Rollo in Scotland

There was a heap of baggage near the centre of the boat, covered with a tarpauling. Mr. George put his valise and the knapsacks under the covering, with the other travellers' effects, and then began to look about for seats. There was a range of wooden benches all along the sides of the deck, but they were very wet, and looked extremely uncomfortable. The water, however, did not stand upon them, for they were made of open work, on purpose to let the water through.

"If we only had some camp stools," said Mr. George, "we could get sheltered seats under the lee of the baggage; but as it is, we must make the best of these."

VIEWING THE SCENERY OF LOCH LOMOND.

So he folded his shawl long enough to make a cushion for three persons, and laid it down on one of the benches. He sat down himself upon the centre of it, and the boys took their places on each side. Mr. George then spread his umbrella, and the boys, by sitting very close to him, could both come under it. By the time they were thus established the boat had left the pier, and was gliding smoothly away over the waters of the lake, with green and beautifully wooded islands all around. In the distance up the lake, wherever the opening of the clouds afforded a view, it was seen that the horizon was bounded, and the waters of the lake were shut in, with dark and gloomy-looking mountains, the summits of which were entirely concealed from view.

After a short time the rain increased, and all the scenery, except such islands and portions of the shore as came very near the track of the steamer, was soon entirely hidden. The wind blew harder, too, and drove the rain in under the umbrella, so that our travellers were beginning to get quite wet.

"Suppose I go below," said Waldron, "and see what sort of a place the other passengers have found down there."

"Yes, sir," said Rollo; "it is so wet here, and besides, I am beginning to be cold."

"We will all go," said Mr. George.

So they all went below. They descended one at a time, by a small spiral staircase, near the stern, which led them into the cabin of the boat. The cabin presented to view quite an extraordinary spectacle.

It was a small room, being not much more than fifteen feet wide. Along the sides of it were seats made of carved oak, and very comfortably cushioned. Above was a row of small windows, through which you could look out by kneeling on the seats. At the end of the cabin were a fireplace and a grate. There was a coal fire burning in the fireplace, and several of the passengers were hovering around it to warm and dry themselves. Others were looking out of the windows, vainly endeavoring to obtain some glimpses of the scenery. A great many of them were uttering exclamations of disappointment and vexation, at finding all the pleasure of their excursion spoiled thus by the cold and the rain.

Some of the travellers, however, more philosophical than the rest, seemed to take their ill luck quite patiently. There was one group that opened their knapsacks at one of the side tables, and were taking breakfast together there in a very merry manner.

Mr. George and the two boys went to the fire, and stood there to warm themselves, listening, in the mean time, to the exclamations and remarks of the various groups of passengers, which they found quite amusing. In the mean time the steamer went on, bringing continually new points of land and new islands into view. She stopped, too, now and then, at landings along the margin of the lake; and on these occasions Rollo and Waldron always went up on deck, to witness the operation of bringing the steamer to, and to see who went on shore.

They had a list of these landings on the tickets which they had bought of the captain of the boat, as soon as they came on board. When they found that the next landing was Rowerdennan, all the party went up on deck. The rain, they now found, had ceased. Indeed, the sky looked quite bright, and several of the passengers were standing on the wet deck, watching for glimpses of the mountains, which appeared here and there through the openings in the clouds. They saw repeatedly the dark and gloomy sides of Ben Lomond; but a canopy of dense and heavy clouds rested upon and concealed the summit.

The boys obtained a glimpse of a stone house, nearly enveloped in trees, at a little distance from the shore, as they approached the land. This they supposed was the inn, as there was no other house in sight.

The steamer drew up to the pier. The pier was very small. It was built of timbers, and extended a little way out over the water, from a solitary place on the shore. Every passenger that left the boat had to pay twopence for the privilege of landing upon it. The porter of the inn stood there, with a leather bag hung over his neck, to collect this toll. On this occasion, however, he got only sixpence, as Mr. George and the two boys were the only passengers that landed.

The place was very wild and solitary. There was no house, or building of any kind, in sight. There was a narrow road, however, that led along the shore of the lake, from the pier towards the point of land which the steamer had passed in coming to the pier, and the porter told Mr. George that that was the road that led to the inn.

"If you will walk on," said the porter, "I will bring your luggage."

There were some boards and small timbers on the deck of the vessel, which were to be landed here, and the porter remained in order to receive them, while Mr. George and the boys went on. They soon came to the inn. They entered it from behind, through a very pleasant yard, surrounded with trees and gardens, and out-buildings of various kinds. Mr. George went in, followed by the boys, and was shown into the coffee room. From the windows of this room there was a very pretty view of the lake, through an opening among the trees of the garden.

