Hollyhock Part 34

One by one the girls went up to bed; but still Hollyhock had to lie awake, waiting, waiting, pining for the weary hours to pa.s.s, for there was no use in attempting the dangerous task before the moon was at its full, and that would not be until midnight.

The dressing of herself, the arranging of her sidesaddle on Lightning Speed, the starting for the celebrated gorge, would take her altogether about half-an-hour, the gorge being some distance from the Palace of the Kings.

At half-past eleven, therefore, she might safely get up and prepare for her task. Every other girl in the school was long in bed and sound asleep. The servants had retired to their rooms, the teachers had gone to their rest, for to-morrow was to be a great day, as the Duke himself was expected to present the lockets to the six successful candidates for the prizes. The great Ards.h.i.+el would be at the school to-morrow at mid-day, and Mrs Macintyre thought she had better go to bed early. She was always the last to sit up in the Palace of the Kings; but to-night she went to her room at sharp eleven, a little weary, a little perplexed, a little sorry, for she had read Leucha's vindictive essay, and felt that she could not possibly keep such a girl any longer in the school.

CHAPTER XXVI.

HOLLYHOCK'S DEED OF VALOUR.

Little did any one in that great house suspect what was going on during those hours devoted to peaceful slumber. Mrs Macintyre was dreaming of the Duke, and of the great honour he was about to confer on her school.

Leucha, worn-out and unhappy, was sleeping peacefully at last. Every girl in the school was at rest, with the exception of the one girl who had yet to perform her feat of valour. There was, however, one exception to the intense peace of the school, and that exception was Magsie, who, although she never imagined such an awful catastrophe as might occur, still was full of a latent uneasiness with regard to Miss Hollyhock. Magsie slept, of course, because she was tired; but she woke again because her dreams were bad. They were all about bonnie Miss Hollyhock and Lightning Speed. She felt so anxious that after some time she rose softly, left the other servants, and crept out into the moonlight night.

It was now past midnight, and the moon was setting. Magsie's steps first took her in the direction of the stables. She peeped into one stall after another. There was no sign anywhere of Lightning Speed.

This was quite sufficient for the brave Scots la.s.s. She made up her mind and acted accordingly.

Meanwhile Hollyhock, a little before half-past eleven o'clock, had risen very gently, and carefully adjusted her habit and her little scarlet cap, which she was fond of wearing when she rode with Dumpy Dad. Her scarlet ribbons kept her hair tied tightly back--those long, thick, magnificent black locks of hers. As a rule, when she rode with her father she wore her hair unbound, floating wildly in the breeze; but she thought Lightning Speed would like her best to-night in her present attire. She had chosen an old habit of dark Lincoln green.

She glanced at herself for a moment in the gla.s.s. Why _would_ her head keep aching, aching, when she _looked_ so well, when her cheeks were so bright and her great black eyes so sparkling?

It is true that when she touched her forehead she felt it feverishly hot, but she could not be in any way ill; that was impossible. She had never looked better, and looks would sometimes show signs of illness.

How bad, for instance, poor Leuchy had looked after she, Hollyhock, had played the prank on her; how withered up, like an apple all overripe--her eyes so dim, her scanty locks so faded! Well, she must not think of Leuchy now; only she would have been a little happier if Leuchy had given her the kiss she had asked for.

The maids of England were cold. She, Hollyhock, could not understand them, could not attempt to fathom them. She crept softly downstairs, gathering her habit over her arm.

The moon was now full and at its height. She would reach the gap in the gorge just at the critical moment. The adventure _was_ a wee bit dangerous--she had to acknowledge that to herself--a wee bit, no more!

She reached the stable where Lightning Speed was waiting for her. She had put two or three apples into the pocket of her habit. She gave one to her darling Arab as she prepared him for his ride. Quickly he was ready. The girl saw that the girths of the side-saddle were right, tight, and sure. She took all possible precautions, for if she were to die or hurt herself it would be bad; but if Lightning Speed were to hurt his precious self, it would be, according to Hollyhock, a thousand times worse. The horse neighed at the caress and the apple, and Hollyhock let him peep into the little reserve of apples in the pocket at her side, which were all to be his when the great feat was accomplished.

It seemed to her that Lightning Speed knew her very thoughts. He sniffed gratefully. She sprang lightly on his back, having first secured the door of the stable.

