He did not know which to admire and value most; yet I think the letter of manly kind advice and friendship which accompanied these gifts was cherished still more; for I know that when the faded flag was stowed away—long years afterwards—in an old bureau, and the field-glass had been lost on a wild Western prairie, Yaspard still kept lying near his heart the words of love and Christian counsel written to him by his boyhood hero in the golden days of youth and dreams.
The rest of that day was spent at Broch—delightfully spent, we know, since the Yarl was host.
Gerta and Amy were extremely kind to the boys, although they were only the "young ones," and not to be compared with their elder brothers. But Yaspard was more attracted to Garth than to the girls. He had been abroad with Mr. Congreve, and had the most interesting stories to tell of the northern lands he had visited. Then his books of travel and legend, how bewitching they were! While Harry Mitchell revelled in Garth's specimens, Yaspard pored over his books, and could scarcely be torn from them.
"Oh, Harry," he said, "wouldn't you like his chance of going away and discovering all sorts of places and things?"
"I'll make a chance of the sort for myself," replied Harry, in his usual quiet, determined way, which meant never less than "act to follow word."
"It would be fine, glorious!" Yaspard mused; then shutting the "Wanderings of Waterton" with a clap, he exclaimed, "We'll do it, Harry—you and I—some day. We will go off as the Vikings did, and explore the world."
"As you are going to-morrow, eh?" said Garth.
"Boys play at what men achieve," answered Harry.
And then was begun a dream which Yaspard and Harry realised in later years.
In the evening, Amy, seeing Yaspard still hankering after Garth's Scandinavian travels and lore, said, "Do, Garth, read us what you have written about the Jews and the Norsemen. I am so fond of that little bit. I suppose because my family was of Jewish extraction."