Iwould have bet any sum that, but for us, in ten
minutes the poorold beast would have been dead.
The minister, an active young man whohad got a
Military Cross in the War, had come on a bicycle.
I thought that thegang could be squared or
scared.
I was saying, he replied, that I will skulk no
longer in aforeign country or in other mens houses. But nowhis eyes grew grave, just
as his fathers used to.
Thats the worst of my confounded
melodramaticreputation. The centre of it was Stoddarts dog, the patriarch
Yarrow.
The ceremony in Tarrass little parlour was a
suffocating business,but happily it did not last long.
Before, it was not much more than melodrama, but
now the tragicactor is on the boards. You knowCharles Lamanchas taste for freak
parties? I saw the Olifa Embassy people, but its nogood. For the lastdozen yards we
had the place in sight, where a considerable dramawas going on. I roused Anna, and
we laved our faces in theburn, and had another go at the biscuits.
He was the one of us who knewmost about Troth.
Also, it is right that she should share in my destiny. I will go home to my ownland
and there will fight my enemies.
You knowCharles Lamanchas taste for freak
parties?
You see, I was on my own ground and he was
astranger, so I had a pull on him.
Theres a considerable future for him in politics,
if he decidesthat way. A queer business for a sedentary man getting on inyears!
WeNorlanders get tied up in a skein of fate from which there is noescape. I will
doas the old dog did this afternoon, and snap back at my tormentors. Dick, said
Sandy solemnly, I think Peter John should be in bed.
A first-class brain, but howmuch stuff behind
it?
I should let Fenris-Wolf sleep in this weather, I
told him, andhe laughed.
Well, if ye dinnakill them, theyll kill
you.
We must fight the last round in theIsland of Sheep.
I should be a wretched man if she were out ofmy sight.
Every dog in theplace had it in for him, and with
bared teeth was intent on hismassacre.
I had read one ortwo of the Sagas on Sandys advice,
and I observed that they weregloomy anecdotes.
This place is like the Norlands, he said
withabstracted eyes.
Ive had quite a lot of fun in thebusiness. Thats
the worst of my confounded melodramaticreputation. They dont know our motive, but
they realize that we arebacking Haraldsen. The curlews especially she hailed as old
friends,and shouted a Danish poem about them.
I gathered that in the War he was a reallygood
battalion officer, and very popular with the men. I will go home to my ownland and
there will fight my enemies.
He was wearing a suitof that russet colour called
crotal, and it somehow enlarged hisbulk. The sight ofbent and heather intoxicated
her, and she took to singing andreciting poems.