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AN ADVENTURE IN THIILE. 
 
 By WILLIAM BLACK. 
 
 Author of " Macleod of Dare,'" " The Four Macnicois^'' " A Princess of 
 TAuJe;' « T/iat BemtifiU WrOch;' Etc, 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 High up on one of the headlands ot the island of Lewis, 
 two young lads were idly seated on the grass, sometimes pluck- 
 ing a head of Dutch clover, sometimes turning their eyes to a 
 group of small islands which lay far out at the horizon line, 
 beyond the wide blue spaces of the Atlantic. It was a warm, 
 still, beautiful day. The sea was calm : those low-lying islands 
 out there were faint and pale like clouds. 
 
 *' Archie," said the elder (speaking in Gaelic, of which the 
 following is a translation), " I saw one of the French smacks 
 go by this morning." 
 
 " I saw her, too," replied the younger lad, who was the 
 schoolmaster's son. 
 
 There was nothing said for a time. The bees hummed 
 among the clover ; the collie lying near sleepily winked his 
 eyes ; and Colin McCalmont, the taller of the two lads, kept 
 his gaze directed on the pale blue islands out at the horizon. 
 At length he said : 
 
s AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 
 
 " Archie, my father is a hard-working man ; and it is not 
 easy now to make the farms pay, with the rents high and sheep 
 not selling well at the market. My father has not his troubles 
 to seek, as the minister says. And to think that these French- 
 men should be allowed to go and kill a sheep, just as they 
 want it, when they are going by Farriskeir or Rua ; that is 
 what angers me." 
 
 " And me, too," said Archie Livingstone, " though it is not 
 my father's sheep they kill. It angers me because they are. 
 Frenchmen ; yes, and thieves besides. But what can you do, 
 Colin ? " 
 
 They were still regarding the far islands. 
 
 " If my father would let me," McCalmont said/*' I'd go out 
 and live on Farriskeir until all the French smacks had gone by 
 to Iceland, If they knew any one was on Farriskeir or Rua, 
 that would be enough. They would soon talk about it among 
 themselves, and there would be no more stealing of my fa- 
 ther's sheep. Do you think I would be afraid ? I would not 
 be afraid. I would build myselt a hut, for there is plenty of 
 wood washed up since the big vessel went ashore on Rua." 
 
 " Colin," said the other, after awhile, " I have something 
 to tell you. Do you know my horse-pistol ? " 
 
 " Of course I know it." 
 
 " Would it not be a fine thing, now, if you and I were to go 
 out to Farriskeir and hide behind the rocks, and when the 
 Frenchmen were coming near we might have a shot at them ? " 
 
 " Yes, and maybe kill some one," said the other, scornfully. 
 "That would be a fine thing. It would be a fine thing to be 
 hanged." ^. 
 
 "^How could they hang you for that ? " said the schoolmas- 
 ter's son. " If a man comes into your house to steal your 
 money, you may shoot at him ; and if he comes to your island 
 to steal your sheep, why not the same ? Besides he is a 
 Frenchman. The sheriff at Stornoway would not say any- 
 thing to you for shooting at Frenchman." 
 
 " I don't know that. I am not going to try," said the elder 
 lad, with a grim sort of a smile. " But I will tell you now, 
 Archie, what would be a fine thing. Do you think we could 
 slip away to Farriskeir without being seen ? There is no one 
 going down to the boat just now ; they would not miss it at 
 all. And if any one were asking for us, would they not think 
 we had gone up to the sheilling with bread for Mary and Ailasa 
 <knd the rest of them ? 
 
 " Well, now, if we could slip away out to Farriskeir and lie 
 
AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 3 
 
 behind the rocks, just as you were saying, and if one of the 
 French boats was to come near, where would be the harm in 
 giving a shot in the air ? Do you see that now ? Foi they 
 would not dare to land ; and when they got up to Reikiavik in 
 Iceland they would tell all the other boats that they had been 
 fired at, and that people lived on Farriskeir aud Ruaveg now ; 
 and not another Frenchman would ever come near the place 
 again, 
 
 " Do you see that now ? They would sjo away up to Reik- 
 iavik and they would say, 'There is to be no more stealing a 
 sheep from Farriskeir and making a laugh over it. They have 
 people on Farriskeir now,' And the Frenchmen can under- 
 stand each other very well, though no one else can make out 
 what they say." 
 
 " I will go with you, Colin ; we will try it ! " said the other, 
 eagerly. *' My father will not be back from Stornoway till the 
 Friday night. But about the powder, Colin ; I have no pow- 
 der, and you cannot fire the horse-pistol without powder." 
 
 However, there were a great many things to be arranged 
 besides getting powder before this exploit could be ventured 
 upon ; and they set about completing these details according 
 to their different temperaments ; the younger lad, who was a 
 great reader of books, hlied with an eager delight at the ro- 
 mance of the enterprise ; the elder animated chiefly by a sober 
 determination that he would do what he could to prevent any 
 more of his father's sheep being stolen. Indeed, it was not 
 until late in the afternoon that Colin McCalmont found time 
 to make his way up Glen-Estera, to Sir Evan Roy's shooting- 
 box there, that he might beg some gunpowder of Dugald Mc- 
 Lean, the game-keeper. 
 
 He found McLean — who was the sole occupant of the lodge 
 at this timq of the year — seated on the bank of the stream 
 that flowed past the house. He was contentedly smoking his 
 pipe and regarding a noble salmon that lay on the grass, while 
 his rod was not far off. Colin had to pull his wits together in 
 addressing the keeper, who had not the best of tempers. 
 
 " Eh, but that's a fine fish, Mr. McLean ! " said he ; the rest 
 of the people called the keeper plain Dugald, so this was a 
 cunning compliment. " That is a fine fish, indeed. I have 
 heard them saying there was not a better salmon-fisher in the 
 Lewis than yourself. They were saying you could throw a fly 
 two-and-forty yards. Some day I will be asking you to teach 
 me how to throw a fly." 
 
 " You will be better minding your own business at the 
 
4 AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 
 
 farm." said the keeper, rather gruffly (and also speaking in 
 Gaelic). " What brings you to Glen-Estera > " 
 
 " There is not much doing at the farm at this time of the 
 year. I was thinking, Mr. McLean, that perhaps you could 
 spare me a little gunpowder." 
 
 " Gunpowder ! " the keeper exclaimed, angrily. " To make 
 pioyes of and set your father's barn on fire ? It is a fool that 
 you are, Colin, and more, to think that I will be giving you any 
 gunpowder ! " 
 
 The ^oxA pioyssA^ applied in Scotland to a small cone made 
 of gunpowder kneaded with water until the powder forms a 
 sort of paste. When the tip of the cone is lit it begins to 
 sputter and hiss like a miniature Vesuvius. 
 
 " Indeed, it's you who are wrong then, Mr. McLean, to 
 think I was wanting gunpowder iox pioyes " said Colin, stur- 
 dily. " I am no longer at school ; it is not pioyes that I am 
 thinking of." And then he cast about for an excuse. " I am 
 sure there is no one who knows better than yourself of the 
 mischief that the hoodies make." Hoodies are a species of 
 crow held in much disfavor by the preservers of game in the 
 Highlands. 
 
 " Oh," continued the boy, "they are the mischievous birds ! 
 The young grouse — the young black game — have no peace for 
 them ; but worse than that is the time of the eggs in the 
 springtime. Surely you will know, Mr. McLean, that when a 
 young lad is looking after the sheep, he has many chances of 
 seeing the nests," 
 
 And here it seemed suddenly to strike the keeper that he 
 was neglecting one of the chief elements of his busines:^ — - 
 which was to keep on friendly terms with the men and lads 
 about the different farms. 
 
 " Now that is a good thing I am told about you, Colin, my 
 lad," said he, in quite a different tone ; " that you do not take 
 the eggs for foolishness or mischief, and that you do not let 
 the dogs chase the young coveys or the hares ; and that you 
 are a sensible lad, and you may have a farm yourself some 
 day from Sir Evan." 
 
 " It is not wrong what you have heard about the nests," said 
 Colin, modestly. " And I keep in the dogs, too, though the 
 young dogs are eager after the hares. And I was saying about 
 the hoodies ; Archie Livingston has a pistol, and if you were 
 to be giving me a little gunpowder from time to time, I think 
 I could kill a hoodie or two when there was nothing doing 
 but the minding of the sheep." 
 
AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 5 
 
 The keeper rose to his feet. 
 
 " There is a job for you, Colin, my lad. Bring the fish 
 into the house, and I will give you some powder." 
 
 Very joyously did Colin obey ; for, besides his immediate 
 want being supplied, he had now before him the prospect of 
 unlimited stalking expeditions — along the shore and up over 
 the rocks after the detested hoodie-crows. And if he did 
 not tell Dugald McLean for what immediate purpose he 
 wanted some powder, it was because he knew very well that 
 McLean would instantly speak of the matter and compel 
 him to abandon so dangerous an enterprise. 
 
 They went into the lodge, and the keeper, who was now 
 quite friendly in his gruff way, gave him some powder in a 
 small tin canister, and even offered him some percussion caps 
 too ; but McCalmont explained that the horse-pistol was 
 fired by flint and steel. Then he set out on his way down 
 Glen-Estera again. 
 
 When he got back to the coast and near to the headland 
 which had been mentioned, instead of ascending the height, 
 he went down and struck across some broad white sands 
 which in former times were no doubt covered by the sea. 
 
 Then he reached a belt of rock facing the Atlantic, and in 
 a small sheltered creek discovered Archie Livingston busy at 
 work overhauling the small sailing-boat that lay at its moor- 
 ings there. Archie looked up startled, for he had not heard 
 his friend's approach — the sands being soft to the foot. 
 
 " They are often saying that Dugald McLean is an 
 uncivil man," Colin McCalmont remarked, as he stepped 
 into the boat that his companion had now shoved alongside 
 the rock, " but he is not that. He has given me a good deal 
 of powder, and I am to have more, too, for shooting the 
 hoodies ; and 1 think you and I, Archie, will have many a 
 good day after the hoodies. They do not fly so quick as the 
 birds the gentlemen go after ; but they are a great deal 
 more cunning, and it is not easy to get at them. He is not 
 an uncivil man at all, but a very civil man ; and he knows 
 that we do not let the dogs chase the young birds. Did you 
 bring down the bottle of water, Archie ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, I brought down the bottle of water, and it's in 
 the locker. And I have gone all over the boat, Colin, and 
 tried the sheets ; and, if I were you, it's a new topping-lift I 
 would be having." 
 
