CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
ELEPHANTS AGAIN--FOLLOWED BY SOMETHING MORE AWFUL.
There came a rainy day at last at Kinlossie House. Such days will comeat times in human experience, both in metaphor and fact. At present westate a fact.
"It will bring up the fush," was Roderick's remark, as he paused in theoperation of cleaning harness to look through the stable door on thelandscape; "an' that wull please Maister MacRummle."
"It will pe good for the gress too, an' that will please Muss Mully,"said Donald, now permanently appointed to the stables.
"H'm! she wull pe carin' less for the gress, poy, than she wass used todo," returned the groom. "It iss my opeenion that they wull pe allwantin' to co away sooth pefore long."
We refer to the above opinions because they were shared by the partyassembled in Barret's room, which was still retained as a snuggery,although its occupant was fully restored to normal health and vigour.
"You'll be sure to get `that salmon' next time you try, after all thisrain, MacRummle," said Mabberly. "At least, I hope you will before weleave."
"Ay, and you must have another try with the repeater on the Eagle Cliff,Mac. It would never do to leave a lone widdy, as Quin calls it, aftermurdering the husband."
"Perhaps I _may_ have another day there," answered the old gentleman,with a pleased smile; for although they roasted him a good deal formistaking an eagle for a raven, and only gave him credit for a "fluke,"it was evident that he congratulated himself not a little on hisachievement.
"Archie is having an awful time skinning and stuffing it," said Eddie,who sat by the window dressing trout flies.
Junkie, who was occupied at another window, mending the top of his rod,remarked that nothing seemed to give Archie so much pleasure as skinningand stuffing something. "He's always doing it," said the youngster."Whatever happens to die, from a tom-cat to a tom-tit, he gets hold of.I do believe if he was to die, he would try to skin and stuff himself!"
At that moment Archie entered the room.
"I've got it nearly done now," he said, with a pleased expression, whilehe rubbed his not-over-clean hands. "I'll set him up to-night andphotograph him to-morrow, with Flo under his wings to show his_enormous_ size."
"Oh! that minds me o' the elephants," cried Junkie, jumping up andrunning to Jackman, who was assisting. Barret to arrange plants forMilly. "We are _all_ here now--an' you _promised_, you know."
A heavy patter of rain on the window seemed to emphasise Junkie'srequest by suggesting that nothing better could be done.
"Well, Junkie, I have no objection," said the Woods-and-Forester, "ifthe rest of the company do not object."
As the rest of the company did not object, but rather expressed anxietyto hear about the hunt, Jackman drew his chair near to the fire, theboys crowded round him, and he began with,--"Let me see. Where was I?"
"In India, of course," said Junkie. "Yes; but at what part of thehunt?"
"Oh! you hadn't begun the hunt at all. You had only made Chandsomethin' or other, Isri Per-what-d'ee-call-it, an' Raj Mung-thingumygive poor Mowla Buksh such an awful mauling."
"Just so. Well, you must know that next day we received news of largeherds of elephants away to the eastward of the Ganges, so we started offwith all our forces--hunters, matchlock-men, onlookers, etcetera, andabout eighty tame elephants. Chief among these last were the fightingelephants, to which Junkie gave such appropriate names just now, andking of them all was the mighty Chand Moorut, who had never been knownto refuse a fight or lose a victory since he was grown up.
"It was really grand to see this renowned mountain of living fleshtowering high above his fellows. Like all heroes, he was calm anddignified when not in action--a lamb in the drawing-room, a lion in thefield. Even the natives, accustomed as they were to these giants, cameto look at him admiringly that morning as he walked sedately out ofcamp. He was so big that he seemed to grow bigger while you looked athim, and he was absolutely perfect in form and strength--the veryHercules of brutes.
"The trackers had marked down a herd of wild elephants, not three milesdistant, in a narrow valley, just suited to our purpose. On reachingthe ground we learned that there was, in the jungle, a `rogue'elephant--that is, an old male, which had been expelled from the herd.Such outcasts are usually very fierce and dangerous. This one was atusker, who had been the terror of the neighbourhood, having killed manypeople, among them a forester, only a few days before our arrival.
"As these `rogues' are always very difficult to overcome, and are almostsure to injure the khedda, or tame elephants of the hunt, if an attemptis made to capture them, we resolved to avoid him, and devote ourattention entirely to the females and young ones. We formed a curiousprocession as we entered the valley--rajah and civilians, military menand mahowts, black and white, on pads and in howdahs--the last being thelittle towers that you see on elephants' backs in pictures.
