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diff --git a/40330-0.txt b/40330-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..be20d36 --- /dev/null +++ b/40330-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11529 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40330 *** + +Transcriber's Notes: + + 1. Page scan source: + http://books.google.com/books?id=ATwVAAAAQAAJ + + 2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. + + + + + + + INCHBRACKEN + + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + + + + INCHBRACKEN + + THE STORY OF A + + FAMA CLAMOSA + + + + + BY + + ROBERT CLELAND + + + * * * + _NEW EDITION--ILLUSTRATED_ + * * * + + + + + GLASGOW: + ROBERT FORRESTER, 1 ROYAL EXCHANGE SQUARE + * * * + 1887 + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + CHAP. + + I.--The Parish Of Kilrundle. + + II.--A Storm. + + III.--The Find. + + IV.--Down By the Burnside. + + V.--Julia. + + VI.--Sophia. + + VII.--Joseph. + + VIII.--A Field Preaching. + + IX.--The Baby. + + X.--Tibbie. + + XI.--An Excursion. + + XII.--Inchbracken. + + XIII.--A Harbour of Refuge. + + XIV.--Scandal. + + XV.--Mary. + + XVI.--Man and Wife. + + XVII.--Roderick. + + XVIII.--The Delivery of a Letter. + + XIX.--Subornation of Perjury. + + XX.--In a Sick Room. + + XXI.--Circe. + + XXII.--In Session. + + XXIII.--Mother and Daughter. + + XXIV.--Luckie Howden. + + XXV.--Sophia's Answer. + + XXVI.--Fama Clamosa. + + XXVII.--Dealings in Love and Faithfulness. + + XXVIII.--More Faithfulness but Less Love. + + XXIX.--Consultation. + + XXX.--Tibbie's Troubles. + + XXXI.--A Catechist. + + XXXII.--Changes. + + XXXIII.--Discomfited. + + XXXIV.--'Wooed an' Married an a'.' + + XXXV.--Found. + + XXXVI.--Augustus Wallowby. + + XXXVII.--The End. + + + + + + + INCHBRACKEN. + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + _THE PARISH OF KILRUNDLE_. + + +The night was stormy and black as pitch. Sheets of chilling rain sped +lashing across the glen, driven by the whirling tempest. The burns in +the hills, swollen into torrents, came tumbling down their rocky beds +all foam and uproar, diffusing through the air an undertone of +continuous thunder, that could be distinctly heard in each recurring +interval of the gale. Along the road which traversed the clachan of +Glen Effick and then wandered up the glen and across the hills, the +elements had free scope to work their evil will, and nothing with life +dared venture forth to oppose them. The air was full of hissings and +roarings and crackings and rumblings, as trees and roofs swayed and +shivered to the blast, and the loosened stones rumbled in the beds of +neighbouring torrents. The drowsy lights from the inn door and the +post-office disclosed nothing but a sheet of falling rain and an +overflowing gutter, and the gleams from the round boles in the cottage +shutters were but shining bars across the thick darkness of the night. +The two bright lamps of the stage coach from Inverlyon, descending the +hill road from the east, glowed like the fierce eyes of some monster +of the night, and disclosed something of the scene as they passed +along, trees tossing and writhing in the wind, wayside burns broke +loose from their bounds and foaming across the road, and for the +rest,--slop, slush, and blackness. Within, the tumult out of doors +gave edge to the glow and comfort of the snug peat fire on the hearth. +The wind, rumbling in the rocking chimney, and occasional raindrops +hissing on the embers, seemed but to call forth a ruddier light from +that goodly pile of burning peat and peeled coppice oak. True the +hearth was but clay, and of clay too was the floor of the apartment, +but the flicker and play of the flames hid the one as effectually as +the comfortable Brussels carpet concealed the other. The whitewashed +cottage walls, as well as some outlying yards of carpet, were covered +by bookcases whose tops touched the low ceiling, and big books piled +and heaped one on the other as they best might be to save space. + +This sombre background was somewhat relieved by the glints of the +firelight on a few gilt picture frames containing portraits, and by a +few steel engravings built curiously in among the books. Those dear +old engravings, which forty years ago embellished every middle class +home in Scotland,--John Knox preaching, Queen Mary at Leith after Sir +William Allan, and Duncan's stirring memorials of Prince Charlie--they +were good wholesome art for every day life, and likely to stir the +children's hearts, as did the ballads sung round the hearths of an +earlier generation, to an honest love of the brave and the beautiful, +and a sturdy pride in their Scottish birth. We have higher art +now-a-days, or we think so. We spend more money on it; and if not more +discriminative, are at least greatly more critical; but is the moral +influence of our walls on our households better now than it was then? +The boys and girls of to-day will grow up less narrow. Will they be as +loyal and true-hearted? + +But to return to the study of the Reverend Roderick Brown, licentiate +of the Free Church of Scotland. On the window-shelf were pots of hardy +roses in luxuriant bloom, and in the distant corner stood a tall +crimson cloth screen of many leaves, behind which were concealed the +bed and toilette appurtenances of his reverence the licentiate. Beyond +this a door communicated with an inner room; but here there are signs +unmistakable of a lady's chamber, so we may not intrude. + +Drawn up before the fire there stands a large writing-table, on which +are books and much manuscript, and at one end sits the occupant, deep +in the composition of one of the five or six discourses he will be +expected to deliver in the course of the following week. A tall young +man under thirty, well-proportioned and even athletic, but pale and +thin, and rather worn as regards the face. The straight black hair +which he has tossed back from his face in the throes of composition, +displays a forehead pale, blue-veined, and high, but rather narrow, +eyes dark and deep-set, beneath shaggy brows, in hollow and +blue-rimmed sockets, as of one who has gone through much excitement +and fatigue, but burning with a steady fire of enthusiasm, which seems +as if it would never go out, so long as a drop of the oil of life +remains in the lamp to supply it with fuel. The mouth is long and +flexible, not without signs of firmness and vigor, but gentle and +serene, a smile appearing to lurk in one of the corners, as awaiting +its opportunity to break forth. The whole expression is pure and +unworldly. An observer must have said, that, whether or not he might +be wise and prudent, he did not look like a fool, and he was most +assuredly good. + +His sister Mary sits opposite him plying her needle, and crooning to +herself some scraps of old world song, but softly, so as not to +disturb the flow of the minister's thoughts. She is younger by some +years than her brother, tall like him, and with all the grace in +repose that comes of well-exercised and symmetrical limbs. The head is +small, with a wealth of golden brown hair wound tightly round it, face +oval and fair, with the complexion of a shell The eyelids are very +full, drooping and long-lashed, and beneath them the eyes look forth +like violets from the shade. The hands are large and firm, but white, +supple, and perfectly shaped, and it is a treat and a joy to watch her +as she sits at work. She seems to exhale the breath of violets, +suggested perhaps by the colour of her eyes, as one follows her +tranquil movements, like Shelley's hyacinth bells-- + + + 'Which rang with a music so soft and intense + That it passed for an odor within the sense.' + + +The varying light of the fire, shining warmly upon her, touches even +the folds of her black gown into a subdued repetition of the quivering +glories that flicker among her hair. + +Those were the _disruption times_, which all have heard of, and the +middle-aged among us can recall more or less vividly. Times so +different from the present! When we look back on them, knowing how +much there was that was narrow, rugged, and unlovely, we must still +feel a regretful admiration for an atmosphere of earnestness and more +heroic warmth of feeling than is now attainable to the cold-blooded +clear-sightedness and electric dispassionateness of the critical +spirit now prevalent, which admits good and detects shortcoming in all +varieties of faith and opinion alike, and so, leaves the seeker after +the better to follow the worse in pure weariness, satisfied in the end +to pursue material advantage, seeing that Truth and Goodness have +become abstractions, too high to be attained, or else too widely +diffused to be missed, in whatever direction the wayfarer may stray. + +In those days the seeker after the goodly pearl of truth, felt +constrained to forsake all and followed it; and doubtless the +forsaking and the quest brought a moral benefit, though it by no means +follows that the form in which they sought it, the Ultramontane fetish +of ecclesiastical supremacy--exemption from State interference, +combined with an unlimited right to meddle in the State--was in any +sense a truth at all. An earnest following out of the supposed truth +cannot but be wholesome to the seeker, and to fight for an idea of any +kind, must be good in materialistic times. + +One is led to use the word 'Ultramontane' in connection with the Free +Church 'movement,' by the curious resemblance between the claims of +these ardent Presbyterians, and those of the Ultramontane section of +the Catholic Church, as well as by the very similar language in which +both expressed and supported them. It would seem indeed as if since +1840 a wave of turbulence had passed over the minds of all Churchmen, +beginning in this Northern Kingdom and rolling Southwards. England and +Ireland have since then been disturbed by unruly priests, and the long +pontificate of Pius IX. has witnessed in every country a continued +effort of the Spiritual Estate to assert itself against secular +authority. + +That the struggle in Scotland was for no absolute truth, would appear +from the change of front which the body that then arose now presents. +It commenced by claiming to have inherited the rights of the +historical church, confirmed by act of parliament, to guide the nation +and the state in questions of faith and morals. Now it places itself +with the voluntary religious associations, and clamours for depriving +its own successors of the endowments which its members themselves +resigned because of conditions which now do not exist. When Chalmers, +ten years before the Disruption, fought the battle of Establishments +against Voluntaryism, not only in Scotland, but in England also, he +little thought that the Church he was to found, would, in a quarter of +a century, become the hottest association of voluntaries in the +country! New circumstances have begotten new 'principles,' let us say, +for it would not be well to impute anything like trade jealousy to +holy men. + +Roderick Brown was pursuing his theological studies in Edinburgh, +during the years of theological excitement which preceded the +catastrophe. Youth is sympathetic, and the leaders of the movement had +holy names and historic memories to conjure with. It is not wonderful, +therefore, that he caught the enthusiasm of the men about him, and +thirsted to bear his part in contending for the truth. At each +succeeding vacation he returned to his father's manse with a +heightened ardour for ecclesiastical combat; and many and long were +their discussions on the Church question and its new lights. To the +young man's surprise, he found his arguments fall rather flat and +pointless in presence of his father's calm and dispassionate +statements of the case; but the elder found the wisdom and +understanding gathered in sixty years' intercourse with the Church and +the world equally powerless to cool down the heat and ardour of the +enthusiastic youth. Therefore, as must ever be the case where +affection and respect are combined with common sense, they finally +agreed to differ, each forbearing to insist on his own preferences, +and confident that the other sought only the right according to his +lights. + +The disappointment to Doctor Brown was not slight. He felt himself +rapidly failing, and he had hoped to find in his son an assistant and +successor in whose hands he might contentedly leave the care of his +beloved flock, and pass on to an uninterrupted fulfilment the many +good works he had commenced in his parish. Besides his parish, the +future of his daughter may also have weighed much on the old man's +mind. She had been born and bred in the manse, and was as well known +to every one of the parishioners, as the minister himself. To the poor +she had been the recognised messenger of mercy. Ever since her +mother's death (when she was thirteen), had devolved on her with the +assistance of the old housekeeper, the many and onerous duties that +fall to the country minister's wife; and in fulfilling these she had +won the love of rich and poor alike. + +Roderick too had been bred in the manse, and was known to every living +soul in the parish. He had fished the burns with the sons of the +farmers and crofters, when a lad, and as he grew older shot on the +moors with the lairds. Gentle and simple alike had only kind words to +say of the minister's son, and to these was added sincere respect when +he entered on his theological studies, and afforded such assistance to +his father in his sacred duties as the laws of the Church permit to +the unordained. There would have been but one voice in the parish from +Patron, Heritors, and People, as to who should succeed Doctor Brown in +his charge, and it was very bitter to the old man to find that for an +enthusiastic scruple all his hopes were to be laid low. + +In the year of the Disruption, Dr. Brown died, and in the same year +his son Roderick was licensed to preach by the Free Church. On many +therefore fell a double bereavement; his father was taken away, and +forthwith it became necessary to gather up his household gods, the +relics of his past, steeped in all the memories of childhood and of +those who had made it glad, and to move forth into a new and an +untried life. + +General Drysdale, the patron and chief heritor of the parish, a +staunch Conservative in Church and State, was greatly disappointed at +the step taken by the son of his old friend, in quitting the church of +his father. He would gladly have presented him to the living, and felt +personally aggrieved that he had deliberately incapacitated himself +from accepting it. The late minister had been his frequent guest at +Inchbracken, and the intercourse between the families of the great +house and the manse had been constant and cordial, and had formed a +most useful bond of connection between the laird and his poorer +tenants; but now, owing to the wrongheadedness of an inexperienced +youth, all this must cease, and who could tell how the new incumbent +would answer? The breeding of himself and his family might make their +presence unacceptable at the castle, and in that case intercourse +would necessarily cease, and the laird and his people, in consequence, +would drift apart from want of the old link; or even should the new +comer answer, it would be long before a stranger could establish ties +between himself and the different orders of his flock, and longer +still before he could become a bond between one order and another. + +But even this did not make up the whole sum of Roderick's offences. +His personal merits themselves added another count to the General's +indictment against him. Beloved by rich and poor, his religious +ministrations were greatly valued in his native parish, and many who +might in other circumstances have stood staunch by the Kirk and the +laird, were seduced into dissent by his insidious exhortations. Not +only had he refused to accept the legitimate cure of souls, but he had +raised the standard of rebellion within the bounds, thereby tending to +subvert the wisely-appointed order of things, and contributing to the +inletting of that free tide of revolutionary democracy which the +General espied afar as doomed eventually to sweep away lairds and all +other salutary potentates, and lead on to levelling ideas, the +abomination of desolation, and the end of the world. Clearly, then, it +was the duty of every well-regulated mind to discountenance such +doings; and in the interest of public order, and for the sake of his +misguided tenantry, General Drysdale's duty to refuse ground for the +erection of a schismatic meetinghouse--a temple of discord, upon any +portion of his and; or to rent a dwelling to the missionary of +rebellion and error. + +Roderick therefore being unable to find shelter for himself and his +sister within five miles of the church and manse of Kilrundle, betook +himself to the neighbouring hamlet of Glen Effick, which was beyond +the territory of this well-meaning persecutor, but still hovered on +the edge of Kilrundle Parish, over which he could raid at will, and +hold meetings on the hillside for the faithful of the flock, who +gathered in ever increasing crowds to hear him, emulous of the 'Hill +Folk' of old, who, as they were often reminded, 'held not their lives +dear, but went forth to serve the Lord in the wilderness.' + +Almost all the cottars in Glen Effick would have been proud to receive +the minister and his sister, but their means were less than their +desires. The cottages were but small, and a few vacant rooms, +scattered here and there throughout the village, were all that could +be offered to shelter them and their effects. Hence in one cottage he +had his books and made his study, and in this also they both slept. In +another, across the road, they took their meals, and had bestowed such +of their goods as were in use for that purpose. In a third was Mary's +piano and many of her belongings, and there they would probably have +spent their evenings, but that an old body, with more zeal than space +at her disposal, had insisted on bestowing their tea equipage in her +corner cupboard, where it was visible through the glass door, and +proved her a mother in Israel. Thither they felt bound to follow it +occasionally, that so Luckie Howden might have the glory of making tea +for the minister. + +All this was very tiresome to Mary, and sometimes she thought her +patience would break down entirely. During her peaceful and happy life +with her father she had imbibed all his ideas. She still clung to the +Established Church as her head, and disapproving of the Disruption, +she had neither zeal for the cause, nor a pleasing sense of martyrdom +to mitigate the worries, discomforts, and privations of her daily +life. The one only solace of her lot was her great love for her +brother, from whom she had resolved never to part, and with whom she +was prepared to endure even greater hardships. An uncle had pressed +her strongly to make her home with him, but she could not tear herself +from Roderick, and so stayed on. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + A STORM. + + +The rumble of the stage coach past the window died away down the +street, and silence fell on the room we have been considering. The +scratching of Roderick's pen could be heard in the stillness, save +when lost in the momentary roar of a gust descending the chimney, +followed by the hiss of its watery burden on the coals, or when a bar +of 'The Lass o' Gowrie' escaped for an instant from the suppression in +which it was held that the sermon might not be disturbed. + +At length there sounded the shuffling of feet and the opening and +closing of a door. A tap, and the door of their own room opened; and +entered the beadle, Joseph Smiley, a little ferrety-looking man with +sharp restless eyes, that seemed as though they would squint in their +alert impatience to look at everything at once. His dress was a rusty +black coat, like the old one of an undertaker's man, and a soiled +white wisp of neckcloth. He took off with both hands a limp and sodden +hat, streaming with moisture, and deposited it under the table, with a +sort of deprecatory bow to Mary, as who should say, 'It is not strong +enough to be treated in the usual way, let us lay it down tenderly.' +Recovering, he turned to the door, and with an encouraging 'Come in, +boy,' introduced a tall over-grown lad of seventeen, dressed in a +fisherman's oilskin suit, from which the rain trickled in copious +streams. + +'I wuss ye gude e'en, mem an' sir,' said Joseph 'Though it's faar frae +what I wad ca' a gude e'en mysel', an' deed an' it's juist a most +terrible nicht, though nae doubt them 'at sent it kens best.--Ay, Sir! +It was juist the powerfu' ca' o' duty 'at garred me lay by the drap +parrich an' steer frae the ingle neuk this nicht. Here's a laddie come +a' the gate frae Inverlyon, e'y tap o' the coach to fesh ye back wi' +him to see his granny 'ats lyin' near hand her end.' + +'But Inverlyon is fen miles off, and in another parish,' the minister +was here able to interrupt, a matter not always to be obtained when +Joseph held forth, for he loved the continuous sound of his own voice +above every other noise. + +'And why did they not get Mr. Watson, the minister of Inverlyon?' put +in Mary; 'I am sure Mr. Watson would have gone at once, and he is so +good and so kind a man.' + +'Na, na, mem! Naebody 'at kens my granny wad ventur to bring Mester +Watson in ower by her!' cried the fisher lad, casting aside his +bashfulness, and steadying himself on the tall limbs on which he had +been swaying to and fro. 'He bed in, whan a' the gude folk cam out, +an' sae she'll hae nane o' him!' + +'But why should you want to take Mr. Brown all that distance to-night? +and a night like this? Has your grandmother some dreadful secret on +her mind? And would not a writer be the best person to get?' + +'Na, mem! na! There's nothing like that! My Granny's a godly auld +wife, tho' maybe she's gye fraxious whiles, an' mony's the sair +paipin' she's gi'en me; gin there was ocht to confess she kens the +road to the Throne better nor maist. But ye see there's a maggit +gotten intil her heid, an' she says she beut to testifee afore she +gangs hence.' + +'Ay! weel I wat,' said Joseph, swaying his head solemnly to and fro, +'she's a holy auld wife that same Luckie Corbet! an' I'm sure, +minister, it'll be a preev'ledge to ye to resaive her testimony! She's +rael zealous against Erastianism an' a' the sins in high places. I'm +thinkin', sir, she's gye an' like thae covenanters lang syne, 'at +Mester Dowlas was tellin' 's about whan he lectur'd up by on the +Hurlstane Muir, about Jenny Geddes down Edinbro' way, an' mair sic +like.' + +'Ay! an' I'm thinkin' it's that auld carline, Jenny Geddes, 'at's +raised a' the fash! My granny gaed to hear Mester Dowlas whan he +preached among the whins down by the shore, an' oh, but he was bonny! +An' a graand screed o' doctrine he gae us. For twa hale hours he +preached an' expundet an' never drew breath, for a the wind was +skirlin', an' the renn whiles skelpin' like wild. An' I'm thinkin' my +granny's gotten her death o't a'. But oh! an' he was graand on Jenny +Geddes! an' hoo she was a mither in Israel, an' hoo she up wi' the +creepie an' heaved it at the Erastian's heid. An' my granny was juist +fairly ta'en wi't a', an' she vooed she beut to be a mither in Israel +tae, an' whan she gaed hame she out wi' the auld hugger 'at she keeps +the bawbees in, aneath the hearth-stane, for to buy a creepie o' her +ain,--she thocht a new ane wad be best for the Lord's wark,--an' she +coupet the chair whaur hung her grave claes, 'at she airs fornent the +fire ilka Saturday at e'en, an' out there cam a lowe, an' scorched a +hole i' the windin' sheet, an' noo puir body we'll hae to hap her in +her muckle tartan plaid. An' aiblins she'll be a' the warmer'e'y +moulds for that. But, however, she says the sheet was weel waur'd, for +the guid cause. An' syne she took til her bed, wi' a sair host, an' +sma' winder, for there was a weet dub whaur she had been sittin' amang +the whins. An' noo the host's settled on her that sair, she whiles +canna draw her breath. Sae she says she maun let the creepie birlin' +slide, but she beut to testifee afore some godly minister or she gangs +hence. An' I'm fear'd, sir, ye maun hurry, for she's rael far +through.' + +Joseph listened with a groan of solemn approval. 'Oh, minister, but +it's a high preev'lidge! an' I'm no grudgin' the weet an' the gutters +comin' ower to fesh ye, forby the drap parrich growin' cauld at hame!' +'Roderick! It is impossible for you to go. Ten miles! and such a +night! And then, think of kind Mr. Watson; how hurt he will be!' + +Joseph sighed, and muttered under his breath about sojourners in +Meshech, but Mr. Brown took no notice, and replied to his sister,-- + +'The coach will pass going down at seven to-morrow morning.' + +'I'm fear'd, sir, ye'll be ower late by than. She'll maybe no live or +mornin.' An' she canna thole waitin', my granny.' + +'But we have no gig, you must remember, and I know the inn gig is +away, so it cannot be helped,' replied Mary. + +'I'm thinkin' sir,' suggested Joseph, 'Patey Soutar wad be wullen' to +gie us his pownie, seein' its you. It's a sore nicht for the puir +beast, but than there's the gude cause, an' ye'll no be forgettin' the +ruch wather e'y pay, sir. Patey's pownie's a canny baste, an' +sure-fittet e'y dark. Mony's the time he's brocht Patey safe hame, an' +him wi' a drappie in's heid 'at garred him see no' that strecht afore +him.' + +'Yes,' returned the minister, with a patient shrug; 'and he won't run +away with me, that's certain.' It was manifest he would have to go, +reason or no reason. To reduce the question to one of common sense +would have raised too many questions hard or inconvenient to answer; +and as to his own comfort, he had long learned to yield that. In a +popular movement the people who are wont to be led will sometimes +drive by the mere force already communicated to their inertia, and the +minister, accustomed to lead, will sometimes find himself pushed or +driven by the very impulse he has himself originated. + +Mary's remonstrances were in vain. She could only do her best towards +arming her brother against the storm, and seeing that his mackintosh +and plaid were securely wrapped around him. Considerate, as usual, for +every one but himself, the minister offered the young fisherman +shelter for the night, to await the morning coach, but that was +declined with a 'Na na, sir! Shanks' naig diz fine for the like o' me. +An' surely gin _ye_ can thole the rough nicht, I'se do weel enough.' + +Up the steep hill road that runs eastward from Glen Effick and +gradually gains the upland moor dividing it from the sea, the two +wayfarers floundered in the darkness. The water-courses being already +choked with their hurrying floods, the road became the natural vent +for the superfluous deluge, and had changed into a roaring torrent, +carrying down stones and gravel in its course, and rendering travel +against the stream both difficult and dangerous. The pony had full +opportunity to prove his character for sagacity and sure-footedness, +and he vindicated it triumphantly, for he kept on his way despite of +all impediments, while poor Sandie, the fisher lad, found his footing +give way and himself rolled over among the rattling stones more than +once, when he would pick himself up again with a 'Hech sirse! but my +hirdies are sair forfuchan.' + +As they won their way upwards, the darkness grew less intense, and the +flooding of the road less serious; but it was not till they had +reached the level of the moorland looking straight out to sea, that +they were able to realize the full fury of the tempest, which +threatened each moment to catch them up in its arms and dash them to +the ground. The rain, however, had abated, and there was refreshment +in the salt keen breath of the distant sea. An occasional rift in the +clouds let through a feeble glimmer, and as they staggered along they +could make out the broken horizon line of the black tumbling waters. + +A flash--and the distant boom of a gun. 'I'm thinkin', sir, there's a +ship out yon'er. It's a sair nicht to be on the water.' + +Presently another flash--and a rocket cleft its way aloft through the +darkness, while the roar of the angry ocean, as they drew near, grew +louder and louder. + +They now began to descend from the higher level, encountering on the +downward course a repetition of the perils and difficulty which had +hindered their ascent. Their attention was fully engrossed in picking +their steps and left them no leisure to observe other things. At the +bottom of the hill there was a considerable breadth of flooded meadow, +and there a wooden bridge half submerged spanned the flooded waters of +the Effick, shivering in the boiling flood, and threatening to give +way beneath them as they hurried across. They now found themselves on +the sea road, level and well made, and their troubles or at least the +dangers of the way were at an end. + +And now for the first time they could realize the horror of the raging +sea, with the great billows hurling themselves against the shore, and +casting their sheets of foam high in the air, and drenching the road +in showers of spray. Again they see the flash of a minute gun, but its +voice is drowned in the tumult of the elements. The flash now, not as +before, far out at sea--the ship was coming perilously near the shore. + +'I'm fear'd they'll hae sair wark to win round Inverlyon pint, noo,' +said Sandie; 'they're ower far in shore!'--'The Lord pity them!' he +went on, as another flash showed the vessel to be still nearing the +land. 'They're driftin' fair in for the Effick Mouth! The Lord hae +mercy on their souls!' + +'How is the tide to-night, Sandie?' the minister enquired. 'Do you +think we can cross the mouth of the bay by the sands under the rocks? +It will be wet, of course, with the spray from the waves, but we are +too wet ourselves to mind that, and it saves full four miles of the +way.' + +'Na, sir! The sea's in the nicht, an' there's five feet o' water on +the sands. We maun gang round.' + +As they journeyed along, they twice again saw the flash of the signal +guns; the second time the ship herself became visible, very near the +shore, a helpless waif apparently, tossed on the summit of a mountain +surge. The bulwarks, which showed as those of a large vessel, stood +out black against the murky horizon for an instant, and then sank +again among the tumbling waves. Two of her masts were gone, but the +third entangled in the wreck of rigging, still held out. Presently +there was a crash audible above the storm. Another, and they saw the +ship impaled on the jagged rocks at the mouth of the bay. The furious +billows rushed up after her, wave on wave, as if refusing to be +baulked of their prey, washed over her from end to end, broke down the +remaining mast, and shook and ground her among the rocks. A few cries +were carried shoreward, shrill above the tempest, and then went out in +the night. Another crash--and the wreck parted asunder and fell back +into the sea, and was whirled away among the furious breakers, which +tore it plank from plank, and strewed the relics of that goodly ship +for miles along the shore. + +It was wearing towards morning, and the wind was perceptibly falling +when these wayfarers reached their destination. A candle burning in +the window seemed the only sign of life in the whole slumbering town; +and even that guttered and flickered low in its socket, an emblem of +the life slowly burning itself out on the adjoining bed. A stentorious +breathing, coming at irregular and ever-lengthening intervals, told +that Sandie's granny was already setting out on her long journey--that +she had closed her eyes for ever on all the things of time, even the +ministrations of religion; and that the mysteries to which those +ministrations can, at the best, but darkly point, would shortly be +uncovered to her immortal view. + +The minister was dried and warmed and refreshed, but there was little +call for his services. The watchers were too weary with their watching +to give much heed to consolation; he did, however, what was possible +and retired to rest. + + + + + CHAPTER III + + THE FIND. + + +Long ere daylight the storm had died away. The new-risen sun shone in +a sky of transparent blue, with not a cirrhus rag to shew of the +enswathing vapours of the night before. + +The air, bracingly fresh but calm, stirred faintly among the sandhills +by the shore, shaking out the bent and grasses laid limp and tangled +by their drenching overnight. + +When the minister set forth on his return, the sun still hung low over +the eastern sea, and reddened the waves, foam-flecked and tossing in +angry recollection of the lash of last night's gale. In the ebb they +had shrunk far back across the sands, but again the tide had turned +and was advancing. The fisher folk were not astir. No boats could be +expected home that morning. Such as were away during the gale must +have put in for refuge somewhere, or been swallowed by the sea; nor +would any stir outside the harbour till the sea went down. Perforce +they must rest; and they rested. The cottages were still shut up, and +no smoke curled from the chimneys as Roderick rode over the roughly +causewayed street, past the harbour, where a lugger or two swayed up +and down upon the heaving tide, and down upon the sands beyond, that +he might avoid the long detour of the night before. + +The Effick Water spreads itself out into a small firth or bay some +three or four miles round, but the mouth of this bay is encumbered by +upstanding rocks and boulders, and about these a bar or beach has +gathered, standing up out of the water at all times, save the highest +tides, or when the sea is driven up by an easterly gale. Through this +beach the Effick cuts a channel for its own escape, and that of the +water in the bay at the tide's turn, but it is fordable at any time, +and at low water is but an insignificant trickling over the shingly +beach. The Point of Inverlyon divides Inverlyon bay and harbour from +the Bay of Effick, it runs sharply out into the sea and completely +conceals the one from the other; and, in those days of scanty +provision for the ship-wrecked, a vessel might be driven ashore in the +latter desolate bay without the people of the village being aware, +especially if the catastrophe took place after dark; and their first +intimation would be when in scanning the shore after a gale they came +on the wreckage. + +It was an hour or two after Roderick had started before the first band +of prowlers set forth to search for the rejected spoils of victorious +Ocean. The shore was solitary, and he was the first to come upon the +tokens of the night's disaster. On passing the point, he found the +shattered relics scattered on every side--boxes, barrels, planks, +wreckage of every kind. By and by he came upon a stove-in boat, and a +little further along the body of a drowned sailor lay upon the sand. +He was but partly dressed, and the dark yellow tinge of his skin, the +straight black hair, prominent features, and set of the eyes, as well +as the long, strange-looking knife, tied securely to his waist, showed +him to be a Lascar. So the ship probably had been an East Indiaman, +had sailed in safety round the Cape, crossed the Bay of Biscay, and +escaped who can tell how many perils, and all to be cast away in the +end on this solitary shore, within a few leagues or hours of her +destined haven. + +Roderick dismounted and examined the poor fellow, but he was +manifestly dead, and there was no dwelling near to which he might +carry him; so he drew the body up above high-water mark, to await the +searchers who were sure to arrive shortly in search of plunder. He had +visitations and a meeting to fill up his day on getting home--service +due, as he told himself, to the living, and therefore more important +than ceremonial cares for the dead. + +Hastening forward, he crossed the shingly beach at the mouth of the +Effick, and reached the sands gathered about the base of the rocks, +and sloping on the one side to the sea, on the other to the inner +basin or firth of the little stream,--at high water a brimming lake, +but now at the ebb a slimy hollow full of pools, boulders, seaweed, +and mussel beds, where gulls and crows met to quarrel over the spoils +of sea and land. There he came upon a sight sadder than the last, two +women thrown together upon the sand, surrounded and partly covered +with wreckage, as though a specially strong eddy had set in this +direction, and there unburdened itself of its prey. The first he +examined was clad in thin and peculiar garments of white cotton, a +life-preserver was made fast about her body, and her hands clung with +the inextricable grasp of death to the clothes of her companion. Her +feet were bare, so was her head, her skin was a dark olive, and her +dress and appearance showed her to be an Ayah or Indian maid, in +attendance doubtless on some lady returning to Europe. Her long black +hair was clotted and stained with blood, and closer inspection showed +terrible wounds and bruises on the head, as though the waves had +dashed and pounded her against the rocks before at length +relinquishing their hold. Clearly there could be no hope of +resuscitation there, and Roderick passed to the other. + +From under pieces of plank and broken cabin furniture he was able at +last to disentangle the form of a lady. She too was encased in a +life-preserver, which in her case too had failed to save her life. The +cruel rocks and breakers had made sure of that. Her head and face +especially showed contusions and bruises of the most dreadful +description, and there was a distortion of the features, as though her +last thought had been one of agony, in striking contrast to the calm +which had settled on the face of her companion. The arms too were +stretched out in an intensity of purpose that death had been unable to +paralyze, and the fingers were clenched on a bit of a chain composed +of coins connected by knotted links of gold. Could it be that the +parting of this chain, and the severance from what it held, was the +last agonizing idea which had passed through the poor creature's mind? + +As Roderick gazed, a feeble wail hard by gave a new turn to his +musings. Not many steps away, but where the sand sloped inwards to the +protected waters of the bay, he descried a bundle of clothing, and +while he looked it seemed to move, and again the wail was heard. +Taking it up he found the bundle to be a tiny infant, warmly wrapped +up in many shawls and wound in a life-preserver. The poor drowned +mother had probably given her last care to make the little one as safe +as she could, and by a miracle she had succeeded. The lightness and +smallness of the tiny bundle had secured its safety. While heavier +bodies were being hurled and rolled among rocks and stones on the +beach, this slight thing had been caught up on the crest of a surge +and flung beyond the rocks and boulders margining the sea, into the +protected waters of the inner bay, where it would float in comparative +safety till, on the subsidence of the tide, it stranded on the shore. + +Roderick took it up and undid the swathings, that it might freely use +its limbs. At once the infant ceased its wailing; it stretched its +little arms, and, looking into his face, it smiled. Who that is human, +not to say humane, could resist the appeal?--the flattery of being +approved by a pure fresh soul, all untarnished by the world's guile, +and so lately come from heaven! + + +[Illustration: "The baby smiled, and twined its fingers in his +whisker-ends." Page 19.] + + +Roderick was enthralled at once. 'You poor wee darling,' he said, 'we +cannot leave you here alone, waiting till other help finds you; you +must come with me!' + +The baby smiled again, and twined its fingers in his whisker ends. +Roderick wrapped it again in its shawls, remounted the pony, and +proceeded on his way. + +He could not but look back regretfully at the poor dead mother, whom +he seemed to be separating from her child; but there was nothing he +could do for her without assistance, and that he must go miles to +seek, and he knew it would arrive equally soon without his +intervention. + +He passed a good deal more wreckage as he went, but nothing that had +life, nor any more bodies of the drowned. Leaving the shore, he came +in time to Effick Bridge. It had withstood the spate, and though badly +shaken, was still available for crossing the stream. The waters had +subsided over the flooded meadows, and after crossing these he began +to ascend the hill. It was a tedious task; the soil was washed away in +places, and in others stones had rolled from above, among which he had +to pick his way carefully, lest a jolt should disturb his fragile +burden. + +The morning coach for Inverlyon reached the brow of the hill, coming +down, while he was still wending upwards. It stopped there, and its +passengers were required to alight, and make their way downward on +foot, while the driver, with all precaution, guided his team and the +empty vehicle over the encumbered track. The passengers included a +parishioner or two of the minister's, who by and by encountered him on +their descent, and greeted him effusively. His response, however, was +absent and constrained, he was wholly disinclined to stand still in +the middle of the tedious ascent, or engage in the desultory gossip so +dear to his rustic friends. In truth, he was worn out. His tempestuous +journey over-night, the early start without breakfast, the sad +spectacle of death which he had beheld, and doubts how best to do his +duty to his helpless charge, had thrown him into a melancholy and +preoccupied mood, and deprived him of all power to enter into +indifferent chat. He made no attempt, therefore, to rein up the +'pownie,' and that canny beast went tranquilly forward, picking his +steps as seemed best among the sods and heather tufts by the side of +the road. + +'What's come ower the minister? He wad scarce gie us the time o' day +as he gaed by, an' he glowered at a body like the far awa end o' +Willie Cant's fiddle. An' what brings him awa down here at this time +o' day? An' ridin' on that godless chield, Patey Soutar's pownie! I'm +sair misdoubtin' but he's been after nae gude!' + +'Hoot, awa! Peter Malloch, ye maunna judge sae hard. I'm jalousin' +he's been awa a' nicht, an' aiblins he's meditatin' on his next +discoorse. Gin he'd gotten as far as the twalthly, or even the +seventhly, ye see, he wadna be for brecken aff, to haver wi' a curran +fules, ower a' the clashes o' the country side.' + +'Speak for yersel, Tammas! An' dinna ye be for judgin' the +office-bearers o' the Lord's Kirk by yer ain silly sel'. I'm thinkin +gin he'd kenned a' 'at I cud hae telt him, he'd hae frisket up his +legs, an' drawn bridle fast enough. The Sustentation Fund's prosperin' +bye a' expectation, an' I wad hae telled him a' about it. But noo he +can juist bide till the next Deacons' Coort, whan I'll read my report. +Set him up wi' his high looks! Is't no me 'ats gatherin' the siller +that's to pay him wi?' + +'Hoot! Peter, man, I'm thinkin' he was that carried like in's mind, he +didna ken even wha it was gaed by! But I'm sayin', Peter, what was yon +the minister was carryin' afore him on the saidle, 'at he took sae +muckle tent on? It was sma' an' muckle happit up, an' he ne'er took +his e'en aff it. Gin it hadna been him I'd hae said it was a bairn, +an' he was blate ower 't.' + +The subject of the discussion went on his way, unwitting of the +offence he had given. 'Tammas' was scarcely wrong in surmising that he +did not know who passed. Had he been questioned at the moment he would +no doubt have answered correctly, but as there was no one to do so, +the impression on his consciousness glanced off, causing, indeed, the +mechanical salutation at the moment, but powerless to influence his +thought. + +Upward toils the pony, picking his steps from one soft sod to the +next; the rider sunk in a brown study lets the bridle hang loosely on +his neck, and the baby, rocked by the springy undulations of his gait, +sleeps again, unconscious and content. The summit is gained in time, +the road grows easier, and the pace mends, till a shout in front +startles their drowsy senses. + +'Hallo! Roddie!--halt! You're not going to pass an old friend like +that!' + +Roderick, wakening with a start, catches the bridle of the +good-natured beast, which has already come to a stand. A middle-aged +gentleman is descending a heathery knoll overhanging the road, and +carries a salmon rod on his shoulder, and a boy follows with his +basket, apparently well filled, and from which there peers a +companionable-looking bottle neck. + +'Good morning! Captain Drysdale.' + +'Good morning, Roddie! Glad to see you after so long.' + +'Going to try a last cast at the salmon before the fishing closes? You +have every prospect of good sport. The water looked splendid at the +bridge as I came over. The spate has fallen, but the water is still +brown, and dotted with foam-spots. You will have a fine day's sport.' + +'I hope so, lad! And I only wish you were coming with me! Od! Roddie, +do you ever think of the jolly days we used to have, when young +Kenneth was at home, lad! The fishing! and the days after the grouse! +we expect Kenneth home to-day for three months' leave,--in fact he +should have come last night. I wish you were to be with us too, old +man!' + +'Thanks, Captain John; but that can scarcely be. A minister should +have other things to think about,--at least the Presbytery would say +so, and I do not think the General would relish the crack of a +dissenter's gun on any moor of his.' + +'Hang the dissenters! and that weary Free Kirk that has set the people +by the ears. I never could understand how they contrived to inveigle a +sensible fellow like you--gentle born and bred, and your father's son, +in among a crew of canting demagogues.' + +'Please don't! Captain Drysdale. Nothing but a conviction that it was +right could have led me to take the step, and give up so much of what +I valued most. Having that conviction, I am sure even you must approve +my acting up to it. My choice has cost me much, but I counted, the +cost before I made it. So, as regards the church, we had better "let +that flea stick to the wa'" as my beadle says. We might argue till we +vexed each other, but neither would be converted to the other's +views.' + +'Well, Roddie! And probably your beadle says again--"They that will to +Cupar, maun to Cupar;"--there's no use speaking, but it's a great +pity!