The Wee Scotch Piper Part 9

CHAPTER IX

IAN TRIES AGAIN

Ian was once more in search of Betty. The story of King Bruce echoed in his ears and spurred him on. Roy, too, seemed to be inspired with new hope. He sniffed and ran, and ran and sniffed. Every once in a while, he would let out short, sharp barks.

"Do not weary yourself, lad," said Ian. "We have long to go this day, and we'll not give up."

With these words the boy began to whistle. A happiness seemed to come suddenly to him as though he already had Betty safe in his arms.

For many hours the boy and dog climbed and walked. At last they found themselves in a wild, rugged portion of the country, where Ian had never before been. Rocks were all about him. He descended into giant caverns.

He called, "Betty!" and received only an echo for reply. He went farther until it was so late that he could not think of returning home.

He would surely lose his way in the darkness, if he attempted it. So he curled himself up between two ma.s.sive rocks and, with Roy nestling close to his side, fell fast asleep.

[Ill.u.s.tration: IAN, BETTY AND ROY]

At dawn, Ian was awakened by Roy. The dog was barking and making wild dashes in the direction of a large gulch near by.

He ran madly to the gulch, then dashed back again to Ian. His barks came in hysterical gasps.

Ian ran with Roy to the edge of the gulch. Looking down, the boy saw a terrible sight. Hanging on to a ragged ledge was a large mother sheep.

It was one of his own father's, as he could see by the markings on the wool. The poor creature was bleating. A few feet above the ledge stood her baby lamb.

At each of Roy's barks, the mother sheep gave a little jump, and the ledge of rock quivered. Ian thought surely it would break and the sheep would be dashed to pieces on the rocks below.

"Down, down!" commanded Ian in the same voice as his father used to the dog.

Roy crouched and whined, but stopped his barking. Ian remembered that some of the mother sheep distrusted the dog. So it would be impossible for Roy to show himself now. What must be done must be done by Ian himself.

While the boy climbed down the precipitous rocks, the faithful dog, deprived of his rightful work, whined and howled. Had he not been trained to obey, he would never have stayed. But to a shepherd dog, a master's word is law. Roy watched his young friend as the boy made the perilous descent to rescue the terrified animal on the ledge.

The sheep was large, and its wool weighed heavily. But Ian grasped the creature firmly. With all his might, he pulled until he had it on the rock above. When the baby lamb saw its mother coming, it uttered loud, joyous bleatings.

Ian could only think that the sheep had been led astray by his father's new dog. He was worried for fear that there were others which had strayed beyond. He decided to see, and started off beyond the rock hill.

But when Roy began to drive the mother sheep along, she became very angry. She ran at him with her head lowered. Roy could not manage her.

She refused to obey him and Ian.

The boy, who carried a crook like his father's, was forced to resort to the only means of bringing her to order. With a quick sweep of the crook, he caught the baby sheep. He lifted it in his arms.

"Now, you'll come away," he said to the mother, as he walked on.

Snorting, the mother sheep was forced to follow.

On and on walked Ian and Roy. And now the hunt was not only for Betty, but for more of his father's herd. Ian thought he would find some that might have been led astray by the new dog.

At noon he sat down to eat his "piece," which he carried in his sporran. When he had finished, he started for a clear stream near by.

As he approached, he thought he saw one of the grayish rocks in the stream moving. He rubbed his eyes. Could it be a reflection from the water? No. It was moving slowly.

Ian approached faster. What was his amazement at finding the gray rock to be his own Betty! It was his Betty, thin and ragged, and stumbling along on her front knees, too weak to raise her feet. Poor little beast!

She was nearly dead. As Ian raised her up, he realized that he had found her just in time. The creature seemed to know the boy, for she nestled down in his arms as of yore. In spite of her suffering, she seemed perfectly happy, now that her Ian was found.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER X

SPRING

Spring! Each day found an eager, watchful boy, a happy, sweet-faced sheep dog, and a large fleecy lamb standing on the Rob Roy Brig. They were awaiting in glad antic.i.p.ation a visitor, who was expected and whose music would soon reach the happy ears of a future piper.

Ian Craig had never allowed his Betty to roam after that frightful episode. She had been kept in a little corral, which Ian built for her.

When he came home from school, he took her with him to the brig. He fastened her to a ma.s.sive rock, while he awaited the return of Sandy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BETTY AWAITS SANDY'S RETURN]

Betty was now almost as fat and big as the other sheep. She was a credit to the boy's good care. So proud of her was Ian that he often tied a lovely tartan ribbon about her neck. He combed her wool tenderly each day before he started off for the brig.

Day after day, the two waited. Meanwhile, Roy looked on with kindly eyes, although he did not understand it all. Of course, Betty was equally ignorant of why she was made to pose with a floppy bow around her neck, tied to an annoying rock. But she was content, for Ian stayed beside her.

Sometimes as Ian watched and waited, he thought he heard the bagpipes in the distance. And as he heard, his heart beat faster. The moment of bliss when he could claim his reward, seemed to be upon him.

Then he often looked at Betty, and a qualm seized him. How could he part with the lamb? He had been through trouble and sorrow for the little animal. He had lived many happy hours by her side. It was as though she had become his own. The thought of parting from her was like a stab. Then, too, Betty loved him.

At these times, the poor little boy would knit his brow and ponder upon the strangeness of life.

Then he thought of the pipers and the tale of Dunblane, where the stalwart lads marched and played. He thought of the glorious piper bands marching in the big towns. The thought made him brighten and jump from the brig and scan the country for a sign of Sandy.

But the days of budding blossoms and showers in Scotland wore on.

Finally Betty's ribbon bow began to fade and Ian's patience to wear.

Little Elsie Campbell used at times to walk with the boy to the brig.

Often he stopped on the walk and talked to her, as he c.o.c.ked his head on one side.

"Do you not hear the din of pipes, Elsie?" he asked.

And the wee la.s.sie shook her head and said, "Ach, no, lad. 'Tis daft you are with your pipes!"

But it was said kindly, for Elsie hoped and prayed that Sandy would return. You see, Ian had told her the story of Betty and how he waited for the promised pipes. It was, in fact, Elsie who had first tied the silken tartan ribbon about the lamb's neck.

It was a gray day which promised rain. Ian and Betty neared the brig together. Ian had just tied the creature to her accustomed rock and was lifting himself to the wall when he heard a sound. Pipes! Unmistakably pipes!

Still, he had been mistaken so often before that he dared not look. And Elsie was not there to-day. She would have told him. For in her ears the sound was not always droning as it had been in Ian's for many days.