"Gun-men had been sent up to the head of the valley to block the way inthat direction. The sides were too steep for elephants to climb. Thuswe had them, as it were, in a trap, and formed up the khedda in battlearray. The catching, or non-combatant elephants, were drawn up in twolines, and the big, fighting elephants were kept in reserve, concealedby bushes. The sides of the valley were crowded with matchlock-men,ready to commence shouting and firing at a given signal, and drive theherd in the direction of the khedda.
"It was a beautiful forenoon when we commenced to move forward. Allnature seemed to be waiting in silent expectation of the issue of ourhunt, and not a sound was heard, the strictest silence having beenenjoined upon all. Rich tropical vegetation hung in graceful lines andfestoons from the cliffs on either side, but there was no sign of thegun-men concealed there. The sun was--"
"Oh! bother the sun! Come on wi' the fight," exclaimed the impatientJunkie.
"All in good time, my boy. The sun was blazing in my eyes, I was goingto say, so, you see, I could not make out the distant view, andtherefore, can't describe it," ("Glad of it," murmured the impertinentJunkie); "but I knew that the wild elephants were there, somewhere inthe dense jungle. Suddenly a shot was heard at the head of the valley.We afterwards learned that it had been fired over the head of a bigtusker elephant that stood under a tree not many yards from the man whofired. Being young, like Junkie, and giddy, it dashed away down thevalley, trumpeting wildly; and you have no conception how active andagile these creatures can be, if you have seen only the slow, sluggishthings that are in our Zoos at home! So terrible was the sound of thiselephant's approach, that the ranks of the khedda elephants were throwninto some confusion, and the mahowts had difficulty in preventing themfrom turning tail and running away. Our leader, therefore, ordered thegladiator, Chand Moorut, to the front. Indeed, Chand ordered himself tothe front, for no sooner did he hear the challenge of the tusker, thanhe dashed forward alone to accept it, and his mahowt found it almostimpossible to restrain him. Fortunately the jungle helped the mahowt byhiding the tusker from view.
"When the wild elephant caught sight of the line of the khedda, he wentat it with a mighty rush, crashing through bush and brake, andoverturning small trees like straws, until he got into the dry bed of astream. There he stopped short, for the colossal Chand Moorut suddenlyappeared and charged him. The wild tusker, however, showed the whitefeather. He could not, indeed, avoid the shock altogether, but,yielding to it, he managed to keep his legs, turned short round, andfled past his big foe. Chand Moorut had no chance with the agile fellowin a race. He was soon left far behind, while the tusker chargedonward. The matchlock-men tried in vain to check him. As he approachedthe line, the khedda elephants fled in all directions. Thrusting asidesome, and overturning others that came in his way, he held on hiscourse, amid the din of shouting and rattling of shots, and finally, gotclear away!"
"Oh, _what_ a pity!" exclaimed Junkie.
"But that did not matter much," continued Jackman; "for news was broughtin that the herd we had been after were not in that va
lley at all, butin the next one, and had probably heard nothing of all the row we hadbeen making; so we collected our forces, and went after them.
"Soon we got to the pass leading into the valley, and then, just beyondit, came quite suddenly on a band of somewhere about thirty wildelephants. They were taken quite by surprise, for they were feeding atthe time on a level piece of ground of considerable extent. As it wasimpossible to surround them, away the whole khedda went helter-skelterafter them. It was a tremendous sight. The herd had scattered in alldirections, so that our khedda was also scattered. Each huntingelephant had two men on its back--one, the nooseman, sitting on itsneck, with a strong, thick rope in his hands, on which was a runningnoose; the other, the driver, who stood erect on the animal's back,holding on by a loop with one hand, and in the other flourishing aninstrument called the _mungri_, with sharp spikes in it, wherewith towhip the poor animal over the root of his tail; for of course anordinary whip would have had no more effect than a peacock's feather, onan elephant's hide!