A minute later they were off and away. She thought of young Lochinvar; she thought of the splendid ballads of her native land; she felt thrilled with the excitement of the moment; but how ghastly white was the moon, and how tremendously big and black the shadows where the moon did not fall! Both girl and horse felt these brightnesses and these shadows.

'Well,' thought Hollyhock, 'it will be soon over, my bonnie Lightning Speed;' and the horse, disturbed a little at first by the unearthly glamour over everything, soon calmed down and made straight for the gorge up which rider and steed were to mount, in order to accomplish that awful leap from rock to rock, which they must take twice in order that Hollyhock might really feel that she had done a deed worthy of the prize.

The horse evidently did not like the intense whiteness of the moon; but when he got into the comparative darkness of the gorge, he calmed down and became his usual self. Hollyhock did not attempt to urge him in any way; she simply let him go his own gait, patting him several times on his glossy coat. She knew well that the crucial moment would arrive when they left the shadow of the gorge and stood forth, girl and horse, prepared to take the leap, which, if by any chance Lightning Speed rebelled, must be fatal to them both.

How terribly her head ached; how giddy, how almost silly, she felt!

But at any cost she must carry through her task, that task of hers to which she had given her whole mind.

The ascent into the intensely bright moonlight was certainly not good for the nerves of Lightning Speed, and when Hollyhock headed him for the leap which he must take, just for a brief, very brief, moment he hesitated. But he loved his mistress. Ah, how _much_ he loved her!

Would _he_ disobey when _she_ ordered him to do a certain deed? He had never disobeyed her yet, never from the time she first mounted his back and held his reins.

Her own eyes felt slightly dazzled by the pain in her head and the intense whiteness of the scene. The roaring torrent below had never sounded so ferociously loud. Holly leant forward and looked into Lightning Speed's jet-black eyes, those eyes as soft as they were black, as wonderfully full of feeling as were Holly's own bright, loving eyes. The black eyes of the girl looked into the black eyes of the horse.

She said aloud in her soft magnetic whisper, 'You 'll _do_ it, my bonnie lad; you 'll take the leap, for the love of me, my bonnie, bonnie lad;' and the horse seemed to answer her back, for he gave a gentle neigh and prepared himself for the leap.

Any one else he would have resisted, but not Hollyhock, not his beloved mistress. He knew exactly how to accomplish the exploit required of him. He bounded a bit back, then a bit forward, then sprang across with a n.o.ble endeavour, and reached the opposite bank.

They were both in safety.

'Oh, but you are good, Lightning Speed,' said Hollyhock. 'You have done the worst now, and shall have an apple for your pains. Then we must turn back; but the backward leap will not be so dangerous by half as was the forward.'

By this time Lightning Speed felt as excited as his young mistress. He could scarcely bring himself to eat the apple, so anxious he seemed to complete his task and get back to the safety and shelter of the gorge.

He was not frightened now, not he. He would have leaped double that distance if he could for Hollyhock the brave. He prepared himself for the return leap. He sprang out over the awful chasm.

But what ailed Hollyhock herself? The horse showed no fear; but the girl trembled and reeled. Just as they had almost reached the opposite side, and, as far as Lightning Speed was concerned, were in absolute safety, Hollyhock found herself slipping from the saddle. The horse was safe as safe could be; but she--she had slipped and rolled headlong down the steep bank. The aching in her head was so tremendous that she had absolutely no strength to keep her seat. She felt herself falling, falling, bruised and battered by sharp rocks. And then all was a merciful blank. She knew no more.

When she came to her senses again she sat up with a great s.h.i.+ver, and found herself perilously perched on a narrow ledge of rock, while away above her head Lightning Speed looked down at her and whinnied in the deepest distress. To get down to her, to help, to reach her, was for him impossible. His whole heart was hers; but he could do nothing for her, nothing at all!

She saw his gallant head looking down at her, and she managed to call out to him, 'Go home, my bonnie Lightning Speed; go home, and get some one to bring ropes for poor Hollyhock. Oh, but you are a brave and n.o.ble beastie!'

The horse was puzzled whether to obey or not. Home to him was not the Palace of the Kings, but his own comfortable loose-box at The Garden.

The stable would be locked now; but he might go to the front-door and scrabble with his feet and make a loud and piercing whinny. Then, of a surety, the Lennox man, Hollyhock's father, would come out, and he, Lightning Speed, would lead him to the scene of danger.

