The Thirsty Sword | Page 6

Alpin, who had been boasting of the manly sports
that might be enjoyed in his father's dominions, "you should one day come to Gigha, for
there, I do assure you, we have adventure such as you never dream of in Bute."
"I marvel, my lord, how that can be," said Allan Redmain scornfully, "for the kingdom of
which you boast is but a barren rock in the mid sea, and methinks your beasts of the
chase are but vermin rats and shrew mice."
"The sports of which I speak, young man," said Roderic, frowning and wiping his red
beard with his broad hand, "are not such bairns' play as you suppose. Our beasts of the
chase are burly men, and our hunting ground is the wide ocean. I and my gallant fellows
carry our adventures far into the north to Iceland and Scandinavia, or southward even into
the land of the Angles, where there is sport in plenty for those who would seek it."
The Lady Adela looked up in shocked surprise.
"But," said she, "you do not surely count the Angles among your enemies, my lord? The
Scots are at peace these many years with my country England."
"I should be grieved to call any man my enemy who is your friend, my fair Lady Adela,"
said Roderic gallantly. "But though the Scots be indeed at peace with King Henry, yet the
brave Easterlings of Ireland do ofttimes find the need of slaying a few of your proud
countrymen; and if I help them -- well, where there is aught to be gained what matters it
who our victims be, or what lands we invade? I am for letting him take who has the
power to conquer. Let them keep their own who can.
"What say you, Sir Oscar? Am I not right?"
"I am a man of peace, Earl Roderic," said Sir Oscar Redmain gravely. "I have no enemies
but the enemies of my king and country. And methinks, my lord, that a loyal subject of
the King of Scots is but a traitorous hound if he stoop to take arms in favour of either
Easterling or Norseman, and against our good friends of England. You, my lord, may
perhaps pay fealty to King Hakon of Norway, as well as to his majesty Alexander of
Scotland. It is not all men who can make it so easy to serve two masters."
"A traitorous hound, forsooth! You surely mistake me, Sir Oscar," cried Roderic,
reddening at the reproach. "I said not that I paid truage to any king but our own King of
Scots, God bless him! And though, indeed, King Alexander is but a stripling, knowing

little of kingcraft, yet, even though he were a babe in arms, he and no other is still my
sovereign lord."
And at that he raised his goblet to his lips and drank a deep draught of wine. Then, lightly
turning to the lady of Rothesay, and helping her to cut up the venison on her platter, that
she might the more easily take the small pieces in her dainty white fingers, he said:
"After the rough roving life that I have been leading these many years, my lady, 'tis truly
a great joy to come back once more to the peaceful Isle of Bute. Much do I envy my good
brother Hamish, in that he hath so beauteous a partner as yourself to sit before him at his
board. Truly he is a most fortunate man!"
Adela's fair cheeks blushed rosy red at this compliment, but she did not smile.
"Methinks, Lord Roderic," said she, nervously breaking the white bread cake at her side,
"that with so small a distance between Bute and Gigha, you might surely have come to
visit your brother long ere this present time. For although Earl Hamish hath ofttimes
spoken of you, yet never until this day have I seen you; and 'tis well-nigh a score of years
that I have lived in Bute."
"Alas!" said Roderic, looking uneasy, "since my poor father, Earl Alpin, died, I have had
little spirit to come back to these scenes. It was in anger that my brother and I parted,
when, as you well know, the lordship over the two islands was divided. The larger
dominion of Bute fell to the share of Hamish. I, as the younger son, was perforce content
to take the miserable portion that I now possess. Gigha is but a small island, my lady."
"Our happiness need not depend upon the extent of our dominions, Lord Roderic," said
Adela; "and I doubt not you are passing happy, notwithstanding that you have but a
younger son's inheritance."
"Not so," said Roderic, planting his heavy elbows on the board; "for where can a man
find happiness when