THE BEADS OF TASMER.

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 92, 22 April 1891, Page 6

THE BEADS OF TASMER.

BY AMELIA E. BARR.

Author of ' Friend Oliver.

CHAPTER I

THE BEADS OF TASMER

•Lovest thou mountains Croat, Peaks to the clouds that soar, Corrie and foil where eagles dwell. And cataracts dash evermore !

* Lovest thou green gras9y glades. By tho sunshine sweetly last; o Murmuring waves, and echoing caves. Then go to the Land oil Mist.'

On the thundering shore of West Ross Bfcands Tastner, the old castle of the Torquils. Its foundations are laid upon that colossal masonry which tho primoval deep piled up, when it first began the fashioning Of the hills; and there are hours of blinding tnisb, and dazzling sunshine, when it 3 towers and turrets aro scarcely to be dis. tinguished from tha great red rocks, which buttress the coast, against tho stormy Minch. Ab the foot of these rocks, the waves tear and moan through the vast vaults of innumerablo caverns; surge out again in foaming cataracts, and then roll through tbe torn and splintered fissures with an appalling fury. Bub above all this ceaseless battle of earth and water, Tasmer Castle lias stood securely for seven centuries. Originally it was little else than a square hall dofended by a round tower—the walls of both the hall arid the tower being twelve feet thick—but in the sixteenth century Rolfe Torquil allied himself to tho great family of Mackenzie, and built what is known as ' tho Lady's Tower,' for his bride. Other additions were made at internals ; and when, at length, the exile of the Stuarts gave a promise of permanent peace to the Highlands, the Torquils began to take a pride in their old home, and to furnish it luxuriously, according to the Georgian ideas of beauty and splendour. Even the small rooms within the ancient walls were made picturesquely habitable ; for the stone work was covered with tapestry, the floors and ceilings with light woods ; and dyed skins, gay chintzes, and soft carpets did much to beautify and soften the grim, bare strength which had been the original idea of home. But nothing could banish the strangely past look of the older portion of tho building. In tbe brightest summer day the twilight of Ossian lingers aboub it; and an imaginative person would scarcely wonder to see some fierce, bare-armed Thane of Ross look from the narrow windows, or walk out the iron-scudded door. Behind the castle there is a range of mountains shouldering each other up, until their bald heads are lost in misb and clouds. Half way down, the firs begin ; and as they approach Tasmer, the dense woods embrace it on three sides. But to the sea it turns an open face, and looks boldly over ' the fractured Caledonian isle,' and the innumerable lochs and bays and sounds through which, 'by night and day. The great sea water finds its way j Through lons, long winding of the hills. Among the men of Rose, the Torquils bave always held a certain pre-eminence. They have usually had the qualities which insure it; ready tongues, ready hands, and consciences not over-tender. They handled a sword as naturally as a bird uses its wings. ■They knew their own minds, and worked 'out their own wills, often ruthlessly, bub without weakness or indecision. Also, the Torquils had an immeasurable admiration for tbe Torquils ; that portion of humanity nob connected with them, or serviceable to them, had, at best, their profound indifference ; and so little did they care to conceal this social contempt that the motto above their door constantly asserted it— ' They say. What say they? Let them say." .'From such ancestors a family is not easily delivered : and in the beginning of the nineteenth century the Torquils were known as a race '111 to themselves and •Worsß to their foe.' After this, however, the progressive spirit of the time reached even to the lonely Rose shores. Tbe next baron was sent toaFrench seminary ; hetravelled and observed, and learned to partially sacrifice his personal feelings to the rules of cultured society. He was nearly fifty .years old when he inherited Tasmer, and Ihad been in active service in various parts ; of the world for more than twenty years. ■So, he was nob averse to sheathe his gword. The grim old castle, to which he attached the idea of home, had a very warm iplace in his heart; and he cherished a most exalted opinion of the importance of his own position and ancestry. It was a proud moment when his general first addressed him as Sir Rolfe Torquil. Hitherto he had been very reticent about his family, but now, as the head of it, he was quite inclined to be garrulous. 'It is a very ancient barony,' he said. '•' The Torquils aro of the pure Albionic race with some slight admixture of Scandinavian blood. My family were Earls of Ross in the twelfth century.' This statement was made at mess, where bis brother officers were good-naturedly 'discussing the new prospects of their colonel, and Captain Stafford replied : 'You may restore the title, Sir Rolfe ; a great deal of favour might be granted you on veur military career.' 'I am one of those who love an old iname better than a new one, Captain. And ithe Torquils bave carved "Torquil" with .their swords and bayonets all over the English history of the pasb century.' ' We nan go a good deal further back than than,' lisped a young lieutenant, with the royal name of Fitz-Roy. 1 You owghb to do so, sir. Yon are Nor-man-English. I am a Highland Chief. Wo foughb tor cur own side, and were our own masters, until a hundred years ago.' 'I beg pardon, Sir Rolfe. I did nob know about the Torquils.' The young man spoke with an air of apology, bub Sir Rolfe answered, with cool contempt: ■ ' That may b& ; but we think no less ot Durselves for you-.r not knowing us.' ;. This short conversation indicated the ißudden change of manner which his accession to the estate nnduced. He had always been haughty, but he had hitherto been reticent ; and though manner is a great matter, no one finds ib easy to complain of a silent man. ■ Privately, Sir Rolfe's musings were not altogether of unmixft'd satisfaction. The estate of Tasmer, though of great extent, Was unproductive, and the rental roll far below thab of the poorest English, barony. Highland lords had not then begun to slaughter their game for Covenb Garden, nor dreamed of renting out their acres as Bhooting grounds for their far wealthier southern neighbours. Upon Tasmer's hills were great flocks of sheep, with scrambling feeb and twisted horns, and droves of little Highland cattle ; and from these sources the largest part of Sir Rolfe's income was derived. Here and there in the narrow straths ib was possible to raise cereals, and the wealth of the ocean was at his doors, but within the castle walls there had always been a dreary want of ready money. No one but himself knew how this want had pinched him for thirty years ; and he was by no means sure that hia pecuniary perplexities were over. This was the more annoying because his son and his daughter had arrived at ages when they could no longer be supported at economical -schools. •Donald is. twenty-two years old,' he Bused; * he ought to be in %ha army.