--And where, in the name of all that's wonderful, are you +trapezing to, at this hour of the morning? And of all the steeds in +the country side to carry a douse Free Kirk presbyter, if that is not +Patey Soutar the drunken cadger's pony! Bonny on-goings! my lad. What +would the 'Residuary' Presbytery, as you are pleased to denominate the +church of your fathers say to that? Ha, ha! I doubt not the Free is +both free and easy--ha! ha! And what may that be your reverence is +carrying home so gingerly? My stars! I believe it is a child!' + +At this point the baby disturbed first by the cessation of the pony's +rocking gait, and then fairly awakened by the Captain's loud guffaw, +lifted up its small voice and wept. + +'Indeed, Master Roddie, yours seems to be a very free church indeed!' + +'Captain Drysdale, I do think some things should not be said even in +jest, which is all you mean, I know. But I do not think I have +hitherto so desecrated my sacred calling as to have laid myself open +to such insinuations even in jest.' + +'Tush, man! Don't be so thin-skinned. One must have his joke. Besides, +after all, you have no need to be much vexed, "it is such a little +one," as the French girl said to her confessor.' And with a volley of +'ha, ha, ha!' Captain John bounded down the hill. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + _DOWN BY THE BURNSIDE_. + + +Mary Brown arose even earlier than her wont on the morning that +succeeded the gale. The air was fresh and sweet with the scent of bog +myrtle, fir, and early heather. The hillsides, new washed, were +vividly green in their clothing of pasture coppice and feathery birch. +The sombre moors were warming into crimson when they met the morning +sun, and the shadows among the rocks and distant hilltops showed the +whole gamut of blues and purple greys. + +Mary perforce had to take a morning walk. Their breakfast-room was at +some distance from the cottage in which she spent the night, and the +sweet air tempted her to extend the stroll through the village to an +old bridge that crossed the stream at its western extremity. There she +sat down on the stone parapet to sun herself, and thaw out the +chilliness which she had absorbed from the walls of her damp little +cottage chamber. + +How the poor seem to thrive and bloom and flourish into ripe and +hearty old age in those houses with their turf and stone walls! vying +in health and gaiety with the lusty house leek that ridges the roof +thatch! Can it be that they are made of another clay from those who +walk on planked floors, and shiver at every draught that sifts through +an ill-adjusted casement? Mary was no hothouse plant: her health was +good, and she had always spent much of her time out of doors, careless +of weather; but the clammy dampness and closeness of the little +cottage rooms oppressed her, and she now drank in the pure clear air +of the hills with thirsty content. + +The swiftly passing waters beneath the bridge, were a darker brown +after the rain, and spotted with patches of white foam, and they sung +with a low continuous movement as they slid over the rocks and broke +on the piers of the arch. Down the stream on a grassy flat the village +women were spreading out their little heaps of wet linen fresh wrung +from the stream, to bleach in the sun. Farther on a few cattle had +come down to drink; and beyond that, cottage roofs and palings closed +in the view. + +In the village street the grey shadows of the cottages alone broke the +monotony of the deserted road, till as she looked a figure issued from +the door of the inn, and slowly came towards her. The distance was too +great to enable her to identify the person; yet some vague +association, indefinite but altogether pleasant, was called up by the +gait and set of the shoulders as he approached, and added a new chord +of feeling which filled up the harmony of the peaceful scene. The +breeze flitting through a neighbouring wood came laden with a spicier +fragrance of resinous pine, and the hum of vagrant bees mixed with the +melody of babbling waters, and all the music of all the sunny mornings +she had ever known came back on her with a mysterious gladness as she +watched the approaching stranger. He was coming nearer, however, and +she turned her head till he would pass. + +The gentleman came forward smoking an early cigar, and likewise +enjoying the quiet beauty of the morning. The view looking up the glen +was wilder than in other directions. About a mile above the village +the woods ended, and the shoulders of the hills swept down into the +ascending valley in breadths of green pasture and brown and purple +moor, while the jagged outline of the more distant hills, bounded in +the background a broad bank of grey which stood sharply out against +the transparent horizon. + +The steep ascent of the old-fashioned bridge, and its brown stone +parapet, picked out in all the sunlit greens and yellows of moss and +wall rue, made a bold foreground to the picture, and the sable-clad +figure of Mary Brown on the summit, gave life and purpose to the +whole. + +The gentleman ascended the bridge. Mary's back seemed not unfamiliar +to him, but it was only on casting a side-long glance in passing that +a recognition became possible. + +'Mary Brown!' + +Mary started. Her thoughts had wandered away in a day-dream; she +looked round, and there stood the stranger at her elbow, with both +hands held out. + + +[Illustration: "He was coming nearer, ... she turned her head till he +would pass." Page 24.] + + +'Ken--Mister--Captain Drysdale!' The light came suddenly into her +eyes, and perhaps a shade of warmer color into her cheeks as she gave +her hand. + +'Why not Kenneth, as of old? Am I to say "Miss Brown?" I fear you have +a bad memory for old friends!' + +'Not that--but who would have expected to see you here?' + +'And who could have thought to see you here,---sitting upon a bridge, +in Glen Effick, at seven o'clock in the morning?' + +'We live in this village now. But where have you fallen from? When we +heard of you last you were at Gibraltar.' + +'And so I was till the other day, when the doctors ordered me home on +sick leave. But tell me. How come you to be staying in this poor +little place? Some of your old charity doings I suppose. Will you not +let me drive you over to the manse, my gig is getting ready now. As +you may suppose, I was storm-staid here last night, and I am just +setting out for home. Though, of course, I shall be only too glad to +wait till you are ready to start.' + +'Then you have not heard of my dear father's death, and that Roderick +has been appointed to the Free Church congregation in the parish.' + +'I knew about Doctor Brown, and felt deeply grieved. But I understood +Roderick had succeeded him in the parish. The General always said he +intended that he should.' + +'General Drysdale meant to be very kind; but Roderick has joined the +Free Church, so he could not accept, and I fear both the General and +Lady Caroline are a good deal displeased. But you know he had to do +what he thought right. Tell me, however, have you been very ill?' + +'Oh! I have been broiling on that terrible rock all the summer, like +the rest, and I had a pretty sharp attack of fever. But the week at +sea, coming home, has set me up again. But about you and Roddie,--do +you mean to say that for his church crotchets he has dragged you out +of the old manse where you were born? And that you and he are living +down here? Where do you live, by the way? Not in the village tavern, +surely!--with its pipe-smoking and toddy-drinking--and yet I see no +place else.' + +'We live in the cottages. Several of the villagers each give us a +room, so we are not so badly off for space, though the rooms are +pretty far apart.' + +'I would not have believed that your brother could have behaved so +badly as to bring you down to that. And I did not think my mother +would have allowed it. Were you not asked to stay at Inchbracken?' + +'I fear she and General Drysdale are too much displeased with my +brother for bringing the Free Church controversy into the parish, and +with me for following him, even to waste another thought upon either +of us. And perhaps, Captain Drysdale, it is wrong in me to stand here +talking to you, when I know how deeply we have offended your family. +Perhaps they might not like it.' + +'And what then? Miss Brown. Am I still in pinafores at +eight-and-twenty, that my mamma is to give consent before I may be +allowed to speak to my very oldest friend? Why! Mary, girl, I have had +you in my arms before you could walk, and I have fished you out of +more than one burn, where you might very well have been drowned if I +had not been near. And you know when you were eight years old you +promised'-- + +'Pray stop! Captain Drysdale. Those are old stories, and neither you +nor I are to be bound by the foolish speeches of our childhood. Dear +old Kilrundle! I shall never forget our happy days there. But things +have changed--I think this must be your gig.' + +It _was_ his gig, and with a very hearty shake-hands on either side, +he got into it, and drove away. + +'Prettier than ever,' he kept saying to himself, and the touch of the +soft hands and the light in the violet eyes seemed to remain with him, +and to vibrate about his heart, like the echo of a pleasant strain, +till an hour later be alighted at Inchbracken. + +Mary Brown strolled back to the village, her thoughts running on many +things at once, the pleasant memories of the long ago and the somewhat +sordid experiences of the present. Had Mrs. Sangster of Auchlippie +been by, and known what was passing in her mind, she would surely have +told her she was looking back to the fleshpots of Egypt, and exhorted +her to take warning by the melancholy fate of Lot's wife. + +Mrs. Sangster was a lady who took a particular interest in her own +side of the ecclesiastical contest; and indeed it paid her to do so. +She was the wife of the great man of the congregation, and seeing how +mightily her consequence had prospered under the schism, she might +well be zealous. From being an unpretending gentleman farmer, and the +smallest heritor in the parish, her husband was now one of the few +landed proprietors adhering to the Free Church, and one of those, +therefore, whom she delighted to honour. Their snug home with its +arable land and pastures, had now become a territorial designation +attached to his name by an accented 'of,' like a German 'von,' and +when he attended the General Assembly at Edinburgh he found himself +sitting in committee and on platforms with the Church's solitary +Marquis and the great magnates of the cause, while Madame had her seat +in the Assembly among the honourable women, behind the Moderator's +chair. + +Fortunately for Mary, Mrs. Sangster did not appear. It was only her +messenger in the person of a bare-foot herd laddie, who brought an +invitation to drink tea; so Mary might let her thoughts linger in +Egypt as they would. Indeed, in her case the rebuke could hardly be +held to apply, seeing it was not the Free Church she had followed into +the wilderness, but only the steps of her dear brother, that she might +support and minister to him wherever and however he might need her +help; consequently her religion manifested itself only as it had +always done, in charities and good deeds, and as she had little +to say on controversial subjects she was held to be 'juist a wee +cauldrife'--a weakly sister after the pattern of Martha, troubled +about many things and much serving, but hardly sound on the importance +of the Headship, seeing she was disposed to look on all ministers as +alike good, whether they had come out or stayed in. + +Mary lingered long over her breakfast, but at length it was concluded, +and she rose and returned to the study over the way. In the distance +coming down the hill road, she now descried her brother jogging slowly +down towards her. + +'Eppie,' she cried, 'here comes my brother at last; will you make him +some tea?' + +'Hoot, mem! He's no wantin' his breakfast, I'm thinkin', or he'd be +for makin' mair speed, saw ye e'er a hungry man danderin' down the +road like yon? But preserve us a'! What's yon he's carryin' afore him +on the bit pownie? It micht e'en be a bairn by the looks o' the +bun'le, an' the tent he taks on't.' 'A' weel, sir!' she shouted as he +drew near, 'Ye've had a sore traivel. Hoo's a' wi' ye, sir? An' wad ye +like a dish o' tea, sir! Or a drap kale? My pat's on this twa hour, an +I'm thinkin' there's a hantle mair fushion in that, nor a' yer +dribblin' teapats. Tak tent, sir!' she added as he proceeded to alight +before the door, 'gie us the bun'le an' ye'll licht easy. Lord sakes! +sir, wha's acht the bairn? A gangin' fit's aye gettin', folk says, but +wha'ar gat ye the wein?' + +'Well Eppie! It's a poor little shipwrecked sailor, and I believe an +orphan. I picked it up among the wreck of a ship that was lost at +Effick Mouth last night, and we must care for it till we find out whom +it belongs to. Though I fear its parents are among those lost in the +shipwreck. Poor little soul! See how it takes to you already, Eppie!' + +'The bonny lamb! an' sae it diz, an' it micht tak up wi' waur folk nor +Eppie Ness. I'se tent ye, my birdie! Hoot awa! Miss Mary, what ken a +young thing like you about fendin' for a bairnie? Young folk hae +muckle to learn, an' yer time 'ull come, hinnie, or I'm muckle +mistaen. I'll seek out the bit cradle whaur my ain bonny wee lambie +lay, 'at's been wi' the Lord noo gaun on twenty year, gin ye'll haud +this wee birdie, Miss Mary. An' ye can be seein' til its claes, an' +we'll hae to mak meat til't.' + +So the baby was carried into the house, undressed and bathed and fed, +and put to sleep in Eppie's cradle. When the shawls were removed they +disclosed a little girl dressed in many delicate embroideries, and +around its body was entwined part of a gold chain corresponding to the +links which Roderick had observed in the grasp of the drowned woman on +the beach. These properties they carefully folded up and put away to +assist in the future identification of the child, and Roderick wrote a +letter to the _Edinburgh Witness_ describing the waif he had rescued +from the sea, in hopes it might meet the eye of some friend or +relation. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + JULIA. + + +When Captain John joined the family at dinner that day, it was with +feelings of more than his wonted self-content. He had returned from +his fishing only the hour before, and had brought with him the two +finest salmon that had been caught that season. The game-keepers and +retainers had admired them as in duty bound, but theirs was the +admiration that pleases only _faute de mieux_, seeing that it can be +counted on, while to-day his nephew, his old rival in field sports, +was present to join in the applause. + +They sat down, a party of five, the three gentlemen already described, +Lady Caroline, and her kinswoman Miss Finlayson. Lady Caroline was the +great lady of the neighbourhood. She was tall and dignified, with a +thorough appreciation of her own importance; also she was somewhat +indolent, and therefore disposed to be good-natured and condescending, +whenever her superiority was quietly acquiesced in. She spent a few +weeks each summer in London with her husband, but these visits were +yearly becoming shorter. There were so many persons of more +consequence than herself, and she found herself so much in the +position of one in a crowd, that she felt as if losing her sense of +personal identity, became depressed, and hurried home never to return, +or would have done so had it not been for Miss Finlayson, her +judicious young friend, who never once presumed to advise or direct, +but who yet could influence her in opposition to her own inclination, +to remain in town to the end of the season, to return again the next +year, and to do any thing else the said Miss Finlayson might desire. + +Miss Finlayson was a young lady of five or six-and-twenty, and of +slender fortune and accommodating disposition, who could converse or +keep silence, read, write, play or sing, laugh or cry in sympathy with +the mood of her protectress. In person as in manner she can only be +described negatively. She was quite what a young lady should be at all +points, or at least, when you come to particularize, nothing that she +should not be. Had Madame Contour, her London dressmaker, sent home +her person and demeanour, as well as her admirably fitting draperies, +she would have been very much as she was. Her figure was tall and +well-proportioned, waist small, bust a little flat, easily amenable to +the touch of art, arms slender but well rounded and charmingly white, +hands and feet adapted to the smallest and daintiest of gloves and +slippers. Her complexion was pale but clear, lips thin, mouth long, +nose slightly aquiline, eyes somewhat pale, forehead too high, but +with the dark hair drawn well over the temples, and long ringlets +descending nearly to the waist. Altogether a pale but not unpleasing +vision, and what Madame Contour would have called 'very ladylike.' She +had come to Inchbracken three years before, on a cousinly visit of a +fortnight; but Lady Caroline had found her so delightful and +invaluable a companion that she had been induced to prolong her stay +from month to month, till at length, after prolonged entreaties, she +had consented to sacrifice what she called her independence, and make +Inchbracken her home. + +Her insight into the character of those about her was unusually +distinct, and the tact with which she applied the knowledge so +acquired thoroughly artistic. With the General she was all grateful +deference and modest trust; hanging on his lips for any occasional +oracles of wisdom that chance might issue, but very careful not to +bore him with her presence or conversation unsought, and ever ready +with a light for his cigar when his own matchbox was mislaid, as it +generally was. With Captain John she was gay, always ready with a +flippant repartee whenever he attempted to gibe, but still upon her +guard. There was a twinkle in the old gentleman's eye whenever they +engaged in a passage of arms, which suggested that he too had some of +the insight on which she depended so much in playing the game of life. +With Lady Caroline, as already said, she was self-adaptive and +sympathetic, and yet to all appearance spontaneously so, and without +ever sinking her own individuality, or permitting herself to be taken +for granted like a dependent. Besides amusing, she contrived to +relieve her of many small burdens and domestic cares, and so became +altogether indispensable to her indolent kinswoman. She interfered in +nothing, and yet there was no part of the household machine that did +not run smoother when lubricated by her good offices. The housekeeper, +the head gardener, even my lady's own woman came in time to solicit in +an emergency the favourable intervention of this best natured of all +young ladies, and always with the best results. + +Lady Caroline found at length that she need neither think nor act, +save when she felt inclined, and she declared with fervour, that Julia +Finlayson was as good as a daughter of her own. That amiable person +was quite content that it should be so, and indeed was most willing +that Lady Caroline should have a full legal claim on her filial duty. +By some deft manipulation of circumstances, the idea of her becoming a +daughter-in-law had been suggested to her ladyship's mind, while the +dear disinterested Julia stood immaculate from every suspicion of +scheming, and, strange as it may seem, Lady Caroline was disposed to +acquiesce. Her Kenneth, she said, would never make a great marriage, +and if he would bring home a nobody, there was none she would more +willingly take to her mother's heart than 'poor Julia.' The adjective +is not exactly an enthusiastic one, but narrow circumstances had +taught Miss Finlayson philosophy, and she did not look to gather +grapes off thorns. If the thorns would only consent not to scratch +till she had made good her hold, she knew she could pick them off at +her leisure afterwards; and then for a crackling blaze under the pot! +It would be 'poor thorns' then! But meanwhile, to acquire a +mother-in-law, that lady's consent is by no means the essential or +only step. 'First catch your hare,' or the pot will be empty, and the +thorns to crackle under it will never be required. Though the damsel +sit expectant and willing in her bower, what matter, if the wooer +comes not? and so far Kenneth had shown no desire to approach Julia's +bower in wooer's guise. Most callous of men, and most indifferent of +cousins, he had passed under all the battery of charms and +accomplishments, and never known. In all cousinliness he had taught +her to fish, and to row on the loch. When she admitted a curiosity as +to men's pursuits and a liking for tobacco smoke, he had welcomed her +to the smoking-room, where she felt inclined to study _Bell's Life_, +and also to the billiard room, where, in fact, he made her a very +tolerable player, but that was all,--he felt to her only as if she had +been a very little brother, and wondered what she meant by so many +dainty affectations, and why she should bother to do so many things he +shrewdly suspected she did not like. As to her clever little leadings, +feints, and fencings colloquial, they were so much good brain-power +thrown away, and might have been spoken in French or Sanscrit for any +idea they conveyed to him. In fact she was altogether too +sophisticated and utterly fine for this country-bred swain, and +besides, she was always there. + +If you had partridge every day for breakfast, partridge for dinner, +and partridge again at supper, how long would you continue to relish +that dainty food? And so probably in the case of a healthy young man +with plenty of social opportunities, a permanent residence under the +same roof does not afford the sportswoman the best opportunity to bag +her game. So many weapons and devices become useless after a trial or +two. What can be the efficacy of a parting glance, for instance, if +the glancer has only gone behind the rose-bush at the other end of the +garden? And how can one recall a last _tête à tête_, when the partner +in it sits in an adjoining chamber, ready to resume? And how can +imagination and memory ever come into play, with the fair object +always in full view? Miss Finlayson was not only too sophisticated, +but she was always there, and so, simple Mary Brown, though probably +not so handsome according to Madam Contour's standard, and certainly +less clever and accomplished, had taken possession of the young man's +affections, and kept them, in spite of all the wiles of the syren. + +All this, however, had come to an end two years ago when Kenneth, +after long leave and quarters in the nearest garrison town, was +ordered with his regiment to Gibraltar. In the meantime Mary Brown had +become involved in the disgrace into which every well regulated mind +in the Inchbracken circle considered that her brother had sunk. In +fact she had so completely fallen out of their world that she need not +be considered further, except to keep her out. Wherefore Julia made +haste to welcome Kenneth's return, with all the warmth of a cousin, +and to intimate as far as a well-bred damsel may, that she was +capable, perhaps, of even warmer feelings. + +The conversation at dinner that evening ran much on Captain John's +successful angling. The appearance of his largest salmon at table gave +the ladies an opportunity to join in the applause, which every male +inhabitant of the house and offices had already offered. + +'If you would only go out oftener, John!' said Lady Caroline. 'None of +the men ever seem able to bring home anything larger than a small +grilse.' + +'Was it above or below the bridge you caught him? Captain Drysdale,' +asked Miss Finlayson. + +And so John was launched on an extended narrative of his day's spoil. +Every bolt and plunge and feint and double of his fish was duly +recorded, with sufficient local description to make the whole +perfectly intelligible. He told his story remarkably well, and quite +aroused the interest of his auditors. Too much so, perhaps, if the +General's opinion had been asked; but then the General may have been +hypercritical, owing to an idea he had of elevating dinner into one of +the fine arts. 'You see,' he would say 'one can only dine once in +twenty-four hours, that is to say if one is not to be talked about, +which would be unpleasant, or to lose use of one's liver, which would +be worse. And so, for myself I confess I look forward to dinner as the +event of the day, and like to approach it in a proper spirit. There +should be some talk of course, because we are neither beasts nor +cannibals; but it should be light, gay, and cheerful, for good spirits +promote digestion--yet not too engrossing--and especially--no +discussion! That distracts the attention, till a man may not know +whether it is a quail or a snipe he is eating. We want a cheerful +tranquility at dinner, in order to appreciate rightly the dishes +submitted; and give due attention to the business before us and that, +I take it, is the deglutition of food.' + +On the present occasion, however, the General's views were neither +asked nor propounded, and John rambled pleasantly forward through the +various events of his day. + +'By the way, Kenneth! I met your old crony, young Brown, this morning. +Poor lad! Fanaticism has changed him sadly; long-haired, lank-jawed, +and saucer-eyed, that is what he has become. He might be a Covenanter, +or a member of the Barebones Parliament. He appeared to be returning +home from Inverlyon, where he must have been last night, for it was +about eight o'clock when I met him on the road this morning, jogging +along, (how he used to gallop about the countryside of old!) and +mounted, of all beasts for a douce Free Kirk priest to be astride, on +that poaching rascal Patey Soutar's pony!' + +'Hm!' said the General,'I always said secession was just inserting the +small end of the wedge! They quarrel with our vested right of +patronage now, but that is only the beginning. By and by they will +question our right to the grouse on our own hills, and want to repeal +the game laws! If they had their way, I wonder would they leave us a +roof over our heads, or a coat on our backs? That comes of your Reform +Bills! and putting the government of the country in the hands of +people who have nothing to lose! But I did not expect to see the son +of my old friend array himself with such as these. It is very sad.' + +'Did he seem cheerful, John?' asked Kenneth. + +'He looked as I say, tired, thin, and hollow-eyed. But when I tried +mildly to remonstrate, and show that he had made the change for the +worse, he fired up briskly enough, and held forth quite at length. He +might have been talking still, I daresay, but that just then, there +came a squeal from a parcel he carried on his saddle bow. I pricked up +my ears at that, and resolved to take _my_ innings then. He had been +discoursing on the solemnity of his avocations, which precluded +shooting and fishing, so here I had a fine opening for chaff, saying +that his presbytery might reasonably forbid these, seeing that it +allowed other pastimes so much more engrossing, for--saving your +presence, Lady Caroline--the bundle contained a baby! Poor fellow, he +seemed so put-out, I really did not catch his explanation--though of +course there was one, (there always is--) The confusion seemed quite +out of proportion, for after all as the French girl said to her +priest, "it was such a little one!" Ha, ha!!' + +But no one joined in the laugh. The ladies were examining the flowers +painted on their plates, and the gentlemen kept a severe silence. You +surely went too far there! Captain John! Good man. He loved to make a +joke, but it was not often that he achieved one. If desire had been +qualification, he would certainly have been a wit; and when he thought +he had achieved one, he repeated it till every one he knew had heard +it. Hence the repetition of the morning's rather thread-bare jest. + +Perhaps it was only to break an awkward silence that Miss Finlayson +took up the word. + +'Your woman Briggs tells me, Lady Caroline, that that Tirpie girl, old +Tibbie's daughter, has come home again. When Briggs came over from +Inverlyon last night, there was some one else in the stage-coach, all +wrapped up, who sat and cried the whole way. She got out at Tibbie's +cottage. This morning Briggs went over about some sewing, and there +was the girl looking so thin and pale. Briggs says it was distressing +to see her, she looked so weak and heart-broken. Perhaps you may +remember that she was ailing and went away to some friend at a +distance. Now she is home again. I fear she is not a good girl, at +least not all her mother would wish her to be. But perhaps you could +let her have some fine sewing, Briggs says any other kind of work +would be too much for her.' + +The boisterous unmannerliness of Captain John's remark had caused a +sensation, but it was as nothing to the dismay which followed Miss +Finlayson's perfectly quiet, evenly uttered, and perhaps charitably +intended words. She seemed virtuously unconscious of all evil, but by +some occult association of ideas, her statement fell into the minds of +her auditors as corroborative and supplementary to what had been meant +but as a little verbal horse play by the Captain. + +Lady Caroline looked deeply shocked, Kenneth flushed scarlet with +indignation, and as his glance met John's, the latter returned it with +a twinkle of mingled amusement and admiration. He passed his napkin +across his mouth to hide an uncontrollable grin, and muttered to +Kenneth his neighbour--'the scandalous jade!' + +William the footman appeared to quiver as if struck. His eye dilated +and his jaw fell. The dish he carried would have fallen, and there +would have been a catastrophe, had not the butler trodden on his toe +and recalled him with a reproving glance to that sublime impassibility +which alone is worthy of a footman on duty. + +The General alone remained tranquil. He was eating his dinner. He +heard something pass between the ladies about one of the cottagers, +but his thoughts were running on other things, whether, for instance, +another clove of garlic, or perhaps an olive would not give a rounder +fulness to the sauce on his plate. + +There was little or no conversation afterwards. Every one seemed +distraught, and following out a train of new and unpleasant ideas, +except Miss Finlayson, who seemed securely content, a participant with +the General in his digestive tranquility. Perhaps she had fired her +shot and it had sped home to its mark, or perhaps there was no mark +and no intention when the winged words flew forth. We read that of old +'a certain man drew a bow at a venture.' The arrow sped, and entering +the unguarded joint of a harness, it laid a warrior low. It may be +that Julia's arrow was thus unwittingly shot, but Captain John did not +think so. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + _SOPHIA_. + +Three weeks later, Mrs. Sangster entertained friends. Dinner at +Auchlippie took place earlier than at Inchbracken--finished the +afternoon rather than began the evening. At its conclusion the master +withdrew, to make the round of his stables and cattle sheds, and see +that the stock was fitly provided and bestowed for the night. His son, +Mr. Peter Sangster of Manchester and his friend Mr. Wallowby, likewise +of Manchester, and now in Scotland for a short vacation, also withdrew +and lighting their cigars sauntered down the avenue. Only the Rev. Mr. +Dowlas was left within doors in company with Mrs. Sangster and her +daughter. The latter sought her embroidery frame in a distant bay +window, and soon became engrossed in counting the squares of her +Berlin wool work. + +The elder lady was left alone to converse with her ghostly friend, and +the pair selecting the two easiest and roomiest chairs they could +find, drew a long breath and settled themselves for along and +confidential 'crack.' There was much to tell and to hear about the +fortunes of the 'cause' throughout the several parishes of their +presbytery, in which Mr. Dowlas was a guiding spirit; but at length +they came round to the lady's own parish of Kilrundle, which she, as +ruling lady of the ruling elder and chief adherent, considered as her +own in a more especial sense than did any other of the parishioners. + +'And I think,' she said, 'Mr. Dowlas, that we here in Kilrundle, have +fought the good fight as well as any of you. They tell me there were +not two dozen residuaries in Kilrundle Church on Sunday, though the +Inchbracken family are far more particular about their servants +attending ordinances now than they used to be. And Lady Caroline goes +twice every Sunday herself. You know there was many and many a Sabbath +day in the old time, that she never darkened the kirk door at all, but +now she goes to countenance that sticket dominie that fills good old +Doctor Brown's pulpit. Well! poor misguided woman, let us hope she may +perhaps get some small enlightenment to her darkened mind! Though, I +fear, the motive which draws her to the sanctuary, being only the +support of high handed error and worldliness, is one not likely to +bring a blessing. It seems _doubtful_ to me too if we have any right +to consider the churches of the Establishment as sanctuaries at all. +Just hot-beds of soul-deadening Moderatism and Erastianism, where the +word of God is only permitted, in so far as it can be made to square +with Lord Aberdeen's Bill.' + +'Well ma'am! they _do_ say that that sinful Act of Parliament is laid +on the table of the residuary presbyteries side by side with the word +of God! But I would fain hope that that is an exaggeration. I hear you +are having very full meetings at the Muir Foot; times of refreshing, I +hope, and sincere milk of the word.' + +'We've much to be thankful for. On fine days when the heather's dry, +far more turn out than ever I saw in Old Kilrundle Kirk in its best +days; and even when it rains, you'd be surprised to see how many sit +out the discourse under their plaids and umbrellas. I hope the hearts +of the persecutors may be turned before long, however, and that we may +get a stanse for a church, before the rough weather sets in. There's a +very suitable stanse, just opposite Inchbracken Gates, and in full +view of the Old Kirk. That would suit us finely and be a standing +testimony against the backslidings in high places, and I want Mr. +Sangster to head a deputation and wait on the General, poor +thoughtless worldling, and lay our case before him, simply but +faithfully; but I cannot prevail on him to undertake the duty, for I +think it is a duty. He says he cannot afford to quarrel with General +Drysdale, who has always been a good neighbour, though I cannot say it +myself. I have found Lady Caroline always very high with me. I fear, +poor woman, she wants some grievous affliction to bring her to a due +sense of her unworthiness, and that she'll get it. However, widow +Forester has a small free-hold down Glen Effick, and the Deacons' +Court are considering about buying a corner fronting on the high road. +She wants a big price for it though, and they cannot get her to move +from her terms. She says the bit of land is all she has in the world, +and she must do the best she can with it.' + +'Ah!' sighed the minister, 'filthy lucre!' It is strange, people will +set so much store by things which perish in the using, notwithstanding +the noble example of the widow in the gospel, who cast into the +treasury all her living!' + +'Yes, it is indeed sad to see such worldly-mindedness; and you see +we've a poor congregation, and whatever money is spent on the ground, +there will be just so much less to lay out on the building, and we +will end with having some poor draughty little place, with narrow +benches and straight backs, enough to give one the fidgets in a long +service, or an attack of rheumatism. We have subscribed twenty pounds +ourselves to the church building fund, and it seems very hard that so +much of the money should just be going into widow Forester's pocket; +I cannot think that a person like that can be in a proper frame of +mind. Indeed, I called on her myself, and strove to place the matter +before her in all love and faithfulness. I earnestly besought her to +leave all care and anxiety for her poor perishing body in higher +hands,--and, what do you think? Mr. Dowlas, she had the assurance to +tell me that we had better give them a site for church, manse and +school, up here at Auchlippie! The impertinent beasom! I just gave her +one look, and I walked out of her house--and I will never speak to +that woman again!' + +There came a twinkle into the minister's eye. He was by no means +devoid of the sense of humour, and perhaps that trait in himself, +which led the 'unregenerate' to think they detected in him a +considerable vein of pawkie selfishness, led him more keenly to enjoy +his friend's unconscious display of a similar propensity. He soon, +however, solemnized his features and voice with the regulation +ecclesiastical sigh. + +'The flesh is weak! my dear friend,' he said in time, 'and we must +bear with one another's infirmities! The strong especially must bear +with the weak.' + +'Yes,' retorted the lady, whose meekness was generally absent on the +faintest hint of reproof, 'but the weak are required to look up to the +strong for guidance as well as protection; for the powers that be are +ordained of God. And I consider that the like of Widow Forester was +very far out of her duty to speak back to _me_. The Shorter Catechism +is most precise about superiors, inferiors, and equals.' + +'Ah yes!' said the minister, with his twinkle of eye, and more unction +of voice. He was too sensible a man to embroil himself with an angry +woman and a hospitable hostess. 'It is a wonderful compendium of sound +and wholesome doctrine, the Shorter Catechism. I hope our young friend +Mr. Brown sees that the lambs of the flock are well grounded in its +hallowed teachings.' + +'Oh he does, and I am very particular myself that my young women's +class have all the scripture proofs to each question at their finger +ends. I would like you to examine them, Mr. Dowlas, to-morrow +afternoon. You see Mr. Brown is but young yet, though he is a most +excellent lad, and I feel to him almost like a mother, and try to +advise him as an older head sometimes can. But he's rather fractious +at times to the voice of instruction. Young folk, you see, will be +young folk!' + +'Yes ma'am,' said Mr. Dowlas, who, whatever his faults, was always +loyal to his cloth, and would permit no one but himself to say +anything against a cleric in his presence, 'I look on you people of +Kilrundle as most fortunate in your minister. He is one of the +excellent of the earth, and has few equals in the presbytery either +for piety or learning, or I think talent. If he lives he will take a +high place in the church, and then his zeal and his sacrifices for the +cause are something to make many an older member blush. You see, to +him Erastianism showed itself in its most enticing aspect, for his +father, we must all admit, was a worthy man, though moderate.' + +'Ah yes!' broke in the lady; 'there's where it is! In this life he had +his good things, and was thought a worthy man; but he would not join +at the Disruption. The pleasures of sin for a season were too much for +him, and now he is gone to his account! It's a solemn thought, Mr. +Dowlas, to think where that poor old man may be now!' Here she became +ejaculatory. 'Without are dogs--and moderates.' + +The minister here broke in to prevent worse, 'As the tree falleth, +dear lady, so shall it lie. Old Doctor Brown led a godly life, and it +is not permitted to pry into the mysteries beyond the veil. He +belonged to an earlier generation, and was so bound up in the work of +his parish that I do not think he gave much thought to what was +transpiring in the church at large. We may judge from the training he +gave his son, that his heart was in the right place, and from the +course his son has taken since he was brought face to face with the +questions of the day, we may guess how the father would have acted if +he had been similarly placed. Just see how young Roderick, though not +yet ordained, has brought out the whole of his large parish with him. +It is a great achievement! When do Mr. Sangster and the Session intend +to moderate the call, and get him ordained and settled among you?' + +'Well! to tell you the truth, Mr. Dowlas, I have been rather delaying +and keeping back Mr. Sangster (so far as a wife may) from pressing +that matter forward too precipitately. It seems to me that, with the +young man's talents, it is like hiding gospel light under a bushel, to +keep him in this poor neighbourhood. If he had only a chance now to +preach in Edinburgh or Glasgow, or even Aberdeen, who knows but he +might get a call to a city church? While if he is once ordained and +settled here, he may be twenty years before he gets out of it. Between +ourselves--you see, there has been a very considerable intimacy +between him and our Sophia, for years and years back. I cannot say +that anything has ever been said--I will not say that anything wants +to be said--but a mother's heart, Mr. Dowlas, will ponder and be +anxious. Before the Disruption, when there was every prospect of his +becoming assistant and successor to his father, such an arrangement +might have been feasible enough--not that it could be said to be much +of a match for our daughter--but when there is true love and true +religion, and a very good position in the county--for the Browns +always visited with the best, and the money the uncle that died in +India left them--. I fear I am a wee bit romantic, Mr. Dowlas, but I +think if matters had arranged themselves in that way, and Sophia +had wished, I could have given my consent. But the Disruption has +changed all that! Still, with a city charge, and a nice congregation +able to support a minister, like St. George's, Edinburgh, we will +say,--perhaps we might have thought of it yet. But if he settled down +here in Kilrundle, without either church or manse, it would be a clear +tempting of Providence to entrust him with the happiness of our +Sophia. I think of her that we have reared with such care, and given +the most expensive education to!--potichomania, even, and the use of +the globes!