 in the hurly-burly of the loading and leaving the 
 Scotch cadets were already jealous of her notice; and 
 Paul from his post of observation saw the same thing. 
 " There is safety in numbers," he thought, " and 
 these gay lads will put the other lad out of memory. 
 In a few weeks it will be all right again ; " and the 
 happy thought sent him forward to joke, and scold, 
 and hurry onward the hour of sailing. " We may 
 save a tide as like as not," he said. 
 
 The Indian Queen sailed very early on the third 
 morning, but Thyra did not sail with her. When the 
 breakfast bell rang, she was not to be found anywhere 
 on the ship. Maggie Hislop was fast asleep in
 
 1 84 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 Thyra's cabin, but she had nothing to tell ; only, that 
 her lady was sleeping soundly in her berth when she 
 saw her last. She knew nothing more, and with loud 
 lamentings she pitied her own fate, " carried off, as 
 it were in her sleep, to be sold to pagans for a slave. 
 She had no doubt of it." 
 
 And the woman's feminine rage shamed and 
 silenced Paul. He became voiceless in his grief and 
 fear. It was as if he had been stricken with death. 
 All the glory was taken out of his labor and his life. 
 There was nothing left for him but endurance; but 
 he had not forgotten how to endure. 
 
 He was wretched, but he had no thought of return 
 ing to port. Either Thyra was in the sea, or she had 
 found means of leaving the ship. Sometimes he be 
 lieved one of these things, sometimes the other ; some 
 times he felt sure that Maggie Hislop had helped her 
 to escape. But this or that, he could not go back 
 in order to satisfy himself. He was on business affect 
 ing many others ; his duty did not permit him to lose 
 time on his own affairs. He put into Leith to give 
 Maggie an opportunity of returning to Aberdeen. 
 
 Then he turned his face away from Scotland. He 
 thought it would be forever. He watched the dear 
 land vanish; he told himself he had seen it for the 
 last time seen Thyra for the last time. Ah! that 
 took hold of him like the teeth of a wild animal. His 
 heart was like to burst asunder. In the grasp of such 
 a thought he cried out, " Our Father, which art In '
 
 FORBIDDEN MARRIAGE 185 
 
 Heaven, help me! " For God is the only refuge for 
 a poor father or mother whose child has loved an 
 unworthy man and deserted their home and care for 
 him. For many days Paul had no comforting answer, 
 but one morning, just at dawn, he was nearing the 
 African coast, and he wanted a certain thing, and 
 went to a drawer in his cabin for it. And there was 
 a piece of paper there, lying crosswise with his name 
 on it. It was a last message from Thyra. And he 
 lay down on his bed and wept bitterly, and then fell 
 into a deep sleep. In it he was, doubtless, comforted, 
 for on awakening he took from his breast a small 
 leather case containing a curl of his dead wife's fair 
 hair, and their wedding ring. He put Thyra's note 
 with them, and as he did so, said in a voice of one con 
 soled and encouraged: 
 
 " He has seen me and pitied me, the good Father 
 in Heaven. He has seen me, and pitied me, that good 
 Brother, Jesus ! " 
 
 Yes ; it is so. No one needs to be desolate. Those 
 who have no helper, God must care for. They are His 
 special charge. 
 
 " The old and gray who travel wearily; 
 All who lack bread; 
 
 All who strive and sigh; 
 Each motherless little one; 
 
 Mothers whose little ones are in the sky." 
 They know how good is Our Father which is in 
 Heaven! How good, how pitiful, how helpful is the 
 dear elder Brother, Jesus !
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 Back to the Old Love 
 
 WHILE Captain Varrick was struggling 
 through cruel suspense and grief toward 
 the calm of resignation, MacDonald was 
 reaping his share of the evil harvest he had sown. 
 He remained bound in Maran Flett's house until the 
 Maid of Orkney had sailed. Then Hakon said: 
 
 " Thou may do thy will with him now, Mistress 
 Flett. And thou may send thy servant lass, or go 
 thyself through the town, and tell what has happened. 
 There is nothing to hinder thee." 
 
 So Hakon went his way, and Maran went to the 
 prisoner and cut his bonds, and gave him food and 
 persuaded him to go and rest a while. He was, in 
 deed, exhausted with his eighteen hours' mental and 
 physical struggle, and his hands and feet cramped 
 and numb with their confinement. He had also to 
 consider his plans, and he rested, as Maran wished, 
 for a few hours, endeavoring to collect his faculties 
 and his strength. Only one feeling possessed him a 
 passionate determination to have a bloody revenge on 
 Robert Thorson. 
 
 He was willing to run all risks, and to suffer all 
 186
 
 THE OLD LOVE 187 
 
 delays for this purpose. He realized that every Norse 
 fisher in the town was his enemy, and that his attack 
 on Robert would have to be sudden and swift. " I 
 must have a boat and helpers," was his first decision. 
 With that thought he remembered that in Peter Mac- 
 Kenzie's boat there were two MacDonalds. He would 
 only have to tell them what wrong and insult 
 he had suffered ; they would take fire at the first word 
 he knew that. It would be three against three hun 
 dred, perhaps, but he felt in himself such a force of 
 hatred and anger as would equalize even such dis 
 parity. He went that very evening to look for the 
 men. MacKenzie was on the point of sailing for 
 home, but he listened to Hector with intense sym 
 pathy, called in Angus and Fingal MacDonald, and 
 the four men bound themselves to hunt Robert Thor- 
 son, on the islands and on the sea, till they wiped 
 out in his blood the insult offered to a Highlander 
 and a MacDonald. 
 
 Then Mackenzie went to the Inn to find out Rob 
 ert's most likely place of retreat, and heard that he 
 had gone to Stromness. Immediately the four con 
 federates followed him there, and hence to the isles 
 of Stronsay, Sanday, Eday, Ronsay, and Shapinsay. 
 Robert had always " just left," and Mackenzie's boat 
 in its thwarted chase began to acquire, in the minds 
 of the superstitious men in her, an air of being be 
 witched and unlucky. They grew silent and unhappy, 
 and though Hector constantly increased the promises
 
 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 of money, he saw they had a miserable sense of being 
 driven from place to place by an evil destiny that 
 might at any moment destroy them. 
 
 After two weeks' unfortunate search the weather 
 became stormy, and they were compelled to put into 
 the grand natural harbor that the Sea Kings called 
 Rorvag. With a shout of joy Hector saw Robert's 
 boat lying there. He anchored, and with his three 
 companions went on board. There was not a soul 
 on her. He cut her loose, and left her to the mercy 
 of the approaching storm and receding tide. Then, 
 leaving Mackenzie and the two MacDonalds to pro 
 tect their own craft, he went himself over the desolate 
 land to look for his enemy. There were not many 
 huts in sight, and he was sure to find Robert sheltering 
 in one of them. He had purposely chosen to take his 
 revenge alone. No one should share this joy with 
 him. Indeed, he needed no help; he felt the man 
 within him strong as twenty men, and all he wanted 
 was a sight of the rival so detestable 'in his eyes; 
 then 
 
 " Oh, Fate! " he cried, " give me ten minutes' joy, 
 and I will kill him a hundred times in them." 
 
 This was the uttermost of his desire, for in its 
 passionate intensity it swallowed up all other desires. 
 Even Thyra was outside of the life he was living; he 
 could not yet take her into his mind; he must kill 
 Robert Thorson first then then he would follow 
 Thyra to India, he would follow her over the world,
 
 THE OLD LOVE 
 
 and out of it. But first, oh, first of all, he must sat 
 isfy the lust for vengeance which consumed him. He 
 could not look at his wrists without an intolerable 
 shame. He pitied his own flesh, that it had suffered 
 such indignity, and promised himself to make Robert 
 suffer the utmost torture, if circumstances gave him 
 time so delicately to indulge his hatred. He was 
 always thinking and planning on this subject. It 
 became a kind of insanity with him, so much so that 
 the men, who had at first given him such hearty sym 
 pathy, grew afraid of his passionate vagaries. They 
 thought he was fey, and feared him, and regretted 
 that they had enlisted in his service. 
 
 His determination to search for Robert alone con 
 firmed their fears. " He is out of his mind ; I am not 
 understanding him," said Mackenzie. 
 
 " The poor soul has an ill fate," said Fingal Mac- 
 Donald ; and Angus asked in a whisper, " Is it laid 
 on us to share it? No, it is not there are our wives 
 at home, mournful, tearful, blind with sorrow." 
 
 " Aye, aye ! And was you seeing what he was like 
 yesterday? And this morning." 
 
 " He's bad, indeed." 
 
 " Mackenzie likewise ; he is wishing to be turning 
 west." 
 
 " We are all of us wishing that same thing." 
 
 As they talked thus, pensive and superstitious, 
 Hector was going inland, and from hut to hut, cau 
 tiously making inquiries. He was directed here, and
 
 1 9 o THYRA VARRICK 
 
 sent there, but was always too late. It was the most 
 woeful weather; the sea black and stormy, the land 
 sad, remote, and melancholy, and between earth and 
 heaven a cold, driving rain, with a piercing east wind. 
 The roads were dangerously deep in mud, and water, 
 full of little runlets, of holes, hillocks, bogs, and 
 patches of plowed land that were all mire and water. 
 
 But one little hut after another lured him on. In 
 some of them Robert must have taken shelter; his 
 deserted boat was proof of that. He walked hither 
 and thither all day possessed by this idea, and as 
 the darkness came on found himself near Saint 
 Ninian's Howe, the sepulchral barrow of dead men's 
 graves. He had often heard the fishers tell how the 
 Saint entered it, and drove out the evil spirit which 
 had reanimated the corpse of Amund for unnatural 
 strife with the brother he loved. So he did not dare 
 to seek its shelter, though the storm was bitter and 
 the wind blowing so that he could hardly keep his 
 feet. 
 
 He looked about uneasily. The road back to the 
 nearest hut was across dangerous bogs, and it was 
 nearly dark; beside which, they had not treated him 
 civilly there. He remembered the woman's face, as 
 she glanced at his outlandish dress, and told him with 
 a hurry of dislike that the man he sought had eaten 
 there an hour previously. " She did not know which 
 way he went ; " and with these words she had shut 
 the door in his face. He could go no further until
 
 THE OLD LOVE 191 
 
 daylight, and he would not try to ask hospitality 
 from a creature so uncivil and ill-natured. The bar 
 row made a kind of shelter against the wind and 
 rain, and he had with him some oatmeal, and whisky, 
 and a tin mug and spoon. For a moment he thought 
 of going into the barrow, for the entrance was open, 
 and the dead men sleeping there surely would not 
 refuse him a corner to sleep with them. But he was 
 intensely superstitious, and he doubted the good-will 
 of Pictish or Norse wraiths ; the wraiths of Highland 
 gentlemen he might have entreated, but in this case 
 it did not take him many moments to prefer the angry 
 elements to the company of he knew not what inimi 
 cal spiritual forces. So he mixed some meal with 
 water, took a draught of whisky, and, wrapping his 
 plaid well round his breast, lay down to sleep. 
 
 As soon as he lay down he discovered how unnatur 
 ally weary he was. His body had been driven beyond 
 itself by his passionate soul; and, the goad being 
 lifted, it fell to the earth, careless of rain and wind, 
 longing only to be at rest. Instantly he was asleep ; 
 the winds blew, it rained heavily, it became very cold, 
 but Hector slept, sound and deep ; slept far below all 
 feeling or dreaming or caring. 
 
 As the dawn came up the rain ceased in a thick fog, 
 and a man came from the barrow. It was Robert 
 Thorson. He had not feared the shelter of this somber 
 sleeping place. He had been in the last hut when 
 Hector called there, and had in the darkness made his
 
 1 92 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 way to the barrow. He was certain that Hector would 
 not dare to enter it, but it was not unlikely the weather 
 might drive him to demand a lodging from the 
 woman in the hut. 
 
 He came out of his strange shelter without fear, 
 peering through the mist in the direction of the hut. 
 The woman had promised him a certain sign if Hector 
 was there. There was no evidence of it, so he under 
 stood that he might safely return to the human habi 
 tation for food. But as his eyes shortened their gaze 
 fell upon the sleeping form of Hector, not a dozen 
 yards away. Robert knew in a moment the man was 
 in his power, and a thrill of savage, pagan joy went 
 through him. He walked up to Hector, and looked 
 fiercely down at this sleeping man who had hunted 
 his life for more than two weeks. The face, seen 
 through the smur and mist, looked strangely unreal, 
 for the soul had retreated below all sense of love or 
 hatred, and revenge was far forgotten. It was only 
 flesh and blood that lay there, prone and unconscious, 
 incapable of its own defense, at the mercy of the man 
 it had been seeking, with relentless fury, to kill. 
 
 Robert stood gazing at this helpless figure of his 
 foe. It was the incarnation of all that had troubled 
 and wronged him. But for it he might that hour 
 have been the husband of the dear, beautiful Thyra; 
 and Thyra the mistress of their happy home. Both 
 he and Thyra were fugutive and wretched for its 
 sake. Was there any wonder if the first impulse
 
 
 THE MAN WAS IN HIS POWER.
 
 THE OLD LOVE 193 
 
 which came to Robert was a resolve to put it out of 
 the way forever? 
 
 But as he looked in motionless silence at the uncon 
 scious man, a feeling of pity came into his heart. He, 
 too, had suffered. Robert could tell by the anguish 
 of his own heart how much he had suffered. And he 
 lay there, at his feet, helpless as a little child. Rob 
 ert's hand was on his knife; he had but to draw it 
 forth; it would speedily find the life of his enemy. 
 Why did he not do so? Hector was so far off that 
 he did not stir, even under the gaze of living eyes, 
 full of inquisition. His clothing was wet, his right 
 hand lay upon his dirk, his left across his breast, his 
 long, black hair was sodden and dripping with rain. 
 Robert walked away a little. " What shall I do? " 
 he asked himself. " Oh, Christ, what shall I do? Oh, 
 Christ, by thy body and manhood, tell me what shall 
 I do!" 
 
 " Love your enemies, do good to them that hate 
 you, and pray for them that despitefully use you." 
 
 Down the great road leading from the unseen to 
 the seen came these divine words, sweet and strong, 
 and full of power ; and Robert walked back and stood 
 again by the side of the sleeping man. He desired 
 to love, and to forgive everything, and as he did so 
 he gazed intently at his rival. There was not a move 
 ment. A great silence, a thick mist enveloped them, 
 but into that silence two souls went forth, and spoke 
 to each other, and were sorry for each other, and
 
 i 9 4 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 there was pity and truce where there had been savage 
 spiritual and carnal warfare. 
 
 Robert felt the calming influence; and in that 
 moment discovered that Mercy is Victory; and what 
 a man this discovery made of him ! He took his knife 
 from its leather sheath, and, kneeling down by Hector, 
 twined around its sharp point a few strands of his 
 long, wet hair. Then he pushed the knife gently into 
 the sandy earth, and left him without anger; yes, 
 even with that feeling of pity and liking that inev 
 itably springs out of wrongs forgiven. 
 
 " When he awakes," he thought, " he will see that 
 Death has been at his side, and Mercy driven him away. 
 He prevented my marriage to Thyra ; I forgive him. I 
 prevented his marriage to Thyra ; let him forgive me. 
 Oh, Christ! we are both in thy sight sinful men. 
 Forgive us both." 
 
 Then he went rapidly over the misty moor to the 
 house of a friend who would take him to Kirkwall; 
 for he knew that his boat had been cut adrift, and 
 must have gone to matches on the rocks during the 
 night's storm. And as he walked a determination to 
 leave Orkney came into his heart, and grew stronger 
 with every step he took. 
 
 " Why should I stay in Kirkwall ? " he asked him 
 self. " Thyra is gone ! Paul is gone ! So then, I 
 will go to Leith, and I will wait there until I see which 
 way God will send me north or south, or east or west, 
 it is all the same to me."
 
 THE OLD LOVE 195 
 
 Strong in this resolve he took up daily life again, 
 not planning anything, because he was going to let 
 God plan for him; not unhappy, because he had the 
 joy of accepted self-sacrifice. The thought of Hector 
 no longer poisoned all his springs of pleasure, or filled 
 him with burning chagrin and shameful anger. He 
 had given him life; he could not wish evil upon his 
 own gift, even though he was not sure that Hector 
 would understand his good-will. 
 
 Hector did not awaken till the noon-hour. He had 
 slept away all fatigue and fretfulness. For the first 
 few moments he was even buoyant. He stretched out 
 his limbs, and felt life strong in his heart. Suddenly, 
 he remembered his sorrow. Everything flashed across 
 him in a moment. He must rise, and make haste; 
 nothing yet had been done. He would have leaped 
 to his feet, but something held him. With a thrill of 
 terror and an angry exclamation he put his hand to 
 his head, and drew forth the knife. In the impatient 
 jerk some of his hair was cut off, and remained on 
 the blade. He stood up then, took the knife in his 
 left hand, and gazed at it, shocked and spellbound. 
 Slowly a creeping terror passed through him from 
 head to feet, and he whispered to himself: 
 
 " It is Robert Thorson's knife ! Here is his name 
 cut in the handle! It was a sailor tied this knot 
 around the blade this knot of my hair it was Rob 
 ert Thorson ! He, and no other he could have killed 
 me, and he did not he wishes me to know that he will
 
 196 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 not hurt me now, now, I am hand-bound worse than 
 with strong cords. I can do nothing against him he 
 spared me while I slept. I may as well go back to 
 the boat. I can only give up. Mackenzie, and 
 Fingal, and Angus will see that there is nothing else 
 to be done. I can only give up." And he was 
 shocked at the indifference this decision came with. 
 Where had all his insane thirst for revenge gone? 
 He could not now kill Robert if he had the best oppor 
 tunity. He lost the desire to do so. What did it 
 mean? 
 
 " What has come to pass ? " he asked himself. 
 " What spell is upon me? I will take my feet out 
 of this place, and I will not look behind me. The 
 dead have been here, and the living have been here, 
 and I knew not. What has happened while I slept? 
 Is it a curse, or a blessing, that has been left with me? 
 I will leave this place of sorrow and awful gloom. I 
 will go back to the blessed mountains to my own 
 home to my own people. I am hating the sea, and 
 the people of the sea." 
 
 He was mixing his oatmeal as these thoughts passed 
 through his mind, and as soon as he had taken food 
 and drink, he went with hurrying steps back to the 
 boat. Her sails were set, her crew watching for him ; 
 in another hour he might have been too late. 
 
 " Welcome back, sir ! " said Mackenzie. " We were 
 getting ready to search for you. We were going 
 north."
 
 THE OLD LOVE 197 
 
 " Go south," he answered cheerfully. " Steer for 
 Wick. There I will pay you well, and let you take 
 your own road." 
 
 " Blessing to thee for the good words, MacDonald ! 
 We are glad to sail far away from this unhappy 
 place." 
 
 " I have suffered my fate here, Mackenzie. It 
 is over. Now it is Scotland ! Scotland for 
 ever ! " 
 
 They understood that he had killed his enemy, and 
 were satisfied. They could now forgive all his pre 
 vious fey ways and words ; he was then driven by his 
 destiny, but as his desire had been given him, he was 
 not under doom, and they could safely, even profit 
 ably, do his pleasure. And as if in confirmation of 
 this opinion, a good wind sprang up suddenly, and 
 the boat danced southward with all her brown-red sails 
 set, and the water at her gunwale. A clear, steely sky 
 was above them, and the waves ran high, but the boat 
 was in no trouble ; she had kept her own many a time 
 in far worse wind and weather. 
 
 Hector held himself in a grim suspense. He could 
 talk of nothing, think of nothing, until he could act 
 out his thought. It was enough that good fortune 
 sailed with them, for when they reached Wick, a ship 
 was just about to leave for Cromarty, and Hector 
 stepped on board her at once. Cromarty was the 
 best of ports for him; it was in the neighborhood of 
 Inverness, and also of Nairn and MacArgall. He was
 
 198 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 in fine spirits now, for at Wick he had paid off Mac 
 kenzie and the two MacDonalds, intrusting to the 
 latter letters to be delivered to his family; and with 
 their exit from his life, he felt that the last link which 
 bound him, even in memory to Orkney, was broken. 
 Now let the place go to the bottom of the sea! He 
 never wished to hear it spoken of again, never, not as 
 long as his life lasted. 
 
 He landed at Cromarty soon after dark, and in a 
 furious rain storm. No matter, he was practically at 
 home, and he knew an inn there, much frequented by 
 Jacobite chiefs and gentlemen, where he was sure of 
 a welcome. He walked with rapid steps toward it, 
 whistling as he went. Before he reached the door he 
 saw the shining of bright lights from the windows, 
 and, as he came nearer, perceived there was much com 
 pany present. And oh, how good it was to hear once 
 more, the soft, sibilant Gaelic ; to see the kilted moun 
 taineers with their picturesque tartans, and their 
 quick movements, and, above all, their talk and laugh 
 ter, the joyous inspiring dirl and thirl of the bag 
 pipes. He was like to cry for pure gladness, and 
 when the good woman of the house kissed his hands 
 and was like to cry, too, for the gladness of seeing 
 him again, he felt the invincible force of country and 
 race as he had never felt it before. His heart swelled ; 
 he seemed to grow taller that he might have room to 
 breathe. She gave him a mouthful and a drink at 
 her own fireside, and then, opening the door of a room
 
 THE OLD LOVE 199 
 
 full of Highlandmen, with an air of conscious pride, 
 called out: 
 
 "Gentlemen! A MacDonald! " 
 
 No more was needed. A score of hands were 
 stretched out to Hector, a score of glasses offered him. 
 He was welcomed with an affection that made his eyes 
 fill. " Now we shall have a good hour," said the 
 Master of Meldrum, " and first of all, gentlemen, the 
 King's health." At these words every man filled his 
 glass, and as they repeated the toast passed it over a 
 bowl of water standing on the table. Hector under 
 stood the rite they were drinking to the King " over 
 the water," his exalted Majesty, James the Eighth. 
 After this ceremony they began to question him ; and 
 he was thus led to talk of his visit to the Northern 
 Islands. In doing so, he magnified both what he had 
 done, and the results to be expected. But the com 
 pany were in a mood to accept miracles, and to believe 
 in them, and Hector was the hero of the hour. They 
 saw his way-worn garments; he spoke of the far-off 
 places he had visited ; and so amid the increasing con 
 viviality he was led to make more and more dubious 
 statements, and to encourage hopes which in more 
 sober moments he would hardly have dared to name. 
 
 Now, Meldrum of Inversay was a neighbor of Mac- 
 Argall, and one of the most enthusiastic of the com 
 pany present; and by him Hector sent a message to 
 the Chief of MacArgall, and a hurried note to Sara. 
 And he entreated Meldrum to make them understand
 
 200 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 that he must go first of all to Inverness for money 
 and clothing, but after these necessities had been 
 attended to he would know no rest until he saw them. 
 Meldrum promised to explain everything. He said 
 he should leave Cromarty at daylight, and would be 
 his willing messenger to MacArgall. And Hector 
 knew well that the impulsive chief would say far 
 more in his favor than he could possibly say for 
 himself. 
 
 He left the revelers drinking to the " King over 
 the water " when the midnight came, and he tried to 
 lose himself in sleep. It was impossible. He felt like 
 a man who had been dead and come to life again. 
 The noise, the movement, the snatches of Gaelic and 
 English, the peals of laughter, the sound of the pipes, 
 the whole atmosphere of life and living was so delight 
 ful and so natural that it intoxicated him. Yes, even 
 the smell of the whisky and the rizzared haddies was 
 homelike and satisfying. The very thought of Ork 
 ney now oppressed him ; he called memory away from 
 it. Its calm beauty, its quiet, strong men, its lovely 
 women, all its peculiar life slipped away like a dream. 
 It seemed too far off to remember, and its melancholy 
 remoteness saddened him. 
 
 Thyra ! Thyra ! Yes, he had loved her, and quite 
 unconsciously he used the word "had." He chafed 
 at the memory. Thyra had given him much suffering 
 and humiliation. He had been just a little weary 
 before that shamefully abortive wedding. Now even
 
 THE OLD LOVE 201 
 
 the lovely Thyra was an unwelcome thought. She 
 was no longer there to love, no longer there to fight 
 for ; she had been taken out of his reach, taken beyond 
 his sight and care. And she did not, in any way, fit 
 into the life he had come back to. He could not 
 imagine her in any of its situations. She belonged 
 to the sea, and outside of her own environment she 
 lost her great charm. In the somber castles of the 
 mountains, and among the chiefs and ladies of the 
 Highland clans, what place could there be for the 
 daughter of the sailor and the sea? 
 
 But Sara ! Sara was a princess ! With gathering 
 armies, or in splendid courts, she was only in her 
 proper sphere. In that hour Sara absolutely deposed 
 Thyra. She was put out of Hector's heart like a 
 usurper whose day was over. He hardly took into 
 his thoughts the lonely girl. " She is hundreds of 
 miles away," he told himself ; " she will soon be thou 
 sands of miles away. She will be two years, she may 
 be three years, at sea ; she may never come back again. 
 She will have forgotten me if she does come back, and 
 can I then tell, or will she tell me, what other lovers 
 she has had in my place ? " There was no pitiful 
 love, there was not even loving pity for her. It was 
 pity for himself he felt; for Thyra it was but waste 
 remembrance and surmise. He did not even wonder 
 how this could be; he was content to feel that it was 
 so. Happily, he was going back to his old love, not 
 caring to cast one thought into the shadowy distance
 
 202 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 which hid from him the new love, fugitive and for 
 gotten. 
 
 He resolved to make the past summer as if it had 
 never been. During it his destiny had always been 
 asleep; nothing had progressed, nothing had taken 
 place. It was a mistake a dream from which he 
 had fortunately awakened. Yet in spite of his assur 
 ances of satisfaction there was a pain in his heart he 
 could not always be rid of; for, say what words we 
 like, it is a bitter feeling " when the dear thing is 
 no longer dear, and the sacred thing is no longer 
 sacred." 
 
 In the morning the company had melted away be 
 fore Hector came from his room, and he was pleased 
 that it was so. He was anxious to reach Inverness, 
 and replenish his purse and his wardrobe, and he knew 
 that Meldrum and others would prepare the way for 
 him at MacArgall. Indeed, Meldrum was delighted 
 to have the news to carry. He went some miles out 
 of his way to take it; and nothing suffered either in 
 his imagination or in his relation of events. And he 
 was no niggard in praising Hector when he saw how 
 grateful his praises were to the beautiful Sara Mac 
 Argall. He divined the love affair, and he did his 
 best to encourage it. 
 