"I ordered my mahowt to keep near one of the noosemen, whom I knew to beexpert in the use of the giant-lasso. His name was Ramjee. Both Ramjeeand his driver were screaming and yelling at the pitch of their voices,and the latter was applying his mungri with tremendous energy. Theelephant they were after was a small female. It is always necessarythat the chasing elephant should be much heavier than the one chased,else evil results follow, as we soon found. Presently the kheddaelephant was alongside. Ramjee lifted the great loop in both hands, andleaned over till he almost touched the wild animal. Frequently thisnoosing fails from various reasons. For one thing, the wild creaturesare often very clever at evading the noose: sometimes they push it awaywith their trunks; occasionally they step right through it, and now andthen get only half through it, so that it forms a sort of tow rope, andthe other end of this rope being made fast to the neck of the tameelephant, the wild one drags it along violently, unless the tame one ismuch heavier than itself. This is exactly what happened to Ramjee. Hedropped the noose beautifully over the creature's head, but before itcould be hauled tight--which was accomplished by checking the tameanimal--the active creature had got its forelegs through. The loopcaught, however, on its hind quarters, and away it went, dragging thetame elephant after it, Ramjee shrieking wildly for help. Two of theother tame elephants, not yet engaged, were sent to his assistance.These easily threw two more nooses over the wild creature, and, after agood run, she was finally exhausted, secured with ropes, and driven backto camp, there to be subjected to coercive treatment until she shouldbecome tame.
"Meanwhile, other captures were being made in the field. I was justmoving off, after seeing this female secured, when a tremendous shoutingattracted me. It was a party chasing a fine young tusker. He was verycunning, and ran about, dodging hither and thither, taking advantage ofevery tree and bush and inequality, while the mahowts failed again andagain to noose him. I made my mahowt drive our animal so as to turn himback. We had no appliances to capture, as I was there only to look onand admire. At last a good throw noosed him, but he slipped through,all except one hind leg. On this the noose luckily held, and in a fewminutes we had him secure. Of course, in driving our prisoners to camp,the tame elephants were used to guide them, stir them up, push them on,and restrain or punish them, as the case might require. This was easywith the smaller females and young ones, but it was a very differentmatter with big males, especially with rogues, as we found out beforethe close of that day.
"We were getting pretty well used up towards the afternoon, and had sentten full-grown elephants and three calves into camp, when we receivednews that the rogue, which had been so long a terror to the district,was in the neighbouring valley. So we resolved to go for him. Ofcourse there was no possibility of noosing such a monster. The ordinaryelephants could never have been brought to face him. Our only hopetherefore lay in our gladiators; and our plan was to make them knock himdown repeatedly, until, at length, he should be tired out.
"I need not waste time with details. It is sufficient to say that,after about an hour's search, we came upon the rogue in a dense part ofthe jungle. He was, as I have said, unusually big, as well as fierce.But our hero, Chand Moorut, had never yet met his match, so we resolvedto risk an encounter. There was the dry bed of a river, which the roguewould have to cross when driven down the valley by the gun-men. Hereour gladiator was placed, partially concealed and ready to meet therogue when he should appear. Fifty yards back the other fightingelephants were placed in support, and behind these were drawn up therest of the khedda in three lines. Then the spectators, many of whomwere ladies, were placed on a ledge of rock about forty feet above theriver-bed, which commanded a good view of the proposed field of battle.
"Up to this time perfect silence had been maintained in our ranks. Myelephant was stationed near the centre of the line, from which point Icould see Chand Moorut standing calmly near the river-bed, with what Icould almost fancy was a twinkle in his eye, as though he suspected whatwas coming.
"Suddenly a single shot was heard from up the valley. As it cameechoing towards us, it was mingled with the spattering fire, shoutingand yelling of the beaters, who began to advance. Chand Moorut becamerigid and motionless, like a statue. He was evidently thinking!Another instant, and the rogue's shrill trumpet-note of defiance ranghigh above the din. Trembling and restive the ordinary khedda elephantsshowed every symptom of alarm; but the fighters stood still, with theexception of Chand, who, becoming inflated with the spirit of war, madea sudden dash up the valley, intent on accepting the challenge! Fiftyyards were passed before his mahowt, with voice, limb, and prod managedto reduce the well-trained warrior to obedience. Solemnly, and withstately gait, he returned to his position, his great heart swelling, nodoubt, with anticipation.
"Scarcely had he taken up his position when the bushes higher up wereseen to move, and the huge black form of the rogue appeared upon thescene. Unlike the lively young elephant that had escaped us in themorning, this old rogue marched sedately and leisurely down thehill-side, apparently as much unconcerned about the uproar of shootingand shouting in his rear as if it had been but the buzzing of a fewmosquitoes. I confess that doubts as to the issue of the combat arosein my mind when I first saw him, for he appeared to be nearly, if notquite, as big as Chand Moorut himself, and of course I knew that thehard and well-trained muscles of a wild elephant were sure to be morepowerful than those of a tame one. I stupidly forgot, at the moment,that indomitable pluck counts for much in a trial of mere brute force.