--to be living about among the cottars in Glen Effick. It +would never do! The clay floors would bring on a galloping consumption +in six month's time!' + +'Mr. Guthrie, ma'am, of Edinburgh, will remedy all that before long. +Have you not heard of the wonderful success that is attending his +scheme? which is, to build a manse for every minister in the Church? I +hear he is carrying everything before him, and I am not surprised. +Such energy and such powers of persuasion could not possibly fail.' + +'I hope it may be so, for the Church's sake. But as regards Mr. Brown, +he would still be in but a small way to take a wife. Not that I would +have you for a moment to imagine that we are looking for a proposal +from him. I have great confidence in Sophia's sound Christian +principles. I do not think she would ever bring herself to do anything +rashly or unadvisedly--she has great prudence and sound sense. Did you +observe Mr. Wallowby at dinner, and the very marked attention he paid +her? I believe he is interested in her already! and no wonder, for +there are few like her, either for good looks or solid sense. Mr. +Wallowby is very wealthy, and perhaps Sophia might see it her duty to +accept, if he were to propose. Great wealth opens such a door for +extended usefulness! That would relieve my mind greatly as to Roddie +Brown, poor man, and his prospects. But as I said before, Sophia has +never opened her mind to me, nor, I believe, has either admirer spoken +to her. Roddie would speak fast enough, I am sure, if he either saw +his way to keep a wife, or got encouragement from us; but we must see +our way better before doing that. As for Mr. Wallowby, he only arrived +yesterday, but I think so soon as he knows his own mind, he will let +us know it too.' + +'It is an anxious time for a mother, when a beloved daughter's +settlement comes to be decided. But here come our young friends Mr. +and Miss Brown!' + +In fact the Sangster dog-cart here drove past the window, and set down +the young preacher and his sister at the door. Thereupon supervened +considerable noise of voices in the hall, for Peter Sangster and his +friend had been smoking through the bars of the lodge gate when the +dog-cart came in sight, and Mr. Wallowby had been so taken with what +he was pleased to call the trim clipper-like cut of Mary Brown, that +he had persuaded Peter to dismiss the groom driving, and get in +themselves to accompany the new comers to the house. Peter being an +old acquaintance and admirer of Mary's was not averse, and when he +found her seated at his side, he wished the avenue had been of greater +length. + +Sophia left her embroidery frame to meet Mary as she alighted, and +carry her off to her chamber, while Roderick entered the presence of +the Lady of Auchlippie. + +Mr. Dowlas hailed the arrival with sincere satisfaction, for his +hostess' postprandial confidences had been a little irksome. She had +been loquacious and exciting, when, if the unvarnished truth may be +told, he would fain have been silent, still, tranquil, somnolent and +perhaps even asleep; for he had dined copiously. At any time it is +unpleasant to hear one's sincerely cherished sentiments caricatured, +or made ridiculous by being introduced in a discordant connection, but +it is aggravating when the exhibition is obtruded on a mind rendered +reposeful by the sense of physical repletion. The lady's jumble of +genuine selfish worldliness and artificial pietism had been very far +from soothing. He could not but admit in his heart, that he had +detected something like the same stirring of mixed motives in himself; +but then, even to himself, they had taken a more seemly guise. Here in +their grosser manifestation they shocked him greatly. It seemed like +looking in a distorting mirror, when the gazer cannot withdraw his +eyes from the hideous image, which he still perceives to be his own, +although so different and deformed. + +Mr. Dowlas rose, and said he would take a short stroll in the garden +before tea. Mrs. Sangster re-seated herself with Roderick, and +proceeded to make herself busy with the worldly affairs and spiritual +state of many members of his flock, giving much valuable advice, as of +a mother in Israel to her youngest son. Her eye, however, rested not +on his comely face, but peered over his shoulder to see how it sped +with Sophia and Mr. Wallowby, for she was resolved that no detrimental +influence should come between that wealthy man of Manchester and her +daughter's charms, if perchance she might find favour in his eyes. + +Alas! the rich man's eyes were fixed on Mary Brown, whose lively talk +engaged both himself and Peter, while Sophia, resplendent embodiment +of repose and still life, completed the group, but contributed nothing +to the conversation. Mrs. Sangster grew restless as she watched, lost +the thread of her discourse more than once, resumed in the wrong +place, and wondering what her interlocutor would think, grew more and +more confused. Had she looked in his face instead of past him, she +would have been reassured. He had moved his chair a little so as to +see, by turning his eye, in the same direction to which her looks were +directed, and he sat regarding her with a smile of reposeful content. +He probably knew nothing of what she was saying, and in truth he +bestowed only so much attention as enabled him to smile or bow when a +pause in the current of words seemed to call for a sign of assent. The +young man's soul was steeped in tranquil satisfaction. He breathed the +same air, he occupied the same room with Sophia,--the Sophia ever +present in his thoughts by day and his dreams by night, and when he +raised his eyes they rested on her form. + +Sophia Sangster--the name is prosaic enough. Not Romeo himself could +have taught the nightingales to warble it. But there are no +nightingales in the North, and the name of the girl he loved best had +never struck Roderick as wanting in melody. She was about the same age +as his sister, but taller and larger in every way. Indeed, she was on +as large a scale as a woman can well be, without disturbing the sense +of fitness and harmony; but the proportion was so fine, that unless +when some one was near with whom to compare her, she would have passed +for the medium height. Perfectly modelled, and in the finest health, +she lent to each movement a rhythmical repose, while rest was in her +the suspended action we see in a marble statue, all free from the limp +flaccidity of lolling sloth. Her abundant hair was coiled in +numberless braids about her head, whose low forehead reminded one of +ancient sculpture. So also did the straight nose, full lips, and chin. +The rich currents of exuberant health lent brilliant carnation tints +to a soft and delicate skin, and nourished the cool shining of the +large brown eyes beneath the shadow of their curving lids and long +dark lashes-eyes into which poor Roderick had gazed with reverent +wonder since long ago. + +He saw in this maiden of the admirable physique, and the transparent +well-coloured eyes, all that was responsive to his enthusiastic and +imaginative nature. Another Pygmalion, he had breathed into her clay a +life derived from his own, and now, heathen-like, he worshipped and +rejoiced in the work of his own hands, and basked in the light of +perfections which existed only in his fanciful desires. With her fine +person and her talent for silence and repose, she was like a handsome +wall, on which the magic lantern of his thoughts could disport itself +in the gayest hues of imagination, and, for the present, with far more +comfort and delight than had the Sophia of his worship been a real +person, liable to be found wanting, and falling short of expectation. +Being an ideal creature altogether, it wanted but a little more +make-believe in a new place to fit her exactly to each varying mood. + +A young child finds greater and more lasting amusement in the rough, +coarse cuts to be found in a backstreet picture book, than in the +daintiest illustrations of Caldecott or Kate Greenaway; and the +reason, no doubt is, that art having realized less, there is more +scope for imagination--more field for the young idea to play in. So +too in heathendom, the worship of Isis continued a living cult long +after that of the Latin gods had become merely a state ceremonial. The +blank impersonal carving of the Egyptian idol left unlimited +possibilities to the devout imagination, which each worshipper could +work out according to his own needs, while the fully realized +conceptions of Grecian art showed more to the worshipper than perhaps +he could take in, and the bodily perfection displayed recalled rather +the victor in some circus contest than suggested the mysteries of the +unseen. + +But while we have been talking of her daughter, Mrs. Sangster and her +guests have gone to tea. Tea was a meal forty years ago. The company +sat round the table, which was set out with plates of bread and +butter, various kinds of cake, and sundry varieties of preserves, the +work of Sophia all, and works whose excellence warranted the pride she +took in them; for before all else Sophia was a notable housekeeper. + +After tea there was music, but it being Saturday night, Sophia +refrained from performing her last-learned polka, seeing it was an +elder's house and two ministers were present; not that she feared to +seduce these grave gentlemen into the levity of a dance, but that it +was not consonant with the Sabbath exercises of the coming morrow. +Mary therefore was called on to sing for them 'Angels ever bright and +fair,' and such other morsels of Handel as she could recall without +her music. After that, Mr. Sangster called for his favourite Psalm +tunes, in which he and Mr. Dowlas joined with immense relish, and no +small volume of sound. Mary's voice was completely overborne in the +din, and Mr. Wallowby added a new experience in sacred song to his not +very complimentary catalogue of the transgressions and shortcomings of +the Scotch as measured by the standard of Manchester. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + JOSEPH. + + +If night follows brighter day in more sunny climes, the colder skies +of Scotland enjoy at least the compensation of a lengthened gloaming. +The crimson glory of sunset ebbs more slowly away, and a paler +daylight lingers on and on, fading by imperceptible degrees, as the +blue transparent vapours of the still and warm earth rise to meet the +golden blue of heaven; it is hours before the two unite to wrap the +world in the purple gloom of night. + +On a slope of the upland moor which divides Glen Effick from the coast +was the spot where the Free Church congregation of Kilrundle held its +Sunday meetings in the open air. 'The Muir Foot' sloped evenly down +into the glen, not far outside the village, and close to the high +road, from which, nevertheless, it was entirely screened by a thicket +of birch and hazel. On the inner edge of this was a small platform for +the preacher, roofed and enclosed with canvas, and hence denominated +the tent. When the services were in Gaelic and the preacher indulged +in much action, the arrangement might have been suggested of Punch and +Judy to a frivolous stranger, but the people were too full of solemn +and earnest enthusiasm to see anything amiss. A stray colt on the +hillside projected against the sky, would bring to the minds of some a +vision of Claverhouse and his troopers in the olden time, for that was +a theme often presented to their thoughts in tract and sermon. They +had almost persuaded themselves the covenanting scenes were to be +played over again in their own times, and were steadfastly resolved to +'quit themselves like men' in the day of trouble. + +Before the tent there was a plat of turf, through the middle of which +a burn babbled over the stones; beyond, the moor swept gently upwards, +and here the worshippers were wont to sit, tier above tier, like the +audience in a theatre, to listen to the preaching of the word. In that +gloaming the place was not altogether deserted, the tap of a hammer +driving nails reverberated through the stillness. Joseph Smiley the +beadle and a joiner by trade, was at work making preparation for the +services of the morrow. He had driven a few posts into the sward, and +on these was nailing planks to form a rough bench or two, for the +eldership and the _élite_ of the congregation. There were also two or +three wooden chairs, but these he hid away in the tent to keep them +safe till the Sangster family should appear, and he had an opportunity +to present them. + +'It's nane o' yer orra bodies 'at's to hecht their tail on thae +chairs, an' me feshin' them a' the gate fra' hame, I'se warrant! I'll +mak an errand up til Auchlippie come Monday, an' gin I hae na twa half +crowns in my pouch, or a pair o' the maister's breeks in my oxter at +the hamecomin', my name's no Joseph Smiley!' With these comfortable +reflections he put on his coat, gathered up his tools, and started for +home in the gathering darkness. + +'Joseph Smiley!' + +The words came out of the darkness under a tree, as he passed through +the thicket and gained the road. Joseph recognized the voice, though +he could not see the speaker. + +'The deil flee awa wi' her auld banes! If that's no Tibbie Tirpie! +What brings the auld witch here wi' her blathers and fleetchin'! I hae +lippened til her haudin' her tongue afore folk, but here she's grippet +me my lane. But we maun speak the carlin fair'--so much under his +breath, then aloud-- + +'Hoo's a' wi' ye, Mistress Tirpie? It's lang sin we hae forgathered +the gither. But I'm aye speerin' after ye; I ken ye're weel!' + +It's no my bodily health 'at's ailin', Joseph Smiley, but my heart's +sair in me, an' ye ken what for.' + +'I'm sure, Luckie, I kenna what ye're drivin' at; gin gude will o' +mine wad gar ye thrive, ye'se thrive wi' the lave! an' as for sare +heart I kenna what there can be to fash ye. But there's balm in +Gilead, Mistress Tirpie, take ye yer burden there. I'm but a puir +door-keeper in the house of the Lord,--tho' it's better that nor +dwellin' in tents o' sin,--juist a puir silly earthen vessel, but I'se +testifee sae far. + +'Joseph Smiley! Ye twa-faced heepocrit. Hoo daar ye tak the word o' +God atween yer leein' lips like that? Are ye no feared the grund will +open an' swally ye up?' + +Fient a fear! Luckie, gin the earth swallied a' body 'at spak +unadveesedly wi' their lips, it wad hae a sair wamefu'! There's no +mony wad be left stan'in' ower grund. An' I'm misdoubtin' but ye'd no +be to the fore yersel', Tibbie. But lay by yer flitin'. Hoo's a' wi' +young Tib?' + +'An' it sets ye weel, Joseph Smiley, to be speerin' after my puir +dautie, after a' 'at's come an' gane. An' ye hae na come naar her this +three month come Saubith, for a' the wite ye hae wrocht her.' + +'What's the wite, mither? Is she no weel?' + +'No weel!--An' ye'll be for no letting on ye ken ocht about it!' + +'What wad a ken, Mistress Tirpie? She was aye a fine bit lassie, +blythe and bonny as ye'd see in a' the country side, but sin' she gaed +awa, naebody kenned whaur, I hae na heard tell o' her ava.' + +'Lay by! Joseph Smiley; I ken a' 'at's come an' gane atween ye; she's +telled me a'.' + +'The saft silly tawpie!' this aside, and under his breath. + +'I ken a' about yer guilefu' tongue, an' a' yer pawkie gates. An' +think ye I'll haud my whisht, an' see her bear the wite her lane? Ye +ken ye swore to marry her.' + +'Speak laich, mither; ye dinna ken wha's hearkenin'. They hae lang +lugs 'at travel after dark.' + +'Ye ken it's true! Joseph Smiley. Ye took yer Bible aith, an' ye beut +to keep it. Wha's fraickin' tongue but yours has played a' the +mischief? She gaed awa' at yer biddin', an' the bairn's left there, +an' naebody kens wha's acht it. But the matter canna bide sae, an' +ye'se beut to mak' a decent woman o' her noo. An' a gude wife she'll +mak ye, an' a faithfu' whan a's done.' + +'Speak laich, woman! An' bide a wee. (The deil's in the wife! the way +her tongue rins). Oh Mistress Tirpie! I'm bund till own it was ill my +pairt to do as I did; but the best o' us wull gang astray whiles. King +Dawvit himself, tho' I wadna be sae presumptious as even mysel' wi' +the like o' him, gaed ance wrang amang the lasses, but he made it a' +richt belive; an' sae aiblins wull I. But it taks time--we maun bide a +wee.' + +'An' what's to come o' Tibbie or than?' + +'The deil may flee awa' wi' her for me! An' I wuss he wad,' muttered +Joseph below his breath; but aloud his words were more prudent. 'She +maun just juke an' let the jaw gae by, like the lave. An' after a', +there's naethin' kenned till her discredit, we tuk braw gude care o' +that; and there's a gude tent taen o' the bairn as ye cud tak' +yersel', an' ye're its grannie. Bide a wee; it'll a' come richt. Ye +see, Mistress Tirpie, I'm an office-bearer e'y kirk, an' there maun be +nae clashes or clavers about me, or I'd lose my place. Gin thae +lang-tongued gouks cud find but a haunel, it's nae Joseph Smiley was +be lang the bederal o' Kilrundle, an' then whaur wad the siller come +frae for me to keep a wife?' + +'Hech! Joseph Smiley, but ye're a pawkie loon an' a slick-tongued! +Ye'd fraik the tail aff auld Hornie himsel'. But I'm misdoubtin' ye. +Ye'll be slippin' through our fingers yet, like an eel. But I'd be +laith to lose ye yer place; an' gin ye'll swear again afore me an' +cripple Cormack, an' own her for yer wife, I'se raise nae din. Least +said suinest mendet. But Tibbie's real lonesome, an' aye at the +greetin'. Ye maun come an' see her twa fore nichts ilka week, an' keep +up her heart.' + +'I'se tak my aith to yersel, Tibbie, wi' muckle pleasure, an' I'se +some an' see Tib, but I'll say naething afore auld Cormack. I winder +that a sensible woman like you wad fash wi' sic a doited auld gomeral, +'at can nae mair haud his tongue than he can flee. But I maun be +steerin', or it's cauld parritch I'll sup this nicht. Sae here's +wussin' ye weel, an' mind me kindly to Tibbie--bonny lass!--gude +nicht.' + +'Fushionless senseless gowk!' he muttered to himself as he turned +homewards. 'An' she's gaun to wive her on me is she? We'll see, +Luckie! Time wull tell! But it winna be by garrin' me own up afore +auld Cormack!' + +Tibbie likewise wended home. As she recalled her interview, she could +not but admit to herself that excepting fair words she had taken +little. At the same time she had broken ground, and her adversary had +betrayed no small dread of a scandal. She, had, therefore she thought +some slight hold on that slippery person, and took comfort in +recollecting that a salmon ere now has been angled for and landed with +a single horse hair. 'But we maun ca' canny,' she muttered to herself. +'He's a kittle chield to drive.' She began now to regret she had not +used her little pull towards securing some present advantage. It is +sweet to spoil the Egyptians. Besides, any tribute secured would be an +admission of her power, and every such tribute and admission would add +strength to the chain by which she hoped eventually to secure her +victim. Wherefore, it was resolved and decided in Tibbie's council of +one, that no time should be lost, but the very earliest opportunity +taken to commence operations. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + _A FIELD PREACHING_. + + +Sunday in summertime among the hills is not like other days of the +week, and it is not like the Sundays given to less favoured scenes. It +is free from the smothering sense of restraints experienced in cities, +shut up as it were for the day, with their inhabitants paraded through +the streets in solemn raiment returning home to depressing lunches and +drowsy afternoons. It seems rather to foreshadow that bright eternal +Sabbath we looked forward to in childhood, ere faith grew dim-sighted +or criticism had been heard of,--that day when every act shall be +spontaneously holy, and each sacred observance a delight. The glorious +sunshine, the bright breezy sky streaked and dappled with shining +white clouds, the crimson moors and the all-pervading scent of the +heather, the hum of bees and the chirp of grasshoppers in the herbage, +a silence that is musical with faint and distant sounds, burns +babbling in the hollows, lambs bleating on the braes, all speak to the +spirit of perfect peace and freedom and holy gladness. + +The Sangster family preferred walking to church that morning. It was a +long walk, but they set forth in good time and the phaeton would bring +them home. It was with some misgiving lest she was yielding to the +allurements of sense, that Mrs. Sangster consented to gratify this +desire of the young people, but prudential considerations seemed to +recommend the arrangement. Sophia could have no better opportunity for +free and friendly talk with Mr. Wallowby, and Peter could walk with +Mary Brown. Mary had two or three thousand pounds, and was a 'nice +girl,' and should his lordship Peter, so incline, would not be an +unsuitable connection. Peter's private idea was not unlike his +mother's, indeed their views in secular matters were wonderfully +alike, and each could count on the support of the other without the +unpleasant feeling of conspiracy, which comes of putting schemes into +words, when they are apt to confront one so strangely and stare one +out of countenance. He was therefore the earliest in the hall and +stood hatted and gloved, ready to step forward so soon as his intended +companion should issue from her room. + +'What brings that fool Wallowby, in such a hurry?' he thought to +himself, as the latter appeared shortly after him, also equipped for +the walk But the 'fool Wallowby' had his own plans. He too was minded +to cross the moorland with 'that jolly Brown girl,' as he called her +to himself, rather than with the other 'stick' who had so little to +say for herself. + +'I think we have got ready too soon,' said Peter; 'the ladies will not +come down stairs for twenty minutes at least, they take so long to +dress,' and he moved as if for the door. + +'One expects to have to wait,' replied Wallowby, and he stood his +ground. + +Presently Mary appeared, descending the stairs. Wallowby secured her +book as she reached the landing, and placed himself at her side; and +Peter, not to be cut out, had to make a dash for her parasol on the +stand, and so constitute himself a third in the party. They set forth, +and when Mrs. Sangster got down stairs she beheld to her disgust Mary +Brown disappearing in the shrubbery attended by both the squires. + +'Bother that lassie!' she muttered, but whether it was her own +daughter or the other will never be known. At that moment Sophia, in +perfect tranquility, was still giving her orders in the kitchen for +the family dinner. + +Mr. Sangster kept his room. He often did so of a Sunday, for the time +had not yet arrived when a godly divine should stigmatize taking +medicine on Sunday as a form of Sabbath breaking. + +Eventually Sophia was ready to start, and at the same moment the two +ministers appeared. Mrs. Sangster was of course taken possession of by +the elder, and there was nothing for it but to let the ineligible +escort Sophia. There was consolation then in remembering how slow and +safe she was. No fear of _her_ being hurried into an entangling +admission during one moorland walk, but 'Oh! if Providence had only +seen fit to grant her a bright lively girl like Mary Brown!' + +No misgiving oppressed the soul of Roderick. The Sabbath in any case +was to him a day of holy calm, whose devout associations he had +cultivated by long habit into a sacred joy. To-day these were +exhausted by the surroundings. The sunshine on the hills seemed to +bring him into the very presence of a loving creator, and the +companion by his side was one whose image in his thoughts had long +stood for the embodiment of the good and beautiful. It was no vulgar +love-making that he poured forth as they walked along, but the +enthusiastic utterances of a devout young heart brimming over with +piety and content. + +And she? She looked up in his face and softly smiled. No need for +words, the light in her eye spoke more eloquently than poets had ever +sung. Poor youth! That light had shone as brightly and the smile had +been as sweet--less vague and more intelligent--when a little while +before she stood at the kitchen table and bade the cook put ten eggs +instead of twelve in the custard for dinner. + +Yet she really liked Roderick Brown. He was so good and so kind. She +had known him all her life, and she knew that he admired her. He did +not exactly say so, in fact she did not expect that, it would have +been too frivolous; but his voice grew softer when he spoke to her, +his eyes glowed, and his pale face would sometimes flush. She did not +understand much of what he said, but she knew she was not clever, and +was content it should be so. It was 'nice' to hear him talk about +heaven in his earnest eloquent way; it sounded all so real, and she +felt always more sure of going there when she was with him--he was so +good. + +Over the moor, down a brae, across a burn and up another slope. +Moorland again, past a peat hag with the new cut turf drying in the +sun. Straggling groups dotted the outlook, the dwellers in many a +distant shieling, all converging towards the common goal--the +preaching tent. Old men and women, mothers with their children, +shepherds with their dogs, lads and lasses, the latter carrying their +heavy shoes and stockings in their hands, till they should come to the +last burn before reaching the kirk, there, after a preliminary +footbath, to put them on and appear before the congregation decently +clad. + +Joseph Smiley, ever on the alert, produced his chairs as the Lady of +Auchlippie and her suite entered the assembly and took her place in +the front with a condescending smile, and Mr. Dowlas disappeared from +view behind the curtains of the tent. + +Roderick not being as yet an ordained minister, was not authorized to +celebrate the sacraments of the church, which necessitated the +occasional intervention of some one who was, as on the present +occasion, when Mr. Dowlas was to perform the rite of baptism, as might +be guessed from frequent thin small wails which issued intermittingly +from the neighbouring covert. Immediately in front of the tent were +the elders and deacons seated on the uncomfortable benches which +Joseph had constructed, and near them the older and more devout of the +people sat on their folded plaids, on stools or bunches of bracken. +These were the more earnest church members, denominated the 'far ben +christians' by their neighbours. Behind, reclining at their ease on +the elastic heather, where it sloped upward from the grassy level, +were the general company, who felt diffident about including +themselves with the 'professors,'--men, women, children and collie +dogs, basking in the sun and fanned by breezes sweet with the heather +and the wild thyme. + +Mr. Wallowby had all the prejudices of a middle-class Englishman. +Whatever differed from the use and wont of his native county and +country was wrong, and a good many things in the North had therefore +met with his disapproval; but of all the matters on which sane men +could differ, the most preposterous appeared to him to be church +affairs, in a country where the established religion was not entitled +to be called a church at all, but only, by a supercilious adoption of +the native speech, a 'Kirk,' as something altogether different; +though, to be sure, all bodies of Christians not affiliated to his +church were in the same position, excepting the Latin and Greek +communions, which being older than his, are wont to treat it with +precisely the same contemptuous disrespect. The present conventicle +promised at least more interest than a schismatic service in a kirk, +and Mr. Wallowby had come in a mood of bland condescension to enjoy +the humours of the scene, and amuse his superior mind with Sawney at +his devotions. But when he seated himself in the silent assemblage, +the spirit of the scene seemed to fall on him, and he found himself +strongly impressed. + +The minister shortly appeared in gown and bands, and although silence +overspread the crowd before, it seemed to deepen as the worshippers +straightened themselves in their seats, and fixed their gaze intently +on his face. Around, the swelling hills showed not a sign of life or +habitation; yet in this sequestered hollow a thousand souls perhaps, +were gathered together for prayer. The minister gave out a psalm, and +the whole congregation presently burst forth in song. At first the +voice of the precentor quavered uncertain and thin in the wide expanse +of the open air, then one by one a few others tremulously joined in, +till at length the ear of the people caught the familiar cadence of +'Bangor,' and the multitudinous voice rose in a mighty swell, filling +up that recess in the hillside, brimming over and reverberating among +the rocks around. Here and there around him he would perceive the +momentary jar of a bad voice or a false ear, but these were overborne +in the vast flood of sound, in which every one joined with a seeming +intensity of feeling that counterbalanced mere technical +imperfections, and fulfilling the purpose of all art, that of +conveying emotion from soul to soul, the song of those uncultured +voices impressed him as he had never been by choir and organ under the +fretted roof of church or minster. + +Mr. Dowlas preached from the Canticles, applying the apostrophe to the +Shulamite to such as had wandered from the truth. The audience +listened with silent and deep attention, but without any of the +ejaculation and amens with which Mr. Wallowby's dissenting +fellow-countrymen relieve and stimulate their fervour. Some aged +grandmother would occasionally shake her head in concurrence with the +minister's words, but that was all. + +At the beginning of the sermon a slight rustling attracted Joseph +Smiley's attention. He looked up and beheld Tibbie Tirpie taking her +seat on the outskirts of the crowd. She was accompanied by a young +woman who leant on her arm and appeared delicate and pale till she +caught sight of Joseph, when her cheeks became suffused with crimson, +and she bent down her head. A look of annoyance came into his sharp, +squirrel-like eyes, but he passed his hand across his mouth, which +appeared to act like the wet sponge over a much be-written slate, and +left it blank and sober as before. + +There were four babies to be baptized at the conclusion of the sermon, +and during the singing of a hymn, Joseph, as master of the ceremonies, +proceeded to the clump of hazel bushes and thence ushered three well +pleased mothers, each with her latest born held proudly in her arms. +As struts the brood hen before her chippering train, calling the +universe to witness the last new life added to the mighty sum by her +praiseworthy exertions, so sailed these worthy women behind the +beadle, and took their places with rustle and importance in front of +the congregation. The husband of each came diffidently behind, and +stood in front of his proprietress, tall, awkward, and a little +shame-faced before all the people, the length of leg and arm appearing +sadly in its owner's way, and the hands especially difficult to +dispose of. Behind the matrons came Mary Brown, carrying the little +waif rescued by her brother from the sea, Roderick himself bringing up +the rear. Their appearance created a sensation, and a hum of enquiry +ran through the congregation, for many were as yet ignorant of the +addition to the minister's family. Mary gave her own name to the +little one, and Roderick presented it for baptism as the several sires +presented theirs, vowing to bring it up in the nurture and admonition +of the Lord. + +Mr. Dowlas concluded the service, and while the younger and the +English-speaking part of the congregation rose to depart, the older +members drew more closely together before the tent, and Roderick at +once commenced the afternoon service in Gaelic for their behoof. Many +of them having come long distances, it was best that the two services +should follow each other without interval, that they might start the +earlier on their return home. In reverent haste the retiring +worshippers withdrew from the ground, that they might not disturb the +Gaelic congregation, and in ten minutes every one of them was out of +sight. Joseph's duties were now over till the breaking up of the +meeting, and as he did not understand Gaelic he withdrew to a mossy +bank hard by, where birch trees warded off the afternoon sun, and +stretched himself at length to enjoy a little repose. He had drawn +from the crown of his tall black hat a bannock and a hunch of +skim-milk cheese wrapped in a turkey red cotton handkerchief which he +spread out on his knees, and proceeded to refresh himself. While he +was still so engaged there approached him from the thicket in his rear +Tibbie Tirpie. + +'I wuss ye gude day! Joseph Smiley.' + +Joseph snorted with impatience, and the squirrel-like gleam came into +his eyes, but he merely answered-- + +'Gude day to ye! Tibbie,' sweeping together the scattered fragments of +his repast, and causing them all to disappear in one comprehensive +gulp. Then he wiped his mouth with the red cloth, replaced it in the +hat, and resumed his wonted look of solemn composure. + +'A weel, Tibbie! an' it's a graund discourse we hae heard this day; +an' I houp it'll do ye gude. He's a godly man, Mester Dowlas, an' he's +gaen hame wi' Mistress Sangster til a verra gude denner I mak nae +doubt. But you an' me has haen a feast of fat things o' his +providence. Marrow an' fatness truly, tho' it's juist a when bannocks +we may hae to stay the flesh withal an' aiblins just a drappie o' +something to wash a' down. Will ye taste, hinnie?' Thereupon he arose +and retreated some steps to where the tree stems would conceal him +from any wandering eye among the congregation, and drew forth from his +bosom a flat bottle, which he applied to his lips, throwing back his +head the while. After a prolonged gulp he paused for breath, and +passed the bottle to his friend with one hand, while with the back of +the other he wiped his lips. + +'Pruive all things! Eppie. Try the speerits, an' I'm thinkin' ye'll +find them not that bad.' + +Eppie tasted and sipped, and tasted again, very well pleased, nodded, +and returned the bottle, which was forthwith emptied where the bulk of +its contents had already been poured. + +'Hech! but my eyes are enlichtened like Jonathan's, an' noo let's +crack about the preachin'.' + +'Joseph! I hae bed a wee, as ye said. What is't a' comin' til?' + +'Bed sin yest're'en! No muckle bidin' there I ween! But let's lay +worldly business by, this holy Sawbith day, an' think o' wir +sauls!--our puir perishin' sauls!' + +`An' what'll come o' your saul? Joseph Smiley, an' you sinnin' wi' the +high haund an' wrangin' my puir lass Tibbie. Saw na ye hoo she was +e'en ower blate to forgather wi' the neighbours, an' gaed creepin' +hame afore the kirk wad skell?' + +'The mair fule she! There's naething kenned again her. What maks her +blate?' + +'It's no for you to speer! Them 'at pet the cat e'y kirn, can best +fesh't out. Ye ken what's wrang, an' ye beut to mak it richt!' + +'Hech! Tibbie, ye're troubled an' carefu' about mony things. But _wan_ +thing is needfu', as the Scriptur says, an' this is the Sawbith day, +an' I'se speak o' naething else but that same. Think o' yer saul! +Tibbie, yer sinfu' saul!' + +'Speak o' yer ain sins, ye rascal! an' let mine be. Yer saul's black +wi' them, an' it's time ye was mendin'.' + +'Na, na, Tibbie! that wad be _works!_ an' they're filthy rags. I'm a' +for grace!' + +'For grace? ye villain! Grace Grimmond belike, gin' a' folk says be +true. An' what's to come o' Tibbie? But ye'se never wad wi' Grace +onybody, sae lang as Tibbie's to the fore! Tak my word for't.' + +'Ye tak me up wrang, neighbour, it's the kingdom o' heaven I'm after, +whaur they neither marry nor are given in marriage. An' I houp ye'll +win there yet! It's no o' women, puir silly earthen vessels I'm +speakin' or wull speak this holy day.' + +'But ye'll hae to speak o' them! Ay, an' speak plenn--or I'se doon t'ey +minister an' hae ye up afore the Kirk-Session the maament the kirk +skells. I'm for nae mair o' yer parryin' I'se tell ye--ye thocht ye +had puir Tibbie a' by her lane, yon fore nicht, doon i' the loanin', +whan ye ca'd God to witness ye took her for yer lawfu' wife, an' juist +wanted it keepit quiet till the bawbees was gathered for the +plennissin'. But ye didna keek ahint the dike, an' ye kenna wha was +hearkenin'!' + +Joseph's countenance fell, his eyes opened wider, and strove to read +in the other's face whether the witness suggested was a reality or a +mere _ruse_ to overawe him. He took the red handkerchief from his hat, +and mopped his brow as a partial screen for his features, and finding +evasion no longer possible, concluded to mitigate his opponent's +excitement, and man[oe]uvre for time. + +'Ye needna thrape that gate, Mistress Tirpie, gin Tibbie wad hae me; I +kenna the lass in a' Glen Effick I'd sooner wad wi', but what ye said +ey noo about the bawbees an' the plennissin' hauds true yet. I canna +tak the lassie hame an' no a bed for her to lie down on, an' what for +wad ye be raisin' a din an' a clash? It's a filthy fowl 'at files its +ain nest. An' it's yer ain dochter the folk wad lichtly, gin ye didna +haud yer tongue. + +'But ye can bide wi' me, Joseph, till yer gear's gathered; I'se be +blythe to hae ye.' + +Na, na, Luckie! Ilka pat till its ain cleek! we maun hae our ain +fire-side.' + +'An' it's little fireside me an' Tibbie's like tae hae gin ye haud +back muckle langer! I hae na claes eneugh to keep her warm, an' she +hasna strength to tak' wark, an' hoo can she get her strength on +sowans an' kirn-milk? An' that's a' I hae to gie her. Ye maun keep yer +wife, Joseph, e'en gin ye dinna bide wi' her.' + +'An' hoo's a man to gather the bawbees, gin he's payin' them awa +faster nor they come?' + +'_Ye_ ken that, Joseph; an' I'm thinkin' it's a denty pose ye hae +hidden awa in some auld hugger, an' hae na the heart to spend. We a' +ken ye for a hard thrifty body 'at winna spend yer ain, gin ye can +finger ither folk's.' + +Ye're hard on me, Luckie, but I'se do what I can. I hae nae siller in +my pouch the day but a bawbee for the plate, seein' it's Sawbith, but +I'll tell ye what I wull do, speak to the minister. An' he's the gude +man wi' the free haund and the saft heid. Gin ye getna a' ye need out +o' _him_, yer tongue winna wag sae souple, as I hae fand it can this +hour back.' + +And here, to avoid rejoinder he ran down the slope and took his place +demurely on a stool by the tent to await the conclusion of the +exercises. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + _THE BABY_. + + +The moorland overhanging the scene of the 'exercises' was always +dotted over at their conclusion, with straggling companies of the +worshippers returning home. At each branching of paths they would +separate and change again to break up and separate further at fresh +junctions, till at length the whole assemblage had dissipated itself +over the extensive tract and disappeared. + +The air freshened by a breeze was so warm and bright that it tempted +to linger in friendly gossip, especially those whose week spent in +some remote nook among the hills brought never a stranger to their +door or a scrap of news. Some of the villagers, too, chose the moor as +a roundabout way home, where they would meet more acquaintances than +on the hot and dusty road, and while obtaining the air and exercise, +avoid the sinfulness or disrepute of taking a walk upon the Sabbath +day. Those from a distance had brought refreshments, and were now +seated in the neighbourhood of some clear spring discussing their +simple meal of scones and cheese and hard boiled eggs. + +Seated in such a group were old Angus Kilgour, crofter, and Stephen +Boague, shepherd, with their respective wives and families. Boague's +offspring were three tow headed children who played noisily with a +couple of dogs till their father interfered and bade them 'mind it was +the Sabbath-day,' and called the dogs away. The young Kilgours were +older, a big lad who carried a basket for his mother, a couple of +girls competing, it seemed, for the favourable notice of a youth +between them, a not unwilling captive to their charms, but still +uncertain to which he should surrender, and another daughter whose +tardy arrival was delaying the family repast. + +'What hae ye in yon creel? Mistress,' cried Kilgour to his wife. 'We +can bide nae langer for Meizie, she'll be danderin' alang wi' some +laad nae doubt and niver thinkin' o' hiz. Here wi' yer creel, Johnnie! +an' gie's a bannack a' round. I'm rael hungry. An' syne we'll hae a +pipe, Stephen Boague, you an' me, an' here comes Peter Malloch, he's a +graund chield for a crack. Hech! Peter Malloch, sit down, ye'll eat a +bit, an' hae ye settled yet about pettin' up the new kirk?' + +'A weel I'm thinkin' we'll hae't settled braw an' sure noo. We'se get +a piece off Widdie Forester's kale-yard be like, gin we can raise the +siller. We'll hae to mak an effort to do that, as Mester Dowlas says, +an' it'll be a kittle job, but pet a stiff shouther till a stey brae, +as the folk says. We maun ca' a meetin' I'm thinkin', an' hae him to +speak, he's a graund man to crack the bawbees out o' folk's pouches.' + +'Ou ay!' ejaculated Stephen, 'He's a gude man, but unco worldly! He's +aye cryin' about the pennies an' the sustentation fund. Nae fear o' +_him_ gaun a warfare at his ain charges!' + +'An' belike ye'd cry about the pennies yersel', Stephen Boague, gin +ye'd naething else to lippin til.' + +'Weel, that was aye what I liket best about the auld Kirk! A' thing +was proveedet, "without money an' without price," an' that's Scripter. +Juist the sincere milk of the word an' naething to pay for't!' + +'I'd think shame o' mysel', Stephen Boague,' broke in his wife, 'to +speak like that! An' ca' ye yon the word at's preached up by at +Kilrundle? A curran Erastian havers! Settin' up the law o' the land +ower the word o' God, an' the will o' the Coort o' Session abune the +General Assembly o' the Kirk! My certie! I'se no ca' yon the milk o' +the word. It's grown sooer wi' ill keepin'! A wersh savourless gospel, +for puir starved sauls, hungerin' for the truith an' gettin' naething +but a clash o' cauld parritch!' + +A weel! gude wife, _ye_ maun hae yer say, but gin ye had to fin' the +pennies ye'd maybe no be sae glib! an' but twa e'y pouch to buy the +sneeshin'.' + +'Haud yer tongue, Stephen! an' fill yer pipe,' said the hospitable +Angus, 'It's no expecket that the puir man's to pay the same as the +weel-aff folk, out o' their abundance.' + +'An' wha's the man to say that Stephen Boague did na pay his way the +best? I'd like to ken. Na, na! It's juist anither patch on the auld +breeks, an' weel the gude wife kens whaur to clap it on! an' the +siller's saved. But a man beut to hae his grum'le.' + +'An' wasna yon a fine preachin' the day?' asked Peter Malloch, who +being a deacon, felt bound to lead the conversation into an improving +groove, especially for the good of the young, and Meizie had now +joined the circle followed by William the footman at Inchbracken, +absent on leave to visit his sick mother. + +'A grand sermon!' said Mr. Kilgour, 'an' was na he bonny about the +Shulamite? Tho' I'm free, to say I kenna verra weel wha she was. But +I'm misdoubtin' but she was some thochtless young hempie 'at kenned +na' weel what she was after--An' hoo' he cried til her to return!' + +'That was the wanderin' sauls o' sinfu' folk,' said Peter clearing his +voice for an extended exposition, but he got no farther, for William +here brought the pious abstract down to the concrete and personal by +breaking in. + +'An' saw na ye hoo young Tibbie Tirpie, sittin' awa back wi' the +hindmost took to the greetin', an' down wi' her head, an' up wi' her +neepkin, like's a' the minister was sayin' was for her.' + +'Hech laddie!' said Mrs. Kilgour, 'an' what for no? we hae a' wandered +frae the truith. The word was powerfu', an' wha kens but it may hae +reached her heart. An' micht it no hae reached yer ain as weel, +William?' + +'An' that's true! Mistress Kilgour, an' nae doubt but it wull belive +whan the Lord sees fit. But it was yersel' was speakin' about the +Shulamite an' winderin' gin she micht na hae been some thochtless +hempie, juist mentioned ye ken for our edification--an' it kind o' +looket like's she had taen 't a' to heart. Wha kens?' + +'Whish man! Think shame! Ye maunna be lichtlyin' a lass's repute for +naething. Naething but greetin' e'y kirk. An' that diz her credit. It +wad be weel, lad, gin yer ain flinty heart wad melt as easy.' + +'Belike it wad, Mistress Boague, but I'm jalousin''-- + +Here Meizie interposed to save her young man from the threatening +onslaught of the matrons by a change of subject. 'Yon's a braw muckle +bairn o' Jean Cameron's, an' was na Sandie the proud man whan he held +it up to the minister?' + +'A fine bairn! an' sae war the ither twa. An' didna the minister lay +the vows tichtly on the fathers. Gin they stick til a' they hae +promised this day, the weins will get a godly upbringin'. An' didna +our ain minister look solemn whan he held up yon bonny wee thing, to +be baptised. An' it neither grat nor skirled whan the water fall on +its bit face, 'ats no the size o' a saxpence.' + +'I'm wae it didna skirl,' said Mrs. Kilgour. It's aye a gude sign. My +gude-mither wad aye be sayin' it was a sign the Deil was losin' its +hauld o' the bairn.' + +'Ye've no warrant in Scriptur for that, Mistress,' said Peter. 'It's a +superstitious notion, an' I'm misdoubtin' but it's a rag o' the whoor +o' Babylon.' + +'A weel! I kenna mysel, but mine skirled weel. I had to rin out wi' +Meisie there, or she'd hae deaved the hale kirk wi' her screighin'. +An' see til her noo! for a braw sonsey lass. The pruif o' the puddin's +the preein' o' 't. Babylon or no!' + +'An' wha's the Minister's wein ca'd after?' + +'On Miss Mary be sure! She carried her in.' + +'An' wha's acht it? That's what I want to ken, an' that's what the +minister disna ken himsel',' said Mrs. Boague. 'I had a' about it frae +Luckie Howden, an' she's nane sae weel pleased that Eppie Ness has +gotten the tent o' 't, by her. An' her keppin' the minister's teapat +in her corner cupboard. They micht hae leuten her turn a penny on the +bairn. But ye see they're sleepin' down by at Eppie's, an' sae she's +gotten Miss Mary's lug, an' says what she likes intil't. But its juist +the way o' the warld. The puir maun aye to the wa'. But as I was +sayin' the minister gaed ower til Mary yon ae dark nicht, an' the +mornin after he brocht hame this bit bairnie in his arms. An' he +thinks the Lord gied it til him. He fand it lyin' on the sands at +Effick Mouth, a' happit up in the finest o' claes, an' he thinks it +maun be a leddy's bairn washed ashore by the sea, when some big ship +an' a' body intil't was lost in the storm. It's a queer tale, an it's +rael gude o' thae twa young folk to tak up wi' the puir wee stray, an +be at a' chairges.' + +'It's a verra queer tale,' said Peter Malloch. + +'A verra queer tale, nae doubt,' repeated William. 