 But Colin did not seem quite reassured by the fact that his 
 younger companion had inspected the vessel that was to 
 
6 AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 
 
 carry them away from the land in the morning ; so now, in 
 the gathering dusk, he set to work himself and had a thorough 
 investigation. 
 
 " The topping-lift will do very well," said he, " for it is not 
 in any gale that we are going. With a north wind or a south 
 wind I will go, with an east wind or west wind I will 
 not go. If we were to be beating against a wind 
 either going or coming, would not some one see us sooner or 
 later? And you know very well, Archie, that it is not a sure 
 thing that we may see any French smack come near, though 
 now is the time of their passing; and that would* be a fme 
 thing to have all the people making a joke of us, and saying : 
 
 " ' Look at the boys that went out to frighten the French- 
 men and came running back without seeing any.' 
 
 " I would not like that, neither would you ; but it is I that 
 would have to do the quarrelling, if there was any quarrel- 
 ling. But now, if there is a nice steady wind from either 
 north or south in the morning, then we will run away out in 
 a short time and get the boat hidden in a creek at Farriskeir ; 
 and the topping-lift will do very well," and with that he gave 
 another haul at it, swinging the end of the boom up into the 
 air. 
 
 Now when everything had been made fast and secure for 
 their voyage on the morrow — the main-sail having been 
 lowered and stowed — Archie was called upon to produce 
 the weapon which was to give a wholesome warning to the 
 French fishermen to avoid the shores of Farriskeir and its 
 adjacent islands. 
 
 It was a large cavalry pistol, somewhat dilapidated, but 
 showing traces of ancient adornment. Archie had freshly 
 oiled and polished it , he had put a newly-clipped flint in the 
 hammer, and when his companion struck the flint on the 
 empty pan (the sparks shone with a sudden brilliancy in the 
 gathering dusk) the lock worked easily. 
 
 " I would try a little powder in it, Colin," suggested the 
 younger lad. 
 
 " The night is so still they would hear it up at Dunvorgan," 
 *»aid the elder lad, who was the more prudent of the two. 
 
 " It will be giving no sound at all, Colin, if there is no 
 wadding in the barrel. You will put a little powder in the 
 barrel and a little powder in the pan, and then you will see if 
 the little hole is all clear." 
 
 Well, there could be no objection to that, and so Colin 
 produced his precious canister, and very grudgingly meas 
 
AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 7 
 
 ured out a few grains for the exiDeriment. The result was 
 quite satisfactory. There was the sharp cUck of the descend- 
 ing flint, and almost at the same moment a flash of red flame 
 in the darkness. 
 
 So the pistol was carefully wrapped up in the old stocking 
 that was its customary case, and deposited in the locker 
 along with the bottle of water and the oatmeal cakes which 
 were their store for the forthcoming voyage. 
 
 Then the two lads got ashore again, and in the dusk made 
 their way across the M'hite sands and away up toward Dun- 
 vorgan farm. For a time they were silent. 
 
 "I have been thinking, Archie," said the elder of the 
 two at last, " that it would not be a nice thing if the crew of 
 the smack were to land and hunt us out. What would we do 
 then ? " 
 
 The other made no reply. 
 
 " There would be five or six of them, Archie, and if they 
 were to land they would catch us, even if we were to go into 
 the cave at the point opposite Rua. And if they were to 
 catch us, Archie, it is not you and 1 that would be able to 
 fight six of them." 
 
 And again, " I was thinking, Archie, that it would be 
 better if I was to go by myself. It is not right that you 
 should go into a risk for the sake of my father's sheep ; that 
 is foolishness ; I can manage the boat very well by myself." 
 
 " Then you can give me back my pistol," said the other, 
 who was evidently deeply hurt. " If you think I am afraid, 
 you can give me back my pistol." 
 
 " I did not say you were afraid. I said there was a reason 
 for my going, and there was no reason for your going. If 
 there was to be a fight, what would you do ? " 
 
 " What would you ? Do you think I am more afraid 
 of the French fishermen than you ? Very well, then, I will 
 take back my pistol." 
 
 Colin very soon perceived that his companion was bent on 
 sharing this enterprise, whatever peril it might involve, and at 
 last a compromise was affected ; Archie Livingston agreeing 
 that, in the event of the French fishermen venturing to land 
 to discover who had fired at them, he should be the first to 
 make for the little natural cave in the rocks that both the lads 
 knew well, and that Colin should be allowed to look about a 
 little and see what was likely to happen before seeking the 
 same place of refuge. 
 
 It may be presumed that neither of the lads slept very 
 
8 AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 
 
 much that night ; for, besides the excitement of the enter- 
 prise, they had agreed to meet down at the Httle creek not 
 later than half-past four in the morning.' And, as each went 
 stealthily his own way to the place of rendezvous, a fair, still 
 dawn was breaking over land and sea, and everything gave 
 promise of a beautiful day. Moreover, the slight cool 
 breeze of the morning was blowing up from the south ; it was 
 a fair wind to carry them out to the islands, where they were, 
 to lie in wait for the Frenchmen. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 The setting forth of the two lads on their voyage to the 
 far islands on the horizon was managed with all due secrecy 
 and despatch, for both of them were well aware that, if the 
 people at the farm got to know on what mission they were 
 bent, they would immediately be stopped. But once away 
 from the shore they grew more confident ; and they could 
 call to each other freely — Archie Livingston having been sent 
 to the bow as a sort of lookout. 
 
 " Archie," called out the elder lad, who was at the stem, 
 with the sheet of the mainsail in his hand and his elbow on 
 the tiller, " they cannot stop us now." 
 
 "That they cannot, Colin." 
 
 " And do you think that Ailasa and Mary and the rest of 
 them up at the sheilling will be awake and out yet .'' " 
 
 " No doubt they will be awake and out," said the younger 
 lad — both of them speaking in Gaelic. 
 
 " For, if any one is to see us they will be the first to see us, 
 from the hillside. Yes, and maybe they are saying now, 
 * There is the boat going out ; and who can be in the boat ? 
 and what does any one want to go to Farriskeir for? ' Well, 
 they will not be guessing that easily." 
 
 " Colin," said the younger lad, " it will be a hard thing if we 
 have taken all this trouble and find none of the French fisher- 
 men coming near. I suppose you have heard that the French 
 ships were always running away when they were told that 
 Nelson was coming after them : and that it was not easy for 
 him to fight them because he could not tpU where they were ? 
 Well, they are not running away from us ; but it will be just 
 as bad if we do not find anv of the smncks comins: near 
 
AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 9 
 
 Farriskeir or Ruaveg. And then what will you say when you 
 go back ? " 
 
 "You are afraid of being laughed at," said the elder lad, 
 " that is what I am thinking. You are afraid they will say, 
 ' There are the boys who went out to frighten the Frenchmen 
 and could not find them.' But answer me this, Archie ; if we 
 do not tell them why we went out, how will they know ? " 
 
 " If they have seen us from the sheilling, Ailasa, or Red- 
 haired Maggie, or one of them will be asking," said the other, 
 diffidently. 
 
 " Yes, they will be asking ; it is the way of girls. But that 
 is no need why we should tell. And this is what I am 
 thinking of, Archie : if there is not any French smack coming 
 near the islands, well, we will go back to the wreck, and there 
 are many things that we can pick up ; and why should we not 
 bring away a boatful of the spars and planks that my father 
 drew above the water-mark at Rua .'' 
 
 " It is very useful these things are at the farm ; and the 
 last time we were out, we had not an inch of spare room in 
 the boat when we were coming back, such a load we had ; and 
 if the girls at the sheilling hear that we have brought back a 
 cargo of wood from Ruaveg, what then ? Where will be their 
 questions then ? " 
 
 They were now well away from the land ; and so steady 
 was this light breeze from the south that the navigation of the 
 boat involved no great care. The helmsman could with 
 sufficient security turn from time to time to regard the familiar 
 landmarks they were leaving behind — the wide white sands, 
 the masses of rock, and far beyond and above these the 
 giant peaks of Mealasabhal and Suainabhal, all faintly colored 
 by the morning sun. 
 
 Or again, he would stand up in the boat to get a better 
 look at the islands ahead ; and these, as the distance gradually 
 grew less, were beginning to show distinctive features along 
 their shores. 
 
 But of any French smack or other vessel they could find no 
 sign whatever. As far as their eyes could reach, this wide 
 circle of the blue Atlantic seemed to belong to themselves. 
 Once, indeed, they caught sight of the topsails of a brigantine, 
 the rest of the vessel being below the horizon ; but apparently 
 she was beating down against the southerly breeze, and, 
 having put about, was soon lost to view. 
 
 " It will be no harm if we get out to the islands without 
 any one seeing us," said Colin McCalmont. '' It vnll be a 
 
10 AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 
 
 great deal better. For if one of the smacks was to see us 
 going out, and if another smack was to take the word to 
 Reikiavik that there were people now on Farriskeir, and that 
 they had guns, then there would be a great laughing, and some 
 of them would be for saying, ' Why, are you frightened ? It is 
 no one but two boys who are on Farriskeir ; for we saw them 
 going out. And are you frightened because you heard the 
 boys shooting at the curlews ? " 
 
 " That is true what you say, Colin ; and anyway we will 
 take back a load of wood with us," said the younger lad, who 
 was very clearly anxious that the girls at the sheiiling should 
 have no cause to jeer at them. 
 
 And now the islands grew more and more distinct ; and, as 
 they drew nearer and nearer, the lads could see and hear that 
 their appearance was causing a vast commotion among the 
 innumerable wild-fowl that filled the air with their cries. The 
 curlews uttered their warning whistle as they wheeled high in 
 the air ; the sea-pyots whirred along close to the water ; the 
 terns came flying overhead, screaming angrily as they dipped 
 and rose again. And what was that great shapeless black 
 thing, that lay on a spur of rock not nearly as large as itself ? 
 
 " Colin," the younger lad cried, " look at that now ! The 
 wreck is not all gone away yet ; and they were saying she 
 would go to pieces before two days or three days were over, 
 and not an inch would be left of her." 
 
 " There is not more than a third of her left now," Colin 
 McCalmont said ; "and it is nothing but a lump of old iron 
 she is. But we will go round the point of Rua and' look at 
 her. Slack the lee jib-sheet a bit, Archie; maybe we will get 
 something out of her that may be of use at the farm." 
 
 " I would not go too near, Colin," said the younger of the 
 two, "for she might tumble over on us." 
 
