Near as she was to Crua Breck, however, Jessie would not go thither to seek the help she needed.  Hurrying towards the croft of Mouseland she saw two men at work in one of the fields, and they readily laid down their spades and, after procuring a long rope, went back with her to the Lyre Geo. Before sunset they were able to recover the bodies of the animals that had fallen among the rocks, as well as to rescue the sheep that were still alive.

This had all taken place before Thora and I had come up from the Gaulton Cave; and as we turned from the head of the cliff to go home a cart was passing along the moor conveying the dead and injured sheep to Lyndardy—­the sheep which only a few hours before we had all so hopefully counted upon selling at Martinmas.

Sadly did we contemplate the poor remnant of the flock, and guilty did I feel for having left the sheep unattended.  At first my mother blamed me sorely for what I had done; but when we talked the matter over it seemed not so much my own fault in leaving the sheep (for that had been done many a time before), but Kinlay’s neglect in leaving open the gate of the clover field, and Tom’s inhuman conduct in driving the sheep over the cliff.

I do not know how it fared with Thora when she reached Crua Breck, but I was not long in doubt as to the result of her immersion in the underground stream.  The next morning I heard by accident that she was ill in bed.  For many long weeks she lay weary and helpless, and it took all the skill of Dr. Linklater of Stromness to bring her round to health again.  During this time I heard nothing of her, and much did I fear that her illness was very serious.  One thing that consoled me, however, was the thought that she had the viking’s talisman in her keeping, for in the excitement of seeing the cart passing with the dead sheep, I had entirely forgotten to ask her for the return of the stone, and she went into the house with it still suspended from her neck.  I was confident that she would keep it in safety, and while she had it in her possession I felt that her recovery to health was assured.

Chapter XXVIII.  Captain Flett Of The “Falcon.”

The unfortunate occurrence which deprived us of our little flock of sheep brought an increase of sorrow and hardship to our family, whose resources had already been so greatly impoverished; and when the gloomy winter days came on, with their biting frosts and keen cold winds, the prospects at Lyndardy grew as dull as the leaden clouds that hung in the sky.  Our mother’s woeful sighs were painful to my ears, while I felt how helpless I was to soften her sorrows.  Sometimes, when I saw the tears in her eyes, I would silently wish for her sake that I was older and could do more towards filling my father’s place.

But work of the kind I was fitted for was scarce in Orkney.  Had I been able to choose for myself I should have been, like my father, a pilot.  But the chain of circumstances which had made this the vocation of my family for three generations was now broken.  Carver Kinlay and his crew were having things all their own way, and in the meantime I was doing that most trying of all work—­waiting and hoping for what seemed to become every day less probable.