CHAPTER III
THE CAPTAIN'S CHILDREN
LORD GLENARVAN'S fortune was enormous, and he spent
it entirely in doing good. His kindheartedness was even
greater than his generosity, for the one knew no bounds,
while the other, of necessity, had its limits. As Lord of
Luss and "laird" of Malcolm, he represented his county in
the House of Lords; but, with his Jacobite ideas, he did not
care much for the favor of the House of Hanover, and he
was looked upon coldly by the State party in England, because of the tenacity
with which he clung to the traditions
of his forefathers, and his energetic resistance to the political encroachments
of Southerners. And yet he was not a
man behind the times, and there was nothing little or narrow-minded about him;
but while always keeping open his
ancestral county to progress, he was a true Scotchman
at heart, and it was for the honor of Scotland that he
competed in the yacht races of the Royal Thames Yacht
Club.
Edward Glenarvan was thirty-two years of age. He was
tall in person, and had rather stern features; but there was
an exceeding sweetness in his look, and a stamp of Highland poetry about his
whole bearing. He was known to
be brave to excess, and full of daring and chivalry — a Fergus of the
nineteenth century; but his goodness excelled
every other quality, and he was more charitable than St.
Martin himself, for he would have given the whole of his
cloak to any of the poor Highlanders.
He had scarcely been married three months, and his
bride was Miss Helena Tuffnell, the daughter of William
Tuffnell, the great traveler, one of the many victims of
geographical science and of the passion for discovery. Miss
Helena did not belong to a noble family, but she was Scotch,
and that was better than all nobility in the eyes of Lord
Glenarvan; and she was, moreover, a charming, highsouled, religious young woman.
Lord Glenarvan did not forget that his wife was the
daughter of a great traveler, and he thought it likely that
she would inherit her father's predilections. He had the
Duncan built expressly that he might take his bride to the
most beautiful lands in the world, and complete their honeymoon by sailing up
the Mediterranean, and through the
clustering islands of the Archipelago.
However, Lord Glenarvan had gone now to London.
The lives of the shipwrecked men were at stake, and Lady
Helena was too much concerned herself about them to
grudge her husband's temporary absence. A telegram next
day gave hope of his speedy return, but in the evening a
letter apprised her of the difficulties his proposition had
met with, and the morning after brought another, in which
he openly expressed his dissatisfaction with the Admiralty.
Lady Helena began to get anxious as the day wore on.
In the evening, when she was sitting alone in her room, Mr.
Halbert, the house steward, came in and asked if she would
see a young girl and boy that wanted to speak to Lord
Glenarvan.
"Some of the country people?" asked Lady Helena.
"No, madame," replied the steward, "I do not know
them at all. They came by rail to Balloch, and walked
the rest of the way to Luss."
"Tell them to come up, Halbert."
In a few minutes a girl and boy were shown in. They
were evidently brother and sister, for the resemblance was
unmistakable. The girl was about sixteen years of age;
her tired pretty face, and sorrowful eyes, and resigned but
courageous look, as well as her neat though poor attire,
made a favorable impression. The boy she held by the
hand was about twelve, but his face expressed such determination, that he
appeared quite his sister's protector.
The girl seemed too shy to utter a word at first, but Lady
Helena quickly relieved her embarrassment by saying, with
an encouraging smile: "You wish to speak to me, I think?"
"No," replied the boy, in a decided tone; "not to you,
but to Lord Glenarvan."
"Excuse him, ma'am," said the girl, with a look at her
brother.
"Lord Glenarvan is not at the castle just now," returned
Lady Helena; "but I am his wife, and if I can do anything for you —"
"You are Lady Glenarvan?" interrupted the girl.
"I am."
"The wife of Lord Glenarvan, of Malcolm Castle, that
put an announcement in the Times about the shipwreck
of the Britannia?"
"Yes, yes," said Lady Helena, eagerly; "and you?"
"I am Miss Grant, ma'am, and this is my brother."
"Miss Grant, Miss Grant!" exclaimed Lady Helena,
drawing the young girl toward her, and taking both her
hands and kissing the boy's rosy cheeks.
"What is it you know, ma'am, about the shipwreck?
Tell me, is my father living? Shall we ever see him again?
Oh, tell me," said the girl, earnestly.
"My dear child," replied Lady Helena. "Heaven forbid
that I should answer you lightly such a question; I would
not delude you with vain hopes."
"Oh, tell me all, tell me all, ma'am. I'm proof against
sorrow. I can bear to hear anything."
"My poor child, there is but a faint hope; but with the
help of almighty Heaven it is just possible you may one day
see your father once more."
The girl burst into tears, and Robert seized Lady Glenarvan's hand and
covered it with kisses.
As soon as they grew calmer they asked a complete
string of questions, and Lady Helena recounted the whole
story of the document, telling them that their father had
been wrecked on the coast of Patagonia, and that he and
two sailors, the sole survivors, appeared to have reached the
shore, and had written an appeal for help in three languages
and committed it to the care of the waves.
During the recital, Robert Grant was devouring the
speaker with his eyes, and hanging on her lips. His childish imagination
evidently retraced all the scenes of his
father's shipwreck. He saw him on the deck of the Britannia, and then
struggling with the billows, then clinging to the rocks, and lying at length
exhausted on the
beach.
More than once he cried out, "Oh, papa! my poor papa!"
and pressed close to his sister.
Miss Grant sat silent and motionless, with clasped hands,
and all she said when the narration ended, was: "Oh,
ma'am, the paper, please!"
"I have not it now, my dear child," replied Lady Helena.
"You haven't it?"
"No. Lord Glenarvan was obliged to take it to London,
for the sake of your father; but I have told you all it contained, word for
word, and how we managed to make out
the complete sense from the fragments of words left — all
except the longitude, unfortunately."
"We can do without that," said the boy.
"Yes, Mr. Robert," rejoined Lady Helena, smiling at
the child's decided tone. "And so you see, Miss Grant,
you know the smallest details now just as well as I do."
"Yes, ma'am, but I should like to have seen my father's
writing."
"Well, to-morrow, perhaps, to-morrow, Lord Glenarvan
will be back. My husband determined to lay the document
before the Lords of the Admiralty, to induce them to send
out a ship immediately in search of Captain Grant."
"Is it possible, ma'am," exclaimed the girl, "that you
have done that for us?"
"Yes, my dear Miss Grant, and I am expecting Lord
Glenarvan back every minute now."
"Oh, ma'am! Heaven bless you and Lord Glenarvan,"
said the young girl, fervently, overcome with grateful emotion."
"My dear girl, we deserve no thanks; anyone in our
place would have done the same. I only trust the hopes
we are leading you to entertain may be realized, but till
my husband returns, you will remain at the Castle."
"Oh, no, ma'am. I could not abuse the sympathy you
show to strangers."
"Strangers, dear child!" interrupted Lady Helena;
"you and your brother are not strangers in this house, and
I should like Lord Glenarvan to be able on his arrival to
tell the children of Captain Grant himself, what is going to
be done to rescue their father."
It was impossible to refuse an invitation given with such
heart, and Miss Grant and her brother consented to stay
till Lord Glenarvan returned.