CHAPTER XIV
CAUGHT
The evening had closed in heavy rain, and towards morning a gusty windarose, buffeting the walls of Corranmore and making wild noises in theruin.
Marjorie awoke and sat up in bed. A moment's hearkening convinced herthat what the islanders most dreaded had become reality; a westerlygale had arisen while Neil was still in the caves.
She sprang to the window; and the grey light showed her an angry sea,with the white horses leaping and hurrying towards the Corrachinheadland.
The tide was rising, and was being driven eastward with terrific forceby the gale.
Marjorie ran to her brother's room; but a glance showed her an emptybed.
'No time to lose,' said Marjorie to herself; 'perhaps he has gone towarn Neil, and perhaps he hasn't; in any case I'd better go too.'
She hurried on some clothing and ran out of doors. The wind had sweptthe clouds towards the east, and an angry dawn was breaking above thehills. Marjorie sped over the drenched grass and heather, the wind waslifting her nearly off her feet, and blowing her frock in front of herlike a sail. There were more than three miles of rugged countrybetween Corranmore and the headland. It was a race between herself andthe tide; and the tide seemed to be gaining.
Marjorie ran on and on. Neither Hamish nor any other living creaturewas in sight. The sheep had left the moors and the gulls were takingrefuge inland.
At last the headland came in view. A glance showed Marjorie that thewaves had not yet reached high-water mark. Mechanically she chose theroad by the shore.
Now the wind was partly against her, and at times threatened to pin heragainst the cliff; but Marjorie struggled forward. Soon the rocks werefrowning above her head, while the breakers were coming closer, risingin solid walls which thundered as they fell. Showers of spray wereflung shoreward; and looking up at the wet glistening cliffs Marjoriewondered whether foothold would be possible upon them, and what herfeelings would be were she to find herself caged between the cliffs andthe breakers.
Yet she did not feel frightened, only excited.
At the caves she had only time to make a dash before a huge breakerfell; and some of the water swirled after her into the opening.
'Neil!' she cried; 'Neil!'
Neil was lying watching the flood quite calmly, as though it did notconcern him in the least.
Catching sight of Marjorie he looked up in amazement; then sprang tohis feet.
'Is Hamish here?' shouted Marjorie.
Her voice was drowned in the thunder of waves and wind.
Neil led her to a small chamber in the rocks, lighted from above, andwhere the tumult was softened into a dull roar; and she repeated herquestion.
'No, Miss Marjorie, I hef not seen him,' answered Neil. Their voicessounded strangely muffled, the force of the breakers making the wallsof the little cavern tremble.
'Then, Neil, you must leave this at once; the caves will be flooded inanother minute, and I've come all this way to warn you.'
'Did you, Miss Marjorie? Did you indeed? You came to warn me. No,indeed; I cannot let you stay here.'
'How are we to get out, Neil? I think the tide is at the foot of thecliffs now?'
As she spoke a stream of water broke in and ran along the floor oftheir little shelter.
'It iss too late to get out that way now, Miss Marjorie,' said Neil;'and in any case it would be too slippery that the cliffs would be. Iwill pe knowing an opening leading to the moor, where it's notdifficult to climb up. Come this way.'
He helped her along the passages. Soon they were in total darkness.The flood was gaining upon them, and the noise rendered it impossibleto exchange a word. Sometimes the water hissed and gurgled at theirheels, and sometimes they plunged ankle-deep into pools.
They slipped and scrambled along, Marjorie clinging to her guide; andpresently a glimmer of light came from above.
'Here we are, Miss Marjorie,' said Neil. 'If you could be managing toclimb up here we would come out on the moor.'
The ascent was broken and dangerous, and was in some places only veryimperfectly lighted. Neil, with his sailor's training, swung himselffrom point to point, sometimes drawing Marjorie up to a ledge, andsometimes instructing her where to set her feet. At last the welcomedaylight burst upon them, and grasping the tufts of heather, they drewthemselves on to firm ground.
'At last,' said Marjorie, throwing herself down on the heather, andblinking in the sun. 'Now you can go to the lighthouse, Neil.'
'Hullo,' said a voice; and Marjorie looked up to see the laird and Mr.Graham, who had come all this way to watch the storm at the CorrachinCaves, and were very much astonished at this sudden encounter.
'Run, Neil,' gasped Marjorie; but Neil drew himself together.
'It iss no use,' he said; 'they will be watching wherever I will go,and I hev not a chance.'
Then to Mr. Stewart he said, 'I am not for trying to escape. I know Ishall be taken. I'd rather give myself up to you than to any one else.If you wass not to be letting my mother know it iss grateful to you Iwill be, sir.'
The laird looked greatly distressed.