Para is twenty, and is doubtless thinking of line dresses" and lovers and society.' lb was something strange for Sir Rolfe to tako bhe children into consideration ab all. He had seen very little of them. When their mother died at a lonely station in bho Madras Presidency, they wero senb to Scotland ; and thoy had grown up between bho formal discipline of schools aud the liberty of the long vacations ab Tasmer. During bhese latter periods, thoy ruled absolutely the irritable old baron, their grandfather, and lived in a perpetual holiday in each other's company. Only Donald had any memory of his mother ; his sister had forgotten her. Bub their father had made three long visits to hia native land, and during them they had been hia companions. Since tha lasb visit, Jivo years had passed : they had nob forgotten him, bub thoy had become accustomed to life without him.

Still, youth always expects change to bring happiness. They looked forward with peasant anticipations to the new life T/bich his coming homo would inaugurate, arid thoy were discussing it together one morning as thoy lingered over a late breakfast. ' There will bo a groat deal to do,' said Sara, 'when father arrives. Donald read his letter again. Ido not bolievo I hoard a word of ib. I was listening to something old Fergus was telling mo. Whab was said about Tasmer?'

'" The principal rooms in tho castlo muab be refurnished; for your sako, and for your siater's sake, we musb live more like people of wealth and position." Thab is whab father says.' ' And when does he expecb to reach homo ?'

