CHAPTER XXI
THE GOOD SHIP _SEA UNICORN_
Kate McGhie was safe on board the _Sea Unicorn_, Captain Smith--avessel English by ownership and manning, but which, for purposes whichneed not at this point be too closely defined, presently flew the ThreeCastles of the famous free city of Hamburg, though that fact wouldnot materially have benefited any one on board had one of the Britishfleet from the Medway overhauled Captain Smith. For on board the _SeaUnicorn_ there was much contraband of war, clearly intended for thesustenance and equipment of the enemies of his Majesty King James, bothin the West of England and also more particularly in Scotland.
As Kate was being taken up the side, she could hear above all the seanoises the voice of a man in angry monologue. Captain Zachariah Smith,of the good town of Poole, was exceedingly wrathful at the delay. Butin spite of his anger the work of the deck went forward as well as itmight on so small a vessel, when everything creaked and tumbled in thedancing jabble of the cross seas. For the wrath of Captain Smith forthe most part passed off in angry words, and did not, as was usual inthe merchant service of the time, very promptly materialize itself inthe form of a handspike. There was considerable difficulty in gettingthe boat alongside on account of the swell, and Kate was handed uplike a piece of delicate goods. The man upon whose saddle she had beencarried held her up lightly poised on his hand, and as the side of theplunging ship descended and the boat lurched upward, simultaneouslyhalf a dozen arms, rough but not untender, were outstretched to receiveher. In a moment more she found herself safe on the deck of the _SeaUnicorn_.
"Ah, my lassie, come your ways," said a voice, which, simply because itwas the voice of a woman, made Kate almost cry out with pleasure. Itwas a pleasant enough voice, too, and had something in the tone of itwhich seemed an excellent guarantee of the good intentions of its owner.
A tall, well-formed, rosily colored woman of forty or fifty stood bythe mast, keeping her hand on a rope to steady herself as the vessellunged and dipped her stem viciously into the trough of the waves.
"This is an uncanny and unheartsome journey for ye, my lassie," saidthe woman, "but it's an auld proverb that we maun a' do as things willdo wi' us."
Kate ran to her as soon as her feet were free on the deck and caughther by the hand.
"You will help me--you will save me!" she said, looking up at the buxomwoman with an agony of apprehension in her eyes. For it was a greatthing after a night of terror and darkness, and after the enforced andunwelcome company of ungentle men, for the lonely girl to find a woman,and one so seemingly kindly of face and manner.
"Help ye, lassie! That will surely Betsy Landsborough do. Have no fearof that. They shall never steer ye gin ye like it not. That dour mano' mine has his orders frae the chief, belike, and in the mean timeye'll hae to bide wi' us. But there shall none hurt or molest ye, whileBetsy, the wife of Alister, can win at them wi' her ten finger-nails."
"You speak like a Lowland woman," said Kate, ten minutes afterwards,when they found themselves in the little cabin in the stern of theship. Kate was an excellent sailor, so that the plunging of the _SeaUnicorn_ did not seriously affect her. By-and-by the heaving moderatedas the ship turned tail to the land and sped away before a strongsoutheasterly wind towards the shores of England. Owing to the heavysea it had been found utterly impossible to get the long-boat on board,and Captain Smith had reluctantly sent it back, to be cared for in thelittle port of Lis till his return.
The cabin of the _Sea Unicorn_ was a narrow place, but it was daintyenough in its appointments, and the two small white berths were coveredwith white linen of wonderful softness.
Now the bitterest and most immediate of Kate's anxiety was over. Sheknew that for the present at least she was a prisoner in the hands ofkindly people, and with one of her own sex on board. So it seemed as ifshe could not let her companion out of her sight.
"You have not yet told me why you speak like a Lowland woman," Katesaid again to her new friend.
Betsy Landsborough had not heard the first time, being busied with thearrangement of various articles of dress in a dark closet by the sideof the cabin.
"'Deed aye," she answered, "and what for no? Would ye hae me speak likethae muckle ill-favored sons 'o the peat-creel because for my sins areo' the Highland Host carried me away frae bonny Colmonel in Carrick inthe year '79. Ever since which sorrowful day I have been the wife o'Alister McAlister, the tacksman of the Isle Suliscanna, near half-roadacross the Atlantic."
"Is your husband on board?" asked Kate.
"Aye, that he is; ye'll hae maybe seen mair o' him than ye like. For itwas him that gat the chief's orders to bring ye here wi' him. He wad nohae muckle to say till ye. He is none ower gleg with the tongue at thebest o' times. It was a year and a half before he understood mair o'my talk than juist 'Come here!' 'Gang there!' 'Stand oot o' the road o'me, or else I'll ding the head aff ye!'"
Kate smiled a little at the friendly sounding and natural accent of theAyrshire woman, and though her path was still as dark as night beforeher, and she knew not whither she was being taken, a load consciouslylifted from about her heart as she listened.
"But can you tell me," she returned, "by whose orders and for whatpurpose I have been stolen cruelly away from my friends and set on thisvessel, going I know not where?"
"By whose orders I can tell ye, and welcome. It is by the orders o' thechief o' the McAlisters. Why, lass, it is something to be proud of. TheLord of Barra, the chief himsel', is fell fond o' ye, and, I doubt not,has ta'en ye awa' that ye may settle doon to island ways and be ready,when he gets his new coronet, to be a brave Lady of the Isles."
"But I will never marry my Lord Barra--no, nor any man but the man Ilove!" cried Kate, indignantly.
"Hoot, toot, gently and daintily, my lassie; that is even what I saidmysel', when yon great rawboned stot first took me wi' him, neverspeerin' my leave. Dinna ye ken that no a Lord o' Barra has ever gottena wife for five hunder years, but by the auld and honored Highlandfashion o' takin' her first an' coortin' her after? Haith! there's monya mislippened lass that wishes she had that way o't. For mony is theane wha mairries for love and gets the butter and the comfits first,but in the afterings finds that right bitter in the belly which hadbeen so sweet in the mouth."
And with this Sabine wisdom Betsy Landsborough vanished with a flourishof lifted petticoats up the ladder, which on the small _Sea Unicorn_served to communicate between the cabin and the deck.
The ship still sped on her course, and Kate sat below thinking ofher strange adventure, which yet seemed so little and so natural tothe wild, lawless folk among whom she found herself. Captain Smithincessantly prowled the deck and looked eagerly for Branksea Island,and still more anxiously for the lights of one of his Majesty's swiftcruisers from the Nore. So in the mean time we will let the _SeaUnicorn_ cut a furrow out of sight across the long heaving billows ofthe seas, while we go back to accompany Wat Gordon in his search forhis lost love. Difficult and almost hopeless as the quest seemed, Wat'sheart was wholly true and loyal. He never swerved from his resolve tosearch the world and to endure all manner of hardness till he died,rather than that he should not find his love. Whereat, as often ashe put the matter into words, Jack Scarlett swore under his breath,and more than ever regretted (he stated it on his honor as a soldier)the best paymaster and the most complaisant landlady he had known fortwenty years.