 " Tumble over on us ! " said the other, with a laugh of deri- 
 sion. " When she has stood out two gales ! " 
 
 But indeed when they rounded the point of one of the small 
 islands and drew nearer to this great broken mass of iron 
 perched high on a narrow ledge of rock, it was a gruesome 
 sight, and they approached with caution. For one thing, they 
 had lowered their mainsail, and had taken to the oars, back- 
 ing the stern of the boat towards the wreck (which towered 
 high above them), so that they could see how near they could 
 go in safety. 
 
 Huge as this rent and shattered fragment of a vessel seemed, 
 the steamer had been of no great size ; but when, on a pitch- 
 
AN ADVENTURE IN l^HULE. ii 
 
 dark night, and the captain having made some mistake about 
 the lights along the coast, her stem was suddenly jammed on 
 to this rock, her impetus was great enough to lift her up the 
 shelving ledge, so that at low-water her keel forward was high 
 and dry. But her back was broken ; and the first heavy sea 
 that came rolling in from the west knocked her boilers out and 
 tore down her stern into deep water, leaving nothing stand- 
 ing but the bow, which now presented an extraordinary 
 appearance. 
 
 Outside the hull was black ; but inside everything was red 
 with rust ; and as the two lads backed their boat until this 
 riven mass of confusion seemed almost over their heads, there 
 was something awful in the evidence everywhere around of 
 the tremendous force of the sea. 
 
 The twisted girders, the thick iron plates, torn from their 
 rivets and bent about as if they had been made of pasteboard, 
 the iron cables snapped as if they had been so many watch- 
 chains — all this spoke of a frightful combat ; and seemed so 
 strange, now, with this placid blue sea ail around, and all 
 around, too, a silence broken only by the distant calling of 
 the curlews. 
 
 The two lads regarded this picture of ruin and desolation 
 without uttering a word, apparently overawed by it ; but at 
 last Colin McCalmot said, 
 
 " Archie, do you not think I could climb up inside of her ? 
 there might be something that one could find." 
 
 " Indeed you will get nothing but cut fingers with the 
 broken iron," said Archie Livingston, with decision. " Did 
 they not take everything out of her ? And vhat would you 
 say now if one of the plates of iron weie to fall on you ? '' 
 
 The elder lad was still looking up, however, at the shattered 
 remnant of the vessel. 
 
 " Archie, back her a bit more ; and I will see if I can get 
 up to the lower deck there." 
 
 The younger boy did as he was bid, though rather reluc- 
 tantly ; and it was with a trifle of dismay that he beheld his 
 companion clamber on to the wreck and begin to work his 
 way up among the rusty iron. Then he saw him reach what 
 remained of the lower deck, where there was still some wood- 
 work ; and after searching about for a while he picked up 
 something. 
 
 " Look here, Archie," he called out (his voice sounding hol- 
 low in the shell of the wreck). I have found a pair of deer's 
 
13 AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 
 
 horns. Take care, now, and I will throw them down to 
 you." 
 
 The next moment the horns fell on the lowered mainsail 
 and rebounded into the bottom of the boat. 
 
 " What is the use of them ? " the younger lad cried — ^for he 
 did not like the look of his companion clambering about up 
 there. " If you want deer's horns, you will find them along 
 the shore. It was part of her cargo. What is the use of 
 deer's horns 1 " 
 
 However, something now happened that brought back 
 Colin McCalmont speedily enough into the boat, without any 
 further remonstrance. In crossing over to the other side of 
 this lower deck he found a place where he could look out to 
 sea ; and of course at this height his view was far more 
 extensive than that obtainable from the little sailing-boat be- 
 low. 
 
 " I can see a big steamer away out tliere," he called, looking 
 toward the west. " Where can she be going now t There is 
 no steamer of that size will be going to Iceland." 
 
 The next minute, as he turned to the southern horizon, 
 something caught his eye which provoked no exclamation, but 
 which caused him to hurry down from the wreck in half the 
 time it had taken him to climb up. 
 
 " Archie," said he, in an excited whisper — although the 
 boat he had seen was still miles off — " do you know this , 
 There is a French smack coming up. I am sure of it — I know 
 it — there is no other vessel that would be coming so near the 
 land. 
 
 " Be quick, now, Archie ; we will row round to Farriskeir \ 
 I will not put the sail on her at all ; we will row through the 
 channel between Farriskeir and Rua, and maybe we will have 
 her in the little harbor before they can see us. Do you under- 
 stand that now ? " 
 
 Archie Livingston took his oar quickly enough ; though, 
 to tell the truth he was somewhat alarmed. The adventure 
 had been so far pleasant and romantic in its way ; but it as- 
 sumed a new aspect when he definitely knew that a crew of 
 French fishermen were coming along, and probable danger 
 at hand. He did not speak at all ; and both knew equally 
 well the course they had to make. They rowed away from 
 the wreck, then along a narrow and tortuous channel be- 
 tween two islands ; then they beheld before them the open sea 
 again. 
 
/iN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 13 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 " Do you see her ? " said Colin McCalmont, in the same 
 low voice, as if the Frenchmen could hear at that distance. 
 
 " Yes," was the reply, as the younger lad descried the 
 small dot of a vessel away down there in the south. 
 
 " Do you not think that is one of the smacks ? " 
 
 " That is what I think." Then he added : " Colin, if they 
 go by peaceably, and do not try to kill one of your father's 
 sheep, we need not do anything ? They will not know we are 
 here." 
 
 " What did I come out for ? " said the other scornfully. 
 " What did I come out for but to let every one of them know 
 we are here ? I want it talked about at Reikiavik ; that is 
 what I am thinking of. I do not wish to have any more of 
 my father's sheep killed. I wish them to take the story to 
 Reikiavik that there are people on Farriskeir now, and that if 
 any one goes near to Farriskeir to have a shot at the sheep — ' 
 well, the shooting may not be all on one side. It is not for 
 nothing that I have come out to Farriskeir." 
 
 They rowed round the southern end of the island, and then 
 to the eastern side made their way into a small, naturally 
 formed harbor which was protected by a low ridge of rock 
 Over this rock the mast of the boat could be seen easily 
 enough ; and that was what Colin McCalmont wanted. Evey 
 if the French fishermen did not approach the island, they 
 would at least see the mast of the boat (provided they came 
 that side), and would so gather that Farriskeir was not always 
 to be a happy hunting-ground for them. 
 
 They got the anchor ashore, and made the boat fast ; then 
 they had their own movements to consider. 
 
 " Archie," said the elder, " if you are afraid, go away to the 
 cave at the end of the island ; they will never think of search- 
 ing that." 
 
 " Whether I am afraid or not is no great matter," said the 
 other ; " it is where you are that I am going to be." 
 
 " Oh, very well, then ; we will now set about loading the 
 pistol." 
 
 The pistol they had brought ashore with them ; likewise 
 the canister of powder, some wads, and a small paper bag full 
 of shot. 
 
 " Are you going to put shot into it, Colin ? " said the younge* 
 
14 AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 
 
 boy, somewhat timidly, when his companion had filled in the 
 powder and rammed the wad home. 
 
 " Well, now, it is much more than I that you will know about 
 this pistol, Archie ; but I was thinking if there were some 
 shot put into it, it would make the greater noise, and be more 
 like a gun. What do you say to that now ? " 
 
 " But you will not fire at them ? " 
 
 Colin McCalmont laughed derisively — but not very loudly. 
 
 " And that is a very fine thing ! " said he. " Who was it 
 that wanted at the very beginning to have a shot at the 
 Frenchmen ? Who was it that was not afraid of the sheriff at 
 Stornoway ? " 
 
 " But it would be a dreadful thing to kill a man, Colin." 
 
 " Now that is the truth you are speaking, like the old man 
 of Ross. The old man of Ross never said anything truer 
 than that. And it is not that I want to be taken before the 
 sheriff at Stornoway. No ; I am putting in shot to make a 
 fine good noise ; but afterwards I may also put in shot ; do 
 you see that now ? This time it is to make a noise, and 
 give them a story to carry to Reikiavik ; that time it will 
 be if they want to land and chase us. And then every one 
 for himself; that was what the weasel said when he went 
 home." 
 
 " Colin," said the younger lad, timidly, " when we were 
 coming near the island I saw two wild swans fly away. It 
 is not a good sign to see the wild swans fly away from the 
 island." 
 
 " Your head is full of nonsense," said the other scorn- 
 fully. 
 
 " They say the wild swans are princesses," continued Archie 
 Livingston, not heeding the taunt, " that were changed by 
 magic. And it is not a good thing to see them fly away when 
 you come near the land." 
 
 " It is many and many a wild swan I have seen — ^yes, 
 thirty of them together, washing themselves and flapping 
 their wings in Loch an-Innis ; but never yet one that would 
 wait till you could put salt on its tail. Archie, my lad, your 
 head is full of nonsense. But if you are afraid of wild 
 swans, or princesses, or anything else, then there is the 
 cave for you ; and you can leave me to deal with the frog- 
 eaters. This is what I am afraid of : that they may not 
 come near enough — it is not the wild swans that I am afraid 
 of." 
 
 " And if I am afraid, I am not going to run away," said 
 
AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 15 
 
 his companion. " That is the one tiling I am not going to 
 do. Where you are, Colin, it is there I am going to be." 
 
 " Very well, then, we will go and get a good hiding-place 
 behind the rocks ; and you will be very quiet, Archie, so that, 
 if they think about landing to steal a sheep, we will see it 
 very plainly ; and then, after the shot, you will do as I do — 
 but not a word all the time." 
 
 It was not without a great deal of difficulty and cautious 
 experimenting that Colin McCalmont found a suitable hiding- 
 place for himself and his companion. But at last he discov- 
 ered an abrupt little hollow behind a ledge of rock, where, 
 himself unseen, he could peep over and watch the approach 
 of the vessel that was now drawing nearer and nearer ; while, 
 in the event of the fishermen landing and pursuing them, 
 they could from this point slip unperceived up to the northern 
 end of the island, where there was a cave not likely to be dis- 
 covered. 
 
 The smaller lad lay prone on the rock, motionless, scarcely 
 daring to breathe. His companion from time to time cau- 
 tiously peered over the edge ; and now there was no doubt at 
 all that the vessel was one of the French fishing-smacks bound 
 for Iceland. 
 
 McCalmont took the precaution of putting a few grains of 
 fresh powder in the pan of the pistol ; then they waited — in a 
 profound silence broken only by the monotonous plashing of 
 the sea along the rocks and the shingle. 
 
