The Pirate
Mordaunt, by many a half-hint and innuendo, that he had incurred this
eclipse by being so imprudently active to secure the safety of the
stranger, when he lay at the mercy of the next wave beneath the cliffs
of Sumburgh-head. "It is best to let saut water take its gate," said
Swertha; "luck never came of crossing it."
"In troth," said the Ranzelman, "they are wise folks that let wave and
withy haud their ain--luck never came of a half-drowned man, or a
half-hanged ane either. Who was't shot Will Paterson off the Noss?--the
Dutchman that he saved from sinking, I trow. To fling a drowning man a
plank or a tow, may be the part of a Christian; but I say, keep hands
aff him, if ye wad live and thrive free frae his danger."
"Ye are a wise man, Ranzelman, and a worthy," echoed Swertha, with a
groan, "and ken how and whan to help a neighbour, as well as ony man
that ever drew a net."
"In troth, I have seen length of days," answered the Ranzelman, "and I
have heard what the auld folk said to each other anent sic matters; and
nae man in Zetland shall go farther than I will in any Christian service
to a man on firm land; but if he cry 'Help!' out of the saut waves,
that's another story."
"And yet, to think of this lad Cleveland standing in our Maister
Mordaunt's light," said Swertha, "and with Magnus Troil, that thought
him the flower of the island but on Whitsunday last, and Magnus, too,
that's both held (when he's fresh, honest man) the wisest and wealthiest
of Zetland!"
"He canna win by it," said the Ranzelman, with a look of the deepest
sagacity. "There's whiles, Swertha, that the wisest of us (as I am sure
I humbly confess mysell not to be) may be little better than gulls, and
can no more win by doing deeds of folly than I can step over
Sumburgh-head. It has been my own case once or twice in my life. But we
shall see soon what ill is to come of all this, for good there cannot
come."
And Swertha answered, with the same tone of prophetic wisdom, "Na, na,
gude can never come on it, and that is ower truly said."
These doleful predictions, repeated from time to time, had some effect
upon Mordaunt. He did not indeed suppose, that the charitable action of
relieving a drowning man had subjected him, as a necessary and fatal
consequence, to the unpleasant circumstances in which he was placed; yet
he felt as if a sort of spell were drawn around him, of which he neither
understood the nature nor the extent;--that some power, in short, beyond
his own control, was acting upon his destiny, and, as it seemed, with no
friendly influence. His curiosity, as well as his anxiety, was highly
excited, and he continued determined, at all events, to make his
appearance at the approaching festival, when he was impressed with the
belief that something uncommon was necessarily to take place, which
should determine his future views and prospects in life.
As the elder Mertoun was at this time in his ordinary state of health,
it became necessary that his son should intimate to him his intended
visit to Burgh-Westra. He did so; and his father desired to know the
especial reason of his going thither at this particular time.
"It is a time of merry-making," replied the youth, "and all the country
are assembled."
"And you are doubtless impatient to add another fool to the
number.--Go--but beware how you walk in the path which you are about to
tread--a fall from the cliffs of Foulah were not more fatal."
"May I ask the reason of your caution, sir?" replied Mordaunt, breaking
through the reserve which ordinarily subsisted betwixt him and his
singular parent.
"Magnus Troil," said the elder Mertoun, "has two daughters--you are of
the age when men look upon such gauds with eyes of affection, that they
may afterwards learn to curse the day that first opened their eyes upon
heaven! I bid you beware of them; for, as sure as that death and sin
came into the world by woman, so sure are their soft words, and softer
looks, the utter destruction and ruin of all who put faith in them."
Mordaunt had sometimes observed his father's marked dislike to the
female sex, but had never before heard him give vent to it in terms so
determined and precise. He replied, that the daughters of Magnus Troil
were no more to him than any other females in the islands; "they were
even of less importance," he said, "for they had broken off their
friendship with him, without assigning any cause."
"And you go to seek the renewal of it?" answered his father. "Silly
moth, that hast once escaped the taper without singeing thy wings, are
you not contented with the safe obscurity of these wilds, but must
hasten back to the flame, which is sure at length to consume thee? But
why should I waste arguments in deterring thee from thy inevitable
fate?--Go where thy destiny calls thee."
On the succeeding day, which was the eve of the great festival, Mordaunt
set forth on his road to Burgh-Westra, pondering alternately on the
injunctions of Norna--on the ominous words of his father--on the
inauspicious auguries of Swertha and the Ranzelman of Jarlshof--and not
without experiencing that gloom with which so many concurring
circumstances of ill omen combined to oppress his mind.
"It bodes me but a cold reception at Burgh-Westra," said he; "but my
stay shall be the shorter. I will but find out whether they have been
deceived by this seafaring stranger, or whether they have acted out of
pure caprice of temper, and love of change of company. If the first be
the case, I will vindicate my character, and let Captain Cleveland look
to himself;--if the latter, why, then, good-night to Burgh-Westra and
all its inmates."