'Neil, my lad,' he said, 'I have no warrant for arresting you. It'snone of my business. You may go away if you like; I shall not try toprevent you.'
Neil shook his head.
'It iss no use, sir,' he said; 'I would rather yield of my own accordthan be taken, and I have no chance of escaping now. I had nothing todo with the theft of the letters, but it iss no matter. My mother hassnot long to live, and she need neffer know if things go against me.Keep it from her if you can.'
Marjorie stood by, white and trembling, and nearer to shedding tearsthan she could have believed possible.
'You can come with me for the present, Neil,' said the laird; 'we'llsee what can be done.'
A pony cart was chartered from the nearest farmhouse. Marjorie got inwith the others and a sorrowful party set out across the moors.
When they reached Ardnavoir, the ill news seemed to have preceded them,for Reggie looked stormily from an upper window and then came into thehall where Allan and the Grahams were already waiting, and Mrs. Stewartcame downstairs accompanied by Tricksy, whose eyes were very big anddark with dismay.
Neil dropped into the chair that was offered him, and leant his head onhis hand, while the others gathered silently around him. Allan andReggie were nearest, one on either side, and Reggie put his handprotectingly on his friend's shoulder. In the background, Mr. Stewartfidgeted with the things that had been carried in from the pony cart,and Tricksy was silently shedding tears, poor little girl, leaningagainst her mother.
The only one who could think of anything to do was Laddie, who came in,planted himself in front of Neil, and endeavoured to express hissympathy by slipping his nose under the lad's disengaged hand. Almostwithout knowing that he was doing it, Neil put out his hand andcaressed the dog's smooth head, and the two remained thus in a silentunderstanding.
Every one was feeling very miserable when there came a sound of wheels;a gig drew up at the door, and several persons sprang down and burstinto the hall.
CHAPTER XV
HAMISH TO THE RESCUE
The storm which awakened Marjorie had also roused Hamish. He awoke tohear the rain pouring down, and the burn rushing along in heavy spate.
'Fine fishing, to-morrow,' said Hamish to himself, 'but, whew! how thewind's rising. The rain can't last long at this rate.'
He lay a little longer, listening to the rushing of the burn; then hebegan to think of the people who might be without shelter that night;Neil (who he hoped would take shelter in one of the cottages if thegale continued) and the gipsies, and Gibbie MacKerrach.
At the thought of Gibbie a sudden recollection came into his sleepybrain.
He remembered the lad's lair in the hills, above his father's house,and that the wind had been blowing from that direction on the day whena paper had been found fluttering in the ruins.
Had no one e
ver connected the crazy lad with the robbery?
The idea seemed fanciful, but still it would do no harm to go andexamine Gibbie's curious little cave on the hillside.
Hamish thought he would set out at once, before daylight came and madehim feel how ridiculous it was to think of such a thing.
The dawn was hardly making any headway through the clouds and the rain,and Hamish pulled up the collar of his coat and pushed forward in thedarkness.
As he toiled up the hill the wind was rising in angry squalls and afterawhile the rain ceased and a large break began to open in the clouds,letting the grey light through.
The burn, along whose banks Hamish was making his way, was coming downtumultuously, bearing with it bits of stick, clods of earth, and otherrubbish. Once or twice Hamish fancied he saw a bit of white paperwhirl past, but it was carried down stream before he could reach it.
At last he reached the hollow where Gibbie's little dwelling wassituated. Just above there was a little cascade, and the swollenwaters, coming down with a rush, overflowed their banks and flooded thelair, sweeping out a quantity of straw mixed with scraps of paper.
Hamish plunged into the stream and caught straw, papers and all in hisarms.
A shout from the lair made him look round, and there stood Gibbie,soaked with wet, and plastered with mud from head to foot.
'You must not be touching these,' cried the lad; 'they're for Neil, allfor Neil!'
'All right, Gibbie,' said Hamish tranquilly; 'you can give them to Neilas soon as you like, I was only keeping them from being carried away.'
'Who told you I had seen Neil?' asked the lad craftily; 'Andrew said Iwas not to tell any one, and I'm not going to say he is here; only thenice gorjo in dark blue clothes asked me and I told him.'
'Ah, did you tell him?' said Hamish, speaking quietly, but tremblingbetween the fear of asking too much or too little; 'and when did yousee Mrs. MacAlister last?'
A sly expression passed over the lad's face.
'Me and Mrs. MacAlister not friends,' he said. 'Play her tricks.'Suddenly he began to laugh. 'Played her a fine trick, though; shenever find out! Gibbie steal her letters when she and her husband hadgone out to see Neil home. Door left open, no one see Gibbie--cleverGibbie!'
