It was her first
experience of speechless adoration.
Most of the men were asleep in the bows of the boat; all were lying
down but one. That one was Malcolm. He had come aft, and seated
himself under the platform leaning against it.
The boat rose and sank a little, just enough to rock the sleeping
children a little deeper into their sleep; Malcolm thought
all slept. He did not see how Clementina's eyes shone back to the
heavens--no star in them to be named beside those eyes. She knew
that Malcolm was near her, but she would not speak; she would not
break the peace of the presence. A minute or two passed. Then softly
woke a murmur of sound, that strengthened and grew, and swelled
at last into a song. She feared to stir lest she should interrupt
its flow. And thus it flowed:
The stars are steady abune;
I' the water they flichter an' flee;
But steady aye luikin' doon,
They ken themsel's i' the sea.
A' licht, an' clear, an' free,
God, thou shinest abune;
Yet luik, an' see thysel' in me,
God, whan thou luikest doon.
A silence followed, but a silence that seemed about to be broken.
And again Malcolm sang:
There was an auld fisher--he sat by the wa',
An' luikit oot ower the sea;
The bairnies war playin', he smilit on them a',
But the tear stude in his e'e.
An' it's oh to win awa', awa'!
An' it's oh to win awa'
Whaur the bairns come home, an' the wives they bide,
An' God is the Father o' a'!
Jocky an' Jeamy an' Tammy oot there,
A' i' the boatie gaed doon;
An' I'm ower auld to fish ony mair,
An' I hinna the chance to droon.
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