'But we _have_ told him,' said Reggie.

'Dear, dear, Mr. Allan and Master Reggie,' said Duncan with a vexed face; 'what will you haf peen doing that for? That wa.s.s a treatful thing to do, to pe tale-bearers. Tear me; and what iss to pe done now?'

'But, Duncan, smuggling is against the law, and it will be their own fault----'

'Well, but, Mr. Allan, you will pe for punishing folks that iss not deserving to pe punished if you do such a foolish thing a.s.s to pring the police to them, and--och! Mr. Allan, Mr. Allan, why can't young folks hev some sense! What iss to pe done now, after all you young ladies and gentlemen hev tone such a senseless thing!'

Duncan's evident excitement showed that argument was in vain; and there was something in his manner that tended to convince the boys, against their better judgment, that they had done wrong in speaking of their discovery. They wandered down to the cricket-field, where the Grahams were indulging in a solitary practice.

'We'd better go and play with these fellows,' said Allan; 'we can't leave them to amuse themselves all the time.'

Presently the sound of wheels caused them to look round, and they saw the doctor's gig turning in at the gate, with Tricksy on the front seat beside Dr. MacGregor, and Marjorie and Hamish behind.

'Brought you back the missing one,' cried the doctor to Mrs. Stewart, who had come to the door to meet them; 'none the worse for her bath;'

and Tricksy jumped down and ran into the playing field followed more slowly by the other two.

'Come along and have a game,' cried Reggie; but the new-comers appeared to have something on their minds. They stood eyeing one another in an embarra.s.sed way; Hamish looking sheepish and Marjorie mischievous; while Tricksy's little flushed face was breaking into dimples, and both girls displayed an inclination to giggle.

'Wait a minute,' whispered Tricksy, as Allan came towards them, and Marjorie said to her in a sharp undertone, 'Go on, can't you, and don't be silly.'

Thus admonished, Tricksy composed herself into gravity and produced a large piece of cardboard with ornamental lettering from which she read the following:--

PROCLAMATION

TO THE BOYS OP ARDNAVOIR

We, the undersigned, hereby declare war against you. We challenge you to open combat at our Fort. You must give us warning at what date and time you will attack us. Any advantage gained in not attending to these rules will be considered unfair. Any weapons allowed except stones.

(_Signed_) 'HAMISH MACGREGOR, 'MARJORIE, 'TRICKSY.'

'Our Fort is the hut, of course, in you-know-where,' added Marjorie; 'and the challenging party have the right to choose whether they will be besiegers or defenders, advantages to be as equal as possible.

That's all,' she concluded, with a sudden lapse into her usual manner.

The two new boys had been listening with all their might.

'Whatever does she mean?' they asked in an aside, turning to Reggie.

'It's a challenge,' said Reggie. 'Let's hear what Allan says.'

Allan was considering.

'Shall we accept now, Reggie?' he asked.

Reggie thought the combat might as well take place without delay; and Allan replied to the Proclamation in these terms:

'The Challenge is accepted. We will meet you at the Fort. You will be the garrison, as there are fewer of you, and we'll attack.--Come along.'

'Call the dogs, Reggie,' said Marjorie. 'Do you like sieges?' she asked Gerald, as they were on their way to the sh.o.r.e.

'Awful fun,' replied the fair-haired boy, whose pink and white face was fast becoming tanned by wind and sun.

'What weapons are to be used?' asked Marjorie, turning quickly to the others.

'Turfs,' replied Allan, 'and lumps of wet sea-weed if you like.'

Marjorie gave a little jump as though she were pleased.

The boat was launched, and cut swiftly through the transparent water, while the new boys looked around with expectant faces.

'What an awfully jolly place,' they said, as they sprang out on the beach. 'Awful fun, having an island of your own to do as you like with.'

'Half-an-hour allowed for gathering ammunition,' called out Marjorie.

'We'll show Harry and Gerald over the place when we've had our fight.

We had better defend from the roof of the cottage, for we might pull down the walls if we defended from the inside.'

Some time was spent in digging clods of turf, a quant.i.ty of which was piled on the roof of the hut for the defenders, while the attackers disposed theirs in little heaps at a short distance from the fort.

'Now for the sea-weed,' cried Marjorie; 'nothing like getting a heap of wet tang thrown in your face when you're fighting.'

The tide was far out, and quant.i.ties of wet sea-weed lay exposed on the rocks.

'No stones to be taken,' said Allan, sawing through the tough, thick stalks with a large pocket-knife.

'How do you like our way of playing?' asked Marjorie of Harry, as she pa.s.sed him, grasping in each hand a ma.s.s of wet sea-weed which dripped down on her frock and shoes.

'Awful fun,' replied the boy, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

'Come along then, I think we've got enough.'

She swung herself nimbly on to the roof, followed by Hamish and Tricksy. The wind was freshening, and sang in their ears, making them feel excited and eager for the fray.

'It's rather stormy,' said Harry; 'do you think we'll get back?'

'Of course,' said Marjorie; 'why, this is nothing! We like it to be a little stormy, it's better fun. Call the others,' and they shouted for the rest of the attacking party, who came hurrying, armed with missiles. Laddie and Carlo followed in the rear, suspending their operations among the rabbit burrows to see what was going to happen.

'To your post, Gerald,' shouted Allan; and Gerald made a dart towards the besiegers, just in time to avoid being caught in a rain of clods which hurtled through the air.

Allan and Reggie showed great dexterity in avoiding the missiles, but Harry and Gerald, not having had so much practice in this kind of warfare, acted the part of unwilling targets, and their neat suits were soon bespattered with mud.

'All in the day's work, eh?' said Allan, as he hurried past Gerald, who was somewhat ruefully wiping the dirt off his cheek with one hand; 'Awful fun, isn't it?'

'Awfully jolly,' a.s.sented Gerald, trying not to think that in the bottom of his heart there was a doubt.

A fresh shower of sods came from the cottage, accompanied by shouts both from besiegers and besieged; and Laddie, who had been looking on with a puzzled face and trying to make out what was the matter, came to the conclusion that his young friends were engaged in deadly warfare, and rushed between the opposing sides with a bark and a wagging tail, bent upon making peace.

'Down, Laddie, down,' shouted Allan, as the dog jumped up to lick his face, after running frenziedly from one side to the other; 'trust, sir!