As he mentally meditated this last alternative, hurt pride, and a return
of fondness for those to whom he supposed he was bidding farewell for
ever, brought a tear into his eye, which he dashed off hastily and
indignantly, as, mending his pace, he continued on his journey.
The weather being now serene and undisturbed, Mordaunt made his way with
an ease that formed a striking contrast to the difficulties which he had
encountered when he last travelled the same route; yet there was a less
pleasing subject for comparison, within his own mind.
"My breast," he said to himself, "was then against the wind, but my
heart within was serene and happy. I would I had now the same careless
feelings, were they to be bought by battling with the severest storm
that ever blew across these lonely hills!"
With such thoughts, he arrived about noon at Harfra, the habitation, as
the reader may remember, of the ingenious Mr. Yellowley. Our traveller
had, upon the present occasion, taken care to be quite independent of
the niggardly hospitality of this mansion, which was now become infamous
on that account through the whole island, by bringing with him, in his
small knapsack, such provisions as might have sufficed for a longer
journey. In courtesy, however, or rather, perhaps, to get rid of his own
disquieting thoughts, Mordaunt did not fail to call at the mansion,
which he found in singular commotion. Triptolemus himself, invested
with a pair of large jack-boots, went clattering up and down stairs,
screaming out questions to his sister and his serving-woman Tronda, who
replied with shriller and more complicated screeches. At length, Mrs.
Baby herself made her appearance, her venerable person endued with what
was then called a joseph, an ample garment, which had once been green,
but now, betwixt stains and patches, had become like the vesture of the
patriarch whose name it bore--a garment of divers colours. A
steeple-crowned hat, the purchase of some long-past moment, in which
vanity had got the better of avarice, with a feather which had stood as
much wind and rain as if it had been part of a seamew's wing, made up
her equipment, save that in her hand she held a silver-mounted whip of
antique fashion. This attire, as well as an air of determined bustle in
the gait and appearance of Mrs. Barbara Yellowley, seemed to bespeak
that she was prepared to take a journey, and cared not, as the saying
goes, who knew that such was her determination.
She was the first that observed Mordaunt on his arrival, and she greeted
him with a degree of mingled emotion. "Be good to us!" she exclaimed,
"if here is not the canty callant that wears yon thing about his neck,
and that snapped up our goose as light as if it had been a
sandie-lavrock!" The admiration of the gold chain, which had formerly
made so deep an impression on her mind, was marked in the first part of
her speech, the recollection of the untimely fate of the smoked goose
was commemorated in the second clause. "I will lay the burden of my
life," she instantly added, "that he is ganging our gate."
"I am bound for Burgh-Westra, Mrs. Yellowley," said Mordaunt.
"And blithe will we be of your company," she added--"it's early day to
eat; but if you liked a barley scone and a drink of bland--natheless, it
is ill travelling on a full stomach, besides quelling your appetite for
the feast that is biding you this day; for all sort of prodigality there
will doubtless be."
Mordaunt produced his own stores, and, explaining that he did not love
to be burdensome to them on this second occasion, invited them to
partake of the provisions he had to offer. Poor Triptolemus, who seldom
saw half so good a dinner as his guest's luncheon, threw himself upon
the good cheer, like Sancho on the scum of Camacho's kettle, and even
the lady herself could not resist the temptation, though she gave way to
it with more moderation, and with something like a sense of shame. "She
had let the fire out," she said, "for it was a pity wasting fuel in so
cold a country, and so she had not thought of getting any thing ready,
as they were to set out so soon; and so she could not but say, that the
young gentleman's _nacket_ looked very good; and besides, she had some
curiosity to see whether the folks in that country cured their beef in
the same way they did in the north of Scotland." Under which combined
considerations, Dame Baby made a hearty experiment on the refreshments
which thus unexpectedly presented themselves.
When their extemporary repast was finished, the factor became solicitous
to take the road; and now Mordaunt discovered, that the alacrity with
which he had been received by Mistress Baby was not altogether
disinterested. Neither she nor the learned Triptolemus felt much
disposed to commit themselves to the wilds of Zetland, without the
assistance of a guide; and although they could have commanded the aid of
one of their own labouring folks, yet the cautious agriculturist
observed, that it would be losing at least one day's work; and his
sister multiplied his apprehensions by echoing back, "One day's
work?--ye may weel say twenty--for, set ane of their noses within the
smell of a kail-pot, and their lugs within the sound of a fiddle, and
whistle them back if ye can!"
Now the fortunate arrival of Mordaunt, in the very nick of time, not to
mention the good cheer which he brought with him, made him as welcome as
any one could possibly be to a threshold, which, on all ordinary
occasions, abhorred the passage of a guest; nor was Mr. Yellowley
altogether insensible of the pleasure he promised himself in detailing
his plans of improvement to his young companion, and enjoying what his
fate seldom assigned him--the company of a patient and admiring
listener.
As the factor and his sister were to prosecute their journey on
horseback, it only remained to mount their guide and companion; a thing
easily accomplished, where there are such numbers of shaggy,
long-backed, short-legged ponies, running wild upon the extensive moors,
which are the common pasturage for the cattle of every township, where