"I'll be back in less than a quarter of an hour, sir," he said, however, as he left; "and you can have the kite and be on the meadow ready."
I had taken up the kite in my hand, but I threw it aside again the moment George turned his back upon me, and sitting down upon the stones near the water's edge, with Frisk's fore-paws stretched across my lap, looked gloomily at the water and at Aleck's new boat. Evil feelings grew stronger and stronger within me as I looked. Though fascinated so that I could not take my eyes off it, I hated the very sight of the pretty little schooner, and wished heartily that George had never made it. And I thought about Aleck, how happy he was this morning, and how miserable I was; and I thought it unfair of him to be happier in my own home than I was; and then I wondered why George should care for him so much as to take all that trouble for him, forgetting how I had begged old George to love my cousin who was to be like my brother, and forgetting, too, that Aleck's pleasant ways had won upon the old man during the past few months, so that he had gained quite an established place in his affections.
These and countless other, but similar thoughts, chased each other through my head in a far shorter time than they take to relate, whilst dreamily I kept watching the little vessel, and mechanically taking note of its different points. The sails at first were flapping listlessly, the rocks, as I mentioned before, affording shelter from the breeze. But presently the breeze shifted a little, and this change, together with that produced by the tide, now just at its full height, moved the schooner somewhat further from the rocks; then gradually the sails filled once again, and after stopping a minute at one point, and a minute at another, as, drifted by the motion of the waves, it finally escaped from the little creek and stood steadily out into the open channel of the Cove. I sprung to my feet and followed in pursuit, running or jumping from rock to rock towards the mouth of the Cove. But the little vessel got under the lee of a projecting rock, and was stopped in its course for a while, so I sat down once more, not caring to find my way round to the other side and release it, according to my usual fashion, but finding a moody satisfaction in staring straight before me, and paying no attention to Frisk, who was flourishing about with barks, and waggings of his tail and prickings of his ears, as if he thought he ought to be sent in pursuit of the new boat, and considered me deficient in public spirit for not stirring in the matter. Then, as I steadily refused to notice him, he took to playing with the end of the rope on which the rings were fastened, which slipped on to the iron stake, as before-mentioned, and constituted our "harbour-bar;" seeming as pleased as a kitten with a ball of worsted, when he found that he could push the ring up and move it with his paws. In fact, the stake was so very short, and the ring so light, that I could see five minutes more of such play, and probably the rope would be unfastened, and the channel clear to the open sea.
Another moment and I noticed that the little vessel was clearing out from its shelter under the rock, the wind coming down into the Cove in gusts and draughts, so that it seemed to blow every way in succession, and was now standing straight towards the mouth of the harbour.
There was a quick, sharp conflict between the strong whisper of temptation and the protesting voice of conscience, when I marked the position of the boat, and saw also, that in another moment Frisk's antics would have unfastened the barrier between it and the wide waters beyond. A quick, sharp conflict, and I came off defeated.
Hastily turning my back upon the harbour-bar, I ran to the head of the Cove without disturbing Frisk, who was so taken up with his newly found amusement, that he did not miss me; took up the kite and sped off to the meadow, which lay between the Cove and the lodge, where I was joined by the dog, two or three minutes after, panting and breathless at my having stolen a march upon him.
George, too, came a minute later from the other side into the meadow, which, although out of sight of the Cove, owing to the rise of the ground, was as good a place to wait in as any, since Aleck would have to pass through it on his way from the house.
Ralph appeared also, and through our united efforts, and to our united satisfaction, my new kite was soon soaring higher than any kite ever seen before by any member of our little party; great was my excitement in holding the string and letting it out, or taking it in as I ran from one part to another, Frisk the while dashing about wildly, and barking as though at some strange bird of which he entertained suspicions.
Old George looked as pleased as if he had been a boy of six, rather than a man of sixty, and Ralph rushed recklessly here and there and everywhere, with his head thrown back and his eyes rivetted upon the soaring kite, until, like Genius in the fable, he was suddenly prostrate through stumbling over an unnoticed stump.
"See what comes of not looking where you're going," moralized George, as he picked him up and gave him a general shaking by way of seeing that nothing had come loose in his tumble; a sentiment from which it is possible the youngster might have derived more profit, had not his elderly relative experienced a similar mishap almost immediately afterwards.