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Updated: May 28, 2025
"Goodbye, Captain Gordon!" I murmured; and at that I slipped over the taffrail and was soon sitting in my boat again, rowing back to the town. On my way to the school that morning I chanced to meet Hercus and Rosson coming down one of the side alleys. "I say, lads," I began, "d'ye ken what Dominie Drever says about the siller things we found at Skaill?" "No! what is it, Hal?" asked Hercus.
"Your bird! your bird, indeed!" exclaimed Hercus, putting his hands in his pockets and assuming an attitude of indignant surprise. "Is it the man who first sees the whale that has the blubber? No, no, Ericson's dog caught the bird. Let Hal do as he likes with his own." I have no doubt that Tom coveted the dead falcon in order to persuade his sister that he had discovered her harrier's nest.
My father's shipmates, as he called them, were also fine stalwart men, each of them competent to take the skipper's place, but each willing to sacrifice anything for Sandy Ericson. My uncle Mansie was mate, and sat forward in the bow. The stroke oar was usually taken by Tom Hercus, a man of singular daring. Willie Slater was an old whaler, who could stand any hardships with perfect indifference.
Not seeing him, we concluded he had gone round by the top of the cliffs, and we continued our way a few yards further. Then we heard Hercus calling after us in an excited way. "Come back, lads, come back!" he shouted; and I looked at the sea line, fearing lest it was the rising tide that Hercus was warning us against. "I'm not going back," objected Tom.
"Ay, ay, sir," responded Willie Hercus, who had left the Clasper and was now our mate. Then down fell our sails, flapping loud in the breeze, and out went our long sweeping oars.
"Why, he says that it was an old sea king's grave that we discovered one of those viking lads that we read about in the history book." "You don't say so!" exclaimed Rosson. "Yes, and he says that we must take all the siller to him at the school. There's some law about it all, and we canna keep the things. We maun give them up." "Will ye give your share up, Hal?" asked Hercus.
When all that it seemed possible to find had been collected, and our digging brought nothing more to light, we opened our two seals' skins throwing away the blubber, which seemed of little worth to us now that we had possessed ourselves of all this wealth and lifting the treasure into them we made them into slings, one of which was carried by Tom Kinlay and Willie Hercus, the other by Robbie Rosson and myself.
Not I. I'm not going into such a place after the sun has gone down. Why, we canna be sure that the ghosts of the dead will not spring out upon us!" "No, I'm not going in there either," chimed in Hercus. "We can divide the siller here on the moor just as well as in that fearsome place. Come back, Hal, dinna you gang either."
Seeing my determined attitude, he regarded it as a challenge, and at once took off his jacket and held it out for Robbie Rosson to take charge of. Robbie promptly showed the tenor of his feelings by allowing the jacket to fall upon one of the gravestones, and by coming to my side. Hercus merely busied himself in pacifying my dog, which had become restless on hearing our high words.
"There's Robbie Rosson, he'd be glad of the chance." "Bring him to me then, Halcro, and we'll take him along with us next trip to see if he likes it." Here was a fortunate opportunity. By my own advancement I was to be the means of helping my two school companions. Willie Hercus was to join the revenue cutter; Robbie Rosson was to go aboard the Falcon.
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