CHAPTER XVIII.
GOOD-BYE.
"We say it for an hour, or for years; We say it smiling, say it choked with tears; We say it coldly, say it with a kiss, And yet we have no other word than this-- Good-bye!"
Colonel Stewart's very natural mistake in confusing the namesakes, andIsobel's equal error in believing her grandfather to be Colonel Smith,were soon explained. The former, full of relief at this unexpected turnof affairs, paid a visit to Marine Terrace that same evening, and in theinterview with his daughter-in-law which followed he begged her pardonfrankly and freely for his prejudice and injustice.
"It seems late in life for a gray-haired old man to turn over a newleaf," he said, "but if you can overlook my misconception and neglect ofyou in the past, I trust we may prove firm friends in the future. And asfor Isobel, she is a granddaughter after my own heart. Will you forgetthat miserable letter which I wrote (it was intended not for you, as Iknow you now, but for the mother of that other child), and show yourforgiveness by coming to cheer my loneliness at the Chase? Now that weunderstand each other, I think we need have no fear of disagreements,and our mutual love for the one who is gone and the other who is leftwill make a bond of sympathy between us."
Isobel's joyful astonishment may be pictured when she discovered thather friend of the island was in very truth her own grandfather, and herhappiness when she and her mother removed the next week from MarineTerrace to the Chase can scarcely be described.
"It's just like a fairy tale!" she declared. "I never thought when I saton the top of the Scar that afternoon, looking down at the lovely houseand garden, and saying what I would do if I lived there, that it couldever really come to pass. It's almost too good to be true, and Ishouldn't be in the least surprised if it were only a dream after all."
It soon proved to be no dream, but a most satisfactory reality, when shesaw herself installed as her grandfather's favourite companion in thevery surroundings which she had so much admired. To Colonel Stewart shefilled the vacant place of the little daughter he had lost in formeryears; and so keen was his pleasure in his newly-found grandchild, thatif Isobel had not been of a thoroughly sensible nature I fear she wouldhave run a very great risk of becoming completely spoilt. Her mother'sinfluence and her own naturally unselfish disposition saved her fromthat, however, and the wholesome discipline of school life afterwardstaught her to be able to take her grandfather's kindness withoutacquiring an undue idea of her own importance. She was very happy at theChase, and especially delighted when Colonel Stewart made her a formalpresent of the desert island.
"It shall be yours, to do what you like with," he declared. "I promisedto lease it to you when you found the runic cross, and I think youdeserve to have it for your own. It shall be one of my presents to youon your eleventh birthday."
That happy event was to take place in the course of a few days, and tocelebrate the occasion all the Sea Urchins had been invited to a garden_fete_ at the Chase, as a winding up of the club before the variouschildren left Silversands; for it was September now--governesses werereturning, schools were reopening, and the holidays were over at last.
It was a lovely autumn morning when Isobel, with a bright birthday face,looked out of the open window of her pretty bedroom, to see her islandshining in the early sunshine against the sea, and the shadows fallingover the lawns and gardens of the beautiful spot which was now her home.
"I'm the luckiest girl in the world!" she thought, as she ran down tothe breakfast table, to find her plate filled with interesting-lookingpackages, and the prettiest white pony waiting for her outside the frontsteps, with a new side-saddle, quite ready for her to learn to ride.
"I want you to be a good horsewoman," said the colonel. "I think you areplucky enough, and when you've had a little practice I hope you'll soonenjoy a canter with me across the moors. The Skye terrier I spoke ofwill be coming next week; I had to send to Scotland for him, so he couldnot arrive in time for your birthday, but you will be able to make hisacquaintance later."
To have a pony of her very own had always been one of Isobel's castlesin the air, and she spent the morning trying her new favourite in astate of rapture that was only equalled by her joy at receiving herfriends in the afternoon. All the Sea Urchins were there, from tall HughRokeby to the youngest Wright; and though they seemed somewhat shy andon their best behaviour at first, their restraint soon wore off at thesight of the splendid cricket pitch, the archery, and the other gameswhich the colonel had prepared for them. After some hesitation it hadbeen decided to include Belle in the invitation, and she appeared withthe others dressed in one of her daintiest costumes and her mostbecoming hat, not in the least abashed by any remembrance of her formerbehaviour.
"So you're really living at this splendid place, darling!" she cried,clasping Isobel's arm close in hers, with quite her old clinging manner."It's _ever_ so much nicer than the Oppenheims', and I suppose it willall be yours some day, won't it? The pony is simply a beauty. I'm _so_delighted to come this afternoon! Somehow I haven't seemed to see verymuch of you lately, though I don't think it has been my fault. Youalways were my dearest friend, and always will be."
"I am pleased to see all my friends here to-day," replied Isobelquietly, then very gently she drew her arm away.
She knew Belle's affection now for what it was worth; the old love forher had died that day on the cliff, and however much she might regretthe loss, nothing could ever bring it back to her again. Other andtruer friendships might follow, but this was as utterly gone as abeautiful iridescent bubble when it has burst.
It was the first time that the Rokebys had met Colonel Stewart sincethey had uprooted his cherished maidenhair, and with a good deal ofblushing and poking at each other they blurted out an apology for theirconduct on that occasion.
"We won't speak of it," said the colonel. "You wouldn't do it again, I'msure, nor shirk the matter afterwards. Certainly" (with a twinkle in hiseye) "you vanished like the wind, and I shall expect to have a wonderfulexhibition of such running capabilities on the cricket-ground. It's anexcellent pitch, and if you don't make a record I shall be surprised."
With both Charlie and Hilda Chester he was more than pleased, and hopedthey might be frequent visitors at the Chase if they returned toSilversands, while he extended a hearty and kindly welcome to all theyoung guests, who echoed Bertie Rokeby's opinion that it was "the mostripping party that ever was given."
The first half of the afternoon was devoted to cricket, which, I reallybelieve, the colonel enjoyed as much as his visitors; it recalled hisold school days, and he had many a tale to tell of matches played fiftyyears ago on the fields at Eton by boys who had since made their mark inlife. Tea was served in the large dining-room, which looked cool withthe light falling through the stained-glass window at the end on to thewhite marble statues which stood in recesses along the walls. It was "areal jolly tea--not one of those affairs where you get nothing but acucumber sandwich and a square inch of cake, and have to stand about andwait on the girls!" as Bertie Rokeby ungallantly observed, but asit-down meal of a character substantial enough to satisfy youthfulappetites, and lavish in the matter of ripe fruit and cakes. Mrs.Stewart took care that Ruth and Edna Barrington, who, for a wonder, hadcome unattended, were well looked after, and provided with such fewdainties as they permitted themselves to indulge in, being under asolemn pledge to their mother to abstain from all doubtful dishes. Therewere crackers, although it was not Christmas time, and a pretty box ofbon-bons laid beside every plate; but I think the leading glory of thetable was the birthday cake, which, according to Charlotte Wright,reminded one of a wedding or a christening, so elaborate were thedesigns of flowers and birds in white sugar and chocolate on its icedsurface, while the letters of Isobel's name were displayed on six littleflags in red, white, and blue which adorned the summit.
After tea came a variety of sports for prizes--archery, quoits, jumping,vaulting, and obstacle races, in the latter of which considerableingenuity had
been shown. It was an amusing sight to watch the boysclumsily trying to thread the requisite number of needles before theymight make a start, and toilsomely sorting red and white beans in thelittle three-divisioned boxes supplied to them, or the girls picking upmarbles and disentangling coloured ribbons with eager fingers. Thepotato races were voted great fun, for it was a difficult matter to runcarrying a large and knobby potato balanced upon an egg spoon, and itwas almost sure to be dropped just as the triumphant candidate was onthe point of tipping it into the box at the end, giving the enemy anopportunity of making up arrears, and of proving the truth of theproverb that the race sometimes goes to the slow and sure instead of tothe swift. Three-legged races were popular among the boys, and BertieRokeby and Eric Wright, with their respective right and left legs firmlytied together, against Charlie Chester and Arnold Rokeby similarlyhandicapped, made quite an exciting struggle, the former couple winningin the end, owing to Charlie's undue haste upsetting both himself andhis partner. The jumping and vaulting were mostly appreciated by theolder children, but both big and little exclaimed with delight when oneof the gardeners brought out a famous "Aunt Sally," which he had beenvery busy making, with a turnip for her head, carved with a penknifeinto some representation of a human face, over which reposed an ancientbonnet, a shawl being wrapped round her shoulders, and a large pipeplaced between her simpering lips. She was tied securely to the top of apost, and the children threw sticks at her, the game being to see whocould first knock the pipe from her mouth, a feat which proved to bemore difficult than they had at first supposed, and which caused muchmerriment, the prize being won in the end by Letty Rokeby, whose aim wasas true as that of any of the boys.
The sun had set, and the September twilight was just beginning to deepeninto dark, when the young guests were arranged in rows on the terracesteps to witness the final treat--an exhibition of fireworks, which thecolonel had sent a special telegram to London to obtain in time. It wasa very pretty display of Catherine wheels, Roman candles, rockets, andgolden rain, finishing with the Royal Arms in crimson fire; and it madesuch a splendid close to the day that twenty pairs of hands clappedloudly, and twenty voices joined in ringing cheers, as the little redstars winked themselves out into the darkness. The party was at an end,and an omnibus was in waiting to drive the visitors, all unwilling togo, back to their lodgings at Silversands. Isobel kissed Belle with afeeling that it was a last farewell; their ways for the future layapart; they had different ideals and different hopes in life. Alike inname, they had been so unlike in character as to render any truefriendship impossible, though their chance meeting had been fraught withsuch unforeseen consequences. It was little more than six weeks sinceIsobel had first arrived at Silversands, yet so much seemed to havehappened in the time that, as she stood upon the steps holding hergrandfather's hand, she could scarcely realize the strange things whichhad come to pass.
"Good-bye! good-bye!" sounded on all sides, as the reluctant Sea Urchinsat length took their departure. To-morrow most of them would bescattered to their own homes, and the club would be a thing of the past.
"I shall never forget any of you, never!" said Isobel. "We've hadglorious fun together, and it's been the very jolliest holiday I everremember in my life. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed your cominghere to-day, and I wish every one of you as happy a birthday as mine.Good-bye!"
THE END.
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN AT THE PRESS OF THIS PUBLISHERS.
Bosom Friends: A Seaside Story Page 18