'The gentles was +crackin' ower't ae fore nicht, ower their denner up by at Inchbracken, +an' a curious story they made out o't, but ye hae na juist the hing +o't as _they_ had it, Mistress Boague. Odd sak! my heart fairly lap i' +my mouth to hear them, an' I a' but cowpet the dish wi' the wine sass +on my Leddy's saitin gown. Gin it hadna been for the look Mester Smith +the butler gied me, I'd hae let it fa', that's sure, an' syne I micht +hae hanged mysel', for it's ne'er inside the dinin'-room door I'd hae +been leuten again. The General wad hae ordered me out himsel'. He'll +stand nae flousterin' frae the attendance I'se tell ye.' + +'But ye hae na telled us what the gentles said yet, William. Belike ye +war that frichtet ye hae forgotten't a'.' + +'I'se no forget it in a hurry. But I canna sae weel rehearse't, atween +what they said, an' what they garred a body think, tho' aiblins they +mayna hae puiten their tongue til't. For it's no a thing a body daur +say afore her leddyship. But Mistress Briggs, my leddy's woman kens a' +about it, an' it was her telled Miss Finlayson. She kens what's been +ado wi' Tibbie Tirpie this lang while back. An' she was comin' ower +frae Inverlyon e'y mail coach that dark nicht the minister gaed for +the bairn, an' wha suld the driver put in aside her but Tibbie Tirpie? +He said it was a sair nicht for a lassie to travel her lane across the +muir, sae he juist in wi' her an' stieket the door. An' deil a word +she spak to Mistress Briggs the hale road, juist pu'd the plaid ower +her face an' grat an' sabbet a' the time. Mistress Briggs, ye see, is +verra genteel an' parteeklar, an' was for complainin', about folk +bein' puiten in aside her, an' sae she telled Miss Finlayson whan she +cam hame, an' the day, ye see, it cam a' back on me, when I seen +Tibbie greetin' an' carryin' on e'y kirk. An' whan she gaed slinkin' +hame afore the weins were brocht into baptise, thinks I to mysel', +aiblins Miss Finlayson's no that far wrang!' + +'I see na muckle in yer story, William,' said Angus, 'but I think the +gentles micht hae better to do, nor prankin' wi' the gude name o' a +puir lass 'at ne'er wranged them. An' ye're ill-aff for a job yersel' +to be carryin' their clashes about the country side.' + +'But ye hae na heard me out yet. It was that same dark nicht the +minister gaed ower til Inverlyon. An' next mornin' he brings hame the +bairn. An' wha suld he meet on the brae-head, think ye, but Captain +Drysdale, (the auld captain). An' the captain speers "wha's acht the +bairn," an' the minister he durstna tell, an' he looket terrible +blate. An' the captain he leugh, an' the minister he grew mad, an' the +captain he says--says he, "keep up yer heart," or, "dinna be ower +down-cast, it's nae great matter, gin it be a bairn--it's a verra sma' +ane"--an' that's the captain's ain words.' + +'Preserve us a'!' ejaculated Mrs. Boague, 'Diz the sin grow heavier +wi' the wecht o' the bairn? Fau'se doctrine I'se wager! But that comes +o' sittin' under a moderate minister! There's saul's bluid lyin' at +the door o' that prophet o' Baaul, up by at Kilrundle.' + +'But wha wad hae thocht the like o' Roderick Brown?' said Angus, 'an' +I maun hae pruif or I can tak it in. I hae kenned him man an' laddie +sin afore he kenned himsel', an' I kenned auld Doctor Brown weel,--an' +a gude man he was--an' I canna thole to think he cud gang sae far +astray.' + +'It hings thegither tho',' said Peter Malloch, 'an' I'm sair +misdoubtin' but things are na a' thegither as they suld be. An' that +minds me, as I was gaun til Inverlyon no lang syne, we lichted frae +the coach gaun doon the brae, an' wha suld be comin' up but Mester +Brown. It maun hae been that verra day, for he had a bundle in's arms, +an' says my neighbour to me, laughin'-like, it micht be a bairn, that +i' the minister's arms. An' as for him he wadna forgather, like he may +hae been blate, but juist gaed by wi' hardly the time o' day to throw +til a dug. An' me the Convener o' the Deacons' Coort! I ance thocht +him a gude young man, but he's verra pridefu'. An' he winna be guidet +by them 'ats aulder an' mair experienced nor himsel'. An' pride ye ken +comes afore destruction, an' a hauchty speerit afore a fa'. So says +scripter. Pride's deadly sin, ye ken, an' wan sin brings on anither. +I'm sair misdoubtin' but there may be some fundation. But it's +terrible to think on. A minister o' the Free Protestin' Kirk o' +Scotland, and _our_ minister--hiz 'at's corned out o' Egyp', leavin' +kirk and steeple an' a' ahint us, intil the leeteral wilderness, wi' +naething but a bit umbrelly belike to keep aff the ren an' the snaw. +Hiz wha's praise is in all the churches, as Mester Dowlas tells us, +for our persecuitions--to think _our_ minister suld gae wrang! My +certie, we's cast out the unclean thing frae amang us, to perish like +anither Aachan without the camp!' + +'An' him sae young! an' sae gude to the puir folk!' said Mrs. Kilgour. +'I'se no believe the like o' him or ony ither minister, till it's +pruived on him.' + +'Ministers are but men, woman,' sighed Mrs. Boague, 'an' the flesh is +weak. I'm misdoubtin' but it's an ower true tale.' + +The subject of this discussion concluded his Gaelic sermon in due +course, all unconscious of the havoc that was being made of his +reputation. Ere he left the tent he was addressed by the assiduous +Joseph, who described to him the case of Widow Tirpie, reduced to sad +straits and threatened with destitution as the consequence of the long +and severe illness of her daughter. Like others whose charity takes +the form of urging their neighbours to give, Joseph used his very best +skill to rouse his master's sympathy, and grew both picturesque and +pathetic in describing these paragons of honest independence and +virtuous poverty;--the empty meal girnel, the daughter weakened by +sickness, perhaps sinking into a decline and unable to work, and the +mother depriving herself of such necessary food as still remained to +nourish her child, and stave off a little longer the inevitable day +when they must come on the parish. The eloquence was so far useless, +in that Roderick would in any case have done what he could for any one +in want, but he was surprised as well as rejoiced to have discerned at +last so fervid a charity in one he had hitherto regarded as cold and +worldly. He made no doubt that Joseph's deeds had been guided by the +same warm sympathy as his words, and while promising to see the widow +that evening or the next day, he made him a present to reimburse him +for any imprudent outlay into which his feelings might have led him. +Joseph accepted it, and when, later in the evening he added it to the +'pose' which awaited his next journey to Inverlyon and the Savings +Bank, he chuckled over the good young man's simplicity and his own +shrewdness. + +When Roderick arrived at home he found Mary at liberty at last. Peter +Sangster and Mr. Wallowby had both accompanied her from church with +Eppie Ness and the baby, and had even lingered on for some time, +despite the manifest displeasure of Mrs. Sangster, as she drove away +with Sophia and Mr. Dowlas; but the young men had set themselves to +watch each other, and see each that the other made no advance in +Mary's favour to his own detriment. Neither would withdraw and leave +the other in possession of the field--rivalry having made both fancy +themselves more interested than either would have been but for the +competition. + +Peter believed he had a prior claim owing to his previous +acquaintance, which he had meant to strengthen during his present +visit to the North, though perhaps on a more condescending footing +than he saw he need now attempt. He had thought to maintain an +intimacy without committing himself, and eventually, in the uncertain +future, if it suited, to come forward with his proposal, and be +accepted of course. Like a timid bather standing breast-high in the +water, he found himself pushed from his shelf of standing ground into +deep water, where he must strike out at once or go under. He was +aggrieved that his guest should so deliberately and immediately set +himself to cut him out, and he thought, too, that his sister was being +slighted most ungraciously. + +As for Mr. Wallowby, he thought nothing about it. He was rich and +good-looking, or at least his whiskers were cut according to the most +approved pattern of the time, and he was accustomed to have ladies +make themselves agreeable to him. He speedily decided that Sophia was +rather heavy, and he imagined from the first moment he saw her, that +Mary would be more amusing, and therefore strove to improve the +acquaintance. It is probable that would have been all but for Peter's +airs of proprietorship in the girl and his too obvious endeavours to +make him (Wallowby) interest himself in the young lady of the house as +her due. This was more than man or lady-killer could stand, and the +result was keen rivalry and strained diplomatic relations, which did +not promise increased cordiality for the morrow, when they were to +shoot in each other's company. + +As for Mary, being indifferent to both, she probably preferred taking +them together. Each kept the other on his mettle, which prevented +dulness, and she could not but be amused with the cross looks she +detected now and then passing between them. Still one may have too +much of anything, and she was not sorry when a clatter of plates and +dishes in Eppie's part of the house was accepted by the visitors as a +warning to depart. + +Roderick came in very shortly after. Mary met him with slippers and +dressing-gown, and drew forward his father's old leather chair from +its corner, to receive his weary frame, and recruit his strength for +the Bible-class and other activities still to be gone through. She +then brought the baby, and seated herself with it in a low chair near +him. + +'Did you ever see such lovely eyes, Roderick?' + +Of course Roderick never had. + +'Or such a dainty little mouth?' + +Again such a mouth was never seen before, nor such intelligence, nor +such a dear divine little image ever before. It was the first +revelation of babyhood that had appeared in their lives, and they +worshipped and wondered and reverently served, as every good soul +must, before the mystery of a dawning spirit. + +'It is strange,' said Roderick, after a while, 'that no enquiry should +have come from any one about this little Mary of ours. I shall +certainly not be sorry if no one comes to claim her. She is more than +welcome to all that I can give her; but those she belongs to can have +no idea what a precious little darling she is, or they would have +reclaimed her ere now. My letter was printed conspicuously enough in +the _Witness_, but it has led to nothing, not one enquiry. You will +have noticed in the paper that Lord Briarhill and Mrs. Steele went to +Inverlyon and identified a daughter-in-law, the wife of their son, +Major Steele in India, in one of the bodies washed ashore from the +wreck of the 'Maid of Cashmere,' which must be the ship I saw perish +that fearful night. To tell you the truth I have been expecting a +letter from his Lordship ever since, claiming the baby; for the +drowned lady I saw, and who I make no doubt was baby's mother, was +just what one might suppose Major Steele's wife to be like. When you +write to our uncle you might mention the circumstance, and also ask +him if there is any other step I should take to find relations for the +little one. I am sure I had better not write him myself, till he cools +down upon the church question, and that will take years, I fear. So +pray write, dear, during the week.' + +News was not diffused so freely five and thirty years ago as it is +now. The mails, excepting between Edinburgh and Glasgow, were still +carried by mail coaches, but people having never known anything +better, were quite satisfied, nay proud of the free intercommunication +between different parts of the kingdom, and newspapers were issued +only once or twice a week. Further, Roderick's newspaper was one +addressed to an ecclesiastical rather than a commercial or sea-faring +public, and therefore his communication about the child was less +likely to be noticed than it would have been in some other journal. +However, in this instance a different mode of advertising would have +mattered little. Lord Briarhill was not aware that a child accompanied +his daughter-in-law, and it was not till many weeks later, that he +learned from a letter received by a mail long overdue that a baby had +been born a fortnight before she sailed, and had been carried with +her. By that time the circumstance of a child having been picked up +alive, had quite escaped his lordship's memory, if indeed he had ever +been informed of it. Mrs. Major Steele, too, belonged to a family in +the Indian Civil Service, she had been born in India herself, and +there her father and near relatives resided, so that, excepting the +old judge, there was no one in Scotland interested in the matter. + +Mary's letter was not written, owing to an invitation from Mrs. +Sangster to spend the week at Auchlippie, and help to entertain the +visitors. The conversation was forgotten by brother and sister alike, +and affairs drifted on in their own way. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + _TIBBIE_. + + +On rainy evenings Roderick had to accommodate his Bible-class in his +study. The books and pamphlets piled on the floor were removed, and +stools and chairs brought in from all the neighbouring cottages. The +attendance was large, the room but small, and the window could not be +opened without admitting the rain. The sole ventilation therefore was +by the chimney, for Roderick's chest was delicate and could not endure +open doors or draughts. The breaths of the people and the steam from +their plaids and umbrellas made an atmosphere almost too dense to +breathe, but no one stayed away on account of that. Discomfort in fact +was the chosen salt and relish of popular piety in those days. The old +stories of the covenant and the persecutions had been brought out +afresh after lying hid for a century under the dust of time and +'moderatism,' so called, which perhaps means only the new ideas +begotten of newer circumstances in advancing civilization. These tales +told in modern language and addressed to the people from hundreds of +pulpits and platforms, and scattered by the thousand in illustrated +tracts and broad sheets over the country, roused the best instincts of +the people into a sort of fanaticism; common sense appeared sinful +latitudinarianism, and there seemed a very hunger for austerity and +persecution in a small way, which raised an uncomfortable church-going +into a meritorious claim on divine favour. Like other artificial +revivals of obsolete feeling with their inevitable unreality and +exaggeration--for the one begets the other, seeing that each +individual, knowing his own earnestness to be below the standard, +compensates by intensity of expression for what is lacking in +depth--all that has now passed away. No better cushioned pews +now-a-days invite to repose in the green pastures of the word, than +those which the Free Church supplies, and the erewhile battle cry of +'Christ's Crown and Covenant' has moderated down into a demand for +Disestablishment. + +These cottage services were far more exhausting to their conductor +than the regular preaching, and after struggling through them under +the oppression of heat and bad air, he found when his apartment was +left to him, that it had become uninhabitable for the rest of the +evening. Whenever, therefore, the weather at all permitted, he +conducted his Bible-class in the open air. + +Down by the Effick side was a meadow where the villagers washed and +dried their clothes, and their cattle browsed. The grass was short and +thick, and the stream slid by with a low soft lapping among the +stones. An aged beech tree formed a landmark, and there on summer +evenings the minister was wont to assemble his class. The faint +evening breezes nestled drowsily among the leaves overhead, and the +glassy surface of the stream shone in the yellow radiance of the +evening light. No scene could be more peaceful and still, or lent +itself better to the earnest exhortations of the teacher, and the +unflagging attention of his auditors, who had grown to comprise the +whole inhabitants of the village, old people and children as well as +the youths and maidens for whom the meeting was designed. 'Free Church +Principles,' or the superiority of the church to the interference of +civil authority, were the stated subjects of consideration, but this +pious and indefatigable teacher would not let slip the opportunity of +pressing all other branches of religious truth, as occasion offered, +in a way more familiar and impressive, as his people thought, than +even the regular services of the church. + +It was dark ere all was over, and after singing a hymn the meeting +dispersed. Then Roderick remembered the errand of mercy with which he +had proposed to himself to conclude his day, and set out at once for +Widow Tirpie's cottage, which was about a mile from the village. +Reaching it, he found the daughter on the threshold, gazing motionless +towards the western sky, where the last faint gleams of evening still +struggled with the coming night. A girl of about twenty, but looking +older, worn with care or illness, but with a face superior to her +station, she sat like an image of regret, pale-cheeked and thin, with +her great dark eyes looking out into the ebbing twilight. She rose on +Roderick's approach and followed him inside. + +There knelt the mother crouching on the hearth, where with distended +cheeks she was endeavouring to blow two peats into a blaze, that she +might boil her pot and prepare their evening meal. + +Tibbie's husband had been a gamekeeper on the Inchbracken property, +her daughter had been employed there as seamstress, and she herself +was in some sort a client of the great house. Therefore it was a point +of loyalty or policy with her to keep aloof from the Free Church, and +occasionally to attend at Kilrundle, but that was not very often, the +church being three miles off, and she herself, as she admitted, 'no +kirk greedy.' Roderick had not therefore considered her a member of +his flock, and knew little of herself or her daughter or their +circumstances. She was poor, but not more so than her neighbours, or +much more so now than she had always been, and she had no claim to be +described as she had been by Joseph Smiley either in the matter of her +poverty or her high principle. She had expected a visit from the +minister, and although she had no intention of devolving on him the +burden of her support, which she destined for his beadle's shoulders, +still she was not averse to profiting by his bounty, and had indeed +arranged her little scene so as to justify any touching appeal Joseph +might have made on her behalf. She had watched Joseph from the thicket +after they parted, and observed his closeting with the minister at the +close of the service, and knowing Roderick's eager charity, she had +thought it not improbable he might visit her that very evening, and +accordingly had arranged the tableau of a scanty supper as more +effective than anything she could say; besides that, being honest +after her fashion and shrewd, she was unwilling to lie unnecessarily. + +Tibbie had risen and followed the minister into the house, looking +deprecatingly at her mother over his shoulder. She revolted at the +idea of charity-getting, and dreaded the references to her own +affairs, which her mother might be led into. + +'Here Tibbie!' said the elder woman, 'tak' the stoup an' fesh some +water frae the spring on the muir, the minister micht be for a drink; +ye hae nae sic water down by in the Glen, sir, sae cauld an' sae +caller!' + +Tibbie took the stoup, well pleased to get away from whatever +conversation might follow. + +'I hear you are not very well off, Mrs. Tirpie,' said Roderick, 'and I +have come to see if I can give you any help.' + +'A' weel, sir! It's thankin' ye kindly a' the same, but I winna +complain. Ye can see for yersel'--Some folk can mak oot to live whaur +ithers wad starve. But I'm no beggin'.' + +'I never heard that you had got relief from the parish, and I know +that you have got nothing from us. You know we have a fund, though not +a large one, for our poor brethren, and I think it is often quite as +usefully employed when we look about for those who are bearing their +lot in silence, as when we give to those who claim our help.' + +'I dinna belang to yer kirk, sir, an' I hae nae claim on ye ava'; tho' +I canna but say it's whiles gye an' hard for a puir body to gar the +twa ends meet. What wi' sickness, an' a' things sae dear, it's a sair +fecht for puir folk, whiles, to keep saul an' body thegither. But we +maun thole. Them 'at sends a' things kens what's for our gude.' And so +on. A spirit of fine sturdy independence, uncomplaining poverty, and +patient trust in Providence, moderately expressed, furnished out a +harangue which refreshed the soul of the worthy preacher. If tares +must inevitably be found among the standing corn, it is all the more +refreshing to the disappointed husbandman to see the good seed +springing up outside his enclosure, and Tibbie Tirpie bore the +reputation of being a cold and worldly person with the fervid +professors among whom he laboured. He felt himself privileged in being +allowed to minister assistance to so much modest worth, and returned +home refreshed in spirit. + +When he left the cottage the night had closed in, with only the +glimmering stars to light him on his way. He walked slowly homewards, +musing as he went on the trials and hardships of the poor, and the +pious fortitude and noble courage with which they so often bear them. +He fell into a reverie, and did not perceive that two men coming down +behind him had overtaken and passed him. It was quite otherwise with +them. Like the owls and other creatures which fly by night, their +faculties were all awake. + +'Preserve us a! Saw ye e'er the like? Slinkin' hame e'y dark, wi' his +head atween 's feet, like a dug scaddet wi' puddin' brue. He ne'er +turned round e'en whan we gaed by, like's he thocht shame to meet the +glint o' honest folk's e'en.' + +'What mean ye? Peter Malloch. Yon's the minister! or I'm sair mistaen, +stappin' cannily hame. He's been readin', belike, an' prayin wi' some +auld puir body 'at's ower frail to gang t'ey kirk. My certie! but he's +the faithfu' servant, 'at sees the folk hae their meat i' due season. +I wuss there were mair like him. It gars a body think shame o' their +ain puir fushionless godliness, to see the gude he's aye after. Ne'er +sparin' himsel', but juist spendin,' an' spent for the gude o' ither +folk. He'll hae his reward!' + +'Man, Tummas, ye're a rael Nathanael! It diz a body gude to hear til +ye whiles. Ye hae the charity 'at thinketh no evil, an' mony's the +time I'm juist winderin' hoo ye can carry on wi't. Ye do weel to think +nae ill, but hoo ye can look about ye, an' stick til't, passes me. I +dinna see either 'at we're ca'd on to let folk mak a fuil o's wi' +their sough o' godliness an them nae better than oorsels, but rather +waur, seein' what they set up for. I'm thinkin' they're juist maist +like whitet sepulchers ower the dead men's banes; an' naebody's ca'd +on to think weel o' sic like, ye ken.' + +'I see na what ye're drivin' at. But I'se lippen 'til our young +minister afore ony man I hae e'er clappit my eyen on!' + +'Trust not in princes nor men's sons,' as the Psalm says, 'an' the +ministers are kittle cattle to tackle wi'. Saw na ye whause house yon +was he cam out o', richt afore yer eyen?' + +'I ken Tibbie Tirpie brawly, an' it's her bides up yonder.' + +'An' what kind tak ye Tibbie to be? She's no a kirk member ava, I'm +thinkin'; a bonny ane for a minister to be sitten' aside a' Sabbath +forenicht!' + +'I ken naething against her; but gin she be worldly or waur, she has +mair need o' the minister's advice.' + +'An' there's that hizzie, her dochter! Ye'll be for makin' out the +minister was adveesin _her_ belike?' + +'An' what for no? Gin she be young an' fu' o' daffin' she'll a' the +mair need to be adveesed.' + +'Young an' fu' o' daffin'! Ye're for letting her down easy. There's +mair wrang nor that, I'm feared. Some folk say she's nae better nor +she suld be. But there's nae gude threapin' wi' you. Ye'se think nae +harm--ye'se tell me he was sympatheezin wi' her in her misfortun.' + +'Whisht man! Let the lassie's gude name be gin ye hae nae proof.' + +'But there maun be pruif some gate seein' it's true. The gentles hae +heard tell o't. An' what's mair, it's them 'at's sayin' up by at +Inchbracken 'at Mister Brown's at the fundation o' the hale mischief. +Sae noo ye ken a' about it, an ye'll own yersel it's gye an' like it, +to see him slinkin' up here after dark. An' ye'll mind hoo you an' me +saw him bringin' hame the bairn yon mornin' early, whan the roads war +that bad there wasna like to be ony body about, to see what he was +after. We a' ken hoo he gaed awa for the bairn the verra nicht 'at +Tibbie cam hame. Think o't! Tummas. Pet that an' that thegither, an' +syne ye'll may be hae mair charity, an' no be accuisin' me o' evil +speakin'. Charity thinketh no evil, sae what for suld ye be thinkin' I +wad tak awa a decent lass's gude name? But gin she be na decent, an' +hae nae richt til the gude name, I see nae wrang to say sae. Let the +skelpet wein skirl! What says Scripture? Is na the maugistrate for the +terror o' evil doers an' the praise o' them 'at do weel? An' be na I +wan in authority? The Convener o' the Deacons' Court? Tak tent, +Tummas, and dinna be impuitin' yer ain sinfu' thochts til ither folk, +an' them folk setten ower ye in the Lord! Speak not evil of dignities! +It's against a' Scripter--an' I may sae as weel, in a' luve and +faithfulness, seein I hae a kin' o' charge o' ye, an' may hae to gie +account, ye're juist a wee pridefu' whiles, an' ower set in yer ain +notions, for a humble private member o' the kirk. Think o't, Tummas, +an' lay't to heart!' + +Tummas was silenced, fairly overthrown and carried away by the torrent +of words, and every meek stirring of self-assertion completely +devoured out. He had meant to defend his pastor from what he thought +were improbable and poorly supported suspicions; but he was meek and +diffident, and accustomed to be over-borne by his arrogant companion, +so he held his peace, content to cherish unuttered the assurance that +there was some mistake, and to leave time to disabuse others of their +misconceptions. + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + _AN EXCURSION_. + + +Mrs. Sangster decided that Mr. Wallowby ought to see something of the +country during his stay. An excursion was planned, and to introduce +some appearance of novelty into the party, the Rev. Roderick was +summoned to join the expedition. + +It was an early September morning when they started from Auchlippie. +Peter drove the phaeton, and his friend sat beside him on the box. +Inside were the ladies and the minister, in his quality of priest, or +one of the third sex, which, as though not either male or female, +possesses all the claims to deference of both, and owes the duties of +neither. Roderick sat in the back seat beside his hostess, while the +two young ladies faced him. The two gentlemen on the box looked back +from time to time with some remark which was gaily responded to by the +ladies, and Roderick occasionally joined in with a quiet jest. The +presence of Sophia filled his mind with happiness too deep for +merriment, and there she sat before him in full view. + +Sophia being a placid person abounding in the beauty of repose, had +worked her spell upon him more by looks, which he had interpreted into +sympathy, and what he chose to imagine the beauty of her virgin soul, +than by anything she had ever said. Looking in her eyes he had dreamt +of all that was loveliest and then fancied he saw it there. Another +Narcissus, he had gazed in their crystal depths, and, mistaking his +own reflection for the spirit of the flood, had fallen in love with +it. + +It made little matter to him that they were in the midst of a merry +company, he could sun himself in the presence that was so much of his +own creating all the same, and save that he was more silent than at +other times, no one could have observed any departure from his usual +bearing. Sophia was aware of his mute observance, and thought it 'very +nice,' she was used to it, and it required from her no irksome effort +in response, which, as her thinking part was neither imaginative nor +emotional, and somewhat sluggish besides, was comfortable. The +contrast between Roderick's quiet and the lively loquacity of Mr. +Wallowby, told all in favour of the former; for although Mary and her +mother with their greater readiness relieved her from the necessity of +reply, it was mortifying thus to realize her own slowness, and she +found the constant smiling and laughter over jests whose point she had +missed, fatiguing to her facial muscles, and at last she took refuge +in a private chat with Roderick as to whether he thought the day would +keep fine and such like weighty matters. + + +[Illustration: Loch Gorton and Inchbracken. Page 79.] + + +They drove across the upland moors and the ridge dividing Glen Effick +from the neighbouring valley of the Gorton, and down Gorton side to +where it spreads into the lake of the same name. At that point it is +crossed by a bridge, the road passing an old posting inn which looks +down the loch, and is backed by Craig Findochart, the highest mountain +of the district, and the goal of the day's expedition. + +Loch Gorton is a basin among the hills, deep and narrow at its upper +end, but broadening and shallowing towards its base. It fills the +mouth of a valley whose precipitous slopes crowd down upon the water +at its head, but draw back in lessening and ever-widening undulations +from the lower end. Near the outlet is the broad low island of +Inchbracken, connected with the mainland by a narrow neck of land. +Here in the old time stood the castle of the Drysdales, commanding the +isthmus, which they cut across and commanded by a drawbridge. The moat +is filled up now, and the square old keep, ivy-grown and ruinous, has +sunk into a mere picturesque feature in the shrubbery of the modern +mansion. + +Leaving their phaeton at the Bridge of Gorton Inn, the party secured a +guide, and proceeded to ascend the hill. A steep footpath led across +several enclosed fields, and brought them through a stretch of oak +copsewood to a track of open pasture, whence they could look down on +the lake spread out at their feet, while the great purple mountain +reared its steep shoulders above them, swelling in broad sweeps of +heath backward and upward to the beetling crags far up, thrusting +their jagged outlines into the sky, and shutting out the climber from +the distant summit. + +The belt of pasture past, climbing began in earnest. The shaggy +heather was knee deep in many places, and every here and there the +rocky knuckles of the mountain projected through the peaty soil. + +The party began to straggle. Mary, sound of wind and limb, +light-footed and active, was in front with the guide. Peter and +Wallowby toiled closely behind, the latter showing the first signs of +distress in shortening breath, and handkerchief applied occasionally +to his brow. Mrs. Sangster followed in steady mechanical fashion. Her +fifty odd summers had no doubt impaired the elasticity of her frame, +but had left behind a fund of tough endurance and sturdy will, which +did very well in its stead. Sophia and Roderick brought up the rear, +the coolest and calmest of the party. Her fine physique made the +exertion both light and pleasant, and her tranquil soul supplied a +wellspring of inward coolness, which even hill-climbing was unable to +overheat, while Roderick by her side among the sunshine and the +ever-widening view, walked on air, held forth at will, and dreamed +aloud in words overflowingly; while his placid companion smiled and +looked at him out of her beautiful eyes, listening, and sometimes +understanding what he said. The path became steeper after a while, and +Mrs. Sangster stopped to take breath, looking around the while for the +others. + +Mary and the young men were perched upon a rock high over her head, +and when she looked down Roderick and Sophia came calmly following +her. It seemed too much that Mary should monopolize not only Peter +(though that was well enough), but also the wealthy party from +Manchester, who had been sent by Providence, as she still thought, to +open a larger sphere of usefulness to her daughter; meaning really, if +self-delusion would ever let us speak plainly to ourselves, a carriage +and pair and a handsome establishment. The ice between the two had +been hard to break, what better way could there be to thaw it, than +the small difficulties and adventures of a mountain ramble? And here +the stupid girl was letting her opportunity escape, and trifling it +away with a young man whom she could beckon to her side any day, and +could always fall back upon if more ambitious aims did not succeed. A +more worldly or a more single-minded mamma would no doubt have spoken +plainly to her daughter, and so might have influenced that not very +perspicuous person more effectually, but Mrs. Sangster had the +misfortune to be looking two ways at once, or like the boatman in the +_Pilgrim's Progress_, she looked one way while she pulled the other. +She loved and appreciated the good things of the world, as thoroughly +as any one, but at the same time she was wont to say, and to really +think that she thought they were a snare, or dross, in comparison with +higher interests. She could not bring her tongue to frame such advice +to her daughter as would in any way derogate from true religion, or +the old-fashioned 'true, true love,' she had thought and sang of in +her own youth. She could only suggest and influence in a half-ashamed +sort of way. But she was disappointed and mortified that a +daughter of hers should be so wanting in common sense. After all the +advantages of her upbringing, how came it that she should fail of that +well-regulated mind, which, seeing both sides of a question, can both +say what is 'nice' in regard to the higher, and at the same time +follow the more profitable. The thing requires a little casuistry, but +it must be of the unspoken kind. It cannot be decently uttered, so +each must work it out alone in those secret chambers of the brain, +where not the prying eye of conscience even may intrude. Any one would +feel annoyed at a carefully and expensively-educated daughter throwing +herself away, and all the proud hopes that have been formed for her, +on a poor match; yet openly to preach the mercenary would be infamy. +So felt Mrs. Sangster, and she was greatly disturbed; for hers was +virtue of the uncomfortable, rather than of the heroic kind,--it could +not make her choose the better way, but it would reproach her if she +followed the worse. As for Sophia, her mother wronged her if she +suspected her of unwisely preferring the good to the profitable. She +was only dull. Money and all it could buy would, she felt, be +delightful to have, but she did not feel equal to winning it. Roderick +had looked and succumbed to her beauty, and it would be very pleasant +if Mr. Wallowby would do likewise; it would be grand,--and no personal +preference should prevent her making her fortune; but if Mr. Wallowby +was only to be captured by something she was to do, she resigned the +idea at once; she felt she could do nothing, and the very idea of +doing anything to win his regard made her ashamed, which was what +might have been expected. If people will bring up their girls to be +high-minded and good, they have no right to expect scheming and +meanness from them after they are grown. + +'Oh, Mr. Roderick,' said Mrs. Sangster, 'I fear I must ask you to take +pity on an old woman. This climbing is hot work, with the sun beating +down so on my old back. I can bear the weight of my shawl no longer. +If there was only a breeze! But the air seems stagnant, and my old +limbs are not what they once were.' + +'We have only to get a very little higher now to have wind enough,' +said Roderick, doubling the shawl on his arm. 'See Mr. Wallowby's +handkerchief up there how it blows about. If you will accept a little +assistance over this steep place, you will soon reach the cooler +level.' + +'Sophia!' continued the mother, 'I believe that guide will break a +bottle, or something, the way he swings the basket about. Pray bid him +take care or we shall have a dry luncheon to eat when we get to the +top of the hill,--there will be no water up there. It makes me quite +nervous to look at him.' + +So Sophia was despatched in advance while the older lady made a +leisurely survey of the prospect at her feet. + +'A beautiful place Inchbracken, with its woods spreading out beyond +the island and rolling away into the distance, and the steeple of +Kilrundle church rising from among them. Dives with his good things, +and Lazarus with his evil things! You must feel thankful to have +chosen the better part, Mr. Roderick.' + +'I feel no misgiving about my choice whatever, but I hope there is no +reason to look on General Drysdale as another Dives. Difference in +people's circumstances, shows things in so different a light.' + +'Ah! my young friend, charity is good, but it must be according to +knowledge.' + +'But, Mrs. Sangster, the General is a most worthy man, a kind master +and a good landlord, and an honourable gentleman.' + +'I will not say, Mr. Roderick, that his hands are red with the blood +of the saints, because it has not been left in his power to take the +lives of the Lord's people; but he has been very bitter against the +Free Church. We may fairly include him among the persecutors, driving +us forth to worship God according to our conscience, on the bare +hill-side, and refusing us a stance to build our church on any part of +his property. Now, I have always said, that that open place facing +Inchbracken gate is where our new church should stand. There it could +testify before the very walls of the Erastian temple, instead of being +huddled away in the corner of widow Forester's kale-yard.' + +'But how would you like a Roman Catholic or even an Episcopal Chapel +set down opposite your own gate at Auchlippie?' + +'Mr. Roderick! Popery and Prelacy! To hear you evening our true +scriptural protesting Free Church to the Babylonish apostacy, with +their white gowns, and their organs, and their traditions of men! I +fear there's a leaven of latitudinarianism among you younger men. You +should follow the staunch old lights like Mr. Dowlas, to steady your +principles. How you can recall the doings of Archbishop Sharp, and +speak lightly of Episcopacy, is what I can't comprehend!' + +They had now reached the last steep ascent which ended on the summit. +This left the old lady no spare breath to hold forth, and she was glad +to catch hold of Roderick's arm to assist in pulling herself up the +nearly vertical slope. The wind-swept cairn at the top was at length +reached, and, notwithstanding her late complaints, Mrs. Sangster was +forced to shelter herself from the keen breeze, under its lee, and to +resume the shawl she had discarded. + +Craig Findochart rises high over the surrounding hills especially +towards the east. On that side they gradually diminish and die away in +the belt of cultivation that borders the sea. To the north is a narrow +glen running down into a fertile strath well-wooded and watered by a +river of some size; beyond, the lofty Highland mountains toss their +battered summits in the air, a very sea of emulously-surging peaks. +Westward it is mountainous again but more various. The eye travels far +up more than one winding strath, while glancing lakes shine out every +here and there among the greys and purples of mountain and moor. +Southward the view is narrower and loses itself in haze, a greyness +which rises indistinctly from the distant country, but when once +fairly launched in heaven, swells and curls and rears itself into vast +white battlements of cloud, and drifts before the wind shining and +luminous, like some great iceberg in a transparent sea. + +Having surveyed the view, the party sought such shelter from the +chilling breeze as was attainable, on the leeward slope, and proceeded +to rest and refresh themselves, after their fatigues; the old lady, +with some elation at having climbed the hill as cleverly as the +youngest, doing the honours of her provision basket with garrulous +hospitality, while the others reclined on the scanty herbage with +infinite zeal. The warmth gained by exercise withstood the sharp upper +air, whose biting keenness felt only bracing and exhilarating to those +toilers upward from the airless heat below; but after half an hour +they had parted with the surplus heat gained by exertion, and began to +feel distinctly cold. There seemed a failing too in the brightness of +the light, except over the distant sea, which still glittered crisp +and bright in unclouded sunshine. A wan greyness seemed to be stealing +over the landscape, not as when passing clouds dapple the view with +well defined blocks of shadow, but rather a diffused withdrawal of +warmth and light all undefined and vague, but ever deepening like the +stealthy advances of sickness or death upon a living thing. Looking +upwards they now for the first time observe great vaporous arms and +wreaths extending over their heads and stretching out towards the +still bright heavens in the north-east. Turning round they find the +outlook completely obliterated. The shining cloud-masses of an hour +before in the south-west have drifted down upon them, and are now +nothing but curling wreaths of cold damp mist, seething and twisting, +but ever downward and onward. They seem scarcely to have descried +overhead its first advancing arms ere it has descended on them and +lapped them from the world in cold damp greyness, above, below, and +all around them. From far down the hill ascends the report of a gun, +and by and by another, telling them that others besides themselves are +on the mountain, and that they are still upon firm ground; but for +that they might be anywhere or nowhere, the mist hems them in utterly, +the very ground they stand on becomes indistinct, and they stretch +their arms to touch each other and make sure they are not each alone. +They gather close together standing perfectly still, a step in any +direction may precipitate them they know not whither, and the damp +clammy vapour creeps close about them soaking hair and clothing, and +chilling them to the bone. + +'It is only a cloud and will soon pass,' some one says; so they agree +it will be safer to wait than to attempt a descent not knowing where +their next step may carry them. They huddle closely together and watch +and shiver; at one moment it seems growing lighter overhead, and +glimmerings of the bright sky shine through, but anon a surging wreath +drifts up, and the promising rift closes in again denser than before. + +For more than an hour they stood thus afraid to move, stiffening and +shivering in the cold. The day was passing, but the mist showed no +sign of rising; on the contrary it grew thicker and more wetting, and +the idea of spending the night where they were, began to present +itself as a possibility unless they made a bold venture to move. To +die of cold where they were, appeared a certainty if they remained, +while there was at least a hope of escape, in tempting the uncertain +dangers of the descent. + +Wallowby being a stranger was told to keep hold of the guide, and +Sophia was entrusted to their joint care. Mary and Peter having both +some knowledge of the hills and the country followed next, while +Roderick who had often shot over the ground, undertook to pilot the +old lady. The three groups were to keep together as well as they +could, and by constant shouting they hoped to keep within each other's +ken. + +With infinite care, groping and feeling around at every step, they +commenced to descend, the grey obscurity swallowing them up, and +concealing each group from the others. The voices seemed muffled by +the fog, but they enabled them still to hold together. + +Down they went, stumbling over loose stones, clambering down rocks and +slipping among the heather now dripping with moisture, Mrs. Sangster +vowing it should be her last expedition of the kind, if ever she got +safe to 'bigget land' again. + +'Hold more to the left!' shouted the guide, an injunction which Mrs. +Sangster hastened to obey, though still very far from the point it was +meant to apply to and thereby found herself on a steep rock face, +where she was compelled to turn round, and grasping the heather bushes +above, to step gingerly backwards, down into the unknown. + +'Oh! Mr. Roderick, this is awful!' + +'Another step and you will come to level foothold again.' + +'Oh! but I can't; I am caught in something. There it goes--and now I +have lost my gold spy-glass, something has caught the chain and broken +it. Oh, Mr. Roderick! will you help me to find it! I shall never be +able to read my psalm-book on Sunday, if I lose it. Oh dear! oh dear! +what an old fool I have been. Skemmeling over Findochart like a +nine-year old!' + +Roderick shouted to the others to wait, but the cry lost itself in the +mist, or was misunderstood. The voices from below came up fainter and +fainter, and finally they were heard no more. + +The search for the 'spy-glass' occupied some time, and all their +attention, but eventually it was found within a foot or two of where +they stood, and it was not till then that they discovered they were +alone on the hillside. Roderick shouted till he was hoarse, but there +came no response, and it became evident they must shift for +themselves. + +'Most disgraceful conduct! such heartlessness! To think that Peter +Sangster, my own son, whom I have sat up with, and nursed through +measles and hooping-cough, till my back was like to break, should drag +his old mother up here among the clouds, and then desert her!' and +here the old lady began to whimper, but took care to make the +'spy-glass' secure in some inner receptacle of her dress. + +Roderick suggested that it was getting late, and that by making haste +they might yet overtake the runaways. + +'I hope we may. But who knows? They may have fallen over a precipice, +and be lying maimed and mangled at the bottom. Oh dear! it may be days +before they are found. My poor Sophia! that would have looked so well +riding about Manchester in her own carriage! She may have broken her +neck, or disfigured herself for life! lying bruised and bleeding on a +heap of stones. And the crows come and pick at people, they tell me, +when they are too much hurt to drive them away. Oh dear, oh dear! + +Her active mind conjured up every imaginable horror, till, distracted +by the pictures of her own invention, she lifted up her voice and wept +sore. + +Roderick stood by powerless, and eventually silent. Each word of +consolation served but to start her imagination on a new track of +suggestions more frightful than the last, so he held his peace and +waited. Tears brought relief in time, and now fear for herself took +the place of more fanciful terrors. + +'Oh, come away, Roderick!' she cried, 'what are you standing there +for?--glowering at nothing! Come away!' + +The descent proceeded. And now they were on an extended flat, +undulating in all directions, and lying between the steep ascent to +the summit and the declivity which sloped to the next level below. +Without the guidance afforded by continuous descent, they found very +soon that they had completely lost their way, and could form no idea +of what direction they were moving in. + +'I thought you had often shot over this hill, and knew it well, +Roderick Brown, or I would never have trusted myself in your hands; +but it seems to me you know nothing about it. I'm thinkin' we may +wander about here all night, for anything _you_ can do to bring us +home. So I am just going to sit down till the Lord sends us help! +Home! I'll never see home again; and a sorrowful woman I am, that I +ever set out on this fool's errand!' + +'We must do as I have had to do more than once before, Mrs. Sangster, +when I got befogged in the hills, follow a stream of running +water--the first we can find. The water will find its way down +somewhere, and will bring us to a house eventually, though it may take +us through some difficult places.' + +A burn was by-and-by found, and they set themselves to follow its +course wherever that might lead, like the clue by which some devious +labyrinth is disentangled. It led through swampy places sometimes, and +sometimes tumbled downward among rocks and under high banks, but they +were already so wet that walking in its bed where the sides were too +craggy and difficult made small difference, and after clambering +downwards for more than an hour, they were rejoiced by the barking of +a dog some distance below them. + +'Do you hear that? Mrs. Sangster; I think we are nearing a habitation +at last!' + +Mrs. Sangster drew a long breath, and stood upright to listen; letting +go her hold of the bushes by whose help she was scrambling down in the +bed of the burn. The rock she stood on was slippery. On changing her +poise her feet slid from under her, and with a scream, and a +clattering of stones, she shot forward and downward upon her +companion, landing them both in a pool of water. + +'Oh, Roderick Brown! You'll be the death of me! How dare you try your +cantrips on a woman old enough to be your mother? Dragging me through +bogs and down precipices, and ducking me in burns till I haven't a dry +stitch on my back, or an easy bone in my body! I'll have ye up before +the presbytery for a graceless loon! Oh, laddie! never mind what I +say. My head's just going round and round, I think I'm demented! Lay +me on the bank to drip--and let me die in peace! I can go no further.' + + +[Illustration: "She shot forward and downward upon her companion, +landing them both in a pool of water." Page 88.] + + +'Nonsense, Mrs. Sangster. Just a few steps more! We must be very close +to some shieling now. I declare I can smell the peat reek in the air! +Here is a footpath going down the hill--come! let us follow it.' + +'Give me your hand, then, for I do not think I have courage left to +stand alone, far less walk. Oh! What an experience!' + +They reached a shepherd's cottage in a few minutes more, where the +wife of Stephen Boague, surrounded by dogs and children, came out to +receive them. Roderick was not sorry to hand over his charge to the +good woman's care, but he would not linger himself, he must hasten to +the inn, though that was three miles off, to learn if the others had +not arrived there, and if not to send searchers up the mountain after +them. The mist had changed into a drizzling rain, but he was already +too wet to feel it, and too anxious for the others to have any thought +for himself. + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + _INCHBRACKEN_. + + +The rest of the party stumbled and groped their way slowly down the +hill, Peter and Mary endeavouring to follow the voices of those in +front, and shouting to them from time to time. + +By and by, when they came to more level ground, another shout reached +them through the gloom. + +'Ah! there is your mother!' said Mary, and shouted her loudest. 