 " He is the bravest and prettiest lad my eyes have 
 seen for a long time," he said with enthusiasm. 
 " Think of him wearing away the long summer days, 
 and nights, too, for they are all the same there, he
 
 THE OLD LOVE 203 
 
 is telling me, gathering men for the Prince. He was 
 naming the places and the men, but the names are 
 strange, and not easy for a Highland gentleman to 
 be taking in his mouth; and the men fishers, and the 
 like of that. But he was reminding us that Montrose 
 was leading two thousand of them to fight for the 
 first Charles; and that half that number would be a 
 Godsend to us in the spring; they being big men, 
 strong, and good in fight. So he was going from 
 place to place trysting them ; and he is believing there 
 will be at least one thousand men at Thurso next 
 April to meet him. A good lad! A brave lad! A 
 handsome lad, too, even among Highlanders, who are, 
 God knows, every one of them, men worth looking 
 after." 
 
 Thus the road was made broad and straight for the 
 return of Hector to MacArgall, and one glorious 
 autumn day, in all the splendor and light -heartedness 
 of new clothing and a replenished purse, he again 
 saw the old gray castle, and felt the warmth and joy 
 of the true love that welcomed him. The family were 
 on the point of deserting their home, but stayed their 
 preparations to rejoice over Hector's return, and 
 rearrange their plans. And what a dream! What 
 a happy dream was this one delayed week ! It was as 
 if every soul had agreed to put aside any thoughts 
 but those of love and pleasure. The beautiful Sara 
 had never been so radiant and affectionate ; the chief 
 never so hopeful and trusting; Revan never so
 
 204 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 brotherly and confidential. And over all was the soft, 
 modified sunshine of the departing year, and the crisp 
 mornings and nights heightened by blazing fires, and 
 enthused by song and story from the past and splen 
 did hopes of the future. 
 
 It seemed now incredible to Hector that he had 
 ever voluntarily deserted a life so in consonance with 
 his nature and his desires ; it was still more incredible 
 to remember that but a few weeks ago he had even 
 thought of it with distaste, yea, had refused even to 
 think of it at all. And Thyra ? Thyra was now only 
 part and parcel of an experience he wished to blot 
 from his memory. And if he remembered her it was 
 always to recall some incident in their love which had 
 mortified or angered him; memory refused to bring 
 him back any one of the hours which her beauty and 
 affection had made at the time so heavenly. Above 
 all, he felt as acutely as in the hour of his real misery 
 those humiliating cords with which Robert and Hakon 
 had bound him. 
 
 For Thyra's sake he had been compelled to endure 
 the indignity, and at this interval it was on Thyra 
 he laid the blame. Men may suffer such things for 
 women, but they do not forgive the necessity. At 
 the last it is the woman herself who has to suffer. 
 For it is in this case, as it is when women compel 
 proud men to sue too humbly for their favor at the 
 wooing time, they may fall on their knees, but when 
 they do get up they go away forever.
 
 THE OLD LOVE 205 
 
 Always a favorite at MacArgall, Hector had never 
 been in such favor as at this period. His evident 
 distaste to talk of his Orkney experiences was only 
 another reason why he was to be admired. Sara and 
 Lady Gordon discovered " that, like all brave men, he 
 was modest." Chief Murdo said, " The lad is very 
 prudent, and no boaster, and he is not putting much 
 faith in these Norsemen; why would he?" Revan, 
 at first a little dubious, accepted his friend at his own 
 words after a short conversation which came one night 
 quite unpremeditated between them. They had been 
 speaking of the Islands, and of what troops might 
 reasonably be expected from them, and Hector had 
 plainly shown Revan that his hopes were feeble and 
 uncertain. 
 
 " Did you see Captain Varrick ? " Revan asked. 
 " He served the King once." 
 
 " He served him as a matter of business, and he 
 lost a ship, and a large sum of money, by the trans 
 action. He would not listen to a word I said which 
 looked to further employment in the cause." 
 
 " Did you ever see his daughter? " 
 
 " Often ; I lodged with Captain Varrick's cousin, 
 and Thyra Varrick was frequently at her house. Also 
 I was at the Captain's house many times." 
 
 " She is a beautiful woman ; " and Revan sighed at 
 the memory of her loveliness. 
 
 " Yes," answered Hector, " yes, she is beautiful 
 in her way."
 
 206 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " What do you mean, Hector? I think no woman 
 could be more beautiful. I am sure that you were 
 in love with her. It would be a miracle if you were 
 not." 
 
 " You are right, and also wrong, Revan. I was 
 amazed and delighted when I first saw her. I thought, 
 for a little while, that a man might well give up all 
 other good things to win such a woman's love. But 
 I will tell you, Revan, that no gentleman could finally 
 accept such a renunciation; or, at least, to do so, he 
 must have been born in the same surroundings as 
 this paragon of flesh and blood. Very soon I wearied 
 of her peculiarities. You see, I had been bred on 
 the heather and the mountains, Thyra on the tangle 
 and on the sea. I am of noble birth, Thyra Varrick 
 though her father is rich for his station is of the 
 common people, and she has their atmosphere and 
 odor. When I sit by the side of Sara, when I watch 
 her sensitive soul make eloquent her exquisite face, 
 when I see her coming to meet me clothed like a prin 
 cess, perfumed like a flower, around her the air of 
 courts and camps, and centuries of romance behind 
 her, the other girl is like her handmaid. I would not 
 take them, at the same moment, into my conscious 
 ness." 
 
 " You say too much, you go too far, Hector. 
 There is something as truly like a princess in Thyra 
 Varrick as in Sara MacArgall. She won my heart 
 at a glance, and when these troubles are over I am
 
 THE OLD LOVE 207 
 
 going to Kirkwall to see if I can win her love. I 
 will make her my wife if I can." 
 
 " Revan, you will not succeed. There is an uncon 
 querable prejudice against the Gael in the Orkneys, 
 and, moreover, the girl is engaged to a Norse fisher 
 and sailor, who is the partner of her father." 
 
 " But she is not married? " 
 
 " No. She is with her father at sea. She may be 
 two or three years away ; but when she comes back, 
 she will marry this man. I am sure of it." 
 
 " And you do not care? " 
 
 " Not at all. I think they will be happy." 
 
 " I see. You are not in love with her." 
 
 " I am in love with Sara. I have no love in my 
 heart that is not hers." And he spoke so frankly, and 
 with such an air of invincible truth, that Revan was 
 obliged to believe him, and also glad to do so; for, 
 this point settled, he was willing to concede to Hector 
 all the good qualities with which Sara and Lady Gor 
 don invested him. 
 
 They took seven days' pleasure together at Mac- 
 Argall, and in all these days there was not a cloud. 
 Sara's heart was full of love, and her throat full of 
 songs, as Hector wandered with her over the hills and 
 down the strath, talking, laughing, singing the happy 
 hours away. And round the table and about the 
 hearth they planned how the winter was to be spent. 
 Before Hector's arrival it had been arranged that the 
 Chief should go to Inverness, the center of all move-
 
 208 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 ments made for the Stuarts, and that Revan, after 
 seeing his aunt and sister safely installed in Lady 
 Gordon's house in Edinburgh, should pass the time 
 between Edinburgh and Inverness gathering infor 
 mation, and keeping the clans posted as to events, and 
 ready for immediate action. Hector's arrival changed 
 these arrangements. It was resolved that he should 
 attend Lady Gordon and Sara to Edinburgh, and be 
 the bearer of any important news to the faithful wait 
 ing at Inverness; leaving it to Revan to disseminate 
 it among the loyal clans through the Highlands. 
 These plans were at best elastic and undecided, but 
 nothing more definite could be predicted with the 
 Stuarts as their foundation. For it was the bad fate 
 of this unlucky family, not only to be wavering and 
 uncertain in their own conduct, but also to be depend 
 ent on people and circumstances still more so. It was 
 not reason and intelligence that planned for the fol 
 lowers of Prince Charles ; they had most of all to lean 
 upon their faith. 
 
 It was in this living power the little party left their 
 home one frosty morning in September. Chief Murdo 
 rode with them, a glorious Gael on a mighty black 
 horse, his ample jacket shining with silver buttons, 
 his plaid belted round him, his Highland bonnet wav 
 ing lofty plumes, his enormous claymore flashing in 
 the cold sunshine. One hundred of his clan attended 
 him, all young warriors in the very flower of their man 
 hood. The ladies were in the carriage, but frequently
 
 THE OLD LOVE 209 
 
 Sara chose to ride a few miles at Hector's side, and 
 then Revan took her place as companion to his aunt. 
 At Inverness the party separated, and the weather 
 became wet and gloomy, so that the ladies were glad 
 when the journey was over, and they entered Gordon 
 House in the Canongate of Edinburgh. 
 
 Here life quickly arranged itself to that splendid, 
 orderly routine Hector loved. He fell immediately 
 into communication with the Jacobite party, and was 
 their trusted emissary on many important missions. 
 And his comings and goings marked time to the 
 two brave ladies who loved him; his wishes governed 
 them, his presence brought sunshine to them, and 
 when the exigencies of the cause led him away, Lady 
 Gordon watched for his return as a mother watches 
 for her son; and the beautiful Sara, with the long, 
 tender thoughts of a love deeper than the sea a love 
 waiting with hope and joy for those events which 
 Destiny held in reserve, and which she insisted on 
 believing could only be happy ones. Was she not 
 wise? Yes; for the heart of God is touched by our 
 smiles as well as by our tears. 
 
 So the winter passed happily away. Edinburgh, 
 always a military city, was especially so at this time. 
 Its romantic streets, dominated by the most ancient 
 castles, were full of soldiers ; the nobility of the Low 
 lands were in their stately homes in the Canongate 
 and the vennels and closes called after them; and 
 everywhere Highland chiefs, with " followings " in
 
 210 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 their peculiar tartans, crowded the narrow causeways, 
 and kept them noisy with their quarrels and dirkings 
 for precedency. No city in the world was more full 
 of sentiment and romance; none more gayly pictu 
 resque; none more on the outlook for adventures and 
 military movements. The most ordinary lives went 
 to the blare of trumpets and the dirl of pipes, the 
 waving of flags, and the pomp and show of flashing 
 weapons in the hands of nobles and martial men. And 
 when night came, the streets were full of link boys, 
 and of lackeys carrying sedan chairs, and the great 
 houses of the nobles were alight from end to end, and 
 in their rooms the sounds of mirth and the strains of 
 music, and the beat of dancing feet. Sara MacArgall 
 was well known in such scenes, and many a fair woman 
 envied her the devotion of the handsome MacDonald. 
 In truth, no handsomer young chieftain trod those 
 streets of enchantment. Wherever he went the eyes 
 of beauty rained influence on him ; and even the fisher- 
 wives stopped their calls to give him a compliment or 
 a mouthful of merry words. He was so happy and 
 radiant in his youth and love, so proud and brave in 
 his carriage, so tall, so graceful, so superbly dressed, 
 so palpably armed, so demonstratively the hero of 
 which men and women dream. And this was the life 
 for which he was fitted ; it was as much in him and of 
 him as the grain is in and of the wood of a tree. If 
 ever he now thought of Thyra, it was to wonder what 
 witchery she had possessed to keep him captive four
 
 THE OLD LOVE 211 
 
 long months amid scenes so directly opposed to all the 
 things which were as the breath of life to him. 
 
 But it was rarely, indeed, he permitted Thyra a 
 moment's resting-place in his memory. " She is so 
 far away," he said to himself ; " I shall never, never 
 see her again ! Never again ! " He was coming up 
 the Canongate one afternoon in the spring of 1746, 
 permitting but not encouraging such thoughts. The 
 street was crowded, the sun shining; there was the 
 sound of trumpets in the air, the flower girls were 
 offering handf uls of primroses and daffodils ; life was 
 in the most vivid social and military coloring. And 
 yet his soul, perversely insistent, would recall to him 
 that small gray house by the gray North Sea and the 
 lovely girl in her bride dress coming smiling down 
 the little stairway to meet him and then that terri 
 ble humiliating sequence! 
 
 He threw up his head impatiently and sought some 
 outlet for his tormenting thoughts. A regiment of 
 English soldiers was marching up the street; a mob 
 of boys and women keeping pace with it, crowding 
 the narrow causeway and filling the air with their 
 banter and scoffing. He had no wish to be jostled 
 by this noisy company, and he stepped backward into 
 the embrasure of a shop door he was about to pass. 
 He would have preferred to go in, but he saw it was a 
 drapery shop for the sale of women's fineries, and so 
 he did not enter. 
 
 And the soldiers passed, and the crowd with them,
 
 212 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 but he did not realize their passage. Do as he would, 
 the vision Memory flaunted him with, and even the 
 music of the marching men set itself only to that 
 woeful iteration, " Never again." He was finally 
 forced to speech. " She is thousands of miles away," 
 he said passionately. Then, stamping his foot, he 
 strode onward. 
 
 And Destiny smiled sarcastically after him. For 
 within touch, with only a closed door between them, 
 sat Thyra Varrick. She was slowly fingering some 
 soft woolen thread and waiting for the crowd to pass ; 
 but had she opened the door to go out, or Hector 
 opened it to come in, they had met upon the 
 threshold.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 Thyra Varrick Runs Away 
 
 IF Destiny had only opened that unlocked divid 
 ing door ! If Hector had turned his head as he 
 walked down the street, and seen Thyra follow 
 ing in his footsteps! If a friend had detained him 
 at the turning, just for three minutes, until she had 
 reached the same point, what would have happened? 
 Let those divine who understand the heart of a youth 
 as fickle as he is susceptible. To Thyra it would have 
 been only a natural and happy event. She would 
 have had no embarrassing circumstances to chill or 
 perplex her joy; no doubts and no uncertainties to 
 take into her consideration. As she had loved Hector 
 when willing to abandon everything for him, so she 
 loved him at that hour ; and she would have met him 
 with an affection that he would have felt to be em 
 barrassing, perhaps even mortifying. 
 
 For in her heart he still reigned as supreme as on 
 that wretched day when she had been forced to sail 
 with her father in the Maid of Orkney. Those who 
 thought her calm, tearless mood expressed resignation 
 to her duty were much mistaken. She was even 
 then assuring herself that there must be an outlet 
 
 213
 
 214 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 from a fate she so passionately denied; since the 
 things that befall us, which are irrevocable in their na 
 ture, are usually of our own breed, the outcome of 
 our own desires or actions. 
 
 "I shall be quiet until we reach Aberdeen," she 
 said to herself ; " there I have two days, and some 
 thing, perhaps even some person, will show me the 
 way out of this trouble." 
 
 One thing was certain, she must escape from the 
 Indian Queen at Aberdeen. In the meantime she as 
 sumed to perfection that air of sad obedience which 
 was always omnipotent with her father. Her pa 
 thetic submission touched him almost to tears, and 
 the hiring of a woman to wait on her, and his gen 
 erosity regarding her necessities for the long voyage, 
 were the outcome of the respect which her tearless, un 
 complaining sorrow roused in him. 
 
 Nevertheless, her feet had no sooner touched the 
 deck of the Indian Queen than she began to look 
 around for some deliverer. The first day brought 
 her no hope. The hired woman she fathomed at once, 
 She was neither prudent nor reliable. At the last 
 moment she might, through fear or prospect of re 
 ward, fail her. She could use her only as a means to 
 allay suspicion or to give voice to her resignation. 
 But she kept courageously on the alert, for she was 
 intensely aware of some inner force which would have 
 its will not only over the men, but over the events by 
 .which she was environed. She was conscious of it as
 
 THYRA RUNS AWAY 215 
 
 she was of her sight, without question or analysis, 
 which, indeed, was far beyond her nature or expe 
 rience. 
 
 Just at dusk on the second day, she saw go to the 
 wheelhouse a man whose face and carriage seemed 
 familiar to her. She followed and, when he turned, 
 recognized him. 
 
 " Art thou here, Matthew Saxby? " she asked joy 
 fully; and the roughly clad giant stretched out to 
 her his great hands. 
 
 " I saw thee when thou earnest on board," he said ; 
 " but I feared thou hadst forgotten me." 
 
 " Thou art not kind to say that. Does a girl ever 
 forget the lad who sat on the school bench beside her? 
 Many a strapping thou took for me in those days." 
 
 " It was a joy to me. I could not have borne to 
 see the tawse leave its red mark on thy little white 
 hand." 
 
 " Matthew," she said, stepping close to him and 
 laying her little white hand in his, " I am in great 
 trouble, in sore trouble, and thou canst help me again 
 if thou wilt." 
 
 " I will do anything a man may do for thee. What 
 is thy trouble, Thyra ? " 
 
 " My father wants me to marry Robert Thorson, 
 and I do not want to marry him. Thou must re 
 member Robert?" 
 
 " When I want to. I never liked him. He licked 
 me once, when I was a lad of twelve, for cutting a
 
 216 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 fish net. It was none of his net. I have not for 
 gotten ; if I can help thee against him right glad will 
 I be." 
 
 " I don't want to marry him, Matthew." 
 
 " I should think not. He is ten years older than 
 thee and not a nice man." 
 
 " And because I 'will not marry him, father is tak 
 ing me to sea, so that I may marry no one else. And 
 I am afraid of the sea, and I do not want to go to 
 India." 
 
 " It is a shame to take thee into such danger. Why, 
 my dear lass, there might come an hour when those 
 who loved thee best would know the greatest kindness 
 would be to kill thee with their own hands pirates 
 and what not whatever is Captain Varrick think 
 ing of? " 
 
 " He is angry at me. I want to get off the ship, 
 Matthew. I must, I must; how can I manage it? " 
 
 " What wilt thou do if I put thee on shore? " 
 
 " I have money, and I will go back to Kirkwall and 
 stay with Maran Flett till my father comes home. He 
 will forgive me then." 
 
 " Well, then, to-night I will go and see the wife of 
 my brother Ben. She is a Scot, but kindly; and I 
 will tryst her to the wharf at half-past four on the 
 morning that we sail. That night I shall be in com 
 mand of the lower deck, and I will not lift the gang 
 way. To-morrow thou must find out the best way to 
 reach it, and be thou there at that hour and I will
 
 THYRA RUNS AWAY 217 
 
 take thee across and my sister-in-law will see thee 
 safely to her house, and there thou canst safely stay 
 until some boat is leaving for Orkney." 
 
 " Thou art as kind as ever. What shall I do for 
 thee? " 
 
 " Thou shalt let me kiss thy hand ; I shall be well 
 paid." 
 
 " This is the hand thou savedst from the tawse, 
 often ; kiss it, Matthew ; and I will never forget thee." 
 
 " I am right happy," he said, bending his big- 
 bearded face to the slim hand lying in his own : " and 
 now thou hadst better not speak to me again. I can 
 tell thee with a look, or a bend of my head, if it is all 
 right with my sister. How best to reach the lower 
 gangway from thy own cabin, that thou must find out 
 for thyself. Only be true to time. The captain will 
 be at the gangway about five o'clock. It is our final 
 lading, and there will not be much of it." 
 
 " I will be there. Fail me not, Matthew." 
 
 " Thou mayst trust me." 
 
 When events are to happen they may be safely 
 left to their own coercion. The plan so easily laid 
 was as easily carried out. At four o'clock Thyra rose 
 and at the gangway found Matthew waiting. He 
 took her hand without a word and led her safely to 
 the open pier. There was a woman with a shawl over 
 her head waiting there, and Matthew said to her: 
 
 " Here is the lady ; see thou art kind to her, Mag 
 gie."
 
 2i 8 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 He turned with the words, but Thyra stayed him 
 with a touch and, frankly lifting her face to his, said, 
 " Kiss me good-by, Matthew Saxby ; for thou hast 
 been my true friend." And he kissed her and went 
 hurriedly back to the ship, and ere they had gone 
 many steps the two women heard him shouting orders 
 to the crew gathering at the gangway. 
 
 Swiftly and silently Thyra and her companion went 
 through the fair sleeping town to a small house in the 
 fishing quarter; and once inside, Mistress Ben Saxby 
 threw off her shawl and began to talk. 
 
 " Eh, but thou art a brave lass," she said ; " and 
 all for true love! That goes to my heart. I am 
 for true love always. Thou must tell me all about it, 
 for it isn't likely thou art running away from one 
 lad, unless there was another thou liked better. Come, 
 let us have a cup of tea, and then thou canst get a few 
 hours' sleep; I'll warrant it is needed. And maybe 
 it will be close keeping for two or three days it 
 might happen someone came looking for you least 
 ways that is what Matthew says." 
 
 Thyra needed no one to remind her of this pos 
 sibility, and for three days she sat silent, listening for 
 the voice and step she feared. It did not come, 
 and then she was shocked at its absence. All at 
 once it struck her that she was but one of many 
 interests, even to the two men who, she believed, loved 
 her better than anything else. For she had hoped, 
 she had been certain, that as soon as Hector was re-
 
 THYRA RUNS AWAY 219 
 
 leased he would find some way to follow her. He 
 had plenty of money, there were boats at hand, they 
 were delayed two days in Aberdeen; she felt that he 
 ought to have overtaken them and have been on the 
 pier, watching the Indian Queen for her. Then, 
 much as she had wronged her father, she had an 
 abiding trust in his love. She was sure he would not 
 go away, without some inquiry as to whether she was 
 alive or dead. And both Hector and her father had 
 put other things before her Hector what he doubt 
 less called his " honor," and her father what he be 
 lieved to be his " duty." She was humbled beyond 
 belief by these considerations. For the first time in 
 her life she had come to a place where Thyra Varrick 
 was not the most important factor in events concern 
 ing herself. 
 
 She felt an unspeakable desolation, and on the 
 fourth day gave herself up to unrestrained weeping. 
 Her attitude soon gave great annoyance to her host 
 ess. She was one of those foolish women who are 
 always planning for what they consider " a good 
 time." Her house was a favorite resort of young 
 sailor lads and of some pretty, thoughtless girls of 
 Maggie's temperament. And though there was not 
 the slightest breach of any moral question, there was 
 loud singing and rough and ready joking, and foolish 
 laughter, and noisy, vulgar wooing and bantering. 
 Every instinct of Thyra's nature was offended by 
 these things ; she made constant efforts to evade Mag-
 
 220 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 gie's company, and she gave serious offense in so 
 doing. 
 
 " Proud little cutty ! " Maggie said to one of her 
 cronies. " I have stood more than enough of her airs. 
 She is that close, too, she tells me nothing at all." 
 
 " The sense of the creature ! and she so young ! " 
 
 " What are you saying, Jean Carter ? Nobody 
 likes living with a secret in their honest house. I'll 
 not thole it much longer. If her life were well looked 
 into, it would be the proper thing. Ben said she was 
 running away from a great wrong; but suppose she 
 was running away from her husband or the police ! I 
 would be just distracted with the disgrace! " 
 
 " She is an extraordinary bonnie woman." 
 
 " Do you think that? " 
 
 "The lads all think so." 
 
 " Lads are mostly fools. She is too pale-faced for 
 me, and she has no perception anent a joke, and then 
 the stiff lady-ways of her are perfectly ridic'lus." 
 
 " Maybe she is a lady." 
 
 " Not she ! I am knowing real ladies when I see 
 them nothing at all to her back but a blue flannel 
 gown and cloak. She may be a circle, or half a cir 
 cle, above you and me, but she is none too good for 
 the decent folk she meets here. Lady, indeed! She 
 would cut a poor flourish among ladies ! I heard your 
 man was off on one of his spells again. What are 
 you doing about it? " 
 
 " Nothing at all. A drunk man is far beyond
 
 THYRA RUNS AWAY 221 
 
 any mortal management. The deil has him in tow, 
 and I'm not fool enough to try and take a job out of 
 his hand. He'll come home, sick and sorry, when the 
 Old One has had his will with him. I would let the 
 poor lassie have her own way, if I were you, Maggie. 
 She knows best where she wants to go." 
 
 From this conversation it may be easily understood 
 that Thyra was not happy. She was, in the very 
 nature of things surrounding her, unable to please. 
 Her beauty set her apart, her speech, peculiar and 
 refined, offended; and her suggestive silences were 
 still more offensive. Her presence bred restraint and 
 silence and made the noisy house, as Maggie said, 
 " more like a kirk than a cheerful body's house place." 
 At the same time her absence caused comment and won 
 der and gave ill-natured neighbors opportunities for 
 saying spiteful things. 
 
 In three weeks Thyra felt that she could not stay 
 any longer with Maggie Saxby. But where must 
 she go? Her youth, her great beauty, her absolute 
 friendlessness, were all against her making a home of 
 her own, however humble it might be. " I should be ill- 
 spoken of whatever I did," she thought hopelessly. And 
 what could she do ? In those days the occupations for 
 women were pitifully few and bare. But Thyra, 
 whose mother had been a Shetlander, had the wonder 
 ful skill in knitting displayed by these Norse women. 
 She oould spin wool into a thread as fine as the finest 
 linen, and knit a shawl with it that vied with the most
 
 222 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 delicate lace. But where and with whom could she 
 find a quiet home in which to sit still and do her work ? 
 She had some money, but not enough for the neces 
 sities of two years. Somewhere she must go; some 
 kind of work she must do. With a heartsick anxiety 
 she asked herself. "Where?" and "What?" Let 
 no one imagine her trouble was a light one; in such 
 common events of daily life there is far more real trag 
 edy than in battles and heroic adventures. The girl 
 felt herself to be outside of human love and help, and 
 it made the sense of her isolation no lighter to ad 
 mit that she herself was to blame for it. 
 
 But even while acknowledging this fact she was 
 rallying all her soul's forces. Out of its mysterious 
 strength and wisdom surely some guiding voice, some 
 leading intuition, must come. In following this in 
 stinctive reliance on something beyond herself, she 
 was merely accepting one of those instantaneous de 
 cisions that some unknown side of human reason gov 
 erns. Not a foolish way, because between this world 
 and the world invisible there are myriads of intimate 
 concordances, and that soul must be deaf and dumb 
 and blind that cannot in an emergency come in con 
 tact with some sympathetic intelligence. In Thyra's 
 case the message received was, doubtless, regulated by 
 influences so obscurely rooted in her nature, and be 
 yond her life, as to defy any ordinary analysis. It was 
 remarkable only for its simplicity and directness: 
 " Go and see Mr. Reid." Of course, that was what
 
 THYRA RUNS AWAY 223 
 
 she ought to do. She was amazed that she had not 
 thought of it before. Instantly she. rose to her feet, 
 erect, purposeful, flushed with a new-born hope. " I 
 will go at once," she answered; and there was in her 
 countenance and bearing the grace of a ready obedi 
 ence, the reverence of one who salutes Presence unseen 
 but fully recognized. 
 
 She passed out of the house unchallenged, and on 
 the street she asked a man to show her the offices of 
 Thomas Reid. A large granite building was pointed 
 out, and on the steps of it an old sailor was standing. 
 
