“Oh, but I want to take you round by Loch Tua,” said he, looking with great gratitude into those friendly eyes.  “And it was no trouble at all.  And will you step into the gig now?”

He took her hand and guided her along the rocks until she reached the boat; and he assisted her father too.  Then they pushed off, and it was with a good swing the men sent the boat through the lapping waves.  And here was Hamish standing by the gangway to receive them; and he was gravely respectful to the stranger lady, as he assisted her to get up the small wooden steps; but there was no light of welcome in the keen gray eyes.  He quickly turned away from her to give his orders; for Hamish was on this occasion skipper, and had donned a smart suit of blue with brass buttons.  Perhaps he would have been prouder of his buttons, and of himself, and of the yacht he had sailed for so many years, if it had been any other than Gertrude White who had now stepped on board.

But, on the other hand, Miss White was quite charmed with this shapely vessel and all its contents.  If the frugal ways and commonplace duties and conversation of Castle Dare had somewhat disappointed her, and had seemed to her not quite in accordance with the heroic traditions of the clans, here, at least, was something which she could recognize as befitting her notion of the name and position of Sir Keith Macleod.  Surely it must be with a certain masterful sense of possession that he would stand on those white decks, independent of all the world besides, with those sinewy, sun-browned, handsome fellows ready to go anywhere with him at his bidding?  It is true that Macleod, in showing her over the yacht, seemed to know far too much about tinned meats; and he exhibited with some pride a cunning device for the stowage of soda-water; and he even went the length of explaining to her the capacities of the linen-chest; but then she could not fail to see that, in his eagerness to interest and amuse her, he was as garrulous as a schoolboy showing to his companion a new toy.  Miss White sat down in the saloon; and Macleod, who had but little experience in attending on ladies, and knew of but one thing that it was proper to recommend, said,—­

“And will you have a cup of tea now, Gertrude?  Johnny will get it to you in a moment.”

“No, thank you,” said she, with a smile, for she knew not how often he had offered her a cup of tea since her arrival in the Highlands.  “But do you know, Keith, your yacht has a terrible bachelor look about it?  All the comforts of it are in this saloon and in those two nice little state-rooms.  Your lady’s cabin looks very empty; it is too elegant and fine, as if you were afraid to leave a book or a match-box in it.  Now, if you were to turn this into a lady’s yacht; you would have to remove that pipe-rack, and the guns and rifles and bags.”

“Oh,” said he, anxiously, “I hope you do not smell any tobacco?”

“Not at all,” said she.  “It was only a fancy.  Of course you are not likely to turn your yacht into a lady’s yacht.”