, 1898-10-21
ALAsTAIR's CROSS.

work that's afoot, Ian Ban." Thus a
voice cried aloud from the midmost OF
the silent group Of cragsmen and fisher
men that stood waiting dourly round
the fast shut door of Ian MacAlastair's
cottage, perched, like a gull's nest, on
the ridge Of the steep and shining beach
at Ronaldshay. MAKE haste, man,
make haste, and come along with your
self. It's tired waiting here We are"
AYE, aye, it's ready and coming l
am, Macdonald, but hasty work is aye ill
work, and l was saying a bit prayer in
al ORA minute here; that was all. "
The door swung open now, and the
speaker calne out into the half light
that a sullen moon gave as she slipped
fitfully from cloud to cloud in the
windy sky. A handsome man. this fair
Ian, with eyes as blue as cornflowers,
and a yellow beard that the wind was
tossing all ways at once, but just now
his eyes were darkened and his face set
with the same stern purpose that made
dumb the crowd of kinsfolk and neigh
bors around him. "Come out. Alas
tairr' he called, and a tall slip of a lad
came q and stood waiting by his side.
His father had given him a strain Of
Danish blood as we'll as Celtic, and his
mother had been kindly Irish of the
Irish. But Alastair MacAlastair favored
neither fair Ian nor dark Aileen, for
his eyes were of the sea IS shifting color,
and the soft hair under his tisherman's
cap was q dusky red. His eyebrows
were of the darkest, and against the
sunburn of cheek and chin his lips
showed curiously co~lorless, and in odd
contrast to the sturdy men and strap
ping lads around him was his extreme
slenderness of build, in spite of the
rough blue clothes which seemed almost
to hide him.
II am here" he said, speaking in
Gaelic. as he stepped to his fathers
side, land the time is here, Ian Mac
Alastair says. And what do you want
Of me, neighbors?"
$50 down to the beach, Alastair,"
his father said CURLY, and the boy
obeyed silently. When their feet were
ankle deep III water, Ian MacAlastair
spoke again. did you pray before you
slept tonight, AIastair? Yes? that's
good. Strip now" His son lifted won.
dering eyes to Ian's gloomy face, but
obeyed silently, and presently some ono
muttered q verse of an old spell song
that changed the wonder in Alastair's
eyes to comprehension.
Naked hands and naked feet are all that the
sea has need of;
Naked, oh, the soul must go that tho ninth
wave has greed OIL
Naked heart for the stars to sift. naked limbs
for the tide to drift
Out from the shore, to come no more to the
hearths that the spirit has heed Of.
When the murmur died, Alastair
raised his head and looked round OIL the
darkened faces with a Pickering smile
on his pale mouth. "Is it to drown my
self you've brought me here or will you
do it, Ian MacAlsstair? I'll lift no fin
ger to stop you, for long have l been
knowing l was the needless mouth and
the useless hand among you, and my
red head bringing bad luck to your nets
all the summer. Only I'd take it kindly
II you would do it quickly, friends-be-
cause it's bitter cold it is waiting here"
"You shall not be waiting long, Alas
tair," Ian said heavily, land neither
will you drown yourself nor we you.
We will DO giving you a chance. though
not in Ronaldshay."
"Ronalshay ! know" Alastair said
quietly, land it's glad 1 would be if
you would kill me here with your own
hand, father Mo- His hand slipped
from his fathers shoulder, "Then have
your will and your way. Ian MacAlas.
tair, I'll not gainsay you"
"There's the moon" Ian said at last,
''now make ready" He stopped and
dragged some dark object at his feet a
little higher up the beach. 80 that it's
lower end only lay in the sea. Alastair
glanced ut it and saw that it was q tree
trunk, weed covered and barnacle grown
with washing about in heavy seas.
Upon it a spar was dashed crosswise.
Alastair looked al it a moment longer,
then, in obedience to u gesture from his
father, laid himself down upon it with
his arms outstretched. Then Macdonald
and another man stopped over him,
lashing his feet together and then Sc
curing his arms to the c%rosspiece just
o the elbows. Two stout ropes held
him by the shoulders and went over his
body, crossing on the breast, and these
were drawn 80 tightly that Alastair,
after enduring with clinched teeth for a
minute, was forced to cry out. Loosen
it." Ian MacAlastair said hoarsely. and
the others obeyed.
II am safe now," Alastair said, smil-
ing, a. they drew back from him for q
minute. "Your knots r fast, Macdon-
aid, and 50 are-ahI" They had raised
the Cross upright now, and the sudden
strain upon his overweight nerves had
forced another cry from Alastair, but
the next rough movement he bore in 81
ience, and it was with shut lips and
quiet eyes that he endured the sudden
casting out from their midst and smoth-
ering splash into deep water.
"a boat will be picking You up may
be, but you will not be coming back to
Ronaldshay. Judas MacAlastair! r. Mac
donald shouted after him, but Alastair
called no curse back, as those on shore
half expected. He did not even turn his
head to look At the shore, but lay still
upon his cross, taking with the same
quietness the singing Of the salt spray
in his eyes and the tingling pain in his
bound limbs.
"Naked limbsethe sea has need Of"
Alastair Whispered presently. Docs the
"a want me any more than the land
does, I wonder2 Oh, but it's cold. cold!'
shuddefins as one wave after another
drove ven his naked body. II wish the
wind would rise ; then / would get u
nhanno - 1xo-u}uu Il that mntkar NJ