'But +we cannot go to them, or we will miss the guide.' + +The sound of hoofs was now heard, and the crack of a gun fired as a +signal, and presently a mounted figure loomed up in the mist. + +'Captain Drysdale!' said Peter. + +'Mr. Sangster! and a lady! Miss Brown, you had better get on my pony. +He will save you a good many stumbles.' So saying, he dismounted and +lifted her on the saddle. + +When people meet in the mist, and are hastening after an invisible +guide, there is no time for ceremonious speeches. Mary was mounted and +Kenneth leading the pony, before she had made up her mind whether she +should accept his proffer or not. + +'You may trust Dandy, Miss Mary; he never stumbles, and he will +overtake the rest of your party sooner than you could.' But here their +path ended in rock and precipice. + +'We are at the bottom, climb straight down,' came up out of the abyss. +'It is not difficult, and we will wait for you.' + +Peter began to descend. + +'I know where we are,' said Captain Drysdale. 'If Miss Brown will +trust herself to my guidance, I will bring her round these cliffs +without her needing to dismount, and we, with the pony's help, will +reach the inn before you, so do not be uneasy, Mr. Sangster;' and +before Mary or Peter could express an opinion, the pony had turned, +and they were swallowed up in the mist. + +The pony broke into a jog trot, and Kenneth ran by his side. Shortly +they came upon a path which zigzagged easily down hill, but tended +more and more to the left. Kenneth fired again, and shortly an +answering report came up from the depths below. The pony mended his +pace at the answering signal, and it was not very long before they +came on General Drysdale with a gillie or two and a couple of ponies. +It was the spot where he had agreed with his friends to meet for +luncheon, if the mist had not put an end to their sport. + +'So, Kenneth, you have found the people you heard shouting. What! a +lady, and alone?' The old gentleman advanced to welcome the new +arrival. + +'Miss Mary Brown! To meet you here!' + +'She has been to the top of the hill with Mr. Sangster, and got caught +in the mist. I came on them just as they were on the point of +scrambling down a precipice, and I have promised to take her round by +the road to rejoin them at the inn.' + +'You must be drenched by this drizzling mist, Miss Brown, and it will +take you more than an hour to reach the inn by the road. You had much +better accompany us to Inchbracken, where Lady Caroline will be +charmed to see you made comfortable, and we will drive you home +to-morrow morning. Here, Duncan! you will find a short cut over the +hill. Find Mrs. Sangster at the inn, and tell her, with my +compliments, I have insisted on Miss Brown's remaining at Inchbracken +for the night. She is too much fatigued and wetted to make it safe for +her to go farther to-night.' + +Mary demurred and resisted as well as she could, but the old gentleman +was somewhat autocratic, and not used to being gainsaid on his own +land. Her remonstrances were over-ruled or disregarded, and she had to +submit, with no great reluctance after all, for she was chilled +miserably, and thoroughly wet, and the prospect of an hour's ride +ending in the make-shift drying to be obtained at a wayside inn was +not very alluring. Having exchanged her wet shawl for a dry plaid and +a mackintosh, she found herself riding along the hill track at a brisk +pace, the General on one side and Kenneth on the other, the men having +orders to remain and fire their guns occasionally till Captain John +and his friends should reach the rendezvous. + +It was later that afternoon when Miss Julia Finlayson entered the +housekeeper's room at Inchbracken. In her character of young lady, if +not daughter of the house, she had taken on herself the care of its +floral decoration, a matter less generally thought of thirty years ago +than now, and therefore even less to be entrusted to the servants. She +had made the round of the conservatories, and carried on her arm a +large basket of flowers to be arranged in vases which William the +footman was then bringing in. There she found the lady's maid +preparing tea to carry up-stairs. + +'Has Lady Caroline a headache, Mrs. Briggs? I do wish she would vary +the dissipation a little. Tea before getting up!--more tea at +breakfast!--tea before dressing for dinner, and tea after dinner +again! Why will Dr. Pilcox not intervene, and save her poor nerves? +But nobody ever does venture to advise rich people till it is too +late. But tea after luncheon as well! I almost think I must take upon +me to suggest a little Madeira, unless the headache is very severe. + +'La! Miss Finlayson! The tea is for a young lady just arrived. Did you +not know? She have rid up with General Drysdale and the Capting all in +a titty tit. And my lady, far from being poorly, is quite set up and +lively about having a stranger to entertain this drizzly afternoon, +and indeed, Miss, she have made us all pooty lively upstairs with so +many orders. Rooms to prepare--a hot bath--tea--and all the young +lady's things to be dried. For indeed she had not a dry stitch to sit +down in. And oh! such tears and tatters along of her having been +climbing hills and precipices in the mist, and the Capting bringing +her home safe and sound--for my lady says it is most remarkable. But +how she is agoing to go down to dinner in that black stuff dress I +confess I do not understand. Seeing as how she appears a sweet young +lady indeed, and it would be a pity if she were not properly dressed, +and she an old friend of the family, as I could see by my lady. Though +she has not been here before in my time. But here comes Mrs. Kipper +herself; no doubt she knows the young lady--' + +'Hoot!' responded the housekeeper, 'it's juist auld Doctor Brown's +daughter. I've kenned the lassie sin' she could rin. My lady would +often have her mother up from the manse, and she would be sent down +here to me, and the young laird with her, to keep them out of +mischief, and two bonnie bairns they were, and unco couthie; and +thinks I to mysel', I'm wonderin' will my leddy ever rue the way the +castle and the manse have forgathered. And I wad no say but the +Captain may have a kindness for Miss Mary yet. I thought her brother, +with his Free Kirk havers and his goin' clean against the master's +wishes, would have peuten sic notions out of his head. But there's no +tellin'. They're dour chields the Drysdales, that kenna how to let go; +and if our young Captain has wance ta'en the notion, they may save +their breath to cool their parritch, that would gainsay him. He'll +gang his ain gate.' + +Julia heard it all, while with her scissors she snipped the ends of +her flower stalks, and arranged her nosegays. In her rôle of +affability and general good nature with the household, her presence +imposed no restraint on those confidential servants; in fact, it +rather stimulated them to talk, and show how much at heart they had +the interests of the family, and how well they understood whatever was +going on. It suited her to know whatever was to be thus picked up, so +long as it could be done without betraying unseemly curiosity, and she +was much too wise to compromise herself by putting questions to a +domestic; but this intelligence was far from welcome to her, and what +was worse, Mrs. Kipper's speculations were but confirmation of her own +fears. + +A gentlewoman of slender means, and with no near relations, she had to +make her own way in the world and effect a lodgment in it somewhere by +the aid of such wits as relenting nature had bestowed, when she +withheld the brute strength that is given to vulgar humanity. In fact, +my poor Julia was, I fear, something of a schemer. Is it not shocking? + +And yet, dear lady, if I may ask--how long would that charming candour +and transparency of soul, not to speak of the high-spirited +independence of character, which so delight your friends, survive, if +you had to depend on the hospitality of some one, whom no social law +ordained to offer it? We must all eat three times a day if possible, +and those who have no money themselves must arrange that some one else +who has, shall pay for the dinner, or worse will come of it. +Inchbracken had been the oyster offered by fortune to Julia, and very +well she had acquitted herself in the task of opening it. Friends and +every comfort she had been able to achieve thereby, with every +prospect of their continuance so long as her kinswoman should survive. +But then good things of life are not enough, so soon at least as they +are once secured. Man is not an oyster, whatever his remote ancestors +may have been, nor woman either; and as regards ancestors, without +impugning the oyster's claim, if we are to infer anything from a +never-failing hereditary trait, a place should be found somewhere in +the pedigree for the horseleech; all human desire, aim, aspiration, +may be expressed by the one simple formula--'a little more.' With that +ahead and within view, how contentedly we can struggle along, and with +how little! Progress is what we need to make us happy. Julia was +becoming less young each day, and she was still unwed. No suitor had +appeared, but while her kinsman remained single she had still looked +forward with some confidence in her own skill and good fortune. That +good fortune had sent Kenneth abroad when Mary Brown appeared to be +getting dangerous, and had given herself the opportunity to slide into +intimate correspondence with him as a substitute for his indolent +mother. Again kind fortune had intervened in removing the Browns from +the scene before Kenneth's return, and in involving them in such +disfavour as to remove all danger of their being invited to the house. +Then, too, she had aimed her own little shaft to aggravate the +alienation by clouding his fair fame with insinuations of a +disreputable scandal. + +If she could but have left her ears in the housekeeper's room when she +went up stairs she would have learned how successful had been her +little device to make people entangle their ideas, by accepting +juxtaposition for connection, and thereby mistaking, like their +hostess, the _post hoc_ for the _propter hoc_. William coming for the +dinner bouquets while the confidential talk was in progress, was able +to contribute his quota to it by repeating the appalling facts and +surmises which his friends on the moor had discussed the previous +Sunday, and which, in fact, had been started by himself, though his +memory had failed to record that circumstance. The lady's maid raised +her eyes to the ceiling, and declared that 'she never----,' while the +housekeeper was 'thankful Roderick's godly father was safe in heaven, +or it would have killed him outright.' In due time all this would +filter upwards to Lady Caroline's ears, and yet what would it avail to +Julia? Here was Mary already in the house. A fog on the hill had been +able to undo all that Fortune and herself had been able to effect in +two years time, as the blundering broom of a housemaid will carry away +at one sweep the cobwebs that have been weeks in spinning. Mary Brown +in the house, and Kenneth at her side for a whole evening--but at +least she would be true to herself, and not yield till she was +defeated. Mary would be at a disadvantage in more respects than one, +certainly as regards dress, and also in accomplishments and knowledge +of the world. Mary on the other hand had youth, but then, as Julia +told herself, youth means rawness, and 'I won't give in yet!' she +added, 'I must go to her now to reconnoitre, and behave my very +prettiest, and that will at least keep her upstairs till the dressing +bell rings.' + +So thinking, she entered Lady Caroline's sitting-room with her +flowers. + +'Oh, Julia! such pretty flowers! What should I do without your kind +clever fingers to brighten my room for me? Have you seen the visitor +my General has brought me? But of course not. She is bathing and +dressing, and what not. The poor child seemed actually dripping when +General Drysdale brought her in;--found her in the mist! Away up on +Craig Findochart. I have handed her over to Briggs, and by and by I +hope she will be able to see us. So nice to have somebody arrive this +dismal afternoon. I really felt too dawny even to open the new book +box from London, and as for my knitting, the stitches wouldn't count +somehow, and that fool Briggs went and dropped some of them in trying +to put it right, and altogether the appearance of a new face has made +a most pleasing variety. You remember Mary Brown, of course,--a nice +little girl, and very like her poor mother. A great friend of mine her +mother was--a most dear woman. I believe I miss her sadly still, +sometimes. In fact, I always do miss the Browns when I see the new +people that have come to the manse,--not, my dear, that I would have +you imagine I could undervalue any clergyman of our national church. +Indeed, I consider it an honour to be able to contribute to its +well-being in these levelling times, when if we who have a stake in +the country do not support the Church, we shall have the State too +tumbling in about our ears. Those dreadful levellers seem to reverence +nothing, wanting to repeal the Corn Laws, and to call their dissenting +meeting-places churches! and putting steeples on them, and actually +ringing bells. What is to become of the British constitution if every +dissenting chapel is to have a steeple and call itself a church, and +ring a bell? As my dear General says sometimes, I think the flood +gates must be opening. If it was only the English chapels, it would be +of less consequence. You know my brother Pitthevlis is an +Episcopalian, and I belonged to that Church till my marriage (the +Drysdales have always held to the Establishment and the Revolution +Settlement), not to mention that it is the Established form across the +Border; but that every little gathering of impudent seceder bodies is +to hang up its kettle and deave the whole parish, whenever it wishes +to say its prayers, I consider it most improper, and neither to the +glory of God or man. And therefore, my dear, I would be most +scrupulous in paying the clergy every attention. Still, when I asked +Mrs. Snodgrass and her children to come up and eat strawberries one +summer's day, you may remember it, I could not but think of poor dear +Mrs. Brown, and miss her sadly. I think in future I shall _send_ my +strawberries to Mrs. Snodgrass. I believe she would rather eat them at +home, and I know _I_ shall prefer it. Then it was so convenient in Dr. +Brown's time, whenever a gentleman was required to make up the number +at dinner, he would come so obligingly on the shortest notice, and be +so useful in the conversation;--a most accomplished man, my dear. But +this Mr. Snodgrass is different, dining out does not appear to be his +forte; though he is a most excellent man, and I am sure we ought to +appreciate him highly. But, as I was saying, this little Mary Brown +was always a favourite of mine--a nice, quiet, soft little thing, and +so bright and pretty, just like one of your charming posies there, and +quite a relief on a grey colourless afternoon like this. But here is +Briggs to say Miss Brown is ready to receive us. Come.' + +They passed into an adjoining apartment, where, seated in an elbow +chair by the fire, was Mary. She was wrapped in a large white +peignoir, and her hair, gathered in a knot behind, had partly escaped +from the comb, and fell in a stream of sunny brown across her +shoulders. + +'Mary, my dear, keep your seat, and try to get rested,' said Lady +Caroline. 'Why, child, how like your mother you grow! and so pretty! I +was so fond of your mother, my dear, and you remind me of her. I hope +they have attended to you, and brought you whatever you want. Be sure +and ask Briggs for anything that has been forgotten.' + +And so she went on in a continuous monody, while the younger women +listened; for, when Lady Caroline felt disposed to talk, she gave +little heed to what was said by any one else, but followed the tangled +thread of her own ideas, never doubting but they must be as +interesting to persons of lower degree, as she found them herself. An +Earl's daughter, and of a historical house, she deemed nothing so +reverent as its traditional glories, and insisted with gracious +pertinacity on the full measure of deference according thereto; and +there is little doubt that when in after years she was duly gathered +to her noble fathers, it would not have been the 'Law and the +Testimony,' but the tables of precedence that would have been found +graven on her heart. In one house at the other end of the county she +had been led out to dinner behind the daughter of a more recent +creation, but she had never crossed that threshold since, nor were the +offenders ever again permitted to share in the festivities of +Inchbracken. + +'Well, girls, here comes Briggs with my tea, so I shall leave +you to your own chit-chat; it will be half-an-hour yet before the +dressing-bell rings.' + +Julia drew her seat nearer to the fire, and spread her hands to the +cheerful blaze: like the cats, she loved warmth. + +'It seems long since we have met, Miss Brown. One never sees you in +this neighbourhood now, though you are still so near. Pray, how do you +like your new way of life? I heard a gentleman say, not long ago, that +as it was on spiritual grounds you left Kilrundle, you would no doubt +feel you were advancing, and becoming more like the spirits, in so far +at least as being able to live in several houses at once goes. From +what we hear, you live all over the village at Glen Effick,--a sort of +ubiquity, in short. But perhaps 'living' is too gross a name for that +sort of thing; 'pervade' has a more spiritual sound, only it does not +suggest much in the way either of bed or dinner. Do you like it?' + +Mary raised her eyes enquiringly to the other's face. Did she mean to +be impertinent? And why? + +'A woman lives with her natural protector, Miss Finlayson. Wherever my +brother fixes his home, if he chooses to share it with me, of course I +shall like it.' + +Julia's eyelids winced. She had a rheumatic old aunt who lived in a +sea-side village all the winter with a solitary maid, and who was wont +to disappear in spring, when some family from an inland town would +rent her cottage for the summer. With this ancient relative, Julia had +been thankful to take up her abode when the demise of her parents left +her homeless, and her own small income, added to that of the old lady, +had made a better provision for both. Circumstances had changed since +then. When Lady Caroline found she wanted a companion, Julia +recognised the greater congeniality of a wealthy household. The old +aunt might talk of ingratitude, but she was quietly dropped, and Lady +Caroline enthroned in her 'heart' as nearest of kin. Julia's +conscience, however, was not a troublesome organ, and Mary could have +meant no retaliating shot, since she had never heard of the aunt; so +she continued as though Mary had not spoken. + +'And now you have extended your pervading presence to Craig +Findochart! What a strange choice! You do not expect to do good to +souls up there, do you?' + +'Oh, Miss Finlayson, pray don't! I never was clever at understanding +drolleries, and it pains me to hear sacred things lightly mentioned. +But if you want to know how I came there, it is simple enough. Mr. +Sangster has her son and another gentleman on a visit, and I have been +staying there for a few days. We made a party to Findochart to show +the stranger the view, the mist came down when we were on the top of +the hill, we lost our way and were all scattered, General Drysdale +found me and kindly insisted on bringing me here. It seems all natural +enough when you come to know it, does it not?' + +'Quite natural, dear, and very nice. Pray, forgive my poor, poor +little joke. You remember my foolish fondness for being lively, or +trying, at least; for it is not easily done in the lonely country life +we lead here. Oh, why will Lady Caroline not improve her health by an +autumn at Baden Baden? Pray now, tell me the news, since you are +staying at a house full of visitors. Young Sangster is home, is he? +Home for the holidays, one might say, for he is duller than many a +schoolboy. But his friend. Tell me about _him_--what is he like! Rich, +I suppose, or mamma would not endanger Miss Sophia's peace of mind by +his presence. He will be eligible from an Auchlippie point of view, +and if that is not a very ornamental one, at least it is pretty solid. +Old MacSiccar, the writer, dined with the General last week, and he +spoke of old Sangster as one of the warmest men hereabouts. So, my +dear, you might do worse than go in for gaukie Peter. I half meditate +a descent myself, only it would be a long run over a very heavy +country, as a Leicestershire friend of mine phrases it. But tell me +about the friend. Is he nice? The two shot with Captain John yesterday +over Whauprigg moor, and they were expected for dinner, but there was +some mistake about dressing bags, so we ladies never saw them. Cousin +Kenneth says they are horrid cads both, but then his regiment are a +parcel of supercilious puppies, so we need not mind that. What is the +friend's name?' + +'Wallowby.' + +'Don't like the sound of it. Is he moderately nice? and is he rich?' + +'They say he is very rich indeed, and has more in expectation from a +bachelor uncle--a mill owner.' + +'Ah! Those mill owners are tremendous people. And is he nice?' + +'Really I don't know--That is a matter of taste.' + +'Well, does he please your taste, Miss Precision?' + +'I find him very polite and attentive, more so indeed than I care for. +I think fussy people are apt to put me out, and it seems difficult to +converse with him. I suppose my being Scotch prevents my knowing the +things he talks best about.' + +'And has Miss Sophia made an impression, do you think? Or is she +impressed herself?' + +'Indeed I don't know.' + +'Ah! forgive me. I am so forgetful, but you know I mean no harm. I +remember now, there is some _tendresse_ between your brother and her. +She certainly is handsome, and I hope he will get her if he wishes it, +though, _entre nous_, she always struck me as a dull girl. Like a +wedding cake, only good to look at.' + +Here Briggs knocked and entered, with a bundle of white roses, each +flushing into pinkish creaminess at the heart. + +'With Captain Drysdale's compliments for Miss Brown.' + +'Poor Colewort!' cried Julia, with just a thrill of viciousness in her +voice, 'there go his hopes of a prize at the flower show next week! I +know he has been nursing that rose for weeks past. For all that, Miss +Brown, they will go nicely with your black gown, so I shall leave you +now to embellish yourself with the poor man's broken hopes--Pathetic +sentiment that? Ha! ha!' + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + _A HARBOUR OF REFUGE_. + +Roderick having bestowed his companion safely in the shieling of +Stephen Boague, did not linger. He started at once down the glen by +the path beaten by the shepherd and his family. Down a glen, over a +mountain shoulder, across rolling upland, zig-zagging between marsh +and peat bog, at length coming out on the road, and in course of time +gaining the inn from which they had started in the forenoon. There was +no lifting or clearing away of the mist, it had thickened rather, and +filled the air with a diffused drizzling spray, which settled +drenchingly on every thing, trickling down rock and herbage, soaking +into clothing and ground, till like sponge, they were distended with +moisture. + +He was wet already, as well as more or less bruised, battered, and +foot-sore from his late experience, therefore the drizzle did not add +materially to his discomfort, besides, the ferment in his mind made +him insensible to bodily pains. He had heard from Mrs. Sangster's own +lips when apparent danger had momentarily removed the restraints of +civilized life, and her native egotistic worldliness and greed for +once spoke out for themselves, that she was contemplating a match +between Sophia and Wallowby. His Sophia, for whom like another Jacob +earning his Rachel, he had laboured and borne so long. He had not gone +out each morning for fourteen years, it is true, driving the cattle +before him on the pastures of Auchlippie; but these are not the days +in which human life is measured by centuries. Out of what the +insurance companies would call his presumption of life, he had +bestowed a far larger percentage on Sophia, than were the fourteen +years devoted by the patriarch to winning his bride, not to mention +difference in intensity. Notwithstanding the beauty of the sacred +episode, one cannot but suspect some coolness, along with the much +patience required to watch the beloved object drifting from the bright +bloom of girlhood into the sun-burnt maturity of thirty summers, and +still keep waiting to work out the bargain. Roderick had been working +out his bridal on the other line, not ministering to the greed of a +grasping father-in-law, but submitting to whims, exactions, and +pretensions innumerable from the coarse-fibred mother of his charmer. +How she had taken upon her to regulate his orthodoxy!--had sat in +judgment on all that he did! reproved and exhorted him! and how he had +borne it all, and attributed it to ignorant good intentions, for the +love of Sophia! Sophia, whom he had picked blaeberries for in +childhood, and worshipped openly ever since. + +And had he not been given fair encouragement too? When he returned +from Edinburgh for his college vacations, had he not always met a +special welcome there, and received invitations to come and stay as +frequently as even he could desire? And since then, had he not become +in every respect what this most fickle of mothers the most approved? +Had he not cast aside the offer of a good manse and stipend, and come +forth with the faithful to suffer tribulation for righteousness' sake? +Had he not been zealous, and showed his desire to spend and be spent +in the cause of truth? True, he had obeyed the command of conscience, +and not of Mrs. Sangster in all this; but his line of conduct had been +the one she belauded as most noble and holy, and she had already, in +the earlier time, let him clearly see that personally she approved +him, and had given him every facility for becoming intimate with her +girl. And now without the pretence of falling out or complaint against +him, she was deliberately contemplating to marry her to another man. +Was ever such treachery, fickleness, worldly-mindedness, and all that +is worst? + +Poor young man! It _was_ bad treatment looked at from _his_ point of +view,--it was black, and deserving of all the hard names he applied to +it; but then there are more points of view than one, and who shall +decide which is to prevail over the others? His was the suitor's point +of view, but there is also that of the sought, and likewise that of +her family. A family can wed its flower and pride but once, and it is +neither unnatural nor improper that it should try to do its best, +which, speaking in the general, means to secure a rich husband for the +girl. The most mercenary will admit that riches do not necessarily +bring happiness, but the moral point is whether happiness is possible +without them. Many have doubted whether happiness is compatible with +poverty, but no one has ventured to assert that the poverty is an +element in the happiness. + +Therefore, friend Roderick, there is something to be said on the side +of the old woman. It is not to _your_ interests she can be held bound, +further than the truth and justice due to all our fellow creatures +require, but to her daughter's. As to how the case may appear from the +daughter's point of view, you have no right to say, or even to think, +as you have never put it in her power to tell you, and a maiden may +not divulge the secret of her preferences unasked. She has encouraged +you, you say? But how? Answered you civilly when you spoke to her? +Could a lady do less? Has not been averse to your company? Why should +she be? Could she civilly have shown a distaste for it? And supposing +she felt no distaste, but rather liked it? Must a woman be prepared to +marry any man whose company she finds pleasurable, or less irksome +than solitude? You never spoke the word, my friend, that would have +called her to speak for herself, and therefore you have no right to +complain; though I grant that Mrs. Sangster may have been +inconsiderate and fickle, and may be mercenary. Still, if when she +extended her encouragement, you did not tender your proposal, and +thereby nail her, she must be allowed to change her mind if she +desires. As to Sophia herself, the probability is, that her affections +are, and will remain, in an amorphous form, or let us say in solution, +until such time as her relatives provide her with a husband round whom +they may properly crystallize, as they no doubt will, and she will +prove a pattern wife and mother. I fear, however, that as regards the +nucleus round which her affections are to gather, as in the case of +sugar (another sweet substance), any stick will answer quite well. + +Love is blind, and young love headstrong, therefore it is little +wonder if these cold-blooded reflections did not occur to Roderick. He +fretted and fumed as he walked along, and was thoroughly miserable, +while the moisture dripped steadily from his hat brim, and meandered +in little brooks down his neck. + +Eventually he reached the inn, and bade the landlord send out a gig or +tax-cart at once, to bring in Mrs. Sangster. The landlady came +forward, officious to welcome a guest, and eager to show hospitality +to her minister. + +'Wae's me, sir, but ye _are_ drouket! Past a' kennin', ye micht hae +been soomin' e'y loch, forby climbin' the craig. Stap in by, aside the +twa gentlemen, an' warm yersel'. An' I'se bring ye a drap toddy to het +yer insides, an' syne ye'll gang to yer bed, an' I'se toast yer breeks +afore the kitchen fire. Lord pity me! the man's as blae as a corp +about the gills--clean fushionless an' forfuchan wi' cauld an' weet! +Gude grant he bena taeh doon wi' a fivver o' tap o't. Ye'll be for yer +denner, sir, whan Mrs. Sangster comes in? But that winna be for twa +hours yet; sae gang tae yer bed, sir, ey now, an' I'se see to dryin' +yer claes.' + +Roderick entered the room where sat Peter Sangster and his friend. A +roaring fire of wood billets and peat blazed on the hearth, each had a +smoking tumbler at his elbow, and soothed himself with a pipe. There +was a steaminess and a flavour of broadcloth and shoe leather diffused +about the apartment, but it was evident the gentlemen themselves were +nearly dried, and subsiding into a sort of drowsy comfort under the +united influence of warmth, toddy, and tobacco. + +'Ahoy! Sir preacher! Turned up at last? and what have you done with my +mother?' + +'She is safe in a shieling up one of the cross glens, and I have +already ordered a gig to be sent for her. You may expect her in little +more than an hour. We very nearly got lost on the hill in consequence +of waiting to look for an eye-glass she had dropped. When that was +found, you had gone out of hearing, and we found ourselves alone. +Eventually we had recourse to the old device of following running +water, and a pretty course it led us, over slippery rock faces, and +into pools of ice-cold water. Your mother thought she was drowned more +than once, and at last gave up all hope of getting home alive, and but +that she could hear the barking of dogs and the cries of children a +little way below, she would have collapsed altogether.' + +'Hm,' said Peter, 'I can imagine--I am glad it was you and not me! The +old lady is apt to cut up rough under difficulty. However I had my own +troubles. See my coat! Split right up the middle and only held +together by the collar and the two pins which Mrs. Tuppeny here has +tagged it together with. I have to sit bolt upright, or they run into +me like skewers whenever I lean back. Perhaps they are skewers.' + +'Ha!' broke in Wallowby, 'we heard a screach overhead, and when I +looked up, there were a pair of boot heels within a foot of my eye, +the legs belonging to them were only dimly visible, and whatever was +above that was out of sight in the mist. The guide got hold of one, I +took the other, while Miss Sophia stood well to the one side. Then we +said one, two, three, and gave a pull together. There was a crack of +rending broad-cloth and oh! such an unearthly howl. He must have +fancied he was being dragged down into the pit of darkness. Eh, Peter? +and there stood my gentleman clutching his fingers into the cravats of +his two preservers and panting like a steamboat!--Pretty exhibition of +nerves, my fine fellow!--What will they say at the club when they hear +of it?' + +'You shut up! for a clumsy blunderbuss! You nearly dislocated my hip +joint with your idiotic wrenching, and then wonder that I cried out!' + +'What has become of Miss Sophia?' asked Roderick. + +'Tea and bed upstairs,' replied Wallowby with a guffaw; 'the landlady +marched her up stairs to bed first thing, like a naughty child who had +wet her frock, and I heard her say, she would dry her coats for her. +What are coats by the way? Scotticé for garters? I know what breeks +are.' + +'Here's a lad speerin' for Mistress Sangster, gentlemen,' said Mrs. +Tuppeny opening the door and pushing in a damp and touselled-looking +youth, who grasped his dripping 'Tam o' Shanter' tightly in both +hands. + +'I was to speer for Mistress Sangster hersel.' + +'She has not come in yet, but I am her son.' + +'An' there's Master Brown, the young leddy's brither,' added Mrs. +Tuppeny, 'I'm thinkin' it'll be a' richt.' + +'A weel, sir, General Drysdale sends his compliments to Mistress +Sangster---- He sends his compliments' (and he looked into the crown +of his hat as though he expected to find them there) 'an' he's taen +the leeberty o' bringin' Miss Brown hame wi' him til Inchbracken, to +dry hersel', an' he'll tak her hame the morn. He fand her e'y glen, +down by fornent the Herder's Scaur, a' weel an' droukit like, an' for +fear she suld tak the cauld, he juist on wi' her til a pownie, an' +they're gane skelpin' hame til Inchbracken.' + +'Very kind of General Drysdale,' said Roderick, giving the messenger a +shilling. 'Here! Mrs. Tuppeny, give him a jorum of your toddy! He +looks as wet as any of us.' + +'An it's yer pleasure, sir, I'se gie him a gude drink o' yill---- Cock +the like o' _him_ wi' the best Glenlivet! An' I'm no for giein' toddy +to thae hafflin callants, no ways; they dinna need it, an' it's an ill +trick to learn them. The weet's nae harm tae cottar folks' bairns, +they're aye plouterin' e'y burns, an' it juist keeps them caller. But +say the word, sir, an' he's hae the yill!' and so saying she pulled +the messenger out before her and closed the door. + +'I can't say much for your sister's politeness, Brown,' said Peter. +'When a lady accepts a man's escort, she is bound to stick to it, I +should say, and not go off with the first stranger who rides up in the +mist, without even a word of apology or farewell. I don't see why she +could not have stuck by me.' + +'And broken her neck down that precipice where you so nearly stuck +fast yourself?' said Roderick. 'Your hands seem to have been full +enough taking care of yourself. I think one may without presumption or +profanity regard General Drysdale's opportune appearance as +providential.' + +'But it wasn't General Drysdale's opportune appearance! It was that +stuck-up puppy his son.' + +'And a far more ominous appearance for your peace, too, my boy,' said +Wallowby with a chuckle. 'But grin and bear it, old man. You will only +be laughed at if you get mad.' + +Mrs. Tuppeny looked in again. + +'Mister Brown! yer room's ready up the stair. Come awa, sir, an' tak +aff yer claes, an' I'se dry them for ye. Ye'll get yer death, sir, an' +ye bena quick! Juist see til the dub ye're stan'in' in! A' dreepit +frae yersel! An' the reek frae yer fore pairts as ye staund fornent +the lowe--ne'er mind the drap toddy-come awa! I'se brew ye a soup +better an' stronger whan ye're in ower amang the blankets.' + +So Roderick, half pushed and half exhorted, found himself forthwith +upstairs and in bed, while Mrs. Tuppeny stood beside him with a noggin +of her hottest and strongest toddy. + +'Drink it down, sir! It wadna harm a sookin' bairn. An' ye're needn't. +Noo see gin ye canna sleep a wee. It wad do ye gude. Gin ye dinna tak +tent, ye'se no wag yer pow in a poopit this mony a day.' + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + _SCANDAL_. + + +When Mrs. Sangster found herself safe in a human habitation, she +relaxed the tense control in which she had held her faculties, and let +nature have its way. + +She sank into a chair beside the fire, and trembled and shivered and +wept profusely for some time. Mrs. Boague heaped fuel on the fire, +removed her shoes, chafed her feet, disencumbered her by degrees of +her outer and wetter garments, which she hung up to dry, and wrapped +her in warm plaids and blankets. The warm cup of tea which she then +offered was fortified with a dash from her husband's private bottle, +very privately added and not mentioned. It acted like a charm in +restoring vigour and composure to the way-worn lady. + +'Your tea is most refreshing, Mrs. Boague. I feel greatly better, and +very thankful to you for your kind attention.' + +'An' kindly welcome ye are, mem, an' mair I wad like to do gin I juist +kenned what ye wad like. It's no often a kenned face, or ony face ava +for that matter, comes by here-awa, forbye a wheen gillies, raxin' +their breekless shanks alang the braes ahint the gentles. I'm a laich +country woman mysel', an' I hae sma' brew o' the hieland folk, wi' +their kilts an' their pipes, the daft antics. An' forbye that, we're +no e'y Hielands here! Ye'll gang twenty mile afore ye'll come on the +Gaelic. It's juist a maggit the General's gotten intil's heid, to pet +his folk in kilts like a curran playactors, an' please my leddy wha +cam frae the North. An' are ye comin' round, mem? Ye were sair +forfuchan whan ye gat down first.' + +'Greatly better, thank you; I think I could take another cup of your +tea, it seems quite to invigorate me. The rich cream, I suppose, and +the fine mountain air. You have many mercies, Mrs. Boague, many +mercies, and I hope you are duly thankful.' + +'Ou ay, mem. Rael thankfu'; but I'm thinkin' it's what cam frae +Stephen's crame pat 'at maks the tea sae nappy. It's Luckie Tuppeny's +gill stoup gae that crame, an' no the kye here-awa I'm thinkin'. An' +as for thankfu'ness for our mercies, we beut a' to hae that, as the +minister says. It's o' the Lord's mercies we're no consumed, gentle +and simple thegither; we're a' John Tamson's bairns sae far as that +gangs, or aiblins Auld Nick's, wha kens? gin we dinna repent.' + +'Ah! very true, and a solemn thought,' said Mrs. Sangster. She was +accustomed to do the Scripture quoting and solemn warnings herself, +when she visited her poorer neighbours, sandwiching her dole-bread +with rich and succulent slices of good advice; but here for once the +tables were turned. It was Mrs. Boague this time, who was performing +the act of mercy, and she realized the privileges of her position. +While proud and pleased to show hospitality to Mrs. Sangster, she was +not going to submit to exhortation such as flesh and blood can only +tolerate in view of an eleemosynary accompaniment. Mrs. Boague saw in +Mrs. Sangster a fellow-member of the Free Church, a Christian sister, +and was disposed to be very sisterly indeed. Mrs. Sangster liked +Christian sisterhood too, but it was sisterhood with Lady Grizel +Pitlochrie, and other Free Churchwomen of noble birth. We all like to +look upwards, even in bestowing our best and purest affections, and +feel it easier to realize the brotherhood of man in connection with +Lord Dives in his coach, than with poor Lazarus who sweeps the +crossing, and gets the mud spatters from his Lordship's wheels. + +Mrs. Sangster held the old-fashioned notion, that God, having made her +a lady, meant her to rule, instruct, rebuke and direct the lower +classes in the paths of holiness; but, alas! the Free Church movement, +which gave this idea increased occupation, was sapping the foundations +on which it rested. A secession from, and a protest against authority +in Church and State, it asked the rich to induce and influence the +poor, while itself courted them by dwelling strongly on their equal +standing in the Church. It has certainly led to a more democratic +state of feeling in the country, and this may or may not be a good +thing, according as the democracy is wise or the reverse. Meanwhile, +it has loosened old ties of interdependence, and helped to widen the +gulf between the classes; but then all advancement has to be paid +for--Adam and Eve got their eyes opened, but, to compensate, they were +turned out of the garden. The question in either case is, is the gain +worth the price paid for it? + +The price Mrs. Sangster had to pay for her entertainment, and she was +quick enough to see it at once and to submit, was familiarity: so she +repeated, 'Very true, indeed, Mrs. Boague, and really Stephen's +cream-pot brings out the flavour of the tea. It's a grand idea, I must +give Mr. Sangster some the next time he is kept late at a meeting of +the Presbytery or the Kirk-session. He comes home so tired sometimes. +These are searching times, Mrs. Boague, we have all need to keep our +loins girded and our lamps burning. But you know that yourself, Mrs. +Boague. And a sweet quiet home you have here, and such fine healthy +children. It must be sweet to live here in the great solitude of +nature, and most imposing. Away from the temptations of the world, you +must have much time for meditation and the perusal of the Word. + +'I'm no sae sure o' that, mem. Gin ye had sax bairns to tent an' skelp +an' do for, ye'd find yer haunds braw an' fu', no to mention the ither +clout that's aye wantin' on yer gudeman's breeks. It's sma' time I hae +for Bible readin' 'at canna get a steek peuten in my ain claes whiles. +Whaur wad I be gin I gaed meditatin', an' a' thae bairns wi' naething +i' their wee wames, skirlin' for a piece, round a teum aumbry? Na, na, +mem! The better pairt's no for puir folk! gin that means glowerin' at +print. It maun be for you gentles, 'at gars ither folk do yer wark, +an' sits a' day fornent the fire toastin' yer hirdies.' + +'Ah, Mrs. Boague! wealth and station bring great anxieties, duties, +and temptations. The rich are not to be envied.' + +'Belike no, mem; but I ne'er saw the ane wad gie up the siller sae +lang as they cud hing on til't. An' as for the solitude o' natur, what +thocht ye o't yersel', whan ye cam spielin' doun the braeside an hour +syne?' + +'Ah! Indeed, Mrs. Boague, that was a painful experience, and very +thankful I am to be in bigget land again. Indeed, I almost gave up +hope of ever coming down alive, and if it had not been for Roderick +Brown, that good young man, I believe I would have stuck fast. It was +a fearsome road. We came through burns and down crags, but he has +brought me safe down, like the good pastor he is, guiding the +trembling steps of a lamb of his flock.' + +'Ou ay, mem; mony's the time my gudeman Stephen diz the same, whan he +finds some teough auld yow stucken faur up amang the scaurs. He juist +pu's her doon by the lug an' the horn, an' she'll come hirplin' hame +ahint him, juist sic like as it micht be yersel'.' + +'Ah yes! a shepherd's work. It seems an appropriate thing to have been +done by my pastor. Reminds one of many beautiful passages, and brings +them home with a force which I feel most improving. I shall certainly +mention it to the next minister I meet. Poor Roderick. He's young yet, +and I could hardly expect him to guide me, that might be his mother, +through the rough places of dark and difficult doctrines; but he has +done his part in the physical difficulty, and no doubt in future years +he may have a like privilege in spiritual things. Oh yes, a good young +man, and a faithful shepherd!' + +'Wha kens? Gin a' the folk says be true, he's liker the wolf in +sheep's clothin' 'at's mentioned in Scripter, than a faithfu' +shepherd. Gin I had a dochter come to the age o' speerin' for, its no +him suld come keekin' round my toun wi' his souple tongue an' his holy +sough, I'se warrant. But ye ken yer ain business, mistress, an', ony +gate, ye were wise to keep him in yer ain hands, an' no hae him +danderin' round wi' the lassie.' + +'What do ye mean, woman? I have known Roderick Brown since he was +born, and there never was a better, steadier, or more pious young man +in the parish. Man or boy, you will hardly find his like between here +and Edinburgh.' + +'Belike mem!--belike--Folk's a' gude till they're fand out. Wha kens +whaur ony o' us wad stand, gin a' was kenned? But ye see mem, it's +like a' to be fand out concernin' his misdoin's, an' it's but a +cracket pig, or a broken cistern his repitation's like to pruive whan +a's kenned.' + +'Woman!