The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-04-17

Earl Patrick had come again. He ended
by driving Sweyn out of doors. throwing
his fish after him, and might have flung
Swertha after the fish had not that aged
dame made a lively retreat to the viii
lage. >
The Ranzellar. or headman of the
village, summoned his conscript faith
ers in council over the matter. Earl
Patrick, who had once reigned in those
islands, had robbed and oppressed, cut
off heads and hanged right and left in
the bygone years, finally being hanged
himself for his doings. All Zetland
and Orkney knew the story of Earl
Patrick, and the Ranzellar opined that
there might be the making of another
Pate Stwart" in Mertoun if he were
provoked too far. 1t was therefore
ordered that, hereafter, the excess
charge for articles delivered to their
master at the castle should only be
three pence on the shilling. which
said the Ranzellar, lis a decent and
moderate profit and will bring with 1t
the blessing of God and st. Ronald
Thereafter the inhabitants of the vii
lage cheated Mertoun only to the tune
of 20 per cent, a display of moderation
which seemed duly appreciated by the
victim, and is recommended not only to
all TRUSTS but to those retail dealers
who supply households through the
medium of the servants as likely to
meet with a like appreciation on the
part of the ultimate consumer" As for
Swertha, at the recommendation of
young Mordaunt she returned, though
in fear and trembling, to Jarishof and
resumed her duties as If nothing had
happened. Mertoun did not seem to
notice her presence; but once, when
she ventured to raise her voice above
its ordinary pitch, he turned to her
with a fierce look and said warningly,
Remember" 1t was not so much being
robbed that Mertoun objected to as
the row the robbers made over it-but
this they could not understand, though
Mordaunt understood.
Though Vbusying himself constantly
with the education of his son. except
daunt knew that his father did not love
him. 1t seemed as if a sense of duty,
sort of pennance, mado him keep the
boy with him and look after his well
fare. When the dark hour was on
Mordaunt Mertoun would absent him
self from the house and either go on
a visit to Burgh- Westra, where the two
beautiful sisters received him as
brother and the Udaller as a son. or
divert himself by joining in the rude
pastime and ruder labors of the island
ers. AS he grew older he became one
of the most expert boatmen. one of the
most daring cliff climbers and one of
the strongest swimmers of the coast.
He took a wild delight in hanging by
rope between the sky and the sea
to gather from the surface of the per-
pendicular cliffs the samphire or the
eggs of the wild sea birds laid in high
crevices of the frowning rocks. But
Burgh-W estra delighted him more
than even the wild pleasures or labors
of the fish folk. Before he realized II
Mordaunt was a young man and the
people of the island began saying that
the rich strangers son only refrained
from marrying one of the rich Udallers
daughters because he could not make
up his mind which of the two he liked
best.
It was when returning from one of
these visits to Burgh- Westra that Nor
daunt, caught in terrific storm, sought
shelter at the ancient house called the
palace" OF Harfra. which modest pal
ace" was now occupied BY one Triptole
mus TelioTIey. = scotcnman, VINO nad
recently come into Ultima Thule. as
factor for the noo.enlsn who was en-
joying The rights and title Of Cham
berlzin Of the Ork1tss and Zetland, TO
manage the crown lands and generally
to improve and educate UP 70 a proper
standard Of agricultural wisdom the
rude and. as Triptoienus believed. bar
barrie Inhabitants Of these remote de-
pendencies Of the British crown. Trip
tolemus was ~ best q theoretical far
mer, and had not thriyen. even in
more fertile land. Among these print
tive people and in these sterile lands he
was utterly lost, the inhabitants re-
garding him as a neddlesomc visionary
and h e looking upon them as little bet
ter than savages. With the bach elor
factor lived his sister, Miss Baby"
Yellowly. a sour spinster of strong
mind and so parsimonious that she
nearly starved to death her one serving
maid, Tronda Dronsdaughter, an elderly
female caught from the neighborhood,
and kept Triptolemus himself on per-
petua1 short rations. which, however,
did not succeed in diminishing the ro-
tundity of his form or the rubicund as
pect of his nose. The latter could be
accounted for by the brandy bottle,
which was the one luxury with which
"Trip" insisted upon indulging himself,
but of the former no rational hypothe-
sis could make anything but mystery.
Although he had received word from
Swertha that his fathers dark hour"
had passed, and he was anxious to
reach home, Mordaunt, such was tn e
fury of the elements, did not dare to
proceed farther, and when, to his great
surprise, he found the door of Harfra
barred and bolted he began to knock
furiously for admittance. Stepping
back, he saw that no smoke was blown
from the chimney, and. thinking that
the indwellers must be away from
home, he did as any other Zetlander
would have done and effected an en-
trance by one of the windows-for in
Thule in those days every mans house
was open to his neighbor, whether the
owner were present or absent But the
inha bitants were not absent they were