' After this letter— immediately.' 'If ib were possible for you to meet him on the way, Donald— 'I think he would nob like ib, Sara. Father was always annoyed at anything like "fuss." There is no certainty cither about the time, lie may bo delayed in London, for he is sure to go to tho Army and Navy Club, and so it is likely ho will meet some old comrade I will tako a good horse to Balmacarra, and leave it ab the inn for him. I think that is tho only attention ib will please him to have.' Then they renewed a discussion which was of more personal interest to them. ' I should think father would like to have " the baron's rooms." " Tha Torquil " has always occupied them. What do you think, Donald ?' 'I am sure ho will keep them, Sara.' ' Then there is no reason why yon and I should nob at once'select the apartments we like best. I will have a Ruibij thab looks upon the fir forest. O, Donald ! Whab charming hours wo havo had in those woods ! Whab mysteries wo havo met there! Whab pretty nests wo sob rooking as we parted the branches in our way ! And how the blackbirds used to sing, just as if their hearts were not large enough to hold so much happiness ! And whab bluebells, and moss, and little daisies ! Ono never forgets such things, Donald.' ' No. Yeb I always fancied tho firs were full of sad stories ; that they .knew all the dreadful secrets of those days when the Mackenziea and Torquils \7ere burning and slaying, and carrying off miserable women and frightened children. If I sleep at that side of the house I heat them crying all niarhb long. I sleep with my beads in my hands and wake up in a fright to pray for them. I will have rooms that look over the sea. There ia nothing secret about the sea. If any harm was coming the sea way, ono could see it coming. What is lurking in a wood, who can tell ?'

'Oh, indeed, Donald, you must nob say there is nothing secret aboub bhe sea,' interrupted Sara. ' 'How often it covers itself with a thick mist. Then, how awful and how melancholy are the mountains, and how far away and 6ad aro the long, low islands ! Tho birds aro so quiet, and the very surf is muffled on the beach. Nothing in nature is so full of secrets and of mystery as the sea.' • But I love the sea, Sara. When I get near ib I feel it in every pulse of my body. I would rabher watch bhe wind shimmer across ib than look ab the finest picture man ever painted. And as for blue-bells and daisies, how much more I love the eea's pale, salt flowers ! Oh, the sea ! The sea ! Glorious things can be told of the sea, Sara.' * I know that, Donald. I hope father will get you a boat. I could trust myself with you and Angus Mackenzie.' 'I should think you could. Now you havo given mo a sea-longing* Sara- I musb go and find Angus.' 'Donald, tho riding-horse, must go to Balmacarra first.' ' I had forgotten. The horse ia certainly the first thing to be attended to. Still Ido nob think father will get hero to-day. The stages, after leaving Oban, are not to be depended upon.' Indeed, it was nearly a week after this conversation before the new master of Tasmer arrived. Tho feeling of expectation had expended itself, and the young people were indulging that not unpleasant sentiment of making the best of a happy period which musb soon pass away for ever. Then, one brilliant July afternoon, when bho windows were all open to the fir-woods or tho sea, when they were eating dinner, and had for the moment forgobben, bhe door quiotly opened, and Sir Rolfe Torquil entered. "Donald sab in his grandfather's seat, Sara at his right hand; they were talking merrily, quite occupied with the present, forgetful of bhe pasb and tho future alike ; and of all things, they had tho least thought of giving offence — and yeb when Sir Rolfo saw Donald in bhe masbcr's chair, his firsb feeling—bhough it was evanescent as a shadow —was one of anger. Innocent as the appropriation was, and in spite of the joyful love that welcomed him, ho felt

it. , . ~ Yeb he looked with delight upon the cnildren, who called him 'father.' Donald had grown far beyond his hopes. His figure was tall and erect. He had blue eyes full of piercing lighb ; eyes that looked sbraight ab everybhing, like the eyes of an eagle ; and thab brighb auburn hair which has given the prefix roy, or red, to so many of his ancestors, lb was easy for Sir Rolfe to imagine him at the head of a troop of cavalry rushing by, with the lighb of babble on his face. And Sara Torquil resembled her brother in her tall, slender form, her dazzling complexion,.her brighb hair, and frank, fearless manner. For a little while, the joy of their reunion was almost perfect; but ever, sooner or later, humanity finds the pain of_ reunion as greab as the pain of parting. Some secret disappointment or fear enters into all meetings after long absence. No one has stood still; it is uncertain whether the changes will please or displease us. Some bonds of sympathy are almost certain to have worn away, and it is to a person not quite whab was expecbed thab we have to learn to adapt ourselves. After the night's rest and solitude, something of this feeling was in each heart. Sir Rolfe perceived that his son had become a man ; that his daughter had crossed tbe line— ' Where the brook and river meet.' She was no longer a school-girl to be retired to a governess or sent out of the parlour if her society interfered with him. And to the children, their father was nob quite bhe same. They missed his uniform ; it had always inspired in them pride and respecb. They missed also that air of careless relaxation which was natural in a soldier on furlough, but not desirable in the master of a home to be arranged on a permanent basis. So that Sir Rolfe Torquil was in many respects unlike the man whom they remembered as Colonel Torquil. His return home and his accession to the estate had made but a slight sensation among his people. The tenantry of an English baron would have eaten and

