"We must go, but there's something to be done," he announced. "It's to thank our host and wish him success. It's a little boat he's sailing in, but she's carrying a big freight, if our good wishes count for anything."
They emptied the glasses, and Vane replied:
"My success is yours. You have all a stake in the venture, and that piles up my responsibility. If the spruce is still in existence, I've got to find it."
"And you're going to find it!" declared Drayton. "It's a sure thing!"
Vane divided the flowers between Celia and Kitty, but when they went up on deck Kitty raised one bunch and kissed it.
"Tom won't mind," she laughed. "Take that one back from Celia and me—for luck."
They got down into the boat, and Carroll handed them a basket of crockery and table linen which Drayton promised to have delivered at the hotel. Then, while the girls called back to Vane, Drayton rowed away, and the boat was fading out of sight when Kitty's voice once more reached the men on board. She was singing a well-known Jacobite ballad.
Carroll laughed softly.
"It strikes me as appropriate," he said. "Considering what his Highland followers suffered on his account and what the women thought of him, some of the virtues they credited the Young Chevalier with must have been real." He raised his hand. "You may as well listen!"
Vane stood still a moment, with the blood hot in his face, as the refrain rang more clearly across the sparkling water: