"It must be a very solitary sort of grandeur, in my opinion," said Mr.
George, "which a man enjoys by living in such a place as this."
"Why, I suppose he can have company if he wishes," said Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George. "Perhaps he lives in Edinburgh, or in London, in the winter, and in the summer he has company here. But then when he has company at all he must have them all the time, and he must have all the care and responsibility of entertaining them; and that, I should think, would be a great burden."
Mr. George and the boys rambled over these grounds about half an hour, and then they returned to the hotel. They were obliged to walk fast the last part of the way, for dark, driving clouds began to be seen in the sky, and just before they reached the hotel some drops of fine rain began to fall.
"To-morrow is going to be a rainy day, I expect," said Rollo.
"Very likely," said Mr. George.
"And shall you go on over the lake if it is?" asked Rollo.
"I think we shall go as far as to the foot of Ben Lomond," said Mr.
George.
CHAPTER VIII.
ROWERDENNAN INN.
Ben Lomond is one of the highest peaks in Scotland. There are one or two that are higher, but they are more remote, and consequently less known.
Ben Lomond is the one most visited, and is, accordingly, the one that is most renowned.
It lies on the east side of Loch Lomond, about half way between the head of the lake and the outlet. Our party were now at the outlet of the lake, and were going the next morning towards the head of it. The outlet of the lake is towards the south. In this southern part, as I believe I have already said, the lake is about ten miles wide, and its banks are formed of hills and valleys of fertile land, every where well cultivated, and presenting charming scenes of verdure and fruitfulness.
The lake, too, in this portion of it, is studded with a great number of very picturesque and pretty islands.
As you go north, however, the lake, or loch, as the Scotch call it, contracts in breadth, and the land rises higher and higher, until at length you see before you a narrow sheet of water, shut in on either hand with dark and gloomy mountains, the sides of which are covered every where with ferns and heather, and seem entirely uninhabited. They descend, moreover, so steep to the water that there seems to be not even room for a path between the foot of the mountains and the sh.o.r.e.
The highest peak of these sombre-looking hills is Ben Lomond; which rises, as I have before said, on the eastern side of the loch, about midway between the head of the loch and the outlet. At the foot of the mountain there is a point of land projecting into the water, where there is an inn. Tourists stop at this inn when they wish to ascend the mountain. Other persons come to the inn for the purpose of fishing on the loch, or of making excursions by the footpaths which penetrate, here and there, among the neighboring highlands. There is a ferry here, too, across the loch. There is no village, nor, indeed, are there any buildings whatever to be seen; so that the place is as secluded and solitary as can well be imagined. It is known by the name of Rowerdennan Inn. It was at this point that Mr. George proposed to stop, in case the day should prove rainy.
When the boys rose the next morning, the first thing was to look out of the window, to see what the promise was in respect to the weather. It was not raining, but the sky was overcast and heavy.
"Good," said Waldron. "It does not rain yet, but it will before we get to Rowerdennan Inn."
Waldron was glad to see that there was a prospect of unfavorable weather, for he wished to stop at the inn. He had read in the guide book that they had boats and fishing apparatus there, and he thought that if they stopped perhaps another plan might be formed for going out on the loch a-fishing.
The steamer was to leave at nine o"clock. The boys could see her lying at the pier, about half a mile distant from them. The air was misty, and there were some small trees in the way, but the boys could see the chimney distinctly. They dressed themselves as soon as they could, and went to Mr. George"s room. They knocked gently at the door. Mr. George said, "Come in." They went in and found Mr. George seated at a table, writing in his journal. It was about seven o"clock.
Mr. George laid aside his writing, and after bidding the boys good morning, and talking with them a few minutes about the plans of the day, took a testament which he had upon a table before him, and read a few verses from one of the Gospels, explaining the verses as he read them. Then they all knelt down together, and Mr. George made a short and simple prayer, asking G.o.d to take care of them all during the day, to guard them from every danger, to make them kind and considerate towards each other, and towards all around them, and to keep them from every species of sin.
This was the way in which Mr. George always commenced the duties of the day, when travelling with Rollo, whether there were any other persons in company or not; and a most excellent way it was, too. Besides the intrinsic propriety of coming in the morning to commit ourselves to the guardian care and protection of Almighty G.o.d, especially when we are exposed to the vicissitudes, temptations, and dangers that are always hovering about the path of the traveller in foreign lands, the influence of such a service of devotion, brief and simple as it was, always proved extremely salutary on Rollo"s mind, as well as on the minds of those who were a.s.sociated with him in it. It made them more gentle, and more docile and tractable; and it tended very greatly to soften those asperities which we often see manifesting themselves in the intercourse of boys with each other.
When the devotional service was finished, Mr. George sent the boys down stairs, to make arrangements for breakfast. In about half an hour Rollo came up to say that breakfast was ready in the coffee room, and Mr.
George went down.
After breakfast Mr. George took the valise, and the boys took the other parcels of baggage, and they all went over the bridge to the railway station. They waited here a short time, until at length the train came.
They would have walked on to the pier, where the boat in which they were going to embark was lying, but it was beginning to rain a little, and Mr. George thought it would be better to wait and go in the cars. The distance was not more than a quarter of a mile, and the boys were quite curious to know what the price of the tickets would be, for such a short ride. They found that they were threepence apiece.
The train came very soon, bringing with it several little parties of tourists, that were going into the Highlands. They all seemed greatly chagrined and disappointed at finding that it was beginning to rain.
