an' drawn the same
nets for three years; he is gude an' bad, like ither folk."

"Keep gude company, my brother, an' thou wilt aye be counted ane o'
them. When Ragon is gude he is ower gude, and when he is bad he is
just beyont kenning."

"Can a man help the kin he comes o'? Have not his forbears done for
centuries the vera same way? Naething takes a Norseman frae his bed or
his cup but some great deed o' danger or profit; but then wha can
fight or wark like them?"

"Christ doesna ask a man whether he be Norse or Scot. If Ragon went
mair to the kirk an' less to the change-house, he wouldna need to
differ. Were not our ain folk cattle-lifting Hieland thieves lang
after the days o' the Covenant?"

"Christine, ye'll speak nae wrang o' the Sabays. It's an ill bird
'files its ain nest."

"Weel, weel, John! The gude name o' the Sabays is i' thy hands now.
But to speak from the heart, this thing touches thee nearer than Ragon
Torr. Thou did not bring me out to speak only o' him."

"Thou art a wise woman, Christine, an' thou art right. It touches
Margaret Fae, an' when it does that, it touches what is dearer to me
than life."

"I see it not."

"Do not Ragon an' I sail i' Peter Fae's boats? Do we not eat at his
table, an' bide round his house during the whole fishing season? If I
sail no more wi' Ragon, I must quit Peter's employ; for he loves Ragon
as he loves no ither lad i' Stromness or Kirkwall. The Norse blood we
think little o', Peter glories in; an' the twa men count thegither
o'er their glasses the races o' the Vikings, an' their ain generations
up to Snorro an' Thorso."

"Is there no ither master but Peter Fae? ask theesel' that question,
John."

"I hae done that, Christine. Plenty o' masters, but nane o' them hae
Margaret for a daughter. Christine, I love Margaret, an' she loves me
weel. Thou hast loved theesel', my sister."

"I ken that, John," she said tenderly; "I hae loved, therefore I hae
got beyont doots, an' learned something holier than my ain way. Thou
trust Margaret now. Thou say 'Yes' to thy mother, an' fear not."

"Christine thou speaks hard words."

"Was it to speak easy anes thou brought me here? An' if I said, 'I
counsel thee to tak thy ain will i' the matter,' wad my counsel mak
bad gude, or wrang right? Paul Calder's fleet sails i' twa days; seek
a place i' his boats."

"Then I shall see next to naught o' Margaret, an' Ragon will see her
every day."

"If Margaret loves thee, that c