"Ignorant of what was in store for him, with head erect, and an air ofquiet contempt for all animate creation, the rogue walked into the drybed of the river, and began to descend. Expectation was now on tiptoe,when to our disgust he turned sharp to the right, and all but walked inamongst the spectators on the ledge above, some of whom received himwith a volley of rifle balls. As none of these touched a vital spot,they might as well have been rhubarb pills! They turned him aside,however, and, breaking through the left flank of the khedda, he tookrefuge in the thickest jungle he could find. The whole khedda followedin hot pursuit, crashing through overgrowth of canes, creepers, andtrees, in the midst of confusion and rumpus utterly inconceivable,therefore beyond my powers of description! We had to look out sharplyin this chase, for we were passing under branches at times. One ofthese caught my man Quin, and swept him clean off his pad. But he fellon his feet, unhurt, and was quickly picked up and re-seated.
"In a short time we came in sight of the rogue, who suddenly turned atbay and confronted us. The entire khedda came to a most inglorioushalt, for our heavy fighters had been left behind in the race, and theothers dared not face the foe. Seeing this, he suddenly dashed into themidst of us, and went straight for the elephant on which our directorand his wife were seated! Fortunately, a big tree, chancing to come inthe rogue's way, interfered with his progress. He devoted his energiesto it for a few moments. Then he took to charging furiously ateverythin
g that came in his way, and was enjoying himself with thislittle game when Chand Moorut once more appeared on the scene! Therogue stopped short instantly. It was evident that he recognised afoeman, worthy of his steel, approaching. Chand Moorut advanced withalacrity. The rogue eyed him with a sinister expression. There was nohesitation on either side. Both warriors were self-confident;nevertheless, they did not rush to the battle. Like equally-matchedveterans they advanced with grim purpose and wary deliberation. Withheads erect, and curled trunks, they met, more like wrestlers thanswordsmen, each seeming to watch for a deadly grip. Suddenly theylocked their trunks together, and began to sway to and fro with awfulevidence of power, each straining his huge muscles to the uttermost--theconflict of Leviathan and Behemoth!
"For only a few minutes did the result seem doubtful to the hundreds ofspectators, who, on elephant-back or hill-side, gazed with glaring eyesand bated breath, and in profound silence. The slightly superior bulkand weight of our gladiator soon began to tell. The rogue gave way,slightly. Chand Moorut, with the skill of the trained warrior or thepractised pugilist, took instant advantage of the move. With the rushof a thunder-bolt he struck the rogue with his head on the shoulder.The effect was terrific. It caused him to turn a complete somersaultinto the jungle, where he fell with a thud and a crash that could beheard far and near, and there he lay sprawling for a few moments,nothing but struggling legs, trunk, and tail being visible above thelong grass!"
"Hooray!" shouted Junkie, unable to restrain himself.
"Just what my man Quin said," continued Jackman. "Only he added,`Musha!' `Thunder-an'-turf,' and `Well, I niver!' And well he might,too, for none of us ever saw such a sight before. But the victory wasnot quite gained yet, for the rogue sprang up with amazing agility, and,refusing again to face such a terrible foe, he ran away, pursued hotlyand clamorously by the whole khedda. I made my mahowt keep as close toChand Moorut as possible, wishing to be in at the death. Suddenly alouder uproar in advance, and a shrill trumpeting assured me that therogue had again been brought to bay.
"Although somewhat exhausted and shaken by his flight and the tremendousknock down, he fought viciously, and kept all his smaller foes at arespectful distance by repeated charges, until Chand Moorut again cameup and laid him flat with another irresistible charge. He staggered tohis feet again, however, and now the other fighting elephants, RajMungul, Isri Pershad, and others, were brought into action. Theseattacked the rogue furiously, knocking him down when he attempted torise, and belabouring him with their trunks until he was thoroughlyexhausted. Then one of the khedda men crept up behind him on foot, withthick ropes fitted for the purpose of tying him, and fixed them on therogue's hind legs. But the brave man paid heavily for his daring. Hewas still engaged with the ropes when the animal suddenly kicked out andbroke the poor fellow's thigh. He was quickly lifted up and taken tocamp.