drunken, and shouted bhemselves hoarse with hurrahs for their new master. Sir Rolfe expected nothing of the kind. Such a welcome would have almost offended him. Torquil was in the very heart of the old Catholic district of bho north, and in its religious and social aspects a flat contradicto every other part of Scotland. Here tho pious, melancholy Celb, cradled in mists and bringing his daily lifo into constanb sympathy with the church, was both by nature and education inclined to a grave and sorone seriousness.

Ho lived in nearly constanb danger, either on bho ocean or the wild, precipitous mountains: and he lived almost with prayer upon his lips. Centuries ago, bho grand faith of lona, Tyree, and Coll had found among theso sombre lochs and dusky hills a fitting refuge, and undor the libblo blackthatched cottages of Kintail and Torquil they had preserved the faith of their fathers. And not because they had been hidden away from tho world and its trials ; for to tho last hour thoy stood by the Stuarts, fully comprehending thab their loyalty included bheir religion. In socicl lifo they remained quibe apart, Tho names which thrilled the Lowland heart touched them not. They boliovcd in King Fergus ; thoy know little of Sir William" Wallace; and Robert Burns never sang for them. Duncan Ban Maclnbyre and the seraphic psalms of bheir own sainbs touched thorn far moro nearly. They wore, however, neither rudo nor ignorant, for one or two religious sanctuaries had always lifted their stately domes among these humble clachans, and pious priests and white-robed sisters had boon bheir teachers and friends for unnumbered generations.

So Sir Rolfe expoctod only the mannerly, kind greeting which was gladly givon him. The men catno to their doors, as bhey passed, and lifted their bonnets with a pious ejaculation. The women smiled placidly and dropped him a modest curtsey—a curtsey which expressed respect without a particle of servility. For thoy wero all Mackenziea and Torquils ; only Sir Rolfe was Thf Torquil, the head of their house, bhtPchief of the sept, and, as such, entitled to their affection and respect.

He felt its sincerity, and ib warmed his heart, and brought a miab of tears into his brighb, stern eyes. He was tolling himself, as ho cnterod his children's presence, thab no military honour or disciplined subsorvionco could compare with regard so personal and so spontaneous. And their delight and lovo crowned his satisfaction, so that ho wont to his own rooms that nighb ponotrabed with grateful and pleasant emotions.

