Then Quilleash, in a husky voice, and coarsely, as if ashamed of the impulse, said, "Some one pray, will you?" "Ay," said another. "Ay," said a third. But no one prayed.
"You, Billy," said one. The old man had never known a prayer.
"You, Davy." Davy shook his head. None could pray.
All lay quiet as death around them. Only the faint sound of the bells was borne to them as a mellow whisper.
Then Danny rose silently to his feet. No one had thought of asking him. With that longing look in his big eyes, he turned to the land and began to sing. He was thinking of Mona. All his soul was going out to her. She was his anchor, his hope, his prayer. The lad's voice, laden with tears, floated away over the great waters. This was what he sang:
"Her brow is like the snaw-drift,
Her neck is like the swan,
Her face it is the fairest
That e'er the sun shone on;
That e'er the sun shone on.
****
"And she's a' the world to me;
And for bonnie Annie Laurie
I'd lay me doon and dee."
The boy's eyes were bright with a radiant brightness, and glistening tears ran down his face in gracious drops like dew. The men hung their heads and were mute.