 " Wilt thou tell me how to get speech with Mr. 
 Reid?" she asked. 
 
 " Go straight along this passage, my lass, and chap 
 at the door at the end of it ; and if the master is within, 
 he will say * Open the door.' ' 
 
 Without further inquiry she did as directed, and to 
 her somewhat timid summons a voice answered 
 promptly, " Open the door." And as she did so she 
 threw back the hood from her head and stood within 
 the darksome place, a sweet, bright vision of womanly 
 loveliness. The great shipping-master was astonished 
 at such a visitor and, unaware to himself, strangely 
 influenced by the girl's manner and beauty. He rose 
 and lifted a chair forward, but Thyra only rested her 
 hand upon it, as she said: 
 
 " I am Thyra Varrick ; Captain Paul Varrick's 
 daughter." 
 
 " He told me he was taking his daughter with him."
 
 224 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " I ran away from the ship two hours before she 
 sailed. I did not wish to go to India. I was afraid. 
 I had heard about the pirates, and the other dread 
 ful things, so I ran away." 
 
 " But why, then, did you leave Kirkwall ? " 
 
 " I was forced to do so. My father wanted me to 
 marry Robert Thorson, and I did not want to marry 
 him. It was Robert or my father, and I chose the 
 ship before the man I could run away from the 
 ship." 
 
 As she spoke she gathered courage, her face flushed, 
 her eyes glowed ; she was the loveliest incarnation of a 
 woman, willful and resolute. Reid could not help a 
 smile. " I see," he answered. " You are certainly 
 Captain Varrick's daughter. Now, what more is 
 there? It is nearly three weeks since the Indian 
 Queen sailed." 
 
 " A sailor on her, who comes from Kirkwall, and 
 who had been my school-fellow, took me off the ship, 
 and I have been staying with his sister, Maggie 
 Saxby." 
 
 " Saxby? Yes, I know the woman." 
 
 " I am not happy there. She is not unkind, but 
 but I do not like to be there, sir, and I want thee to find 
 me a quiet home where I can work and make a little 
 money and live decently until my father comes back. 
 He will forgive me then." 
 
 " How do you know that he will forgive you ? Paul 
 Varrick is a dour man."
 
 THYRA RUNS AWAY 225 
 
 " There are two I do not fear to ask forgiveness 
 from God and my father. Both of them under 
 stand ; I'll need to say nothing to either but * I am 
 sorry.' Paul Varrick is a kind man." 
 
 " Well, Miss Varrick " 
 
 " Thyra, please, sir." 
 
 ** Well, Thyra, I know the very home for you, but 
 you will require to go to Edinburgh." 
 
 " I should like that well, sir. And what could I 
 do there? " 
 
 " You would go to my sister, who is married to one 
 of the great lords there. They have a little lad, the 
 heavenliest little lad I ever saw. But he is a cripple, 
 Thyra; and he suffers, at times, beyond human help 
 or understanding. More often he is free from pain, 
 and then no one is more eager for knowledge; more 
 fain to hear of the world and the life and the stir of 
 it. Poor, wee Donald! I think you could be a fine 
 friend and companion to him ; you could read to him, 
 and talk to him, and tell him about the sea; and, 
 maybe, when he cannot sleep for pain, you would wake 
 the long nights with him and make them easier to bear. 
 His father loves him beyond all things, and his mother 
 is kind in her way, too ; but she isn't the mother that 
 bore him only a stepmother and she has a big house 
 to look after ; and more company to keep than is be 
 lievable, and so the wee laddie is often his lone self, 
 or with sleepy, selfish servants, which is, maybe, worse. 
 Do you think you could love the poor suffering bairn ?
 
 226 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 Do you think you can help him, as his weary feet 
 stumble heavenward? " 
 
 " Oh, sir, I would take joy in doing this thing ! My 
 heart is gone to the boy already. I am just waiting 
 thy word, sir. I can start for Edinburgh this hour 
 if it is thy will." 
 
 She spoke with feverish desire, and Mr. Reid turned 
 to his desk and wrote a letter, which, he said, would 
 be her guarantee and make her welcome. " There is 
 a boat sailing from Leith in three hours," he said; 
 " and I will send a proper person to put you in her 
 skipper's care ; and when he knows you are Paul Var- 
 rick's child he will be like a father to you. I'll war 
 rant you are safe in Lady Eraser's house ere he loses 
 sight of you; and have you money enough, Thyra? 
 I have money belonging to your father " 
 
 " I thank thee, sir ; but I will not touch my father's 
 money." 
 
 " There will be need of nice clothing and such 
 things." 
 
 " I shall dress for the little lad, sir ; and he will 
 hardly notice if I be in gray winsey or gray satin." 
 
 " Won't he? You don't know Donald yet." 
 
 " I have some money, sir ; quite enough." 
 
 " Then good-by, Thyra ! I will send to Maggie 
 Saxby's for you in an hour's time, and, when I have 
 an opportunity, will let Captain Varrick know that 
 you are in my care, and better so than on the high 
 seas with him."
 
 THYRA RUNS AWAY 227 
 
 " I thank thee again, sir. When I came to thee 
 I took a good road." 
 
 " Who told you to come to me? " 
 
 " I know not ; there was a voice in my heart. I 
 heard it," and she looked for a moment at the man 
 to whom she had been sent, and learned all there was 
 to learn. A profound certainty of his truth and good 
 ness assured and comforted the lonely girl ; she knew 
 that she might go to Edinburgh or anywhere else 
 safely on his word. She knew it, because women know 
 what men do not know ; because they still hold in their 
 hands a divining cap. 
 
 Over the old sailor she had exercised her usual 
 charm. He left her with a pain in his heart, and a 
 grumble at his friend Varrick. If I had a daughter 
 like yonder lass ! If God had only given me a daugh 
 ter like her, she wouldna be going with strangers 
 through Edinbro's streets, while I roamed the Indian 
 seas for a handful of siller. God save the lassie ! " 
 
 The lassie herself had no fears. She was in a state 
 of great elation. The splendid room in which she 
 was waiting for Lady Fraser filled her with wonder 
 and delight. The soft carpet and velvet hangings, 
 the wide hearth with its blazing fire of coal, and its 
 snow-white rug, the luxurious chairs, the ornaments 
 of silver and bronze, these things were full of in 
 terest ; though it was the pictures on the walls that 
 captivated her. She knew nothing at all of pictures, 
 but there was a large oil-painting of John Knox
 
 228 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 preaching, before which she stood spellbound, en 
 thused and worshipful. Indeed, she was not aware 
 that she had been waiting nearly half an hour until 
 Lady Fraser came in with many apologies for her 
 delay. She had her brother's letter in her hand, and 
 she looked from it into Thyra's face with a kindly 
 curiosity. 
 
 " You are welcome beyond measure, Miss Varrick," 
 she said ; " indeed, you are. What do you need most 
 of all ? Is it food, or rest ? " 
 
 " I am needing nothing. I had a good passage, 
 and a good friend on board. Whatever I can do, I 
 am ready to do at once." 
 
 " Then we will go upstairs, and I will introduce 
 you to the little lord he kens all his dignities, does 
 Donald." As she spoke she went to a large mirror 
 and shook out her satin gown before it, looking at 
 herself approvingly, and then, turning with a smile 
 to Thyra, " Donald is wonderfully fond of fine 
 clothes," she said ; " and so I aye show myself to him 
 when I am dressed by ordinar." And it pleased her 
 to see that Thyra looked at her from the plumes in 
 her hair to the diamond buckles in her satin slippers, 
 with distinct and flattering admiration. 
 
 They went up the stairway together and for a mo 
 ment paused at a door ere Lady Fraser opened it. It 
 was so heavy and moved so noiselessly that the occu 
 pants of the room were not immediately aware of in 
 trusion; and in that instant's pause Thyra got her
 
 THYRA RUNS AWAY 229 
 
 first glimpse of the little lad she was to love so well. 
 He was reclining on a sofa, and his father sat by his 
 side with a book in his hands. Evidently he was read 
 ing aloud, but when Lady Fraser entered the interest 
 was instantly diverted. The judge made her a low 
 bow, and Donald called out, " Eh, my lady, but you 
 are braw and bonnie to-night ! " 
 
 " And only see what I have brought you, Donald. 
 A young lady who is to be all your own friend a 
 young lady all the way from the Orkney Isles and 
 she ha' come to be with you your own friend until 
 you are strong enough to go to school again." 
 
 Both father and son were watching Thyra as Lady 
 Fraser made this little speech of introduction. And 
 Thyra was watching the lad. She was looking at 
 him eagerly, tenderly, her eyes radiating her sym 
 pathy, her mouth sweet with smiles. The child was 
 the first to speak. " Come close to me, my bonnie 
 lady," he said to Thyra ; " for I canna well come to 
 you." Then Thyra threw off her cloak and slipped 
 down on her knees beside him; and he stroked her 
 cheeks with his thin hands and touched her bright 
 hair, until with a sudden joyous daring he took out 
 the large confining comb and laughed to see it fall 
 rippling and curling over her shoulders. 
 
 " If you had wings and a white gown, you would 
 look like an angel," he said. Then she laid her face 
 against his face and kissed him, and he laughed again 
 and said, " Father ! father ! I'll not be needing you
 
 230 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 any longer to-night. I have my guardian-angel! 
 You may go with my lady to the Gordon House and 
 watch her win Georgie's men and Charlie's men, and 
 wonder at the wit and wisdom of her. I want my 
 dinner here," then, speaking to Thyra " you will 
 have a mouthful with me, eh, dearie? " 
 
 There was some further conversation, and some 
 directions as to the room which Thyra was to occupy, 
 and then she was left alone with her charge. For a 
 few minutes there was silence between them. The boy 
 looked at Thyra attentively, and she looked at him. 
 He was about nine years old and preternaturally wise 
 and clever. His eyes were large and full of soul ; and 
 his white face had in excess that seraphic expression 
 often noticeable on the faces of those suffering from 
 spinal disease. There was a pair of little crutches 
 by the sofa, and he glanced at them and said, " I'm 
 nothing but a lameter ! You'll hae to have a deal o' 
 patience with me what must I call you, miss " 
 
 " Thou must call me Thyra only Thyra thy 
 very own Thyra; for I will not care for anyone but 
 thee." 
 
 " Eh, but I'm glad of that ! Here comes Jerry 
 with our dinner, and you shall tell me all about the 
 Orkneys. I am just daft to hear about them. The 
 men are sea kings, and they call their heaven Wal- 
 halla I remember that and you are a sea princess 
 Princess Thyra! My word! but Donald Fraser 
 has a friend worth talking about at the lang, long
 
 THYRA RUNS AWAY 231 
 
 last." He said the three words with a sigh, and then 
 continued, " I am fairly worn out with the common 
 folk that have come here to bide with me and they 
 kent nothing about the Stuarts, but just the name of 
 them, and that they go mad about. And my father 
 says the Stuarts are for whamling poor Scotland o'er 
 again they are aye worrying her. I am not for the 
 Stuarts, are you, Thyra? " 
 
 " I would not be so wicked," answered Thyra, fall 
 ing easily into the boy's mood. " Yon is a grand 
 picture you have downstairs, I think it is John Knox 
 preaching the Word." 
 
 " Ay ; it is. I am proud o' John Knox." 
 
 Then the sofa was pushed close to the spread table, 
 and the two sat down to eat their dinner. " You can 
 go your ways to-night, Jerry," said the masterful 
 child ; " I hae a princess to serve me now, and I'll not 
 be requiring your help any more, man. You can bide 
 wi' the lasses in the kitchen; you like their keckling 
 better than my improving talk oh, you needn't ex 
 plain and excuse yourself, it is no matter ; none what 
 ever."- 
 
 With a singular courtesy he then looked after 
 Thyra's wants. Eating scarce anything himself, he 
 took the greatest pleasure in directing her meal. He 
 pushed the fish aside, saying, " You are a fine haddock, 
 but we dinna ask you to dine with us to-day we are 
 both o' us tired to death o' fish ; but here is some Eng 
 lish mutton. The English are dour creatures, but
 
 232 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 their sheep are good, when they feed on Scotch pas 
 ture and a slice of the black cock's breast is good 
 enough for King George. Maybe, you will try what 
 they call a salad? I would just pass it on to the 
 cattle, but plenty of folk are daft about salads. Poor 
 things ! The pudding and the shortcake are better. 
 What will you have to drink? " 
 
 " I would like a cup of tea." 
 
 This little bubble of talk was as unreal to the child 
 as it was to Thyra ; but as they sipped their tea, he 
 began to ask questions about Orkney; and the next 
 morning they were reading together a history of the 
 Islands which Lord Fraser sent in to them. From the 
 first chapter it inthralled the boy. When he heard 
 how Agricola and the Roman galleys had sailed 
 through strange storms as far as the giant pillars of 
 Hoy, and durst not go within them, he said to Thyra, 
 " Let me look at the print for myself " ; and as soon as 
 he saw the black letters, they put on flesh and blood to 
 him. They became the Roman Emperor and his 
 swarthy sailor men, and he saw, and he made Thyra 
 see, the galleys lying in the golden mists of the morn 
 ing and the shimmering glory of the auroras, longing 
 but not daring to pass the awful gates. 
 
 " You see, Thyra," he explained, " they were feared 
 for the gods. They thought they had come to the en 
 trance of the Hyperborean regions. Roman soldiers 
 and sailors never feared mortal men, but the gods! 
 They are different. We are a' feared for the gods."
 
 THYRA RUNS AWAY 233 
 
 " Little wonder they were feared," answered Thyra. 
 " If thou couldst only see the cliffs of Hoy ! so high, so 
 dark ! the sea roaring like thunder among them ; the 
 air black with birds eagles, falcons, gulls of every 
 kind millions of them, miles of them, the whir and 
 beat of their wings, their screams and cries fairly 
 deafening and terrifying no wonder strange men 
 were feared." 
 
 " Are they always that way ? " 
 
 " Say that the sea was lying still under the moon 
 that the birds are asleep, or just crooning and rest 
 less that the aurora was covering everything with a 
 rosy veil, it might be still more awful. They believed 
 they were at the end of the world; and they did not 
 want to enter the land of the gods. I think they 
 would set sails and vanish as quickly as possible. The 
 seals, too! they might frighten them; the sea would 
 be full of seals then, no doubt." 
 
 " I have seen pictures of seals," said Donald ; " you 
 will have seen the live creatures ? " 
 
 " Often," she answered. " The little gray seals lie 
 about on the wrack, hundreds of them together; or 
 they play in the water, rising and sinking noiselessly ; 
 or they loll lazily on their backs, or they fan them 
 selves with their flappers, but always they look per 
 fectly happy and contented. There are so many of 
 them yet, and centuries ago they must have crowded 
 the shores of the Islands." 
 
 " The Romans would not fear them. They would
 
 234 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 think them some kind of mermen and mermaids. Do 
 they look frightsome? " 
 
 " Not the little gray seals they look very human 
 but the sea lions ! they are frightsome ! I have not 
 seen any, but my father says they snap, and snarl, and 
 fight continually. They live on the very outside 
 reefs, with no land between them and the other side of 
 the world. Seldom do they see the face of man, ex 
 cept when some big ship goes to the bottom with all on 
 board." 
 
 The Roman Emperor lying with his ships at the 
 gates of the Hyperborean region, and the great seals 
 watching drowning men, and foundering ships, filled 
 the boy's imagination for many days ; and the super 
 natural element investing these daring Roman in 
 truders made a fine background for the dash and free 
 dom of those sea kings, who feared nothing that was 
 made of wind and water; who sailed boldly through 
 the enchanted seas and found beyond the terrible cliffs 
 the Fortunate Isles of their heroes. So it was the vik 
 ings, and the Norse jarls, and the Scottish earls, and 
 the English forts that filled the early winter days for 
 Donald and Thyra with all the storm and passion, the 
 trial and triumph of restless humanity. 
 
 And Thyra was astonished to feel how greatly Don 
 ald's power of seeing the invisible quickened her own 
 memory and imagination. As they sat talking of the 
 heroes or tyrants of Orkney, she incidentally blended 
 the conversation with many interesting facts relating
 
 THYRA RUNS AWAY 235 
 
 to the natural history of the places where events took 
 place. Thus, when they were reading how Harold 
 landed at dark on a certain point, she said, " I know 
 the place, Donald, and as soon as it is dusk there, out 
 come the sheerwaters by thousands; they are the owls 
 of the sea, and they would shoot past the faces of 
 Harold's sailors in quick-gliding flight, and fright 
 them, and make them see the fetches of dead men." 
 And soon after they came to a story of a lordly jarl 
 feeding a gull that lighted on his shoulders, and 
 Thyra lowered her voice and clasped Donald's hand, 
 and said: 
 
 " It would not be a black-backed gull, for that soli 
 tary thing has not a friend either among men or birds. 
 Birds shun and dread it, men hold it in abhorrence; 
 even the good-natured St. Kildians pluck out its eyes 
 and tie its wings together and send it adrift to perish," 
 
 " What has it done to deserve such hate ? " 
 
 " It is always doing something to deserve it. It 
 tears the nests of all birds, it breaks their eggs, it 
 mangles their young. It kills because it loves to kill. 
 It is a murderer, not because it is hungry, but because 
 it is hateful." 
 
 " I am not sorry for it. It is a feathered Cain. 
 Yet it is dreadful to be wicked, Thyra I mean to be 
 made wicked to be born wicked. Will there be any 
 elect among the black-backed gulls ? " Then he was 
 silent; it was a grave question to the precocious boy. 
 He had thoughts on it he did not dare to utter.
 
 236 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 His passion for information was insatiable. He 
 sailed the ocean with great navigators, saw strange 
 countries with great travelers, and fought the famous 
 battles of the world over again with their victorious 
 generals. The atlas and the big globe were ever at 
 hand, and with his long, thin finger he followed the 
 ships, and the camels, and the marching soldiers. 
 Nevertheless, the root and flower of his whole nature 
 was a piety sweet as Heaven and deep as eternity. 
 He loved God first and best of all. It was a love with 
 out affectation, simple, natural, trustful even in his 
 darkest and most painful hours. And Thyra soon 
 knew when these hours were coming. He became rest 
 less, no matter how interesting the book or subject oc 
 cupying them; his face flushed and paled, his eyes 
 grew sad, fearful, pathetic, and in a few minutes he 
 would say: 
 
 " Dearie, put away the book. I want the grip of 
 the Psalms now. There's no word of man that can 
 help me thole what is coming." 
 
 Then through the long night she held his hand and 
 wiped the sweat of pain from his face, and hid the 
 dear little lad under the shadow of the Almighty. No 
 one but God knows what experiences these two souls 
 had together. The child, indeed, drank of the cup the 
 woman could not drink of, but she steadied his trem 
 bling hand and sweetened the bitter draught with the 
 tenderest words and ministrations. It was a marvel 
 ous life to Thyra ; a life she never could have chosen
 
 THYRA RUNS AWAY 237 
 
 for herself, but the best, the only one, to bring her 
 nature to its noblest growth. Hitherto it had been 
 Thyra who was to be loved and served. She was now 
 learning how to love and serve others. Gradually 
 there was springing up in her heart that flower of all 
 that is divine self-sacrifice for something helpless. 
 She had never before been in such a position. No 
 younger brother or sister had ever claimed her care, 
 no sick parent, no neglected child. She had not even 
 in her early years loved a doll or protected a home 
 less dog. Always she had been the receiver of love; 
 she was now the giver. 
 
 Day by day she took the helpless, suffering Donald 
 closer and closer to her heart. His pain was her pain, 
 his pleasure was her pleasure. She forgot herself in 
 him. And the more Donald claimed, the more she 
 gave. All was so little, for her love, bathed in her 
 pity, took possession of her whole being. It sweetened 
 her voice, made her step softer, gave an air of some 
 thing hushed and inexpressibly loving to all her minis 
 trations. One morning, after a night of great suffer 
 ing, the weary child laid his head upon her breast and 
 began to cry a little. She leaned over and kissed him ; 
 her tears fell on his face. 
 
 " Oh, mammy! " he sobbed; " oh, mammy! " and 
 from that moment she mothered him. He was her 
 boy, and she jealously guarded her influence over him. 
 It was a point with Lord Fraser that she should drive 
 or walk one hour every day and that hour he usually
 
 238 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 spent with his son but Thyra made a duty rather 
 than a pleasure of this enforced exercise ; and she was 
 remarkably clever in providing Lady Fraser with ex 
 cellent reasons for postponing, or omitting her daily 
 visits. Beyond this jealousy, however, there was no 
 element of selfishness in this affection. She had no 
 thought, not the slightest, of material benefit to her 
 self ; and when Lady Fraser, at the end of the first 
 quarter, brought her a generous sum of money, she 
 put it away from her with eyes full of tears. 
 
 " What have I done for your ladyship or for Don 
 ald that can be paid with gold ? " she asked with 
 dignity. 
 
 " You have been kinder than words can tell to all of 
 us." 
 
 " Well, then? Thou hast given me a home, and the 
 shelter of thy great name. Far better than gold is 
 that to me." Then she turned to the boy, who was 
 watching her with his large, soulful eyes, and said, 
 " Donald, would you wish me your Thyra to be 
 paid with gold for loving you? " 
 
 " No ! no ! " he answered. " Come here, dearie, and 
 I will give you twenty kisses. * Not a* the gowd in 
 Edinburgh town ' can buy a moment of love like 
 yours." 
 
 Then Lady Fraser lifted the gold and went away 
 with it, wondering and a little sad. She felt that she 
 had stood a moment at one gate of heavenly happiness 
 that did not open for her. Donald and Thyra had
 
 THYRA RUNS AWAY 239 
 
 gone in and left her outside, and as she slowly went 
 downstairs she had in her heart the pain of the re 
 jected. It dawned upon her then that she had been 
 mistaken in some of her estimates of love and life ; and, 
 had she known, it was for her one of those great mo 
 ments when, more or less, we issue from our mortal en 
 vironment and halt for a fleeting space on the step of 
 some eternal gate. 
 
 So the weeks went by, and none of them was with 
 out love and comfort. Donald's intervals of freedom 
 from pain were longer than usual; and during them 
 he was exceedingly bright and busy. He kept his 
 diary and made notes from the books he read, and 
 worked cheerfully his little day, as if he knew it would 
 last full threescore years and ten. And he was so 
 eager to know all that was going on, that Lord Fraser 
 whispered news to him about the Jacobites he told to 
 no one else, and Donald was very proud of this con 
 fidence. At the same time Lady Fraser brought him 
 the social gossip of the town, which, indeed, grew 
 every day to be more and more flavored with politics ; 
 and Donald smiled when he heard her talk, and gave 
 himself a little consequential shake as he audibly re 
 flected : 
 
 " That is what the women say ! Men folk know bet 
 ter." Then, turning to Thyra, he said, " When you 
 take your walk to-day, dearie, just go up the High 
 Street, and see what you can see, and hear what they 
 are saying on the plane-stones. It is the common
 
 240 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 folk on the street that know ; if there is aught coming 
 they scent it." 
 
 And it was on this spring afternoon Thyra might 
 have met the man she still adored, had not Destiny 
 kept the door shut between them.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 Welcome ', Royal Charlie I 
 
 SHE came home unconscious of the nearness of 
 her lover; a little sad, indeed, that amid all the 
 military tir and the scarcely concealed insur 
 rectionary temper of the city she saw or heard noth 
 ing of him. If he was so much in the councils of the 
 Stuarts, why was he not seen in the gathering Jacob 
 ite element? For politics subordinated every other 
 subject; men openly wore the insignia of their opin 
 ions ; women of the highest as well as the lowest rank 
 quarreled over the white roses they wore, or did not 
 wear. Song, so readily the interpreter of the Scot 
 tish heart, proclaimed Prince Charlie at every street 
 corner. The fishwives mingled their cries of " Caller 
 herrin' " with snatches of " Over the Water to Char 
 lie ! " Women nursing their babies were singing them 
 to sleep with " Charlie, He's My Darling ! " and 
 everywhere men and maids were declaring in song, 
 sentiments they would hardly have dared to express 
 in plain words. 
 
 The Government, to balance this feeling, was mak 
 ing unusual displays of the military, whose marches 
 
 241
 
 242 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 through the old city were at this time anything but 
 triumphal in character. For women have a license to 
 talk, and the lower class of women in Edinburgh were 
 almost without exception the most passionate partisans 
 of the young Prince coming to right his royal father. 
 They endowed him with supernatural beauty and vir 
 tues and worshiped with the wildest enthusiasm the 
 image they had set up. The marching, then, of an 
 English regiment was an affair to call them out in all 
 their virile strength of hate; and there were many 
 men in those lines of scarlet who would rather have 
 marched to the field of battle than walked the streets 
 of Edinburgh pelted by the stinging sarcasms and 
 contemptuous epithets of the women who thronged 
 the sidewalks. 
 
 All these things Thyra described with a particular 
 and picturesque force, and Donald longed for the next 
 day's report ; but it proved to be too rainy for walk 
 ing, and so he invited his father and mother to dine 
 with him. On these occasions he was extremely par 
 ticular about the dinner. The cook was called to 
 audience, and the menu carefully prepared according 
 to his knowledge of what was agreeable and procur 
 able. From his sofa he watched the laying of the 
 table and wore through all the preparations the 
 pleased air of being happily busy about his own en 
 tertainment. These little festivals were always in 
 teresting, but this evening the conversation turned 
 naturally to the condition of the town, which Lady
 
 ROYAL CHARLIE 243 
 
 Fraser said was " seething like a pot ready to boil 
 over." 
 
 " Some blind impulse, some foolish, precarious 
 dream is leading the people out," said Lord Fraser. 
 " I know not what will come of it. There is a sense 
 of exultation everywhere ; men pass in and out of their 
 shops as if they were waiting and watching ; the better 
 class of women are at their windows; the lower class 
 are on the streets meddling, aggressive, riotous, both 
 in their mirth and their anger. It is possible, it is 
 likely, that the Prince is in Scotland even now." 
 
 " I think not," said Lady Fraser. " I was at Lady 
 Gordon's yesterday, and young MacDonald was still 
 there. If the Prince was on Scottish ground, he 
 would be paying court to him instead of adoring the 
 bewitching Sara MacArgall." 
 
 " They are a handsome couple," said Lord Fraser. 
 " The MacDonalds are all fine fellows ; this lad Hector 
 particularly so. He knows Charles Stuart as well as 
 anyone can was with him in the French failure of 
 last year, and afterward in Paris. I heard that he 
 went as far north as the Orkneys and Shetland, trying 
 to persuade those Norse sailors to come out for the 
 Stuarts. Some say he expects a thousand of them to 
 meet him at Thurso this month. I do not be 
 lieve it." 
 