Now there was one fact that both girl and horse forgot. In order to get out and in Hollyhock had taken pains early in the day to secure the gate keys of the Palace of the Kings; but both horse and girl forgot that the gates of The Garden, the beloved home of Lightning Speed, would be locked until early in the morning. It would be all in vain for Lightning Speed to try to surmount those high iron gates, in order to secure the services of George Lennox.

But while Hollyhock thus clung desperately to the narrow ledge of rock, which was at least twenty feet down from the top of the famous leap, and forty feet above the roaring torrent of water, Magsie had not been idle. She wasted no time in waking the house. She concluded at once that Miss Hollyhock was away, because Lightning Speed was away. In a flash she guessed why the girl had done no feat that day. She also felt almost certain where she would take Lightning Speed. For horse and rider to leap a chasm of twelve feet in the bright moonlight would be a fine act of courage, a mighty act, just the thing that Miss Hollyhock would attempt, and Magsie now recalled with dismay certain hints about the gorge dropped by that intrepid young horse-woman.

It has been said that the Palace of the Kings lay between The Paddock and The Garden, but if anything it was a trifle nearer to The Paddock than it was to The Garden. Magsie therefore determined to go to The Paddock and get the help of Master Jasper and any others she could find, in the vague and almost forlorn hope of rescuing Hollyhock.

There seemed no hope for her; but Magsie must do her best. How she blamed herself now for allowing Joey Comfort to bring the horse to Ards.h.i.+el! But it was too late for praise or for blame. All Magsie could do was to act, and act promptly. Accordingly, flying like a wild creature, she made for the lodge gates, which, as she had feared, she found unlocked. Hollyhock had the keys. She soon reached The Paddock, entered by the smaller gate, and flung gravel at the window of Master Jasper's room.

In an instant Jasper put out his head. 'Why, Magsie, whatever is wrong?' he said.

'Why, _all_ is wrong, and mighty wrong,' said Magsie. 'Come along this minute, Master Jasper, and bring wi' ye a coil o' rope and as many other strong lads as ye can find in the school. Be quick, for it is Miss Hollyhock, no less, that we are tryin' to save.'

Jasper felt a sick, terrible fear creeping over him; but he was a lad of fine courage. In a very few minutes he had roused Andy Mackenzie, John Meiklejohn, and his own brother Wallace, and, with a great coil of rope, joined Magsie outside the window.

'I don't want my mother frightened,' said Jasper; 'but whatever is wrong, Magsie?'

'Didn't I tell ye? Isn't my heart like to break? She would do it, the wild la.s.sie; she would take out Lightnin' Speed to the gap between the twa rocks and put him to the leap at this time o' nicht. Eh, but what horse wad stan' such doin's and the moon at the full?'

'However did she get Lightning Speed?' asked Jasper.

'That was my fault! She coaxed me, and coaxed Joey Comfort, my young man, to get Lightnin' Speed into the stables o' the Palace o' the Kings. They were havin' prizes--thochts o' the de'il, I think them--and what must she do but make up her mind to leap across the rocks when the moon was at the full! Ah, I ken I'm richt! I went to the stables, and Lightnin' Speed was not there. She's that bold! She may even now be floatin' in the water. Oh, I 'm afeared; I 'm near mad wi' fear.'

'Well, come along, come along,' said Jasper. 'We haven't a second to lose. Why, if there is not Lightning Speed his very self! Hollyhock, as like as not, is close behind him.--Lightning Speed, my bonnie beastie, wherever is your mistress?'

Lightning Speed--who had to pa.s.s The Paddock on his way back to the Palace of the Kings and The Garden--turned like a flash and led the way up the gorge. He was much relieved in his dear horsy mind by this goodly a.s.sembly of young rescuers. Much he wished he could speak, but that gift was denied him.

At last, however, panting and puffing, Magsie and the boys reached the cleft in the rocks. Lightning Speed, still wearing his side-saddle, which was pulled a little crooked, bent over the chasm and turned his black eyes to Jasper, as much as to say, 'Now this work is yours. Call out to her; call out to her!'

Lightning Speed whinnied very gently, and then Jasper knelt down and looked into the great hole. The noise of the rus.h.i.+ng water made his voice difficult to hear for the girl, who was still clinging to the ledge of rock.

But at last, to his infinite delight, Jasper heard her answer very weakly, 'I 'm here, Jasper; but I 'm nigh to slipping. It's my head, Jasper, and the giddiness that is over me. Good-night, good-night, Jasper dear; you cannot save me!'