"Not so quickly, however, was the rogue taken to camp! As it wasgrowing dark, some of us resolved to bivouac where the capture had beenmade, and tied our captive to a tree. Next morning we let him go withonly a hind leg hobbled, so that he might find breakfast for himself.Then, having disposed of our own breakfast, we proceeded to induce ourprisoner to go along with us--a dangerous and difficult operation. Aslong as he believed that he might go where he pleased, we could inducehim to take a few steps, forward, but the moment he understood what wewere driving at, he took the sulks, like an enormous spoilt child, andrefused to move. The koonkies were therefore brought up, and RajMungul, going behind, gave him a shove that was irresistible. He losttemper and turned furiously on Raj, but received such an awful whack onthe exposed flank from Isri Pershad, that he felt his case to behopeless, and sulked again. Going down on his knees he stuck his tusksinto the ground, like a sheet anchor, with a determination thatexpressed, `Move me out o' this if you can!'
"Chand Moorut accepted the unspoken challenge. He gave the rogue ashove that not only raised his hind legs in the air, but caused him tostand on his head, and finally hurled him on his back. As he rose,doggedly, he received several admonitory punches, and advanced a fewpaces. Spearmen also were brought forward to prick him on, but theyonly induced him to curl his trunk round a friendly tree that came inhis way, and hold on. Neither bumping, pricking, nor walloping had nowany effect. He seemed to have anchored himself there for the remainderof his natural life by an unnatural attachment.
"In this extremity the khedda men had recourse to their last resource.They placed under him some native fireworks, specially prepared for suchemergencies, and, as it were, blew him up moderately. Being thussurprised into letting go his hold of the tree, he was urged slowlyforward as before. You see, we did not want to kill the beast, thoughhe richly deserved death, having killed so many natives, besides keepinga whole neighbourhood in alarm for years. We were anxious to take himto camp, and we managed it at last, though the difficulty was almostsuperhuman, and may to some extent be conceived when I tell you that,although we spent the whole of that day, from dawn to sunset, strugglingwith our obstinate captive, and with the entire force of the khedda, weonly advanced to the extent of four or five hundred yards!"
Now, while this amazing story was being told by Giles Jackman to hisfriends in Barret's room, a very different story was being told in theroom above them. That room was the nursery, and its only occupants werelittle Flo and her black doll. The rain had cleared off towards theafternoon, and a gleam of sunshine entering the nursery windows, hadformed a spot of intense light on the nursery floor. This seemed tohave suggested something of great interest to Flo, for, after gazing atit with bright eyes for some time, she suddenly held the doll before herand said--
"Blackie, I'm goin' to tell you a stowy--a bustingly intewestin' stowy."
We must remind the reader here that Flo was naturally simple and sweet,and that as Junkie was her chief playmate, she was scarcely responsiblefor her language.
"The stowy," continued Flo, "is all 'bout Doan of Ak, who was bu'nt bysome naughty men, long, long ago! D'you hear, Blackie? It would makeyour hair stand on end--if you had any!"
Thereupon the little one set Blackie on a stool, propped her against thewall, and gave her a fairly correct account of the death of theunfortunate Joan of Arc, as related by Mrs Gordon that morning. Shewound up with the question,--"Now, what you think of _zat_, Blackie?"
As Blackie would not answer, Flo had to draw on her own bank ofimagination for further supplies of thought.
"Come," she cried, suddenly, with the eagerness of one whose cheque hasjust been honoured; "let's play at Doan of Ak! You will be Doan, and Iwill be the naughty men. I'll bu'n you! You mustn't squeal, or kick upa wumpus, you know, but be dood."
Having made this stipulation, our little heroine placed the black martyron an old-fashioned straw-bottomed chair near the window, and gettinghold of a quantity of paper and some old cotton dresses, she piled thewhole round Blackie to represent faggots. This done, she stepped backand surveyed her work as an artist might study a picture.
"You've dot your best muslin fock on, da'ling, an it'll be spoiled; butI don't care for zat. Now, say your pays, Doan."
With this admonitory remark, Flo screwed up a piece of paper, went tothe fireplace, made a very long arm through the fender, and lighted it.Next moment she applied the flame to the faggots, which blazed up withsurprising rapidity.
Stepping quickly back, the dear little child gazed at her work withintense delight beaming from every feature.
"Now be dood, Blackie. Don't make a wumpus!" she said; and as she saidit, the flames caught the window curtains and went up with a flare thatcaused Flo to shout with mingled delight and alarm.
