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"It iss fery strange that we should foregather this mornin', Mr Mabberly," said the skipper, after greeting the young men; "for Shames an' me was jist speakin' aboot ye. We will be thinkin' that it iss foolishness for hum an' me to be stoppin' here wastin' our time when we ought to be at oor work."
While Barret and the skipper were thus taking what the latter called an easy day of it, their friend Mabberly, with Eddie and Junkie and the seaman McGregor, had gone over the pass in the waggonette to the village of Cove for a day's sea-fishing. They were driven by Ivor Donaldson.
With a short laugh, Mabberly turned to Ivor, and asked if Shames was the Gaelic for James. "No, sir" replied the keeper; "but James is the English for Shames." "Ha! you are quoting now or rather, misquoting from the lips of some Irishman."
We shall see the whole affair in the morning papers before sailing, with a report of the old lady's name and condition I mean condition of health as well as your unmanly flight, without leaving your card; so you'll be able to start with an easy Ha! a cab! yes, it's Jackman. I know his manservant," said Mabberly, as he looked out at the window.
"Shall we leave it where it lies, or drag it further up on the beach?" asked Mabberly, referring to the raft. "Ye petter haul it a wee higher up," said Ian, examining the machine with much interest; "for when it comes on to plow there's a heavy sea here. Weel, weel, but it iss a strange contrivance!"
Next morning found our three adventurers dropping down the Thames with the first of the ebb tide, and a slight breeze from the south-west; Mabberly and Jackman in the very small cabin looking after stores, guns, rods, etcetera; Barret anxiously scanning the columns of a newspaper; Quin and the skipper making each other's acquaintance with much of the suspicion observable in two bull-dogs who meet accidentally; the boy in the fore part of the vessel coiling ropes; and the remainder of the crew at the helm.
"We had petter weather the pint first," said the boatman; "efter that the wund wul pe in oor favour, an' but, ye're richt. Tak in a reef, Roderick an' Tonal'. Mind the sheet, Mr Mabberly, an' sit low in the poat, poys." These orders were promptly obeyed, for the squall was rushing down the loch very rapidly.
During this period, also, Mabberly applied himself to his duties in London, unaffected by the loss of the Fairy, and profoundly interested in the success of his friend Barret, who had devoted himself heart and head to natural history, with a view to making that science his profession, though his having been left a competence by his father rendered a profession unnecessary, from a financial point of view.
It was the habit of our three friends Bob Mabberly, John Barret, and Giles Jackman during their residence at Kinlossie, to take a stroll together every morning before breakfast by the margin of the sea, for they were fond of each other's company, and Mabberly, as a yachtsman, had acquired the habit of early rising.
"You have come to the right place for sport, gentlemen," said the laird, as he carved with vigour at a splendid haunch of venison. "In their seasons we have deer and grouse on the hills; rabbits, hares, partridges, and pheasants on the low grounds. What'll you have, Mr Mabberly? My dear, what have you got there?" "Pigeon pie," answered Mrs Gordon.
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