CHAPTER TWENTY.
RIVAL DOCTORS.
For a few moments Scoodrach was as if frozen. He sat gazing at therushing water, and then he sprang up and dashed past Max, shouting,--
"Come on! come on pefore he's trooned."
Max rushed after him, following the best way he could, for Scoodrach haddisappeared among the low growth of hazel, and it was only by listeningto the sound that he was able to make out the way the young gillie hadgone.
The distance was only some fifty yards down, through a depression whichled round to a kind of shelf just level with the top of the huge mass ofrock on to which the water fell, and Max forgot the danger in theexcitement, as he reached Scoodrach, who was standing holding on by thethin branch of a birch tree which had grown outward, and hung droopingover the great hollow below, and so near to the falling foam that itsouter leaves were sprinkled with the spray.
As Max crept to his side, Scoodrach gave him a horrified look, andpointed at something in the bubbling water at the edge of the basin.
"What'll she do?" he cried despairingly; "if she climbs along the tree,she canna chump it. Oh, look, look! Maister Ken! Maister Ken!"
Even if it had been possible, there was no time to render help, for, asthey gazed wildly at the basin into which the clear, smooth jet of waterfell, they saw that the apparently inanimate body of Kenneth was bornenearer and nearer to the edge of the stone, and then slowly onward, toglide over in the spreading veil, and then disappear in the foam andmist far below.
"Pack again and doon to the bottom!" yelled Scoodrach, and he rushed byMax so fiercely that he had to clutch at and hold on by a sapling toprevent his own fall headlong into the watery hollow.
Max drew himself safely to the perpendicular wall, and crept back nowalong the rugged ledge, which had not impressed him with its riskynature before, and the perspiration stood out clammily on his temples ashe reached the place where he had begun to descend.
He was here in a dense growth of nut and birch, and he listened vainlyfor the rustling made by Scoodrach as he ran down.
There was the dull roar of the falls behind him, and then a loud shout,and either an echo or one in answer; but that was all; and a horriblefeeling of misery and despair at his helplessness came over the lad, ashe thought the worst, and of how terrible it would be to go back to thecastle and tell the tale.
His first instinct prompted him to cast himself down upon the earth andyield to the sensation of despair, but his second was to go on and tryand do something to help.
In this intent he looked wildly round, to see nothing but a wildernessof undergrowth, and in his excitement he dashed straight on, strikingthe hazel stems to right and left, and, stumbling and falling again andagain, he ended by rolling and scrambling down a steep slope, to dropinto what might have been some terrible chasm, but only, as it happened,a few feet, and, as he gathered himself up, it seemed that he hadinadvertently hit upon the rough track by which he had ascended.
At the end of a minute he recognised a peculiar-looking patch of rockjutting out above him, and recalled how he had compared it to the headof a bullock as he had clambered up.
That was enough, and the rest of the descent proved comparatively easy,till he reached a spot where he could see on his right the foamingwaters of the fall, and down below, on the left, a glint or two of thetorrent, as it escaped from the lower basin and hurried along the deepravine toward the sea.
He gazed wildly at the base of the fall, in the vain hope that he mightcatch sight of Kenneth clinging to some projecting stone; then hescanned the wild below, but he could see nothing of his companions.
There was the spot where Tavish and Long Shon had sat smoking, but theywere gone, and there was no sign of Scoodrach. Nothing but the fallingwater, with its deep, musical, humming roar, and the grand picture ofrock and tree made dim and distant-looking by the rising clouds ofrainbow-tinted spray.
He shouted with all his might, but there was only a dull echo; and,after repeating his cry, and feeling that it was drowned by the deeproar, he gave one more despairing look round, and ran on downward for afew yards, but only to turn and almost retrace his steps by the roughzigzag track, when he felt a strange catching of the breath, and stoppedshort, just where, some distance below, a curve of the rushing streamopened out before him, all white foam and glancing water, glistening andflashing in the sun.
