Hollyhock

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE WARM HEART ROUSED AT LAST.

Now the forgiving nature of Hollyhock Lennox has been often mentioned; but just now she felt very nearly as angry with Leucha as Leucha was with her. It was a strange sort of anger, an anger mingled with love, for had Leucha said the slightest word, that warm, warm heart of the Scots girl would have been hers once again.

But Leucha would not say the word, although, strange as it may seem, she also, down deep in her heart, was longing for Hollyhock, longing as she had never longed for a human being before. She had been brought up in a stiff, cold home, by a stiff, cold mother, and it was hard for her to go against her nature. The girls of Ardshiel were altogether on the side of Hollyhock, and Leucha was more lonely than ever. Her angry boast that she would write to her mother and ask to be taken from the school she had certainly not courage enough to carry out. Lady Crossways would have been furious, and would have come quickly to Ardshiel to punish her rebellious child, and as likely as not to fall under Hollyhock"s charm.

Leucha had, therefore, to remain at the school, and as she had now literally no friends (for even the girl who had played the kitchen cat in the charade had completely deserted her, and her cousins, the Frasers, had given her up long ago), she was forced to remain in terrible isolation.

Poor Mrs Macintyre was most unhappy about the girl; and as for Hollyhock, she was downright wretched, but also, as she herself described it, very wicked-like and full of a big slice o" the de"il.

The intense unhappiness of her mind caused her to be most freakish in her behaviour, to tell impossible ghost-stories, and as she could not sleep at nights and was really not at all well, to spend her time in planning fresh plots for the annoyance of Leucha.

Hollyhock, with all her loving nature, was also most defiant and most daring, and there were few things she would pause at to punish the English girl.

How queer is life! These two girls loved each other, and yet neither would succ.u.mb, neither would yield to the desires of the other.

Hollyhock tried to forget her constant headaches, her bad nights, her restless spirit, by employing her satellites in all sorts of mischievous tasks. No one noticed that she was not well, for her cheeks were apple-red with the glow of apparent health, and her lovely, dark, affectionate eyes had never looked more brilliant than at present.

Nevertheless, she _would_ pay Leuchy out--Leuchy, who had now no one to protect her, as even the pious Meg Drummond was not allowed to make special friends with her. Meg, in her way, was as commonplace as Leucha, and she thought it a fine thing to know the daughter of an English n.o.bleman; but Meg was strictly forbidden to show any preference for Leucha, who would have gladly received her, and been even now slightly comforted by her dull society. But the fiat had gone forth.

Meg had made immense mischief in the school by her confession. She was detested by all the other girls for having made this mischief, and was as lonely in her way as Leucha herself. The one thing that sustained the school at this painful juncture was the hard work necessitated by the compet.i.tions for the Duke of Ardshiel"s lockets.

Leucha had a dim hope that if she won one of these great prizes and could bring it back at Christmas to her mother, she might be allowed to leave this hateful school. Accordingly, she worked hard at her theme.

Hollyhock"s choice, as she herself expressed it, was "The Zone of Danger." It seemed in some ways a strange thing for Mrs Macintyre to suggest, and she repented it after she had done so; but Hollyhock"s dancing eyes, and her brilliant cheeks, her smiles, her fascinating way of saying, "I "m not frightened," had obliged the head-mistress to keep to her resolve.

The compet.i.tions were of a somewhat peculiar nature. The six prizes were more or less open ones. For instance, the girls who chose to compete in the essay compet.i.tion might choose their own subject. The girls who went in for foreign languages might select French, German, or Italian. The girls who struggled to attain general knowledge had a very wide field indeed to select from. The only thing they had to do was carefully to select their subject and hand it under a feigned name to Mrs Macintyre, the envelope being sealed, and the lady herself not knowing its contents until the day before the prizes were to be given by the Duke of Ardshiel himself to the school.