"And now what are we going to do?" said Waldron, after they had all looked at the view as much as they wished.

"I am going to have a fire," said Mr. George, "and then sit down here and make myself comfortable until it clears away. You and Rollo can join me, or you can form any other plan that you like better."

"We'll go a-fishing," said Waldron.

"Or else go up on Ben Lomond," said Rollo. "How high is Ben Lomond, uncle George?"

"It is between three and four thousand feet," said Mr. George. "We will all go up to-morrow if it clears away."

But Waldron did not wish to go up the mountain. He preferred to go a-fishing on the lake. He did not express his preference very strongly at this time, but in the course of the afternoon he persuaded Rollo that it would be a great deal better for them to go out a-fishing on the lake, and perhaps go across the lake to the opposite shore, rather than to go up the mountain; and he induced Rollo to join him in a request that Mr. George would let them go out on the lake, while he went up the mountain, if he wished to ascend it.

"We can have a boat and a boatman," said Waldron. "The boatman will row us, and take care of us, and that will be perfectly safe. And Rollo would like that plan best, too."

In forming this scheme Waldron and Rollo made a mistake; and it was a mistake that boys are very apt to fall into when they are invited to go on excursions with their parents, or uncles, or older brothers. It is naturally to be supposed that the tastes and inclinations of boys, in such cases, should often be different from those of the grown persons they are with, and should lead them to wish frequently to deviate, more or less, from the plans formed. But it is a great source of inconvenience to those whom they are with to have them often propose such deviations. In this case, for example, Mr. George had come a long distance, and incurred very heavy expenses, for the purpose of seeing the Scottish Highlands. Unless he could now really see them, of course all his time and money would be lost. The pleasure of going a-fishing is, doubtless, often very great, but this was not the time nor the place for enjoying it. In acceding to the arrangement to come with Mr. George to the Highlands, the boys ought to have considered themselves joined with him in a tour for instruction and improvement, and as committed to the plans which he might form, from time to time, for accomplishing the objects of the tour. By proposing, as they did, to deviate on every occasion from these plans, and wishing to turn aside from the proper duty of tourists, in search of such boyish pleasures as might be enjoyed just as well at home, they failed signally in fulfilling the obligations which they incurred in undertaking the tour under Mr. George's charge.

Let all the boys and girls, therefore, who read this book, remember that whenever, either by invitation or otherwise, they are joined to any party of which a grown person has charge, or when they accompany a grown person on any excursion whatever, they go to share his pleasures, not to substitute their own for his, and thus to interfere with and thwart the plans which he had formed. Boys often violate this rule from want of thought, and without intending to do any thing wrong. This was the case in this instance, in respect to Waldron and Rollo.

"They are good boys," said Mr. George to himself, in thinking of the subject. "They do not mean to do any thing wrong; but they do not understand the case. I will take an opportunity soon to explain it to them."

It is no time, however, to explain to a boy why it is not best that he should do a particular thing, when he wishes to do it and you forbid him. His mind is then too much occupied with his disappointment, and perhaps with vexation, to listen to the reasons. Forbid him, if it is necessary to do so, but reserve the explanation till some future time.

Mr. George got over the difficulty in this case in a very pleasant manner to all concerned. The rain ceased entirely about noon, but the paths on the mountain he knew would be too wet to make it agreeable to ascend that day; so he told the boys that if they would find the boat and the man, and make all the arrangements, he would go out with them on the lake; and that, if they would agree to write a chapter for his journal, and write it as well as they had written their accounts of their excursion to Greenock, he would stop an hour on the way, to let them fish.

"And then," said he, "we'll all ascend the mountain together to-morrow."

This proposal was readily agreed to on the part of the boys, and the compact was accordingly made. They engaged the boat and the man, and after dinner they all three embarked. The rain had ceased, but the sky was covered with clouds, and heavy masses of mist were driving along the sides and over the summits of the mountains. The weather, however, remained tolerably favorable until the boat had nearly reached the opposite shore of the lake; but then a dense mass of clouds came down from the mountains on the eastern side, and the whole shore was soon concealed from view by the driving scuds and the falling rain. The boatman pulled hard to reach the shore before the shower should come on. The gust overtook them, however, when they were about a quarter of a mile from the landing. Fortunately the wind, though very violent, was fair, and it drove them on towards the shore. Mr. George and the boys sat down in the bottom of the boat, at the stern, and spreading a large umbrella behind them, they sheltered themselves as well as they could from the wind and the rain. The poor boatman got very wet.