 Just in front of his head, as he lay on the sloping ledge of 
 rock, McCalmont had placed a few tufts of withered heather, 
 through which he could easily see what was going on. And 
 when the French vessel came along, and when he saw them 
 deliberately put her head up to the wind, the lower a boat, 
 and put two men in the boat, who calmly began to row to 
 the island, his face grew red with anger. He dared not 
 even whisper to his companion, who was lying mute and 
 motionless beside him (and very much afraid, too, though 
 he would not have admitted it), and he was saying to him- 
 self : 
 
 " If this now is not the most impudent thing ! Oh, yes ! 
 you will come and help yourself to a sheep — a sheep be- 
 longing to a poor man who has to work hard enough for his 
 living ; and you will have a good dinner on board ; and a 
 good laugh when you go to Iceland. It would take little 
 now to make me fire at you and your boat — ^you French 
 thieves ! " 
 
i6 AN ADVENTURE IN THULE 
 
 But whether or no it was the fear of the sheriff at Storno- 
 way, wiser counsels prevailed. When he had allowed the 
 boat and the two men to come within thirty or forty yards of 
 the island he took up the big horse-pistol and locked the ham- 
 mer. Then, holding it tight (for fear of the recoil) at arm's- 
 length from him, he pointed the pistol along the gully behind 
 him, and pulled the trigger ; and the next second there was a 
 sudden crash of noise in the silence, and a puff of splintered 
 rock where the shot had struck. 
 
 Archie Livingston looked terrified ; but McCalmont, hav- 
 ing serious work on hand, turned to his hiding-place again, 
 and peeped through the tufts of heather to see what effect 
 this shot might have had. 
 
 The men in the boat were very obviously surprised. They 
 had stopped rowing. One of them, indeed, was now standing 
 up, closely scanning the shore ; and McCalmont kept himself 
 closely concealed, for he knew that the sriioke from the gun- 
 powder would give them some more or less vague indication 
 of his whereabouts. 
 
 What would they do ? Would they go back to the fishing- 
 smack, merely with the impression that now there were people 
 living on the island ? Or would they consider that they had 
 been fired at, and be tempted to make reprisals t 
 
 He could see that they were excitedly talking to each other ; 
 and one of them pointed to the little creek in which McCal- 
 mont's sailing-boat lay ; then they put their oars into the 
 water again, and continued rowing for the shore. 
 
 " They are going to land, Archie ! " said McCalmont, in a 
 quick whisper. " Come along — sharp ! We will make for 
 the cave ; and there will be time to load the pistol there. 
 Quick ! quick, now ! and keep low down." 
 
 But every nook and gully of the island was well known to 
 both of them ; and they easily made their way to the north 
 end of the island without showing themselves on any of the 
 little grassy plateaus or of the higher rocks. Fortunately, 
 too, for them, their appearance earlier in the day had fright- 
 ened the half-wild sheep over to the western side of the island, 
 so that there was no scurrying of the startled animals to show 
 their track. 
 
 They reached the coast line again ; made their way along 
 some rocks ; and then, slipping down cautiously, entered a 
 small cave that just allowed them to stand upright. The floor 
 was of sand and shells washed in by the high tides ; a few 
 tufts of sea-asplenium showed their dark-green fronds in the 
 
AN AD VENTURE IN THUL E. 1 7 
 
 shelves and crannies : otherwise the cave was pretty much of 
 a bare black hole, with a curious damp odor of sea-weed in it. 
 
 " Now, Archie, the powder — quick ! " — ^for the younger lad 
 had charge of the ammunifion. 
 
 It cannot be denied that Archie's fingers were trembling 
 somewhat, as he produced the tin canister ; but his companion 
 did not notice that — he was too anxious to have the pistol 
 loaded. And when that was completed he seemed to breathe 
 more freely. 
 
 " Now do you see this, Archie," said he cheerfully, " that 
 we have the best of the position ? For if they come after us 
 and find out the cave, we are in the dark, and they cannot 
 make us out, but they are in the light, and we will see ever}^- 
 thing they mean to do. And there are only two of them ; 
 and what I am determined on is this — if they try to do any 
 harm to us, I will put a shot on to them, whether there is a 
 sheriff in Stornoway or no. 
 
 " It is no use speaking to them, for they do not understand 
 any language but their own. And if they point a gun at you 
 or me, it is I that will be firing first, or you may be calling 
 me a splay-footed * fellow. But as for you, Archie, if they 
 find out the cave, you will go right to the back of the cave, 
 and you will lie down, with your face to the ground, and they 
 will not see you at all. For it is better to be safe without 
 fighting than to be safe after fighting, as the old man of Ross 
 said." 
 
 They waited and waited, and there was not a sound outside. 
 
 " I wonder now," the elder lad said at length, "whether 
 they thought I was firing the shot at them ? Perhaps they 
 did not come ashore at all. That will be much better ; if 
 they have gone back to the others, and told them that the 
 time is past now for having a sheep off Farriskeir." 
 
 " I am sure I hope they have gone away' Colin," said the 
 younger of the boys, who had not spoken since they entered 
 the cave. 
 
 He had been Ifstening for sounds without ; not quite certain 
 whether, in the event of pursuit, he should take his com- 
 panion's advice and hide, or whether he ought not to lend 
 what help he could. 
 
 Suddenly something occurred that made both the lads start. 
 They found two eyes glaring into the cave — two large, soft, 
 
 *Guagaire was the word he used, but, besides meaning " splay-footed," it is also 
 used to denote one who is idle or giddy or frivolous. 
 2 
 
l8 AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 
 
 Staring eyes, that belonged to a bushy, flat-shaped head ; and 
 then the next moment, before they had time to recover from 
 their fright, the strange creature had turned and made off as 
 quickly as its webbed feet and long tail would allow. 
 
 " I never saw an otter on the land before," said Colin 
 McCalmont, who was the first to recover his presence of 
 mind. 
 
 ''He must have come up through the sea-weed there. If it 
 was not for the Frenchmen, maybe I could catch him yet ; 
 for they go so very slow on the land." 
 
 " Colin do not go out of the cave," the other entreated. 
 " As for an otter, what is an otter ? You can trap one at 
 Camus Head, if you want one. And as for that one, he is 
 down through the sea-weed and into the sea long ago. He 
 will be as far away as Ruaveg by this time." 
 
 Nevertheless, with the natural curiosity of a young lad, 
 Colin must needs go to the mouth of the cave, and peer 
 cautiously around. 'I'here was no sign of any otter; and 
 there was neither sign nor sound of the French fishermen. 
 But the next second something else caught his eye. 
 
 " Archie, come here !" he called out. " Come here now ! 
 See, the smack is away to the north. I know that is the same 
 one from the red patch on her mainsail. They have gone 
 away now, Archie." 
 
 "And a good thing, too," said the younger lad, coming out 
 to the light and the warmer air. " Yes, that is the smack, 
 Colin I believe. And now they will take the story to Reik- 
 iavik." 
 
 " Yes," said his companion, with something of triumph in 
 his face and tone. " That is true. And there will be no 
 more stealing of the sheep now. And what we have to do 
 now is to put some of the timber and the spars into the boat, 
 and get away back to the mainland. 
 
 '• And you will not be afraid of the questions any more, 
 Archie, if the girls at the sheilling will be asking you why you 
 went to Farriskeir. For did we not prevent the Frenchmen 
 landing .^ And we saved one, or maybe more, of my father's 
 sheep ; and the warning to the frog-eaters will be a good 
 thing besides. There is only one thing now that I am sorry 
 for." 
 
 " And what is that, Colin ?" 
 
 " That I did not have a shot at the otter." 
 
 "That I am not sorry for," said his friend (who had 
 f egained all his modest confidence and cheerfulness) ; " it 
 
AN ADVENTURE IN THULk. 
 
 19 
 
 was a more important thing than an otter that we came for ; 
 and never before did I hear my pistol make such a noise." 
 
 " I thought my arm was off," said Colin, with a laugh. 
 
 They had by this time got back to the gully behind the 
 ledge of rock which they had chosen for their hiding-place, 
 and some distance beyond that again was the creek where 
 they had moored their sailing-boat. All at once McCalmont 
 paused with a strange look on his face. 
 
 " Archie, where is the boat ? " said he. 
 
 The younger lad glanced at him awe-stricken. It was more 
 from the look of Colin's face than from anything else that he 
 guessed something was wrong. 
 
 " Archie, they've stolen the boat — they've taken away the 
 boat ! '' said the elder lad, gazing at the empty creek. 
 
 "That is not possible, Colin," said the other (but with a 
 sudden sinking of the heart). " They dare not do that. It 
 would be seen. They had no boat towing astern. Maybe 
 they have hid it, Colin, for a joke." 
 
 Without answering, Colin ran up to the top of one of the 
 higher plateaus, and eagerly scanned every little indentation 
 of the coast-line. But no mast was visible ; and the mast of 
 the boat was higher than any of these rocks. Then his quick eye 
 noticed something floating on the water some forty or fifty 
 yards out, and then something else — a basket that he recog- 
 nized \ and then he knew what had happened. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 But before going down to his companion he pulled himself 
 together. He knew that Archie Livingston was easily fright- 
 ened ; and this that had happened was enough to frighten an 
 older lad than he. McCalmont descended from the plateau 
 slowly, considering what he should say, and doing his best to 
 assume an indifferent demeanor. 
 
 " Archie," said he, " there is no doubt about what the 
 Frenchmen have done. They have taken out the boat and 
 sunk her. Yonder are things belonging to her, floating on 
 the water ; but not the oars. They have stolen the oars." 
 
 Almost mechanically the younger lad's eyes were turned to 
 the space of water indicated by his companion ; and then said, 
 aghast : 
 
 " Colin, we shall die of hunger." 
 
20 AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 
 
 Colin had prepared for this. 
 
 " Die of hunger ! " he exclaimed. " Now you are talk* 
 ing like some poor creature who has never been away 
 from a town. You are talking Hke the tailor who came 
 to Bemera last year, and he did not know that cattle could 
 swim." 
 
 " How could w^e swim to the mainland ? " said the 
 younger lad, who seemed ready to cry. " It is twelve miles 
 and more." 
 
 " I did not mean that at all. I say you are talking foolish- 
 ness when you speak of dying of starvation ; and that you 
 ought to know better, being a Highland jad, and not a tailor 
 from Glasgow." 
 
 Indeed, this raising of his companion's spirits was giving 
 McCalmont himself plenty of spirits. 
 