--What do ye mean?' + +'Wummin yersel' mem! I ken I'm a wummin, an' sae are ye! But I'm a +decent man's wife, an' his name's Stephen Boague. Sae dinna misca' me. +I'm no beggin'.' + +'But what can you mean? No calumny surely could touch the character of +Mr. Brown!' + +'I ken naething o' calumny, an' I never lee. But gin ye like to hear +as was telled to me ye're walcome. Ye'll ken auld Tibbie Tirpie 'at +bides down by Glen Effick, an' belike ye'll mind her lassie; young +Tib, folk ca's her, a pridefu' scart 'at shoos whiles at the castle, +an' cocks her neb ower ither folic, wi' her veil an' her parrysol an' +the gumflowers in her mutch, like's decent folk was na gude eneugh for +her! Aweel mem, an' wae I am to say the like o' ony puir lass, but +she's gane wrang, an' wha but the minister to blame for't.' + +'Nonsense! Mrs. Boague, I don't believe a word of it!' + +'Juist what I said mysel', mem. But bide a wee, till ye hear the +pruifs. Ye see, mem, the lass gaed awa, naebody kenned whaur, an' +fient a word spak her mither about it. An' lang she stayed, till ae +dark nicht, yon terrible nicht, ye'll mind it? Hame she comes e'y +coach, a' happit up, an' hidin' like, an' greetin' sair, an' out she +slinks at her mither's door, an' nane wad hae kenned ocht about it but +for Mistress Briggs my leddy's woman, down by. An' that same nicht, +aff gaes the minister, in a' yon wind an' ren. It was lang after +decent folk was in their beds, an' naebody was steerin' to see him +gang. An' next day he brings hame a bairn, an' gies't til his sister +to tak tent on--the puir young leddy! To mak a fule o' her that gate, +wi' a merry-begotten wein! That caps a', says I, whan I heard it. An' +syne naething maun do but baptis't, an' mak a fule o' the Kirk's +solemn ordinance. An' there was Tib, I saw her wi' my ain e'en, keekin +ower the folk's heads, like's she thocht shame to be at the preachin' +ava, an sae weel she micht. An whan it cam to bringin' out the bairns, +awa she slinks hame, wi the niepkin stappit in her mouth to keep in +the greet. I saw't a' mysel', mem, an what mair pruif wad a body hae? +Folk dinna do their deeds o' darkness in day licht an' a' body lookin' +on, sae it's juist by pettin' that an' that thegither, ye can houp to +find them out. But there's mair yet. O' Sawbith nicht whan a' was +dark, wha suld be seen comin' out o' Tibbie s door but the minister? +An' wha gangs down to Peter Malloch's shop o' Monday mornin' but +Tibbie? an' she had siller wi'her, a pund note an' nae less. A note o' +the Bank o' Peterhead, 'at naebody round here ever has but Mester +Brown, an' his siller a' comes frae there. Noo, what say ye til a' +that? Mistress Sangster. The wicked man diz his deeds e'y dark but the +Lord will bring them t'ey licht, that's what I say, an it's scriptur, +or gye an like it. Belike it was a minister I heard preachin't--But +is't no terrible?' + +'I am confounded, Mrs. Boague! Who ever could have supposed it? But +the evidence is so circumstantial, it is impossible to doubt. It seems +providential that I should have come here to learn all this. And that +he should have presumed to come to Auchlippie, philandering after +Sophia! Would nothing less than _my_ daughter do for him? The +reprobate! But oh! He shall smart for it!' + +'Ca' canny! mem. Has the young leddy a kindness for him, think ye? +It's sair wark to bawk young luve. He's a likely chield eneugh, an' +micht mak no sae ill a gudeman, noo the daffin's by. It's no aye the +warst o' the men gangs wrang about the lasses. As for that limmer, Tib +Tirpie, I'd bring her to shame. The cuttie stule's a' she's gude for, +wi' her gumflowers an' her veils, cockin' her neb at decent folk, an' +scancin' at my tuscan bonnet, that was gien me by my ain gudeman, the +year he married me. But, as I was sayin', gin the young leddy had a +rael kindness for him, ye're no bund to ken a' 'at gaed afore; and let +byganes be byganes. It'll a' blaw ower.' + +'But there's nothing. He no doubt has paid my daughter some attention, +or at least has come a great deal to the house; but she is far too +well-principled a young woman, to have any liking for a man who has +not proposed and been accepted by her parents. In our rank of life, +Mrs. Boague, things are not done exactly as they are in yours.' + +'Aiblins no, mem. Ye think ower muckle o' the gear for that!' said the +other, the radical once more rising within her, and the colour coming +to her face. But the rattle of wheels without and a knock at the door +changed the current of their thoughts, before the two had time to join +in wordy battle, in which, perhaps, victory might not have chosen the +gentlewoman's side. + +Mrs. Sangster, with profuse thanks and salutations, climbed into the +tax-cart, while the anxious mother busied herself in pulling her +numerous brood from among the horse's feet. The vehicle at length was +safely started on its return down the glen, without damage done to any +of the children. Mrs. Boague returned indoors, bearing the most +refractory of her offspring in her arms, and the last that was heard +of her was the sound of maternal discipline and the wails of the +culprit, echoing down the glen till it was smothered in the mist. + +Arrived at the inn, Mrs. Sangster found the gentlemen ready for +dinner. She grumbled at the delay, but submitted; she would, however, +on no account allow the minister's repose to be disturbed, and assured +Mrs. Tuppeny that with his delicate constitution, it might be as much +as his life was worth, to let him get up again that afternoon. + +Having dined, the party made haste to be gone, under pressure of the +old lady's impatience; for of all the anxieties of that anxious day +the most harassing to her now was that Roderick would come down and +join them on the home-going. That would be dreadful, yet how was she +to forbid him? He had come as her guest, and he had, in all +probability, saved her life a few hours since on the hill. It needed +advice and consideration to decide what she should do or say at their +next meeting, in view of the dreadful revelations of his depravity +which had been made to her. + +She wanted to sleep over it, and felt, to use her own pietistic +phrase, deeply thankful, when at last the inn was safely vanishing in +the distance, without her having met him. + +Had she but known she might have spared her fears. Roderick was really +ill; too ill to observe that she neither came nor sent to enquire for +him. He tossed about on the bed where he had lain down some hours +before, hardly asleep and not quite awake. The heat of a fire and a +feather bed, too many blankets, and Mrs. Tuppeny's toddy, had thrown +him into something like a fever, yet fatigue and general oppression +had stupified him past seeking relief. When the stupor lessened, a +dull hot aching was in every joint, and he moved restlessly on the +bed. Then the heavy eyes would close again in a kind of slumber, but +the restless thoughts refused to go to sleep. An inarticulate anxiety +clung to him, and he climbed up endless precipices in his dreams. Up +and up he would drag himself, and anon Sophia would appear higher up +still on a peak above him, and he would climb and climb to reach her. +As he approached, her features would change, and, slowly taking the +likeness of her mother, she would spurn him, and then with a cry he +would lose his hold, and begin to fall down and down through endless +depths of nothing, till at last in utter panic his limbs would move, +and the spell of the nightmare broken, he would awake. + +Thus between waking and sleeping, the afternoon and the weary long +night wore away. The sun was shining at last upon another day, and +though manifestly ill, he was able to get into a gig and be driven +home to Glen Effick. + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + + _MARY_. + + +It was a revival of the dear dead past to Mary Brown, to find herself +again at Inchbracken. General Drysdale took her in to dinner, and, +perhaps because he would not touch upon the present, leading, as it +must, to her brother's defection from the national Church, nor, in +fact, on that young man in any way or respect whatever, he talked to +her about her father and mother. + +She found it very grateful to listen to their praises; and something +like a tear glistened in her eye while she looked in the old +gentleman's face, and the faint colour of her cheek deepened into a +warmer pink. + +We value our powers to interest others most when we feel them leaving +us, and it is not often that an old man's conversation can bring a +flush or a tear to the cheek of youth and beauty. General Drysdale +felt pleased as he marked the effect of his words. It recalled, who +can say what associations with the time when he was a young man, and +an object of more interest to the fair, and he became more and more +warmed himself, out of sympathy, as he dwelt on the charities and the +worth of Mary's parents. + +Julia, from her place across the table, remarked with surprise the +General's unusual animation and loquacity, and his unwonted +inattention to the high duty of the hour--dining. Mary's eyes were +shining, and in her plain black dress with the roses, she bloomed a +brighter flower than they, radiant in pure content. So, at least, it +was evident that Kenneth thought. He sat at some distance from her, +and had even to lean forward somewhat to see, but his eyes were ever +travelling in that direction, and he appeared to answer the gentlemen +on either side of him in so distraught and unsatisfactory a manner, +that they soon ceased to disturb his musings by further talk. + +Julia had arrayed herself for conquest. She always dressed well and +carefully, but on the present occasion her effort had risen into the +region of art. Arrayed in some combination of white and green, which +cured any tendency to yellowness in her complexion (and her shoulders +at times were a trifle too suggestive of old waxwork), her pale eyes +twinkled with quite an unwonted lustre, and there was positively a +bloom on her cheeks and lips, while the falling ringlets were longer +and more poetic than ever. When Briggs went into her room during the +dressing hour, she had surprised her in the act of locking something +very like a paint-box into her desk, and she had made a pretty sharp +survey while she added the few pins that were all the office required +of her; but, as she remarked subsequently, 'I could not take my oath +of it, Mrs. Kipper; if she do, she manages uncommon clever.' Painting +is a fine art, and Julia had studied it as well as all the others, and +would have thought it but a paltry achievement to deceive the stupid +eyes of poor Briggs. + +There were several strange gentlemen at table, and Julia was on her +mettle. The two who sat next her found her most agreeable, but sparkle +her best, she failed to catch one glance of appreciation from +Kenneth's eyes. At the end of the table she saw Mary, and the General +still smiling and engrossed in their talk, and confessed to herself +that she had undervalued the strength of the enemy. To think that that +slip of a girl, brought up in a country manse, should manage so +splendidly, and contrive to win the old gentleman to her side as well +as the young one! How was it done? Through all the years she had dined +at his table, she had never been able to extract more conversation +from him than a casual remark between the courses, and latterly she +had ceased even to expect that. + +Matters did not progress much more satisfactorily in the drawing-room. +Julia had sat down to the piano, and played her best, which is saying +a great deal, for she was a brilliant performer. She also sang, and +although her voice was thin, it had had the best training, and she +could warble through the most intricate compositions with consummate +taste and execution. She soon had all the gentlemen gathered around +her in silent admiration, all, that is to say, except the General, who +was in his usual corner, by his own lamp, his eye-glass on his nose +and a blue book in his lap. As one of the legislators of this great +nation, he felt it incumbent to fall asleep--to fall asleep over its +affairs every evening; it reminded him of the House in fact, where he +had had many a good nap in his day. However, as he never spoke, and +always voted straight with his party, that made no difference. Kenneth +too was wanting. Mary Brown sat on a low stool beside Lady Caroline's +arm-chair, who,--the lady that is, not the chair--was chatting +drowsily to her, while she swayed her great fan to and fro, and +Kenneth, with his elbow on the chimney-piece, hung over both. Julia +was by no means insensible to the admiration of the strangers,--at +another time it would have given her great satisfaction; but just at +present, the defection of Kenneth and his father out-weighed it all. + +There is now but one chance to outshine her rival--to get her to the +piano and try how her poor little efforts will sound after her own +finished performance. After one more song, therefore, which she took +care should be the _chef d'[oe]uvre_, she declared she could sing no +more, but suggested that some one should ask Miss Brown. Miss Brown +was asked, and would fain have declined, but Lady Caroline recollected +how sweetly her mother used to sing old Scotch ballads, and enquired +if she had not taught them to Mary. Mary had to admit so much, and +thereupon was led to the piano, while Julia seated herself in full +view to enjoy a triumph. + +It is no doubt perfectly true that Scotch music is by no means the +highest development of that delightful art. It is but the outcome of +natural feeling in a simple age and among an unsophisticated people; +yet it does not by any means afford a good or safe medium for the +beginner or the bungler to display to advantage his slender skill, +while proficients in operatic music will find little opportunity to +display their vocal feats, and it is quite probable that they may not +be able to render it at all. It has an accent of its own which is not +expressed in the musical notation, and is beyond the reach of any but +a native, and attained but by few of them. Mary Brown's musical +opportunities had not been great, but she had a full pure voice, +always in perfect tune, and she had been accustomed to hear and to +sing Scotch ballads all her life, and she entered into their spirit. +Before she had sung two verses, the General's drooping head had +steadied itself, he had risen to his feet, joined the group by the +piano, and was beating time with his eye-glass to the quaint old +measure. Lady Caroline too had risen, a most unusual exertion for her +to make after dinner, and was standing with the rest. + +In this highly cultured age, we are all most learnedly musical. +Beethoven, Bach, Spohr, we pay guineas to hear their works rendered, +and are immensely pleased of course; though perhaps there are more of +us than the one of whom it is recorded, who could very well mistake +the tuning of the fiddles for the choicest morceau of the evening, and +who certainly prefer the grand finale to all the rest. But the effect +of a well-sung Scotch song on a roomful of Scotch people is something +markedly different from the conventional and sometimes fictitious +enjoyment of high music. Like the spiders which issued from the +crannies of his cell when the Bastile prisoner touched his lute, so +the inherent nature of the Scot will out and show itself at the sound +of the national music, the dullest eye brightens and the heaviest foot +would join the strathspey. It is in the blood. The artificial and +conventional culture is scarce fifty years old, while the individual +and peculiar nationality, of which our music is the voice, has come +down in the blood through twenty generations, from before Bannockburn +and the wars of independence, and is still present behind the +whitewash of cosmopolitan pretence. + +Lady Caroline wiped her eyes under the rendering of Bessie Bell and +Mary Gray's sad fate, and declared it reminded her of the old nursery +at Pitthevlis, when she was a child. The General (who would have +thought it?) was most interested by the woes of true love; and the +'Mill dams of Binnorie' and 'Barbara Allan' made him tug his moustache +very hard. The strangers each had his special favourite, and Mary knew +them all; then at length she was permitted to rise from the piano, and +she did so amid an ovation of thanks. Julia's plan to belittle her had +not succeeded. + +The following forenoon Kenneth drove her over to Glen Effick. They +stopped at the inn by Gortonside, where they were told of Roderick's +illness, and how he had started for home only an hour before. That was +the single bitter drop in Mary's cup. She had spent a delightful day +at Inchbracken, and now, undreamed of joy, Kenneth was driving her +home himself. He was, oh! 'so nice,' and was saying----. No matter +what he said, but it seemed the sweetest song she had ever listened +to. + +Lady Caroline and Julia had stood together at the window, and watched +the pair drive away. + +'It is not often Kenneth is so attentive to any one,' she observed to +Julia. 'The two appear to have settled themselves for a most +comfortable chat. And really she is a nice girl, and so pretty. I am +not surprised at Kenneth's fancy, and if anything comes of it I shall +make no objection. I once tried to bring on an attachment between him +and one of the Pitthevlis girls, quite as much for Pitthevlis' sake +and the girl's as for Kenneth's, for I know she won't have sixpence; +but she thought she could secure a title then, and was disposed to +reserve us for a consolation stake, if the other venture miscarried. +That was more than I could brook, as you may suppose, considering it +was they were to be the gainers, and not I, so Edith has never been +asked to Inchbracken again, nor will be, till either she or Kenneth is +married. Not that it matters, very likely, for of course the plan was +only between Pitthevlis and myself. With his long family and the mess +he has made of his affairs, it was the only way I could think of to +help him, and he appreciated it, but the girl and her mother were both +fools. However, it is doubtful if Kenneth would have fancied her in +any case, he is so whimsical and critical. I have had half-a-dozen +good fortunes staying with me at different times,--and a shocking +ordeal it is, my dear, to undergo, I can tell you; the monkeys seem so +thoroughly to understand why they are there, and presume so abominably +upon it. But the very fact of my having brought them, seemed to set +him against them. He is so wilful and headstrong. I remember, when he +was a baby, the trouble we had with him,--insisting on feeding himself +long before he could hold the spoon. I suppose it is the same temper +that will not allow his old mother to help him in finding a wife. I +have quite made up my mind to acquiesce in his choice, whatever it may +be, for it will do no good to remonstrate; and if this is the girl he +has set his fancy on, I confess I think he might go farther and fare +worse. + +Julia listened. Lady Caroline's discourse generally poured itself +forth, irrespective of an interlocutor. She simply thought aloud to an +auditor, who, of course, in the nature of things, must lend an +attentive and sympathising ear to whatever a daughter of Pitthevlis +might choose to say. Considering what had been her own views, it was +hardly an agreeable subject of conversation, but the pain was not very +great. There was nothing emotional, neither jealousy nor wounded love, +in the matter. Next to a cool head a cold heart is perhaps the best +outfit for one who has to get on in the world by the exercise of his +own wits. Julia was a good deal like a spider, thinking that when one +web has been swept, no time should be lost in beginning to weave +another. Hate, spite, jealousy, are all unremunerative; worse, they +are waste of force. Yield to the inevitable, and try a new scheme when +the old miscarries. Julia had to be settled in life, and so soon as +the one desirable party became manifestly unattainable, it was time to +cast about for another. + +From Mary Brown she led the conversation back to the circumstance +which had brought her to Inchbracken, and that naturally led back to +the companions who had shared with her the dangers of the mist. + +'Would it not be proper, Lady Caroline,' she said, 'since Craig +Findochart is on the Inchbracken property, and a serious accident +might so easily have occurred, to enquire for the people and how they +got home? If you think well, I could drive over and leave your card.' + +'I see no objection, my dear, if you want the drive; but she is so +pushing, she will be returning the visit forthwith, and I dread that. +She stifles me. Her very deference is aggravating.' + +'I think I should like the drive, dear Lady Caroline, and you shall +have all the news I can pick up on my return.' + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + _MAN AND WIFE_. + + +It was dark before the wanderers alighted at Auchlippie. Mr. Sangster +had already retired. He was always up in time to superintend the +feeding of his stock and to see his men begin work punctually at six +o'clock, and he generally became drowsy early in the evening. + +Every one was cold, weary, and perhaps a trifle cross. Supper was a +necessary, but it proved by no means a cheerful meal, and each one +sought his candlestick as soon as possible. Mrs. Sangster followed. + +All through the afternoon she had been in a state of suppressed +excitement, she found it hard to refrain from saying what was +uppermost in her thoughts, yet, what she would have said, she felt she +could not say before her daughter, nor even her son and his friend. +She had been restless and irritable all the way home, breaking in upon +and interrupting the rather listless chat of the others, yet unable to +furnish talk herself. Arrived at home, and unable to get speech of her +spouse, she had fallen foul of the supper arrangements, and rated the +parlour-maid soundly, till that injured damsel withdrew in tears, and +informed the denizens of the kitchen that 'something had come ower the +mistress, for she was carrying on ben the house, like a hen on a het +girdle.' + +Having seen all safe for the night, she sought her chamber. There she +seated herself on the chair by the bed-head of her slumbering lord, +and laying her hand on his shoulder, she imperiously whispered, +'James.' + +James opened his eyes. 'Is that you, Kirsty? Put out your candle and +come to bed.' + +'But I couldn't sleep a wink, James, till I have talked it all over +with you. So waken up!' + +'I'm sleeping already, and I won't be disturbed. If you wanted to talk +over things, you should have come home sooner. Come to bed!' + +'I cannot lay down my head to-night, or sleep one wink till I have +talked it all over.' + +'Then, sit up, by all means, if it pleases you; but put out the candle +and hold your tongue. I've got to be up early in the morning, and I +want to sleep,' and thereupon he turned round on the other side. + +'James Sangster! Wake up at once! and listen to me! I'm the mother of +your children, and the wife of your bosom! Saint Peter says you are to +give honour to your wife as the weaker vessel, and I insist on your +attending to what I have to say!' + +'Saint Peter wasn't married to a Scotch woman, or he'd have known +better. Small weakness I see in any of you!' + +'Mister Sangster! I will not allow the Scriptures to be spoken of in +that irreverent manner. And you an elder of the Fre Church! For +shame!' + +'The Scriptures command wives to obey their husbands, and I tell you +to put out your candle, and hold your tongue!' + +'I won't have Scripture bandied in his irreverent way! Pray who are +you? to take its sacred precepts in your lips, you worldly-minded man. +But it's none of your fleeting temporal concerns I'm thinking about! +It's the Church itself.' + +'Well, my dear, it can keep till morning; it can't take fire to-night. +That's one advantage of it's not being built yet! And you've deaved me +often enough before about Widow Forester's kale-yard and all the rest +of it--Get to bed!' + +'It's not the church stance I'm thinking about. It's our souls! I'm +afraid, nay I know we have been placing our immortal interests in the +hands of a man of Belial!' + +'What are you havering about, now, gude-wife?--man of Belial?--speak +plain English or honest Scotch!' + +'It's true! James Sangster, Roderick Brown is a man of sin!' + +'We're all sinners, my dear. If you'd only mind that always, and that +it includes yourself, you'd speak more charitably of your neighbours. +I wish I was as sure of myself, or you either, as I am of young Brown. +He's a true christian--the very salt of the earth!' + +'The salt has lost its savour, then, for he's a bad man!' + +'Oh fie, Mrs. Sangster! And it's not a month yet since you were +talking of marrying him to our Sophia! and I really felt like agreeing +with you for once. He'd make a better man for her than that whiskered +gomeral down stairs--for all his siller. I'm thinking its the +Englishman's bawbees, mistress, have changed your tune.' + +'I am _not_ mercenary!' retorted Mrs. Sangster, stiffening herself in +her dignity and her best English; 'and you well know it! Though but +for my christian prudence, your standing in the world, and your +balance at the bank, which is more within your narrow comprehension, +would not be what they are!' + +'Hoity toity, woman! no offence! Well! you've woke me up, at any rate +now, (the pertinacity of these weaker vessels!) so say your say and +have done!' and thereupon he sat up in bed, adjusting the white +nightcap with its tufted summit over his red sun-burnt face. The +clouds of sleep had entirely dispersed themselves, and with them every +shadow of ill-humour; but there was a twinkle at the corner of his +eye at the absurdity of his wife's vehemence, which she found harder +to bear up against. 'Tell away, my dear, I'm listening.' + +His wife cleared her voice and opened her lips, but nothing came. + +'A mountain in labour and out comes a mouse! "_ridiculus mus_" we used +to say at the Grammar School of Forfar.' + +'There's nothing ridiculous about it!' retorted the lady, snatching at +an excuse to become indignant again, and so bear up under the tranquil +cynicism in her husband's face. 'But you men are always for casting +ridicule on serious things. You think it shows your superiority, I +suppose.' + +'Never mind, my dear, go on with your story.' + +'Well, as I said already, he's a bad man. He has brought the innocent +confiding daughter of that poor lone, widow Tirpie to harm, and now he +is not only concealing his sin, but, as one may say, glorying in it, +and trading on it to get a reputation for beneficence before the whole +parish. He brings it home as a poor foundling rescued from the sea, +persuades his sister to adopt it, and actually has the effrontery and +the profanity to hold it up for baptism, and take on himself the vows +before the whole congregation.' + +'Did old Tibbie Tirpie tell you all that? Is she publishing the +disgrace of her own child?' + +'It wasn't she who told me, but I have no doubt when you call her and +the girl up before you in the Kirk Session, they will confess the +whole.' + +'And if Tibbie is not your informant, pray is it the daughter? And +what corroborating evidence can she show? I wonder you would lend so +ready an ear to the assertions of a designing quean, whose conduct, by +her own confession, has shaken her claim to credit.' + +'Oh you men! you are all hard alike, and scornful, when a weak woman +is the sufferer--is that your manliness? But it was not the girl who +confessed to me. I venture to think that not the most impudent would +come to _me_ with such a tale. I trust my character as a virtuous +matron stands high enough to save me from contamination such as that.' + +'No doubt, my dear--I should not like to be in her shoes, at any rate, +if she did venture so far--your virtue would be too much for her--and +would not spare her.' + +'I hope not, Mr. Sangster! Though you say it as though it were a +disparagement. The evidence is all circumstantial, as it must +necessarily be, in a case of secret sin and hypocrisy; but it fits so +well together, and is so conclusive, I have no doubt whatever in the +matter. Less has hung a man before now; but then that was in cases of +sheep stealing--a very different affair. Sheep are property, and you +men are keen enough where that is concerned. This is a case of souls, +and till women and ministers get a voice in your law-making, there's +little justice to be looked for.' + +'The Lord grant I may be removed before that day arrives. The women +and the ministers ride us roughly enough at home, but when it comes +to making our laws, and governing us publicly I hope I shall be +away--But, to return to our mutton--not the sheep-stealing, but the +matter in hand--what is your circumstantial evidence? And where did +you hear it?' + +'The most startling circumstances, as far as I can recollect them at +present, are, that it was on that dark night of the storm, that the +girl returned home after a long and unexplained absence. That same +night, as I am informed, in the dark and storm, when nobody could see +him, he stole away, and the next morning brought in the child. Observe +the coincidence. Then there was the conduct of the girl at the child's +baptism. It was quite startling as described to me. So like the +workings of an awakened conscience! And the unwillingness she showed +to look at the destroyer of her peace. She actually rose and left the +meeting before he stood up to offer the child for baptism. As I was +not an eye-witness of that, however, I cannot express it so strongly +to you as it was impressed on me. Then he has been seen coming out of +the Tirpie cottage, after dark. Oh! repeatedly! And he has been giving +them large sums of money. The old woman has carried pounds of it into +the village, and it is known that no people about here pass notes of +the Peterhead bank except the Browns. Now! what do you say to all +that, James Sangster?' + +'Nothing, my dear, at present. Who told you it all?' + +'It came to me in quite a providential way, seeing that I felt rather +under an obligation to Roderick Brown just then, and therefore +softened to him in the matter of his courtship to our Sophia. We got +lost in the mist this forenoon on Craig Findochart, and we all got +scattered. If it had not been for Roderick Brown, I believe I might +have been there yet. But we got down at last, and came right upon a +shepherd's shieling, where I waited and got dried, till a vehicle +could be sent for me from the inn. The shepherd's wife,--Boague is her +name, and I owe her some flannel for her hospitality,--seems a very +worthy woman, and an earnest adherent of the church, and it was she +told me it all. Told it in a very proper spirit. I believe she is a +worthy woman, and seemed to deplore most properly the sad falling away +of one of our office-bearers. But do you not agree with me, such a man +should be made an example of?' + +'Made an example of? Whom would I make an example of? I would make an +example of the idle tattling woman who makes free with the names and +reputations of her betters! If I lived in the good old times when my +father was Provost of Forfar, and if I filled his shoes, I would have +her tawed through the town at the cart's tail, and so teach her to +weigh her words. And as for you, Kirsty! I am surprised that a good +woman should lend so ready an ear to foolish slander, without a shred +of proof to support it. You have known the Browns all their lives, and +yet you will let the idle blathers of an ignorant cottar wife set you +against them! I thought you had set your mind on getting the girl for +Peter. How will circulating slanders against the brother help you +there?' + +'The girl, Mr. Sangster, has other views, it would appear. She left +Peter in the mist and rode away with Captain Drysdale to Inchbracken. +Brother and sister seem both tarred with the same stick. But she shall +never have it to say that she jilted my Peter! When her brother is +disgraced that 'will be reason enough why Peter should not press his +suit with the young lady.' + +'Don't let your tongue run away with you, my dear. I see no prospect, +and I hope there _is_ none, of your ever disgracing Roderick Brown, +and I warn you never to repeat to any one the trumpery story you have +woke me up to listen to; your husband will have heavy damages to pay, +if you so far forget yourself.' + +'But it is a spiritual matter, and will go before the Church Courts.' + +'Even if it did, my dear, a civil action would lie, so you had better +take care. The damages would be perhaps a thousand pounds, besides +expenses.' + +'But what did we leave the Establishment for, if we are still to be +answerable to the Court of Session.' + +'If we left it for that purpose, my dear, it was a false move, for we +are still the Queen's'subjects, and liable to be sued in all her +courts. If you circulate a slander to a man's civil injury, you must +pay for it, and your circulating it through the Courts of the Free +Church will not save you from the consequences, and very properly, +too! So take my advice for once, and say no more about it. Now, get to +bed.' + +Mrs. Sangster had much too high an opinion of her own perspicacity to +be moved an inch from her belief in the minister's wrong-doing, by +anything her spouse could say; in fact, as a superior woman, she felt +bound to believe it all the more on that account. At the same time his +plain common sense impressed her uncomfortably, and though she would +have scouted to own its influence, she yet had no wish to meet it in +collision. She therefore forbore to say anything on the subject next +day, though it was much in her thoughts; just as the owner of some +delicate fancy article will be careful how he brings it within the +brutal swing of a sledge hammer, though he does not therefore part +with his property. + +Sophia had a bad cold, and Peter was laid up with toothache, swelled +face, rheumatism, and most of the other aches and pains possible to +frail humanity after being drenched to the skin. Mr. Sangster had gone +off to attend a fair, and only the hostess was left to amuse the +guest. Mr. Wallowby had sauntered round the garden, the stable, and +the cattlepens, consuming much tobacco as he went, and now he was +returned indoors. Mrs. Sangster had provided him with newspapers, +magazines and such light reading as she could lay her hands on; he had +looked at them and laid them down; and now the two were confronting +each other in the drawing-room making themselves miserable in abortive +conversation. Neither was more stupid or worse informed than people in +general; on the contrary, both were sharp enough; but by no device +could they contrive to make their ideas run in parallel trains. +Whatever was said by the one was answered by the other at cross +purposes, till both felt themselves sinking into helpless fatuity. +Wallowby held up his book that he might yawn behind it, the lady went +to the window, that she might take the same relaxation undisturbed. + +The sight of a carriage approaching was a welcome apparition, mingled +too with a little surprise as she descried the Inchbracken liveries, +and bethought her that there was no election in prospect; for it was +seldom, save for reasons of state and the good of the nation, that +Lady Caroline vouchsafed the light of her countenance on the dwellers +at Auchlippie. + +Mrs. Sangster was immensely gratified by the kind interest in her +welfare which had prompted Miss Finlayson's visit, and was pathetic in +her regrets for the severe headache which had deprived her of the +sight of her ladyship in person that forenoon. + +Miss Finlayson then turned to Mr. Wallowby, enquired the length of his +stay in the neighbourhood, and expressed Lady Caroline's regret that +she had not seen him at dinner the day he shot with Captain John, and +mentioned the many interesting things they had been disappointed of +showing him. + +Mr. Wallowby was a radical, and therefore enjoyed the idea of having +excited interest in a titled lady--all democrats like distinguished +company. The American variety live, when possible, exclusively among +Colonels and Judges; but in England where these are few, a lord or a +lady is a being whom it is happiness to have spoken to. He expressed +his wish to call before leaving the neighbourhood, and she, by +enumerating the real or imaginary engagements of her ladyship for all +the days but one, secured that if the visit were made it should be on +a day when the gentlemen would be absent. She dared not inflict a +distasteful guest upon them, but she knew she could coax Lady Caroline +into complaisance for one afternoon. She also produced a few of her +best smiles and pretty speeches, and offered them tentatively to the +gentleman, who rose to them freely; and, to change the metaphor, was +indeed in very high feather. + +When the visit came to an end, he manifested considerably more +_empressement_ in seeing the lady to her carriage than Mrs. Sangster +thought was at all called for, and she went up stairs at once to her +daughter's room to see if she could not be brought down, and make a +little way with him in his present lively mood, or show at least how +much handsomer she was than the agreeable young person who had just +driven away. Alas! poor Sophia's cold in the head was too severe, her +face was swollen and flushed, her eyes were watery, and several +letters of the alphabet were beyond her power of speech. The mother +sighed, but had the wisdom to admit she was best in her own room. + +Wallowby went up to see Peter, who was trying to deaden his pains with +tobacco, to tell what a remarkably fine girl had just left the house. +Peter would not admit the fineness, but he mentioned what told more +strongly in her favour-her relationship to the noble family of +Pitthevlis. + +'Really aristocratic!' said Wallowby. 'I knew it, the moment I saw +her. A most elegant person, and she seems to know a well-looking +Englishman when she sees one. Most remarkable, Peter, how well we got +on together!--seemed to understand each other from the very first. You +know I am rather a stiff and reserved fellow in general, with perhaps +just a shade of hauteur. But somehow, we just dropped into each +other's way at once. Most remarkable!' Somehow he forgot to say +anything about the intended visit to Inchbracken. In fact he meant to +make that alone, and he trusted to Peter's rheumatism lasting long +enough to prevent his wishing to accompany him. + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + _RODERICK_. + + +When Mary reached home she found her brother already in bed, where he +lay tossing uneasily in search of the rest and slumber which he could +not attain. + +His cheeks were flushed with incipient fever, and the tangled hair +hung about his face in matted locks. His eyes were closed, and his +lips moved in inaudible mutterings, as he turned restlessly from one +side to the other. He complained of an acute pain in his side which +caught his breath, and a dull aching that smouldered like fire in his +bones and joints, which he fancied he could count by their separate +twingings. + +The sight of his sister seemed to do him good, and when he felt the +coolness of her hand on his brow, he closed his eyes and fell into a +kind of slumber; but the sleep was not of very long duration, and it +was restless and disturbed. The nightmares of the night before fell on +him again; groaning and muttering he tossed to and fro, and presently +awoke. + +The surgeon arrived in due course, and shook his head gravely, while +he enjoined the greatest care, as pleurisy or rheumatic fever, or +both, appeared to be impending. Roderick lay and muttered, righting +with the dismal visions that floated like mists about his brain, and +struggling to keep hold of the reality. + +In that, however, he found little solace, it seemed more dismal than +aught a fevered fancy could conjure up to distress him. Visions of +Cain driven forth from home and kindred, to wander over the face of +the earth an outcast and a stranger; Abram sent forth to find him a +new home in a strange and unknown country, turning his back on all +that he had ever known or loved; Job with his children all slain in a +single hour; those who had cast away a right hand or plucked out a +right eye for the sake of the kingdom of righteousness; all the +forlorn and desolate and bereaved he had ever heard or dreamed of, +passed in melancholy procession before him, and hailed him as their +fellow. He looked upon the stricken train, and questioning each as to +the nature of his sorrow; it seemed to him that in their misery, they +all had justice or hope or consolation. But his? It stood alone among +them all, unmerited, unreasonable, without purpose and without pity. +There was nothing he had held too dear to part with, nothing he had +kept back, when he laid down all to follow his Church into the +wilderness. Then why had this new grief come upon him? and what good +end was to be served by enacting anew in his case the parable of the +prophet Nathan, and robbing him of the one ewe lamb he cherished in +his bosom? Since his boyhood, the whole pure love of his heart had +been given to Sophia. Her image had filled a shrine in his inmost +thoughts, and he had clothed it in all he knew of pure and holy, and +held it for a symbol of unseen good. He had waited till in all +reasonableness and truth he could win her for his wife, and she and +her parents, in some unspoken measure at least, had consented to his +resolve. + +Now, all of a sudden he hears from the lips of her own mother, wrung +from them, as it were unawares, under the dread pre-occupation of +impending danger, that another man's suit is entertained or courted, +and so utterly trivial are any pretensions of his held to be, that +their very existence is overlooked, and himself made the confidant of +the mother's views. Oh, how can he resign himself? How pluck away the +image around which all his hopes and dreams, the very roots and +tendrils of his being have entwined themselves for so many years? +Pluck out an eye? It were to pluck out his very heart, and cast it +from him--to cease to think--to cease to live. Yet if she were to +become another man's wife he would have to do it. He groaned. The +universe seemed falling in on him, his head swam, and he fell into a +dose. + +When he next awoke the emotional strain was somewhat relaxed. His +thoughts would run in no other channel, but he began now to muse, and +plan, and question. Was it indeed decided? Or was it as yet but a plan +of the mother? Had Sophia consented? And even if she had, was it of +her own free will, and with the concurrence of her affections? Or was +it a mere compliance with the wishes of her parents, while she had no +sufficient reason to admit a preference elsewhere? For the +unmaidenliness, as he would have called it, of loving unsought, was +not to be dreamed of in the case of Sophia. + +'Ah!' he cried aloud, 'Who knows? I have never spoken, or----' the +rest would not frame itself in words, but a vision arose before his +mind's eye, or rather many visions, remembrances of all the sweetest +and most endearing looks, or what he regarded as such, that she had +ever given him; and as he thought, his poor chilled soul grew warmer +and more at ease, and the throbbing in his head grew easier. + +'The venture is worth making,' he said presently. And thereupon he +rose from bed and sat down before his desk, which, as already +mentioned, was in another part of the same room. + +Mary was not present at the moment, so there was no one to offer +opposition. He drew to him some paper and prepared to write. His +mind had been seething with emotion, but as he took the pen in his +hand, the thoughts grew hazy, and refused to shape themselves in +words,---they refused to be written down. Fluttering and whirling +before him like the disordered gleams in a moving prism, they would +not be caught, and yet kept tantalizing him by settling upon his pen, +till he tried to write them, when they would dissipate again in a new +and perturbed whirl of tempestuous feeling. He clasped his hands upon +his aching brow, but it ached worse than ever, and he sat stupified in +blank despair. + +Words came after a while, and by and by he began to write, but the +writing when it was done had to be torn up, and the work begun again +anew. Sheet after sheet was written and destroyed, and the scattered +flakes gathered like snowdrifts about his chair. He wearied himself in +abortive efforts, but at least he deadened the acuteness of his +misery. The fantastic pains and throes of composition were an anodyne +to the more real agonies of his mind. By dividing its action in the +endeavour to express its workings, he reduced their intensity. As he +grew weary, therefore, he began to grow calmer, and was able with some +sort of coherence to say the thing he meant. It was no great +achievement in the way of a love-letter, but under the circumstances a +great achievement was impossible. He was too much under the direct +influence of his emotion,--whatever of mental force he had was +expended in the suffering, the jealousy, the hopelessness and the +longing, and but a fraction could be abstracted to express his +meaning. + +An emotion when it can be expressed is in a manner relegated from the +present to the past,--from experience to memory; and we may be sure +that the poets were pretty well cured of their woes, before they made +the world resound with their harrowing despairs and their plaintive +wailings. Goethe tells us he got quit of much perilous stuff in +writing Werther, but one can scarcely doubt that he was convalescent +before he undertook the task. Art is always fiction, though fiction is +so seldom art, and its nearest approach to actual veracity is when the +artist brings forth the ashes of bygone emotion from the sepulchre of +memory, and galvanizes them into a second life before his attentive +world. + +Such utterance as Roderick had been able to achieve had done him good. +The beads of moisture stood on his brow, as he folded and addressed +his letter; he directed that it should be given into Sophia's own +hands, and then returning to his bed, he closed his eyes with a long +sigh of relief, and fell into a peaceful sleep. + +The letter was as follows:-- + + +'My dear Sophia, + +'For this once I must so address you, even if it be permitted me to do +so never again. I am sick in bed, in consequence of yesterday's +misadventure, so unable to come to you myself and speak, and it has +come to my knowledge that an offer of marriage is already, or will +shortly be made to you, therefore I write. + +'I owe it to myself, that you should know before you have given an +answer, that I too desire you to look on me as your suitor. + +'I had meant to wait till after my ordination, but I cannot run the +risk of letting another man speak while I remain silent. + +'Oh, Sophia, I seem to have loved you ever since I saw you first--as +far back as I can recollect--since we were both children; and the love +has grown with the years till I believe I could not live if I saw you +married to another. That other may be rich, while I am not; but think, +Sophia,--he never saw you till the other day--and what can his love be +to mine, that has been growing and deepening through so many years? + +'Think of it, dearest. Have we not played together as children? sung +together as boy and girl? Have we not taken sweet counsel together as +christian man and woman? and shall we not walk through life as wife +and husband? + +'Think of it all, Sophia, and choose with the best wisdom you can +command. + +'My life will be a lonely journey, if it is not to be shared by you, +for you have been to me the symbol of all that is good