"I wonder," remarked Mrs Gordon, who chanced to be in the drawing-roomon the windward side of the nursery, "what amuses Flo so much!"
She arose and went, leisurely, to see.
Roderick, the groom, being in the harness-room on the lee side of thenursery at the time, made a remark with the same opening words.
/> "I wonder," said he, "what _that_ wull pe!" A sniffing action of thenose told what "that" meant. "Don't you smell a smell, Tonal'?"
Donald sniffed, and replied that he did--"what-e-ver."
"It wull pe somethin' on fire, Tonal'," said the groom, dropping theharness-brush and running out to the yard.
Donald being of the same opinion, followed him. At the same moment apiercing shriek was heard to issue from the house and wild confusionfollowed.
"Fire! fire!" yelled a voice in the yard outside, with that intensity ofmeaning which is born of thorough conviction.
Who that has never been roused by "fire!" can imagine the sensationsthat the cry evokes, and who that really has experienced thosesensations can hope to explain them to the inexperienced? We cannot.We will not try.
But let us not plunge with undue haste into a fire!
It will be remembered that we left Jackman in Barret's room, having justended his elephant story, to the satisfaction of his friends, while MrsGordon was on her way to the nursery, bent on investigation. Well, thevoice that shrieked in the nursery was that of Mrs Gordon, and thatwhich yelled in the yard was the voice of the groom, supplemented byDonald's treble.
Of course the gentlemen sprang to their feet, on hearing the uproar,dashed from the room in a body, and made straight for the nursery. Onthe way they met Mrs Gordon with Flo in her arms--all safe; not a hairof her pretty little head singed, but looking rather appalled by theconsequences of what she had done.
"Safe! thank God!" exclaimed the laird, turning and descending with hiswife and child, with some vague thoughts that he might be likely to findMrs Moss in her favourite place of resort, the library.
He was right. He found her there in a dead faint on the floor. He alsofound his three boys there, exerting themselves desperately to haul herout of the room by a foot and an arm and the skirt of her dress.
"We knew she was here, daddy," gasped Eddie, "and came straight to helpher."
"Out o' the way!" cried the laird as he grasped Mrs Moss in his armsand bore her away. "Mother and Flo are safe, boys. Look out foryourselves."
"I'll go for the photographs! Come, help me, Ted," cried Archie, as heran up the now smoking stairs.
"I'll go for Milly!" cried the heroic Junkie, as, with flashing eyes, hedashed towards her room.
But Barret had gone for Milly before him! and without success. She wasnot in her room. "Milly! Milly!" he shouted, in tones of undisguisedanxiety, as he burst out of the nursery, after finding, with hiscompanions, that no one was there and that suffocation was imminent.Then, as no Milly replied, he rushed up to the garret in the belief thatshe might have taken refuge there or on the roof in her terror.
Just after he had rushed out of the nursery, Junkie burst in. The boywas in his element now. We do not mean that he was a salamander andrevelled in fire and smoke, but he had read of fires and heard of themtill his own little soul was ablaze with a desire to save some one froma fire--any one--somehow, or anyhow! Finding, like the rest, that hecould scarcely breathe, he made but one swift circuit of the room. Indoing so he tumbled on the chair on which the cause of all the mischiefstill sat smoking, but undeniably "dood!"
"Blackie!" he gasped, and seized hold of her denuded but stillunconsumed wooden body.
A few moments later he sprang through the entrance door and tumbled outon the lawn, where most of the females of the establishment werestanding.
"Saved!" he cried, in a voice of choking triumph, as he rose and held upthe rescued and smoking doll.
"Doan! my da'ling Doan!" cried Flo, extending her arms eagerly toreceive the martyr.
By that time the house was fairly alight in its upper storey, despitethe utmost efforts of all the men to extinguish the fire with buckets ofwater.
"No use, no use to waste time trying," said the laird, as he ran outamong the females on the lawn. "Is everybody safe? eh? Milly--where'sMilly?"
"Milly! where's Milly?" echoed a stentorian voice, as Barret bounded outof the smoking house with singed hair and blackened face.
"There--there she is!" cried several of the party, as they pointedtowards the avenue leading to the house.
All eyes were eagerly turned in that direction, and a generalexclamation of thankfulness escaped, as Milly was seen running towardsthe scene of action. She had been down seeing old Mrs Donaldson, andknew nothing of what had occurred, till she came in sight of theconflagration.