"Why did they call the men Hovellers?" asked Margot. "That word seems to pull down a sailor. I don't like it. No, I don't."
"I have been told, Margot, that it is from the Danish word, _overlever_, which means a deliverer."
"I kent it wasna a decent Scotch word," she answered, a little triumphantly; "no, nor even from the English. Hoveller! You couldna find an uglier word for a life-saver, and if folk canna be satisfied wi' their ain natural tongue, and must hae a foreign name, they might choose a bonnie one. Hoveller! Hoveller indeed! It's downright wicked, to ca' a sailor a hoveller."
The Domine smiled, and continued--"Every man and woman and child has loved something inanimate. Your mother, Christine, loves her wedding ring, your father loves his boat, you love your Bible, I love the silver cup that holds the sacramental wine we drink 'in remembrance of Him';" and he closed his eyes a moment, and was silent. Then he gave his cup to Christine. "No more," he said, "it was a good drink. Thanks be! Now our talk must come to an end. I leave blessing with you."
They stood and watched him walk into the dusk in silence, and then Margot said, "Where's Neil?"
"Feyther asked him to go wi' them for this night, and Neil didna like to refuse. Feyther has been vera kind to him, anent his books an' the like. He went to pleasure Feyther. It was as little as he could do."
"And he'll come hame sea-sick, and his clothes will be wet and uncomfortable as himsel'."
"Weel, that's his way, Mither. I wish the night was o'er."
"Tak' patience. By God's leave the day will come."
If Love comes, it comes; but no reasoning can put it there.
Her young heart blows Leaf by leaf, coming out like a rose.
The next morning the women of the village were early at the pier to watch the boats come in. They were already in the offing, their gunwales deep in the water, and rising heavily on the ascending waves; so they knew that there had been good fishing. Margot was prominent among them, but Christine had gone to the town to take orders from the fish dealers; for Margot Ruleson's kippered herring were famous, and eagerly sought for, as far as Edinburgh, and even Glasgow.
It was a business Christine liked, and in spite of her youth, she did it well, having all her mother's bargaining ability, and a readiness in computing values, that had been sharpened by her knowledge of figures and profits. This morning she was unusually fortunate in all her transactions, and brought home such large orders that they staggered Margot.