and holy; but +if you find it is not I who can make you happy, at least my prayer +shall ever be for a blessing on whatever choice you make. + + 'Yours utterly,' + + '(Signed) RODERICK BROWN.' + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + _THE DELIVERY OF A LETTER_. + + +It was the next day that Joseph Smiley set out to deliver the +minister's letter. His instructions were to give it into the hands of +Miss Sangster herself, if possible, or at least to make sure that it +went direct to her, and to ask if there was any answer. This was a +mission very much to Joseph's taste. Being a man of diplomatic genius, +he loved to attain his purposes by a circuitous path, and to go round +a corner rather than walk straight up to his object. + +There was once a minister of the Free Church, of whom a brother divine +declared in the bitterness of his soul,--for he had just been +circumvented in a cherished scheme,--that he never tied his shoe +without having some ulterior motive. If beadles may, without +irreverence, be compared with ministers--the very small with the +extremely great--Joseph's idiosyncracy was of a like kind. It was well +known that Mrs. Sangster's was an all-pervading presence at +Auchlippie; the very cat must drink her milk in the appointed time and +place, or the mistress would know why; and all comers and goers and +their business were bound to come within her ken. The house, the +dairy, the poultry-yard, these were her domain, but fortunately they +were also its limit. Queen irresponsible in these, her writ would not +run in the adjoining stable and farm-yard. The master had settled that +long ago. Good-natured and submissive in the house, he tolerated no +petticoat influence beyond its limits; and the mistress, after one or +two defeats in the attempt to extend her sway, had yielded long ago to +the insuperable, and dwelt at peace in her own kingdom. + +As Joseph neared Auchlippie, therefore, he crossed a field or two and +made a circuit, so as to approach it from the rear, with the farm-yard +to shelter him while he reconnoitred, and to retreat into in case he +was seen. He likewise carried under his arm his bag of tools, so that +if, later, the lady should come upon him, his errand might appear +manifest enough. There was always shelving to be put up or taken down, +doors that would not close, locks that would not open, and Joseph was +the man to see to it all. The work was well enough, indeed Joseph +preferred 'orra jobs,' as he called them, to steady work. The +variety amused him, and the sight of new faces, besides gossip, +drams, and sometimes a share of the kitchen dinner were among the +recommendations; but the pay at Auchlippie was not altogether +satisfactory. Mrs. Sangster preferred paying in kind to disbursing her +silver. Joseph would return home at night with an armful of old +clothes, serviceable enough, perhaps, but with the drawback attending +them, that he could never tell when his accounts were to be considered +square. The next time he did an 'orra job' at Auchlippie, he would be +reminded of the load of things he had carried away last time, and +given to understand that the present 'job' was to be looked upon as in +part working out the previous haul. + +For these reasons Joseph was not disposed to obtrude his services. He +now went quietly into the stable yard, and fell into chat with the lad +who was rubbing up the gig in which his master would shortly start for +a neighbouring market. He kept his eyes well open, and it was not long +before he descried a petticoat in the distance. It was certainly not +Sophia. A second look showed it to be Jean Macaulay, the kitchen-maid, +returning from the garden with a basketful of green stuff, and Jean, +he bethought him, was a very particular friend of his own, and he +might do a trifle of business for himself as well as fulfil his +commission. + +He vaulted lightly over a gate, and with three or four skips +intercepted Jean, just where the blind wall of the dairy intercepted +all view from the house. + +Here with his gayest smile he caught with both his hands----not +Jeanie, it was only her disengaged hand held out at arm's length; for +she had seen him in time, and laughed merrily in his face, while she +held her own well beyond his reach. + +Joseph had missed his chance of a salute, and had to content himself +with a salutation. + +'Haud awa! ye caperin' antic!' she cried, 'an' behave yersel' afore +folk. Yonder's Jock Spiers e'y yaird! Lay, by! An' what brings _you_ +about the town at this time o' day, my mannie?' + +'What wad it be, Jean, but yer ain sonsie face? I'm aye thinkin' o' +ye, whan I canna see ye! I canna lie quiet i' my lane bed, lassie, for +the thocht o' ye! Sae here I am.' + +'Awa, ye leein' haveril! Do you tak me for a fule, to think ye're to +blaw the stour i' my e'en that gate? Lay by, now! (Joseph had become +demonstrative again), or I'll gie ye a gouff i' the lug'll gar't +stound the next half-hour! An' I canna be claverin' here a' day. Awa +wi' ye!' and she caught up her basket. + +'What ails ye, lass? Winna ye bide a wee? It's no often a body gets ye +yer lane for a crack. Bide a wee!' + +'I canna bide, man, ey noo! Gin the mistress comes ben an' dizna find +the pat on the fire; I'se get my kale through the reek, I'se warrant +ye!' + +'Here, than, Jean! Here's a letter frae the minister to Miss Sophia. +An' ye maun gie't to naebody but her ain-sel'. I'se be hingin' round +here-awa, an' ye maun fesh back the answer belive. Winna ye, noo, +lass?' + +'We'll see,' said Jean moving off; 'she was bakin' pies whan I gaed +out, gin she hae na gaen butt the house, I'se gie her't. Ye'll be here +whan I come out? For I'll no can bide lang.' And folding the letter in +her apron she hastened into the house. + +Sophia was still in the kitchen, giving the last ornamental touches to +her pies, when the letter was brought her. + +'From Glen Effick, eh? A note from Mary Brown I suppose. And an answer +is wanted? very well.' She slipped it into her pocket, and retired to +her room to read it at her leisure. + +No one could have been more surprised than was Sophia at the contents +of that letter, and the earnestness and solemnity with which they were +expressed. She had never received a love-letter in her life, and had +some indistinct idea from what her mother had occasionally said, that +the subject was scarcely a proper one in real life. It was something +that was to be read about in books, especially in poetry books and +tales, but of these she had not read many. Her mother considered them +relaxing to the mind, except when they were of a theological cast, and +refrained from such frivolities as love scenes; the biographies of +serious people, in fact, had been the staple of her reading. + +She had been accustomed to look forward to a time when she would be +married, but the aspect in which the change of state had chiefly +presented itself to her mind had been the being mistress of a house of +her own. From the time Mr. Wallowby had been expected to visit them, +her mother had spoken to her of the possibility of his wishing to +marry her, and of the wealthy and distinguished position she would in +that case be called on to fill. She had thought of it as something +that would be very nice if it took place, though also rather +formidable, and wondered if it would feel very strange and +uncomfortable at first; but it had never presented itself to her as a +thing which she was to make any effort to gain, or that it was a +matter in regard to which she would be called on to exercise any +independent choice. Her parents had arranged everything for her +hitherto, and knew what was best and most proper. They had sent her to +school, and decided what she was to study there, and she had studied +it accordingly. In the proper time they would arrange for her being +married, and it would be for her to fill as she best could the +position they might decide on as best for her. + +And yet Sophia was not a person without character or full +average'intelligence, as no doubt some day would be made manifest +enough, when at length her individuality should waken up and assert +itself. It was only that she had lived in retirement, and been 'very +carefully brought up,' that is to say, in an especially narrow and +artificial groove, that she was slow and quiescent herself, and had an +unusually energetic and masterful mother. + +As regarded Roderick, she liked him very much for a friend, better +than her own brother Peter, because he was kinder and more attentive +to her, and better than his sister Mary, the only other person she had +known equally long, because she was 'only a girl;' but that Roderick +should feel for her anything so different from this tepid friendship, +was something beyond her comprehension. She read the letter again, a +third time, and even a fourth, utterly bewildered by its earnestness, +and finally unable to make anything of it all, she carried it to her +mother. + +Mrs. Sangster opened her eyes in surprise. Had a letter reached an +inmate of her castle without her knowledge? Had her daughter received +one without its passing under her censorship? What were things coming +to? She took the letter and put on her glasses. + +'From? Roderick Brown! as I'm a christian woman! And what? I do +declare--a love-letter! Oh----!!' Many indignant thoughts swept wildly +through her soul, many words hurried to her lips. 'The serpent!' But +at the sound of her own voice, she paused. Her daughter knew nothing, +no one had ever dared to sully her pure ear with such a tale; and +should her mother's be the hand to rend the veil of innocency, and let +in the sad knowledge that there is evil in the world? She could not. +And yet she must say something, if only to cover her discomposure. + +'And has it come to this, that a daughter of mine has actually +received a love-letter! You! Sophia Sangster! what kind of conduct do +you practise, that a libert---- a----young man feels encouraged to write +you a love letter, and make you a proposal? Where has been your +maidenliness? Your common sense of propriety? When I was a young +woman, no man breathing would have presumed to write about love to +me!' + +'Mamma! I have done nothing. The letter is as great a surprise to me +as it can be to you!' + +'But you _ought_ to have done something. If you had behaved with +becoming propriety and decorum, he never would have had the courage to +write. But you never had proper spirit! Go to your room, Miss!' + +Sophia withdrew in open-eyed amazement. She was not prone to tears, +and under long habitude had become somewhat callous to strong +language. Her mother's ebulition merely added an accession to the +bewilderment Roderick's letter was already occasioning her. Other +girls in the parish had been married, and it seemed to her, that, +somehow, their bridegrooms must have spoken or written to express +their wishes, else how came they to be known? and none of these had +been more frequent visitors at the homes of their future brides, than +had Roderick been at her father's. The imputation of unmaidenliness, +then, had been only one of her mother's tantrums, things she had been +used to all her life, and knew to contain more noise than mischief. +She must not return an answer to the letter--that seemed all the +outburst meant, and it was rather a relief to her to think so, for, to +tell the truth, she would not have known what to say. Roderick's grave +and sacramental way of putting the matter, seemed to make any light +and ordinary answer akin to blasphemy, and how otherwise was one to +answer, where feelings were barely up to the level of commonplace? So +she sat herself down with her hands in her lap, and thought afresh +over her remarkable letter. + +Mrs. Sangster walked up and down her room, 'frying,' as her cook would +have said, with indignation, at this abandoned young man, who, steeped +in iniquity, had yet dared to raise his eyes to her dovecot. She would +have liked to hound him through every court of the Church, and to let +loose every cur in the parish at his heels; but after what Mr. +Sangster had said about actions for libels, and the Court of Session, +there was no use thinking of that. She stamped her foot in her +impatience, and anon wiped her eyes, as she thought of the pathetic +helplessness of her gentle and interesting sex. No notice should be +taken of the letter; that was as much as she could venture on. But how +had it come? That was worth knowing. + +Repairing to the kitchen, she learned that the minister's man who +brought it was still hanging about the premises. Then thinking to pump +him more conveniently, she bethought her of a new shelf for the +store-room, and sent for Joseph to give him the order. He appeared, +but with no great show of alacrity, and it was not till he had heard +orders given for his subsequent refreshment, and had actually fingered +the lady's coin, that he began to show something like interest. + +'And what's the news in Glen Effick, Joseph?' + +'No muckle, mem. Tarn Jamieson's coo's gotten a cauf. I'm thinkin' +that's about a'.' + +'And your master the minister? No news about him?' + +'Weel mem, he's lyin' sin' yester mornin', whan he cam hame frae +Gortonside. But I'm thinkin' ye ken better about that nor me. Folk +says ye an' him got a terrible dookin' e'y burn, up by on Findochart. +An' gin it hadna been for him ye'd ne'er hae gotten out ava, mem. An' +noo it's a' ower, the folk says he's like to dee o't.' + +'Indeed, we had a most trying time, Joseph, and have much cause for +thankfulness, in having escaped as we did, and I hope Mr. Brown's +illness will not prove serious. But, tell me, are there no reports or +rumours about him circulating in the village?' + +'I kenna what ye're drivin' at, mem, I'm sure.' + +'There is, then, nothing stirring down the Glen at all?' + +'I ken o' naething, mem.' + +'Widow Tirpie's girl has come home again I hear, and looks poorly.' +Joseph started slightly, and glanced suspiciously under his eyelids, +but he answered impassively enough. + +'I heard sae, mem, but I haena seen her mysel.' + +'And is nobody's name associated in the village with that?' Joseph, in +his discomposure, missed his hammer stroke, and gave himself a severe +rap on the thumb, which with a gulp he transferred to his mouth. + +'I'm no sure 'at I guess what ye're drivin' at, mem.' + +'And about her child?' continued Mrs. Sangster, still intent on +learning something. + +'I ne'er heard tell that she had ane,' said Joseph, waxing more and +more uneasy. + +'Do the people ever remark a likeness between her and the baby Miss +Brown has adopted, for instance?' + +Joseph turned round and looked Mrs. Sangster in the face; he felt +relieved he was safe, but he was also astonished. + +'I hae na heard ony body speakin' that gate; an' gin I micht mak sae +free, mem, do you see ony yersel?' + +'You are a canny man, Joseph, but I think the more of you for it. It +would not do for you to be disclosing your master's secrets, but you +must remember you are the servant of the church as well, and that she +has the highest claim on your fidelity, and I don't mind saying to you +that I see a very remarkable resemblance, notwithstanding that the +eyes are of a different colour, and the hair fair instead of dark. +That's what makes it so remarkable! The features are all different, +there is nothing that can be set aside as a mere accidental +coincidence, and yet the likeness is so manifest to me! Do you really +mean that nobody in the village has noticed it?' + +'Deed, mem, an' I hae na juist heard quite sae muckle as that. But ye +see we're plenn folk down by, an' maun look til our betters for +guidance, whiles?' + +'Very true. But what are they saying about it all?' + +'I hae telled ye a' I ken, mem, an' that's naething.' + +'And what do you think yourself, then, of all these rumours and +suspicions that are flying about? Can it really be possible that Mr. +Brown is the father of that infant, do you think?' + +'God forbid, mem, that our young minister suld hae sae far fa'en frae +grace! I wad houp for the best! But it's an auld an' true sayin', that +there's aye water whaur the stirk's drooned, an we ken oursels there's +nae reek but whaur there's burnin'.' + +But come now, Joseph, is not Mr. Brown constantly going to see those +women after dark? And does he not give them a great deal of money?' + +'He's been there, mem, I ken, but he gangs to a' body; it's his wark. +An' he's gien them siller, but he's aye doin' that as weel, whan he +thinks folk want it. I see na weel 'at that need tell against him. +Hooever, as ye say yersel', the suspeecion wad na licht, athout some +grund. It's a bad job.' + + + + + CHAPTER XIX. + + _SUBORNATION OF PERJURY_. + + +It was late in the afternoon when Joseph started homewards. He had +spent a cheerful day, and was in the best of spirits. The servants at +Auchlippie had been most hospitable, and his friend Jean assiduous in +replenishing his cog from the kitchen beer-barrel; she had been gay +and saucy in the extreme, and her dexterity with tongue and fist, +whenever he went beyond the permitted limit, had excited his sincere +respect and admiration. + +'A clever cummer 'at can haud her ain wi' the next ane! An' hech, but +she's gleg!' was Joseph's admiring soliloquy, as he tramped down the +road. + +'She's gotten a pose e'y bank, an' her granny's a bien auld body, wi' +naebody else to leave her gear til,' he continued, 'wha kens?' but +here the soliloquy died into deeper reflection, and he tramped along +in meditative silence. How comfortable and respected he might be, +established in the granny's croft, as master, with Jean to minister to +him and keep things brisk, with an occasional passage of wordy +warfare. But the shadow of Tibbie rose in his mind and blocked the +path. She would forbid the banns and involve his schemes in utter +confusion, unless she could be quieted. + +He thought over his conversation with Mrs. Sangster. Oh! If Tibbie had +only been there to hear it too! Some idea might have struck her, that +would have induced her to loosen her hold on him, and try for higher +game. We can but judge others by ourselves, and he knew that with +himself an arithmetical consideration was the weightiest that could be +presented, and that a pretext by which pounds might be extorted +unjustly, would seem more attractive than an honest claim which could +only be realized in shillings and pence. If she would only slacken her +hold on him for a very little while, he thought he could manage that +she should never renew it again. + +So reflecting, he reached home. It was Saturday evening, and there +were the usual preparations to make on the braeside for the services +of the morrow, and thither he now repaired. + +The evening's shadows were gathering round the tent, and creeping up +the brae--sad and transparent like ghosts of the good resolutions +begotten there last Sunday, and since then smothered and trampled to +death in the hurry and busy turmoil of the world's life; or so they +might have appeared had any pious and pensive soul been there to +witness them, but there were none such. Only Tibbie Tirpie rose from +the tent or pulpit steps, to confront Joseph as he approached key in +hand. + +'Tibbie? Hoo's a' wi' ye, woman? A sicht o' ye's gude for sair e'eri.' +It's lang sin' we hae forgathered.' + +'Juist sin' last Sawbith! An' ye hae na dune as ye said ye wad, +yet--sae the langer time the mair shame to ye.' + +'Ye canna weel say that noo, Tibbie! come! I said I wad speak t'ey +minister for ye, an' there's naebody e'y clachan but kens he gied ye +siller. Was na that keepin' tryst?' + +'What kind o' a gowk do ye tak me for, Joseph Smiley? Think ye ye'r to +slip through my fingers that gate? Ye ken brawly it's no the +minister's siller I'm seekin', it's yours, an yersel' alang wi't. An' +that I'se hae, an gin ye winna richt my lassie by fair means, I'se +gang to Mester Sangster an' the minister an' shame ye, an that'll be +the last o' yer bederalship, an' the end o' ye a' thegither round Glen +Effick. Think ye I'll let ye aff o' the scathe, when my puir Tib has +to thole the scorn?' + +'Whisht woman! yer tongue's rinnin' awa wi' ye. Gin yell juist ca' +canny, an' do biddin', ye'se do far mair for Tibbie nor I cud. Ye see, +Luckie, I'm juist as ane micht say, naething but a puir earthen +vessel, no gude for muckle, wi' nae gear, an' sma' wut to gather't +wi'. What wad ye say noo til a gentleman for Tib? It's what the lassie +ocht to hae gotten wi' her bonnie face, an' gin what a' the folk says +was true, belike she'd get ane.' + +'I kenna what ye're drivin' at, my man, but gin ye're gaun to send me +on a fule's errand, an' sae gar me let ye aff, ye're sair mistaen; an' +gin ye come na in whiles as ye gang by an' gie the lass her dues o' +coortin', fair out afore folk, I'se gang down til auld MacSiccar, an' +he'll hae ye up afore the Shirra, or I'm mistaen, an' syne yell ken +whether a law plea or a waddin' taks maist siller, an' aiblins ye'll +hae to wive wi' her a' the same.' + +'But hoo wid ye like the minister e'y stead o' the bederal? wadna that +be something worth while? The folk thinks that's the richts o't a' e'y +noo. An' gin ye'll juist haud them on their ain gate, an' keep yer ain +jaws steekit--wha kens? A minister wad wed wi' the Deil's ain--dochter +afore he'd hae himsel' or the Kirk misca'd. The folk says yon's +Tibbie's bairn he taks tent on, doon by, an' what for need ye fash to +deny't? gin the wein cam out o' the sea he'll can bring nae pruif, an' +the folk hae taen't i' their heids to think the ither thing, sae gin +ye wad juist threip the same gate aiblins ye'd get yer way o't.' + +'The Lord forgie ye, Joseph Smiley, for a blackhearted, twa-faced +vagabond! Ye ken weel what a gude maister the minister's been to you, +an' ye wad turn round an' gar me lee awa his gude name! But tak ye +tent! There was ance anither, gaed to betray a gude master, for the +sake o' what he'd mak out o't, an' he gaed an' hanged himsel' afore a' +was done--Wha kens? The hemp may be baith sawn an' pued 'at's to mak +yer ain grawvit! An' noo I gie ye fair warnin', gin ye come-na by +afore Wednesday, I'se gang til auld MacSiccar; sae nae mair o' yer +parryin'.' And with a portentous shake of the head she departed. + +Joseph was little discomposed; he could hardly expect so startling a +proposal to be received otherwise than with indignation, and yet, as +by an off chance, it might bear fruit after all. The evil seed just +scattered wanted time to germinate, some corner of her mind might yet +prove to be a congenial soil, and it might spring up yet in a crop of +lies to serve his turn. + +Returning home he came upon Ebenezer Prittie, merchant and postmaster, +and one of the elders of the church. Ebenezer was a quiet plain man +and zealous,--all his life he had heard of the Covenanters, their +heroism and their sufferings, and had been taught to think of them as +the summit and flower of his country's glory. He felt it to be a +privilege to be admitted to their sacred brotherhood, through being a +member and office-bearer of the Free Church, and his only misgiving +was on account of the exceeding ease of the process, and its +cheapness--an entering as it were on the privileges attached to the +martyr's crown, at half price. Fighting wild beasts at Ephesus, +wielding the sword of the Lord and of Gideon at Drumclog, escaping +through the hill mists of the morning from the pursuing troopers of +Claverhouse,--to be made heir to, and sharer in, all those deeds of +heroism by paying the modern equivalent of so much self-sacrifice, +contributing a penny a week to the Sustentation Fund, and sundry +moderate payments to the schemes of the church, was cheap indeed. The +ministers said so, of course they knew, and why was he to object +because the burden was light? He could but support his church all the +more warmly if its yoke was easy, and he would do his very best for +its advancement. + +Rumours about strange conduct on the part of the minister had begun to +sift and whisper through the village. With whom they had originated no +one could say; known circumstances were appealed to in corroboration, +and every one shook his head; but there was no one who stood forward +as accuser, and each seemed afraid of the sound of his own voice, in +uttering the first word against their hitherto blameless pastor. + +Ebenezer having shut up the Post Office had walked along the road to +breathe the evening air before retiring for the night. He mused over +the rumour as he went, and when Joseph, returning from the 'tent' +appeared before him, it was but natural that the subject in his +thoughts should come first to his lips. + +'What's a' this clashin' about? Joseph Smiley. Ye beut to ken.' + +'What clashes, Mester Prittie? Folk wull be aye claverin' ye ken. An' +them 'at kens least has aye maist to say about it. For mysel' it taks +a' my sma' wuts to mind my ain business.' + +'Nae doubt, Joseph, we a' ken ye for a dacent man, an' a quiet; but a +body canna keep a calm sough a' thegither in sic like on-gaein's as +we're hearing tell o' noo. An' a body has aye their lugs, whether or +no.' + +'I hae heard tell o' naething, Mester Prittie; but than, ye see, I'm +but an orra body rinnin' efter my ain bit trokes, a' round the +countryside; an' ye're sittin' yonder e'y middle o' a' thing--the +Queen's mails brocht in twice ilka day, an' a' body 'at's onybody +rinnin' to ye for their letters. Ye're sure to ken a thing 'at gangs +on.' + +We a' ken ye for a dacent, carefu' spoken chield, weel eneugh, Joseph, +sae ye needna be aye mindin' folk o't. An' losh! What gars ye be sae +terrible mim? There's a time to keep yer jaws steekit, we a' ken that, +but there's a time to let on as weel! Sae out wi't a' man!' + +'Ye maun out wi't yersel, Mester Prittie! For De'il tak me, (but the +Lord forgie me for swearin'! tho' efter a' it's but the De'il's name +I'm makin' a bauchil o',) gin I ken what ye're efter, wi' yer winkin's +an' yer hirselin's o' the shouther. Juist say what's yer wull, Mester +Prittie, an' gin a puir chield can pleesure ye I'se do't. Aye +premeesin' ye ken, 'at it's the thing a gude christian an' an honest +man may lawfully perform.' + +'Ou ay! A' lawfu' eneugh, Joseph! What tak ye me for, laddie? gin the +Queen can lippen to me about her mails, it's surely a' safe for Joseph +Smiley wi' his bits o' trokes and clashes. But come in by!' Ebenezer +had turned round on accosting Joseph, and had been retracing his steps +ever since. They were now in front of the Post Office, and Ebenezer +unlocking the door invited Joseph to enter, that they might finish +their conversation without fear of interruption.' + +'An' noo, Joseph, what's a' about the minister? an' what hae ye to say +ower't?' + +'What about the minister?--forby 'at he has the cauld? Mistress +Sangster fell in a burn, an' he beut to pu' her out; an' she bein' a +muckle denty wife, an' rael hefty, he coupet in himsel an' got sair +droukit, an' noo he's lyin' wi' the cauld. I see sma' grundlfor +clashes there.' + +Hoot! ye're no sae simple as ye wad let on! An' it diz na look weel o' +ye, Joseph, bein' sae terrible keen to gar folk think ye ken naething. +Ye'll hae them jalousin' ye had a finger intil't yersel, my man. Wha's +acht yon bairn o' the minister's?' + +'I ken naething mair about it nor ither folk! Ye ken as weel as me +what he said about it himsel'.' + +'An' do ye ken 'at folk says it's Tibbie Tirpie's bairn, an' that he's +its faither?' + +I hae heard tell 'at folk was sayin' that; but we a' ken there's folk +e'y warld wad say onything, an' the dafter it was, the mair they'd +haud til't. Do ye believe it yersel', Mester Prittie?' + +Weel! that's juist what I dinna ken! Whiles, whan I think o' a' the +minister has dune an' come through, I canna believe it ava'; but than, +what a' body says maun hae something intil 't, an' they hae sae mony +sma' things to lay thegither, a body canna weel help misdoubtin' but +there may be something intil 't. An' ye ken, efter a', the flesh is +but wake!' + +'Hech sirse, ay! rael wake,' sighed Joseph, with a most melancholy +swing of the head. 'Rael wake! we hae Scriptur for that. The apostle +himself fand the evil praisent with him, whan he maist wanted to do +gude, an' _he_ was gude by ordnar. It's little winder gin the lave +gangs wrang whiles. It's juist a dispensation, as ane micht say, or a +kind o' warnin' to folk no to be ower sure an' sotten up i' their ain +gudeness. Weel I wat we're wake craiters!' + +'But what think ye o't, Joseph? Ye're a man o' sense, an' I'd like til +hear yer opeenion.' + +'A weel, Mr. Prittie, I'm juist like yersel', I dinna weel ken what to +think. I've fand him a gude maister, an' he's a fine preacher, an' a' +the Hieland folk says he has the Gaelic juist graund, an' he's rael +gude to a' body 'at's needin'; but as ye say yersel', the flesh is +wake.' + +'An' ye see,' said Ebenezer, 'it's sing'lar whan ye pet that an' that +thegither, the way it a' fits in. Peter Malloch telled me 'at auld +Tibbie Tirpie brocht in a pound note o' the Peterhead Bank the verra +day efter he seed the minister slinkin' oot o' her door efter dark, +an' we a' ken naebody passes thae notes here ava, but him. I'm fear'd, +Joseph, there's something intil 't. An' hoo cud it come intil a' +body's head at ae time, gin there wasna some foundation?' + +'Lordsake, ay, Mester Prittie! There's aye water whaur the stirk's +drooned, we a' ken that, an' there's nae reek athout burnin'. But is +na't a' terrible? Sic a fine young minister! an' sic doon-come t'ey +Kirk! Ickeybod! Ickeybod! wae's me!' + +'Na, na. There maun be nae Ickeybod! An' nae wite te'y Kirk. Ilka +sinner maun bear his ain laid, an' Auchan maun be peuten furth frae +the congregation o' the Lord. We maun hae't a' up afore the session! +an' Joseph, ye'll hae til appear, an' testifee til a' ye ken. We beut +to hae this Babylonish gaarment cousten out e'y camp!' + +'Preserve us a'! Mester Prittie, it's you 'at beut to testifee; ye ken +a' about it, I ken naething.' + +'Wha said Ickeybod ey noo? Was that me? An' what meaned ye by't, gin +ye winna staund to yer word?' + +'An' wad ye hae me say Ickeybod to the Kirk Session? An' what wad I +say syne? I cud say what ye telled me, Mester Prittie, 'at ye thocht +the lassie Tirpie was the mither o' the minister's bairn, but I ken +naething mysel'.' + +'An' what for wad ye pu' me intil't a'?' + +'It was ye telled me, Mester Prittie; noo wha telled you?' + +'Faigs an' that's mair nor I ken mysel'. We maun hae a quiet meetin' +o' the session, an' gang ower't a' first, an' aiblins we'll ken what +to do syne; for there's nae man of Belil sall sit e'y tabernacle gin I +can pu' him doon.' + +'An ye, hae raison, Mester Prittie! Pu' doon their high places, an' +burn their groves wi' fire. It's a' Scriptur an' sound doctrine. But +I'm sayin', sir, hae ye been round to speer for the minister the day? +An' hoo are ye gaun to manage for the morn's Kirk?' + +'Weel I wat, an' ye hae me there, Joseph. Ye see I juist cudna bring +mysel' to gang an' be speerin' for a man whan the folk says he's +livin' in open sin. There's nae tellin' what micht come til the skirts +o' my ain garment! as ye were sayin' e'y noo, the folk's that set on +their reports an' their rumours, there's nae kennin' whaur the next +flee may licht; an'--Lord! they micht hae a body's sel' kirned up wi't +a'! An' then! think o' me to be taen by the folk for an ill liver. +Spoken o' for keepin' company wi' the evil men an' seducers 'at wax +worse an' worse, as the word says. An' gin I gaed hame syne, the wife +wad be for pu'in the wig aff my cantle, an' layin' the spurtle about +my bare lugs; for she's no for prankin' wi' that gate, _my_ mistress! +A gude wummin I'll allow, a' the same, but juist terrible on a' ill +doin, an' licht on-gaein's. But we maun hae a thocht to the services +o' the Sanctuary the morn, an' no hae the folk comin' to the ministry +o' the word, an' nae banquet ready for their hungry sauls. We'd hae +them stravaigin' the braesides the lieve lang Sawbith day, like puir +menseless sheep that hae na gotten a shepherd. Sae, gin ye'll come wi' +me, for fear o' pryin eyen, we'se gang round an' see hoo we'll +arrange.' + +'As they sallied forth they encountered Peter Malloch taking his +evening stroll. For once Ebenezer was well pleased at the meeting, and +resolved that Peter too should accompany them, and be another witness +to the conservation undefiled of his skirts--a purely poetical figure +by the way, for he wore a sort of jacket, his wife and tailoress being +economical of cloth. The article of dress was, in fact, that which his +betters of an earlier generation were wont to denominate a spencer. + +It required no pressing to secure Peter's company. He scented +promotion in being thus associated with one of the eldership, in +church business, and it seemed a first step upwards from the Deacons' +Court to the sacred college of the Kirk-session. Under other +circumstances this honour would have been carefully withheld, for +Peter's popularity among the church officers was not great. To use +Ebenezer's own words on another occasion, 'He's a gude man, an' a +leeberal, but oh! he's a meddlin' body.' Ebenezer's skirts, however, +were uppermost in his thoughts then, and their invisible folds +sufficed to cover many an objection from his view. + +Reaching the minister's door, they found Miss Brown in the act of +dismissing the surgeon. Her brother had at last fallen asleep with the +assistance of an opiate, and he was not on any pretext whatever, so +said the Doctor, to be disturbed. Miss Brown led them into Eppie +Ness's apartment, where that good soul was sitting with the baby in +her arms. + +Ebenezer regarded the poor child fixedly, and gasped in his +indignation. How could he think, or arrange for the ministrations of +the sanctuary in the very presence of that child of confusion? His +brow darkened, and no one can guess what eloquent utterance he might +not have given forth, if Mary Brown with her pleasant smile, had not +pointed to a chair for him to sit down, and asked what arrangements he +proposed to make for the church supply on the morrow. + +As when, on the aching head of a fevered invalid buzzing with a +thousand delirious fancies, a cool soft hand is laid, banishing uneasy +nightmares, and bringing back the patient to waking common sense, even +so the innocent friendliness of Mary's glance dissipated the whole +swarm of crazy suspicions for the moment, and brought Ebenezer's +thoughts back to their wonted wholesome tenor; and though the little +thing crowed in its nurse's arms more than once, he forgot about its +being perhaps an imp, or at any rate something unholy, and would even +have admitted in words that it was a 'bonny bairn,' but that Peter +Malloch sat at his elbow. + +The minister had been looking to see some of his elders all the +afternoon, and in the end had jotted down on paper his desire that Mr. +Sangster, Mr. Prittie, and another of the elders should each give a +prayer, and that Ebenezer should read to the people a chapter of the +Saints' Rest, as a substitute for the usual sermon, and call a meeting +of the Session and Deacons' Court for Monday evening. There was no +business therefore to transact, Joseph was despatched to Auchlippie +with the message for Mr. Sangster, and the others withdrew. + +Ebenezer felt relieved when he was once more in the open air and there +was no further possibility of an interview with the minister, for he +had thought it would be but right, and accordingly had screwed up his +courage to say a word in season if the opportunity should occur. At +the same time he was full of dread as to how it would be taken; indeed +he could conceive of no possible way in which it could be taken that +would not be unpleasant, and therefore he felt positively rejoiced +when the danger was past. Nothing disagreeable had happened, and yet +he could stand up boldly before his conscience, as one who had not +shirked a duty however painful; and when, in the privacy of his home, +he went over the events of the day, he was indeed a proud man under +the praises which that incarnate conscience, the wife of his bosom, +bestowed upon her steadfast and faithful Ebenezer. + + + + + CHAPTER XX. + + _IN A SICK ROOM_. + + +When Roderick had written his letter he fell into a long and deep +sleep, and it was daylight before he awoke. He was calmer in mind than +he had been since he was taken ill, but it was the stillness of +exhaustion. His fevered thoughts had been labouring up and down a +never-ending gamut of feeling, like a prisoner tramping hopelessly up +a revolving wheel, ever the same mountain of misery and despair rising +before him, toil to surmount it as he might. He had climbed and +climbed unceasingly--purposeless and hopeless, unable to stop, till at +length, worn out, he had, as it were, fallen back in complete +prostration. His waking was like that of one who has fallen from a +height--stunned, the returning of far-ebbed consciousness was slow, +and he would, if he could, have pushed it back again, and returned to +oblivion. + +He closed his eyes and turned from the light, courting the retreating +footsteps of beneficent sleep, but that gentle healer refused to be +detained, and he was awake. By-and-by he saw his letter carried away +to its address, and he set himself to wait patiently for the return of +his messenger, some time in the afternoon. + +The rheumatic symptoms which had added greatly to his unrest, the day +before, were abated, and his medical adviser expressed strong hope of +being able to remove them altogether; but the distress in his chest +had increased, his breathing was laboured and painful, threatening to +develop into a serious attack. + +The surgeon looked round the room, it was not a promising sick-room +for an affection of the lungs. The walls, where they could be seen +behind the book shelves, were stained with moisture; there was the +cold earthen floor beneath the carpet, and a pervading flavour of +mouldy dampness through the room, which seemed to grow only more +perceptible when more fuel was piled on the hearth. When the weather +was dry the windows could be opened, and with the help of a bright +fire, a moderately sweet atmosphere could be obtained after a time; +but whenever rain without necessitated the closing of the windows, the +stuffy savour of mouldiness again took possession of the place. + +Roderick lay and waited. He tried to read, but his eyes soon grew +weary, and his thoughts would not fix themselves on the page, though +he tried one book after another. It pained his chest to converse, and +he could only possess his soul in patience, and wait Joseph's return. + +But Joseph came not. Noon passed, the shadows crept round and +lengthened, but still no sign. It might be that Sophia required time +to consider his letter. In that there was at least this much of hope, +that if she had become engaged to the Englishman there would have been +no occasion for her to delay in saying so. He grew restless as the +afternoon advanced, and by evening was so flushed and increasingly +feverish that they gave him a composing draught, and so got him to +sleep. + +In the morning he was dull and stupid for some hours, but gradually +the fumes of the night's potion dissipated. His first enquiry was what +letters or messages had come. There had been none. It seemed strange +that no member or office-bearer of his hitherto attached flock should +have come near him. Some of the more remote and scattered would not +know, but it was strange the villagers should hold aloof. Could they +have imagined that his illness might be infectious? and yet they were +not wont thus to avoid contagion. The very elders, part of whose duty +it was to visit the sick, had kept away; and although they might have +been expected to take some interest in seeing the pulpit filled, they +yet had allowed Saturday to pass without coming near him. Even Mr. +Sangster, the presiding elder had not come, although the illness had +been brought on in attending upon his wife, and he must have known all +about it. He would know also of the letter to Sophia. Could it be on +account of that that he did not come? Yet why? If he had other views +for the settlement of his daughter, why did he not say so? The silence +was getting unbearable. + +Sunday proved to be rainy, greatly to Mrs. Sangster's relief. She +availed herself of the excuse to remain at home, her son and daughter +were both laid up with severe colds, and Mr. Wallowby was not inclined +to get himself wet. Mr. Sangster was therefore the sole occupant of +the phaeton, and he did not reach the village till the church hour had +arrived, and he had to hasten straight to the tent. There, with the +associates Roderick had named, he did his best to extemporize some +resemblance to a church service to the few shepherds (proof to rain +and tempest) and old women crouching under umbrellas, who alone, +defying the elements, had assembled as usual for their weekly meal of +doctrine. + +The diet of public worship was got over as speedily as possible, and +at the conclusion a few parishioners knocked in passing to enquire +after the minister's health. They were so few, however, as to excite +the surprise of Mary, as well as her brother, and there had been no +elder or deacon among them. + +In the end Mr. Sangster did appear, he was admitted to the sick-room, +and manifested the most cordial sympathy in Roderick's illness. He +explained that the previous day being a market in a neighbouring town, +he had gone thither, and had only got home a few minutes before +Roderick's message, requesting him to assist at public worship, had +been delivered. + +He returned the heartiest thanks for Roderick's care of his wife, and +was in every way as friendly as possible, but he made no allusion to +the letter to Sophia or to the proposal which it contained, which is +not remarkable seeing he had not heard of it. + +Roderick lay and listened. The free and friendly tone did not look as +if his suit had been received unfavourably, and yet it was alluded to +in no way whatever. He gathered courage at last to enquire for Sophia, +and was answered that she was laid up with a severe cold, but the +manner of the reply was the most simple and ordinary, and showed no +sign of an idea that more could be meant by the enquirer than met the +ear. + +Roderick inferred that the old man was favourable to his suit, and +that the young lady was taking time to make up her mind. For the +moment, therefore, his hopes rose, his mind grew easier, his body more +at rest, and he spent a calmer evening and night than the preceding. + +On Monday morning he was very hopeful. She had had a long Sunday +undisturbed by the possibility of doing anything else, for it had +rained steadily, to reflect on his petition, and she must surely +return him an answer to-day. + +Neither message, letter, or visitor appeared, however. 'Ah well,' he +concluded at last, 'her father will no doubt bring it with him in the +evening, when he comes to be present at the meeting of Session.' + +The evening came. Roderick's study had been transferred as far as +possible into a fitting meeting-place. The screen which closed off his +sleeping corner from the room was removed, the writing table and books +moved aside as well as might be, and a dozen chairs or more arranged +in front of his bed. + +The clock over the fireplace marked the quarter to seven, but no one +came. It seemed strange that all that day no one should have come to +see him. He had lived in the completest harmony with his people, and +when in health had had some one always dropping in for a 'crack,' so +that it had often been difficult for him to secure the privacy +necessary to prepare his sermons. The sudden change was altogether +inexplicable to him. Every one seemed to stand aloof, and he seemed to +be put under a taboo by the entire population of the glen. + +Mary went to the window. No one appeared to be coming, she then went +to the door, but the village street was deserted save by a few grimy +children tumbling in the gutter. Looking across the road, however, +where a lane ran down to the waterside, she descried one or two +figures standing. They stood well up to the wall of a house and were +nearly hidden from where she stood. Indeed she would have supposed +they were actually hiding themselves there and watching, but that she +could imagine no possible reason for such a proceeding. + +While she stood looking, Peter Malloch came out of his door and walked +towards her. Here at any rate was one man coming to the meeting. It +was getting late, but then the village time would get astray +sometimes. It depended on the watch of the stage coach guard, a not +very accurate timekeeper, as its hands would sometimes be moved twenty +minutes forward or half an hour back that the coach might arrive at +its different stages in time, whereby its internal economy would +become deranged, and it would be sent for a fortnight to recruit at +the watchmaker's. + +Farther down the street she now descried Ebenezer Prittie. No doubt it +was the clocks which were to blame. But no! When Peter Malloch reached +the corner of the lane, he stopped short for an instant, and then +hastily turned down it and disappeared. Ebenezer marched steadily +along till he came to the same point, but then he also stopped and +straightway vanished, like the other. What could it mean? Roderick was +restless and very ill. It would require all his strength to get +through the proceedings in the quietest way possible, and she could +not think of fretting him, neither could she say anything to Eppie +now. + +That good soul had been rather tiresome as it was, for the past few +days. She was always kind and attentive, though a trifle more motherly +than Mary considered the circumstances to warrant, for she objected to +the old woman's view of her as a helpless young thing who needed to be +clucked over, and protected with beak and feather, like some unfledged +nurseling of the poultry yard. Of late Eppie's commiserating sympathy +and sad devotion had become nearly overpowering, as Mary could divine +no possible ground for anything so pathetic; things had appeared to be +going much as usual, the only unwonted circumstance having been her +own return home a day or two before in the Inchbracken dog-cart, +driven by Kenneth. Eppie must have got it into her head that she was +falling under the influence of those black persecutors, the Drysdales, +and that her soul was in danger; and that was too provokingly absurd +altogether and not to be tolerated. + +Mary flushed slightly to think of it, though there came also a light +into her eye, as though in some aspects the idea was not so grievous +after all. But it must be put down, whether or no, and she had been +endeavouring to assume a deportment of severe and dignified distance, +which would put the old body back in her proper place. Poor child! Her +attempts at offended reserve were like the snaps of a toothless puppy, +they had small resemblance to biting, and were far more likely to +tickle the offending hand than to hurt it. + +The next person to appear along the village street was Mr. Sangster. +He appeared to think he was late, and strode quickly along. He reached +the end of the lane. Would _he_ also turn down? No; Mary saw him wave +his hand in salutation, which showed that the others were still +concealed there, but he stepped briskly across, and, with a cordial +greeting to herself in passing, entered her brother's room. + +He had scarcely done so, when, round the corner of the lane, there +came the whole Kirk-Session and Deacons' Court,--some ten or a dozen +persons in all,--like a crowd of urchins late for school. They hurried +forward in a sort of knot, each unwilling to go first, as though there +were an irate pedagogue to confront, yet no one wished to be last, as +if he expected the dominie's cane to descend on his shoulders. They +were all oppressed by the dreadful rumours in circulation, as to the +minister's iniquity, and all wished to wreak vengeance on the defiler +of their church. But how to set about it? Something vigorous and +memorable must be done; but what was it to be? + +A posse of the lieges called out to assist in capturing some notorious +offender, half-a-dozen dogs holding a wild cat at bay--their fingers +tingle to collar, their fangs glance fiercely ready to throttle; they +stand all eager, all fierce, all cruel,--but who shall be the first to +lay hold? and what may not befall that impetuous individual? Knocking +down, braining, scratching of eyes out; even in the case of these +zealous Free-churchmen, flooring in some metaphorical but very actual +though imagined sense. No man was prepared to tackle the offender, yet +all were so sure of his wrong-doing, that each felt as if he were +bound to do it, if he should encounter him alone or first. But now +Auchlippie had gone in, he, the ruling elder, their official head, was +the proper person to do the undevised deed, or, if he did not, to bear +the 'wite' of leaving it undone. + +Roderick brightened up on the entrance of Mr. Sangster, and looked +enquiringly in his face, but he did not venture to ask the question +that was so near his lips. Mr. Sangster was cordial even beyond his +wont, and answered his enquiries about the different members of his +family at full length; but he did not say what Roderick was so +impatient to hear; he could not, for his wife had told him nothing +about it. + +The entrance of the elders and deacons made further personal converse +impossible. They walked up to the bed, took the sick man's hand one +after another, but could scarcely command their lips to frame the +ordinary inquiries after his health. Singularly to them, the minister +received them with perfect composure, and all his wonted friendliness, +while their eyes fell and wandered while the words died away upon +their lips. 