 Thyra wished to speak ; she wished passionately to. 
 deny this report. She was on fire, her heart was beat 
 ing violently, she felt as if the room was whirling
 
 244 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 round with her at a pace she could not endure. Yet 
 she lifted her knitting, and was trying to count the 
 stitches as she heard Lady Fraser say : 
 
 " I heard that Sara MacArgall's wedding dress was 
 made, and that she would marry MacDonald in June ; 
 but if the Prince come sooner " 
 
 So far Thyra was painfully conscious of every word 
 uttered ; then it seemed to her as if there was a rift in 
 her heart, and her life blood dropping, dropping 
 through it. The floor was no longer there, her feet 
 were on the void she was going, she knew not where 
 all was darkness black darkness utter uncon 
 sciousness. 
 
 When she came to herself Lady Fraser and Donald 
 were at her bedside and the family physician holding 
 her hand. " Now you are all right," he said. " You 
 have been sitting up too late, and going out too little. 
 I told you before, you must have one, even two, hours 
 in the open air each day-" 
 
 " The room was hot," she answered ; " it was only a 
 moment's failure. I am quite well now." 
 
 " And you are not to worry yourself about Prince 
 Charles," he continued. " I have had to go to half a 
 dozen women to-day, all of them hysterical about the 
 political situation as if women had anything to 
 do with politics or were fit to have anything to do with 
 them. Let Prince Charles dree his own fate; don't 
 you worry about him." 
 
 " I care nothing about him ; I would not give one
 
 ROYAL CHARLIE 245 
 
 hair of Donald Fraser's head to settle the crown on 
 Charles Stuart's! Where is Donald?" 
 
 He crept close to her, and she kissed him and folded 
 him in her arms; then, gathering all her powers to 
 gether, she rose and went back with him and Lady 
 Fraser to the parlor. Lord Fraser was reading 
 there, and he laid aside his book and played a game of 
 chess with Donald, while Thyra knit a little and talked 
 to Lady Fraser about her spring dresses. Mac- 
 Donald and the Stuart were quite forgotten. No 
 one, however, had associated Thyra's lapse with the 
 young man ; no one but Donald ; and he was sure in his 
 prescient little soul that Hector MacDonald's name 
 was the cause of Thyra's illness. Accordingly he 
 took an intense dislike to him. Not reasonable, of 
 course, but it is the things beyond reason that we have 
 often the closest reckoning with. 
 
 As soon as the chessboard was put away, Donald 
 made Thyra come to his side ; and in doing so, he had 
 to lift the book his father had laid down. It was one 
 of Ben Jonson's plays, and he said with his pleasant 
 little laugh, " Father takes naturally to Scotch au 
 thors, even when they are not known as Scotsmen." 
 
 " Ben Jonson was an Englishman, Donald. You 
 ought to know that. A very Londoner, born some 
 where near Charing Cross, I think." 
 
 " I am knowing all that, father. A lot of our 
 great men, that ought by right to be Scotsmen, have 
 been born in England, ay, and in other countries, too,
 
 246 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 and have been called Englishmen, and even something 
 not so good. Ben's father was one of the Johnstones 
 of Annandale, and just because he went to London 
 poor Ben had to be born in England and called Eng 
 lish. I dare say he pined all his life for the bonnie 
 leas of Ecclefechan." 
 
 " That is special pleading, Donald." 
 
 " It is a good enough plea, if it list Ben Jonson 
 among Scotchmen, as it ought to do." 
 
 The little fellow seemed almost inspired that night ; 
 he recited, he argued, he quoted from this and that 
 writer, and without a shadow of unkindness pointed 
 out some remarkable similarities in their works. His 
 father listened and wondered and went away finally 
 very sad. He saw that the child was fulfilling a long 
 time in a short time and ripening rapidly for the 
 schools of heaven. 
 
 And Thyra also understood his brilliant spirits ; she 
 was sure he was exerting himself to keep the conversa 
 tion away from the Stuarts and the coming war. 
 Perhaps he thought she had interests in it no one knew 
 of ; at any rate, she divined the kindness of his efforts, 
 and when the evening was over, and he lay white and 
 weary, but always smiling, she said, " Now, Donald, 
 I will do all the talking there is to do. Thou art 
 very tired ; I know thou art." 
 
 " We will both of us be still," he answered, " and 
 let One speak that never said a wrong word. Open 
 the Book, Thyra see, it opens itself at the very
 
 ROYAL CHARLIE 247 
 
 place we need ' Let not your hearts be troubled ' 
 go on, dearie ; there is no sorrow those words will not 
 comfort." 
 
 Yet Thyra in the solitude of her room was not 
 comforted. For she did not bring the sorrow that lay 
 so heavy on her heart to the Comforter. She was 
 afraid to do so. Would Christ, indeed, care for the 
 grief of a girl forsaken? Would he not have just 
 cause to say, " The cup you have mingled you must 
 drink." Thus wronging the tender heart that would 
 have pitied and strengthened her, she had no help. 
 She could not tell Lady Fraser how cruelly Hector 
 had treated her, for if she did, it was most likely Lady 
 Fraser would feel it right to acquaint Sara Mac- 
 Argall or Lady Gordon with his treachery; and as 
 for Donald, she knew that he would feel so keenly with 
 her, and so keenly against Hector, that he would be 
 engrossed with the subject and all the pleasant, or 
 derly routine of his sinless days be interrupted. No, 
 unless it was a necessity, she would not trouble Donald 
 and there was no one else. 
 
 She was thankful now for the doctor's prescription 
 of an hour or two each day in the fresh air. It gave 
 her so long a breathing space ; for the shame and grief 
 of her desertion lay very heavy upon her heart. And 
 it was pleasant to see how anxious everyone was for 
 her health and happiness. For some time at least 
 Lady Fraser insisted on her driving, and very often 
 she went with her, and always as the carriage started
 
 248 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 she looked up and saw Donald leaning on his crutches 
 watching her away with smiles. 
 
 Thus life sped until the middle of July; then the 
 tension and excitement in the city became every day 
 more noticeable. Men, like war-horses, scented the 
 battle from afar. There were omens and portents 
 and prophecies in every mouth. None was so young, 
 or so indifferent, that he did not have a dream to tell ; 
 and the sense of unrest and change affected the most 
 orderly households. One warm afternoon, as Donald 
 lay at the open window and Thyra was reading to him, 
 a servant brought a message from Lady Fraser. 
 " Miss MacArgall was downstairs and if Donald was 
 agreeable she would like to pay him a visit." Donald 
 was delighted and sent an eager acceptance of the of 
 fer. Then Thyra laid down the book and, bending 
 over him, said, " Let me go away, Donald. I do not 
 want to see the lady I do not, indeed." 
 
 " Oh, no ! " he cried ; " you must not go ! My 
 dearie, stay with me ! I cannot do without you and 
 I want her to see you." 
 
 " I cannot stay I cannot." 
 
 " Yes, yes ; " and he threw his arms around her 
 neck, and ere she could win away from his embrace 
 Lady Fraser and Sara MacArgall were in the room. 
 Then there was no retreating, and she stood erect and 
 with calm dignity received the introduction that 
 was inevitable. It was impossible for Thyra not to 
 feel some interest in the woman who had interfered so
 
 ROYAL CHARLIE 249 
 
 vitally in her own destiny. Sara might be both ig 
 norant and innocent of the wrong committed, and yet, 
 there she sat, a beautiful Fate whom she could neither 
 blame nor defy. Against her will she looked at her, 
 listened to her, and acknowledged the charm of a per 
 sonality so different from her own. For Sara's fine 
 form, her glorious hair and splendid coloring were 
 all admirably set off by a gown of soft white muslin, 
 knots of blue ribbon here and there intensifying its air 
 of coolness and purity. Donald was charmed with her 
 presence. He begged one of the roses from her belt 
 and kissed it ; and then she kissed him for " the dear 
 est little knight in the world." And Thyra had in 
 that moment a distracting jealousy; this woman had 
 taken her lover, would she also take her only friend? 
 She felt truly as if she hated her. 
 
 Presently Lady Fraser said, " I heard that Major 
 MacDonald had left Edinburgh again. How do you 
 get through the days without him ? " 
 
 " Very badly, I assure you," answered Sara ; " but 
 I think my aunt Gordon misses him most. Yet the 
 servants miss him, the house misses him, every moment 
 of the day misses him; it is not likely I should be an 
 exception. My brother Revan has also gone they 
 have both gone northward! " She said the last word 
 in a joyous tone, as if it contained unlimited possibil 
 ities of happiness. 
 
 " And when will they return? And shall I be bid 
 to the bridal when they return ? "
 
 250 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " Who knows ? " she asked. " The answer to both 
 questions is in the hands of Good Fortune." She did 
 not appear inclined to continue the conversation, and 
 after some desultory remarks on various feminine top 
 ics in which she was careful to include Thyra she 
 bade Donald a good-by and left the room. Lady 
 Fraser went out with her, and when they reached the 
 hall Sara delayed her departure to ask: 
 
 " Who is that beautiful girl? " 
 
 " She is a kind of ward of my brother's. He 
 sent her to me. Donald and she are insepara 
 bles." 
 
 " You have never taken her into society yet? " 
 
 " She has very amiable scruples ; her father is in 
 India, and on the high seas, and while he is in very 
 constant danger she will not dance or make merry. I 
 think she shows a very proper feeling, and she adores 
 Donald; he is sufficient for her." 
 
 " The boy is captivating. Who would not be 
 satisfied with him ? Yet she looks to me as if she had 
 a secret sorrow perhaps some love affair." 
 
 " I think not. She has never had a letter since she 
 came here. No one has called on her. She is not 
 a love-lorn maid, I think." 
 
 " Where does she come from? She is a paragon of 
 beauty." 
 
 " From the Orkney Islands." 
 
 A queer, startling sensation, nebulous and fleeting, 
 passed through Sara. It flitted between Thyra and
 
 ROYAL CHARLIE 251 
 
 Hector, but took no direct form, and she did not 
 give it a moment's encouragement. On the contrary, 
 Thyra was only too conscious of the very form 
 and reality of her suffering. This queenly, radiant 
 creature clothed in white; this smiling, hopeful wo 
 man, whose very atmosphere was that of a class 
 Thyra recognized as far above her experiences, how 
 could she ever hope to rival her? She hated her; 
 and she could not help it. It was useless to reason 
 with herself, useless to make excuses for Sara. Sara 
 might not be aware of her claim upon Hector, but if 
 she was, Thyra was certain she would regard it only 
 from the lofty standpoint of her own position. She 
 would wonder that a mere sailor's daughter should have 
 deluded herself with hopes so far above her. She 
 might pity her, but her pity would be a kind of scorn. 
 Thyra's whole nature was insurgent, and the revolt 
 was stimulated and made more painful by Donald's 
 praises of Sara. She burst into tears at last and was 
 glad to throw the whole blame of her misery on 
 Donald. 
 
 " I cannot bear thy talk, Donald," she said, when he 
 asked, " What was she greeting so sairly for ? " 
 
 " I cannot bear thy talk, and if thou think so 
 much of Miss MacArgall, she had better come here in 
 my place." 
 
 4t Now, Thyra, that is jealousy. It is the height of 
 folly to be jealous." 
 
 ** Yes, I am jealous; she has kinfolk and lovers and
 
 252 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 friends. I have only thee, and thou art putting her 
 before me." 
 
 " Tuts ! tuts ! " he said as if he was angry, but the 
 little fellow was secretly delighted. " I must tell my 
 father," he said with a little kink of laughter, " here 
 are two of the bonniest women in Scotland jealous for 
 my love. It is fair bewildering. But don't cry, 
 Thyra ; I love none so well as you, though it was easy 
 seen Sara MacArgall was much taken with me. But 
 I would snap my fingers at her rather than give you 
 a moment's fret. My own dear princess, come and 
 kiss me. There is none like you." And he was glad 
 to feel her tears upon his cheek, for love is often, for 
 very excess, cruel, and tears of the beloved are a proof 
 of affection it sees, as well as feels. 
 
 However, it is good to love, and to be loved ! It is 
 the purest well of happiness given us, yet how sure we 
 are to trouble its crystal waters with our jealousy, or 
 doubt, or selfishness. 
 
 It was some time before Sara called on Lady Fraser 
 again, and when she did so Donald was not included in 
 the visit. The little fellow was quite ill-tempered 
 over the omission. " She is that taken up with 
 Hector MacDonald and Prince Charles, she hasn't a 
 thought for me," he said ; " and I have no doubt 
 Hector is a long, red, bony Highlandman, spluttering 
 Gaelic, and ugly enough to frighten the English into 
 running away at the sight o' him." He caught the 
 denial in Thyra's face; it blazed from her eyes and
 
 ROYAL CHARLIE 253 
 
 cheeks, and he could almost see the words quivering on 
 her lips. But she did not utter them, and Donald 
 would not notice her emotion. "As for Prince 
 Charles," he continued, " every woman in Edinburgh 
 has lost her senses about him. It is preposterous ! 
 He does not know them, and he does not want to 
 know them ; yet they are all clean daft for the lad they 
 never saw ! " 
 
 The summer, full of unrest, of rumors, passed on, 
 and everyone had grown weary of looking for the 
 man desired or undesired who did not come. One 
 night at the end of July, when the long twilight was 
 merging into darkness, Sara and Lady Gordon were 
 sitting at the open windows, watching. When ten 
 o'clock struck, Lady Gordon closed her windows, and 
 said, " We may as well try and sleep now, Sara. The 
 day is over." The words were hardly uttered when 
 the door was hastily opened, and a young High 
 lander, advancing, fell on one knee before Sara and 
 gave her a letter. He then rose, bowed to Lady Gor 
 don, and said: 
 
 " The Prince has come ! He sends you greet- 
 ing." 
 
 She stood up to receive the message, and then Sara 
 joined in the rejoicing, and the household was called 
 together, and food and wine brought for the bringer 
 of glad tidings. He was Colin MacDonald, a cousin 
 of Hector's, and he had traveled night and day with 
 the news. It was already spreading through the city
 
 254 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 like wildfire and turning all the streets into a carnival 
 of the maddest enthusiasm. 
 
 " When did the Prince arrive? " asked Lady 
 Gordon. 
 
 " On the 23d of July. It was his fate to land at 
 Eriska. It was wet and stormy, and he went to the 
 house of Angus MacDonald and sent messengers to 
 all the chiefs, trysting them to meet him at Glenfinnan 
 on the 19th of August. They will see who can be 
 first there. Yes, indeed ! " 
 
 Sara was of the same opinion; Lady Gordon held 
 her peace. She doubted whether the chiefs " out " 
 for this young man's father would go out again. 
 Thirty years of peace, progress, and prosperity under 
 the House of Brunswick were to be put against the 
 mere promises of a Stuart. And what was the prom 
 ise of a Stuart worth? However, she would not voice 
 the one discordant note in the joyful acclaim. Still, 
 Sara felt her dissent, and the next day she could not 
 be satisfied until she had carried the news to Lady 
 Fraser; she wanted this triumph, and she took it. 
 Lady Fraser made light of the whole matter. She 
 said, " The fishwives and the servant lasses had been 
 skirling the news up and down Edinburgh all night 
 long men and women both, raving and roaring for 
 * Charlie,' as if it made any difference to them whether 
 Charlie or Georgie sat in the king's chair ! " 
 
 " Of course it makes a difference," said Sara. 
 " The poorest man and woman in the land wants a
 
 ROYAL CHARLIE 255 
 
 Scotch king to reign in Scotland, and, pray, who but 
 a Stuart? " 
 
 " Poor, misguided lad ! " said Lady Fraser. " How 
 ever, God save the King ! no matter who the king be. 
 There is only one point I would stand stiff about I 
 would fight, I would die, ere I would say a word for a 
 king who was a Papist. That is my principle, and fire 
 could not burn it out of me." 
 
 " You might as well say you are for King George." 
 
 " I am for a Protestant king. If Charles is Prot 
 estant, he will do as well as George provided he obeys 
 the laws and behaves himself." 
 
 Then Sara went off a little offended, and Lady 
 Fraser went to Donald's room, where she hoped to 
 find her lord. He was there, talking to Donald and 
 with the help of a map showing his son the locality 
 which each clan inhabited and telling him which were 
 presumably loyal, and which were known to be ready 
 to rise for the Stuarts. 
 
 Lady Fraser came in with a little swagger of 
 pleasurable offense. " I have some late information," 
 she said; " Sara MacArgall has just been here, and 
 she asserts the Prince landed a week ago, and that 
 MacDonald of Sleat and the Laird of McLeod have 
 each raised more than a thousand men for him." 
 
 " I can better that information, Cecilia," answered 
 Lord Fraser. " MacDonald of Sleat will not lift a 
 finger for Prince Charles, nor suffer his clan to do so. 
 As for McLeod, it was he who sent the Lord President
 
 256 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 word of the Prince's landing, at the same time answer 
 ing him that neither himself nor Clanranald would 
 give the least assistance. MacDonald of Brisdale 
 went to see him, but only to urge the folly of the 
 undertaking and beg the Prince to return to Italy." 
 
 " Well, the rebellion has begun, and the Jacobites 
 are very confident. Sara says she will not marry 
 Hector MacDonald until he enters Edinburgh with the 
 victorious Prince, and she bade me get my gown 
 ready, as I would need it in less than a month. 
 Hector wrote her that the Prince had promised to 
 dance at her wedding, and she assures me that he is an 
 extremely handsome man." 
 
 " I talked with a friend this morning who saw him 
 land. He was disguised as an English clergyman in 
 a plain black coat, not very clean linen, a round wig, 
 black stockings, and brass buckles on his shoes. Not 
 a picturesque figure, certainly but he will, doubtless, 
 assume the tartan now." 
 
 " Sara said a great eagle hovered o'er his head as 
 he landed, and it was taken as a good omen." 
 
 " I do not know why. The eagle has nothing to do 
 with either Scotland or England and it is a bird of 
 prey. Did she say what force this Prince brought 
 with him?" 
 
 " I asked the question, but she did not answer it." 
 
 " I can tell you ; there were seven persons with him, 
 the only one of any consideration being Tullibardine, 
 the attainted Duke of Athol. The other six were
 
 ROYAL CHARLIE 257 
 
 Irish adventurers. He had also a few guns and 
 broadswords, and four thousand louis-d'or." 
 
 Nevertheless, out of seven such scanty resources the 
 rebellion had really begun. Every day brought ru 
 mors of fresh accessions to Charles' army, for in thus 
 throwing himself upon the love and loyalty of the 
 Highland clans, expecting all, and taking all, from 
 them, he succeeded in raising a far more intense devo 
 tion than if he had landed at the head of a French 
 army. A brave people, they threw prudence aside 
 in personal admiration for his daring confidence in 
 them. On the 19th of August he went to Glenfin- 
 nan to meet the clans summoned there on that day. 
 The valley wore its usual desolate aspect ; no one was 
 to be seen but a few ragged children, who gazed won- 
 deringly at the mysterious strangers. After some 
 wretched hours of anxious waiting a bagpipe was 
 heard, and the Camerons, eight hundred strong, ap 
 peared upon the line of the horizon. Before dark 
 the number assembled amounted to fifteen hundred 
 men, and in their midst Tullibardine raised a banner 
 of red silk with a white center. A storm of pipe 
 music, a cloud of shimmering bonnets, and a long, en 
 thusiastic shout greeted this standard of their hopes 
 and desires. 
 
 The Government was ill prepared for this insur 
 rection. King George was in Germany, and there 
 were only fourteen hundred available troops in Scot 
 land. These were immediately put under the com-
 
 258 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 mand of Sir John Cope, with orders to attack the 
 rebels before they could reach the Lowlands. He ex 
 pected to receive important additions and aid from the 
 clans loyal to the Government as he marched north 
 ward ; but no such support was forthcoming, and fear 
 ing with his small army to enter the mountain passes 
 or fight Highlanders with their feet on the heather, he 
 turned aside to Inverness, leaving the whole Lowlands 
 open to the Prince. 
 
 Very sagaciously the rebels left Cope behind them 
 and marched southward ; their force being augmented, 
 as they went, by Chiny MacPherson and other allies, 
 and on the 4th of September they entered Perth. 
 Here the Prince assumed the air of royalty, but with 
 a genial condescension and a brave manner that was 
 a striking contrast to the arid reserve, sluggish tem 
 per, and cowardly spirit exhibited by his father on the 
 same spot thirty years previously. He liked to display 
 his agreeable person in the Highland costume, richly 
 decorated with gold lace ; and to surround himself with 
 a large body-guard of his parti-colored, picturesque 
 mountaineers. At Perth he was joined by Drum- 
 mond, and by Lord George Murray, the latter the 
 ablest leader in the expedition. 
 
 Charles remained at Perth until the llth of Sep 
 tember and then marched southward. There was 
 nothing to deter him; Cope had left the whole way 
 open to Edinburgh, and in that city there was nothing 
 in readiness to meet an enemy except the Castle. The
 
 ROYAL CHARLIE 259 
 
 provost was secretly in favor of the Stuarts, and the 
 city distracted and uncertain. Nothing could be de 
 termined, and when on Sunday, the 15th, the High 
 land army was near the gates, everything was in 
 confusion. The citizens were called together for con 
 sultation, but amid an indescribable confusion of 
 tongues one word was insistent and predominant the 
 cry, " Surrender ! " 
 
 It was known that Cope was close behind the rebels, 
 and two deputations went to the Prince to beg a little 
 delay ; but they could not obtain a hearing, and they 
 returned to Edinburgh before daybreak on the morn 
 ing of the 17th of September. The Canongate was 
 open to allow their carriages to pass, and a party 
 of Highlanders rushed in with them. They relieved 
 the guards, opened the other gates, and the capital of 
 Scotland was in the hands of Charles Stuart and his 
 followers. 
 
 Edinburgh had not surrendered to a conqueror, but 
 to the ideal of its own passionate imagination. It 
 wanted the ancient kingdom of Scotland restored, and 
 a king of its own royal line on the throne. Prince 
 Charles was the embodiment of this desire, and he was, 
 therefore, the god of their idolatry; and at noon 
 that day they received him with tumultuous rejoicing. 
 His appearance seemed to deserve all their mad enthu 
 siasm. His fine form was magnificently arrayed in the 
 royal Stuart tartan ^gleaming with gold lace and jewels. 
 He rode a splendid white horse and was surrounded
 
 260 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 by a nobly picturesque body-guard of Highland chiefs. 
 In his hand he carried his plumed bonnet, sometimes 
 lifting it aloft to answer the shouts of " Welcome, 
 royal Charlie ! " sometimes bending low to the adula 
 tion of lovely women beaming on him from every 
 window. 
 
 The royal youth had no wish to lose a word of the 
 adulation of the populace. He drank it greedily, 
 and answered the outspoken blessings with smiles that 
 intoxicated such untamed natures. The whole city 
 was in a frenzy, and when the Prince alighted at 
 Holyrood and stepped proudly within the ancient 
 palace of the Stuarts, the shouts of the people rever 
 berated through the city and found out the Eng 
 lish soldiers keeping grim hold in the Castle above 
 them. 
 
 The next day Lady Fraser received an invitation 
 to Sara's wedding. She came into Donald's parlor 
 with the letter in her hand, declaring, she knew not 
 how to accept, or refuse. " You see, Donald," she 
 continued, " though the ceremony is to be in St. 
 Giles' Kirk, the wedding feast is to be given by 
 Prince Charles at Holyrood. I should like to go, 
 but " 
 
 " My father would not like it," said Donald. 
 
 " I would better stay at home. Lady Maclvan 
 is sure to be there ; she will tell me everything." 
 
 Then Thyra said : " I should like to see the young 
 lady married. I should like it very much. 5 *
 
 ROYAL CHARLIE 261 
 
 " Then you shall see the sight, dearie ! " answered 
 Donald. " Mother, how can you manage it? " 
 
 " Thyra can go as my representative. The Fraser 
 liveries will pass her readily. Shall it be so, Thyra? " 
 
 So the next morning Thyra appeared beautifully 
 gowned in pale-blue silk, and Lady Fraser hung 
 around her neck a chain of pearls and added some 
 last feminine touches of lace and ribbon and perfume 
 to her attire. She was then driven in all possible 
 state to the kirk and placed in the seat reserved for 
 Lady Fraser. It abutted on the main aisle, and she 
 understood that Hector must pass her so closely that 
 she would be able to lay her hand upon him. Mean 
 while there was a constant assembling of guests, who 
 talked of the Prince and the bride and bridegroom 
 with a freedom that revealed many painful events to 
 Thyra. 
 
 She sat in a sorrowful trance, realizing fully that 
 she was going to take a final farewell of the man she 
 yet loved very dearly. After this hour it would be 
 a mortal sin to let him enter her imagination. She 
 longed then to see him, though but for a moment, ere 
 he was the husband of Sara MacArgall. 
 
 When the bride and bridegroom entered she rose 
 with the crowd, and Sara passed her so closely that 
 their garments might have mingled but for the pew 
 door. She was radiantly beautiful and radiantly hap 
 py, triumphant love and joy were in her carriage, and 
 in her large blue eyes, and in her confident smile. Her
 
 262 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 gown of white satin, threaded with purest silver, glit 
 tered in the sunshine; her glorious hair fell unbound 
 except by a sword of large pearls, and she looked like 
 a queen among women as she advanced leaning upon 
 the arm of her grandfather. 
 
 As one may gaze upon the Beloved One dying, so 
 Thyra looked at her faithless lover. A moment or 
 two she might do so, then it would all be over. She 
 must forget him ! Forget him forever ! A blind, pain 
 ful terror assailed her at the thought. How could she 
 do so ? With the same lovelit face he had once met her. 
 She knew all his charming ways ; she could tell the very 
 words of endearment that were trembling on his lips. 
 All the ecstacy and sorrow of love strove in her heart, 
 and those dear, dead hours called softly to her. Over 
 the thrilling pallor of her cheeks a tear rolled unbid 
 den. It shamed her and caused an instant repression 
 of all visible feeling. Why should she weep now? 
 It was all too late. Tears would never teach 
 
 " the grass to grow 
 On the trampled meadows of long ago." 
 
 A sudden burst of joyful song, quick movements, 
 rustling silks, and glad exclamations roused her from 
 her trance of grief. She stood up in all her exquisite 
 loveliness and watched the happy couple as they came 
 slowly down the aisle together. It was a few moments 
 of great stress and suffering, for as Hector ap 
 proached she felt that he saw her. His eyes were 
 upon her, and they compelled her to lift her own.
 