They found shelter when they reached the land, and soon the shower passed away. Then, after rambling about a short time among the huts and cottages of the village where they landed, they set out again on their return. They stopped to fish at a short distance from the shore on the eastern side, and were quite successful. The boys caught several trout, which they resolved to have fried for their breakfast the next morning. While they were fishing Mr. George sat in the stern of the boat, studying his guide books, and learning all he could about the remarkable events in the life of Rob Roy, the great Highland chieftain, who formerly lived on the shores of Loch Lomond, and performed many daring exploits there, which have given him a great name in Scottish history.

It was a little after nine o'clock when they returned to the inn.

The next morning the plan of ascending the mountain was carried into effect. Mr. George hired two horses, intending to take turns with the boys in riding them. By having two horses for three riders, each one could, of course, ride two thirds of the way. This is better than for each one to ride all the way, as that is very tiresome. Both in ascending and descending mountains it relieves and rests the traveller to walk a part of the way.

The top of the mountain was distinctly in sight from the inn, and almost the whole course of the path which led up to it, for there were no woods to intercept the view. The distance was five or six miles. The path was a constant and gradual ascent nearly all the way, and lay through a region entirely open in every direction. There was a perfect sea of hills on every side, all covered with moss, ferns, and heather, with scarcely a tree of any kind to be seen, except those that fringed the shores of the lake down in the valley. The view from the summit was very extended, but the wind blew there so bleak and cold that the whole party were very glad to leave it and come down, after a very brief survey of the prospect.

In coming down the mountain the party stopped at a spring, to rest themselves and to drink; and here, as they were sitting together on the flat stones that lay about the spring, Mr. George explained to the two boys what I have already explained in this chapter to the reader, in respect to the duty of boys, when travelling under the charge of a grown person, to fall in with their leader's plans, instead of forming independent plans of their own.

"When you are at home," said he, "and playing among yourselves, and with other persons of your own age, then you can form your own plans, and arrange parties and excursions for just such purposes and objects as you think will amuse you most. But we are now travelling for improvement, not for play. We are making a tour in Scotland for the purpose of learning all we can about Scotland, with a view to obtain more full and correct ideas respecting it than we could obtain by books alone. So we must attend to our duty, and be content with such enjoyments and such pleasures as come in our way, and not turn aside from our duty to seek them."

The boys both saw that this was reasonable and right, and they promised that thenceforth they would act on that principle.

"We won't ask to go a-fishing again all the time we are in Scotland," said Waldron.

"That's right," said Mr. George. "And now as soon as we get to the hotel it will be time for the boat to come along; and all the rest of our adventures to-day you and Rollo must write an account of, to put into my journal. You will not write the account till you get to Stirling; but you had better take notice of what we do, and what we see, so as to be ready to write it when we arrive."

"May we take notes?" asked Rollo.

"Certainly," said Mr. George. "That will be an excellent plan. Have a small piece of paper and a pencil at hand, and when you see any thing remarkable, make a memorandum of it. That will help you very much when you come to write."

This plan was carried into effect. The boys wrote their account, and after it was duly corrected it was carefully transcribed into Mr. George's journal. It was as follows. Rollo wrote one half of it, and Waldron the other.

Chapter IX.

The Tour of the Trossachs

"The Trossachs is the name of a narrow gorge among the mountains. It begins at the end of a lake, and extends about two or three miles. The sides are covered with forests, and there are high, sharp rocks seen every where, peeping out among the trees.

"The pass of the Trossachs is not in the same valley that Loch Lomond lies in, but in another valley almost parallel to it, about five miles off. There is high land between. We had to cross this high land on foot, or in a carriage. The plan was to go up the lake a few miles farther, to a landing called Inversnaid, and there leave the boat, and go across the mountains.

"When it was nearly time for the boat to come, we took our valise and other things, and walked along the shore path till we came to the pier. We overtook some other people who were going in the boat, too. A soldier came along, also. He was one of the sappers and miners, that we saw on the top of Ben Lomond. He told me that he came down to get some things that were coming in the boat.[4 - The boys had seen a party of sappers and miners, as they are called, that is, military engineers, who were established on the top of Ben Lomond, in a hut which they had built there. They were employed there, in connection with other sappers and miners on the other mountains around, in making a survey of Scotland.]

"We waited on the pier a few minutes, and then we saw the boat coming around a point of land. As soon as she came up to the pier we all got in, and a gentleman and two ladies came on shore.