 " Now, look here, Archie. The loss of the boat, that 
 is bad ; my father can ill afford to lose the boat ; and that 
 is a hard thing. But there is no more than that. They 
 will soon find out that we are here, and they will send 
 over for us ; and, until they send over for us, do you 
 not think we will find enough and plenty to eat ? Is 
 there no dulse along the shore .'' Are there no eachans* in 
 the sand ? 
 
 " One would think, to- hear you talk, that you were the high 
 Lord Provost of London, who eats all the day long and half- 
 way through the night, and only stops to sleep for an hour or 
 two. Tell me this, now : if eachans and dulse will not do, if 
 it is to be like the Lord Provost you are wishing, could I not 
 shoot a sheep 1 Just think of that ; and do not talk any 
 more about starvation." • 
 
 " But how will they know that we are here, Colin ? " said 
 the younger lad, looking far away over to the blue line, with 
 one or two higher peeks, that represented the mainland. 
 
 " I will tell you a story, Archie. It was a fishing-boat at St. 
 Kilda, and she went away in the morning, with five men in 
 her, and there was a head storm during the day, and the boat 
 was smashed on a small island — perhaps it was Eilean Mor, 
 and perhaps it was Gealtaire Mor ; that is no matter ; but the 
 five men saved themselves. 
 
 * The eachan is a shell-fish resembling the cockle, but a trifle smaller, and with a 
 smooth shell. It is similar to, if it is not identical with, the American clam ; 
 and it is odd that, while it is the common shell-fish of the sandy bays in the western 
 Highlands, it is quite unknown, as far as 1 am aware, in the south of Great 
 Britain. 
 
AN ADVENTURE IN rilULE. 21 
 
 " Very, well, then ; what did they do ? They gathered bits 
 of stick, and dried heather, and the like, and they made them 
 into five fires ; and when the night came they lit the five fires, 
 and their wives and the people at St. Kilda saw the fires, and 
 they knew that all the men were saved. 
 
 " Now, does that story tell you anything, or does it not tell 
 you anything ? " 
 
 " We will light a fire to-night, Colin ? " said the younger 
 lad, eagerly. 
 
 " We will not. What would be the use of that ? They will 
 not be looking out for us at all : for they will think that we 
 have gone away up to the sheilling with bread for the girls. 
 But to-morrow die girls will be sending down ; and then they 
 will ask where we are ; and then there will be a search every- 
 where ; and then in the evening we will have a great heap of 
 wood together and the dried heather, too ; and they will see 
 the fire well enough." 
 
 " Will we have to stay on the island to-night, Colin ?" said 
 Archie, looking apprehensively around — for his mind was 
 stocked with the mysterious legendary tales and fancies of 
 these northern solitudes. 
 
 " I do not say that, Archie," replied his companion, grimly. 
 " If you can swim to the mainland, there will be no need to 
 pass the night on Farriskeir. But if you can it is not I that 
 can. It is a good swim from Farriskeir to the White Sands 
 of Uig." 
 
 And then he looked out at the one or two objects floating 
 in the water which told him where the Frenchmen had sunk 
 the boat. 
 
 " Yes," said he, " and they have sunk our oatcake, too, and 
 our bottle of water, I know where there are two springs, but 
 sheep tread over them, and if we clean them out it will be a long 
 time before they settle. So we will do that first, Archie. You 
 will clean out the springs, and I will go to the wreckage that 
 my father and the rest of them collected, and I will get 
 two or three boards and put over the springs so that the sheep 
 may not trample over them." 
 
 The first spring they went to looked unpromising enough ; 
 it was more like a path of green mire in a hollow of one of 
 the grassy plateaus. But they sought out its source, and the 
 younger lad set to work to remove the muddy herbage, while his 
 companion went away for two or three planks. 
 
 Indeed, they had plenty of work cut out for themselves 
 during the day. They hunted for dulse. They each got a piece 
 
22 AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 
 
 of iron from off the wreckage and dug in the soft sand for 
 eachans. And then they gathered bracken for their bedding : 
 whereupon arose the question as to where they should pass 
 the night. 
 
 " The driest place would be the cave," said Colin, " and 
 you will see by the withered seaweed on the shore that it is 
 many a day since the sea washed any sand into the cave. 
 There is no danger of that at all. It is with a spring-tide and 
 a heavy gale from the west that you might have water in the 
 cave." 
 
 " Colin," said the other, doubtfully, " I have heard about 
 wild-cats being about the caves." 
 
 " There is not a wild-cat on the island," said the other, 
 impatiently. '• Do you think that wild-cats can swim from 
 the mainland ? It is all very well for an otter to swim from 
 the mainland, and if an otter comes into the cave, who will be 
 the more frightened ? Is is not you or I, but the otter, that 
 will get a fright if he comes in the night-time and finds us 
 there asleep. And this is what I am thinking of now, Archie ; 
 will we not take some planks into the cave, and put them on the 
 sand, aud put the bracken on them .'' and that will make a 
 very good bed indeed. Oh, we will do very well. You know 
 what they say : when you cannot get a deer of ten,* be sat- 
 isfied with a deer of eight." 
 
 He was a shifty lad ; and when the two companions that 
 night, having had their supper of eachans, with a good drink 
 of clear spring water, went and lay down on a comfortable 
 bed of bracken made up within the cave, they could not be 
 considered to be very badly off. 
 
 But what chiefly exercised Colin McCalmont's mind (though 
 he said nothing about it to Archie) was as to the way in which 
 his father would receive the news of the loss of his boat. 
 Would he take into consideration his son's good intentions .'* 
 Or would he jump to the conclusion that he had lost this valu- 
 uable piece of property simply through an inexcusable out- 
 burst of boyish folly ? It was a serious question ; for old 
 McCalmont was a strict disciplinaria-n. 
 
 In the meantime Colin had but little doubt about himself 
 and his companion being able to get back to the mainland — 
 when once they had had a great bonfire lit on the highest 
 point of Farriskeir. 
 
 The gray dawn broke. 
 
 * Of ten points — referring to the antlers. 
 
AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 
 
 23 
 
 " Colin," said the younger lad, who had not slept much, 
 " did you hear the strange sounds in the night ? " 
 
 " No, I heard no sounds at all," said his companion, 
 drowsily. 
 
 " There were cries and strange noises ; I do not wish to 
 have another night on the island." 
 
 " It is your head that is full of nonsense ; and you were 
 hearing the sea-pyots and curlews. Now I am going to sleep 
 again." 
 
 " I cannot sleep any more," the younger lad said. " Now 
 that there is daylight I am going to the spring for a drink of 
 fresh water." 
 
 Colin McCalmont turned himself over on his bed of 
 bracken ; and the younger lad wandered out into the silence 
 and solitude of the early morning. 
 
 Very soon McCalmont was asleep again. He was not an 
 over-imaginative person ; he did not bother his head about 
 dreams and portents ; and, besides, they had been up very 
 early on the previous morning. The bed of bracken was soft 
 enough, and there was no sound to break the silence save the 
 drowsy murmur of the sea outside. He was fast asleep. 
 
 But suddenly he found himself wakened again ; and he be- 
 came dimly aware that Archie Livingston had a tight grip of 
 his arm and was kneehng beside him. He roused himself. 
 He found that his companion was all trembling, and that he 
 could scarcely speak. 
 
 " What is it, Archie," he said. 
 
 " I — I have seen one of them," the younger boy gasped, and 
 still he clung to his companion's arm as if for safety. " Oh, 
 Colin, it is a terrible sight ! Quite plain — down by the rocks 
 — it did not move." 
 
 Colin sat up and rubbed his eyes. 
 
 " What is this now t " said he, with a trifle of impatience. 
 
 " It is no foolishness this time," the younger lad said, 
 almost entreatingly. "You will see for yourself, Colin, if you 
 have the courage to go. It is like a woman. It is one of the 
 princesses. But she did not see me ; or she would have 
 changed into a swan and flown away. But it was a terrible, 
 terrible sight ; I will never forget it till the day I die." 
 
 " I tell you, Archie," said the other, angrily, " that if you 
 let such nonsense come into your head, it is mad you will be 
 in time. Come and let me see your princess and your wild 
 swans now ! And if it is a wild swan, perhaps I will tickle 
 him before he flies awav." 
 
24 AN ADVEiXTURE IN THULE. 
 
 He got up and sought out the horse-pistol, which he had 
 put in a dry place. 
 
 " Come away, now, and let me see your wild swan that is 
 like a princess." 
 
 " Oh no, I cannot ! I cannot, Colin ! " said the younger lad, 
 who was still trembling. 
 
 - " But I say you must, now, I will put the nonsense out of 
 your head. Do you wish to become mad, and go through the 
 villages like Alister, the piper's son, that the children make a 
 fool of ? " 
 
 And then he took to the ironical method. 
 
 " Do you know this now, Archie, that I never heard of the 
 ghost yet that would stand to have a charge of buckshot put 
 into it. It will be very fine now to have a shot at a ghost. 
 Come away, Archie ; and if we meet any ghost or princess,or 
 anybody of that kind, it is I who will go forward and speak 
 to them and say, ^ Good-morning.' For that is good manners 
 to a stranger ; and my father has the farming of Farriskeir : 
 and if a stranger comes to Farriskeir, it is not I that would 
 be so unfriendly as not to say ' Good-morning.' " 
 
 It was with great reluctance that Archie Livingston con- 
 sented to go out from the cave again with his companion ; 
 and, when at last he undertook to show McCalmont where he 
 had seen this strange thing, he advanced with stealthy step 
 and abated breath. 
 
 Of course, McCalmont did not expect to see anything. It 
 was to cure the imagination of the boy that he had insisted 
 on going to the spot. And therefore he went on unheeding, 
 chiefly watching the wild birds flying about. 
 
 At a certain eminence on one of the little plateaus, Archie 
 Livingston gripped his arm, and hs stopped to ask what this 
 meant ; but at the same moment he caught sight of some- 
 thing down by the shore there that, despite all his deteniii- 
 nation, made his face turn perfectly white. He could not 
 budge. He stood still ; but he found himself incapable of 
 speaking. 
 
 There, sure enough, down near the water's edge, and 
 seated on a rock, was a figure. 
 
 It could not be an optical illusion ; for they were both 
 regarding the same spot. And it was the figure of a woman, 
 too — bent forward, her face resting on her hands and cov- 
 ered. And this woman was not dressed as any person in the 
 Highlands dressed. 
 
 He stood and stared; trying to get the better of this 
 
AJV ADVENTURE IN TIIULE. 
 