 ROYAL CHARLIE 263 
 
 Just for a moment they gazed at each other, but in 
 that moment Hector saw Thyra's grief and despair, 
 and Thyra saw on Hector's face, what? a great 
 wonder and perhaps some annoyance. He made not 
 the slightest sign of recognition, but, stooping to his 
 bride, said something in a whisper, at which she 
 raised her fair face and answered him with a smile full 
 of Love's own blessedness. 
 
 After all, she was glad she had come to see the 
 consummation of Hector's treachery. There was no 
 longer hope or doubt to torture her. Her love, her 
 still poignant memories, she cast them all into that 
 fine edge of fiery suffering, where the elements of our 
 moral nature refine themselves to the burning point; 
 and even before she reached home she had tasted the 
 austere sweetness of such sacrifice. She remembered 
 Donald; she would have to smile and tell him and 
 Lady Fraser all she had seen. She must do it cheer 
 fully, too, for they had sent her with such loving 
 good-will. And in this resolute conquest of self she 
 found her strength and discovered that the surest way 
 to happiness is to live for others. 
 
 Public events soon, however, put Sara MacArgall's 
 wedding out of mind. In three days Cope was near 
 Edinburgh, and Prince Charles went out to meet him. 
 All business was in suspense; people scarcely ate or 
 slept; the coming battle was the sink or swim of the 
 Jacobite cause. Before dawn the Highlanders sur 
 prised, and rushed on the astonished English lines,
 
 264 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 cutting at the noses of their horses in order to throw 
 the cavalry into confusion. This onset was followed 
 by a slaughter which has few parallels in modern war 
 fare. The next day Charles returned to Edinburgh 
 with his victorious army, and the intoxicating scenes 
 of welcome that had marked his entrance into 'the city 
 were more than renewed. Such Jacobites as had been 
 prudent hitherto became mad with exultation, and all 
 doubtful people became Jacobites. Nothing was 
 talked of but divine rights and high-sounding vic 
 tories; and Charles assumed all the pomp and eti 
 quette of royalty at Holyrood. He was the idol of 
 the ladies, he gave feasts and balls and riding and 
 hunting parties ; he made " proclamations " and 
 touched for the " King's evil " ; he did all things that 
 befitted his heroically romantic position and kingly de 
 scent. And from the 22d of September until the 
 31st of October the grand old city dreamed a dream 
 of wonderful splendor, and of all kinds of high em 
 prise. 
 
 And yet as the weeks went on, a sense of fear and 
 anxiety assailed the pathetic little court at Holyrood ; 
 the Jacobite ladies had presentiments of their passing 
 glory, and the faded captains of the wild little army 
 knew well, that however slow the English Government 
 might be in moving, the hour of reprisal was sure to 
 come. An anxious unrest pervaded all ranks; doubt 
 and fear chilled enthusiasm; there was a daily dis 
 enchantment at work. Only Prince Charles showed
 
 ROYAL CHARLIE 265 
 
 the same cheerful indifference. For he believed himself 
 to be flying on the wings of his destiny to his ap 
 pointed throne; and one day, to the utter amazement 
 and perplexity of his Council and captains, he smil 
 ingly announced his intention of marching on Lon 
 don forthwith, in order to take possession of the Eng 
 lish Crown.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 All is Well with the Child 
 
 THE determination of Charles to invade Eng 
 land was the first step toward his downfall. 
 The English Jacobites had shown no dispo 
 sition to join him, but the Prince was sure he had only 
 to show himself over the Border, to rouse a great 
 movement in his favor. Hector MacDonald relying 
 on his intimate friendship endeavored to persuade 
 Charles to abandon his design. " The Highland 
 clans do not wish to go to England," he said. " They 
 have taken up arms to seat a Stuart on the throne of 
 Scotland, and they are ready to fight in order to keep 
 him there ; but they are unwilling to invade England." 
 There was, however, no reasoning with the Fate bent 
 on ruining the Stuart cause. In the face of all op 
 position Charles began his march southward, on the 
 31st day of October, with about six thousand men. 
 
 On the 18th of November, Carlisle, being quite 
 defenseless, fell into his hands; and he entered the 
 city in triumph, riding on a white horse with a 
 hundred pipers playing before him. This was the 
 last favor Fortune was to give him. Though he 
 passed through Cumberland, Westmoreland, and 
 
 266
 
 ALL IS WELL 267 
 
 Lancashire, the strongholds of English Jacobitism, 
 few accessions were gained; while every night some 
 of the Highlanders deserted and stealthily took the 
 nearest way back to their own mountains. Mean 
 while the English Government had at last divined the 
 real gravity of the situation. It was sending an army 
 under General Wade to meet Charles, and a still 
 larger force under the Duke of Cumberland was fol 
 lowing. London was in readiness to receive the rebels ; 
 volunteers were mustering everywhere; and a vigilant 
 fleet was in the Channel, ready to intercept any help 
 coming to Charles from France. 
 
 All these things were less discouraging than the 
 cold indifference with which the Jacobite army was 
 allowed to march to the very center of England. It 
 was eloquent of doom to the Stuart cause ; and when 
 they reached Derby there was a steady determination 
 among the men to turn back. It was, in fact, flight 
 or annihilation. Lord George Murray and Hector 
 MacDonald pointed this out to the Prince. He was 
 angry and then sulky, but, finding the retreat inevi 
 table, turned northward with moody displeasure. For, 
 though of a more pleasant temper than his morose 
 father, he was as completely possessed with the " di 
 vinity " of his position ; he considered his cause so 
 sacred that some miraculous success must ever attend 
 it; and against this idea the value of a good gen 
 eral was as nothing. Lord George Murray at this 
 crisis told him plainly that " divine rights were now
 
 268 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 antiquated," and when Charles turned for support 
 to Hector, that young man not unmindful of many 
 small snubs and impertinences added, " Prince, it is 
 so. Even the Highlanders have forgotten such high 
 pretensions." 
 
 " So you also are a traitor ! " Charles said angrily, 
 and Hector answered : 
 
 " I have gone too far, Prince, to deserve that 
 name." 
 
 After this conversation, however, Charles scarcely 
 noticed Hector, and when they reached Carlisle he 
 gave orders that Major MacDonald with fifty of his 
 clan should be left there to support the Lancashire 
 regiment under Major Townley. The fate of these 
 men was so certain that the Duke of Perth refused 
 to allow a man of his clan to join them, and Lord 
 George Murray entreated that the defenses of the 
 castle be blown up, in place of such certain sacrifice 
 of brave men. The prince was, however, determined 
 on this thing, and the callous obduracy with which 
 he left this unhappy garrison to the first vengeance 
 of English military slaughter, or to the horrible civil 
 punishment of traitors, is an odious example of that 
 egotistic fanaticism which made him regard the suf 
 ferings of the thousands of worthy men who died for 
 his house " mere incidents in their line of duty which 
 it was not fitting he should either prevent or regret." 
 
 So Hector was left at Carlisle with the doomed gar 
 rison, and Charles fled as quickly as possible to the
 
 ALL IS WELL 269 
 
 covert of the Highland line, making his headquarters 
 at Inverness, which they reached on the 18th of 
 February. The Duke of Cumberland was at Aber 
 deen. He was in no hurry to follow Charles into the 
 snowbound passages of the mountains, for he knew 
 that time would work destruction for him. The 
 Highland army was without money and without food, 
 and on the 8th of April, when the English troops 
 moved forward to attack them, they were in wretched 
 condition. 
 
 This conflict, delayed for three months, was known 
 to be inevitable, and the heart of Edinburgh was full 
 of fear and sorrow. Gloom and foreboding were 
 everywhere. Holyrood all its lights and music dead 
 and silent wore its old aspect of haunting misfor 
 tune. The citizens were silent, and anxious, even the 
 cries of the fishwives had a mournful monotony, and 
 the white cockade and the white rose had vanished 
 from every breast. 
 
 Sara MacDonald was in deep distress. Her grand 
 father and her brother were with the little army at 
 Inverness, and her husband in the dungeons of Car 
 lisle Castle. All her efforts to obtain some enlarge 
 ment for him had failed, though she had thrown her 
 self at the feet of General Hawley to entreat it. And 
 even this brutal soldier had pointed out with rude 
 mirth the foolish cruelty of Charles Stuart in leaving 
 nearly four hundred men to defend absolutely unten 
 able works. " It was a devilish piece of business," he
 
 270 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 said ; " why did he not blow up the works ? " And 
 into Sara's heart there came a conviction of some 
 private dislike as the motive. She had feared, she had 
 even warned Hector of, a familiarity which might end 
 in hatred; and she understood Charles' spite against 
 the lukewarm English Jacobites in leaving them, with 
 a contingent of the clan who had offended him, to 
 merciless slaughter or brutal execution. 
 
 Early in April she came one afternoon to see Lady 
 Fraser. She looked like a woman dogged by calam 
 ity, who hears the inexorable footsteps behind her. 
 " I have had a terrible vision," she said. Her wet 
 feet were on the fender, her damp garments clung 
 around her form, as she leaned toward the blazing fire. 
 " It is over with the Stuarts, and with others far 
 nearer and dearer. What fools we Highlanders have 
 been ! and for one so unworthy." Then she burst 
 into passionate weeping. Donald looked at her with 
 pity; Lady Fraser gave her some mulled wine, and 
 kissed her white, wet face; and Thyra raised her 
 glance from her sewing, and instantly put herself in 
 Sara's place. After all, she had had but a short joy 
 with Hector, and here, on its heels, was such bitter sor 
 row. She was so busy following out this train of 
 thought that Sara's mournful whispering voice was 
 scarcely within her consciousness. Yet the unhappy 
 woman spoke with a weird distinctness and power. " I 
 was at MacArgall last night," she said. " And as I 
 looked over the strath a gigantic warrior appeared
 
 THE STRATH WAS FUI.I, OF SHADOWY MEN.
 
 ALL IS WELL 271 
 
 at the opening of the pass. He stood on the highest 
 peak of the mountain, and waved his hands to the east, 
 and the west, the north, and the south, and as he 
 did so, cried in a voice that filled all space : ' Birds of 
 Prey! Birds of Prey! Come hither! ' and immedi 
 ately the heavens and the earth were darkened by their 
 black, shadowing wings. Then I heard him call 
 ' Murdo, Maximus, Chief of Clan Argall '; and my 
 grandfather answered him from afar off. Afterward 
 he called my brother Revan, and many others, till the 
 whole strath was full of shadowy men, and I knew 
 that they were dead men, and that grandfather and 
 Revan were among them. We shall soon have a great 
 battle, and we shall know that all is lost." 
 
 She spoke with such an air of conviction that Lady 
 Fraser never attempted to deny her statement. All 
 she could do was to try to comfort her, but the only 
 comfort she could have given was to promise Lord 
 Eraser's intercession for Hector, and that she could 
 not do. Lord Eraser's commands on this subject were 
 stringent and positive; and with considerable anger 
 he had forbidden any information of this kind. In 
 deed, it was impossible for him to take a different 
 stand; his friends and acquaintances involved in the 
 rebellion were so numerous that such interference 
 would have entailed him an amount of labor verging 
 on the impossible. There were also phases of suffer 
 ing, annoyance, and, perhaps, of personal injury of 
 which he could make no calculation, and so he had
 
 272 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 commanded that no petitioners for mercy were to be 
 brought to his notice. 
 
 Understanding this attitude, Sara made no request. 
 She said she had only come to give some way to grief 
 and fear nearly killing her. Lady Gordon was ill 
 with sorrow, and every Jacobite woman she knew had 
 her own cup of mingled indignations and griefs to 
 drink. If Lady Fraser would only let her weep a 
 little in her company, and say a pitying word to her. 
 And this much Lady Fraser was glad to do. She 
 cheered and encouraged the forlorn woman fearfully 
 looking forward to evil as best she could, and after 
 she had sent her away a little comforted, went back 
 to Donald to talk the matter over with him. 
 
 The lad was quiet, and seemed to take but little 
 interest in it. " Of course, there must be a dreadful 
 battle," he said. " That was a strange dream," he 
 added ; " did you notice Sara's face as she told it to 
 you? It was not like a living woman's face. I 
 thought she was going to die. I wonder if that great 
 gray wraith she saw was the ' fetch ' of some dead 
 Stuart? Perhaps it was the evil genius of the family 
 they must have an evil genius. Who else could 
 have sent Prince Charles that weary, useless tramp 
 into England? Who else could have made him do 
 that cruel thing at Carlisle? How can men fight for 
 him after it? My father told me the Duke of Perth 
 refused straight out to leave any of his clan for cer 
 tain slaughter; others did the same, yet Charles
 
 ALL IS WELL 273 
 
 ordered poor Hector MacDonald to stay! And he 
 pretended to be Hector's friend! Pah! the man is 
 dreadful! I don't want to talk any more of the 
 Stuarts." 
 
 In fact, Donald had been watching Thyra's face 
 more than Sara's, and he was much interested in what 
 it revealed. He was sure she was suffering but why? 
 This was the question puzzling his tender, childish 
 heart. For he loved Thyra dearly, and he could not 
 bear to think of her in any kind of trouble. A week 
 after this visit, Lord Fraser came into Donald's room 
 one night, and his face was so eloquent, and his whole 
 bearing so decisive, that Donald cried out eagerly, 
 " What is it, father? What has happened? " 
 
 " Everything has happened, Donald. Prince 
 Charles is flying; the whole Jacobite army is in rout, 
 or cut to pieces." 
 
 " When, father? Where? How?" 
 
 "On the 16th; on the moor of Culloden; near 
 noon, during a great storm of hail and sleet. The 
 terrible onslaught of the Highlanders though they 
 were starving men carried them through the first 
 line of the English army, but the volley of the second 
 line so disordered them that they broke and fled. 
 Poor fellows ! there was trouble among themselves as 
 well! The MacDonalds, to whom Robert Bruce had 
 given as a perpetual honor the right hand in battle, 
 had been placed on the left hand, and in consequence 
 they refused to fight. Their chief fell trying to lead
 
 274 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 them on, sobbing out with his last breath, ' My God ! 
 Have the children of my tribe forsaken me ! ' : 
 
 There was a sharp cry from Thyra at these words, 
 and Lord Fraser and Donald looked at her. She had 
 risen to her feet, and was white as the cambric in her 
 hand. " It was so terrible ! " she said, " I could not 
 help it." 
 
 "You are ill." 
 
 " No, no ! I am so sorry for the Chief ; that is all." 
 
 " Then go on, father." 
 
 " Lord Elcho saw the left wing was still unrouted, 
 and he begged the Prince to lead it in person. He 
 would not, and Lord Elcho called him an ' Italian 
 Scoundrel,' and some worse name; and the slaughter 
 became so frightful, for the army of the Prince was 
 flying in every direction over that desolate, flat moor, 
 and was mercilessly hunted by the English dragoons. 
 In a few dreadful minutes all was over; and this 
 Stuart contest for the crown, which had lasted for 
 fifty-seven years, was finally ended on Culloden Moor 
 in less than fifty-seven minutes." 
 
 " And what of Prince Charles? " 
 
 " He fled. I hope he may reach France. He will 
 give us no more trouble, and I do not wish his death." 
 
 " But, oh, what of the good men he left in Carlisle ? 
 And the good men who have died in battle for him? 
 Indeed, I hope the English will get him. Let him, 
 first of all, die the death of a traitor. He deserves 
 it ! " said Thyra,
 
 ALL IS WELL 275 
 
 She seemed much moved, and Donald noticed that 
 she went often to the window. He knew she had gone 
 there to hide her face; there was nothing for her to 
 see in the dark, wet street. What personal interest 
 had she in the matter? He was troubled, and suspi 
 cious, and he knew not why. About midnight he 
 awakened, and, in the stillness of the house, a sound 
 he instantly recognized became painfully clear to him. 
 Thyra was in distress. He heard her soft footfalls 
 upon the carpet as she paced her room ; he heard the 
 strangled sobs which she tried to bury in her pillow. 
 He bore these evidences of her grief as long as he 
 could; then he reached for his crutches, and went to 
 her door. As he turned the handle she heard the noise, 
 and raised herself ; looking with white, piteous face at 
 the little white-robed figure leaning on his crutches, 
 and looking at her with a yearning love she could not 
 withstand. 
 
 " Oh, Donald ! My wee Donald, what art thou 
 doing here ? " she cried. " On thy bare feet, too ! Go 
 back to thy bed ; I will come to thee in a minute." 
 
 " Come, dearie ! I want you ! I want you sairly." 
 
 And when she came, he said, " Sit down by me, 
 Thyra. For a long time Donald has seen you have 
 been in trouble, and you have never told him. Now 
 he must know. He will not sleep, and he will not eat, 
 till you tell him all. Kiss me, dearie! Tell me 
 tell Donald all about it." 
 
 Then Thyra told him everything. She described
 
 276 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 her father and her father's house; and Robert Thor- 
 son, whom, she said, she had intended to marry until 
 Hector came. And little by little the whole story was 
 revealed, even to the broken wedding, and the burn 
 ing of her bridal dress, and her flight from the 
 Indian Queen. Donald was powerfully impressed. 
 He had often read such tragic stories, but here was 
 the heroine of one sitting by his side, holding his hand 
 and bending her lovely face to his pitying embrace. 
 Till the clock struck four they sat together, going 
 into many sides of the matter ; Thyra opening all her 
 heart to the loving child, who listened with pity and 
 wonder, and asked questions without end. 
 
 During this midnight revelation, Donald learned all 
 about Thyra's childhood all about the brave seaman, 
 her father; the voyages he had taken, the wonders 
 he had seen, the fights he had won. He could see the 
 great room in her home full of stuffed birds, and 
 mervelous shells, and carved ivories, and curious boxes 
 and porcelain; and above all the full-rigged ship 
 which stood in its glass case on the fine Indian lac 
 quered stand. For a moment or two he was in an 
 enthusiasm of joy, when Thyra said: 
 
 " Thou shalt go with me when the summer comes, 
 and I will show thee these things, and thou shalt live 
 in my father's house till the end of August, and then 
 I will bring thee home again. The journey will not 
 be hard in one of thy uncle's vessels, and when we are 
 in Orkney, Robert Thorson could carry thee like a
 
 ALL IS WELL 277 
 
 pillow, and he would take thee in his boat to see the 
 fishing, and the seals, and it might be to a whale 
 hunt " 
 
 " Oh, dearie, dearie ! " he answered in a sobbing 
 voice, " can you not see that I am wearing away so 
 quick that I'll not be here in the summer. You will 
 go to Kirkwall without your wee Donald. He will 
 be far away, but he will be thinking of you. Oh, 
 dearie ! I am going a long, long journey I wish you 
 could go with me ! " 
 
 " I wish I could ! I wish I could, Donald ! " and 
 she kissed him, and they were silent a little while, but 
 only to renew the conversation in another phase. 
 After the clock struck four, they slept a little, but 
 both were awake early, and Donald opened his eyes 
 with a surge of anger against Hector MacDonald. 
 He had no pity for him. He wondered that Thyra 
 could care about his suffering. He said to himself, 
 " He is a proud, conceited creature ; and he must also 
 be a fool to put Sara MacArgall, with her red hair 
 and white face, before Thyra, who is the bonniest 
 woman in the world. My father says that, too, 
 and he knows about beauty, as well as all other 
 things." 
 
 This confidence was a new tie between Thyra and 
 Donald ; and he prided himself a good deal on it. He 
 was the only person Thyra had told her trouble to, 
 consequently he was her passionate sympathizer. A 
 new tenderness came into his voice and manner toward
 
 278 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 her; he felt that he was her friend in a very special 
 manner; and he was not sorry that Hector had fallen 
 into the hands of the English. " They will give him 
 what he deserves! They will cut off his head, and 
 cut out his heart and all the rest of it and then, 
 perhaps, he will remember a few things he has for 
 gotten. No doubt, he has wished himself in Orkney 
 ere this no doubt let him ! " 
 
 And it was in just such a mood Sara found him one 
 morning a few days after Culloden. She was the 
 image of despairing anguish, and Donald had a mo 
 ment's pity for her. But his childish partisanship 
 admitted of no half-affections. Anyone who had 
 wronged Thyra, or made Thyra weep, was beyond 
 his sympathy. He hardened his little heart against 
 Sara, and received her advance with marked coldness 
 and reserve. She was distressed at his attitude. She 
 had just left Lady Fraser, who for a long time had 
 refused to listen to her entreaties for help. At last, 
 however, moved by a sorrow so great, she had wept 
 with her, and advised an application to Donald. 
 
 " If there is a mortal living who can win over 
 Fraser," she said, " it is Donald ! If you can get 
 Donald to ask his father, you will, doubtless, save 
 your husband," she said. 
 
 This was the only, the very last hope for Hector, 
 and Sara took it with sorrowful avidity. " I will go 
 to him now," she answered, " and if I cannot manage 
 the boy, will you come and help me? "
 
 ALL IS WELL 279 
 
 " I have not much influence over him, but there is 
 Thyra I mean Miss Varrick have you seen her? 
 Donald would lay his life down to please Thyra Var 
 rick." 
 
 So Sara went upstairs to Donald, and was chilled 
 at the outset by his far-offness. He looked, not at 
 her, but at some point in his imagination. He was 
 thinking of Thyra, and of her false lover in the dun 
 geon at Carlisle; seeing also Thyra's home by the 
 great waters full of seals. Robert Thorson was with 
 him, and the wonderful Captain Varrick and if 
 Thyra's dream could only come true perhaps he 
 really might go to Orkney who could tell? and at 
 this reflection Sara entered. 
 
 Her unrestrained weeping annoyed him, and yet 
 gratified him. She had been part of Hector's cruelty, 
 and he did not very clearly exonerate her. So he said 
 but a cold " Good-morning," and added, " If it please 
 you, get a chair, madame; I cannot well walk, and 
 Miss Varrick is not near by." 
 
 " No, no, Donald ! " she answered, " let me kneel at 
 your feet. I am come to ask my husband's life from 
 you." 
 
 " You will be asking more than I can give." 
 
 " Do not say that t ; for God's sake, do not say 
 that ! " 
 
 " It is to God you should go " 
 
 " God has nothing to do with such barbarities as 
 the English are committing. They are of the devil."
 
 280 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " And I have no friendship with the devil. I 
 would not ask my own life from him." 
 
 " Donald Fraser, don't play with my misery. You 
 know the Stuarts have fallen." 
 
 " I am not caring for them ; bad men, one and all, 
 and this Prince Charlie just what Lord Elcho called 
 him, ' an Italian Scoundrel,' and worse. He, 
 doubtless, said * Coward.' ' 
 
 " I am not asking any favor for the Stuarts ; I 
 have lost all for them. Donald, my grandfather died 
 at the head of his clan ; my brother Revan was cut 
 down while trying to get the flying men together: 
 nearly three hundred of the MacArgalls lie on the 
 cursed moor of Culloden." 
 
 " Charles Stuart ought to lie in the van of them ; 
 maybe then he might win a little respect. He ought 
 to be dead. He ought to be lying on that cursed moor 
 with the thousand good men who were faithful to him. 
 But he is running away hiding himself taking 
 care o' himself he is worthy to die the death of a 
 traitor, and I hope the English will get him yes, I 
 do!" 
 
 " But Hector MacDonald did not run away ; he 
 stayed in Carlisle when he knew it was certain 
 death." 
 
 " Aye, I am feared he will have to thole it all be 
 heading and the rest of it." 
 
 " Oh, save him, Donald ; save him ! I am nearly 
 distracted. Donald, he has your own name; speak a
 
 ALL IS WELL 281 
 
 word to your father for him. One word from your 
 father to Duncan Forbes will save Hector." 
 
 " I am sorry I cannot speak it, madame. It is not 
 right for me to save such a wicked man." 
 
 " But Hector is not wicked. Oh, no ! He has done 
 no wrong but love Charles Stuart too well." 
 
 " Aye, but he has loved one good, dear woman too 
 little. He has that ! He is a bad man. He has 
 nearly broken the heart of a woman that he promised 
 to marry. He was within two minutes of marrying 
 her." 
 
 " That is not true, Donald. I do not believe it." 
 
 " I know the woman myself, Mrs. MacDonald." 
 
 " Then why did he not marry her? " 
 
 " She had a wise father, and he carried her away 
 from him." 
 
 " Then Hector was not to blame." 
 
 "Yes, he was, for he promised to go to the end 
 of the world after her, and he just hired a boat, and 
 went his way straight to yourself." 
 
 " Say it was so ; why should you care for this 
 woman ? " 
 
 " I love her. She is my dearest friend. If I live, 
 I am going to marry her when I am a man " 
 
 " And because Hector left her, you are going to 
 let Hector die ! " 
 
 " Yes, he is going to get the death he deserved." 
 
 " No, no ! You will save him. If you let him die, 
 Donald, you will be a murderer ; for a word or two of
 
 282 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 yours to your father can save him. Do you think God 
 will take the reason you give me for not saying that 
 word or two? " 
 
 " I think he will." 
 
 " For Christ's sake save Hector. You cannot save 
 the other poor fellows, but it is given into your hand 
 to save Hector. If you could have heard the Master 
 of Meldrum, who escaped to us, tell of that awful field 
 of slaughter! of my grandfather, and my brother 
 hacked to pieces, yet carried tenderly in their plaids 
 by the remnant of the clan, back to MacArgall. Don 
 ald, they laid the two last chiefs of MacArgall side by 
 side on our desolate hearth ; and for a day and a night 
 cried the death song over them. It is all desolation 
 now at MacArgall. I have no one left to love me or 
 care for me but Hector. I am without friends, with 
 out home " 
 
 " You have Lady Gordon." 
 
 " She is dying." 
 
 " Poor woman ! " 
 
 " I am the poorest, most sorrowful woman in the 
 world. You were not content with that. You must 
 tell me a thing about my husband that made all other 
 griefs a hundred times harder to bear. Very few 
 people would have chosen the hour when I was nearly 
 broken-hearted to strike me afresh. Oh, Donald, you 
 are cruel ! How have I offended you ? " and she bur 
 ied her face, and sobbed until Donald's heart was 
 throbbing wildly to his emotion.
 
 ALL IS WELL 283 
 
 " I cannot thole your grief," he said, a trifle impa 
 tiently, for he felt the tears on his own face, " I can 
 not thole it! Stand up, madame. It hurts me! It 
 hurts me ! I will tell you what I can do. The woman 
 Hector MacDonald wronged is here. It is Miss Var- 
 rick. If she says I must ask for your husband's life 
 I will do it." 
 
 " All Heaven thank and bless you for your 
 words! Will you call Miss Varrick? Let me go to 
 her " 
 
 " No, no ! I will not have Thyra forced in any 
 way neither by words nor tears. She shall say 
 the * yes ' or ' no ' that is in her heart, and no 
 other." 
 
