We halt only long enough to obtain a welcome cup of tea, and then continue our ride. Less than a mile brings us to the road which leads over the Bridge of Brogar to the Standing Stones, and we decide on making a brief pilgrimage to this the most ancient shrine in the islands—if, indeed, it was a shrine. But as the afternoon is wearing towards evening, and we have been here several times before, we merely sit down on the short heather beside the circle long enough to let the mystery and “eeriness” of the scene sink into our minds and set us wondering silently what it all meant in the far-off days when it was new. We need not wait here in the hope of finding out, so we ride back past the tall “sentinel” stone and the smaller circle of Stenness to the main road. Another mile brings us abreast of Maeshowe, and with the spirit of the past upon us we stop once more. We obtain the key of this famous chambered mound from the farmhouse opposite, in order that we may spend a few minutes more in “wondering.” There is nothing about Maeshowe, or even about the Standing Stones, to attract the superficial mind, but to those who “wonder,” and who can see things which vanished from outward view many centuries ago, those places are almost holy ground. They embody and embalm some of the deepest thoughts of a long-vanished people; and though we can hardly guess what these thoughts were, the monuments are sacred relics to us. They are milestones, we may say, marking early stages in the long advance of our race. [Illustration: _The Sentinel Stone, Stenness._] After leaving Maeshowe we face an incline just heavy enough to recall our thoughts to the present, and soon we are passing through the pretty glen which opens on the Bay of Firth. The patches of shrubbery and trees round Binscarth on our left give a pleasing variety to the scenery, and show us once more the possibilities and the limitations of our islands as regards the cultivation of woods. The village of Finstown, the half-way house between Kirkwall and Stromness, has a beautiful situation, which can be better appreciated from the hillside above it than from the road, and it is well placed for attracting a share of the ordinary business of the districts around. It has a prosperous look, and its name reminds us that it claims to be more than a mere village. [Illustration: _Maeshowe._] Before us on our left lies the wide, shallow Bay of Firth, or “The Firth,” as it might more correctly be called, which gives its name to the surrounding district. To the Norsemen it was the “Sea-trout Firth,” and must have been important for its fishing. In more recent times it had a famous oyster-fishery; but that too has become a thing of the past, though by the exercise of a little foresight and public spirit it could easily be restored.