As Donald had anticipated, ho took possession of the apartments always occupied by tho barons" of Tasmer. They wore situated in the south wing, facing tho sea, and connected with an oratory in the old central tower. Ib wai necessary that he should visit this oratory, for tho most sacred charge of his father's dying hours referred bo it. Ho sat for somo time thinking, then ho took from hia pockot-book tho last letter which he had received from the deceased baron, and ho read the following portion : ' Bo careful of tho ivory beads you will find in tho oratory; and do not bo so foolish, son Rolfe, as to think all beyond you understand superstition. I have been told, as I now tell you, thab the fortune of Tasmer is, in some way unknown to roe, influenced by them. They wero brought hero in A. s. 1133 by Murdo Torquill, a true knight, who followed Tancrcd to Sicily to the conquesb of Jerusalem. Ho it was who built tho church in which we still worship. Forget nob bo pray for your ancestors when you kneel before its altar.' As ho was dying ho pufi tho beads into bho Torquill's hand, and with them a writing which a wise Augustino monk from Feme wrote oub, thus: ' Tellen these trowc wordac: Whauno Tasmer's fortune shallo wane and I'aide. Thauno aske of the beads of Tasmer aide.' Sir Rolfe road this portion ovor again, and as ho refolded tho letter, there wn3 no doubt on his face. Slowly, and with a marked sblomhity of manner, he"turned the key of the oratory door and closed it behind him. lb was ono of the small rooms contained in the -walls of the tower ; but tho stone had been covered with hangings of purplo velvet. Thoy wero nearly a century old and frail with ago, but the lustrous dye and strong silk pile of Genoa, even in decay, looked royal and handsome. The stone floor was uncovered, and there was only one piece of furniture in tho room— a heavily carved oak lectern, holding an open parchment broviary and a rosary of large ivory beads, beautifully cut, but yellow with age. Light was admitted through a window of stained glass, and tho last rays of tho setting sun tinged with marvellous glory a large, white crucifix standing clearly oub against its purplo background. With the holy sign Sir Rolfo lifted the beads, made rich by centuries of supplications, and kneeling ab the foot of the cross, ho recited nob only tho prayers appointed for the living, but also thab solemn litany for the dead"whoso intercession is by virtue of the cross : . v 'Give them,\o Lord, eternal resb; and leb porpebual light shine upon chem.'

CHAPTER 11. KOBE'RTA. ' All the events of life, aro materials out of which wo may make whatVfl will.'—Noyaus. 'Ho who !osc3 not his senses in love, has'no' senses to lose.' ' Beneath her oyelids deep Love lying seems asleep— JjOVc, swift to wake, to weep, To laugh, to dream.-' THERE was sunshine and cl<?ar air, and a good blow of fresh wind, and in ib bho Sea Bird was dancing along tho pUbirrg floor of the sea, and humming a plgasanb tune as she went. She had been northward as far as the Gairloch, and was making for bhe little harbour of Torquil in tha morning lighb; and Angus Mackenzie and a "couple of young lads wore the whole of her crew, and they were as merry a company asevor journeyed along those storied, cheerless seas.

But this morning the grey Minch was dimpling all over, and tho boat, with a good wind from the northwest, ' went; away like a lady.' The comparison was l Donald's. He was sitting with Angus on' her deck, drinking their early cup of coffee. They were talking gaily, for bhey wero always happy when they were together ; and it was evident thab they had been much together for some woeks, for Donald's skin had taken on thab red-brown tint which is only made by the salted wind of the sea. Keeping well in shore, they were surrounded by multitudes of sea-birds, whose shrill cries mingled not unpleasantly with the ringing Gaelic of the boys, and the stirring sound of bouncing water. ' What are the lads singing, Angus ?' 'A song about the Rover of Lochryan. Ib is a goob song whabeffer. If you will be knowing ib, you will say thab it is a goob song.' ' How can I know it, when I understand so little Gaelic ?' •In the English, too, ib will be ferry well. They were saying ib would be like bhis —if you will be hearing ib,'and Angus rolled out the last verse of the spirited sea song with all his own peculiar intonations : ' Unstent and slack each reef and tack, Gi'e her sail, hoys, while it may sit; She's roar'd through a heavier sea before, An' she'll roar through a heavier yet. When landsmen sleep, or wake and creep, In the tempest'e angry moan. We dash through the drift, and sing to the lift Of the wave that heaves us on.' 'It is a good song, Angus, but I Jilse Father Matthew's song better.' ' There are other men, ay, there ar<> other men who will be saying thab also; /ior there never was in the world such a boa;t-song as Father Matthew's song.' ( Then leb us sing ib together ac we ore

