CHAPTER VII.
"THE CARL ON THE CLIFF TOP."
Our Viking-boys were not long rowing out the voe that evening. Thetwilight had come sufficiently for their purpose. It had not broughtdarkness, but it indicated that a late hour had come, when theinhabitants of Boden were probably at rest indoors. They were sobusily engaged laying plans that they did not comment upon the perfectsilence which reigned in the geo as they approached. The splash oftheir oars and the tones of their voices were loud enough to havewarned Gloy of their approach, and cause him to make some response.But he didn't.
A joyous bark from Pirate was the first thing to draw the attention,and then the lads noticed that the dog was alone.
"Guess Gloy is taking a nap, stupid fellow!" Yaspard remarked, and thenhe hallooed as they ran the light skiff high and dry upon the sand.
No answer came to the halloo, and a brief glance sufficed to show thattheir prisoner was not in the geo. The place was small and without anycorner for concealment. It was light enough to see all round the geo.Of a certainty Gloy was not slumbering, and Gloy was not there!
The lads were too amazed to utter a word, but Pirate made up for theirsilence by barking and howling his delight at being in company oncemore. Dogs are very social, and solitude had not been pleasing toPirate. The first person to speak was Lowrie, and a certain amount ofsatisfaction was displayed in his countenance: he rather believed inhis own cuteness, and thought he had found the solution of the puzzle.
"It was stupid of us," he said, "to forget that Gloy can take the waterlike a sealkie. He would swim round the rocks till he reached an easylanding-place. There are plenty quite near."
"Pirate was on guard," said Yaspard, "and would not have allowed him toquit the geo unless I had given a word of command. Besides, Gloy letus understand that he would not try to escape, and knew that I trustedhim, therefore took no further precautions."
"Perhaps a boat came by and picked him up," Lowrie answered, scratchinghis head for some new ideas.
"Has any boat been near Boden voe to-day?"
"We have not seen any. I think faither wad have kent if any boat hadbeen this way, for he has gleg een in respect o' boats."
"There is only one boat he would have gone with, and that is the_Laulie_," said Yaspard musingly. "Perhaps the Manse boys came afterus in real Viking fashion, and in that case----"
"Hi!" Gibbie exclaimed then, catching sight of Yaspard's fishing-rod,stuck upright in the sand at the farther side of the geo. A bit ofwhite paper fluttering on top of the rod had drawn Gibbie's attention,and he was not long in seizing upon this. It had been carefully tiedto the line and fastened on the rod, and when the paper was releasedthe three eagerly put their heads together to read what was writteninside.
In Gloy's cramped, unformed caligraphy was traced a few words,mysterious, but, on the whole, reassuring.
"I'm all right. I haven't broken faith with you, and no more hasPirate; but you need not be scared about me.--I am still THE PRISONER."
"Well, this beats everything!" Yaspard exclaimed then grasping Pirateby his shaggy coat, he cried, "Oh, my dog, if you could speak English!I believe you could if you tried. Tell us, Pirate, where has ourlawful captive gone?"
Pirate yelped and jumped around, then ran to the boat and lookedwistfully at his master as much as to say, "Why do you remain in such ahorrid hole? This is no place for you or me."
Interpreting his actions aright, the Viking said, "I suppose you areabout right, doggie; you've been here too long already, and there isnothing to keep _us_ here any longer."
Considerably crestfallen and perplexed, they left the geo, and sailedslowly up the voe once more, asking one another what was to be donenext.
"I suppose we must believe that Gloy is all right," said Lowrie, "so weneedn't concern ourselves about his life at the present time."
"He says he is still the prisoner," said Yaspard musingly; then after along pause he added, "Look here, boys, we might as well go on with thisnight's performance as far as we can without our captive. We canpossess ourselves of his intended 'cell' (in spite of this horrid'sell'), and we can make it ready for him as we intended, in the hopethat he will render himself into the hands of his conquerors as a trueknight should."
"All serene," was Lowrie's reply; and Gibbie added, "Just so."
So in the grey, quiet "dim" the _Osprey_ swept silently through theHoobes and brought up at the "dyke-end," where she had stopped in theafternoon when Signy was the Viking's sole companion.
Yaspard alone jumped on shore. "Keep her off," he whispered, as if anarmy of enemies were in ambush close by; "don't fasten her until I givethe signal that the coast is clear."
