Bluff Crag | Page 5

anxious manner shown towards her brother. 'O Patrick,' she
exclaimed, 'if you did this, it is very wicked; you must go and tell aunt
about it at once.'
"Instead of answering, however, Patrick set off at a gallop, and
disappeared behind some bushes, leaving Vea standing looking after
him with glistening eyes. 'What is to be done now?' she said, as if to
herself; 'it is so difficult to get Patrick to own a fault, and I fear he will
lead Alfred into more mischief. O mamma, mamma, I wish you had
never left us! I do try to keep the boys right, but they are so wild
sometimes.'
"'You cannot do more than your best, my child,' said my uncle, laying
his hand tenderly on her bowed head. 'Would you like me to speak to
your aunt for Patrick?'
"'Oh no, sir, thank you very kindly,' she said, drying her eyes hastily;
'Patrick must confess the fault himself, if he has done it. Aunt Berkley
is so good-natured, that I am sure she would excuse him if you asked;
but that would not be safe for Patrick,--he forgets so soon, and will be
at some other mischief directly. Aunt Mary warned me about this very
sort of thing.'
"'Well, I am sure he ought to be a good boy, having such a kind, good
little sister to look after him.'
"'Please, sir, don't say that,' said Vea, the tears coming to her eyes again;
'I don't deserve such praise; for the reason why Aunt Mary told me of
Patrick's faults was, she wished to point out my own, and she knows I
am so lazy, and don't like to check the boys, lest they should call me
"Goody;" but Aunt Mary said I ought to look after them,--that a good

word costs nothing; at anyrate, if I had only to bear being called a
harmless name, it was but a very small cross, compared to the evil I
might cause by allowing the boys to play mischievous tricks.'
"'That is right, my dear child,' said Uncle John; 'we must do our duty,
however hard it may be; and though a good word in one sense costs
nothing, still we all know it sometimes costs a good deal, and is a
difficult matter, to a great many people.'
[Illustration: ON BOARD THE STEAMER.]
"To Vea's astonishment, instead of her Aunt Berkley letting her brother
off easily, when she found out about the mischief done to the table, she
was so very angry that she would not allow him to join the party that
afternoon in the excursion in the steamer. While she pointed out the
various objects of interest to Vea and myself, seeing that poor Vea was
depressed in spirits--her kind heart suffering extremely when her
brothers fell into error--Aunt Berkley whispered, 'You are not vexed
with me, dear child, for punishing Patrick? If he had owned the fault, I
would have forgiven him; but he was so stubborn, and would not even
speak when spoken to. Alfred is so different.'
"'Oh no,' said Vea quickly; 'I am only sorry that he was so naughty and
required the punishment;' but, as if afraid she was condemning her
brother, she added, 'Patrick has a warm, affectionate nature, aunt; if he
could only get over his love of mischief he would be a dear, good boy.'
"'Well, my dear, we must try to help him to be good. Boys will be boys,
however; though it is necessary to punish them sometimes, else they
might get into serious disgrace. We must have another excursion soon,
and perhaps the thought of it will keep Patrick from being naughty.'
"On reaching home that afternoon they found the school-room empty;
and though Patrick had been told he was to remain in the house till his
aunt returned, he was nowhere to be found. Alfred sought for him in all
their favourite haunts about the out-houses and garden, but without
success. 'I'll tell you where he will be, Vea,' said Alfred, on his return to
the school-room from a last hunt in the orchard,--'he has gone to the

cave at the Bluff Crag.'
"'Oh, surely not,' said Vea in distress. 'Aunt told us distinctly we were
never to go there without leave from her, and then only with some
person who knows the coast well. What makes you fancy such a thing,
Alfred?'
"'Because, I remember now, he muttered to himself about giving aunt
something to be angry for; and he has often been wanting me to go
there.'
"'I hope this is not the case, Alfred,' said Vea. 'But perhaps aunt would
allow us to go down to the beach with Natilie, to look for him.'
"'I daresay she will,' said Alfred; 'but if you do ask