coming into harbour. Cheerily, Angus, eing with all your hearts, and tbe birds will listen to us, aud the wind and bhe water will be our chorus : 'Boat, that hoars me through foam and squall You in in tho storm are my castle wall; Though the soa blaoken from bot'om to top, From tiller to mast she takes no drop. On the tide top ! The tide top ! Wide, white breast of the cradling sea ; On the tide top ! The tide top! That is enough for my boat and me! j • She dresses heraelf, and goes gliding on, Like a lady in robes of Indian lawn; For God has blessed her gunnel and wale, Aud oli! if you saw her stretched out to tno gale, •On the tide top ! The tide top! Wide, while breast ot the cradling sea; On the tide top ! The tide top 1 That is enough for my boat.and me, *01d rocks, ahoy! Old hearts of stone! Stooping so black o'er the betch alone, Answer mo true : On the bursting bnno Saw you over a bout like mine 1 ' On tho tide top ! Tho tido top! Wide, white breast of the cradling sea; On the tido top! The tido top ! • That is onough for my bout and mo. They wore singing as tho boat cast anchor ; and as Donald climbed the hill, he burst out again and again into the stirring, swinging melody. In the firs he became suddenly silent. A figure was approaching him—a tall, spare man, wibh an air of authority and contemplation. As they met, their faces brightened. * Father, your blessing !' And in the twilight of tho firs, the father's hand was liftod a. moment over bhe young hoad, reverently bared and bent. 'My son, God give you His blessing. Where have you been ? Ib is tho fifth day ainco you left Tasmer.' .' Northward to tho Gairloch. Ib was a line sail. If you had been with us, it would havo been much better. Last nigbt, off Scalpa, we sang the " Aye Mary," and missed your help. Some fishing-boats were noar, and they sa»g wibh us ; but we missed your voice, dear Fabher.' ' Now, Donald, are you going home V ' Yes, Fabher.' 'Thab is righb. Sir Rolfe is troubled about you. You do not pleaso him lately. A son should be obedient.'

Donald's face ehowed a little resentment. ' I try to be obedient. Ib is vory hard sometimos, Father.'- ---' Have you considered well the words I gave you* to read ?— "Ib is much more secure to be in a state of eubjecbion than iv authority."'

■' But a young man may havo an opinion of his own ?'

1 " If God be amongsb us, we may somobimes give up our opinion for bhe sake of peace."' ' Bub if I am certainly right V ' " Although thy opinion be good, yeb if, for God's sake, thou leavest it, to follow that ot another, ib will be more profitable to thee." These are the counsels of ono wiser and holier than most mortals.'*

He passed gravely on with the words, and Donald, troubled ab the reproof and the obligation implied in it, reached Tasmer in an unhappy and dissatisfied mood. It was yet early, and in the ontrance hall he saw Fergus, the oldest servanb in the caßtle, potbering about among bhe antlers and shiolds and dusty o'd flag;?. As Donald appeared, he dropped all pretences, and went to meeb him.

'It wass a goob wind thab blew you home, Maistir Tonalt. Sir Rolfo is the angry man ; the angriest man in all Ross, is he whatever.'

' Have 1 done anything wrong, Fergus, while I was oub of sighb and hearing ?'

' You had been strafaiging aal over the Minch ; you haf been more as four days away ; and you know there iss company in tho house, and Sir Rolfe is not in the mood to be doing bhe honours to any man,no,nor yet to tho saints themselves.' Donald made no further remark, but he went upstairs to change his sea-suit, fretted and unhappy. With a heart full of love and of good intentions, he seemed quite unable to satisfy his father. It was scarcely tho youth's faulb, for the things in which he offended were parts aild'reiulbs of circumstances which Donald Torquil had no power to alter or control.

In the firsb place, his presence in the castlo was nob desirable. There was really no place for him, no duty to fulfil; and as Sir Rolfe frequently suffered from those diseases common to East Indian officers, Donald was a constanb presentation to the nervous, suspicious .man of an heir waiting for his decoase. Generally, he knew well that the suspicion was false and cruel, bub there were hours when he half believad it, and when ib humoured his ill-temper to say so. That momentary shadow of Donald in The Torquil's chair, which had darkened his own welcome home, was, in a dim, unacknowledged way, the key to the treatment of hie eon ; perhaps because it interpreted some unvoiced regret or resentment in his own dolayed inheritance.

