MY DEAR CHARLES,
It is the fate of sequels to disappoint those who have waited for them; and, my David having been left to kick his heels for more than a lustre in the British Linen Company's office, must expect his late reappearance to be greeted with hoots, if not with missiles. Yet, when I remember the days of our explorations, I am not without hope. There should be left in our native city some seed of the elect; some long-legged, hot-headed youth must repeat to-day our dreams and wanderings of so many years ago; he will relish the pleasure, which should have been ours, to follow among named streets and numbered houses the country walks of David Balfour, to identify Dean, and Silvermills, and Broughton, and Hope Park and Pilrig, and poor old Lochend--if it still be standing, and the Figgate Whins--if there be any of them left; or to push (on a long holiday) so far afield as Gillane or the Bass. So, perhaps, his eye shall be opened to behold the series of the generations, and he shall weigh with surprise his momentous and nugatory gift of life.
You are still--as when first I saw, as when I last addressed you--in the venerable city which I must always think of as my home. And I have come so far; and the sights and thoughts of my youth pursue me; and I see like a vision the youth of my father, and of his father, and the whole stream of lives flowing down there, far in the north, with the sound of laughter and tears, to cast me out in the end, as by a sudden freshet, on those ultimate islands. And I admire and bow my head before the romance of destiny.
R.L.S.
VAILIMA,
UPOLU,
SAMOA,
1902.
CONTENTS
[Part I]
THE LORD ADVOCATE
[I. A BEGGAR ON HORSEBACK]
[II. THE HIGHLAND WRITER]
[III. I GO TO PILRIG]
[IV. LORD ADVOCATE PRESTONGRANGE]
[V. IN THE ADVOCATE'S HOUSE]
[VI. UMQHILE THE MASTER OF LOVAT]
[VII. I MAKE A FAULT IN HONOUR]
[VIII. THE BRAVO]
[IX. THE HEATHER ON FIRE]
[X. THE RED-HEADED MAN]
[XI. THE WOOD BY SILVERMILLS]
[XII. ON THE MARCH AGAIN WITH ALAN]
[XIII. GILLANE SANDS]
[XIV. THE BASS]
[XV. BLACK ANDIE'S TALE OF TOD LAPRAIK]
[XVI. THE MISSING WITNESS]
[XVII. THE MEMORIAL]
[XVIII. THE TEE'D BALL]
[XIX. I AM MUCH IN THE HANDS OF THE LADIES]
[XX. I CONTINUE TO MOVE IN GOOD SOCIETY]
[Part II]
FATHER AND DAUGHTER
[XXI. THE VOYAGE INTO HOLLAND]
[XXII. HELVOETSLUYS]
[XXIII. TRAVELS IN HOLLAND]
[XXIV. FULL STORY OF A COPY OF HEINECCIUS]
[XXV. THE RETURN OF JAMES MORE]
[XXVI. THE THREESOME]
[XXVII. A TWOSOME]
[XXVIII. IN WHICH I AM LEFT ALONE]
[XXIX. WE MEET IN DUNKIRK]
[XXX. THE LETTER FROM THE SHIP]
[XXXI. CONCLUSION]
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
["SHE DROPPED ME ONE OF HER CURTSEYS, WHICH WERE EXTRAORDINARY TAKING"]
["'WHAT DID THEY SUFFER FOR?' I ASKED?"]
["'TIT YOU EFFER HEAR WHERE ALAN GRIGOR FAND THE TANGS,' SAID HE"]
["'THE GOODMAN BROUGHT ME MY MEAT AND A DROP BRANDY, AND A CANDLE-DOWP TO EAT IT BY, ABOUT ELEEVEN,' SAID HE"]
["'THERE HE SAT, A MUCKLE FAT, WHITE HASH OF A MAN LIKE CREISH'"]
["'THERE IS NOTHING HERE TO BE VIEWED BUT NAKED CAMPBELL SPITE AND SCURVY CAMPBELL INTRIGUE'"]
["UP SHE STOOD ON THE BULWARKS AND HELD BY A STAY"]
["'YOU TELL ME SHE IS HERE?' SAID HE AGAIN"]
["'KEEP BACK, DAVIE! ARE YE DAFT?'"]