"Very few heroes do," said her aunt, quietly. "Ranald has noble qualities, but he has had very few advantages."Then Mrs. Murray told her niece how Ranald had put himself between her and the pursuing wolves. Maimie's blue eyes were wide with horror.
"But, auntie," she cried, "why in the world do you go to such places?""What places, Maimie?" said the minister, who had come into the room.
"Why, those awful places where the wolves are.""Indeed, you may ask why," said the minister, gravely. He had heard the story from his wife the night before. "But it would need a man to be on guard day and night to keep your aunt from 'those places.'""Yes, and your uncle, too," said Mrs. Murray, shaking her head at her husband. "You see, Maimie, we live in 'those places'; and after all, they are as safe as any. We are in good keeping.""And was Hughie out all night with those two boys in those woods, auntie?""Oh, there was no danger. The wolves will not come near a fire, and the boys have their dogs and guns," said Mrs. Murray; "besides, Ranald is to be trusted.""Trusted?" said the minister; "indeed, I would not trust him too far. He is just wild enough, like his father before him.""Oh, papa, you don't know Ranald," said his wife, warmly; "nor his father either, for that matter. I never did till this last week.
They have kept aloof from everything, and really--""And whose fault is that?" interrupted the minister. "Why should they keep aloof from the means of grace? They are a godless lot, that's what they are." The minister's indignation was rising.
"But, my dear," persisted Mrs. Murray, "I believe if they had a chance--""Chance!" exclaimed the minister; "what more chance do they want?
Have they not all that other people have? Macdonald Dubh is rarely seen at the services on the Lord's day, and as for Ranald, he comes and goes at his own sweet will.""Let us hope," said his wife, gently, "they will improve. Ibelieve Ranald would come to Bible class were he not so shy.""Shy!" laughed the minister, scornfully; "he is not too shy to stand up on the table before a hundred men after a logging and dance the Highland fling, and beautifully he does it, too," he added.
"But for all that," said his wife, "he is very shy.""I don't like shy people," said Maimie; "they are so awkward and dreadful to do with.""Well," said her aunt, quietly, "I rather like people who are not too sure of themselves, and I think all the more of Ranald for his shyness and modesty.""Oh, Ranald's modesty won't disable him," said the minister. "For my part, I think he is a daring young rascal; and indeed, if there is any mischief going in the countryside you may be sure Ranald is not far away.""Oh, papa, I don't think Ranald is a BAD boy," said his wife, almost pleadingly.
"Bad? I'm sure I don't know what you call it. Who let off the dam last year so that the saw-mill could not run for a week? Who abused poor Duncie MacBain so that he was carried home groaning?""Duncie MacBain!" exclaimed his wife, contemptuously; "great, big, soft lump, that he is. Why, he's a man, as big as ever he'll be.""Who broke the Little Church windows till there wasn't a pane left?" pursued the minister, unheeding his wife's interruption.
"It wasn't Ranald that broke the church windows, papa," piped Hughie from above.
"How do you know, sir? Who did it, then?" demanded his father.
"It wasn't Ranald, anyway," said Hughie, stoutly.
"Who was it, then? Tell me that," said his father again.
"Hughie, go to your room and stay there, as I told you," said his mother, fearing an investigation into the window-breaking episode, of which Hughie had made full confession to her as his own particular achievement, in revenge for a broken window in the new church.
"I think," continued Mr. Murray, as if closing the discussion, "you'll find that your Ranald is not the modest, shy, gentle young man you think him to be, but a particularly bold young rascal.""Poor Ranald," sighed his wife; "he has no mother, and his father has just let him grow up wild.""Aye, that's true enough," assented her husband, passing into his study.
But he could have adopted no better means of awakening Maimie's interest in Ranald than by the recital of his various escapades.
Women love good men, but are interested in men whose goodness is more or less impaired. So Maimie was determined that she would know more of Ranald, and hence took every opportunity of encouraging Hughie to sing the praises of his hero and recount his many adventures. She was glad, too, that her aunt had fixed the sugaring-off for a time when she could be present. But neither at church on Sunday nor during the week that followed did she catch sight of his face, and though Hughie came in with excited reports now and then of having seen or heard of Ranald, Maimie had to content herself with these; and, indeed, were it not that the invitation had already been given, and the day fixed for her visit to the camp, the chances are that Maimie's acquaintance with Ranald would have ended where it began, in which case both had been saved many bitter days.