 25 
 
 thumping of his heart, and summoning to his aid all his disbe- 
 lief in ghosts. 
 
 Then the woman down there lifted her head — wearily, as 
 it seemed to him ; then she caught sight of the lads, and 
 sprang to her feet with a slight cry, and advanced to them 
 — her hands stretched out before her, and she was saying 
 something. Now, when she made this sudden and quick 
 advance, Colin McCalmont, despite himself, retreated a 
 couple of steps : but he kept his face towards her ; and then 
 he stood 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 " Archie," said Colin, in a low voice, " it is a woman. It 
 is not any ghost. I cannot make out what she says except 
 'peety.peetyV 
 
 The young woman came nearer to them — now timidly and 
 slowly — her hands still outstretched, and tears running down 
 her face, while she spoke rapidly and imploringly. 
 
 This appeal, which was a mute appeal so far as he was 
 concerned, drove any remnant of fear out of his mind ; he 
 forgot even his timid companion behind ; he went forward to 
 her, wondering how he could convey to this poor young lady 
 that they wished to be very friendly to her. 
 
 He shook his head, to let her know he did not understand 
 her ; and then she, with a great deal more of gladness in her 
 face, for she could not but see that the lads wished to be 
 friendly, began to try to explain her situation by signs. And 
 again and again she pointed to the north, though there was 
 no boat visible. 
 
 *' Colin." said the younger lad, " she has been going to 
 Iceland in one of the smacks ; and the smack has got 
 wrecked, and she has been saved." 
 
 " How could that be ? Her clothes have not been in the 
 water." 
 
 " Colin, say France to her, and you will see if she is 
 French." 
 
 Colin, repeated this word to her, which, to tell the truth, 
 was all of the French language that either he or his compan- 
 ion knew ; and instantly the young lady nodded eagerly, and 
 said something which, of course, they did not understand. 
 
 And now that they had begun to communicate with each 
 other by signs, it soon became clear that the younger lad 
 
26 AjV adventure in tjiule, 
 
 ■was much sharper at that than his companion. In fact, 
 Archie Livingston became the interpreter. 
 
 " When she means ' yes/ said he, to his companion, " some- 
 times she says see and sometimes wee ; but a nod of the head 
 is still surer. And she says she will go with us to the main- 
 land ; but how am I to tell her that we have no boat, and that 
 she must wait till the evening before we can light the bonfire ? " 
 
 " Well, you must get on as well as you can, Archie," said 
 the other ; " and there is the whole day for you to talk to her 
 with your head and your hands ; aud in the meanwhile I am 
 going away to dig for eachans, for who knows when the lady 
 may have had anything to eat ? " 
 
 " Do you think she will eat eachans ? " said Archie, doubt- 
 fully. 
 
 " It is better to eat eachans than to starve," said the other. 
 " Vou do not need the old man of Ross to tell you that. 
 And if she is from France, people who eat frogs need not 
 turn up their noses at eachans." 
 
 In not much more than a quarter of an hour Colin McCal- 
 mont returned, carrying in both hands a sort of basket made 
 of the fronds of the bracken, and in this green nest lay a 
 quantity of eachans, like so many eggs, all washed white and 
 clean. He put them down in front of her, and took out his 
 pocket-knife and opened a few, as one might open oysters ; and 
 these he offered to her. What she did was singular. She took 
 his hand and pressed it, and then smiled and shook her head. 
 
 " Perhaps she is not hungry," Colin said, after a second. 
 
 " Perhaps she does nor like shell-fish raw," said the other. 
 " Could you not roast some, Colin, as the mussles are roas- 
 ted ? Could we make a small fire now, and roast some 
 eachans in the ashes ? " 
 
 " I see no difficulty about that whatever." 
 
 Nor was there. He collected some tufts of withered heather, 
 and broke up one or two pieces of wood, and put under- 
 neath the pile a piece of a copy of the Oban Times that he 
 had brought with him for wadding ; and at the edge of the 
 paper placed a small pioye. The flint from the horse-pistol 
 and the back of his knife did the rest, and soon they had a 
 small fire burning — the precursor of the greater bonfire of 
 the evening. 
 
 When the eachans were roasted, Colin picked out some of 
 them from the ashes with a bit of stick ; and Archie, when 
 they were sufficiently cool to be touched, cut them open and 
 offered them to the lady. Tears came into her eyes as he did 
 
j4A' adventure in THULE. 27 
 
 so. He thought it very strange that any one should cry for 
 no apparent reason ; but he was glad to see that she took one 
 or two of the roasted shell-fish. 
 
 " I am thinking," said the elder of the lads, " that she is 
 only taking them to please us. If she was hungr}'^, she would 
 be quicker. I wonder now if it is not a drink of water she 
 would rather have than anything else ? These French people 
 are very unfortunate that they speak such a language," 
 
 But Archie Livingston, taking the hint, went away along 
 the shore, kicking the sea-weed about until he found a large 
 scallop-shell, which he washed free of sand in the nearest 
 pool. Then he went away over the grassy hillocks till he 
 came to the spring, where he filled the shell. To carry any- 
 thing like the full quantity back was clearly impossible ; but 
 at least there was enough to let her understand that there was 
 fresh water on the island. 
 
 And how grateful the young lady seemed 1 She patted the 
 boy on the head — on the shoulder — on the hand. And she 
 spoke to him, though she knew he could not comprehend 
 what she said. 
 
 " But you hear that, Colin ? " he said, turning to his com- 
 panion. " She said a great deal about * mercy.' She said 
 the water was a mercy. Now, that is what they say also in 
 English ; when you have your food put before you — the meat 
 and the drink — and when you do not ask the blessing in Gae- 
 lic, then you have to call these things on the table ' mercies.' 
 She must be very well brought up, and not as a heathen at all." 
 
 " But this is what I am thinking of, Archie," said the 
 other ; " that the little water you can get in a scallop-shell 
 is not of much use to any one. And if I could understand 
 the lady as well as you can, I would ask her to go with me 
 to the spring, and there she can have as much water as 
 she likes." 
 
 When this proposal was conveyed to her, she followed her 
 guide gladly ; and when they reached the spring, she drank of 
 the water freely by means of this shell. And then they went 
 back to the fire, where Colin McCalmont was having his break- 
 fast ; and the young lady made signs to the younger lad that 
 he, too, was to join in that feast of roasted eachans, and that 
 she was quite content. 
 
 " Well, this is a strange thing," said the younger one ; " but 
 when we get back to the mainland we will know all about it, 
 for my father knows French as well as Latin and a great many 
 other things." 
 
28 AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 
 
 " But what is the use of knowing French ? " said the elder 
 lad, who was a practical youth, and better acquainted with the 
 price of sheep. 
 
 " The use of it ? The use of it is to make you a learned 
 person, and then the people pay you for teaching others." 
 
 " But your father does not teach any one French, Archie." 
 
 " Well, then, the use of it is to make you not so ignorant as 
 the other common people. When Sir Evan Roy comes to 
 Glen Estera he will be speaking quite freely with my father ; 
 but the other ones they have to think about their English." 
 
 " I think Gaelic is as good a language as any ; and also that 
 it is more easily spoken than any other." 
 
 " But of what use to you is Gaelic if you go away from the 
 Lewis ? For my part, I would like to know six or seven 
 languages." 
 
 " That would be a fine thing ! " said the other, with a laugh 
 of scorn. " To spend all your life in learning the languages 
 of other people ; and then, when you had got them, it would 
 be time to die. I think one language is quite enough for any 
 one ; and Gaelic is the easiest." 
 
 When they had finished their breakfast, they also went and 
 had a drink of fresh water ; and then they set to work to carry 
 up to the highest plateau a pile of the wood that plentifully 
 bestrewed the western shores of the island — some of it, indeed, 
 having been hauled up above high-water mark for transporta- 
 tion to Ihe mainland. The steamer had been comparatively 
 a new one, and much of this wreckage consisted of internal 
 fittings — cabin doors and tables, bottle ranges, benches, 
 lockers, and what not — that had been wofully smashed. 
 
 " It is very hard to burn all this good wood," said Colin 
 McCalmont ; " and much of it mahogany, too ; but we must 
 have a big blaze, and then we are saving the lady's life." 
 
 " Yes, and our own lives, too," said the younger lad, sitting 
 down for a rest, for it was stiff work carrying these planks. 
 " They will not be mourning over the wood when they find us 
 alive. And by this time now, Colin, by this time, do you not 
 think some one of the girls must have been sent down from 
 the sheilling for bread ? " 
 
 " By this time, surely." 
 
 " Then they will know we were not at the sheilling last 
 night, and they will be looking everywhere for us ; and they 
 will be sure to go and look if the boat is in the creek. And 
 when they see that the boat is not in the creek, they will 
 know how we went away ; and you may be sure there will be 
 
AN ADVENTURE IN THULB. 29 
 
 many a sharp eye on the lookout all the day and all the 
 evenmg." 
 
 " Very well, now, Archie, I will tell you what you will do. 
 You will leave the rest of the building of the bonfire to me, 
 for I am not easily tired; and you will go back and talk to 
 the lady with your hands and your head as you were doing. 
 Perhaps I will not use any more of the wood ; that is the thing 
 that is grieving me. I will build up three or four feet of the 
 withered heather, and then I will put the wood on that. If it 
 was only the autumn now, and we could get the withered 
 bracken, there would be no need to use all that fine wood." 
 
 " Have you a lead-pencil, Colin ? " 
 
 " I have a small bit." 
 
 Archie was at that moment rummaging among the splinters 
 and boards they had brought up ; and at last he lit upon a 
 piece of wood, painted white, that had been part of the door 
 of a locker. 
 
 " Give me your pencil, Colin, and I will go and tell the lady 
 what we are waiting for.'^ 
 
 " And if you cannot speak French, are you going to be 
 writing French ? " said the other, with a laugh. 
 
 " I am not going to write at all, Colin, except in the way 
 that the ancient people wrote, on the Pyramids and such 
 places as that. And you will see whether the lady will un- 
 derstand or whether she will not understand." 
 
 " Very well, then, Archie ; go back to the lady, and I will 
 go on with the bonfire ; and this is what I am thinking, that I 
 will build a bonfire that will be easily made out from the 
 land. For you know what they say : ' There cannot be any- 
 thing in the sky or on the earthy but the Islay men's eyes can 
 behold ; nor can anything in a corner or lock-fast place escape the 
 eye of a Mulbnan.' But what 1 say is, that the Lewis men 
 have sharper eyes than either." 
 
 " I think every one knows that," said Archie, " from Fra- 
 serburgh all the way round to Greenock." 
 
