The Curlew was then taken back to the wrecked barque. One of the
ship's boats had been launched by the skipper and some of the crew,
who had endeavoured to save all they could; but the little craft
was too frail to stand against the heavy sea; it was dashed against
the sunken rocks and all were drowned. My father and his men
remained by the vessel until daylight. Among the jagged rocks, when
the tide went down, they found the body of a very beautiful woman
with the shattered body of a child still clasped in her arms. The
infant seemed to have been hurriedly taken from its bed. This fair
lady was afterwards recognised as the wife of the owner of the
ill-fated vessel--the gentleman my father had rescued--who had
been returning with her and their infant daughter to Denmark. The
lady's name was Thora Quendale, and it was her tomb that I had seen
in the old graveyard of Bigging on that evening when we shared the
viking's treasures.
Her husband had remained in Orkney only until he had laid her and
the child to rest, when, gathering the few remnants of his property
that remained to him from the wreck of his ship, he took a passage
in a vessel that happened to touch at Kirkwall for repairs, and
with the sailor who had been saved with him he set sail for
Denmark. My uncle Mansie said that this Mr.
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