At length they came in sight of a large village bordered by groves of trees, lying in the midst of a gentle depression of the ground, and in a few minutes more they began to get glimpses of the water. The village was Kinross, and the water was Loch Leven. Presently, in going over a gentle elevation of land, a large portion of the surface of the water came into view. Far out towards the centre of it was a small, low island, covered with trees. In the midst of the trees the boys could see the top of the ruin of a large, square tower. They asked the coachman if that was Loch Leven Castle, and he said it was.
"Uncle George," said Rollo, leaning over and calling out to his uncle inside, "there's the castle."
"Yes," said Mr. George, "I see it."
"It seems to me," said Rollo to Waldron, "that that is a very small island to build a castle upon."
"Yes," said the coachman; "but it was a great deal smaller in the days when the castle was inhabited. It was only just large enough then for the castle itself, and for the castle garden. It is a great deal larger now. The way it came to be larger was this. Some years ago the proprietor cut down the outlet of the loch four feet deeper than it was before; and that drew off four feet of water from the whole loch, and of course all the places where the water was less than four feet deep were laid bare. This enlarged the castle island a great deal, for before the water was very shallow all around it. When the land became dry they planted trees there, and now the ruins are in the midst of quite a grove."
By this time the coach began to enter the village, and very soon it stopped at the door of a very neat and tidy-looking inn. Mr. George engaged lodgings for the night, and called for supper. The supper was served in a pleasant little coffee room, which was fitted up in a very snug and comfortable manner, like a back parlor in a gentleman's house.
After supper Mr. George proposed to the boys that they should take a walk about the village, as it was only nine o'clock, and it would not be dark for another hour. So they went out and walked through the street, back and forth. The houses were built of a sort of gray stone, and they stood all close together in rows, one on each side of the street, with nothing green around them or near them. The street thus presented a very gray, sombre, and monotonous appearance; very different from the animated and cheerful aspect of American villages, with their white houses and green blinds, and pretty yards and gardens, enclosed with ornamental palings. The boys wished to go down to the shore of the loch; but as they did not see the water any where, Mr. George said he thought it would be too far. So they went back to the inn.
The next morning, after breakfast, they set out to go and visit the castle. A boy went with them from the inn to show them the way. He led them down the street of the village, to a house where he said the man lived who "had the fishing" of the loch. It seems that the loch, including the right to fish in it, is private property, and that the owner of it lets the fishing to a man in the village, and that he keeps a boat to take visitors out to see the castle. So they went to the house where this man lived. They explained what they wanted at the door, and pretty soon a boatman came out, and went with them to the shore of the pond. The way was through a wide green field, that had been formed out of the bottom of the loch, by drawing off the water. When they came to the shore they found a small pier there, with a boat fastened to it. There was a small boat house near the pier. The boatman brought some oars out of the boat house, and put them in the boat, and then they all got in.
The morning was calm, and the loch was very smooth, and the boat glided along very gently over the water. There was a great curve in the shore near the pier, so that for some time the boat, though headed directly for the island, which was in the middle of the loch, moved parallel to the shore, and very near it. There was a smooth and beautiful green field all the way along the shore, which sloped down gently to the margin of the water. Beyond this field, which was not wide, there was a road, and beyond the road there was a wall. Over the wall were to be seen the trees of a great park; and presently the boat came opposite to the gateway, through which the boys could see, as they sailed by, a large and handsome stone house, or castle. The boatman said it was not inhabited, because the owner of it was not yet of age.
After passing the house they came, before long, to the end of these grounds, which formed a point projecting into the lake. There was a small and very ancient-looking burying ground on the point. This burying ground will be referred to hereafter; so do not forget it.
After passing this point of land, the boat, in her course towards the castle, came out into the open loch-the little island on which the ruins of the castle stand being in full view.
There was, however, yet a pretty broad sheet of open water to pass before reaching the island.
[Illustration: LOCH LEVEN.]
"Now we have passed Cape Race," said Waldron, "and are striking out into the open sea."
Cape Race is the southern cape of Newfoundland, and is the last land to be seen on the American coast, in crossing the Atlantic.
After about a quarter of an hour, the boat began to approach the shores of the little island. And now the great square tower, and the rampart wall connected with it, came plainly in sight. There were a few very large and old trees overhanging the ruins, and all the rest of the island was covered with a dense grove of young trees. The boat came up to the land, and Mr. George and the boys stepped out of it upon a sort of jetty, formed of stones loosely thrown together. There was a path leading through the grass, and among the trees, towards the ruins of the castle.
The castle consisted, when it was entire, of a square area enclosed in a high wall, with various buildings along the inner side of it. The principal of these buildings was the square tower. This was in one corner of the enclosure. At the opposite corner of the enclosure were the ruins of a smaller tower, hexagonal in its form. The square tower contained the principal apartments occupied by the family that resided in the castle. The hexagonal one contained the rooms where Queen Mary was imprisoned.
Then, besides these structures, there were several other buildings within the area, though they are now gone almost entirely to ruin. There was a chapel, for religious services and worship; there were ovens for baking, and a brewery for brewing beer. The guide showed Mr. George and the boys the places where these buildings stood; though nothing was left of them now but the rude ranges of stone which marked the foundations of them. Indeed, throughout the whole interior of the area enclosed by the castle wall there was nothing to be seen but stones and heaps of rubbish, all overgrown with rank grass, and tall wild-flowers, and overshadowed by the wide-spreading limbs and dense foliage of several enormous trees, that had by chance sprung up since the castle went to ruin. It was a very mournful spectacle.
The boys walked directly across the area, towards the hexagonal tower, in order to see the place where Queen Mary escaped by climbing out of the window.
Mr. George had thought that Waldron would not succeed in obtaining any satisfactory information from the guide in respect to the circumstances of Queen Mary's escape; for, generally, the guides who show these old places in England and Scotland know little more than a certain lesson, which they have learned by rote. But the guides who show the Castle of Loch Leven seem to me exceptions to this rule. I have visited the place two or three times, at intervals of many years, and the guides who have conducted me to the spot have always been very intelligent and well-informed young men, and have seemed to possess a very clear and comprehensive understanding of the events of Queen Mary's life. At any rate, the guide in this instance gave Waldron and Rollo a very good account of the escape; separating in his narrative, in a very discriminating manner, those things which are known, on good historical evidence, to be true, from those which rest only on the authority of traditionary legends. He gave his account, too, in a very gentle tone of voice, and with a Scotch accent, which seemed so appropriate to the place and to the occasion that it imparted to his conversation a peculiar charm.