that
you would not pass within hail of our shores without coming to see me."

Morton, however, urged that Bertha was not aware that he had come round
to the west coast; that she would be expecting him, and would be anxious
if he did not appear.

"Stay, though," exclaimed his host. "There is Sandy McNab will be
crossing the mainland with his pack, and he will send over a message for
you to Whalsey; there will be no lack of opportunities."

Morton promised to stay away this night, should he be able to send a
message to his wife, to the effect that he was doing so. Sandy McNab,
the packman, was found on the point of starting, with his two
half-starved shelties, scarcely the size of ordinary donkeys, but with
wonderful strength of limb and power of endurance. He undertook that
Morton's note to his wife should be delivered without fail; and this
matter being settled, Rolf, in no way loath, accepted his friend's
invitation. There was good cheer for all hands, though dried fish,
oat-cakes, and whisky formed the staple articles of the feast.

Maitland of course wished to hear all about the extraordinary marriage
of the heiress of Lunnasting with the Spanish captain, for strange
stories had got about, and, as he observed, it was hard to know what to
believe and what to discredit.

"There's nothing so unnatural-like in the proceeding," observed the old
gentleman, after Rolf had given him a true, unvarnished account of the
affair. "He's a handsome gallant, and she's a very fine lassie, there's
no denying that; but at the same time, God's blessing does not alight on
marriages contracted without the parent's consent; and it's my opinion
that Miss Wardhill should have waited till Sir Marcus came home before
entering into a contract."

Rolf hinted that Sir Marcus's whole conduct was not such as to secure
the love and obedience of his daughter.

"That may be," answered Maitland; "he might not have gained her love,
but her obedience still was due to him. He left her, too, in charge of
the castle, and now she has fled from her post like a deserter. Poor
lassie, I would not be hard on her, though; and I doubt not by this time
she is wishing herself on shore again, for the gallant ship she thought
so brave must be pitching and rolling pretty heavily by this time."

The friends were at supper, and while they were discussing their food
and this same knotty subject, the loud barking of two Newfoundland dogs
which roamed round