He had noticed it as he climbed upward with Kenneth and Scoodrach, and astrange sensation of delight had thrilled him. But the beauty was allgone, and he could see nothing now but the scene which seemed to checkhis breath and fill him with despair.
For there, at the foot of a glistening curve of water which seemed toleap from amidst a pile of black rocks, stood Tavish, bending forward.Long Shon was below him, standing waist-deep, and holding on to preventbeing swept away, while Scoodrach was many feet above, climbing to hisright, and evidently scanning the stream.
"They think he's washed down there," cried Max aloud, "when he must beup yonder at the foot of the falls."
He shouted wildly, but his feeble voice would not penetrate to them asthey stood amidst the racing water, and in his agony Max was in the actof starting to run again, when he saw Scoodrach throw up his hands, anddirectly after Tavish seemed to make a bound into the foam, where hefell and disappeared.
Max's mouth felt dry at this fresh misfortune, and he stood as if turnedto stone, waiting to see the gillie reappear, which he did, but notwhere Max expected by fifty yards farther down the stream, where LongShon stood, and, as the latter held on with one hand, he could be seento stoop and catch at something in the water.
Max could hardly believe what he saw, as Tavish rose up high above LongShon, when the pair slowly climbed out, the great forester withsomething beneath one arm.
The frozen feeling of helplessness passed off, and Max ran on down therough slope, nearly falling again and again in his eagerness to reachthe spot where from time to time he could see the group, on a green bedof moss beneath some pendulous birches; and when at last he reachedthem, it was to find Kenneth lying upon his back, with his head andshoulders supported against Tavish as he knelt there; Scoodrach stoopingand holding his hand; and Long Shon busily binding up a cut upon thelad's head, the blood from which had trickled down over one cheek.
"Is--is he dead?" cried Max hoarsely.
There was no reply, and Max felt his heart seem to contract as he stoodin the pool of water which had streamed down from the group.
"Na, na," said Tavish, suddenly thrusting away Long Shon's hand. "She'dpetter let her pleed."
Long Shon looked at him wonderingly, but gave way.
"Maybe she shall. Puir laddie, ye canna dee like that."
But for a time it seemed as if poor Kenneth's race was run, so still andwhite he looked.
"The doctor! some one go for a doctor."
"There's nae doctor this side o' Stirling or Inverness," said Long Shonquietly. "Puir laddie! Was this your doing, Scoody?"
"Na, father; she tried to stop her," cried the boy piteously. "Shewouldna stay. Is she trooned?"
"Trooned! nay, not she," cried Tavish exultantly. "Look at her een.She chust gave ane wee bit blinkie. Bide a wee, laddie, and she'll beupon her legs again."
They watched and waited in a state of the greatest excitement, all butScoodrach, who, after giving himself a shake like a water-dog, andwringing his kilt in front and behind, began to whistle in the mostindifferent manner, and ended by walking coolly away, to theastonishment of all.
But they were too busy with Kenneth to pay any heed to the younggillie's eccentricities, no one heeding his disappearance, as thehalf-drowned boy's hands were chafed, and Tavish gently lowered his headtill he could lay it on a tuft of heath.
There had been a quiver or two of the eyelids, as Tavish had said, andfrom time to time there was a faint fluttering of the pulses, but afterthese manifestations the poor fellow seemed to relapse, and Long Shon,who had been fidgeting and muttering against the fore
ster's treatment,impatiently dashed his bonnet on the ground.
"Ye're a' wrang, Tavvy!" he exclaimed,--"ye're a' wrang! Lat me tak'haud o' the laddie's heels, and let her hing doon my back wi' her heidclose to the groon'."
"Hwhat for?" cried Tavish.
"Hwhat for?" cried Long Shon contemptuously. "Canna ye see that thepuir bairn's fu' o' watter. Lat's turn her up, man, an' lat a' t'watter rin oot o' her mooth. Here, stan' aside."