When the train stopped opposite the pier, the pa.s.sengers hurried across the pier, and over the plank, on board the boat. The rain was falling fast, and every thing was dripping wet. The gentlemen went loaded with portmanteaus, carpet bags, valises, and other parcels of baggage, while the women hurried after them, holding their umbrellas in one hand, and endeavoring, as well as they could, to lift up their dresses with the other. The boat was very small, and there was no shelter whatever from the rain on the deck. Most of the company, therefore, hurried down into the cabin.
"Are you going down into the cabin, too, uncle George?" said Rollo.
"Not I," said Mr. George. "Rain or no rain, I am going to see the sh.o.r.es of Loch Lomond."
There was a heap of baggage near the centre of the boat, covered with a tarpauling. Mr. George put his valise and the knapsacks under the covering, with the other travellers" effects, and then began to look about for seats. There was a range of wooden benches all along the sides of the deck, but they were very wet, and looked extremely uncomfortable.
The water, however, did not stand upon them, for they were made of open work, on purpose to let the water through.
"If we only had some camp stools," said Mr. George, "we could get sheltered seats under the lee of the baggage; but as it is, we must make the best of these."
[Ill.u.s.tration: VIEWING THE SCENERY OF LOCH LOMOND.]
So he folded his shawl long enough to make a cushion for three persons, and laid it down on one of the benches. He sat down himself upon the centre of it, and the boys took their places on each side. Mr. George then spread his umbrella, and the boys, by sitting very close to him, could both come under it. By the time they were thus established the boat had left the pier, and was gliding smoothly away over the waters of the lake, with green and beautifully wooded islands all around. In the distance up the lake, wherever the opening of the clouds afforded a view, it was seen that the horizon was bounded, and the waters of the lake were shut in, with dark and gloomy-looking mountains, the summits of which were entirely concealed from view.
After a short time the rain increased, and all the scenery, except such islands and portions of the sh.o.r.e as came very near the track of the steamer, was soon entirely hidden. The wind blew harder, too, and drove the rain in under the umbrella, so that our travellers were beginning to get quite wet.
"Suppose I go below," said Waldron, "and see what sort of a place the other pa.s.sengers have found down there."
"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "it is so wet here, and besides, I am beginning to be cold."
"We will all go," said Mr. George.
So they all went below. They descended one at a time, by a small spiral staircase, near the stern, which led them into the cabin of the boat.
The cabin presented to view quite an extraordinary spectacle.
It was a small room, being not much more than fifteen feet wide. Along the sides of it were seats made of carved oak, and very comfortably cushioned. Above was a row of small windows, through which you could look out by kneeling on the seats. At the end of the cabin were a fireplace and a grate. There was a coal fire burning in the fireplace, and several of the pa.s.sengers were hovering around it to warm and dry themselves. Others were looking out of the windows, vainly endeavoring to obtain some glimpses of the scenery. A great many of them were uttering exclamations of disappointment and vexation, at finding all the pleasure of their excursion spoiled thus by the cold and the rain.
Some of the travellers, however, more philosophical than the rest, seemed to take their ill luck quite patiently. There was one group that opened their knapsacks at one of the side tables, and were taking breakfast together there in a very merry manner.
Mr. George and the two boys went to the fire, and stood there to warm themselves, listening, in the mean time, to the exclamations and remarks of the various groups of pa.s.sengers, which they found quite amusing. In the mean time the steamer went on, bringing continually new points of land and new islands into view. She stopped, too, now and then, at landings along the margin of the lake; and on these occasions Rollo and Waldron always went up on deck, to witness the operation of bringing the steamer to, and to see who went on sh.o.r.e.
They had a list of these landings on the tickets which they had bought of the captain of the boat, as soon as they came on board. When they found that the next landing was Rowerdennan, all the party went up on deck. The rain, they now found, had ceased. Indeed, the sky looked quite bright, and several of the pa.s.sengers were standing on the wet deck, watching for glimpses of the mountains, which appeared here and there through the openings in the clouds. They saw repeatedly the dark and gloomy sides of Ben Lomond; but a canopy of dense and heavy clouds rested upon and concealed the summit.
The boys obtained a glimpse of a stone house, nearly enveloped in trees, at a little distance from the sh.o.r.e, as they approached the land. This they supposed was the inn, as there was no other house in sight.
The steamer drew up to the pier. The pier was very small. It was built of timbers, and extended a little way out over the water, from a solitary place on the sh.o.r.e. Every pa.s.senger that left the boat had to pay twopence for the privilege of landing upon it. The porter of the inn stood there, with a leather bag hung over his neck, to collect this toll. On this occasion, however, he got only sixpence, as Mr. George and the two boys were the only pa.s.sengers that landed.
The place was very wild and solitary. There was no house, or building of any kind, in sight. There was a narrow road, however, that led along the sh.o.r.e of the lake, from the pier towards the point of land which the steamer had pa.s.sed in coming to the pier, and the porter told Mr. George that that was the road that led to the inn.
"If you will walk on," said the porter, "I will bring your luggage."
There were some boards and small timbers on the deck of the vessel, which were to be landed here, and the porter remained in order to receive them, while Mr. George and the boys went on. They soon came to the inn. They entered it from behind, through a very pleasant yard, surrounded with trees and gardens, and out-buildings of various kinds.
Mr. George went in, followed by the boys, and was shown into the coffee room. From the windows of this room there was a very pretty view of the lake, through an opening among the trees of the garden.