Her idea with regard to the compet.i.tion which Hollyhock called "The Zone of Danger" was that the Scots la.s.sie or English girl, as the case might be, should perform a brilliant deed, a feat demanding skill, endurance, and nerve. But Hollyhock intended her zone of danger to be one really great and very terrible, something that was to take place at night. Very few girls in the school chose to compete for this prize, as they knew only too well that Holly would beat them into "nothing at all," her magnificent bravery being so well known.

One day, about a fortnight before the general break-up at the school, when Mrs Macintyre was preparing to have a joyful time with her friends in Edinburgh, and the Palace of the Kings was to be shut up, a band--a very large band--of girls were collected round the fire in the ingle-nook in the great hall, and were listening to Hollyhock"s fascinating words.

Suddenly Agnes Featherstonhaugh spoke. She was a very reserved English girl, and had only been won over to Hollyhock by slow degrees. But, once she was won over, her heart was in a state of intense and pa.s.sionate devotion. She would, in short, do anything for this radiant young creature.

"Holly," she said, as a slight pause in the animated conversation gave her the chance she required, "confession is good for the soul. Meg knows that.-- Don"t you, Meg?"

Meg shrugged her shoulders, looked sulky, and made no reply. But when Hollyhock touched her gently on the arm, she snuggled up to her in a kind of pa.s.sionate love. She felt inclined to weep, for she knew that she--yes, _she_--had caused the terrible discord and unhappiness which now reigned in the school.

"I wish to say," continued Agnes, "that I am following in the footsteps of a much finer character than my own. Leucha Villiers belongs to the school"----

Hollyhock stirred restlessly.

"And Leucha is alone morning, noon, and night, except when she is busy over her essay."

"I--I"m _willing_"---- began Hollyhock.

"No, Holly darling, you are not to be put upon any more than you have been!"

Similar remarks were made by a chorus of girls, who were really sick of Leucha and her ways.

"I--I"m _willing_," said Hollyhock, bringing out the words with a great effort. "But there, let things slide. I have my own troubles, and what I do, I do alone; only you all hear me say, la.s.sies, that I"m _willing_.-- Now, then, Agnes, go on with your speech."

"It"s only this," said Agnes, "that, following in the steps of that most n.o.ble creature, Meg Drummond, I also am confessing a little sin, a small one at that; but I too must save my soul, girls, just as Meg had to save hers."

"Go ahead," said Hollyhock.

"It was this very afternoon," continued Agnes, "when we were all busy in the great warm schoolroom, no teachers being present, and we were all occupied over our different compet.i.tions, each of us, of course, hoping to win the prize given by the great Ardshiel. Well, it so happened that Leucha Villiers"s desk was next to mine, and Leucha suddenly went out of the room, and a temptation swift and frightful came over me. n.o.body saw me do it, and why I did it I can never tell, but do it I did; and if you "ll believe me, girls, I opened Leucha"s desk, no one seeing me at the job, and took out her paper on the kitchen cat. I don"t myself think she "ll get a prize from his Grace for _that_ paper; and, what"s more, I don"t care, for venom is in the girl, and in every word of her poor, stupid little paper. She compares the kitchen cat to our dear Hollyhock, and abuses Hollyhock in such a way"----

"Stop--say no more," cried Hollyhock. "You did wrong to read, and I won"t be told what was said of me. No, the daughter of a Cameron isn"t that sort.-- You can go on with your talk, la.s.sies; but I "m for my bed. I have a bit of a headache, and the sleep so beauteous will take it away."

With these words Hollyhock left the room, and Agnes found she had done very little good by her confession. The other girls, however, who were less scrupulous, crowded round her and implored her to tell them what that "wicked one" had said.

"No; I "ll tell no more," said Agnes. "Holly wouldn"t wish it. But, oh, to think of that n.o.ble girl being spoken of like that! Oh, the cruel, cruel, angry girl! My heart bleeds for our darling!"

"She "ll not get the prize," said a Scots girl. "Think you now that Ardshiel would give a prize to one who abuses his kinswoman?"

"She has put her foot in it by so doing," said another.

"We"d best let her alone, Agnes; and you keep your confession to yourself. You had no right to read the paper," said Meg Drummond in her solemn voice.