"Gin ye touch the laddie, Long Shon, I'll gie ye a ding atween the eenas shall mak' ye see stars for a month. D'ye think I dinna ken that itwould kill the bairn at ance?"
"Na!" growled Long Shon; "I've seen 'em do it wi' the trooned men aftera wrack."
"Ay, and I've seen 'em dee wi' doing that same, Long Shon. D'ye think Idinna ken what I'm aboot?"
"Ay," cried Long Shon stoutly, as Tavish kept on pressing Kenneth's ribswith mighty force and letting them go.
"Ye're glad enow to come and lat me doctor ye, though, man. Hing thepuir laddie by his heels to lat the watter oot! Maun, ane wad think yewere aboot to haunle a stag, and cut her up to send to toon. Hah! seehim the noo! see him the noo! Kenneth laddie--Kenneth, my bonniechiel'! Light o' my een, my bonnie young Chief! Hech! Hech! Hech forta Mackhai! Look at her the noo!"
Tavish had sprung up, uttering a wild yell, leaping off the ground, andwaving his bonnet in the air. For Kenneth had opened his eyes, gazedwonderingly about, and then fixed them on Max, as he knelt down and tookhis hand, and smiled.
"What is it?" he said feebly. "What's the matter?"
Max was choking. A great ball seemed to be rising in his throat, and hehad to get up hastily and turn away to hide his emotion.
"I--don't quite--What's the matter, Tavvy?"
"Matter, my bonnie laddie!" cried the great forester, dropping on hisknees and placing his hands tenderly on the injured brow; "on'y a weebit scratch on the heid. Gie's the cloth, Shon lad, and I'll bind itup. Ye had a dip i' the watter, but ye're a' richt the noo."
"Yes, I'm all right now," said Kenneth feebly; and he smiled faintly inthe great forester's face, as the great rough fellow bound up his browas tenderly as a woman.
Max had drawn back, and, as soon as the two men's attention was takenup, he crept round behind a clump of the hazels, and, as soon as he waswell alone, the pent-up emotion would have vent, and, sobbing wildly, hedropped upon his knees and covered his face with his hands, repeatingthe prayer of thanksgiving that rose to his lips:
"Thank God! Thank God!"
Then he started to his feet, ashamed of his emotion, dreading lest anyone should have seen his position and heard his words, for a low, hoarsemoan seemed to come from farther in the little patch of woodland.
Was there some one else hurt? he thought; and, taking a few steps in thedirection, he came suddenly upon Scoodrach at full length upon the moss,face downwards and buried in the soft green growth, while his hands wereclutching his shortly-cut hair behind, and his shoulders heaved as hemoaned forth,--
"She'll never hantle a poat acain! she'll never rin wi' her ower thehills! Maister--Maister Ken, she's deid, she's deid!"
"No, no, Scood!" cried Max excitedly. "He's better! He has just cometo!"
Scood sprang to his feet, and a flash of wild delight darted from hiswet red eyes. Then, as if recollecting himself, he dashed his handacross them and gave it a slap against his side, scowling heavily.
"On'y ta watter rin doon oot o' her hair," he said surlily. "Ta youngChief's not trooned?"
"No, no, Scood; he's--"
Max stared, for Scoodrach had turned his back, begun to whistle, andwalked away.
"He was ashamed to let me see him crying," thought Max. "I'm not theonly coward in the world."
He stood for a few moments gazing after Scoodrach, and then walkedquickly back, to find Kenneth sitting up.
"She's a teal petter the noo," cried Tavish triumphantly. "There,laddie; ye'll get up, and we'll chust gang hame."
"Yes; I'm not much hurt, Max," said Kenneth, with a ghastly attempt at alaugh. "I say, old chap, you couldn't do that. Here, give us yourhand."
Max eagerly tried to help him rise, and Kenneth made a brave effort toget upon his legs, but he snatched at the forester's arm, with his facecontracting and turning ghastly pale, as his eyes looked dim and thenhalf closed.