Also, ho wns annoyed by his inability to provide for Donald without seriously curtailing his own plans. He felt that the youth ought to have his commission, but to give it to him would not only necessitate the outlay of much ready money, bub also the obligation of an allowance sufficient to maintain the honour of tho Torquils among his associates. It was true the last baron had thus provided for him, and often at serious personal inconvenience. He could remember years when his remittances must have been the result of great self-denial on tho part of the whole Tasmer household. Bub he told himself that he was placed in very different circumstances. The last baron had been a keen sportsman ; he asked no other pleasure or occupation, and it was economically ab his own doors.

Th* late baron had no daughter to marry ; he was not therefore compelled to entertain company and to keep up the retinue fashionable society demanded. Sir Rolfe was fond of his daughter ; his fatherly instinct toward her was without a breath of suspicion, and her beauty was a source of great pride to him. Ho was anxious to give her every advantage and to do this, and also to make Donald tho allowance suitable to an officer in a good cavalry regiment, was beyond his power. Bub he constantly reflected that Donald was only twenty-two years old, and that he could very well wait a little, and allow his sister to have such advantages as are supposed necessary for the matrimonial settlement of

~a girl.! \ It was such reflections as these which coloured the first weeks of life at Tasmer after Sir Rolfe's return. Still, no one becomes unkind or unjust at once. There must be an aggregation of small wrongs, and for bhese time is necessary. Other resisting powers againsb evil were also ever steadily at work. Sir Rolfe wa9 yet, in the mainv obedient to his confessor, Father Matthew Contach, a man of lofty ideals and spotless purity of action ; and still his guarriian angel, with prayers unutterable and never-ceasing vigils, kept watch over tho soul committed to it; for other friends may grow weary, and lose patience, and ceas'3 bo love, but a man's guardian angel is hi& soul's oldest and truest friend ; from his first breath unto his last breath ib will nevei; leave nor forsake him. Eytes watch us that we cannot see, lliips warn us the t We may not kiss: Th ey wait for us—and starrily lLean towards us from heaven's lattices.t Thias swayed by opposing influences, Sir Rolfe was neither wholly good nor wholly bad. , There were days in which his son's candid, joyous temper and handsome person gave him pride and pleasure, and in vruich he was kind and even just bo him. In such a mood he had bought the Sea Bird for Donald, and told him while he was waiting his commission to make himself familiar with the neighbouring coasts and islets. *Thomas a Kempis.—"The Following of Christ. "-Chap. 9. t ' For He shall give His "angels charge over thes, to keep thee in all thy ways,'— Psalm xa; 11.

'For,' said he, as he solemnly signed himself, 'they are girt with the solitary caves and ruined churches of the early saints.' The boat had been a real friend. When the domestic atmosphere was cloudy, Donald usually stole away in it, and found upon the ocean's breast the companionship and sympathy it has for all who lovo it. With hia own unrest, its unresb blent, until both alike heard bhe divine whisper — ' Peace !Bo still.' Or he drifted on placid seas into lovely bays, empty of all earth's noises, bub full of the presence of God. Or Angus Mackenzie wont with them, and they had a real fight wibh wind and waves, and in the close strait between life and death easily forgot bhe pebby vexabions for which there is no remedy but that suiferauce so intolerable to impatient youth. Very often, however, Angus could nob go with him. The fiuhing had to be attended to, and Angus was his father's chief helper. So Donald ventured out with only a couple of boys from the village, and gradually learned how to manage the boat thab was ' his castlo wall,' and keep her cleverly 'on the tide top.' At first, when Angus was not with him, he hugged tho shore closely, for the narrow seas were full of races and contrary currents, and also subject to sudden squalls, needing nob only the most alert movements, but also a knowledge of the elements which was almost a prescience. One day, soon after the Sea Bird had been given him, he wanted to go northward, but Angus could not leave the nets. It was an exquisite day in Augusb; there would bo a full-moon ab night, and Donald felt all the magic of tho lonely soa by anticipation. He was yet a novice aboub managing his boat, and in the afternoon of the second day, a breeze camo out of the northeast, and flew round to the southeast with a thunderstorm among the Alps of Torridon. He had only two lads with him, and thought ib bosb to up helm and run for ib. For a few miles the boat bore down the wind, tbe breeze hardening and the sea rising all the time. The small topmast was bending like a whip, and pretty soon it went with a crash that made Donald, for the moment, let go tbe helm with fright. After another blow, tho topmast gear gob tangled up wibh the main rigging, the halyards were badly jammed, and though boys are generally willing to do reckless things on a boat, Donald's helpers were quite unable to get tho mess cut away. Fortunabely bhere was a'litte smack in sight. It rounded cleverly up alongside the Sea Bird, and one of tho occupants aßked what was the mischief. But it was easier to see the mischief than to listen to any description of it, and before Donald tied finished speaking, the interrogator and a girl who stood by his side were on board. Then no explanations were necessary. The girl book the helm and the man went bo work with a will, and with Donald's help, the loose gear was cast adrift and the boat made as snug as was possible under the circumstances. The smack had sheared off. The wind was rising, the waves running wildly, and after a busy, wet hour, Donald was glad to find the Sea Bird, under the girl's hand, making for a misty little cove in tho shadow of Ben Bhreach.

