"Was the Laird awfu' angry?" Gibbie asked.
"Yes, he was; but when I tell'd him as weel as I could hoo it a' cam aboot, and hoo lonesome Mr. Yaspard was, and hoo he had heard a' about wis o' Lunda and wir ploys and vaidges, and hoo he wanted tae hae the like too;—weel, the Laird o' Boden mused like upo' what I said; and then he took oot his pocketbook and wrate a peerie letter wi' his pencil. And then he bade me come inta the dingy, and I was tae row ower tae Lunda wi' him. Sae I did as I was bid—after asking his leave tae pit yon message for you upo' the rod. He asked me a heap aboot wis a'—I mean aboot the Manse folk, and Dr. Holtum's bairns, and maist aboot our young Laird and Miss Isobel and the lady. And when we cam' tae Lunda he bade me land and carry the note he had written tae Dr. Holtum, and after that I was tae do as I liked aboot mysel'. Then he rowed awa' again. And so noo my tale is ended;" and, having so delivered himself of the longest speech he ever made in his life, Gloy sprawled on the turf, and lay kicking his heels in the sunshine, feeling himself to be the hero of the hour.
Yaspard drew a long breath. He could scarcely believe it true that his uncle had allowed himself to be so near Lunda, and to be so interested in its young people. "What next, I wonder?" he muttered, and looked at Fred, who answered the inquiry in the Viking's gaze by saying—
"I am not at liberty to tell what Mr. Adiesen wrote to Dr. Holtum; but it wasn't like what he wrote to me, and it wasn't bad at all. So let your mind be at rest on that point. You are as free as ever to carry on your Viking course."
"Father said," Tom interrupted, "that we are now at liberty to bring you as a prisoner to Lunda, if we can catch you as easily as you caught Gloy, so you will have to look out."
"I'll be delighted, quite delighted!" was the answer, which sent the enemy into fits of laughter.
Then Harry asked, trying to look very grave, and extending the tin pail towards Yaspard—
"You accept this ransom, and the captive is free?"
"Place the precious ore in our bark," said the Viking chief, handing the pail to Gibbie.
"And take care," said Harry, "that you don't scrape your bark on an oar as you do it."