Rollo in Scotland

by Jacob Abbott

As you go north, however, the lake, or loch, as the Scotch call it, contracts in breadth, and the land rises higher and higher, until at length you see before you a narrow sheet of water, shut in on either hand with dark and gloomy mountains, the sides of which are covered every where with ferns and heather, and seem entirely uninhabited. They descend, moreover, so steep to the water that there seems to be not even room for a path between the foot of the mountains and the shore.

The highest peak of these sombre-looking hills is Ben Lomond; which rises, as I have before said, on the eastern side of the loch, about midway between the head of the loch and the outlet. At the foot of the mountain there is a point of land projecting into the water, where there is an inn. Tourists stop at this inn when they wish to ascend the mountain. Other persons come to the inn for the purpose of fishing on the loch, or of making excursions by the footpaths which penetrate, here and there, among the neighboring highlands. There is a ferry here, too, across the loch. There is no village, nor, indeed, are there any buildings whatever to be seen; so that the place is as secluded and solitary as can well be imagined. It is known by the name of Rowerdennan Inn. It was at this point that Mr. George proposed to stop, in case the day should prove rainy.

When the boys rose the next morning, the first thing was to look out of the window, to see what the promise was in respect to the weather. It was not raining, but the sky was overcast and heavy.

"Good," said Waldron. "It does not rain yet, but it will before we get to Rowerdennan Inn."

Waldron was glad to see that there was a prospect of unfavorable weather, for he wished to stop at the inn. He had read in the guide book that they had boats and fishing apparatus there, and he thought that if they stopped perhaps another plan might be formed for going out on the loch a-fishing.

The steamer was to leave at nine o'clock. The boys could see her lying at the pier, about half a mile distant from them. The air was misty, and there were some small trees in the way, but the boys could see the chimney distinctly. They dressed themselves as soon as they could, and went to Mr. George's room. They knocked gently at the door. Mr. George said, "Come in." They went in and found Mr. George seated at a table, writing in his journal. It was about seven o'clock.

Mr. George laid aside his writing, and after bidding the boys good morning, and talking with them a few minutes about the plans of the day, took a testament which he had upon a table before him, and read a few verses from one of the Gospels, explaining the verses as he read them. Then they all knelt down together, and Mr. George made a short and simple prayer, asking God to take care of them all during the day, to guard them from every danger, to make them kind and considerate towards each other, and towards all around them, and to keep them from every species of sin.

This was the way in which Mr. George always commenced the duties of the day, when travelling with Rollo, whether there were any other persons in company or not; and a most excellent way it was, too. Besides the intrinsic propriety of coming in the morning to commit ourselves to the guardian care and protection of Almighty God, especially when we are exposed to the vicissitudes, temptations, and dangers that are always hovering about the path of the traveller in foreign lands, the influence of such a service of devotion, brief and simple as it was, always proved extremely salutary on Rollo's mind, as well as on the minds of those who were associated with him in it. It made them more gentle, and more docile and tractable; and it tended very greatly to soften those asperities which we often see manifesting themselves in the intercourse of boys with each other.

When the devotional service was finished, Mr. George sent the boys down stairs, to make arrangements for breakfast. In about half an hour Rollo came up to say that breakfast was ready in the coffee room, and Mr. George went down.

After breakfast Mr. George took the valise, and the boys took the other parcels of baggage, and they all went over the bridge to the railway station. They waited here a short time, until at length the train came. They would have walked on to the pier, where the boat in which they were going to embark was lying, but it was beginning to rain a little, and Mr. George thought it would be better to wait and go in the cars. The distance was not more than a quarter of a mile, and the boys were quite curious to know what the price of the tickets would be, for such a short ride. They found that they were threepence apiece.