They gently laid him down, and bathed his forehead with water.
"Chust a wee bit dizzy, puir laddie," said Tavish tenderly. "Bide awee, Long Shon, till he opes his een acain, and then ye shall put him onmy pack, and I'll carry him doon to the shore, and we'll mak' Scood rinon and ket the poat and twa pillows, and ket him richt across to therock."
"Ay," said Long Shon approvingly. "But she must hae a teal o' watter inher; shall she rin it oot the noo?"
"Na, na!" cried Tavish, in a low, fierce growl. "Hey, Scoody!"
"Well?" came from close by, and the young gillie showed himself, withhis face half averted.
"Rin, bairn, and get ta little poat an' row her to ta mooth o' tastream," cried Long Shon.
"Ay," cried Scoodrach, turning eagerly to run.
"An', Scoody, my laddie," cried Tavish, "ye'll chust ask Maister Crantto fling twa pillows in ta poat."
"Yes."
"And, Scoody, ye'll chust say that the young Chief is a' richt the noo,but that we're a' wat wi' sweet watter, and if she thinks a wee drappieo' whusky would pe good for ta young Chief and the rest, she can pit itin ta poat."
Scoodrach nodded, and ran off rapidly over the rugged ground, boundingacross the stones like a goat, and Kenneth now tried to rise.
"Ye'll pe a pit petter the noo, Maister Kenneth," said Tavish tenderly."She's chust sent for ta poat, and she'll kneel doon, and Long Shon willhelp ye to get upo' her back, ant she'll carry ye chently doon to tamooth o' ta stream."
"Oh no, Tavvy; I can walk."
"Nay, laddie, ye canna walk. It winna pe ta first time she's carriet yeon her pack. Noo, Long Shon, chust gie ta young Chief a lift, and--that's ta way. Did she hurt ye?"
"Not--very much," said Kenneth, with a shudder of pain. "Thank ye, Tav,old chap. There, I'm like a little boy again; but it's too bad to letyou carry me."
"Haud yer wheesht, Maister Ken--haud yer wheesht!" cried the bigforester angrily. "What would she pe for if it wasna to help ta youngChief o' ta Mackhai? Why, Long Shon here and she would lie doon for yeto walk upo' us if it would do ye good."
"Ay!" cried Long Shon.
"Noo then, slow and steady. Come along, Maister Max; and we'll be doonto the sands before Scoodrach can get across ta bay."
The great fellow walked slowly and carefully down the gully; but, beforethey had gone far, Kenneth's head dropped, and they laid him down again,to revive him after a few minutes by bathing his face on the brink ofthe rushing stream, after which Tavish raised him as tenderly as if hehad been a baby, and bore him in his arms.
They reached the shore at last, after a very slow progress, to findScoodrach approaching fast, and tugging at the oars with all his might.
"Is ta Mackhai at hame?" cried Long Shon, as the boy came within hail.
"Na," shouted Scoodrach, without turning his head, and toiling away tillhe was close in, when he reversed the boat, and backed in till shegrounded on the sand.
The pillows were there, so was the whisky, but no one touched it.Kenneth was laid carefully in the stern, and Max supported him,Scoodrach scowling angrily at being sent into the bows; while the twomen made the water surge beneath the keel till they reached the rock,where, once more taking the injured lad in his arms as if he were ababe, Tavish carried him up the rock, and then right up to his bedroom,where he stopped and tended him as carefully as a trained nurse.
"I've been a' ower him, Maister Crant, and ye may rest easy till taMackhai comes pack. If she likes to sent for ta toctor, weel, let hersent; pit there's naething wrang wi' the laddie, nae banes brukkit, andnaething wrang inside. She has gien her heit a gran' ding or twa, andshe's verra sair, and
she's been maist trooned. I've seen to manny aworse hurt than hers, so let the bairn go to sleep, and we'll see herwhen she wacks."
Three Boys; Or, The Chiefs of the Clan Mackhai Page 20