 " But you will let me ask her ? I want to tell her 
 to explain to her " 
 
 " I will give her the facts myself." 
 
 Then he touched a little bell at his side, and in a 
 few minutes Thyra answered it. She also had been 
 weeping. She knew well that it was in the power of 
 Lord Fraser to save Hector. She knew also that Lady 
 Fraser did not dare to ask his interference. She, of 
 all women, could not assume the place Hector's wife 
 ought to take; but she had often considered Donald 
 as a possible intercessor; she was considering him in 
 that light when his summons called her from such 
 mournful meditation. Therefore, she was quite pre 
 pared for his curt question : 
 
 " Thyra, would you like Hector MacDonald to die
 
 284 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 the death of a traitor? You know well what a big 
 traitor he is. Or, shall I ask my father to save him. 
 It is to be as you wish." 
 
 Then Thyra looked at Sara, who stood grief- 
 stricken and white as death before her. Her large, 
 blue eyes were a prayer, her silence the most pathetic 
 eloquence, her hands, slightly outstretched, were so 
 sensitively imploring that Thyra felt as if they 
 touched her. There was a moment's painful pause, 
 for something Thyra knew not what held her very 
 life in suspense. Her face was set and still; her lips 
 would not move, her eyes dropped, she was breathless, 
 motionless, speechless. Sara could not bear her im 
 passive, inscrutable air; she fell on her knees by the 
 sofa, with a low, bitter cry. One could believe that 
 hearts broke with just such a cry. 
 
 It was the spell needed to release the noblest ele 
 ment in Thyra. She arcwered the cry with one as 
 full of hope as Sara's had been of despair. She sank 
 down beside her, encircled her with her arms, drew 
 her face toward her own, kissed her cold lips, and 
 said, as she did so : "I do not blame thee ; I do not ! 
 He is thy husband. For thy sake, I will ask any 
 favor for thy sake ! " 
 
 Then she rose, and went to Donald, and said, " My 
 darling Donald, wilt thou ask Lord Fraser that the 
 life of Hector MacDonald be saved? It is my wish. 
 It will be a great comfort to me." 
 
 Donald answered her petition with a queer, loving
 
 SHE FEW, ON HER KNEES.
 
 ALL IS WELL 285 
 
 smile. " You women are astonishing creatures ! " he 
 said ; then to Sara, " Will you come near me, madame ? 
 I want to see your face." And Sara rose, and stood 
 beside Thyra, and Thyra let her arm slip around the 
 wretched wife for she looked fit to faint and said 
 softly, " Thou mayst lean on me, in every way." Very 
 gratefully Sara looked into the face of her helper; 
 and Donald, though he did not hear Thyra's words, 
 understood their purport to be mercy and loving 
 kindness. He was tender-hearted, yet he felt his 
 power; and he wished others, also, to recognize it. 
 There was so little in life he could do that this oppor 
 tunity was a great event to him. He had life and 
 death in his small hands, and it was a solemn thing 
 to balance. 
 
 " You must understand, the both of you must un 
 derstand," he said, "that Major MacDonald's life is 
 in Thyra Varrick's will, not in mine. I think, myself, 
 the man isn't fit to live ; but if Thyra says ' Let him 
 live,' then I will say to my father ' Let him live,' and 
 my father will say to Duncan Forbes ' Let him live,' 
 and that will settle the matter." 
 
 " Dearest Donald," said Thyra, " I ask you with all 
 my heart for the life of Major MacDonald. Do not 
 refuse me. I wish him to live." 
 
 " I will do aught to pleasure you, Thyra ; so I will 
 speak to my father to-night, and I will ask him to 
 waste no time in making sure what I now promise 
 the earlier the welcomer. You can both leave me now.
 
 286 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 I am weary with woman's sorrow. It is worse to 
 thole than pain." 
 
 Then Sara leaned toward him, and he let her kiss 
 him, but cut short her thanks, saying, they could wait 
 " till Hector's feet were on the heather again." And 
 he closed his eyes, and looked so tired, that both Sara 
 and Thyra went softly out of the room together. In 
 the hall Sara's chair was waiting, and here the weep 
 ing wife turned to Thyra, and, with an air of proud 
 humility, said: 
 
 " I must take my husband from your hands but 
 
 the gift is so noble so precious I I " She did 
 
 not finish the sentence, but in passionate weeping 
 stepped into her chair, and covered her face. Thyra 
 was chilled; at the last Sara had allowed her to see 
 how keenly she felt the mortification of her position, 
 and Thyra had not wished this result. She had, in 
 deed, done her best to prevent it. Donald also was 
 a little impossible all day long. The thing he had 
 promised troubled him till it was accomplished; for 
 he knew his father's will, and he was going to dis 
 obey it. As it happened, Lord Fraser was in a very 
 cheerful mood; he wanted a game of whist, he said, 
 and could stay a couple of hours for it. And he in 
 sisted on Thyra taking a walk in the lovely gloaming. 
 It was distressing to interfere with this happy temper, 
 but it had to be done. There was no shirking or put- 
 off in Donald's nature; he went straight to the point 
 at once.
 
 ALL IS WELL 287 
 
 " Father," he said, " I have another game to play 
 with you to-night; the chess-board can stand a while. 
 There is a man's life at stake, and I am not caring 
 to be guilty of his blood." 
 
 " Oh, Donald ! Donald ! You, too ! I thought I 
 was safe in this room. You have no friends among 
 the rebels?" 
 
 " Aye, but I have an enemy. We are told to love 
 our enemies. I can't do that, but maybe I can save 
 his life if you will help me. I am losing the grip 
 of my own life whiles, you will have dreamed of that 
 feeling losing your grip and falling backward into 
 the void. Then you wake up with a start, and you 
 have the grip all right " 
 
 " Donald, my boy, it is cruel to turn my love into 
 a sword, and then pierce my very soul with it. You 
 are not * losing your grip,' you are not * falling into 
 the void,' and you have no enemy." 
 
 " I was wrong one way, father. If I lose my grip, 
 and fall, it will not be into the void; it will be into 
 the arms of the Everlasting God. But I have an 
 enemy, for all that wrong Thyra wrong me ; and the 
 man whose life I beg has been cruel to my dearie." 
 
 Then Donald told his father Thyra's history, just 
 as she had told it to him all about her home and 
 Orkney life, her relations with Robert Thorson and 
 Hector MacDonald, her interrupted marriage, and 
 her flight. And the astute man of the world, with his 
 great, kindly heart, understood what Donald could
 
 288 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 not explain. Such portions of this story as Thyra 
 had made known to Mr. Reid, he already knew; but 
 Hector's part in Thyra's flight was new to him. He 
 was much interested, and before Donald had finished 
 his plea, he had concluded to grant his request. 
 
 " This is a peculiar case," he said in reply. " We 
 owe Thyra Varrick so much, and if she yet cares for 
 the man " 
 
 " She does not care for him now ; she would not be 
 a wicked girl like that she told me so but she is 
 sorry for his wife." 
 
 " To be sure, that is right. And I think the Mac- 
 Donalds may ask some favor from the Government; 
 for if they had fought at Culloden, as they were ex 
 pected to do, there would have been a different story 
 to tell. The young man, you say, is at Carlisle ? " 
 
 " Ay, he is there ; and it is something to his credit 
 he stopped there. He at least obeyed orders; there 
 were others who did not." 
 
 " I know. Well, Donald, you may tell Thyra that 
 for your sake " 
 
 " No, for her sake." 
 
 " For her sake I will beg this MacDonald's life. 
 And in return, you are to talk no more about l losing 
 the grip ' on your own life." 
 
 " Father, you surely see that I am wearing away 
 as fast as the days go by. I can hardly lift my tea 
 cup now ; my books are heavy, 'tis a week since I could 
 turn the globe, and even Thyra's reading wearies me.
 
 ALL IS WELL 289 
 
 We will have to say ' good-by ' soon, my own, good, 
 darling father! Very soon now and I would like 
 this business settled. It is all I can do now to please 
 my Thyra." 
 
 " I will see to it at once, Donald. Your pleasure 
 is before all other things to me." 
 
 Then with a heavenly smile the little fellow put his 
 arms round his father's neck, and whispered, "You 
 are the image of ' Our Father which art in Heaven.' 
 I am not a bit feared for fathers ; they have more love 
 than can last eternity. Carry me a few minutes, 
 dear." And the strong man lifted the child, and was 
 shocked to find him but an infant's weight in his arms, 
 and in that sacred hour the bitterness of death was 
 understood and suffered by both. 
 
 When he was laid back again on his sofa, Donald 
 said, " You see, there will be no more games of chess, 
 father, I cannot think of the moves " 
 
 " You have played a far grander game, Donald 
 and won it, too, my dear, dear laddie. I will see to 
 that." 
 
 A few weeks after this event, on one hot summer 
 night, when Donald was very feeble, word came to 
 him that Hector and Sara were downstairs, and would 
 like to see him. He looked at Thyra with the ques 
 tion in his eyes; and she said: 
 
 " It will be to tell thee how much they thank thee. 
 Dost thou care for such words ? They will only weary 
 thee."
 
 2 9 o THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " There is Hector," he whispered ; " he may want 
 
 to see you " 
 
 " I will not see him never, never again ! If he 
 comes here, I will go out of the house what does he 
 come here for ? It is a shame ! " 
 
 " He shall not come nigh us. Send word that I 
 am glad he is free and God be thanked ! " Then 
 he wandered away as he often did in these days to 
 places far off; to Thyra's home, and to the lands of 
 his hopes and his imaginations. 
 
 Hector's release, and very easily conditioned par 
 don, was the last earthly circumstance in which Don 
 ald took any interest. Soon afterward he went away 
 forever. A solemn calm, a certain conscious gran 
 deur of victory over death and the grave was in his 
 departure. For some days he had had celestial vis 
 ions; and his soul turned from earth caught 
 glimpses of Heaven, and tasted of the powers of the 
 world to come. Tears were not for Donald. None 
 that loved him would have recalled him; no, not for 
 a moment. And if asked, " How is it with the child? " 
 they would have answered in sorrow triumphant over 
 death : 
 
 " "TitweU; 
 
 Nor would we any miracle 
 
 Should stir our sleeper's tranquil trance; 
 
 Or plague his painless countenance. 
 
 We would not any seer might place 
 
 His staff on our Immortal's face. 
 
 Or lip to lip, and eye to eye, 
 
 Charm back his pale mortality. 
 
 No, Shunamite! "We would not break 
 
 God's stillness. Let them weep, who wake.' "
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 Thyra Goes Back to Orkney 
 
 "W IT THEN Donald was in his grave Thyra be- 
 ^^/ came restless. She awoke one morning as 
 from a dream, and the sea called her. She 
 heard its magical murmur through all her ear cham 
 bers; she felt its mighty throb in all her pulses, and 
 the tide of her life set steadily northward. 
 
 " I must go home ! I must go home ! " she said to 
 herself; and the idea became every hour more and 
 more insistent. But she could not begin her journey 
 with the haste she desired ; there were things to attend 
 to which could not be done in an hour; and with this 
 reflection she took from the leaves of her Bible a letter 
 that had been wet with the tears of both the dead and 
 the living. And once more she kissed and re-read it. 
 
 MY DEARIE ! 
 
 I will be far away from you when my father gives you this 
 bit of paper. I have a wish, a great wish, Thyra; it is, that you 
 take with you to Orkney all my books and pictures, and the great 
 globe we have traveled the world o'er on, and, in special, the 
 picture of myself that Leslie Crawford painted. I want you to 
 put all these dear things in your own room there; the room that 
 overlooks the tangle-covered rocks where the seals sun them 
 selves; and the sea on which the big ships come and go, by night 
 and day. They were our books, and our pictures, and it was our 
 
 291
 
 292 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 globe; and if you will still love and care for them, dearie, even 
 up in heaven I will be gladder for the thought of it. And in 
 the Bank of Edinburgh I have eight hundred pounds and seven 
 teen shillings; now it is all yours. All I have is yours. I will 
 never forget my dearie, never, never! " 
 
 Then there had evidently been a burst of grief, 
 for his name, " Donald Fraser," was blurred and 
 written in tears. 
 
 They were Donald's last wishes, and Thyra could 
 not resist a word of them. Besides, Lord and Lady 
 Fraser's entreaties were added to the child's, so that 
 when she decided to return to Orkney there was con 
 siderable packing to do. But in a week she was on 
 the sea, and Edinburgh had passed out of her life 
 forever. It had been a wonderful episode, and she 
 sat on the deck of the tossing ship recalling it. She 
 had come to the great city poor, friendless, and with 
 no change of clothing; she was going home with 
 treasures of books and pictures, with gold in her 
 name, and trunks full of rich and beautiful things 
 that Lady Fraser had filled unknown to her. And, 
 better than all, she carried with her an imperishable 
 friendship, and the memory of a love sweet and 
 innocent, and sure to be faithful even beyond the 
 grave. 
 
 She landed at Kirkwall soon after sunrise, but the 
 Dominie was an early riser, and she was going to the 
 manse first of all. As she came to it, she saw him 
 leaning over the gate, smoking; and she was con 
 scious that he was watching her approach with a
 
 BACK TO ORKNEY 293 
 
 curiosity gradually turning to certainty. Indeed, be 
 fore she had time to speak, he cried out, " Thyra ! 
 Thyra Varrick! Is it really thee? " 
 
 She smiled her answer into his face, and they went 
 into the manse together. Then she gave him a letter 
 from Lord Fraser containing a generous memorial 
 sum of money for the Kirk, to be spent according to 
 Donald's wish " for the wives and children of 
 drowned fishermen." A great deal was said in this 
 letter about Thyra, and the Dominie looked again at 
 the girl to see what manner of woman she had 
 become. 
 
 " Lord and Lady Fraser write more good of thee, 
 Thyra, than I think any mortal can deserve; but it 
 is plain thou hast done well; and through this well 
 doing has come this wonderful help to our poor wid 
 ows and fatherless bairns. Surely, the Lord has been 
 with thee, and brought thee back !o thy home with 
 thy hands full of blessings. What can I do for 
 thee?" 
 
 " There is much thou canst do. Thy favor will 
 make my way plain and easy till my father comes 
 back." 
 
 " Thou hast won that, and I will give it to thee 
 freely. What is thy plan? And where wilt thou 
 live?" 
 
 " I want first the keys of my father's house. He 
 left them with thee. I am going to put it in order. 
 He may be home very soon now."
 
 294 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " Thou canst not live alone. Come and stay at the 
 manse. Kirsty Vennel is here, and she will look to 
 thy comfort." 
 
 " I thank thee, but I am going now to Maran 
 Flett's. She will come and stay with me." 
 
 " Mistress Flett is ready to go to Fife. She has 
 sold her house and furniture to Alexander Fae, who 
 is to marry Jorunna Beaton. But she does not give 
 possession till Thursday ; so thou canst still see her in 
 her old home." 
 
 Thyra was uneasy at this change. She had made 
 all her calculations relying on Maran's protection and 
 company, and she was troubled at the thought of their 
 failure. As soon as she reached the place she saw a 
 change. The garden was uncared for, and the house 
 door stood wide open. Thyra entered it with a calm 
 ness that surprised, that almost frightened her. 
 There was the narrow stairway down which she had 
 come that wretched evening in her bridal gown ! She 
 stood on the very spot where she had seen her lover 
 struggling vainly with the men who were binding 
 him. A little further down the passage she could 
 see yet the stern, dark face of her angry father as 
 he called her; and she was as calm and indifferent as 
 if she had read the story in a book, and had nothing 
 to do with the tragedy. That was the wonder of it! 
 How could she be so cold to events which had once 
 been more than life and death to her? 
 
 In a few moments she saw Maran coming toward
 
 BACK TO ORKNEY 295 
 
 her. She had a teapot in one hand, and a plate of 
 broiled fish in the other ; and when she saw Thyra she 
 threw up her hands with a scream, and the tea and 
 fish were scattered at her feet. The next moment they 
 had kissed each other, and Maran was looking with 
 wondering admiration at Thyra. 
 
 " And you are wearing * blacks ' ? " she cried. " Is 
 your father dead? or are they for one we won't 
 name? Go ben and take off your things; my head 
 is all in a swoon, but I'll be here anon with more tea 
 and fish I'll warrant you're needing something to 
 eat, after a week on the water." 
 
 In a short time breakfast was ready, and they sat 
 down to eat and to talk. 
 
 " I hear you have been living with lords and ladies, 
 and eating, of course, of the rich and the sweet, and 
 dressing like ah, weel, it is easy seen by the look of 
 you that Mally Paterson hasna had the making o j 
 your clothes." 
 
 " The Dominie was telling me thou art leaving 
 Kirkwall. What for, Maran ?" 
 
 " There is a great falling away in the pleasure of 
 the place," she said. " I missed yourself more than 
 I can tell, and others didna take your place. I had no 
 word of your coming back here, and I thought of 
 the sociable Fife villages till I was so homesick. I 
 saw nothing for it but just going back to where I 
 came from." 
 
 "But I want thee, Maran. My father may be
 
 296 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 back any time, and I have brought a store of valuable 
 and beautiful things with me; and who but you can 
 help me to unpack and arrange them. Do stay with 
 me just till father comes." 
 
 Maran was not hard to persuade. She had a great 
 longing to see the treasures Thyra had brought with 
 her, and the idea of a house to clean and put orderly 
 was a great temptation to her. The women who had 
 been unneighborly and offish would be on pins and 
 needles to see the " wonderfuls " Thyra had brought 
 with her, and she perceived in a moment what oppor 
 tunities for little triumphs and revenges her position 
 as Thyra's friend and helper would ^ive her. So 
 with little persuasion she agreed to remain with Thyra 
 until Captain Varrick returned. 
 
 This point settled, Maran became more personally 
 inquisitive. She wanted to know the " how-it-hap 
 pened " of everything. " We have heard this and that 
 of your doings in Edinburgh," she said. " Thomas 
 Baikie, who was there between ship and ship, says 
 it is an awful wicked city, is Edinburgh. He saw the 
 English soldiers marching to the kirk on the Lord's 
 day, mind you to their own band of music, and 
 thinking it no disgrace. And the mob of people 
 there, and their rampaging and unreasonableness, he 
 says, is past speaking of. He heard, too, of the 
 entering in of Charles Stuart, and how the city went 
 mad, and flung what sense it had under the feet of 
 the mob. What did you see of all this ? "
 
 BACK TO ORKNEY 297 
 
 " I saw a great deal more than I ever want to see 
 again." 
 
 " Poor Scotland ! It was her last chance, and she 
 has lost it. We shall just have to put up with Eng 
 lish kings and English laws." 
 
 " Lord Fraser says the laws are very good." 
 
 " Even so ; but the Episcopal bishops have a hand 
 in their making, and I am not sure in my mind 
 whether good Presbyterians ought to obey them 
 bishops, ye ken however, there are better things to 
 talk about. Did you see Hector MacDonald at all? " 
 
 " I was at his wedding." 
 
 " Never ! Never ! And who did the false loon 
 marry ? " 
 
 " Miss MacArgall, daughter of the Chief of Clan 
 Argall. She was his own kind." 
 
 " Doubtless ; birds of a feather fly together, and 
 better so; yet it makes my corruption rise to hear of 
 such ways. It is a black, burning shame ! " 
 
 " No. I am contented. I had the best of things 
 afterward. She is a beautiful woman." 
 
 " She is the man's choice such like as it is but 
 tell me all about the matter." 
 
 It was no short story, interrupted, as it was, by 
 Maran's constant comments, questions, and opinions; 
 so that when the clock struck eleven the two women 
 were still sitting with the teapot between them, in 
 delightful conversation. Maran was in a mood of 
 unqualified triumph. Thyra was really enjoying her-
 
 298 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 self hugely; but there is no reason to think worse of 
 their long gossip than that it was the natural relief 
 of hearts not able to crush down all feeling under 
 the crust of more or less culture. 
 
 When the clock's striking broke into their confi 
 dential outpouring, Thyra rose quickly. " The boxes 
 will be coming up to the house, Maran ; I must away. 
 Surely thou wilt come with me." 
 
 The temptation was far beyond Maran's power to 
 resist. Boxes to unpack the house to refurnish and 
 readorn two servant lassies to order ; and the women 
 visitors to astonish, and snub, and settle old scores 
 with ! Oh, the outlook was entirely too delightful to 
 be refused! 
 
 " I shall come with you, Thyra," she answered. 
 " What for no. I have aye been a mother to you, 
 dear lass, and you'll need me more now than ever 
 while you are settling yourself. But I tell you 
 plainly, I'll away as soon as I hear tell of Cousin Paul 
 coming. I would not meet him for all the gold in 
 Scotland after yonder utterly unspeakable business 
 of Hector MacDonald. So say or do as you like; 
 when I hear Paul is coming, you will hear Maran 
 Flett is going." Then, after some directions about 
 her own belongings, Maran went with Thyra to the 
 Varrick house. 
 
 The Dominie had opened it, and men were toiling 
 up the hill with Thyra's big boxes. Here and there 
 they passed groups of curious women watching the
 
 BACK TO ORKNEY 299 
 
 passing of the packing cases and speculating as to 
 what could be in them. " The captain has, doubt 
 less, come home again, and these will be the ' wonder- 
 fuls ' he has brought from pagan countries," was one 
 opinion. But this supposition was made provocative 
 of pleasant discussion by the visible and officious 
 pride of Mistress Flett. For those who knew her best 
 declared, " She was leaving Orkney for Fife solely 
 because the time for Paul Varrick's return was 
 at hand ; she being simply terrified to meet him." And 
 this conviction was so positive that the majority of 
 people had no doubt of Paul's death, and that, in con 
 sequence, Thyra had " come into money " and was 
 going to share her fortune with her friend Maran. 
 
 Thyra walked through the town to her home without 
 noticing anyone ; Maran bowed and smiled and made 
 her condescending kindness apparent and obnoxious. 
 It was a relief to find the Dominie in the house direct 
 ing things, and Maran, having brought her servant 
 with her, began instantly the pleasant business of set 
 ting kitchen affairs to work. " And first of all, 
 Vara," she called, " you be to bring fire to this hearth 
 stone; a house without a fire on the hearth is a poor 
 place." Then Thyra turned to the hearth and saw 
 the ashes of her mother's bridal dress still lying there. 
 Her heart swelled, and if she had been alone she must 
 have wept over so sad and painful a memory ; but the 
 room was full of sailor-men handling boxes, and the 
 Dominie was there, and Maran seemed to be everywhere
 
 300 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 present and audible. So she only prevented Vara 
 removing the poor remains. It was better they 
 should burn away and vanish into the elements than 
 be thrown out with the dust and litter of two years. 
 And she watched them carefully till the flames had 
 caught the poor scorched remnants, and there was no 
 longer a scrap of that sorrow left on the relighted 
 hearth. 
 
 Then came some marvelously happy days for both 
 women, and for others also, especially for the Dominie. 
 With the unpacking of the boxes Lady Fraser had 
 sent he had little to do; and yet he could not help 
 wondering and admiring at the exquisite clothing, the 
 toilet delicacies, the sea and land gowns, the morning 
 and evening house-gowns, the kirk gowns, and bon 
 nets and mantillas that were taken out of these wooden 
 receptacles. There were things, too, in them which 
 he had never seen before; for instance, a little laven 
 der parasol with an ivory handle. Oh, it was impos 
 sible even for the Dominie to restrain his curosity 
 and pleasure. How, then, could the two amazed 
 servant-girls bear the burden of all this finery alone? 
 They could not. They told the story of it to every 
 one they saw, and these again to others, and Maran 
 was filled with satisfied pride when there was granted 
 her the privilege of " asking in " or " not asking in " 
 the numerous feminine visitors who called to welcome 
 Miss Varrick home again. For her invitations or re 
 fusals meant something far more than the " at home "
 
 BACK TO ORKNEY 301 
 
 or " not at home " of our day. Behind each smiling 
 " Come in, mistress " there was a memory of some 
 kind notice when Maran was decidedly out of favor; 
 and behind each " Miss Varrick isna caring to see 
 folk to-day " there was, perhaps, a keener memory of 
 some slighting look or word, or some positive bit of ill- 
 nature. Justly and scrupulously she paid her debts 
 both of kindness and unkindness; and these acts of 
 gratitude and reprisal were rendered all the more im 
 portant by the fact that the Dominie was generally 
 present. If they were received they were taken by 
 Maran to see all they wished to see, and afterward, 
 perhaps, had the privilege of watching the Dominie 
 unpack a box of pictures or books, listen to his com 
 ments, and then share a pot of tea with him and Miss 
 Varrick and Mistress Flett. These were not unimpor 
 tant pleasures and honors to the simple women who 
 sought them; they were of the highest importance 
 and eagerly looked after ; so that the unadmitted de 
 clared scornfully, " Some folks thought as much of 
 going to Thyra Varrick's house as of going to the 
 court of the King of England." 
 
 It was the Dominie who hung Donald's pictures, and 
 who made the shelves for Donald's books and ar 
 ranged them thereon. And it took him a long time 
 to find the proper light for each picture, and the 
 proper place for each book. Indeed, he was in no 
 hurry with the work. It delighted him. He spent 
 mornings and afternoons over a single volume, and
 
 3 02 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 there was a painting of Christ sitting weary and 
 thirsty and humanly sorrowful by the well of Samaria 
 that he never tired of looking at. 
 
 Finally the house was finished. From door to 
 door, from garret to cellar, it was in the spotless order 
 Maran loved. For, it must be admitted, Thyra had 
 far less of the passion for housekeeping than Maran, 
 whose particularity about unseen places had often 
 been a little wearisome. But when all was over the 
 sense of absolute purity, everywhere, was a great com 
 pensation. By this time the summer was passed and 
 no word had come from Captain Varrick. In another 
 month none was expected. The Pentland Firth was 
 then lashed by furious storms, and the days in which 
 a boat could live on it were few and far between. 
 Captain Varrick was sure to cruise the winter 
 through in some more profitable climate. So Maran 
 settled down for the next six months in Orkne}', and 
 life became orderly and, in the main, very happy and 
 socially pleasant. 
 
 Maran, in any case, would be mistress in any house 
 in which she dwelt, but it was with Thyra's full consent 
 she now took entirely on herself the management of 
 their domestic affairs. For the girl had learned too 
 much in Edinburgh not to desire to learn more; and 
 she had too long been absolved from the labor of cook 
 ing and cleaning and household affairs willingly to 
 resume a charge so constant and so little to her lik 
 ing. So Maran looked after the house and the meals
 
 BACK TO ORKNEY 303 
 
 and managed the servants, and haggled with the fish 
 wives and tradesmen, and, in fact, ruled in all things 
 pertaining to domestic and social life. Thyra was 
 studying history and geography and other neglected 
 information with the Dominie, and reading over and 
 over again with him the books she had read with Don 
 ald. On fine afternoons they often walked together, 
 and in the evenings she taught him to play chess, the 
 board they used being the very one on which Donald 
 had taught Thyra the same game. 
 
