Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-03-23
ROBIN Y REE
A STORY.

! Hank! there it was again, that strange
/ melody, floating over the silent sea and
! meorland, and falling Oh the ear as softly
| as thistledOwn. 1t was one of the old
I songs of the country, perhaps sung by
! some fisherman as he walked homeward
\ through the autumn twilight with his
! empty creel on his back and money in his
/ pocket. The singer was invisible but the
words we're these:
/ 'Red top-knots and ribbons of green thoult
wear.
1 II, sweet little Betsy, with me thou'lt pair
Robin the king, Robin the king ridlan. "
The prevailing stiffness made it difficult
to say whether the words came from far
OF near. The breeze was too slight to stir
the brackeD, and the peat-smOke hung in
mOtlOnless Wreaths over the cottage Chin
neys in the glen, and the clouds of tiny
| butterflies that had fitted over the gOrse
! and heather during the daytime had mys-
teriously vanished at sunset. The comics
were awake, no doubt, but they prudeutly
I kept out of sight. The curleWs were asleep
I among the turnips, the gray ployer were
away on the hillside, and down yonder
among the cliffs the gullS and gannets
and guillemOts were standing in long white
rows.
But if the solemn night was vOiceless, it
had wonderful charm of its own, though
the moon was vet to emerge like some
gilded dragon-fly from its slumber beneath
the waters. The air was laden with the
freshness Of the sea and the perfume OF the
moorland flowers; the sky was a deep un-
dappled blue, to which the countless stars
hlckerlng in its dome impaired a NastnesS
immeasurably greater than that OF the
sunlit day; Immediately overhead lay IN
Rad Mooar Rec Gh0rree, the Great Road
by which King Orry brought his yellow
bearded ADTEGFnan M
and ~ its northern extremity a pinkish
glow was now advancing and now Teced-
ing, afraid of invading the realm of night,
vet unwilling to leave scene of so much
beauty. Away to the south, beyond
great sweep OF tranquil water, broken only
by the spear-pOints Of the stars, dense
mist was winding around the bays and
headlands, and as it drew aside for a mo-
ment there came from its midst the bright
flash Of lighthouse; but elsewhere the
atmosphere was so clear that the rocks
stood out in bold relief, their shadows as
suming all manner of fantastic shapes.
In the background the hills cut into the
blue : Ky like row OF enormous sharks
teeth, and after sweeping past fields of
corn and clover with many a coy little
homestead nesting among the trees, they
at last arrived at this wild spot where
gOrse and heather and bracken tumbled
INTO deep glen, and then spread out Oh
either hand into sheet Of gold and brown
and purple, studded with an occasional
boulder, as If to prevent the wind from
blowing it away. A couple of hundred
yards further down the moOIland termi-
mated suddenly in perpendicular wall of
schist that dropped into the sea many
hundred feet below. but parted in the
centre as if it had been cleft with mighty
Ratchet. 4 few matched, whitewashed
cottages crOuched upon the sides of the
glen, for the wind sometimes blew such
shrill blast down that narrow channel that
II was necessary to take advantage of the
little shelter to be found there. In the
ferny depths there was a glisten of silver,
and keen ear might have detected the
babble Of the brook as it hurried sea-
ward.
Except for the invisible singer, the whole
world seemed to be asleep, and the stars
looked down upon an unbrOken solitude
Presently the voice went on:
Red top-knots and ribbons of black thou'lt
wear;
I'll make thee Queen of the Nav. swear.
Robin the king, Robin The king ridlan."
The words had scarcely died away when
two figures mounted the steep side of the
glen and slowly made their way toward
the cliffs. The one was tall, handsome,
well-dressed man with brown beard; the
other woman, young and beautiful. lie
was the first to break the silence.
Elsie, I've been hinking-thinking
very seriously Of asking you to marry
me-"
Me marry your She had stopped sud
denly to stare at him, her dark eyes brim-
full Of establishment, warm flush on her
brown checks, which were partly shaded
( by long black hair flowing around her
shapely shoulders, and her hands cIasped
in front of her. Standing there in the
IA go bo ,bc
startled fawn- ''Me marry you, Mr.. Ora
ham, she repeated, weighing out the
words one by one as if TO get at their mean
ing that way.
you shouldn't say, Me marry your''
he said with a slight SILVER. "YOu should
/ say, i marry your And it would be nicer
if you were to substitute Robin for Mr..
Graham, which has an abominably formal
sound between such great friends Of quite
two months standing. Thus corrected,
the sentence runs, 1 marry you, Robin =
to which Robin replies, why nOtY"
1t is doubtful whether she fully appre-
/ ciated this singular mixture of teaching
and woOing; indeed, it is doubtful whether
she even understood it.
"'Tis only a poor tisher-girl / ann she
answered, land tits you that are a grand
I gentleman, with money and lands and
/ houses, so the neighbors tell me. Oh, but
/ it would be strange thing for me to
marry YOU, Mr.. Graham
! WOman-like, she glanced from his fine
/ clothes to her own humble garb-a coarse
/ gray dress Of hOme-spun wool, a blue
/ shawl crossed over her breast and fastened
/ at her waist and a kind of sun-bOnnet. In
/ this respect the disparity between them
was sufficiently obvious, though it would
/ have been hard TO match the girls grace
/ full figure or beautiful face.
Il am not acting in haste to repent at
! leisure" said Robin Graham with DELHI
Grafton. "SOme arguments may be urged
against our marriage, ! admit, but as they
/ all spring from an accident-the accident
I of birth-they can be easily brushed aside.
/ And then, Elsie, the sacrifice won't be al
( something to give up, too. You see, Fye
/ thught the matter well over"
He paused and looked at her, as if he
/ had asked her question; but she was toe
/ astOnshed to speak; this wonderful thing,
that he wished her to marry him, quite
stupefied her. So he went on:
Zine ladies are all very we'll for time
but a man gets tired of them-tired OF
/ their fine feathers, and their fine speeches
/ and their fine ways. That sort of thing is
taking in the showroom, but ineXpressi.
/ bly, wearisOme in the house. There's not
/ an ounce of sincerity in Il ton of such stuff
No, there is nothing like quiet, domestic
life; a pleasant, humdrum husband, and g
/ cheerful, chatty wife TO make tea and sew
I on buttons and do things generally. You
| could manage that, ElSie"'
"Oh, yes, Mr.. Graham" she exclaimed
her dark eyes wide open with surprise
land Pm thinking old Kitty COrkhill could
do that for YOU" The words touched
rather a discOrdant note, but the voice
was singularly sweet, having learned its
+ cadences from the winds and waves.
'.Well, we'll; never mind about Kitty
Corkhill. She is old and ugly, and Won are
neither the one nor the other. Which is il
/ to be, Elsie. yes or nO?"
And now from across the heather came
the last sad words Of the song, but 50 softly
that neither Of these two heard it:
son, sweet little Betsy, thou'rt breaking my
heart,
/ Counting Robin the king they say thou art,
ROBIN the king, Robin the king ridlan.'
When the invisible singer ceased the
dark hills seemed to grow darker and q
gloom to fall over the undulating moor
land and the wide sea beyond, though the
/ sky still remained starry and cloudless
/ Elsie, perceiving that the merry dancers
/ had vanished, could not repress a little
shudder, but she was soon absorbed in the
contemplation Of the bright prospect sud
denly opened out before her.
She saw a beautiful picture Of fairyland
fer it was quite impossible to imagine its
1 existence in real life. Wild hilly coast