Having so given his orders, he set off up the hill, dodging behind turfwalls and creeping along knolls, so that no watchful eyes atTrullyabister could detect his approach.
There is no real night in those regions when summer is in its prime,therefore Yaspard's precautions were necessary if he required to stealunawares upon the scene.
When within a short distance of the old house a backdoor suddenlyopened and fule-Tammy came out carrying a peat-keschie. He was goingto the stack for fuel, and the particular stack he meant to visithappened to be the very object behind which Yaspard crouched.
"If," thought the boy, "he comes round _this_ end of the stack I'm donefor."
But Tammy didn't. He always attacked a peat-stack from the pointnearest the house, so he placed his keschie[1] at a convenient heighton the broken side of the stack, and lazily proceeded to fill it withpeats. Tammy had a habit, common in half-wits, of talking loudly tohimself, and as he filled his keschie he declaimed in Yaspard'shearing--
"Na, na! I ken wha wad get the raiding-strake[2] if I was to gie themthe run o' the raubit-house; and where wad a' my night-sports be? andwhat wad come o' the Trows if I let the boys rumble ower a'?"
As he piled the peats he went on talking in a disconnected, and toYaspard, very incomprehensible, manner about midnight revels andstrange beings who doubtless had a certain kind of existence in Tammy'simagination. Only one thing he said attracted the boy's seriousattention, and remained in his recollection to throw light on futureevents.
As Tammy raised the keschie to his shoulder he exclaimed in a kind ofexultation, "They think me a puir 'natural,' that can do nae gude toman or beast, but for a' that it's myself that's pit mair light uponwir isle as ever men and money will pit, though the Laird--puirbody--speaks aboot it evermair, and evermair will speak. Yea, yea!puir Tammy and his pate-keschie does mair for ill-luckit, wanderingsea-folk than does the muckle kirk and the peerie[3] queen pittogether. And, though I say it that shouldna, puir Tammy kens when taewake and when tae sleep better than them that has their heads fu' o'brains and books forby."
So maundering, Tammy returned to the house, and closed the back-doorbehind him, and then Yaspard stole round to the uninhabited and ruinedportion of the house to reconnoitre.
When satisfied that the "coast was clear," he whistled softly in suchperfect imitation of a golden plover, that the Harrisons, waiting forthat same signal, were not quite sure that it was Yaspard, and no bird.But when the wild musical notes had been repeated three distinct times,they knew that it was their captain's call.
Fastening the boat to the dyke-end, they hastened to raise thefoot-boards and open lockers fore and aft. From these hiding-placesthey took a curious assortment of articles--a blanket and towel, armourin plenty, a knife, fork, plate, and mug; two candles, a box ofmatches, and a basket of nondescript victuals. Stowing these into twokeschies brought for the purpose, they slung the baskets on to theirbacks, and marched confidently up the hill, assured that Yaspard wouldgive the alarm if danger was to be apprehended.
They reached his side without any adventure, and then all threeclambered over the broken wall into what had been a goodlyapartment--now roofless and in ruin. At the farther end of this roomthere was a low doorway, leading to a dark passage; and as Yaspardwalked boldly towards it Gibbie
said in a frightened whisper, "No' thatway! surely no' _that_ way? Yon passage ends in the haunted room."
"The haunted room, you goose, is just the place that is to be ourcaptive's cell," replied the Viking.
"I thought ye meant _this_ room, or some other bit that's fallen taeruin," Gibbie muttered, and hesitating to follow the others, who wentboldly along the passage, intending to enter the haunted room by abroken doorway of which Yaspard had been aware. His chagrin was greatto find that aperture closed by a number of stout boards nailed firmlyacross it.
"What a bother! Now, I wonder why on earth this has been done?"Yaspard exclaimed aloud, disappointment overcoming caution; but he wasrecalled to the "position" on hearing some strange sounds on the otherside of the boarding, evidently provoked by his own unguarded tones.The sounds were like a child's cry, blended with the sharp shortbarking noise which is supposed to be the manner in which trows giveexpression to their mirth; and these vocal utterances were supplementedby a sound of scratching and thumping applied to the boards.
The boys retreated into the outer room, where Gilbert had remained. Hewas leaning over the ruin, looking up at a window in the angle of thewall, and when the others reached him he said in tones of fear, "Look!there is a light in the haunted room!"
[1] A basket.
[2] "Raiding-strake," the final blow which clears up everything.
[3] "Peerie," little.