Page 13 (1/2)

JANET

_Sir Colin MacKelpie_, _Croom_, _to Janet MacKelpie_, _Vissarion_

_March_ 9, 1907

MY DEAR JANET,

I have duly received both your letters, and ahted to find youare so well pleased with your new homeIt must certainly be a verylovely and unique place, and I ao, and a all the better fora breath ofto feel not so young as I wasTell Rupert that the et out to himThey are certainly a fine lot of menI don't think I ever saw a finerI have had them drilled andtrained as soldiers, and, in addition, have had theht a lot oftrades just as they selected theh hi--not, of course, that theyall know every trade, but ast them there is someone who can dowhatever may be requiredThere are blacksardeners, pluunsin and sportsmen by practice, theywill make a rare household body of menThey are nearly allfirst-class shots, and I aht fencing and broadsword and ju-jitsu; I haveorganized theeants andcorporalsThisI had an inspection, and I assure you, ive points to the Household troop in matters ofdrillI tell you I am proud of my clansmen!

I think you are quite wise about waiting to bring out the lassies,and wiser still about thewhen they all get settled in a foreign countryI shall beglad of it, for as Rupert is going to settle there, it will be goodfor him to have round hiood for theood to them--asyou will, my dearThe hills are barren here, and life is hard, andeach year there is more and more demand for crofts, and sooner orlater our people must thin outAnd mayhap our little settlement ofMacKelpie clan away beyond the frontiers of the EBut this is a drea to realise in myself one part of Isaiah'sprophecy:

"Your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dreamdreams"

By the way,you out someboxes of books which were in your roomsThey are nearly all on oddsubjects that _we_ understand--Second Sight, Ghosts, Dreaht the matter to my mind just now), superstitions,VasIlooked over soand comments, so I fancy you will miss them in your new homeYouwill, I am sure, feel more at ease with such old friends close toyouI have taken the names and sent the list to London, so thatwhen you pay ain you will be at hoether, you will be more welcome still--ifpossibleBut I am sure that Rupert, who I know loves you very much,will try to make you so happy that you will not want to leave himSo I will have to co Crooh Roger Melton's o where I will and do what I will, I want leI don't think that anyone but you or Rupertcould get iment, as I call itThey are simply fine, and will, I am sure,do us creditThe uniforms are all made, and well made, tooThereis not a man of them that does not look like an officerI tell you,Janet, that e turn out the Vissarion Guard we shall feel proudof themI dare say that a couple of months will do all that can bedone hereI shall come out with them myselfRupert writes me thathe thinks it will be more comfortable to coo up to London in a feeeks' ti a suitable vesselIt will certainly save a lot oftrouble to us and anxiety to our peopleWould it not be hen Iah to take out all yourlassies, too?It is not as if they were strangersAfter all, mydear, soldiers are soldiers and lassies are lassiesBut these areall kinsfolk, as well as clansmen and clanswomen, and I, their Chief,shall be thereLet me know your views and wishes in this respectMr Trent, who London, asked me to "convey toyou his most respectful remembrances"--these were his very words, andhere they areTrent is a nice fellow, and I like himHe haspromised to pay me a visit here before theourselves

Good-bye, my dear, and the Lord watch over you and our dear boy

Your affectionate Uncle,COLIN ALEXANDER MACKELPIE

BOOK III: THE COMING OF THE LADY

Rupert Sent Leger's Journal

_April_ 3, 1907

I have waited till noell into e episode of last nightI have spoken withpersons whom I know to be of normal typeI have breakfasted, as usualheartily, and have every reason to consider myself in perfect health andsanitySo that the record following arded as not only true insubstance, but exact as to detailsI have investigated and reported ontoo norant of thenecessity for absolute accuracy in such matters of even the minutestdetail

Yesterday was Tuesday, the second day of April, 1907I passed a day ofinterest, with its fair aether, had a stroll round the gardens after tea--especiallyexaarden, which we shall call"Janet's Garden"We went in n of its not being a repetition of the Deluge beingthat breaks in the continuance are beginningThey are short at presentbut will doubtless enlarge theether at sevenAfter dinner I had a cigar, and then joinedAunt Janet for an hour in her drawing-roomI left her at half-past ten,when I went to my own room and wrote some lettersAt ten minutes pasteleven I woundpreparedfor bed, I drew back the heavy curtain in front of ardenI had put outback the curtain, for I wanted to have a look at the scenebefore turning inAunt Janet has always had an old-fashioned idea ofthe need (or propriety, I hardly knohich) of keeping s closedand curtains drawnI a her to leave e is in its fitful stage, and ofcourse I must not hurry sThis night was one of those under the old regiht to look out, for the scene was perfect of its own kindThelong spell of rain--the ceaseless downpour which had for the time floodedeverywhere--had passed, and water in abnor to be in the sloppy rather than the delugedstageThere was plenty of light to see by, for the h the ht ardenThelong straight hich leads from the marble steps is streith finesand white from the quartz strand in the nook to the south of the CastleTall shrubs of white holly, yew, juniper, cypress, and variegatedthe walk and its branches,appeared ghost-like in the fitful htThe many vases and statuesand urns, always like phantoht the ardens down to the defending wall, but the deep glooain, to where theup their silvered slopes flas and the outcropping rockysinews of the vast mountains