Yet in the midst of these convulsions, Nature does not forget her rights, and wherever a little earth can be found there grows a tuft of grass. Meadows undulating with the rocky ground cover it with a green mantle, and in summer the botanist will find most of the wild-flowers which bloom in our temperate climates. During the winter, the water infiltrating through the soil turns the whole into an impassable marsh, where the unwary traveller may sink into quicksands of the most dangerous character, since there is no exterior sign to denote their existence. In a country whose natural configuration scarcely admits of carriage-roads, ponies are invaluable, their robust constitution defying alike climate and fatigue. Small in size, quiet and patient, they resemble the Corsican or Pyrenean breed. Such is their docility, that the most inexperienced rider may mount without fear, and trust to their instinct in the difficult mountain passes. Three or four thousand are exported yearly into England, where they are used chiefly for coal-mines; and such is the estimation in which they are now held, that their cost has largely increased.
The eider-duck is one of the most profitable sources of revenue, and strict laws prevent their wanton destruction. A gun is not allowed to be fired near the places they frequent, for fear of alarming them; thus they have become so tame that they allow themselves to be stroked without fear. They choose the islands for their homes—where their deadly enemy the fox cannot reach them—and the steep barren rocks in the fiords. Many of the owners clear a thousand a year by the sale of the down, without any expense. It is scarcely necessary to make laws for the preservation of game, since shooting is a pleasure the Icelanders wholly despise. The curlew, snipe, golden plover, and wild-duck abound, as well as the delicate white partridge; but the natives despise them as food, and prefer smoked or dried salmon, with which their streams abound.
In the middle of August the greater part of the French ships meet in the Faskrud-Fiord before starting home. By this time the snow is beginning to fall and ice to form around the bays. Detached icebergs make their appearance in forms as singular as varied, sometimes resembling fantastic animals or the prow of a ship. The anchors are raised, and the convoy leaves the wintry shore; and anticipations of home once more dawn on the weary fishermen.
[THE ADMIRAL'S SECOND WIFE.]
CHAPTER VII.—COMING-HOME.
Preparations for the much-talked-of marriage are pushed on rapidly; and before the spring flowers are making the slopes of Hayes Hill glad with their brightness, the wedding—a very quiet one—takes place. Laura Best is not present, though everybody says how charmingly she has acted towards Katie. She called on the bride-elect, and on the wedding morning a short perfumy note of congratulation and a handsome set of opals arrive as a marriage gift. Sir Herbert is pleased at his daughter's attentions to his bride, and is glad that after all such a friendly feeling has sprung up between them.
The fact is, Laura Best, finding that opposition cannot prevent the marriage, has decided to give it her apparent sanction. Not for worlds would she interfere with the happiness of the wedded pair or throw unpleasantness on their path. So she quietly does all that is needful in the way of proper attention, and then goes home to Hayes Hill to her children and duties there. Yet in secret she bears a heavy heart with her, and mourns over her father's infatuation.
If the Admiral's wedding has been a quiet one, the home-coming is destined to be quite the reverse. The whole town of Seabright wakes up, and great preparations are made to welcome the pair. The ships in the bay are illuminated, flags flutter in the breeze, and bells peal out their jubilant chimes.
Katie smiles proudly to herself as she walks through the lofty apartments of Government House, and feels she is mistress there now. It is pleasant to roam about everywhere, and know that she has the right to do so; pleasant also to stand in the shade of the deep window, and listen to the joyous pealing of the bells, which she knows are pealing for her. Wealth and rank are in her grasp; she has entered on the honours of her new position, and will rule with no timid hand. Self-confident and fearless, she laughs to herself in utter exultation at the warnings, the croakings, the forebodings that a while ago assailed her. Walter Reeves is very angry indeed, when he finds out how unceremoniously he has been set aside; and he is intensely bitter against Katie in the first flush of his disappointment; so doubtless it is fortunate for all concerned that his ship, the Leo, is ordered off on a cruise in the Mediterranean. He will be away for nearly twelve months, and surely in that time the most poignant heart-wound may be healed. Besides, change of scene is all-potent in such cases!