Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. Mother O'neill. ' Mak' ready, malc' ready, my merry men a' Our gude ship sails the morn; Now ever alake my master dear, I fear a deadly storm.' Old Ballad. N the meantime Grace had resorted, after her rapid flight out of the house, to her favourite walk, known as the shrubbery-walk. It skirted the hill, and was hedged on both sides by a double row of thick firs. So that the shade cast by them on the walk within, rendered it very cool in summer, rather damp in winter, and a place handy at all times for retirement or concealment, as the case might require. Both did the child need now, to hide her bitter mortification, and to recover from her cruel fright. In her haste to quit her room, she had not staid to notice her brother's vehement rush upon her persecutor. She had only observed his presence, and had therefore connected him with the offence, not the defence. She fully believed him guilty of bringing Hotspur and his dog to make sport of her in her undignified hiding-place, as in her heart of hearts Grace felt the press had been. And in the turmoil of stormy passions, thatthis affair had naturally roused in her mind, it is not perhaps to be wondered at that wrath against her life-long rival, Roger, was the most prominent feeling. Nor was it unnatural that this wrath took the form of longing for his punishment?if you will, of revenge It must be remembered that she felt herself powerless by any lawful means to check his career of determined oppression, powerless unless by the infliction of pain or fright she could make him fear her. Nor had there been anything in her education likely to counteract this painful impotent longing. Her ayah, the only soothing influence, had been all in favour of revenging an injury. Grace well remembered one insta...