'Wait, Gibbie,' interrupted Hamish; 'I'm going to fetch something foryou,' and he made off downhill with all speed.
Dr. MacGregor was just driving home from a night visit to a patientwhen his son dashed into the road, spattered with mud and with thewater squelching from his boots.
'Father,' said Hamish, 'come with me; I've found out who robbed thepost-office,' and throwing the reins to his groom, the astonisheddoctor was dragged all the way to the gipsy's burrow.
'Hullo, Gibbie, you look cold,' said the doctor, taking in thesituation with great presence of mind; 'come with me and have a glassof something hot.'
Sitting by the fire in the nearest cottage, with a glass of steamingtoddy in his hand, Gibbie became communicative, and the doctor soondrew from him the rest of the story.
'Neil's a good lad,' said the gipsy. 'Neil knows how to behave to aRomany chel; drives away bad boys when they laugh and throw stones.Gibbie gave Neil a present; two presents; something out of the letters.Neil will find it in his coat pocket some day. Papers worth a hundredpound.'
'All right, Gibbie,' said the doctor craftily; 'suppose we go and tellNeil that you put them there. He may not have been able to find themyet.'
Dr. MacGregor's tired horse was withdrawn from its feed, and Hamish,his father, and Gibbie set out for Ardnavoir.
'Neil's cleared,' announced Hamish; and every one turned round toencounter the strange-looking figure of the gipsy.
Finding himself among so many people, Gibbie became suspicious andrefused to speak, but the faces of his companions rendered allexplanation unnecessary.
'I am glad to say that your innocence is established beyond a doubt,Neil,' said Dr. MacGregor beaming upon him; 'and I am glad to shakehands with you.'
'Oh, hooray, hooray,' shouted the boys. 'Neil, old boy, you'recleared,' and they capered round him, patting him on the back andcheering until the lad was quite bewildered.
Laddie, after looking puzzled for a moment, burst into a joyous barkingand leaped up three times and turned round in the air; then ran to Neiland jumped up again, trying to lick his face. An indescribable tumultreigned, and Neil extricated himself with difficulty.
'Excuse me,' he said; 'you are all ferry kind, but I must pe going andtelling my mother.'
'Wait a bit, Neil,' said the doctor, laying a detaining hand upon thelad's shoulder; 'not so suddenly, if you please; I will go with you andprepare her,' and the two left the house together.
'But Mrs. Macdonnell, Mummie,' said Tricksy, with a quivering lip, 'doyou--do you think she'll die?'
'Not she,' said the laird, coming forward; 'happiness has never killedany one yet, and a little of that is what Mrs. Macdonnell was wanting.But where is the hero of the day; the one who found out what no oneelse has been able to discover! We have not congratulated him yet.'
'We do, we do,' they all cried; and they laid forcible hands uponHamish, who had retired into the background with a very red face,carried him out of doors and chaired him triumphantly round thecourtyard.
'But _Hamish_,' said Harry later in the day, his eyes bright withastonishment; 'to think that after all it was Hamish who did it!'
'Why not?' inquired Allan gruffly.
'Why, he's such a quiet fellow, one never thinks of his doing anything.If it had been you or me now, or Reggie, or even Marjorie (althoughMarjorie's far too conceited for a girl); but Hamish!'
Marjorie had caught some of the last words, and she turned upon the boylike lightning.
'Ever heard the fable of the Hare and the Tortoise?' she queried. 'Ifnot you'll find it in the Third Reading Book. Perhaps you're not asfar as that yet though.'
Still Harry found the matter hard to understand, and during severaldays, he was frequently to be observed sitting on dykes andcontemplating Hamish, who shared the honours of the time with Neil.
'Only a few days now,' observed Tricksy regretfully, 'and there will bean end of all the fun. Every one's going to school except me, andthere will be no boating or fishing or playing at pirates any more.'
'What about next year, Tricksy?' said Marjorie.
'Next year! Why, you'll be grown-up by then. Your mother said youmust be sent to school to learn to be less of a tomboy.'
'I won't be less of a tomboy,' declared Marjorie. 'I'm going to fish,and climb rocks and ride ponies bare-backed, and do all those kinds ofthings until I'm ever so old. We'll have better fun than ever, now wehave Neil back again. I vote we make a Compact----'
'We've made one already,' interposed Tricksy.
'Well, a new one then. We'll call it a League;--the AdventureLeague--and we'll promise to come back every year. Harry and Geraldtoo, and we'll have the Pirates' Den for our house; and we'll neverbother about being grown-up until we're too old to get any fun out ofbeing tomboys any more.'
'Agreed,' said the others. 'Neil, you shall be Captain of our League.'
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