"I had not," replied Agnes; "but seeing that you were so troubled by a bit of a lark on account of your poor soul, Meg, I thought I "d follow suit."

"Well," said Meg, who came out a good deal when Hollyhock was absent, "my mother tells me my immortal soul is safe now. I can pray again, and I "m happy; but yours is a different case altogether, Agnes.

Anyhow, you have done the deed, and one of the lockets will never go to Earl Crossways" daughter."

The girls talked together for a little longer, all of them rejoicing in the thought that Leucha had now no possible chance of a locket. She was so thoroughly disliked in the school that they positively rejoiced in this certainty, and forgave Agnes her mean trick of looking at the essay.

But Hollyhock, up in her room, having bluntly refused to listen to any of the words of the naughty girl who had read a part of the essay, was nevertheless wild with rage, and could not possibly rest. That sense of forgiveness which she had felt when seated with her companions round the ingle-nook had now absolutely vanished. She would not demean herself by listening to words which were not meant for her to hear; but for the time being at least her little heart was sore, very sore, with anger. "Oh Leuchy, whyever are you so spiteful, and why does my head split, and why does my heart ache for love of one who could be so cruel to me? Did I not repent over and over and over again? She has done for herself; but when I go into the danger zone, I go into it now in very truth. Perhaps when poor Hollyhock is no longer flitting about the place you "ll think more kindly of me, Leuchy. I was willing for your sake to make a final effort to be good, but the wish has died. I "m a bad la.s.s, and you "ll describe me as I am, when the essay on the kitchen cat is read aloud. Oh Leuchy, _I_ would not be so mean!"

All night long Hollyhock tossed from side to side on her restless couch, thinking and planning how she would perform that feat which would stamp her as the bravest la.s.sie in the school.

There was one action which she could perform, one action which was so full of danger that no other girl in the school would attempt it. It was, in short, the following. On the night when she entered the danger zone, she would enter it on her own Arab horse, Lightning Speed. She could easily get this brilliant little animal over to the Palace of the Kings by the aid of Magsie, who was more devoted to her than ever. She would ride her horse, Lightning Speed, in the dead of night, with the moon shining brightly, up a certain gorge which led to the source of one of the streams that kept the great lake supplied with water.

Lightning Speed was a high-spirited little animal, a thoroughbred Arab no less, and Hollyhock knew that at the top of the gorge, when all things looked so ghostly, he would start at every shadow and at the slightest sound. He was all nerves, was Lightning Speed--all nerves and gallant bearing, and devotion to Hollyhock.

At the top of the gorge was a sudden break in the cliffs, below which roared the mountain stream. The bold girl resolved to leap from the rock on the one side to the opposite rock. She was determined that Lightning Speed would and _should_ obey her, for did not he love her, the bonnie beastie?

She would not have attempted this deed, because she loved the brave steed; but now she had heard of Leucha"s conduct to her, her mind was made up. She and Lightning Speed would leap the gorge, and she had little doubt that they would both land safe on the opposite side.

But this plan of hers, meaning certain death if it failed, was to be kept a profound secret from every one in the school except Magsie, who would be able to confirm what Hollyhock had done when the day and hour arrived.

Hollyhock, having quite made up her mind, at last fell asleep, and next morning went downstairs very calm and peaceful to her usual lessons.

She had the calm, heroic look of Brunhilda, the favourite of all Wagner"s great heroines. She even muttered to herself, "If I die, I die, and the fire spirits of the great Brunhilda will surround me. I "ll die rejoicing; but I "ll never, never do a mean deed. No, my bonnie Lightning Speed and I couldn"t bring ourselves so low. We are meant for better things, my good steed, and better things we "ll do. I have no fear. Hollyhock is very happy this day of days."

Her chosen chums and companions couldn"t help looking with fresh wonder at her radiant and lovely face. They little knew what was before them.

She was kind and sweet to every one, but a little quiet, not quite so restless as usual, but with a wondrous light glowing in her eyes.