 Well, when McCalmont had finished piling up this great 
 heap of heather and driftwood he went and rejoined his com- 
 panion ; and found, to his great astonishment, that the young 
 lady — whose black eyes seemed to be full of gladness and 
 kindness and gratitude — appeared to understand the whole 
 situation of affairs. For young Livingston had drawn various 
 things, in a rude sort of way, on the bit of white wood ; and 
 she seemed a clever, imaginative sort of person, for she 
 guessed eagerly what he meant to cjnvey.- 
 
30 AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 
 
 " I never saw a boat like that, Archie," said the elder lad, 
 laughing, " for you have got the mast in the middle of 
 her." 
 
 " That is no matter at all," said the other, without confusion, 
 ^' if the lady understands that the boat will come for her after 
 the bonfire is lit." 
 
 " Then you might be doing a worse thing than asking her 
 to come and look at the bonfire, now that it is complete. 
 I can tell you, Archie, that m^ arms will be sore to-morrow. 
 
 The boy showed her the rough sketch of a bonfire that he 
 had made on the board, and then pointed to the middle of the 
 island, himself setting out, and inviting her to accompany 
 him. She understood at once, and smilingly assented., They 
 led her by the driest ways (for there was some mossy ground 
 on these plateaus) to the spot, and she seemed greatly 
 pleased. 
 
 " She can speak a little, Archie," said the elder one. *' It 
 is not much ; but it is a little. She cannot say ' bonfire,' but 
 she says ' bon, bon' — which is a part of it. Though she 
 speaks through her nose, she understands well enough. The 
 French are not so stupid as people say." 
 
 They passed the afternoon somehow. More eachans were 
 roasted. As the evening fell, the southerly wind freshened, 
 and the skies got darkened over. 
 
 " I hope there is not going to be a gale," said the younger 
 lad, apprehensively. 
 
 " That is not any gale," said the other. " And if there 
 was a gale now 1 We should be two or three days more on 
 the island, perhaps ; and what is that ? Maybe I would have 
 to shoot a sheep; for the finely brought-up people they 
 cannot live on a handful of eachans and a bit of dulse as you 
 or I could, Archie." 
 
 " But that is not any gale ; and the darker it grows the 
 sooner we will light our bonfire ; and the fresher the wind the 
 sooner will the people come across in your father's boat. So 
 there is nothing to have a downcast face about ; and you must 
 not show a downcast face ; for the lady there she watches us 
 both, and every one knows that women are easily frightened 
 persons." 
 
 They waited until the dusky twilight had gathered over 
 land and sea before they lit the bonfire. At first there was 
 only a little crackling ; then a few thin red tongues of fire ; 
 then a growing blaze of crimson and orange that made the 
 surrounding twiligl>t look a stranc;e, intense, livid blue. And 
 
AN ADVENTURE IN ^^^^'^^/^Q J^^W 
 
 then the fire began to roar, for the breeze f anne'SttT^tf^"^ 
 soon there was a blazing mass of flame that surely would 
 carry a message to the distant shores of Lewis. 
 
 " Archie," said the elder lad, " you will keep stirring the 
 bonfire now, and I will go for another armful or two of wood. 
 We must have a big blaze in case there might be a shower oi 
 rain. Yes ; and if there are any French smacks going by in 
 ihe night, do you not think now that such a blaze as that will 
 tell them that there is some one on Farriskeir t " 
 
 He went and came back with the first load of the drift- 
 wood. 
 
 " The sheep are wild with fright, Archie ; they never saw 
 anything like this on Farriskeir before." 
 
 He fetched another load. 
 
 " There, now," said he, '* that will make a blaze that will be 
 seen from Gallon Head to Scarfa Island. And if they are 
 already in your father's boat, it is not I that would be sur- 
 prised ; and with a good breeze of wind like this they will 
 not be long in coming over." 
 
 " Colin," said the younger lad, " this is what I am thinking 
 of ; when your father, or my father, or perhaps Dugald Mc- 
 Lean from Glen Estera, comes over in the boat, and they will 
 ask about the lady there, and who she is, and where she came 
 from, what is it now that we will be saying ? " 
 
 Colin laughed, in his superior wisdom. 
 
 " Then you do not remember what the old man of Ross 
 said. This is what he said, Archie : ' That which you do not 
 know, tell that to no one.^ How are we to be answering 
 anything about the French young lady ? Let them ask for 
 tliemselves. And indeed I wish they were here ; for it is not 
 a pleasant thing that you and I should be talking and talk- 
 ing, and the lady there not able to know what is going on, 
 because she understands nothing but that useless language. 
 And if your father can speak that language it is not anything 
 to be proud of. He might have made a better use of his 
 time." 
 
 The younger lad thought over this for some time. Then he 
 said : 
 
 " Well, perhaps the French is not a very useful language 
 while you are in the Lewis or any other part of that 
 country. But if you wished to go to France ? If you 
 wished to go to France, Colin, you would have to learn it. 
 There now." 
 
 " If I wished to go to France ! " said the other, scornfully 
 
32 AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 
 
 *' And who would be so foolish as that ? There is another 
 wish that I have, that has more of common-sense in it. I 
 would like to go to Fraserburgh, and see the great fleet of 
 fishing-boats. Now there would be some sense in that." 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 They formed a picturesque group there on the summit 
 of the level plateau — the smaller lad stirring up the smoul- 
 dering portions of the bonfire, the elder heaping on broken 
 planks and sticks, the young girl standing apart and some- 
 times watching them and sometimes scanning the now dark- 
 ened plain of the waters whence she understood that help was 
 to come; while, as the masses of roaring fire waxed or 
 waned, the long black shadows moved on the greensward and 
 the rocks. 
 
 Perhaps, indeed, it was their tending of the bonfire that 
 prevented the lads from keeping a sharp lookout ; at all 
 events it was neither of them that first discovered that people 
 were coming to their rescue. They had had the bonfire 
 blazing for nearly an hour, when suddenly the young lady 
 came to them, and eagerly said something, and pointed 
 towards the sea in the direction of the mainland. 
 
 Both of the lads withdrew from the glare of the bonfire, 
 and peering into the darkness with eyes that were well accus- 
 tomed to descry distant objects. 
 
 " Well, now," said Colin McCalmont, with some mortifica- 
 tion, " it will be a strange thing, if a French lady can make 
 out what I cannot make out ; but there is not anything that I 
 can make out between here and the land." 
 
 " Your eyes are blind with the fire, Colin, and so are 
 mine," said his companion. " I wish I could ask her what it 
 is." 
 
 " I see it ! I see it ! it is a light ! " exclaimed McCalmont, 
 with involuntary eagerness. Then he immediately checked 
 himself. Throughout he had spoken as if their rescue was a 
 matter of course, in order to keep up his companion's spirits. 
 He was not going to betray any extraordinary surprise, or de- 
 light, or thankfulness now. So he continued in a tone of cool 
 criticism : 
 
 " Well, now, Archie, that is a strange sort of light. Your 
 father has a lantern for the dark nights ; but that is not a Ian 
 
AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 33 
 
 tern at the mast-head at all. It is very low down, and it is 
 red." 
 
 " Maybe it is a torch at the bow," suggested Archie Living- 
 ston. 
 
 " And you will be making a very good guess that time, 
 Archie, for now I can see the sparks ; and the sparks are 
 dropping like sparks from a squib. Oh, this is a fine breeze, 
 to be sure ; and your father's boat is as quick a sailor as any 
 one on the west coast of the Lewis. I should not wonder if 
 they could hear us now." 
 
 Herewith he gave a tremendous long, slow howl, such as 
 the shepherds use when the dogs are far up on the hill. But 
 there was no response. 
 
 " They will be too far away yet," said his companion. 
 " Indeed, Colin, it is not I that am sorry we have not to 
 stay another night on the island. It was terrible — the 
 cries — " 
 
 " They were the cries of the French lady, that was all," 
 said the elder lad. " To think they were the cries of ghosts ! 
 Tell me this, Archie ; if you can see tlirough a ghost, and if a 
 ghost can go away into nothing, where is the throat for it to 
 make a cry with ? It is your head that is full of nonsense 
 about ghosts and things like that. 
 
 " This is what I will do for you now, Archie ;. you will catch 
 one of your ghosts and bring him to me ; and I will take the 
 knife I have for opening mussels for bait, and I will cut open 
 the ghost for you, and then you will be seeing whether he 
 has any lungs, or a throat, or a tongue that could make a 
 noise. I tell you I have not as much fear of a ghost as I 
 have of a skate. When you are cutting open a skate, some- 
 tunes he will snap at your finger. I will let the ghost snap 
 at my finger if he can." 
 
 \ Whether this logic quite convinced Archie Livingston is not 
 of much moment ; he merely said, " It is I who am glad not 
 to have another night on Farriskeir," and kept his eyes fixed 
 on the sputtering red light that was now momentarily coming 
 nearer. 
 
 What a wild torrent of Gaelic was poured forth when the 
 farmer and schoolmaster got ashore — Colin and Archie help- 
 ing to haul the bow of the boat up on the shingle ! Indeed, 
 amid all these questions and exclamations and remonstrances 
 the worthy schoolmaster quite forgot that ordinarily he made 
 it a strict rule to speak only in English. How could English 
 — which is a slow, formal, limited language — have got from 
 
34 AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 
 
 the boys a narration of all their adventures during the past 
 two days ? But, that over, Mr. Livingston recollected him- 
 self. 
 
 " Archie," said he, in his best English, " you wass saying 
 the leddy was a French leddy ? " 
 
 ^^Seadh ! " said Archie : and then he, too, recollected 
 himself. " Ay, she's French. And no word of English at 
 ahl ! " 
 
 " Kott pless me ! " said the schoolmaster, looking some- 
 what distressed. And then he turned to his friend McCal- 
 mont, Colin's father. 
 
 " It is a terriple pusiness," said he, " to speak in another 
 langwich when one is not speaking it for many years and 
 years. Heh, Duncan, gif me the oat-cake and the whiskey 
 out of the locker ; and be quick about it, too. The boys 
 are goot boys, and do not touch the whiskey ; but if the 
 young leddy has had nothing to eat ahl the day but eachans, 
 she will hef a drop of whiskey and no harm whateffer. 
 And whiskey is a goot langwich that every one can under- 
 stand." 
 
