Macleod turned.
"_Co an so?_" said he, looking down at the chubby-faced boy in the kilts, who had his pipes under his arm. "Don"t you know the Gaelic?"
"I am only learning," said the young musician. "Will I take the dog, sir?"
"March along, then, Phiobaire bhig!" Macleod said. "He will follow me, if he will not follow you."
Little Piper turned aside into a large hall which had been transformed into a sort of waiting-room; and here Macleod found himself in the presence of a considerable number of children, half of them girls, half of them boys, all dressed in tartan, and seated on the forms along the walls. The children, who were half asleep at this time of the night, woke up with sudden interest at sight of the beautiful collie; and at the same moment Little Piper explained to the gentleman who was in charge of these young ones that the dog had to be tied up somewhere, and that a small adjoining room would answer that purpose. The proposal was most courteously entertained. Macleod, Mr. ----, and Little Piper walked along to this side room, and there Oscar was properly secured.
"And I will get him some water, sir, if he wants it," said the boy in the kilts.
"Very well," Macleod said. "And I will give you my thanks for it; for that is all that a Highlander, and especially a piper, expects for a kindness. And I hope you will learn the Gaelic soon, my boy. And do you know "c.u.mhadh na Cloinne?" No, it is too difficult for you; but I think if I had the chanter between my fingers myself, I could let you hear "c.u.mhadh na Cloinne.""
"I am sure John Maclean can play it," said the small piper.
"Who is he?"
The gentleman in charge of the youngsters explained that John Maclean was the eldest of the juvenile pipers, five others of whom were in attendance.
"I think," said Macleod, "that I am coming down in a little time to make the acquaintance of your young pipers, if you will let me."
He pa.s.sed up the broad staircase and into the empty supper-room, from which a number of entrances showed him the strange scene being enacted in the larger hall. Who were these people who were moving to the sound of rapid music? A clown in a silken dress of many colors, with bells to his cap and wrists, stood at one of the doors. Macleod became his fellow-spectator of what was going forward. A beautiful Tyrolienne, in a dress of black, silver, and velvet, with her yellow hair hanging in two plaits down her back, pa.s.sed into the room, accompanied by Charles the First in a large wig and cloak; and the next moment they were whirling along in the waltz, coming into innumerable collisions with all the celebrated folk who ever lived in history. And who were these gentlemen in the scarlet collars and cuffs, who but for these adornments would have been in ordinary evening dress? he made bold to ask the friendly clown, who was staring in a pensive manner at the rushing couples.
"They call it the Windsor uniform," said the clown. "_I_ think it mean.
I sha"n"t come in a fancy dress again, if st.i.tching on a red collar will do."
At this moment the waltz came to an end, and the people began to walk up and down the s.p.a.cious apartment. Macleod entered the throng to look about him. And soon he perceived, in one of the little stands at the side of the hall, the n.o.ble lady who had asked him to go to this a.s.sembly, and forthwith he made his way through the crowd to her. He was most graciously received.
"Shall I tell you a secret, Lady ----?" said he. "You know the children belonging to the charity; they are all below, and they are sitting doing nothing, and they are all very tired and half asleep. It is a shame to keep them there--"
"But the Prince hasn"t come yet; and they must be marched round: they show that we are not making fools of ourselves for nothing."
A sharper person than Macleod might have got in a pretty compliment here: for this lady was charmingly dressed as Flora Macdonald; but he merely said:--
"Very well; perhaps it is necessary. But I think I can get them some amus.e.m.e.nt, if you will only keep the director of them, that is, Mr.
----, out of the way. Now shall I send him to you? Will you talk to him?"
"What do you mean to do?"
"I want to give them a dance. Why should you have all the dancing up here?"
"Mind, I am not responsible. What shall I talk to him about?"
Macleod considered for a moment.
"Tell him that I will take the whole of the girls and boys to the Crystal Palace for a day, if it is permissable; and ask him what it will cost, and all about the arrangements."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. Why not? They can have a fine run in the grounds, and six pipers to play for them. I will ask them now whether they will go."
