s still
remembered, and sounded, in my ears, Spanishly. The _Espirito Santo_
they called it, a great ship of many decks of guns, laden with treasure
and grandees of Spain, and fierce soldadoes, that now lay fathom deep to
all eternity, done with her wars and voyages, in Sandag bay, upon the
west of Aros. No more salvos of ordnance for that tall ship, the 'Holy
Spirit,' no more fair winds or happy ventures; only to rot there deep in
the sea-tangle and hear the shoutings of the Merry Men as the tide ran
high about the island. It was a strange thought to me first and last,
and only grew stranger as I learned the more of Spain, from which she had
set sail with so proud a company, and King Philip, the wealthy king, that
sent her on that voyage.

And now I must tell you, as I walked from Grisapol that day, the
_Espirito Santo_ was very much in my reflections. I had been favourably
remarked by our then Principal in Edinburgh College, that famous writer,
Dr. Robertson, and by him had been set to work on some papers of an
ancient date to rearrange and sift of what was worthless; and in one of
these, to my great wonder, I found a note of this very ship, the
_Espirito Santo_, with her captain's name, and how she carried a great
part of the Spaniard's treasure, and had been lost upon the Ross of
Grisapol; but in what particular spot, the wild tribes of that place and
period would give no information to the king's inquiries. Putting one
thing with another, and taking our island tradition together with this
note of old King Jamie's perquisitions after wealth, it had come strongly
on my mind that the spot for which he sought in vain could be no other
than the small bay of Sandag on my uncle's land; and being a fellow of a
mechanical turn, I had ever since been plotting how to weigh that good
ship up again with all her ingots, ounces, and doubloons, and bring back
our house of Darnaway to its long-forgotten dignity and wealth.

This was a design of which I soon had reason to repent. My mind was
sharply turned on different reflections; and since I became the witness
of a strange judgment of God's, the thought of dead men's treasures has
been intolerable to my conscience. But even at that time I must acquit
myself of sordid greed; for if I desired riches, it was not for their own
sake, but for the sake of a person who was dear to my heart--my uncle's
daughter, Mary Ellen. She had been educated well, and had been a time to
school