"I"m sorry we haven"t a cream jug," she apologized. "We always bring our milk in medicine bottles. Do you mind sugar out of the packet? I wish I had some cake, but Mrs. Jackson didn"t put any in my basket to-day, and I don"t like taking the others" without asking them. I hope it"s nice,"
she added anxiously. "I"m so afraid the water"s a little smoked."
"Delicious," said the colonel, who would have consumed far more unpalatable viands sooner than hurt her feelings, and who tried to overlook the fact that the tin mug gave the tea a curious flavour, and the bread and b.u.t.ter was of a thickness usually meted out to schoolboys.
"But aren"t you going to have any yourself?"
"Not now, thank you. I"d rather wait for the others. I promised to have everything ready for them when they came back."
"I see. You"re "Polly, put the kettle on," to-day, and "Sukey, take it off again," also, as they appear to have "all run away." No more, thanks. One cup is as much as is good for me. Why, in the name of all that"s mysterious, who has been writing these?"
The colonel jumped up and strode to the other end of the hut, having suddenly caught sight of the quaint letters which Isobel had drawn upon the wall.
"I have," replied Isobel simply.
"Then, my dear Miss Robinson Crusoe, may I ask how you came to be acquainted with runic characters?"
"I don"t know what they are," said Isobel. "It"s very queer writing, isn"t it? I was only copying it for fun."
"Where did you copy it from?"
"It"s on a stone at the top of the headland."
"This headland?"
"Yes, just above here, but a little farther on."
"Do you mean to tell me there is a stone bearing letters like that on these cliffs?"
"Yes; it"s a long kind of stone, something like a cross without arms."
"I thought I had walked over every inch of this island, yet I have never noticed it."
"It was quite covered with brambles," said Isobel. "I found it when we were picking blackberries. I had to pull them all away before I could see it."
"If you can leave your domestic cares, I should very much like you to show it to me," said the colonel. "I happen to be particularly interested in such stones."
"I"ll go at once," said Isobel, putting the kettle among the ashes, where it could not boil over, and slamming on her hat. "It looks ever so worn and old, but the letters are cut in the stone, like they are on graves."
She led the way up the steep, narrow path which scaled the hill, on to the cliff above, and after a little hunting about, found the brambly spot which had been the scene of her quarrel with Belle.
The owner of the island knelt down and examined the stone intently for some moments.
"To think that I must have pa.s.sed this place dozens and dozens of times and never have known of its existence!" he said at last. "I have searched the neighbourhood so often for some record of the Viking period. Strange that it should be found now by the chance discovery of a child!"
"Are they really letters, then?" inquired Isobel. "Is it some foreign language?"
"Yes; they are runes, very old and perfect ones. The runic characters were used by our Teutonic forefathers before they learned the Roman alphabet. This stone shows that long, long ago the Northmen have been here."
"The same Northmen who came in their great ships, and burnt the abbey, and killed St. Alcuin at the altar?" asked Isobel, keenly interested.
"Very likely, or their sons or grandsons."
"Why did they write upon a stone here?"
"It was set up as a monument--just like a grave stone in a churchyard."
"But if the Northmen were pagans, why is there a cross carved on the stone?"
"Many of them settled in this country, and became Christians, and turned farmers instead of sea-robbers."
"Perhaps the monks went back to the abbey afterwards and taught them,"
suggested Isobel. "I always thought they must have felt so ashamed of themselves for running away. They couldn"t all be saints like St.
Alcuin, but they might do their best to make up."
"No doubt they did. They were brave men in those days, who were not afraid to risk their lives. It is possible that a small chapel may have been built here once, though the very memory of it has pa.s.sed away."
"Is some one buried here, then?"
"Yes. Put into English characters, the inscription runs: "_Ulf suarti risti krus thana aft Fiak sun sin_." That is to say: "_Black Ulf raised this cross for Fiak his son_.""
"I wish we knew who they were," said Isobel. "The son must have died first. Perhaps he was killed in battle, and then his father would put up this cross. How very sorry he must have felt!"
"Very," said the colonel sadly--"especially if he were his only son. It is hard to see the green bough taken while the old branch is spared."
"My father died fighting," said Isobel softly. "But his grave is ever so far away in South Africa."
"And so is my son"s. Death reaps his harvest, and hearts are as sore, whether it is the twentieth century or the tenth. Customs change very little. We put up monuments to show the resting-places of those we love, and a thousand years ago Black Ulf raised this cross that Fiak his son should not be forgotten."
"And he"s not forgotten," said Isobel, "because we"ve found it all this long time afterwards. I didn"t know what it meant until you told me. I"m so glad I can read it now. I want to tell mother; she likes old monuments, or any kind of old things."
"She has evidently taught you to think and to use your eyes," said the colonel, "or you would not have copied the inscription, and then I might never have discovered the stone."
"What a pity that would have been!" returned Isobel. "I was very lucky to find it. Do you think it makes up a little for the maidenhair?"
"Completely; though, remember, I didn"t blame you for that incident. It was your friends--the same young ruffians, I believe, who are racing up the sands now, dragging some carca.s.s behind them."
"Oh! they"re coming back for tea," cried Isobel. "And I forgot all about the kettle! I hope it hasn"t boiled away. I ought to go. You haven"t told me yet, please, what you would like us to bring you instead of rent for the island. I should like to know, so that I can tell the others."
"I"ll take this discovery in lieu of all payment," declared the colonel.
"You and your companions, the Sea Urchins, are welcome to have free run of the place while you are here. Good-bye, little friend! You always seem to turn up in exceptional circ.u.mstances. You and I appear to have a few interests in common, so I hope that some time I may have the pleasure of meeting you again."
CHAPTER XIV.
A WET DAY.
"Oft expectation fails, and most oft there Where most it promises; and oft it hits Where hope is coldest and despair most sits."