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We felt almost sure now that we were above Stromness Bay. A dark object down at the foot of the slope looked like Mutton Island, which lies off Husvik. I suppose our desires were giving wings to our fancies, for we pointed out joyfully various landmarks revealed by the now vagrant light of the moon, whose friendly face was cloud-swept. Our high hopes were soon shattered.
He removed a short black pipe from his lips as I joined him near the companionway. "Have ye walked from Stromness the day?" he asked. "Ay, lad, but ye'll be tired, I doubt. Come away below to the fire and warm yersel'." And he led the way down the ladder and into a close little cabin, where a rousing wood fire was burning under a good pot of potatoes.
"Man, Ericson," he exclaimed joyfully, "I'm real glad to see ye again! I e'en thought ye'd met wi' some mischance. I was terribly feared!" "Feared, were you? Well, so was I; but I managed all right, you see, thanks to the viking's charm." Robbie brought on board the gun, with his rabbit and the dead gannet. And then we rowed back to Stromness.
Her hair was still black, and her eyesight was quick. Her memory for local events was as good as an almanac to the people of Stromness, and there was something strangely uncanny about her nature that was itself almost an excuse to those who hinted that she had dealings with the underworld.
The probability of Sandy Beg being the murderer was then advanced; but Sandy was known to have sailed in a whaling vessel before the murder, and no one had seen him in Stromness since his departure for Wick after his dismissal from Peter Fae's service. No one? Yes, some one had seen him.
Clouston, the worthy and highly respected minister of Stromness whose kind hospitality and the polite attention of his family the party experienced almost daily during their stay.
There was, too, a wild valor and a wonderful power in emergencies belonging to Ragon that had always dazzled John's more cautious nature. In some respects, he thought Ragon Torr the greatest sailor that left Stromness harbor, and Ragon was willing enough to admit that John "was a fine fellow," and to give his hand at the dominie's direction. Alas! the good man's peacemaking was of short duration.
Thus Stromness, that used to be so pleasant to him, was changing fast. He knew not how it was that people so readily believed him in the wrong. In Wick, too, he had been troubled with Sandy Beg, and a kind of nameless dread possessed him about the man; he could not get rid of it, even after he had heard that Sandy had sailed in a whaling ship for the Arctic seas.
Having learned from some of the passengers, who were the trading Officers of the Company, that the arrival of the ships at either of the establishments in Hudson's Bay gives full occupation to all the boatmen in their service, who are required to convey the necessary stores to the different posts in the interior; that it was very probable a sufficient number of men might not be procured from this indispensable duty; and, considering that any delay at York Factory would materially retard our future operations, I wrote to the Under Secretary of State requesting his permission to provide a few well-qualified steersmen and bowmen at Stromness to assist our proceedings in the former part of our journey into the interior.
They were far away from any dwelling, save the little cottage, and the snow wreaths on the desolate moor were becoming every moment more impassable. "I will run to Stromness for Dr. Linklater," she said. "No, lassie, no; there's no use o' doing that," said Colin. "The doctor can do nothing. Go away home and let me die." "No, I canna leave you, Colin," she said woefully.
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