He left and went downstairs. He had seen but few people in the hall above whom he knew. He was not fond of dancing, though he knew the elaborate variations of the reel. And here was a bit of practical amus.e.m.e.nt.
"Oh, Mr. ----," said he, with great seriousness, "I am desired by Lady ---- to say that she would like to see you for a moment or two. She wishes to ask you some questions about your young people."
"The Prince may come at any moment," said Mr. ---- doubtfully.
"He won"t be in such a hurry as all that, surely."
So the worthy man went upstairs; and the moment he was gone Macleod shut the door.
"Now, you piper boys!" he called aloud, "get up and play us a reel. We are going to have a dance. You are all asleep, I believe. Come, girls stand up. You that know the reel, you will keep to this end. Boys, come out. You that can dance a reel, come to this end; the others will soon pick it up. Now, piper boys, have you got the steam up? What can you give us, now? "Monymusk?" or the "Marquis of Huntley"s Fling?" or "Miss Johnston?" Nay, stay a bit. Don"t you know "Mrs. Macleod of Raasay?""
"Yes," "Yes," "Yes," "Yes," "Yes," "Yes," came from the six pipers, all standing in a row, with the drones over their shoulders and the chanters in their fingers.
"Very well, then--off you go! Now, boys and girls, are all ready?
Pipers, "Mrs. Macleod of Raasay!""
For a second there was a confused roaring on the long drones; then the shrill chanters broke clear away into the wild reel; and presently the boys and girls, who were at first laughingly shy and embarra.s.sed, began to make such imitations of the reel figure, which they had seen often enough, as led to a vast amount of scrambling and jollity, if it was not particularly accurate. The most timid of the young ones soon picked up courage. Here and there one of the older boys gave a whoop that would have done justice to a wedding dance in a Highland barn.
"Put your lungs into it, pipers!" Macleod cried out, "Well played, boys!
You are fit to play before a prince?"
The round cheeks of the boys were red with their blowing; they tapped their toes on the ground as proudly as if every one of them was a MacCruimin; the wild noise in this big, empty hall grew more furious than ever--when suddenly there was an awful silence. The pipers whipped the chanters from their mouths; the children, suddenly stopping in their merriment, cast one awestruck glance at the door, and then slunk back to their seats. They had observed not only Mr. ----, but also the Prince himself. Macleod was left standing alone in the middle of the floor.
"Sir Keith Macleod?" said his Royal Highness, with a smile.
Macleod bowed low.
"Lady ---- told me what you were about. I thought we could have had a peep un.o.bserved, or we should not have broken in on the romp of the children."
"I think your Royal Highness could make amends for that," said Macleod.
There was an inquiring glance.
"If your Royal Highness would ask some one to see that each of the children has an orange, and a tart, and a shilling, it would be some compensation to them for being kept up so late."
"I think that might be done," said the Prince, as he turned to leave.
"And I am glad to have made your acquaintance, although in--"
"In the character of a dancing-master," said Macleod, gravely.
After having once more visited Oscar, in the company of Phiobaire bhig, Macleod went up again to the brilliantly lit hall; and here he found that a further number of his friends had arrived. Among them was young Ogilvie, in the tartan of the Ninety-third Highlanders; and very smart indeed the boy-officer looked in his uniform. Mrs. Ross was here too and she was busy in a.s.sisting to get up the Highland quadrille. When she asked Macleod if he would join in it, he answered by asking her to be his partner, as he would be ashamed to display his ignorance before an absolute stranger. Mrs. Ross most kindly undertook to pilot him through the not elaborate intricacies of the dance; and they were fortunate in having the set made up entirely of their own friends.
Then the procession of the children took place; and the fantastically dressed crowd formed a lane to let the homely-clad lads and la.s.ses pa.s.s along, with the six small pipers proudly playing a march at their head.
He stopped the last of the children for a second.
"Have you got a tart, and an orange, and a shilling?"