 When the days were stormy and no visitors could 
 reach them, there was a wealth of subjects for the two 
 women to talk over. Maran was never tired of hear 
 ing about Edinburgh and Prince Charles for whom 
 she had a secret, sentimental affection, conscientiously 
 suppressed about Lord and Lady Fraser and, above 
 all, about Donald. Sometimes, but not often, only 
 when the storm was fiercer than usual, they would fall 
 into conversation about Hector, and Sara, and their 
 wedding, with all things pertaining to it; Maran 
 being always painfully anxious to hear again how 
 Thyra was dressed, and if she looked beautiful 
 enough to plant a thorn of regret in her false lover's 
 heart. 
 
 It was after one of these " past " confidences that 
 Thyra suddenly said, " Maran, I have been home two 
 months and you have not named Robert Thorson. 
 Is he dead? Tell me the truth. Did Hector kill 
 him?"
 
 3 o 4 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " Dead ! Not he. I was waiting till you gave me 
 the word. The Dominie told me to do so. He said 
 it was Robert's wish that when you came back no jne 
 was to trouble you with his name. But there is lots 
 to tell about him, and I would just like to tell it, and 
 be by with the subject." 
 
 " What has the Dominie to do with Robert Thor- 
 son?" 
 
 " Wait, and I'll make you as wise as myself." 
 
 Then Thyra heard for the first time how Hector 
 and Robert had chased each other for two weeks, and 
 how Robert had finally given his enemy his life, and 
 so put an end to circumstances otherwise likely to 
 end fatally to one or both. In this relation 
 Thyra, at first, saw only the personal wrong to 
 herself. 
 
 " He was running after Robert when he ought to 
 have been following me," she said angrily. " His 
 revenge was more to him than his love. I am glad 
 he did go to Sara MacArgall. I wish Robert had 
 killed him ! He ought to have done so ! " 
 
 " You are far wrong. You are speaking in your 
 haste, Thyra; and you will mend your words yet. 
 Robert, after leaving Hector pinned to the ground 
 and he ought to have put him in it " 
 
 " True ! That is what I said." 
 
 " It was a lapse well, well, this or that, after he 
 had decided to let the man live, Robert went to the 
 Dominie. He had resolved to go away from Orkney,
 
 BACK TO ORKNEY 305 
 
 and he had some messages and papers to leave in his 
 keeping. But as he was talking the good man saw 
 Robert was very ill, and he said, ' You are not fit for 
 anything, Robert ; you cannot go away ; you must stop 
 here at the manse; you cannot have inflammation of 
 the lungs in a cottage full of peat smoke ! I won't 
 permit it.' And Robert was too far spent to make 
 any opposition ; in an hour he was clear out of his 
 senses. And so he remained for a long time, for 
 typhoid fever came on top of all, and Robert Thor- 
 son lay at death's door so long that everybody 
 thought he must slip within it. 
 
 " However, at the long last, he won back to life 
 again. And it seems, while he was out of his head, 
 he talked some queer language that no one understood 
 but which was just French and Italian and Greek that 
 he had picked up when he was in the Mediterranean 
 trade. And the Dominie found out he was gay clever 
 at picking up strange talk, and while he was getting 
 well he put him clean through the Latin grammar, 
 and then Robert began to hanker after the Greek, 
 and to amuse himself with what they call mathematics 
 for he knew a little that way and the Dominie 
 watched him with wonder and well, the long and 
 short of it was, he persuaded Robert to leave the sea 
 and go to college, and took him there himself and 
 made all easy for him. Faix! there was little need 
 to do that; Robert Thorson has made a wide road 
 for his own steps. He has taken degrees, and honors,
 
 306 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 and what not; and now he is in for the theological 
 course. Think of that ! " 
 
 " Was it to Edinburgh College he went? " 
 
 " Edinburgh ! No, indeed ! He went to the best 
 in the land, to Marischal College itself ; and I was 
 hearing that Colin Maclaurin, the greatest mathe 
 matician of them all, had taken wonderfully to Rob 
 ert. Edinburgh ! No, no ! When it comes to colleges 
 you can't even Edinburgh with the famous Marischal 
 College o' Aberdeen! Robert had money saved in 
 plenty, and he is making more, now, teaching, and 
 the like of it. They say he is on an easy footing 
 with all the professors there that stands to reason, 
 for he is a clever creature, is Robert. He'll be hav 
 ing * Reverend ' before his name, or more like ' Doc 
 tor ' before long ; indeed, I'm not sure myself if he is 
 not a * Doctor ' already.' ' 
 
 " Has he ever been back here ? " 
 
 " Of course he has. He was here last June, but 
 I never changed words with him. I heard everyone 
 talking and kept my whist. He spoke in the kirk 
 for what they call the Missionary Society, and just 
 took Dominie and elders and whole congregation off 
 their feet. He made them feel as if they wanted to 
 leave father and mother, and wife and bairns, and 
 boats and nets, and go without scrip or scrap to 
 preach Christ to the miserable pagan creatures who 
 never heard tell of him." 
 
 "Did thou feel that way, Maran?"
 
 BACK TO ORKNEY 307 
 
 " There are aye ' excepts,' and I was one o' the 
 excepts. But the next day, when folks had come to 
 their reason again, a good many were of my mind; 
 for as Elder Grimm said ' It was a grand vision of 
 the possibilities of the coming kirk, but perfect un 
 reasonableness for the time being.' However, there is 
 no doubt that Robert Thorson is an extraordinary 
 speaker; and he made a most weighty prayer. 
 Everyone allowed that." 
 
 " Was he dressed like a Dominie, or was he in com 
 mon clothes ? " 
 
 " Not just common, ye ken ; he had a white band 
 on, and a black coat, but no tails to it ; just a jacket 
 like. Some folks saw him walking with the Dominie 
 in his University gown and cap, but he was cordial 
 and friendly to all : in and out of the boats, and slip 
 ping on his * oils ' quite natural for the deep-sea fish 
 ing. There was a little differ about his theology, 
 and some of the old settled men were not liking 
 his talk about the general and universal mercy of 
 God. Elder Beaton thought such remarks danger 
 ous ; and the Dominie himself allowed that a judicious 
 minister of the Word would keep his thumb well down 
 on such a limitless doctrine of grace. But the 
 women, Thyra! You should have seen them bow 
 ing and courtesying to him! I was perfectly an 
 noyed at their foolishness. Mortal idiots, all of 
 them ! " 
 
 Thyra made no comments, but she took the story
 
 308 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 into her heart, and it, doubtless, influenced her future 
 conduct. She gave herself to study with a new zest, 
 and, in a moderate way, the Dominie was proud of 
 her. So the winter passed, and in the spring they 
 had a letter from Mr. Reid saying that Captain Var- 
 rick would, no doubt, be home during the ensuing 
 summer. Maran was sorry to hear it; she was so 
 busy and happy and important, she wanted life to 
 remain just as it was. 
 
 One day in June Thyra was going to the manse 
 with the books necessary for her lessons in her hand, 
 and when she reached the gate she saw the Dominie 
 walking slowly away from it. A gentleman with the 
 appearance of a minister was with him, and Thyra 
 knew at once that it was Robert Thorson. She 
 stepped hastily behind a thick bush and stood there 
 till they had sauntered out of sight. Then she went 
 home with a new ache in her heart. The Dominie, like 
 all others, forgot her when there was anyone else to 
 talk to. And she did think they might have come 
 to see her first of all. She was ready to cry, and, 
 finding Maran busy in the kitchen, she did go to her 
 room and have a little stormy interview with herself. 
 Then she dressed with great care and waited. 
 Neither Robert nor the Dominie came near the house, 
 but in the evening Maran said : 
 
 " Marena was telling me a queer story about the 
 Dominie and Robert Thorson being together. I'm 
 not believing it, though she says her brother saw them
 
 BACK TO ORKNEY 309 
 
 go off to sea in Magnus Yell's boat. Marena isn'a 
 to be trusted, however; it will be a flight of her 
 own." 
 
 " I saw them together this morning, Maran. I 
 was sure they would come here, and I would not spoil 
 your surprise." 
 
 " They'll be here anon. Yell's boat is a slow 
 creature, and would wait for the tide." 
 
 But day after day passed and there was the same 
 blank between the manse and the Varrick house. 
 Thyra would not go out at all, lest she should meet 
 Robert on the street, for it was evident he did not 
 want to renew his acquaintance with her. On one 
 evening, howevei , Robert was to speak in the kirk, and 
 Maran said they must go or be a town's talk, and re 
 luctantly Thyra acknowledged this position. The 
 crowd, however, was so great, she hoped personal con 
 tact might be avoided ; and yet she longed for it only 
 to clasp his hand, only a word or a look would be suf 
 ficient for her happiness. 
 
 These were her thoughts as she took her old place 
 in her father's pew and watched Robert enter. Al 
 ways a composed, sedate man, he had put on with the 
 sacred profession he had chosen a great dignity. His 
 clothing was now ministerial, his voice had its old 
 musical ring, but was beautifully modulated by his 
 emotions; he was in every respect a man beyond the 
 common ; and Thyra had only one comfortable reflec 
 tion as she looked at him it was that she had
 
 310 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 outgrown her old self quite as far as Robert had 
 done. 
 
 But how was Robert to know this? It was impos 
 sible for her to take the initiative and go to the manse, 
 and though the Dominie called once during the week 
 of Robert's visit, he never named the young man. 
 Thyra could not do so; she had been too positively 
 " cut " to be the first to make advances ; and Maran 
 had several reasons for not interfering with events 
 that suited her exactly. It was, however, a terrible 
 week to Thyra ; she walked her room hour after hour 
 hoping, despairing, humiliated beyond endurance. 
 She never could have believed that Robert Thorson 
 would treat her so cruelly. She expected, until the 
 last hour, that he would come and ask her once more 
 the question he had been asking her ever since she was 
 sixteen years old. Alas! alas! He went back to 
 Aberdeen without a sign, and she felt that all was 
 over. Robert had ceased to care for her perhaps, 
 indeed, he was promised to some other girl and, as 
 is often the case in love, the rejecter grew sick of love 
 as the rejected got well. 
 
 Both Maran and Thyra blamed the Dominie. They 
 felt that in some way he had been against them ; and 
 when he called next Thyra was sick and would not see 
 him; but Maran was ready to speak, and she asked, 
 almost immediately, " What for did Robert Thorson 
 pass us by ? He never came near Thyra. My certie ! 
 I cannot see through such ways ! "
 
 BACK TO ORKNEY 311 
 
 " Thou foolish woman ! Canst thou see through 
 anything, specially the ways of lovers ? " asked the 
 Dominie with a laugh. 
 
 " Lovers ! Who said lovers ? If the man had had 
 a thimbleful of common-sense he might have known 
 that the tide had turned and that he would get * yes ' 
 where he once got * no.' " 
 
 " I do not believe that. Thyra did not come to the 
 manse at her usual time the day after Robert arrived. 
 We waited for her a good or bad hour ; then I saw 
 she had heard he was here and was not coming. And 
 I felt angry at her and took Robert to the boats. 
 When I returned home, Greta told me, as she was clear 
 ing away the breakfast dishes she saw Thyra come to 
 the gate when we were not a dozen yards beyond it; 
 and what did the proud lassie do? She hid herself 
 behind the lilac bushes." 
 
 " She did what was very womanlike, and I would 
 think little of her if she had run skirling after you 
 both. Now, I will tell you the way of it that day 
 Thyra was kept back a full hour by Marena, who had 
 cut her finger nearly off as she was cleaning the fish, 
 and as I canna bide the sight of blood, Thyra sta} r ed 
 with her till the worst was over. She told me when 
 she came home that she saw you and Robert going 
 off together, and the poor lassie thought you had gone 
 out of her way, and she was most heart-broken. No 
 wonder she hid herself from you. No wonder she kept 
 her own home while he was in yours. What were you
 
 3 i2 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 saying to the man? Why didn't he come to see her? 
 He is awfully set up with himself, anyhow." 
 
 " He is as modest as a child. I said only good 
 things of Thyra there was nothing else to say." 
 
 " You should have brought him here." 
 
 " Not I ! When I thought Thyra had given him 
 the backset as soon as he came I advised him to let 
 her alone. Professor Thorson will not need to go 
 begging for a wife now." 
 
 " If he wants Thyra Varrick for his wife he will 
 have the proper amount of begging to do. He may 
 swear that to himself. My word! What kind of 
 a man is Professor Thorson that he should have a wife 
 without asking her ? " 
 
 " Never mind ! We shall see." 
 
 " See what? See Thyra Varrick begging Profes 
 sor Thorson 's love? When that thing happens thfe 
 fundamentals o' life will be in ruins. Ay, sir, even 
 that. This stramash was his doing as much as hers." 
 
 "Maran!" 
 
 " It was ; and Professor Thorson may think shame 
 o' himself " 
 
 " Maran, you are speaking evil of dignities." 
 
 " I'm not caring. I'm speaking of lovers that 
 have had a quarrel and you might have put all 
 right " 
 
 " Be quiet, Mistress Flett. When it was Robert 
 Thorson the sailor I might have said, ' Put thy man 
 hood in the dust if thou wantest the girl ; thou canst
 
 BACK TO ORKNEY 313 
 
 humor her now and rule her anon.' But when it is 
 Professor Thorson, a man vowed to the service of the 
 Lord God Almighty, I will not aid nor help in seeing 
 such an one trailing his holy garments in the dust 
 before a woman who does not know her own mind, and 
 who has not sufficient estimation of the honor done 
 her." 
 
 " You have made things ten times worse than they 
 were." 
 
 " I am sorry, Maran." Then, seeing that Maran 
 was growing more excited and likely to be more un 
 reasonable, he lifted his hat and said " Good-after 
 noon, Mistress Flett." And his dignity frightened 
 her ; she understood she had gone too far and offended 
 the Dominie; a social crime of such magnitude that 
 she could find no excuse or consolation for it but by 
 throwing the blame on Thyra, " the tiresomest lass, 
 anent her love affairs," she ejaculated, " that ever 
 a poor woman had the guiding of." 
 
 But she said nothing to Thyra of the Dominie's 
 displeasure. She only told her " It was all a mis 
 understanding ; that Robert had waited an hour for 
 her and then concluded she did not wish to see him 
 and so he had gone off to the boats most broken 
 hearted." The last sentence was of Maran's inven 
 tion ; but she had no conscientious scruples about it 
 he ought to have been broken-hearted if he wasn't; 
 and I'll give him the credit of it deserving or not, 
 she thought.
 
 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 And Thyra was silent through all the explanation ; 
 but at the end she said, " Misunderstanding ! Non 
 sense! Love would have solved a misunderstand 
 ing. When Robert loved me he grieved and 
 forgave."
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 Thyra s Marriage 
 
 A?TER this, the summer went on not very hap 
 pily. Thyra was stunned by her visible re 
 jection, and her books lost their savor. She 
 longed now for her father's home-coming, and began 
 to wonder uneasily what she should do, if he never 
 came back. Maran had complained often lately. 
 She said, " Since Robert Thorson had passed them 
 by, people had not come often to see them; and she 
 was sure the Dominie was changed ; anyone could see he 
 had lost interest in Thyra." For Maran did not con 
 sider that it was Thyra who had lost interest; and 
 that during the fishing season the Dominie was always 
 much in the boats. 
 
 " I wish your father would come home, Thyra," 
 Maran said irritably one morning ; " I am fair sick 
 for a sight of the * auld neuk o' Fife.' There's few 
 folk coming here now, and you are that pining and 
 pinging I have little pleasure with you." Maran did 
 not mean a tenth part of this complaint, but it hurt 
 Thyra all the same ; and tears were in her eyes, as she 
 walked to the door and looked over the ocean. 
 
 There was a white-sailed little schooner coming 
 315
 
 316 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 toward the harbor, and she watched it with wistful 
 gaze. Someone was sailing her that knew how to do 
 it. She was laying down to the breeze just enough 
 to show she felt it; tossing the spray from her bows 
 and lifting her head over the waves, as if she was just 
 stepping over them. " I wish my father was at her 
 
 helm! She goes just as if he was " And then 
 
 she turned sadly away as the hopelessness of the wish 
 struck her. So she sat down on the doorstep, and be 
 gan to think of the night she had sat thus waiting for 
 her father the night that Hector told her he loved 
 her. And the morning waxed to noon ; and she heard 
 Maran scolding the girl who was setting the dinner 
 table, and then suddenly her father's whistle. 
 
 She did not speak, or call to Maran ; she stood up, 
 answered it, and waited for the second call. Then 
 she flew down the path, and at the bottom of the hill 
 she saw the weather-worn sailor stretching out his arms 
 for her. Does anyone wonder what they said? Was 
 there a word of reproach or contrition? There was 
 no necessity for either. It was : 
 
 "Father! Father!" 
 
 " Thyra ! Thyra ! " 
 
 And in that heart-call love had forgiven everything. 
 There was nothing left for explanation. All that 
 had been wrong went into the crucible of a kiss and 
 came out love. 
 
 Then, as they went to the house, Thyra told her 
 father of Maran's kindness and asked oblivion for
 
 THYRA'S MARRIAGE 317 
 
 her also; and Paul promised it and kept his word. 
 When he entered his home Maran was fussing about 
 Thyra's absence. She lifted her head, uttered a cry, 
 and would have left the room, but Paul put his arm 
 round her, thanked her for taking such good care 
 of his little girl, and so completely buried the past, 
 that before dinner was over Maran had quite recovered 
 herself and was in tip-top feather and spirits. 
 
 And of course she received and not unworthily 
 all the credit of the well-ordered home, and Paul 
 begged her to stay till all his treasures were unpacked 
 and put in place, an invitation warmly seconded by 
 Thyra, who felt quite unable to cope with a rearrange 
 ment of what might be the whole house. Maran was 
 not hard to entreat. She was, indeed, well pleased 
 to have another such pleasant task on her hands, and, 
 when the queer foreign cases were unpacked, willingly 
 let Thyra go back to her books, and undertook the set 
 tlement of things again. 
 
 If she wanted help she got it from Paul or the 
 Dominie, and Thyra often heard them laughing to 
 gether over some blunder or some Indian oddity. 
 There was no hurry about the new arrangement, and 
 nobody made any hurry. The house and the meals 
 went on with a beautiful regularity ; and the arrange 
 ment of Paul's " wonderfuls " occupied delightfully 
 the odds and ends of time not needed in domestic 
 affairs. Dearly loving the order and the regularity 
 of ship life, Captain Varrick appreciated, as Thyra
 
 3 i8 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 had never done, the well-cooked food served precisely 
 at its proper moment ; and the clean, tidy house, about 
 which he never saw anyone making a fuss or a dust; 
 and the unflagging attention paid to the small peculi 
 arities which did so much to make life run smoothly. 
 
 But in spite of all appearances to the contrary 
 Thyra was not happy. The contentment she had 
 anticipated as certain with her father's return did 
 not come. In no respect did she or could she bring 
 back the life gone forever. And she did not fully 
 realize that this change was mainly in herself. She 
 had outgrown the conditions that in former years 
 made her pleasure; and if precisely the same condi 
 tions could have environed her, they would not have 
 given her satisfaction. Also, previously, she had 
 been mistress in her home; not a very prompt or in 
 dustrious one, but in spite of all delinquencies in her 
 housekeeping she had ruled. She had been glad to 
 escape the ceaseless care of the house, but she found 
 that in delegating the labor to Maran she had also 
 given away the authority that belonged to it. Her 
 father consulted Maran not her about household 
 affairs; and the servants went to Maran not to her 
 for orders. 
 
 She felt that she had lost in this respect what it 
 was impossible for her to regain. Maran held the 
 reins with far too tight a hand to allow of any inter 
 ference. Then there was the Dominie. Since the 
 fishing began the lessons had ceased; and since Paul
 
 THYRA'S MARRIAGE 319 
 
 returned, it was Paul who played chess with him, and 
 not Thyra. Paul was an even antagonist ; there was 
 more interest in the game when the skill was equal. 
 And there were many small grievances besides these 
 great ones little encroachments little sacrifices of 
 herself to Maran's honor and glory little shows of 
 authority, on Maran's part, quite unnecessary little 
 disobediences from the servants, who hardly recog 
 nized her position; and thinking over these things 
 one night she said bitterly to herself: 
 
 " There is no one who really loves me. Oh, how I 
 wish Robert Thorson was here! Father has never 
 
 in his heart forgotten my fault, but Robert " 
 
 Then she remembered Robert's neglect of her, and she 
 covered her face and was heart-sick. 
 
 " I must go away," she said. " I am not wanted 
 here. The Dominie is sufficient for father. When 
 Maran goes, after the fishing, I will go with her. 
 I will write and ask Mr. Reid or Lady Fraser to find 
 me another home. I cannot stay here the place is 
 hateful to me I will speak to father about it 
 now." 
 
 She had left him smoking on the hearth, and he 
 seldom now went out in the evenings. Three years 
 of sea life, at his age, had made the day sufficient for 
 him ; he had no desire to tack onto it a few hours from 
 the night; so he was generally at his own fireside 
 after supper. And it seemed to Thyra as if she 
 could not put a stop to her present life too soon. The
 
 320 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 fever of change was in her heart; she wanted to go 
 away at once. 
 
 She went downstairs, but the parlor was empty. 
 The kitchen had been " redded up " and the girls 
 were off to some fisher ploy in the town. Maran was 
 not to be seen; neither was her father; but as she 
 stood at the open door they came into her vision to 
 gether. They were walking slowly together in the 
 yard, and Paul's arm was around Maran; and as 
 Thyra stood gazing at them, Maran lifted her rosy- 
 smiling face to Paul, and he stooped and kissed her. 
 There could be no mistaking their attitude ; it was that 
 of acknowledged lovers. 
 
 It did not take Thyra many minutes to realize this 
 fact ; then she fled to her room like one pursued, and, 
 slipping in the bolt, threw herself in a passion of 
 grief and anger on her bed. What a traitor Maran 
 had been! And her father was as bad! Oh, how 
 wretched she was ! She, who had been everything in 
 that house, had become nothing. She told herself 
 she would better go away, go anywhere, where she 
 could not be hourly made to see and feel her fall. It 
 was synonymous of her lost influence that she was 
 quite forgotten that night. No one asked after her; 
 no one bid her a good-night. The house was all still 
 and asleep before she could believe this, but a tip-toe 
 visit to the head of the stairs convinced her she might 
 as well go to sleep also. It was, after all, a fortu 
 nate neglect. In the morning her good Norse sense
 
 THYRA'S MARRIAGE 321 
 
 had put her angry emotions in their proper place. 
 She told herself, as she dressed, that she could do no 
 good to Thyra by complaining. It would be far 
 wiser for her to accept with apparent pleasure the 
 inevitable. And she was now just enough to acknowl 
 edge it was her own doing. She had shirked her duty* 
 as the mistress of her father's house; she had invited 
 Maran to take her place, yes, insisted on her doing 
 so. She had praised her to Paul without stint; 
 pointed out her many excellencies ; and left them con 
 tinually in each other's society; and then memory 
 keeping her sharpest shaft until the last bade her 
 remember, that it was she, herself, at that fateful 
 birthday party, who had joined their names together. 
 She could hear, as she recalled the fact, her own 
 sharp clear voice, touched with anger, saying, " Paul 
 Varrick and Maran Flett! " Furthermore, was she 
 not at that very time desiring to leave her father, and 
 her home, and look for circumstances which would 
 make her happier? Could she complain if the same 
 sense of her dissatisfaction had caused her father to 
 consider a little of his own future and his own happi 
 ness ? 
 
 " I deserve just what I have got," she said, throw 
 ing down her dressing comb with the words, in order 
 to give them emphasis, " but I need not make bad 
 worse. I will not let Maran tempt me to that folly, 
 whatever comes or goes." 
 
 So she went down with smiles, ignored the neglect
 
 322 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 of the previous night, and as soon as it was a good 
 moment, said, " Father, if thou art willing, I should 
 like to go South again. I have so much yet to learn 
 Lady Fraser will find me a home with some of her 
 friends and what do you think, Maran ? " 
 
 Maran looked at Paul, and Paul looked into his 
 teacup. Finally he answered, " Thou art of age, 
 now, Thyra. I have no right to hinder thee, by word 
 or deed, in any good thing thou wantest to do. I think 
 also the plan in thy mind is not bad." 
 
 " Say it is good for me, Maran," and she leaned 
 to the happy-looking woman and pulled her cap- 
 strings pleasantly. 
 
 " Well, then, I think it might be good for you ; I 
 do. You never wasted your time. You did very well 
 South before ; I don't wonder you want to try it again. 
 If I was your father, I would put nothing in your 
 way " 
 
 " Let the matter drop now, Thyra. We will all of 
 us think about it," said Paul, and he pushed his 
 plate aside, and rose hurriedly from the table. 
 It was hardly an hour afterward that he called 
 her in an excited manner, " Thyra, Thyra, come 
 here." 
 
 She answered the call at once, and saw him standing 
 at the foot of the stairs holding out a letter. " It will 
 be from Lord and Lady Fraser," he said, " look at the 
 sploring red seal and the crest on it." 
 
 It was from Lady Fraser, and its contents were
 
 THYRA'S MARRIAGE 323 
 
 an admirable fulfillment of Thyra's ardent desire. 
 And perhaps it was the very existence of this ardent 
 desire which brought this response to it; for, un 
 doubtedly, there are many cases in which desire creates 
 its own verifications ; so that our future may be often 
 conditioned by our present faith in it. At any rate, 
 Thyra held in her hand the desire of her heart. Lady 
 Fraser wrote from Barlock, their castle near Aber 
 deen. She said her lord had never been well since 
 Donald's death, and they had resolved to go for two 
 or three years to France, Italy, Greece, and perhaps 
 as far as Palestine. She wanted a companion, some 
 one to talk English with, someone to help her abuse 
 foreigners in general; and would Thyra accept the 
 position? They would give her one hundred pounds 
 a year, and love and thanks beyond money and 
 price. 
 