 The young French lady had come down from the" plat€?au, 
 and was standing apart — observing everything eagerly, but 
 not attempting to speak. She could see by their gestures, 
 and by their occasionally looking towards her, that they were 
 telling the story, so far as they knew it. But presently Mr. 
 Livingston, having got some whiskey in a tumbler, and carry- 
 ing a piece of oat-cake in his other hand, went along to 
 where she was standing, and made her a most gracious and 
 courteous bow. 
 
 Then he considered. He looked at her dark eyes vaguely 
 (everything was lit up by the gUre from the bonfire), as if he 
 were wondering how to open communication with her. Then 
 he said, slowly : 
 
 " Mademoiselle — ici est — est oak-cake — et aussi whiskey — 
 trh boil pour vous " — 
 
 But at the same instant he was evidently startled by her 
 uttering a slight cry — partly of delight, partly of entreaty ; 
 and the next moment she was pouring out the story of her 
 wrongs and griefs with many piteous gestures and appeals. 
 
 The schoolmaster was quite bewildered. She spoke so 
 rapidly, so pathetically, that he did not understand a single 
 word ; he could only vaguely gather from her piteous intona- 
 nation, that she had suffered injury, and was begging him to 
 be kind to her. 
 
AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 35 
 
 " Kott bless me ! Kott bless me ! " he murmured to him- 
 self ; " it is a terriple thing to understand a stranche langwich. 
 The poor creature ! She will pay no heed to the oat-cake 
 and the whiskey." 
 
 Then, to add to his confusion, the farmer came up. 
 
 " Well, now, Mr. Livingston, and what iss the matter about 
 the young leddy ? It is the stranchest thing I ever heard of. 
 How wass she come to Farriskeir ? " 
 
 "You will see this, Dunvorgan," * said the schoolmaster, 
 " the French langwich is not like other 'langwiches ; when it 
 iss spoke slow, then effery one will understand it that knows 
 it ; but when it iss spoke quick, then none understands it at 
 ahl. We will get the young leddy into the poat, and will tek 
 her back home with us ; and maype on the way I will hev the 
 story to tell you." 
 
 When the young lady understoo'd that she was to go into 
 the boat, she obeyed willingly ; and when she had taken her 
 seat in the stern, there was handed to her a rug made of the 
 very finest sheep's wool, that Archie Livingston's mother had 
 sent, thinking that the boys might be shipwrecked and be 
 found on the rocks with wet clothes. But indeed the night 
 was not cold, and she merely let the rug lie across her knees. 
 She seemed to care about nothing but having her story under- 
 stood by the only one among these friendly people who knew 
 a little of French. 
 
 And when, at length they had got the boat afloat again, and 
 the mainsail hoisted, and when, in the silence of the night 
 they proceeded to make their way back to the mainland of 
 Lewis, the schoolmaster managed to hint to her that, if she 
 would speak slowly, and say what she had said all over again, 
 he would understand her better. 
 
 This intimation she seemed to comprehend very well ; for 
 now she began very patiently to speak to him ; and she 
 instantly paused when he seemed not to follow her, so that he 
 might have time to repeat the v^^ords or to question her. 
 
 " Pless me, Dunvorgan," said he, at length, " but this is the 
 stranche story ; and if the two lads wass not happen to be on 
 the island, it would hev been a murder, as sure as death. 
 Poor thing! that was to hev been marriet this ferry day. 
 We will hev the sheriff at Styornoway to inquire into this." 
 
 " And what does she say, Mr. Livingston ? " asked the 
 farmer. 
 
 * The name of the farm. These territorial designations are common in 
 
 Scotland. 
 
30 AjV adventure IN THULE. 
 
 " Well, you see, Dunvorgan, it is not easy in the dark, 
 where there iss no light to write down a word, to understand 
 such a langwich as the French langwich ; but if I do not rnek 
 a great mistake, the young leddy was stolen away from her 
 friends, and put on board the smack ; and little doubt hev I 
 that the master of the smack wass paid to mek away with her 
 — maype in the night-time, if there was no one seeing. 
 
 " She is from Morlaix, that iss on the coast of Brittany ; and 
 any one that iss well-read, and acquented with geography 
 and other things, knows that the people of Brittany are very 
 revencheful people. But the young leddy she wass making a 
 prayer to the master of the smack; and maype he wass 
 afrait ; or maype he thought that leaving her on an island 
 wass ass goot as anything to put her away — ay ! ay ! the 
 poor young lass that wass to hef been marriet this ferry day 
 mirover ! " 
 
 " Mr. Livingston, some one will hev to answer for this ; 
 what do you think now ? " 
 
 "That is what I think. And we will get at the story 
 better when we hef the sheriff from Styornoway ; and the 
 sheriffs leddy — oh, she is wonderful goot at ahl langwiches, 
 except the Gaelic, and she is not so goot at the Gaelic ; and 
 the sheriff will be for taking the young leddy over to Styorno- 
 way, no doubt, and putting her on board of the Clansman^ 
 and sending her back to her friends. And the goot heart of 
 her ! Do you know what she has been offering to me." 
 
 " How can I know ? " 
 
 " She wass wanting me to tek her gold rings and her gold 
 watch and chain, too ; and to gif them to the boys for their 
 kindness. Do you hear that now, Colin, and you, too, 
 Archie ? But I would not hef her go away back to France, 
 and be speaking to the French people, and be saying that the 
 Highland people would tek money for a kindness. I would 
 not hef any one say that." 
 
 " That iss right, Mr. Livingston ; my boy Colin would tek 
 no money for being of help to any one. And if he would tek 
 money, then it iss a stick I would tek to his back, to gif him 
 a little goot manners. But it is a stranche thing that the 
 master of the yacht, if he wass such a scoundrel as that, wass 
 not for stealing the young leddy's watch, and the other things, 
 too." 
 
 " Dunvorgan," said the schoolmaster, thoughtfully, " I will 
 tell you my opinion now — that the master of the smack wass 
 
AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 27 
 
 afraid of what he had done, and was glad to get her away 
 out of the smack without thinking of anything else. , And I 
 suppose he wass thinking that if he left her on Farriskeir, no 
 one would effer see or hear of her again — that she would go 
 mad and drown herself, maybe — ay, ay — and ferry likely that 
 would hef happened but for the two young lads — it was a very 
 stranche chance." 
 
 , When they reached the shore on the other side, it was close 
 on midnight ; but all the same there were near a dozen people 
 waiting for them ; and great was the wonderment among the 
 folk when they heard the strange news. And they were civil 
 enough not to stare at the young French lady ; but they were 
 very kind to her ; and she was taken up to Dunvorgan farm, 
 where they got some supper for her, and some tea, and gave 
 her a bedroom all to herself — which is a luxury in those 
 parts. And amid all this the lads found occasion to have a 
 little talk berween themselves — of course in Gaelic. 
 
 " There is one good thing, Archie, that every one is taken 
 up with the young French lady ; and my father has not said 
 anything about the loss of the boat." 
 
 " And I do not think they will say anything now, Colin ; 
 for three lives are better than a boat." 
 
 " But it is hard on my father, Archie, that he should have 
 to pay for another boat." 
 
 However, as it turned out, the new boat was paid for in 
 quite an unexpected way. For when the sheriff at Storno- 
 way had learned all this strange story, and v/hen he had 
 communicated with the young lady's friends in Brittany, there 
 was, of course, a great commotion ; and the two lads had to 
 go over to Stornoway to give evidence there before some 
 gentlemen sent all the way over from France for the 
 purpose. 
 
 Then the young lady left with these gentlemen (though it 
 seemed as if she would never cease expressing to the two lads, 
 through the sheriff, her gratitude to them), and no one expected 
 to hear any more of the thing, except the sheriff, who knew 
 better. 
 
 One day Colin McCalmont and Archie Livingston, with 
 their respective fathers, were summoned to go over to Storno- 
 way, to the sheriff's office, and they went. 
 
 " I have got the reward now, for you two boys," he said. 
 
 "What reward ? " they both said, at once. 
 
 " The reward that was offered in the French papers for 
 
38 A^V ADVENTURE IN THULE. 
 
 information about that young lady when she was found to be 
 missing." 
 
 He showed them an oblong piece of paper. 
 
 " It is five thousand francs ; do you know how much that 
 is?" 
 
 " I do not," said Colin ; and the schoolmaster's son looked 
 doubtful. 
 
 " I suppose you can divide by twenty-five, surely } " said he^ 
 good-naturedly. 
 
 " That would come to two hundred pounds," said the 
 younger lad. 
 
 " Very well, then. That piece of paper is worth two hun- 
 dred pounds ; and that is one hundred pounds for each of 
 you. If I were you, I would put it in the savings-bank ; and 
 when you grow up, it would be a fine thing for you." 
 
 " I will not do that, sir," said Colin McCalmont. 
 
 " What then ? "— 
 
 " I will buy a boat for my father as good as the one that 
 was sunk — ay, and better, too. And if there is anything 
 over, that is what I will put into the savings-bank." 
 
 " But wait a minute my lad. This five thousand francs is 
 the reward offered by Mademoiselle Desclin's guardians — for 
 she has neither father nor mother ; but she wishes to add 
 something to show that she does not forget your kindness to 
 her. She wishes to be allowed to give you a boat, sails and 
 all complete, similer to the one that was sunk ; only it is to 
 be your own. But that will do for your father as well as for 
 yourself." 
 
 " Surely,surely," said Dunvorgan. " Let the lad have the 
 whole of the hundred pounds put in the bank in his own 
 name. It will be a good thing for him when he will take a 
 farm for himself." 
 
 " And you, Archie Livingston ; I am to buy you a silver 
 watch. And if I were you I would sit down and write the 
 young lady a letter in very good English. And there is an- 
 other thing, Colin, my lad ; she wants, you to have the boat 
 called the Felicite. — for that is her own name : and you can 
 have no objection to that." 
 
 " Surely no, sir ; and will I write her a letter, too ? " 
 
 " You could not do better. And so that is all settled. But 
 waite a minute, my lads ; I think the next time you go out to 
 frighten the Frenchmen from stealing the sheep at Farriskeir, 
 you'd better leave the pistol ashore ; you might get into trou- 
 ble. And perhaps if the Government were to send the jackal 
 
AN ADVENTURE IN THULE. 39 
 
 round that way once or twice about this time of the year, that 
 would give them a greater fright than any horse-pistol." 
 
 So that was the end of the adventure ;and if you should 
 happen on the west coast of Lewis to run against a smart 
 little cutter called the Felicit^^ and should wonder at the name; 
 they will tell you the story there about the two boys who went 
 to frighten the French fishermsn away from Farriskeir and 
 Ruaveg. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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