The boys obtained a glimpse of a stone house, nearly enveloped in trees, at a little distance from the shore, as they approached the land. This they supposed was the inn, as there was no other house in sight.
The steamer drew up to the pier. The pier was very small. It was built of timbers, and extended a little way out over the water, from a solitary place on the shore. Every passenger that left the boat had to pay twopence for the privilege of landing upon it. The porter of the inn stood there, with a leather bag hung over his neck, to collect this toll. On this occasion, however, he got only sixpence, as Mr. George and the two boys were the only passengers that landed.
The place was very wild and solitary. There was no house, or building of any kind, in sight. There was a narrow road, however, that led along the shore of the lake, from the pier towards the point of land which the steamer had passed in coming to the pier, and the porter told Mr. George that that was the road that led to the inn.
"If you will walk on," said the porter, "I will bring your luggage."
There were some boards and small timbers on the deck of the vessel, which were to be landed here, and the porter remained in order to receive them, while Mr. George and the boys went on. They soon came to the inn. They entered it from behind, through a very pleasant yard, surrounded with trees and gardens, and out-buildings of various kinds. Mr. George went in, followed by the boys, and was shown into the coffee room. From the windows of this room there was a very pretty view of the lake, through an opening among the trees of the garden.
"And now what are we going to do?" said Waldron, after they had all looked at the view as much as they wished.
"I am going to have a fire," said Mr. George, "and then sit down here and make myself comfortable until it clears away. You and Rollo can join me, or you can form any other plan that you like better."
"We'll go a-fishing," said Waldron.
"Or else go up on Ben Lomond," said Rollo. "How high is Ben Lomond, uncle George?"
"It is between three and four thousand feet," said Mr. George. "We will all go up to-morrow if it clears away."
But Waldron did not wish to go up the mountain. He preferred to go a-fishing on the lake. He did not express his preference very strongly at this time, but in the course of the afternoon he persuaded Rollo that it would be a great deal better for them to go out a-fishing on the lake, and perhaps go across the lake to the opposite shore, rather than to go up the mountain; and he induced Rollo to join him in a request that Mr. George would let them go out on the lake, while he went up the mountain, if he wished to ascend it.
"We can have a boat and a boatman," said Waldron. "The boatman will row us, and take care of us, and that will be perfectly safe. And Rollo would like that plan best, too."
In forming this scheme Waldron and Rollo made a mistake; and it was a mistake that boys are very apt to fall into when they are invited to go on excursions with their parents, or uncles, or older brothers. It is naturally to be supposed that the tastes and inclinations of boys, in such cases, should often be different from those of the grown persons they are with, and should lead them to wish frequently to deviate, more or less, from the plans formed. But it is a great source of inconvenience to those whom they are with to have them often propose such deviations. In this case, for example, Mr. George had come a long distance, and incurred very heavy expenses, for the purpose of seeing the Scottish Highlands. Unless he could now really see them, of course all his time and money would be lost. The pleasure of going a-fishing is, doubtless, often very great, but this was not the time nor the place for enjoying it. In acceding to the arrangement to come with Mr. George to the Highlands, the boys ought to have considered themselves joined with him in a tour for instruction and improvement, and as committed to the plans which he might form, from time to time, for accomplishing the objects of the tour. By proposing, as they did, to deviate on every occasion from these plans, and wishing to turn aside from the proper duty of tourists, in search of such boyish pleasures as might be enjoyed just as well at home, they failed signally in fulfilling the obligations which they incurred in undertaking the tour under Mr. George's charge.
Let all the boys and girls, therefore, who read this book, remember that whenever, either by invitation or otherwise, they are joined to any party of which a grown person has charge, or when they accompany a grown person on any excursion whatever, they go to share his pleasures, not to substitute their own for his, and thus to interfere with and thwart the plans which he had formed. Boys often violate this rule from want of thought, and without intending to do any thing wrong. This was the case in this instance, in respect to Waldron and Rollo.
"They are good boys," said Mr. George to himself, in thinking of the subject. "They do not mean to do any thing wrong; but they do not understand the case. I will take an opportunity soon to explain it to them."
It is no time, however, to explain to a boy why it is not best that he should do a particular thing, when he wishes to do it and you forbid him. His mind is then too much occupied with his disappointment, and perhaps with vexation, to listen to the reasons. Forbid him, if it is necessary to do so, but reserve the explanation till some future time.
Mr. George got over the difficulty in this case in a very pleasant manner to all concerned. The rain ceased entirely about noon, but the paths on the mountain he knew would be too wet to make it agreeable to ascend that day; so he told the boys that if they would find the boat and the man, and make all the arrangements, he would go out with them on the lake; and that, if they would agree to write a chapter for his journal, and write it as well as they had written their accounts of their excursion to Greenock, he would stop an hour on the way, to let them fish.
"And then," said he, "we'll all ascend the mountain together to-morrow."
This proposal was readily agreed to on the part of the boys, and the compact was accordingly made. They engaged the boat and the man, and after dinner they all three embarked. The rain had ceased, but the sky was covered with clouds, and heavy masses of mist were driving along the sides and over the summits of the mountains. The weather, however, remained tolerably favorable until the boat had nearly reached the opposite shore of the lake; but then a dense mass of clouds came down from the mountains on the eastern side, and the whole shore was soon concealed from view by the driving scuds and the falling rain. The boatman pulled hard to reach the shore before the shower should come on. The gust overtook them, however, when they were about a quarter of a mile from the landing. Fortunately the wind, though very violent, was fair, and it drove them on towards the shore. Mr. George and the boys sat down in the bottom of the boat, at the stern, and spreading a large umbrella behind them, they sheltered themselves as well as they could from the wind and the rain. The poor boatman got very wet.
They found shelter when they reached the land, and soon the shower passed away. Then, after rambling about a short time among the huts and cottages of the village where they landed, they set out again on their return. They stopped to fish at a short distance from the shore on the eastern side, and were quite successful. The boys caught several trout, which they resolved to have fried for their breakfast the next morning. While they were fishing Mr. George sat in the stern of the boat, studying his guide books, and learning all he could about the remarkable events in the life of Rob Roy, the great Highland chieftain, who formerly lived on the shores of Loch Lomond, and performed many daring exploits there, which have given him a great name in Scottish history.