GEORDIE'S TRYST
A TALE OF SCOTTISH LIFE.
[Attributed to Mrs. Milne Rae]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. GRACE CAMPBELL.CHAPTER II. THE SEARCH.
CHAPTER III. THE FIRST SCHOLARS.
CHAPTER IV. ELSIE GRAY.
CHAPTER V. HOW GEORDIE'S HERDING CAME TO AN END.
CHAPTER VI. AND OLD FRIEND WITH A NEW NAME.
CHAPTER I.
GRACE CAMPBELL.
was a chilly Scotch spring day. The afternoon sun glistened withfitful, feeble rays on the windows of the old house of Kirklands, andunpleasant little gusts of east wind came eddying round its ancientgables, and sweeping along its broad walks and shrubberies, sending achill to the hearts of all the young green things that were strugglinginto life.
On the time-worn steps of the grey mansion there stood a girl, cloakedand bonneted for a walk, notwithstanding the uninviting weather.
"It's a fule's errand, I assure ye, Miss Grace, and on such anafternoon, too. I've been askin' at old Adam the gardener, and he saysthere isna one o' the kind left worth mindin' in all the valley o'Kirklands. So do not go wanderin' on such an errand in this bitter wind,missy."
The speaker was an old woman, standing in the doorway, glancing with anexpression of kindly anxiety towards the girl, who leant on one of thecarved griffins of the old stone railing.
Grace had been looking at the speaker with troubled eyes as she listenedto her remonstrance, and now she said, meditatively, "Does old Adamreally say so, Margery?" Then with a quick gesture she turned to go downthe steps, adding cheerily, "Well, there's no harm in trying, and as forthe wind, that doesn't matter a bit. It's what Walter would call a nicebreezy day. I'm really going, nursie. Shut the door, and keep your oldself warm. I shall be home again by the time aunt has finished herafternoon's sleep." And Grace turned quickly away, not in the directionof the sheltered elm avenue, but across the park, by the path which ledmost quickly beyond the grounds. Presently she slackened her pace, andturning for a moment she glanced rather ruefully towards the high wallsof the old garden, as if prudence dictated that she should seek fullerinformation there, before she set out on this search, which she hadplanned that afternoon. The old nurse's words on the subject seemed tohave sent a chilling gust to her heart, harder to bear than the bitterspring wind. Old Adam certainly knew the countryside better than anybodyelse, she pondered, and he seemed to have given it as his decision thatshe would not find her search successful.
Was it a rare plant growing in the valley that Grace was in search of?Then, surely, the gardener was right; she should wait till the warmsunshine came, and the south winds wafted sweet scents about, leading towhere the pleasant flowers grow among the cozy moss. Or did she mean togo to the green velvety haughs of the winding river to get herfishing-rod and t