Indeed the moments of their passing--and they were many for the line was
of sickening length--became to me a lesson of the long flight of time.
At the first were skin-clad savages with long, wild hair matted; then
others with rude, primitive clothing. And so on in historic order men,
aye, and here and there a woman, too, of many lands, whose garments were
of varied cut and substance. Red-haired Vikings and black-haired Celts
and Phoenicians, fair-haired Saxons and swarthy Moors in flowing robes.
At first the figures, chiefly of the barbarians, were not many; but as
the sad procession passed along I could see how each later year had
brought its ever-growing tale of loss and disaster, and added more and
faster to the grim harvest of the sea. A vast number of the phantoms had
passed when there came along a great group which at once attracted my
attention. They were all swarthy, and bore themselves proudly under
their cuirasses and coats of mail, or their garb as fighting men of
the sea. Spaniards they were, I knew from their dress, and of three
centuries back. For an instant my heart leapt; these were men of the
great Armada, come up from the wreck of some lost galleon or patache to
visit once again the glimpses of the Moon. They were of lordly mien,
with large aquiline features and haughty eyes. As they passed, one of
them turned and looked at me. As his eyes lit on me, I saw spring into
them, as though he were quick, dread, and hate, and fear.
Hitherto I had been impressed, awed, by the indifference of the passing
ghosts. They had looked nowhere, but with steady, silent, even tread had
passed on their way. But when this one looked at me it was a glance from
the spirit world which chilled me to the very soul.
But he too passed on. I stood at the head of the winding path, having
the dead man still on my shoulders and looking with sinking heart at the
sad array of the victims of the Cruden Skares. I noticed that most who
came now were seamen, with here and there a group of shoresmen and a few
women amongst them. The fishermen were many, and without exception wore
great sea boots. And so with what patience I could I waited for the end.
At length it came in the shape of a dim figure of great stature, and
both of whose arms hung limp. The blood from a gash on his forehead had
streamed on to his golden beard, and the golden eyes looked far away.
With a shudder I saw that this was the ghost of the man whose body, now
less warm, lay upon my shoulders; and so I knew that Lauchlane Macleod
was dead. I was relieved when I saw that he did not even look at me;
though as I moved on, following the procession, he walked beside me with
equal steps, stopping and moving as I stopped and moved.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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