Very coon they were in smooth water, and then Donald looked more closely at his helpers. Tho man was evidently a clergyman. When he put back hia fißher's oilskins he showed the black broadcloth and white bands of bis profession ; and ere Donald could speak, he said : ' I am David Balfour, Free Kirk minister of Ellerloch. Yonder stone house is my manse, and both I and my daughter Roberta will be glad to give you shelter tonight. Ib will be a bad night, Roberta?' ' It will bo a very bad right—at sea.'

Then Donald turned to the giti who still stood by the helm. had flung back from her bead the tartan hood which had hitherto almost hid her-face, and she fully onjoyed Donald's surprise. For Roberta Balfour was no ordinary Scotch beauty ; many people doubted if she were a beauty at all. Her own sex was inclined to deny ; her evon a moderate share of good looks ; but to those who could feel the girl's charm, she was ot the grandest type of womanhood, tall, supple, strong, full of an intense vitality, with the free, haughty carriage of a young deer on the mountains. Her head was largo and finely formed; she had a great deal of black hair, strong and wavy ; a wide, low brow ; large brown eyes ; a nose rather flat, and broad at the end, with wide nostrils; and a well-formed chin below a lovely moutb, red and full, and showing white, oven teeth. When Donald first saw her, it was under unusually favourable circumstances. She loved the sea, and in an encounter with its roughest moods rose to her grandest beauty. She added a few words of welcome to her father's invitation, and crowned them with a smile beyond all words. The evening was like some blessed trance to Donald. Ho saw her'moving about the manse parlour, making tea, filling the minister's pipe, lighting the candles; and he heard her speaking in some glorified tongue that only men in love ever hear. Her clear, musical laugh moved his pulses in a joyful measure; her little plaintive songs made him divinely sad. He could nob sleep ;ho did not want to sleep. He sat by the fire in a kind of rapture, and thought over every change in her exquisite face and every tone in her voice. He recalled her moods and attitudes.' He could have wept with joy. • I have found ber whom my soul lovoth,' he said, softly, and bho noblest nature of the man was touched by tbe reflection. * Blessed Virgin Mary,' he whispered, ' Lover of all pure women, to Thee I offer the first moments of my delight.' And then humbly kneeling, he recited the five joyful mysteries and the Salve Regina. Doubtless ib was the first time the Blessed among Women had been honoured under that roof, but Donald thought nob and felt not any incongruiby in bhe whole universe. He had listened bo the minister reading his appointed portion and making his usual household prayer, and thab, as well as all which had been said and done, had only been a part of bhe wonderful Btato in which he found himself. . For two days be lingered ab Ellerloch. He climbed the hills with Roberta ; he sailed the bay with her. They went into the garden together, and he helped her bo gather the late roses, and the raspberries and currants for the table. He had found his Eden, and, as yet, nothing thab could trouble had entered ib. _ (To be Continued To-morroio.)