 Would Thyra go? She was enchanted at the pros 
 pect. She began to prepare herself at once. She 
 asked no questions about her father's or Maran's 
 future. She knew they could take care of their own 
 affairs, and on the last day of August again set sail 
 for Aberdeen in the Maid of Orkney. It pained her 
 to see how little she would be missed ; but she accepted 
 the effusive kindness of the&e last days as some atone 
 ment perhaps the only one possible. And was she 
 not herself glad to escape from circumstances gradu 
 ally environing her like a net. Yes, she was. Above 
 all things, she desired to be just; so she took grate-
 
 324 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 fully the affection offered, and did not worry herself 
 with inquiries as to whether she got all she ought to 
 have. 
 
 Nor did it trouble her much when, a month after 
 ward, she received a letter from her father and Maran 
 saying they were married. They signed themselves 
 her " loving father and mother," and she accepted the 
 gift of love at its face value. She was watching the 
 packing of trunks when the news came, but she took 
 time to write a long, loving letter congratulating her 
 father on his good wife, and Maran on her good hus 
 band. She told them all the news, personal, social, 
 and political, and so filled the letter with the aura 
 of her own hope and gladness, that Paul and Maran 
 were charmed. They could do nothing but talk of 
 their wonderful daughter, and Paul took the letter 
 to the Dominie to read. 
 
 " Thou seest," he said, " the little maid promises 
 to write to us from every city, and tell us all she hears 
 and sees." 
 
 " She is a good woman, a wise woman, too," an 
 swered the Dominie ; " and, Paul, there is only one 
 man worthy of her." 
 
 "Robert?" 
 
 " Just Robert. Professor Thorson." 
 
 " It will never be now." 
 
 " It will be, if it is to be. Half a year ago Maran 
 Flett was for running away from thee. Now she is 
 thy wife,"
 
 THYRA'S MARRIAGE 325 
 
 " She is, thank God ! A good wife, the best of 
 wives ! " 
 
 " To be sure. ' The best of wives ' is the com 
 monest kind; every man has one." 
 
 Before the winter came Lord Eraser's party were 
 on the way to Paris, but they did not remain long 
 there. Everything in those last days of French mon 
 archy appalled the Scotch nobleman; and they 
 quickly went eastward, wandering leisurely through 
 the storied cities of the Mediterranean, until they 
 finally fixed their home in an old palace on the out 
 skirts of Rome. 
 
 Then a latent taste for numismatics in Lord 
 Fraser asserted itself, and he found a constant in 
 terest in searching for old coins, and, secondarily, 
 for engraved seals. A prominent member of the 
 English colony of visitors in Rome was his friend 
 and companion ; and there were many delightful Eng 
 lish people sunning life away in the famous old city. 
 For all its mediaeval picturesqueness, and all its theo 
 logical splendor, was then in full sway; and in the 
 wide world there could not have been found such a 
 marvelous contrast to the gray, homely cities of Scot 
 land as this city on its seven hills. 
 
 Pleasantly and profitably three years passed, and 
 Thyra had become almost a daughter to her friends ; 
 and in the society they frequented she was much 
 admired. Many lovers sought her favor, but none 
 obtained it; and Lord Fraser, talking with his wife
 
 326 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 one night over what he called " Thyra's caprices," 
 wondered why this should be. " No nicer fellow in 
 all England than that Yorkshire squire," he said; 
 " why did she not take him, Cecilia? " 
 
 " I do not pretend to know, Fraser. I wonder if 
 she yet cares for MacDonald? " 
 
 " I don't believe she ever did care for him. Took 
 his marriage too sensibly. What do you say to the 
 other man the one she refused to marry ? " 
 
 " I say she refused to marry him ran away from 
 him it can't be he." 
 
 " Oh, I don't know that ! When MacDonald was 
 lost, her heart would go back to her first love doubt 
 less, its true love. Then also, women have a perverse 
 liking for what they have lost, or flung away. De 
 pend upon it, Cecilia, the other man is the person who 
 stands in the way of Thyra's marrying. I wish we 
 knew who and what he is ! " 
 
 " I will soon find that out ; and as you have begun 
 polishing your coins, I will go about the business 
 now." 
 
 So saying, she went in search of Thyra, whom she 
 found in the garden, sitting perfectly idle, and at 
 rest, enjoying the sunset and the warm scented air. 
 She made room for Lady Fraser beside her, and for 
 some minutes they spoke of the delicious climate and 
 its seductive incentive to doing nothing. Then Lady 
 Fraser said, " Why would you not marry Squire 
 Yeadon, Thyra ? He seemed to be all that any woman
 
 THYRA'S MARRIAGE 327 
 
 could desire. Is he not as handsome as the MacDon- 
 ald was ? " 
 
 " Much handsomer. It is not that. I do not love 
 him." 
 
 " You do not care now for the MacDonald ? " 
 " No, no, no ! He has passed out of my memory." 
 " Who is it, then, that you do care for? Tell me, 
 Thyra." 
 
 Then Thyra opened her heart to her friend, and 
 discovered all its secret sorrow and longing. " It is 
 the man I have always loved from my childhood," she 
 said ; " the man that I have treated so badly that I 
 am beyond his forgiveness." Then she confessed all 
 her folly, and all her cruelty to her true lover. " I 
 think I was under a spell," she continued, " for my 
 love for MacDonald was never a good or a happy 
 love. It led me into sin and disobedience, lying and 
 cruelty, from the first." 
 
 " Yet you did fret a great deal about MacDonald." 
 " I think now I was fretting more for myself for 
 my own loss, and humiliation, and evil doing, than 
 for Hector MacDonald. I never grudged Sara her 
 lover, or her husband; and if I wept when he was 
 under sentence of death, it was the horror of the death 
 and myself again. I had ceased to care for him 
 that way. I was caring then for Robert, fretting 
 
 about Robert " 
 
 " Robert? Who is Robert? An Orkney man? " 
 " Yes but he does not live in Orkney now."
 
 328 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 " Where does he live? " 
 
 " In Aberdeen." 
 
 " What is his full name Christian, and surname, 
 let me hear it all? " 
 
 " Robert Thorson." 
 
 " Professor Robert Thorson? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Good gracious, Thyra ! He was in Rome a week 
 ago. Lord Fraser was to have met him at a friend's 
 house ; but he had such a bad attack of gout that day, 
 he could not keep his engagement. And we did not 
 know, or we would have asked him here. You see, 
 child, what folly it is to be so reticent." 
 
 " In Rome a week ago ! Oh, dear ! I have missed 
 him again ! We shall never meet any more ! When 
 I was in Orkney, three years ago, he came there on 
 a short visit, and I hoped he would call and see me, 
 and forgive me; and he was kept away by the most 
 innocent and trifling misunderstanding. I have fretted 
 about it ever since. I think I shall never see him 
 again." 
 
 " Yes, you will. I have long wished to go home. 
 Now I am going. We shall be in Aberdeen soon after 
 the Professor, and then it will be your own fault if 
 you never see him again." 
 
 Then she hurried away to tell her lord who " the 
 other man " was ; and Lord Fraser was delighted. " I 
 always thought that girl had uncommon sense," he 
 said ; " Thorson must be a grand fellow. He knows
 
 THYRA'S MARRIAGE 329 
 
 more about coins, many say, than any Roman expert. 
 He is very learned ; learned, mind you, in six or seven 
 languages. What do you think of that? And as 
 handsome as a Greek god well, as a Norse god, any 
 way Baldur, rather than Apollo. I say, Cecilia, let 
 us go home, and get them married. They ought to 
 be married. It is a kind of religion to marry people 
 so fitted for each other. And I am tired to death of 
 Italy. I want to see the gorse and the heather miles 
 and miles of them Cecilia, if we hurried a little we 
 could be in Scotland for the grouse and blackcock." 
 
 The whole family were quickly touched with the 
 same " home " fever ; and in the early part of August 
 they had reached fair Lochbar. The exhilarating air 
 filled with the odors of sea and mountains the gray 
 ocean the dappled skies the blessed north 'winds 
 with the Arctic ozone in them the fragrance of the 
 thyme and lavender the glory of the August garden, 
 with its homely goodness of raspberries and goose 
 berries all these things were never so beautiful and 
 bountiful before. Lord Fraser now wondered " why 
 people were such fools as to seek in foreign lands 
 what they had so much better at home " ; and Lady 
 Fraser thought " they never would have been such 
 fools, but for the temptation of coins, and seals, and 
 such dead nonsense " ; and for a whole week this 
 charming freshness of home beauties and luxuries 
 gave them continued enthusiasms, and imparted to 
 life a full sense of their forgotten youths.
 
 330 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 One day when Lord Fraser was in Aberdeen he went 
 into a bookseller's shop, and Professor Thorson was 
 there. He spoke to him at once, regretted his 
 inability to meet him in Rome, and promptly asked 
 him to dine that night at Lochbar. The invitation 
 was as promptly accepted, and then, as speedily as 
 possible, Lady Fraser was informed of their coming 
 guest. 
 
 " So far, well, Fraser," she said, " but see you do 
 not put your foot in the matter. Do not appear until 
 the first dinner bell rings. I want this trouble at an 
 end before we sit down to eat. It will be so uncom 
 fortable to have a pair of estranged lovers at the 
 table. The Professor will not be able to talk, and I 
 doubt if Thyra will know what she is saying; and 
 neither of them will eat a mouthful and we shall 
 then very likely say something unfortunate." 
 
 Then Lady Fraser sat down with a book until 
 Thyra entered the room. " Thyra," she said, " I 
 wish you would dress for dinner a little earlier than 
 usual. Lord Fraser and I may be rather late ; so then 
 if the architect comes about the greenhouse addi 
 tion you can talk to him as well as anyone. You 
 know our plans. What are you going to wear to 
 night? " 
 
 " I don't know my little gray frock will do." 
 
 " Yes ; but I like you so much better in the pale 
 green however, please yourself." 
 
 " No ; I prefer to please you ; " so in an hour she
 
 THYRA'S MARRIAGE 331 
 
 appeared in a frock of palest green silk. There was 
 a good deal of white lace about the arras and bodice, 
 and among its folds a single red rose. Lady Fraser 
 laid her hand over it. " White heather would be so 
 much better," she said, " white and green ; then you 
 would look like a sea princess, as dear wee Donald used 
 to call you." 
 
 " Golden tangle and purple and scarlet algse would 
 be better." 
 
 " Green water and white sea foam white heather 
 is best; and you will find some blooming in pots at 
 the extreme end of the greenhouse. Put a little bunch 
 here and here and here; and bring me some for 
 the table. You need not hurry, dear; I am going to 
 dress myself now." 
 
 Yet she walked with Thyra to the greenhouse door, 
 and there was a sense of hurry in her own movements ; 
 for she saw Professor Thorson coming, and she feared 
 for the success of her plot. But when things are to 
 happen, all goes well, and this thing went to perfec 
 tion. Thyra was safe in the greenhouse when the 
 Professor entered the parlor. 
 
 " Ah, Professor ! " she said, " I must introduce my 
 self to you, and you to myself. Lord Fraser will be 
 here in a short time. I am so glad you have come, 
 for there is a flower in the greenhouse you must see, 
 or you will never forgive yourself." 
 
 She had led him to the door as she was speaking, 
 and opening it, she added, " walk to the very end, and
 
 332 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 you will see it standing by a pot of white heather. 
 I will join you in a short time." 
 
 Robert was smiling and expectant. He went 
 straight down the aisle of scent and beauty until he 
 came to a turn which revealed another aisle running 
 northward. Then he understood. Then he saw 
 Thyra with a bunch of white heather in her hand, 
 and as he looked, he saw her bend her lovely head, and 
 pin it to her bosom. The next moment Thyra saw 
 Robert. With eager face and wide-open eyes she 
 watched him hurrying toward her ; and his loving ex 
 clamation, " Thyra ! Thyra ! My dear, dear Thyra ! " 
 filled her heart with joy beyond words. 
 
 The next moment he had folded her in his arms. 
 He felt that she made no resistance. He felt that he 
 was welcome looked for loved. Yes; there was no 
 need of words in this reunion, words would come after, 
 but hearts have a subtler and more convincing elo 
 quence. Their eyes, the clasp of their hands, the 
 touch of their lips, had said more than speech could 
 ever say. There was a wonderful half-hour in the 
 greenhouse, and then they went into the parlor; and 
 were met by Lord and Lady Fraser with smiles of un 
 derstanding. Explanations were very easy, and after 
 dinner Lord Fraser magnanimously put his coins 
 aside, and advised the lovers to take a walk in the 
 garden, and " get all their explanations over." 
 
 And in that sweet solitude Robert craved and asked 
 that audible surrender which love on one of its sides
 
 THYRA'S MARRIAGE 333 
 
 always desires, and will not be satisfied without. He 
 asked with almost peremptory eagerness, " Wilt thou 
 now say to me, * Robert, I love thee? ' " and she an 
 swered, " I have always loved thee, Robert. When 
 I was a child I loved thee there was a time I think 
 I had lost my senses thou hast forgiven me? " 
 
 " I have forgotten all about that time. It was ap 
 pointed it was for our good the past has had its 
 due; it is now, and the future." 
 
 " Now, I love thee more than myself. I shall love 
 thee as long as I live." 
 
 " Thou must promise to love me for all eter- 
 nity." 
 
 " I will do that, if " 
 
 " There is no ' if.' Love fears not the grave. Love 
 is of the soul, and shares its immortality." 
 
 " I am thine forever, Robert." 
 
 " When wilt thou marry me ? " 
 
 " Whenever it is thy wish." 
 
 " Where wilt thou marry me ? " 
 
 " I wish to marry thee in Kirkwall. It was there 
 I shamed thee, and wronged thee. It is there I will 
 take wifehood from thy hands. I will take it with 
 all the joy and pride that may be. I am going to 
 see my father and Maran this month " 
 
 " And I will go with thee, and the Dominie shall 
 join our hands, and give us the bridal blessing. To 
 morrow thou must come and see thy house. It is a fair, 
 white house, in a large garden. It is covered with ivy,
 
 334 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 and the birds build everywhere in it; and the rooms 
 are large and well furnished, and whatever is lacking 
 thou shalt have it. Always I have known, that sooner 
 or later thou wouldst come to me. I have kept thy 
 home ready and waiting for thee." 
 
 Then Thyra told him all about Donald, and the 
 narrative solemnized and blessed their hearts, and 
 Robert said, " There is a large, bright room upstairs, 
 and we will call it ' Donald's room,' and there we will 
 hang his pictures, and his likeness, and bestow all his 
 books and treasures. And the best of our furniture 
 shall go into it, and it shall be the ' Prophet's Room ' 
 in our house; and whenever any good man comes to 
 the University to preach, he shall stay in it, and so 
 every visitor will have grace there, and it will be like 
 a little sanctuary for us when our hearts are troubled 
 or we are weary and heavy-laden." 
 
 All these plans were fully carried out. The Domi 
 nie got his letter asking him to " cry " the banns of 
 marriage between Robert Thorson and Thyra Var- 
 rick on a Sunday morning as he was going to church ; 
 for it had been marked " Haste! Haste! " and so de 
 livered to him, when otherwise it would have remained 
 in the mail until Monday morning. And Paul, who 
 went more fequently to church since his marriage, 
 was there that morning, and was so startled by the 
 news that he rose to his feet ; and Maran could hardly 
 refrain an exclamation ; and there was an audible stir 
 all through the congregation. But in due time the
 
 THYRA'S MARRIAGE 335 
 
 wedding followed the " crying," and the event made 
 a great stir in old Kirkwall. 
 
 Thyra had never looked more exquisitely lovely than 
 on her wedding-day. She was dressed in a gown of 
 the finest and whitest Dacca muslin, dotted all over 
 with silver stars. It was one of the lovely things her 
 father had brought her from India ; and he was proud 
 to see her wearing it. Everything about her was 
 beautiful, and she walked to the kirk leaning on the 
 arm of her father; Maran proudly following on the 
 arm of Professor Thorson. The streets were lined 
 with spectators and friends. Good will and blessings 
 were showered on them as they passed; and Robert 
 Thorson had that day a full atoning cup for all the 
 bitterness of the one he had been forced to drink six 
 years ago. For the love we have deserved will stand 
 faithfully by us ; we may rely on reaching it, and the 
 more space in our life and feeling it incloses, the more 
 space there will be for our future happiness. It is 
 through loving we learn to love.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 Two-and-Twenty Years^ and More 
 
 IN a book, marriage may be the end of a story ; in 
 reality, it is the beginning. In Robert's and 
 Thyra's experiences, all that had gone before 
 their marriage was but preparatory. Their love and 
 hatred, their disappointments and sufferings, rough- 
 hewn out of their apparently simple and happy lives, 
 had been shaped to a beautiful order by that gracious 
 Providence which turns our mistakes and misfortunes 
 into blessings. All they were that day had sprung 
 out of conditions man never would have selected as the 
 means of educating and uplifting. They were quite 
 conscious of this fact, and as they sat hand in hand, 
 full of joy and hope, they recalled together the won 
 derful events which had led them to their present 
 happiness and prosperity, gratefully acknowledging 
 that every one of them had had its lesson, and its 
 compensation. 
 
 So, equally yoked, they took up together the duties 
 and pleasures of life in the fair city of Aberdeen. 
 The large white house, covered with ivy, and shut up 
 in its sweet garden, became a very happy home, and, 
 as the years went on, had to be enlarged for the beau- 
 
 336
 
 TWO-AND-TWENTY YEARS 337 
 
 tiful boys and girls that grew within its pleasant 
 rooms to manhood and womanhood. There were three 
 boys Paul, and Donald, and Robert ; and three girls 
 Cecilia, and Maran, and Thyra. And every year 
 the whole family went for six weeks to Kirkwall, and 
 for these six weeks Paul and Maran were the happiest 
 people in the world. Then the gray house by the 
 gray sea became a house of song and laughter, of 
 inexpressibly happy tumult, and of delightful irregu 
 larity. 
 
 And as the boys grew in years the Meum and Tuum 
 was refit, and Paul himself taught them how to man 
 age her. They became then for a few weeks sailors 
 and fishers, and were as proud of their " oils " 
 perhaps more so as they were of their academic 
 gowns. As for the Thorson girls, they were, in 
 Maran's eyes, the most lovely and wonderful little 
 women in the world ; especially the smart, sonsy lassie, 
 with golden hair, that bore her own name. To her 
 Maran would have given the world if she could have 
 done so. 
 
 These annual visits of six or eight weeks made the 
 whole fifty -two wonderful to Paul and Maran. The 
 incidents crowded into them served for conversation 
 from one blissful period to another the things " the 
 children " had done and said what they were going 
 to do what they were likely to say their lovely 
 gowns their great abilities and their fine prospects. 
 And perhaps most treasured of all the delights be-
 
 338 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 longing to these summer holidays were the splendid 
 sermons Robert preached. All Kirkwall came to 
 hear them; all Kirkwall saw Paul listening with de 
 vout attention to his great son-in-law; and Maran 
 was happy to know that all Kirkwall saw her go to 
 her home leaning upon the arm of the preacher. On 
 these Sabbaths Maran was so exalted that she would 
 hardly have called King George " cousin." 
 
 Thus year went on after year; and it was only on 
 festival days or days of memorial that Robert and 
 Thyra counted their number, for happiness is no reck 
 oner of hours, and young Paul Thorson was off to In 
 dia, for the sea had called him from his very cradle. 
 Indeed, according to a Fife saying, he had " been born 
 with the sea in his mouth " the salt drop in his blood 
 had flavored his mother's milk. And young Donald 
 had taken his first degree, and was going to be a min 
 ister; while Robert, still in his boy's jacket, was talk 
 ing of battles and soldiers and predicting for himself 
 a career like Alexander's. 
 
 As for the girls, they had no " careers," and they 
 did not dream of them. They were growing up like 
 flowers in a well-watered garden ! good girls, sweet, 
 modest, and clever, with their hands in all womanly 
 ways. Their destiny was in the hands of God, and 
 they did not seek to take it into their own hands, or 
 to go out to a warfare for which they had no weapons. 
 
 This was a happy, purposeful life that Robert and 
 Thyra led among their children ; a life full of present
 
 TWO-AND-TWENTY YEARS 339 
 
 duties and pleasures, and reasonably looking forward 
 to declining years 
 
 " serene and bright, 
 And lovely as an Orkney night." 
 
 And the story of their love may well be left at this 
 point to the reader's own imagination. Yet on the 
 twenty-second anniversary of their wedding-day two 
 events occurred, almost simultaneously, which are 
 worth recounting, as they deal with the two men who 
 directly changed the whole current of Robert Thor- 
 son's and Thyra Varrick's lives. The festival fell upon 
 a Sabbath ; and it was a day of smur and rain and of 
 singular darkness for the end of August. But Robert 
 was in a happy mood ; he reminded Thyra of the date 
 and was sorry to hear her say she had " a bad head 
 ache and a singular depression of spirits." He an 
 swered, " It is the weather, dearest ; a storm from the 
 northward is coming, but it will soon blow over and 
 take thy headache with it." 
 
 Thyra, however, did not go to church with her 
 family, and Robert had a moment's regret that it 
 should be so. It broke a custom of more than twenty 
 years. Yet never had his congregation heard him 
 preach with such power. It was of the love of God 
 he spoke, and his words burned and the place felt as 
 if it was on fire the Lord, merciful and gracious; 
 the Lord, slow to anger; the Lord, who did not keep 
 His anger forever; the Lord, who removed our sins 
 from us as far as the east is from the west ; the Lord,
 
 340 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 who pitieth those that fear Him, even as a father 
 pitieth his children. "And why? " he asked, while 
 his voice grew tender as a woman's and rang out clear 
 as a silver trumpet " Why? Because He knoweth 
 our frame, He remembers He remembers that we are 
 dust remembers that we hold this treasure of Eternal 
 Life in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the 
 dust." 
 
 When the sermon was over he went down from the 
 pulpit and stood at the communion table, and, as he 
 waited there, he saw an officer in the uniform of an 
 English general come towards him. After a moment's 
 pause Robert walked to the railing of the communion 
 place and stood there. 
 
 " Doctor Thorson," said the soldier, " I have 
 watched and waited many years for this opportunity. 
 Twice over, I owe my life to you and yours I am 
 Hector MacDonald. I wronged you in many ways. 
 I am truly sorry. I crave your pardon, sir," and he 
 held out his hand. And Robert clasped it as he 
 answered : 
 
 " General, I forgave you when you slept by the 
 cairn of Maeshowe. The favor my wife asked for 
 you I would have asked also, if the opportunity had 
 been given me ; " and the grave, sweet smile which 
 accompanied these words testified to the warmth and 
 sincerity. The two men looked kindly at each other 
 for a moment, their hands unclasped, and they parted 
 forever in this world.
 
 TWO-AND-TWENTY YEARS 341 
 
 Thyra listened to this incident with a rather dis 
 senting face. " I am glad I was not there," she an 
 swered. " I do not think I could have taken his hand. 
 I wonder how thou couldst do it, Robert? " 
 
 " My dear one, we stood there in the holy place 
 of the communion. It was over its railing we clasped 
 hands. I thought at the moment Christ was between 
 us. I have no anger against the man; why should 
 I pretend it?" 
 
 " Yet he kept thee and me apart for six years." 
 
 " Six years of strange blessings, which made our 
 future what it is. If I had remained a fisher, and 
 thou " 
 
 " Forgive me, Robert. I am ill at ease to-day. 
 I know not what for." 
 
 " Thou wilt be better to-morrow. For the rest, I 
 am glad I saw my enemy again. He is now my 
 friend. We have washed away all the memories of 
 sin and sorrow between us." 
 
 And at that very hour Paul Varrick was undergoing 
 the far mightier lustration which death by water 
 brings to those worthy of it. The storm only brood 
 ing at Aberdeen was lashing the Orkney seas into 
 fury; and Paul, that day, would not accompany 
 Maran to church. " I cannot go with thee, Maran," 
 he said ; " the Shetland Lass is outside and like to 
 founder. I know all the poor fellows on her, and if 
 thou wilt go and pray for them, I will start for the 
 quay and see if I can do anything to help them."
 
 342 THYRA VARRICK 
 
 So Paul went his way, and the outlook was black 
 and dangerous. He thought, for a moment, how he 
 had stood with Robert, one week ago, on the same 
 spot and seen the ocean look like a blue wilderness, 
 and the masts of the ships like church spires. Now 
 the surf was thundering and boiling in the fissures of 
 the coast, the gale whistling loud, and the waves dark 
 with fate. The men on the Shetland Lass were cry 
 ing out for help ; and their sinking boat smashing into 
 the black hollows of the waters raving with a sinister 
 malignity. Paul looked at the sea and the boat, then 
 as he tightened the strings of his sou'wester, he went 
 to the Meum and Tuum and began to loose her fas 
 tenings. She looked half alive, and ready for the 
 struggle ; and Paul called out, " Gabriel, Sam, Hakon, 
 are you ready? " There was half a moment's hesita 
 tion, and he added passionately, " For Christ's sake, 
 men! " and at these words they leaped on board as one 
 man; strong-armed, lion-faced, with set teeth and 
 steady eyes, they were ready. 
 
 Paul took charge of the Meum and Tuum. He 
 knew all her moods and tempers, when to coax and 
 when to urge her, and could drive her along by tack- 
 ings that no one else understood. They were only 
 just in time; but they were in time; and they saved 
 the five men ; not one of them was lost ; so with thank 
 ful hearts they turned to the land. Paul had the 
 helm and was managing the boat beautifully ; encour 
 aging and humoring her till he could catch the nick
 
 TWO-AND-TWENTY YEARS 343 
 
 of time for helm up, then trusting to send her in like 
 a thunderbolt. But in his careful watch of sea and 
 wind he forgot himself ; and a great wave, with a race 
 and a roar, went over the boat, and carried Paul with 
 it. 
 
 For a moment he was not missed, but any moment 
 would have been too late. He had gone swiftly down 
 to the grave by the road of the sea, carrying with him 
 as a guerdon and a ransom the lives of the five men 
 he had saved. For blessed is that man, who, with a 
 full consciousness that the sacrifice may be accepted, 
 can yet offer his life a salvation for others. 
 
 Also, it was the death Paul had always desired ; and 
 Robert comforted Thyra with this remembrance: 
 " We must rejoice with thy dear father," he said, as 
 he took a book from its place, and opened it where 
 there was a paper mark : " three times he made me read 
 him this happy prophecy of Teiresias in Hades, and 
 wished that it might be his lot : * Thme own death 
 shall come upon thee from the sea a gentle death, 
 which shall end thy smooth old age, and the folks shall 
 dwell happily around thee.' Thy father wished the 
 sea to find him one of her clean, cool graves, and he 
 has his desire. 
 
 " ' A peace he has, that none may gain who live; 
 And rest about him, that no love could give ; 
 And over him while life and death shall be, 
 The light, and sound, and darkness of the sea.' "
 
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