'Who was the sinner?' Ebenezer Prittie very nearly +inquired aloud. Here were they, twelve just men and righteous, endowed +in their own sight and that of their neighbours with all the virtues +and christian graces in plenteous abundance, and yet this one +impenitent sinner, laid out before them, snared in the full bloom and +luxuriance of his iniquity, was able to outface them all, while they, +his judges and accusers could scarce look him straight in the face, +and had not a word to say. + +The proceedings began in the usual manner. Roderick however, found he +could scarce even whisper the opening prayer, and he therefore +requested Mr. Sangster to act in his stead. They had been called +together to make the concluding arrangements as to their new church. +Widow Forester had come to terms about the ground, and they were +therefore to set to work with all the expedition in their power, to +raise the walls and secure a roof to shelter them, before the arrival +of the winter storms. The day before had given them warning if that +were needed, that the fine summer weather was drawing to a close, and +that in a very few weeks the season of cold and storm would be upon +them. + +It was decided to commence work without any delay whatever, and that +on the Thursday they should hold a religious service to inaugurate the +work. Roderick had already bespoken the assistance of Mr. Dowlas, who +had agreed to come over from his own parish whatever day he might be +summoned. All therefore that had to be done was to notify him that +Thursday was to be the day, and that owing to Roderick's illness he +would have to assume the whole duty himself, instead of merely taking +part, unless on so short notice he could induce his neighbour Mr. +Geddie to accompany him. + +No one present seemed disposed to speak unnecessarily, a somewhat +unusual circumstance, for the deacons especially, being new to office, +were prone to eloquence on ordinary occasions. Roderick accepted this +taciturnity as a mark of consideration for his weakness and felt +grateful. Indeed no more judicious mode of showing consideration could +have been devised, for he felt himself getting worse under the stir +and excitement very quickly. The meeting broke up as speedily as +possible, and he was left alone, for Mr. Sangster had been carried +away by the rest. He had been counting on another talk with him and +perhaps of yet hearing from him the thing he most desired, but his own +voice had entirely gone, so it was but natural his friend should not +think of remaining with him when he could not speak. + +He lay back on his pillow and solaced himself by thinking all manner +of good of the men who had just left. The poor, the lower classes, who +are thought so gross and rude in their perceptions! What people could +have shown a more delicate intuition of what would be grateful to him +in his weakness, than those rough-spoken, hard-handed men? He had been +vexing himself with thoughts of their indifference and neglect, during +his illness, but see how considerate and forbearing they had been this +evening, notwithstanding the well known crotchets of this one and +that, which would certainly have been brought out on any other +occasion. + +It was a beautiful thought, though not, in the circumstances a very +accurate one, and helped him much in dropping peacefully to sleep not +long after. + + + + + CHAPTER XXI. + + _CIRCE_. + + +On Monday morning Mr. Wallowby was the first to appear in the +breakfast-room,--an unusual circumstance. There was meditation in the +noiseless tread of his slippered feet, and he rubbed his hands +thoughtfully, one over the other. So, a reflective cat will softly +move her paws and undulate her tail, while she is planning her next +raid on a neighbouring mouse hole. His enquiries after Peter's health +were solicitous and tender, and the regret and disappointment at his +being still confined to his room, perhaps excessive, considering his +strong recommendations over-night, that the patient should keep his +bed altogether next day, and, by making a regular lay up of it, get +well the sooner. He asked Mr. Sangster to lend him a horse and trap to +drive over to Inchbracken, still lamenting Peter's indisposition and +deploring the necessity of having to go alone, but persistently deaf +to the suggestion that he should wait a day or two till Peter got +better. + +The trap was ordered round as desired, the old gentleman being +thankful that in default of Peter's help the guest should take his +amusement into his own hands, and not fall back on him, James +Sangster, who had been resignedly counting on a day of self-sacrifice +and boredom in the young man's company. He would have yielded the day +freely enough, and submitted to the boredom with a fair grace, but he +feared the young man would be as much bored as himself; and that, +somehow, he did not relish. We are all of us so accustomed to being +bored by our fellows, that none but the very young think of +complaining, but that our fellows might be bored with us, is a +suggestion our self-love would rather not entertain. Mrs. Sangster did +not approve the idea; she would have had Peter go to consolidate his +intimacy with the county magnates, and what could it possibly matter +to Wallowby? she thought. She proposed a postponement, but Wallowby +was already deep in a discussion of the relative merits of Hungarian +rye-grass and timothy with her spouse, and so continued not to hear. + +The hour arrived, so likewise did the trap, and Mr. Wallowby issued +from his chamber glorious as a sunbeam. He had dressed himself with +the greatest care, and he really looked very well, if only he could +have run against somebody or something, so as to derange the get-up in +some slight degree, and make the whole more human. He was of +sufficient stature, and his face was well enough, if a trifle vacant; +so that in this faultless array, without crease or plait or pucker, he +resembled one of the figures in a tailor's fashion plate considerably +more than a gentleman of the period. Mrs. Sangster met him on the +stairs and was vastly impressed. She would have liked Sophia to see +him; but, alas! that could be managed only by peeping from behind a +blind, for Sophia herself was still the victim of catarrh, and forced +to remain invisible. + +Reaching Inchbracken, Mr. Wallowby was received by Julia. Lady +Caroline had not yet left her room, but sent word that she hoped to +see him at luncheon, and the gentlemen were from home. It was Julia's +acquaintance, however, which he had already made; and as the other +lady was to appear later, he resigned himself with perfect +satisfaction to be entertained by that agreeable person. They walked +about the grounds admiring the broad sweep of the lake, which, lapping +round Inchbracken on three sides, swept far away into the shadow of +the overhanging hills. Mr. Wallowby was charmed to discover in himself +a remarkably just appreciation of scenery, which he had never before +been conscious of possessing; but then he was not sure that it had +ever before fallen to his lot to have it so well called forth, or to +have met so appreciative a companion. It was quite remarkable and very +pleasant to find on how many subjects their opinion exactly agreed, +not on scenery only, for that was not a theme to last long, but +in general views of life and society, even politics and religion, +though these, as heavy matters, were only glanced at in passing; 'but +it is so pleasant to meet with a woman capable of understanding one on +such higher and more masculine subjects,' at least so thought Mr. +Wallowby. + +Julia was a wily sportswoman. She had often heard Captain John +describe the method of tickling a trout, and here was a gudgeon whom +she was minded to try her hand on, and capture, if possible, by that +delicate process. Wallowby opened out and spread himself in the bland +warmth of her approving smiles, like a very sunflower. He had truly +never before realised what a remarkably fine fellow he was, and the +revelation was delightful; and so, too, in consequence, was the fair +prophetess who had disclosed it. Loch Gorton was fine, no doubt, and +so too were the purple shadows slumbering among the hills beyond; but +what were these in comparison to the heights and depths, long +concealed under mists of modest diffidence, in the wondrous soul of +Augustus Wallowby? The man fairly shimmered like a moonlit fountain, +with coruscations of self-surprising wit and gratified vanity, while +Circe cooed genially in response, still leading him onward into deeper +quagmires of idiocy. Through gardens and shrubberies she led the way, +and he followed closely behind, with ears laid luxuriatingly back; as +the donkey whose poll has been deftly scratched will rub himself up +against his new found friend, and court a continuance of the +titillating process. Julia was actually discomposed by the rapidity of +her success. Had she been in fun it would have been amusing, but she +was a practical woman who meant business and a settlement for herself, +so she feared to proceed too fast. Too speedy an inflation applied to +so little solid substance might burst it, like a glass blower's freak, +in a shower of spangles, to the mere idle glorification of the man +himself; whereas if there was to be glass blowing, it was a useful +goblet for _her_ that was wanted. To change the tune, therefore, she +now led the way to the old square tower overtopping the shrubbery, +which was all that remained of the ancient family residence. Here a +larger share of the conversation devolved on herself, Scotch +antiquities and history being altogether unfamiliar to her Southern +friend. He listened, however, with respectful interest to her account +of the early Drysdales. When a man is uncertain who may have been his +own grandfather, or whether such a person ever existed, there is +something impressive in the long line of progenitors claimed by other +people, and their certainty as to the possession. Here among the +crumbling walls they once inhabited, it was impossible to doubt about +them,--a very legion of haughty shadows who had once ruled the +surrounding country,--or not to feel a positive reverence for their +surviving representative. This train of thought naturally led to Lady +Caroline, and as Julia phrased it, 'my Cousin, Lord Pitthevlis.' In +the presence of that noble house the pretensions of the Drysdales +dwindled considerably,--came down almost within reach, as it were, of +Mr. Wallowby's unhistoric self; and yet this magnificent family were +cousins of the engaging maiden who stood before him and discoursed so +graciously of their grandeur. It was a delightful idea to realize, and +he endeavoured to bring it well within his grasp, by desiring to know +the precise degree of cousinship. She replied that the relationship +was through George, the thirteenth Earl. It appeared to be difficult +to particularize very exactly. An honourable Cornelius somebody, and a +Lady Mary somebody else, besides other important people, had all been +implicated some generations back in Miss Finlayson's introduction on +this sublunary scene; 'but Lord Pitthevlis always calls me cousin, and +so do the rest of the family, so of course it is so,' she concluded, +and Wallowby was satisfied. There was apparently no prospect of her +ever being a countess in her own right, but she was evidently very +highly connected, so that when she died, her husband would be able to +put up a hatchment with eight quarterings in front of his house; and +Mr. Wallowby actually called up in his mind's eye a momentary vision +of his own residence in the outskirts of Manchester so adorned, just +to see how it would look. Poor man! I fear he was far gone. + + +[Illustration: "Through gardens and shrubberies she led the way." Page +162.] + + +During those few minutes when the lady left him in the morning room, +while she went to remove her bonnet before luncheon, he drew a long +breath and asked himself, 'could it be that at last he really was in +love?' A long train of captives passed through his memory, the +supposed victims of his fascinations--or his fortune, was it? But what +were any of them to this incomparable person? So elegant, so +accomplished, and so appreciative! It seemed very sudden; but then, +was not love at first sight the truest, the best, the highest form of +that delightful emotion? And was not the attraction mutual? With his +long and intimate knowledge of the sex, _he_ knew all the signs. He +was sure of that, and could not be mistaken in this case. He was +indeed a sad rogue, so he told himself. He could not help that, but he +felt for the poor girl in a serene and benevolent sort of way, and +resolved that she should not sigh in vain. Yet he must be circumspect +and do nothing precipitate! Although he was to return to England in +three days' time, and could not without making explanations to an +inquisitive world come again to see her; that was a matter he must +break to her gently, and he would ask leave to correspond with her. +Meanwhile he must practise reserve--veil his radiance somewhat, +lest the poor child should be reduced to a heap of ashes--another +Semele--before the fitting time for a proposal had arrived. So far his +reflections had got, as he stood looking from the windows, and pulling +out the corners of his whiskers to their extremest length, when he was +interrupted by a summons to luncheon. + +In the dining-room the ladies were already seated, one being Lady +Caroline whom he had not yet seen; and whether it was merely the +presence of a third person, or the silent claim of superiority on the +part of that lady, the atmosphere appeared to have undergone a change. +Life was no longer a river at high tide rolling to a triumphal march +from 'the Caliph of Bagdad,' but a very ordinary stream indeed, oozing +along between monotonous banks, over a flat and muddy bottom. Instead +of a prized and congenial friend, he was now reduced to the part of +stranger, and rather an unknown stranger too. Lady Caroline led the +conversation as was her wont, but more interrogatively, and less as an +exclusive monologue than when addressing persons with whom she was +better acquainted. Having been called on to express his admiration for +Scotland and the Scotch, on this his first visit to the country, he +was next asked if he had been induced to attend any of the open-air +conventicles which his friends so much affected, and how he liked +them. He said he had been at one, and that it was a picturesque +gathering in a stagy sort of way, and something very different from +anything he had ever seen before. + +'I should think so,' said Lady Caroline; 'it seems to me a species of +madness which has fallen upon the people. I wonder the authorities do +not put it down, for it is utterly subversive of order, and all good +government. I feel quite ashamed whenever I hear of it coming under +the notice of people from another country. They must form so strange +an opinion of us. If you spend another Sunday in the neighbourhood you +must persuade your friends to send you over to the parish church. It +is not far from here.' + +Mr. Wallowby replied that he would be returning to England before +another Sunday came round. 'But I was not aware,' he added, 'that +there were any but Presbyterian chapels for many miles round here. I +felt compunction about attending the ministrations of an unordained +person, it seemed to me so much a burlesque on the offices of +religion, but I was told that except in towns and a very few country +places far north, there are no clergymen in Scotland at all. And yet +the Scotch claim to be very religious. I did not know before that +people could be religious without church or parson, and now I have +seen it I do not like it.' + +'Yes! English people are all alike! They insist upon choosing for +themselves, and having done so, they would impose their choice upon +everybody else. That is not so bad perhaps when they stick to the +old-fashioned ways--in my young days we all got on most comfortably +together; but now when they have adopted so many new notions, +apostolical succession for instance, which we never used to hear of, +it seems a trifle unreasonable that people who have so much difficulty +in knowing their own views should expect others to accept them too. +For myself, I find the Act of Parliament and the law of the land the +best religious director, and wherever I live I mean to conform to the +Established Church of the country--always excepting France, and I +never will live there. I have not forgot yet how we used to be +threatened with Popery and wooden shoes if ever the French should land +upon our shores. Now, the English Church people are dissenters in +Scotland, just as Presbyterians are in England. But I hate the very +name of dissenter, as of all disloyalty, and therefore I attend the +English Church when in England, just as I do the Scotch in Scotland.' + +'But if the ministers of the Scotch form of worship are not priests, +how can they constitute a Church? That is my difficulty.' + +'The Act of Settlement says that they do, and there is no going behind +the law of the land. The Archbishop of Paris probably does not +consider the Archbishop of Canterbury a priest, or able to constitute +a Church; but no Englishman would be worth his salt who cared for what +a Frenchman said. As for the clergy in different countries, they are +all most excellent people, but they require a Queen Elizabeth or some +such person to keep them in their own place. They are all, priests and +presbyters alike, inclined to be meddlesome and tyrannical; and if we +would only let them, they would rule us with a rod of iron. I am quite +familiar with your prejudices, and even respect them, so far; my +brother Pitthevlis is a Scotch Episcopalian, and I was so brought up +myself, but I fear I must say they are a little narrow, and too like +your own new disturbers (Puseyites, you call them, I think), ever to +be possible as a national Church.' + +Mr. Wallowby bridled slightly. He thought he was a Puseyite +himself, and had great scorn for the Low Church party; but in those +pre-ritualistic days his High Churchism was, like most other laymen's, +little more than a taste for illuminated windows, surpliced choirs, +intoned prayers, and a musical service; and that rather on account of +its 'swellness,' than as a means of edification; and he would have +been as prompt as any Low Churchman to cry out 'Popery' against the +modern developments. Thirty years have passed since then, and many +things have changed. Mr. Wallowby had raised his head to do battle for +his faith, but meanwhile Lady Caroline had meandered on to other +themes, so what he might have said can never be known. + +The chicken, the salad, and the toast were at length consumed. All +rose from table, and Augustus felt that it was time for him to +withdraw. Julia accompanied him to the door, there was some low-toned +conversation, and he was gone. + +'Well! my dear Julia,' said Lady Caroline, 'I do not know what I +should do without your kind good-nature, to take the bores off my +hands. It must be between three and four hours since that misguided +man arrived, and you have been with him all the time! Does your head +ache?' + +'Oh no, dear Lady Caroline, I have got through the visit very +pleasantly. He does not talk so much as to weary one, and yet he has +plenty to say.' + +'Ah? Then I may save my condolences. So much the better! He strikes me +as being almost good-looking, if he were only a gentleman, and not +quite so tightly buttoned into his clothes. Men laugh at women's +tightlacing, but how they endure all these wisps of muslin round their +throats I cannot think. And I am sure they are quite as ridiculous.' + +'I thought Mr. Wallowby dressed rather nicely; and as to his +manners--of course he has never gone into society, and he is not the +least like a guardsman; but then he has never had the chance to see +one. And, who knows? he may have a son in the army at least, perhaps +even a field-marshal, or a Lord-Chancellor, for I hear he is very +rich, and even the greatest families must have a first man, or +perhaps, as you would say, the man before that.' + +'Julia, my dear, you are a philosopher! The gentleman must have merit, +or he would not have won over my critical young cousin so soon. He is +rich you say?' + +'Yes, Lady Caroline. Miss Brown, who was living with the Sangsters +says he is very rich; and it would be too absurd in a penniless girl +like me to be critical and fastidious in judging a man of his +substantial fortune.' + +'Fastidious! my dear? Then there is a chance of his being submitted to +your approval?' + +Julia coloured. 'Indeed Lady Caroline, it is so hard for a girl to +say. But if you will not think me absurd, I almost fancy there might +perhaps be a possibility of something like that.' + +'Ah, then, my dear, that alters the question altogether. I have no +daughter of my own, and there is no one whose settlement in life I +have more nearly at heart than yours. Confide in me, child! I have +every wish to be a mother to you.' + +Julia kissed her hand very sweetly. 'I shall find out all about him,' +continued the old lady, through old MacSiccar, and you may trust me +not to compromise you in any way. If his circumstances are +satisfactory, it might probably be a very judicious step on your part; +One cannot have everything you know; but enough to live upon is a +thing it is impossible to do without. And as to the rest, under your +guidance, I see no reason why he should not make a perfectly +presentable figure in society. I am sure you will make an admirable +and attached wife, whoever you marry; but marrying for love, instead +of with it, as every good girl of course will, often turns out to be a +mistake. You know, my dear, I was not very young myself when I +married, and a few years earlier I was very nearly doing something +foolish of that kind. The gentleman had high rank and was really very +charming; but my dear papa discovered the unsuitableness of the +connection in time, and though I was really infatuated, he carried us +all down to Pitthevlis, and kept us there for two years. In the +meantime, what papa expected occurred, the gentleman ruined himself. +His property was put under trustees, and he himself has been living at +Boulogne and such places ever since, on the few hundreds a year +allowed by his creditors. I shudder sometimes when I think how +narrowly I escaped----. Shortly after that my dear General came +forward, and I need not say how thankful I am that I was saved from my +earlier folly. Rank and position are most desirable things, but a +solid income is indispensable. There are so many girls now, too, and +the men have grown so mercenary, that a girl without fortune or a +title cannot look for more than a younger son, which is merely a sort +of decent dependence on the family, and often a most painful position. +So my dear,' added the old lady, who had been gradually warming under +her own eloquence, 'I wish you every success, always provided the +_parti_ should prove worthy your acceptance,' and thereupon she rose, +and bending over Julia, kissed her on the forehead, like a fairy +godmother, or some other superior spirit, animated by the most +beneficent intentions. She was thinking that if Kenneth should marry +and settle down at Inchbracken, as his father desired, a third lady in +the household would be one too many. + + + + + CHAPTER XXII. + + _IN SESSION_. + + +The joint meeting of elders and deacons broke up as described, and +left the minister alone. They did not separate, however, for Ebenezer +Prittie stood without the cottage door, and begged them so urgently to +come round to the Post Office that they consented. + +The Post Office proved a meeting place still more restricted than the +one they had left, but it was private. The shop having been closed, +they seated themselves on the counter and sundry kegs of nails, and +waited the opening of the proceedings. + +Ebenezer moved that Mr. Sangster should take the chair (a tall +slender-legged stool), and that the proceedings should be minuted in +the Session books, as a continuance after adjournment of the meeting +which had just broken up. Mr. Sangster objected to so irregular a +course, and declined to mount the chair. He would be happy to hold an +informal conversation with his friends there assembled, but he would +take no part in a hole-and-corner meeting not duly called, and held +without the knowledge of their minister, who of right should preside. + +Ebenezer coughed behind his hand, cleared his voice, and stood forth. +He had been planning something very energetic in the way of +resolutions and minutes of Session, which by and by would be produced +in the Presbytery with his name as prime mover and leader; but now he +had got them together, it did not appear such plain sailing as he had +anticipated, and he began to have qualms and misgivings. The position +of prosecutor or accuser did not appear so desirous, now that he stood +in the midst of that silent and expectant circle, as it had done when +he was merely planning it. He coughed again, but the silence remained +unbroken. No one else desired to speak, so he had to go on. He told +them that it was unnecessary for him to name the reason for his having +requested them to reassemble there, as they knew it already. Mr. +Sangster interrupted, that he for one had not an idea of the object of +their meeting, and was waiting to hear it. Ebenezer replied that the +whole glen was ringing with reports of the evil living of the person +acting as pastor over them,--that it was a crying scandal, and that +the enemy would have good cause to exult over the subversion of their +Zion, if they did not cast the unclean thing out from among them.' + +'What do you allude to. Mr. Prittie?' asked Mr. Sangster. + +'To the minister's bairn, sir!' replied Ebenezer; 'ye hardly need to +speer that.' + +'But Mr. Brown's adoption of a foundling infant affords no ground of +censure that I can see. I confess, indeed, that I have always thought +he had set us an example of Christian charity we would do well to +copy.' + +'Do ye mean to say, sir, ye dinna ken wha's acht that bairn?' + +'I do. Whose is it?' + +'His ain, of course!' + +'How do you know?' + +'A' body kens that by noo, 'at bides in Glen Effick.' + +'_I_ don't, for one; and I should like to know how _you_ know it.' + +'What a' body says maun be true! Ye'll allow _that_, Mester Sangster. +An' what's mair, the mither's kenned as weel.' + +'And who is the mother? Has she said so?' + +'A body wadna just look for that, ye ken, sir. Folk dizna cry stinkin' +fish e'y open market. An' ye wadna be lookin' to hear auld Tibbie +Tirpie cryin' 'cuttie' after her ain dochter!' + +'How then do you make it out? For myself, I don't believe one word of +it.' + +'Do ye mean to say 'at I'm leein', Mester Sangster? I'm but a puir man +to you, I ken weel; an' I'm mindin' 'at ye're the Laird of Auchlippie; +but I was ordeened to the eldership o' the kirk the same day ye was +yoursel', an' I'm thinkin' we're baith brithers in the house o' God, +whaur there's no respect of persons; an' I kenna what for ye suld +think I'm leein' ony mair nor yersel'.' + +'Whisht, man!' remonstrated Peter Malloch. 'The Laird never thocht to +misdoubt _you_. It's just a way o' speakin' folk's gotten. But I'm +sayin', Mester Sangster, I cud gang a lang gate mysel' e'y pruivin' o' +thae suspeecions. I hae seen the minister wi' my ain een, slinkin' +frae the auld wife's door, lang efter dark; an' the verra next day, +doon she comes to me for tea an' sneeshin' an' sic like trokes as a +puir body can do wantin' weel eneugh, an' pays a' wi' a pund note o' +the Peterhead Bank. There's nae misdoubtin' whaur that siller cam +frae! An' folk dinna gie notes to puir bodies for naething.' + +'Folk differ in that as in other things, Peter,' retorted the laird +with a shrug. 'Some wad gie a bodle gin they had ane, an' when they +haena they gie a bawbee. An' mony's the button I hae fand in the kirk +collections in my time! But I can't see that therefore we must +attribute Mr. Brown's liberality to an evil motive. He preaches +liberal giving, you know, and he practises what he preaches. Perhaps +we might all take a lesson from him and increase our charities without +going beyond our duty.' + +'Hech!' sighed a voice in the corner, 'it's no the amount! It's the +speerit it's dune in; an' that's a grand truith, an' a comfortin'. It +was the Widdie's twa mites 'at gat a' the praise!' + +'Yes!' retorted the Laird with a chuckle, 'but they were all her +living! The chield that put the button in the plate gets little +countenance there! But, to return to the rumours; there would have to +be some more conclusive evidence before any step could be taken in the +matter. As I have said before, I believe the whole thing is just idle +talk, and I will be no party to insulting Mr. Brown by even bringing +such an insinuation under his notice. This parish and the whole church +owe him gratitude for his zealous and self-denying labours. I regard +the whole tenor of his life among us as ample refutation of any +unsubstantiated report that can be circulated to his disparagement; +and I wonder that any office-bearer of this church, after all the +intercourse we have been privileged to have with him, can think +otherwise. I think it is the duty of all here present, to put down +this tattling of idle tongues; and if we cannot stop, at least we +should not heed them, and by-and-by they will cease to wag of +themselves.' + +'It's braw crackin' about tatlin' tongues,' said Peter Malloch, 'but +wadna we be giein' the enemy grund to blaspheme? an' that's clean +contrar' to Scripter. A bonny tale the reseeduaries wad mak o't a', +gin it cam to their lugs! They're aye sayin', as it is, 'at the unco +gude (an' that means hiz) are nae better nor ither folk, but a hantle +waur. An' as for Mester Brown an' his giein', there's mair ways o' +doin' gude nor juist giein siller to feckless bodies 'at canna help +themsels. What for canna hie gie a help to the honest hard workin' +folk 'at's fechtin' their best to gar baith ends meet, an' support the +lawfu' tred o' his ain glen? "Claw me an' I'se claw ye," is gude plen +Scotch. Gin folk peys their pennies intil the Sustentation Fund +reglar, it's gey an yerksom to see the minister's family gae by the +door, an' dale wi' outsiders. It'll be a week come the morn 'at the +carrier frae Inverlyon brocht them a muckle creel fu' o' groceries. +What wad come to the tred o' the glen gin a' body dealt that gate?' + +'Hoot, Peter,' snorted the Laird, 'the sand in yer sugar's been ower +grit! I'm thinkin' I heard tell o' a sma' chuckie stane in Miss +Brown's tea-cup. Folk are na juist hens, ye see, an' dinna find sic +provender halesome.' + +Something like a snigger followed the Laird's sally. No one else +present being a 'merchant' of eatables, the joke was greatly relished. +It is always pleasant to see a neighbour suffer, because it gives +point and relish to one's own immunity. It is a form of childish +sensuality that survives the relish for lollipops, but it is perhaps +most openly indulged in during the lollipop period. Whispering and +restlessness become hushed all over the school-room when a whipping is +going forward. Each child settles in its seat to watch the +performance, all eyes and interest; the sharper the whish of the cane +and the louder the wail of the victim, the more pleasurable and keen +the interest of each spectator, for the better he realizes the ease +and comfort of his own little skin. + +Peter flushed. The laird was a privileged man, who might take his joke +as he pleased, but no prescriptive immunity sheltered the rest. + +'I see naething to nicker at, Ebenezer Prittie! Gin onything fell +amang my sugar I ken naething about it ava, as I'll explain to Miss +Brown; but I see na hoo yer ain ellwand can be an inch shorter nor +ither folks, an' ye no ken o't.' + +'I daur ye to say that again, ye ill-faured leein' rascal! Gin it war +na for my godly walk and conversation, as a Christian man an' an +Elder, I'd lay the ellwand about yer crappet lugs!' + +Here there was a general intervention between the two angry men, and +the laird expressed his regret at having used any expression that +could disturb the harmony of the meeting, but they knew his weakness +for a joke; and as everything seemed to have been said on the subject +they had met to consider, and as it was getting late, he would now +wish them all good-night. + +'I see na that a' has been said,' observed Ebenezer, so soon as the +Laird was beyond hearing, 'or that ony thing has been said ava that's +ony gude. Are we to let the hale thing drap, an' mak fules o' oursel's +afore the hale glen, just to pleasure Auchlippie? I trow no!' + +'An' what wad ye be for doin' then?' asked one. + +'I'll tell ye what we suld do,' suggested another. 'Isna Mester Dowlas +comin' to haud the meetin,' an' lay the fundation o' the new Kirk? An' +what for suldna we ca' him to adveese wi' us what ocht to be dune? I'm +thinkin' he's as weel able as Auchlippie to direc' folk, an' we needna +be feared to anger _him_, he's no a laird.' + +'Aweel!' said Ebenezer, who had now mounted on the top of the tall +stool, and was benevolently regarding the meeting from his +self-appointed station as chairman. 'Ye'll better juist muive that, +Andra Semple, an' as I'm e'y chair I'll put yer motion to the meetin'. +An' syne _ye_ can muive an adjournment, Elluck Lamont, an' we'll +adjourn to Thursday efternoon, whan the kirk skells. An' sae we'll be +a' in order ('let a'thing be dune decently an' in order,' says the +Apostle) till we get Mester Dowlas to set us richt.' + +Thus the meeting had but small direct result. Its effect indirectly, +however, was considerable. When, early that evening, the members had +stolen down the lane near the minister's cottage, to intercept each +other and feel circuitously towards the point of interest, each would +have been ashamed, first and unsupported, to repeat aloud the rumours +that had reached him. When he had heard them in the first instance, +usually from his wife--it is the gentle sex usually which originates +or introduces such tales, probably because it has no head to break, +which is to say, that its corporal immunities in a civilized land +enable it to say unpunished what would bring down on the male tattler +both brawls and broken bones,--he had at first declared it was +impossible, and then that it was unlikely; and even when, after +dwelling on it in his mind, the love of a sensation made him half +think half hope there might be something in it, he would hesitate to +allude to it save by a whisper and a shake of the head, and would +caution his wife not to repeat it, or let herself appear as one who +was giving it currency. When, however, the matter had been talked +over, audible speech exercised its usual defining and contracting +influence. The mysterious and appalling, as well as the doubtful +element, became vulgarised as well as realized. Without any additional +evidence, yet in the company of so many others who all believed, each +felt it due to his own character for clear-sightedness and high moral +tone to dismiss every remnant of doubt, and to be eager for the +exposure and punishment of the offender. Afterwards, in the presence +of the accused himself, their certainty had begun a little to waver. +The many pieties and goodnesses associated with him in their memories, +were too discordant with this new and vulgar suspicion, and probably +had they met him each alone, they would have dismissed the accusation +from their minds; but each sat under the scrutinizing eyes of his +twelve or thirteen fellows. They were the eyes into which he had +looked, a little while ago, when he had made up his mind that the +rumours were well founded; and as he felt their glance on him now, it +was like a voice urging steadfastness and consistency with what he had +been saying so shortly before. Those persons looking at him had heard +him say that he believed everything; how, then, could he, while still +under their eye, turn round and dismiss his suspicions without any new +fact or argument to account for the change? Nevertheless, the zeal of +the old Hebrew prophets, which some of them had felt stirring in their +veins and urging them to lift a testimony and denounce the sinner in +the midst of his ways, had cooled and oozed away as they sat round the +sickbed; each looked expectantly to the others, but felt he could not +undertake the work himself. It was a relief to all of them to leave +the sick-room, and when they re-assembled at the Post Office, they +felt more strongly built up in their suspicions than ever. If anything +could have bound them more firmly to their position, it was Mr. +Sangster's scant respect for the conclusion at which they had arrived. +They were willing to admit his superiority both in position and +education, and probably any one of them would have deferred to him if +alone; but the sturdy democratic or Presbyterian element in them +objected to so many yielding to the one who wore a better coat and had +learned Latin; and when in the end he tried to dismiss the meeting, +after pooh-poohing its object as absurd, they felt bound to assert +themselves by boldly and openly taking the other course. + +All reserve, therefore, was dropped. Each had all the others to bear +him out in whatever he said; and that night he openly discussed the +supposed facts with his wife while she prepared his supper. + +The next morning the 'stoups' stood empty at the well, and heaps of +wet linen lay neglected and unspread down on the 'loaning,' while +their owners in garrulous knots discussed the minister's misdoings, +and Peter Malloch sold more little parcels of tea and snuff than he +had ever done in one day before, so many of the gudewives desired to +get his version with full particulars. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII. + + _MOTHER AND DAUGHTER_. + + +Sophia looked from behind her window-blind as Mr. Wallowby drove away +to make his visit at Inchbracken. + +'A fine looking man!' observed her mother, who stood behind her. 'This +cold of yours is very disappointing, Sophia, confining you to your +room. I was in hopes you and he would have become quite intimate by +this time. He seems a very superior person, and would have been an +improving companion for you. Your cold appears to be better to-day. +Put on your blue silk, and let him find you in the drawing room on his +return. You owe to your brother, my dear, that his friend should find +things as comfortable and pleasant here as among our neighbours.' + +'Certainly, mamma, if you say so. But I don't think it will signify +much to Mr. Wallowby. He does not mind me in the least, and I find it +uphill work trying to make manners to him. Even Mary Brown, who has so +much to say, thinks him a tiresome man.' + +'She did not appear to think so when she was in his company, laughing +and singing and carrying on! I was disappointed to see her father's +daughter manifest so much levity of character. I fear it is a family +trait.' + +'Mamma!' + +'Yes, Sophia! I mean what I say; young girls should be seen, but not +heard. That was the rule in _my_ young days. She took the whole +entertainment of the stranger off your hands, as if she had been in +her own house; forward, I thought her, in fact; and I don't think your +brother Peter thought any the more of her for it.' + +'Oh, mamma! it was Peter who made her talk! A girl must answer when +she is spoken to; and she must laugh too, when people are trying to +amuse her, however poor the joke may be. And it was Peter who +persuaded her to sing when she would rather not. I know, for she told +me so!' + +'H'm! I fear she is a sly monkey that Mary Brown--for all her artless +ways! I wish you had some of her worldly wisdom, added to the high +principles I have been at such pains to instil into your mind. I am +sure you will never be a flirt; but a young woman must be settled in +life unless she is to be an old maid and a failure; and how is an +eligible young man to know what treasures of good sense and right +principle there may be in her, if she will not open her mouth to him, +or hides away in her own room? I call it a waste of precious +opportunity! Remember the fate of the man who hid his talent in a +napkin, and be warned in time!' + +'But, mamma, you have always told me, and I am sure it is so, that +marriages are ordained by a higher power, and that the appointed man +will certainly find you out, even if he has to come down the chimney +to reach you.' + +'Quite true, my dear, in a sense! but we don't want the sweeps at +Auchlippie at this time of year. And there can be no more proper place +for a gentlewoman to meet a young man than her mother's drawing-room; +so put on your blue silk and bring your worsted work down stairs as +soon as you are ready. I shall send Betsy to your assistance;' and, +with a rather scornful shrug, the old lady left the room. + +'I believe,' she muttered to herself as she descended the stairs, +'that girl's a gowk! It's the Sangster blood in her, I suppose--a +dull, literal-minded lot!--soft and sober! To think that a daughter of +mine should need to be spoken to, as I have just been speaking to her! +We were all more gleg than that on _my_ side of the house. I don't +know whether to be more ashamed of being mother to sic a daw; or for +the things I have been driven to say to her! They don't sound like the +walk and conversation of a Christian woman! and yet the best of us are +but flesh and blood. We must all eat and drink, wear clothes, live in +houses, and, when we can, ride in coaches, marry and give in marriage, +just like the people before the flood, though they were so bad; and we +must strive our best to provide for our families unless we would deny +the faith and be worse than infidels. Ah! there is Scripture for it! +So glad I remembered that text! It saves one from feeling base and +scheming. But one ought not to be driven to put doubtful sentiments +into words. One should be helped out with them. 'Bear ye one another's +burdens.' That seems an apt quotation and appropriate, if it had only +come into Sophia's mind! But there's no use looking for that from +_her_. She's a glaikit tawpie. Ah me! the trials of a discreet and +conscientious mother are not light! I hope I may have strength to bear +them.' And so, with a sigh, she went about her affairs. The texts had +evangelicalized (if not evangelized) the mercenary schemes, and she +was again rehabilitated in her own eyes as a righteous person. + +Sophia stood brushing out her hair and musing on her mother's +precepts, as a dutiful daughter should. She had never before heard +marrying discussed in this bare, hard fashion. Was she a Circassian +slave at Constantinople, to be tricked out and submitted to the +inspection of the rich man in this fashion? Once before, some few +words had been said to her in a more guarded way, but, as she now +perceived in the same spirit, when the coming of her brother and his +friend had been first spoken of; but at that time they had been less +heeded, or she had understood them less, and they had not then shocked +her. Love and marriage were subjects which up to that time had only +been mentioned in her hearing as something vague, mysterious and holy, +which it did not become her to pry into. As for personal love +experiences, she had none; and the subject of maidenly fancies had +generally been referred to by her hard and practical mother with scorn +and derision. + +Roderick's letter to her had therefore fallen on her unprepared mind +as a revelation. All the two previous days her thoughts had been +repeating over and over his earnest words. How deeply he must have +felt before he could so have expressed his anxiety! And she? What +answer should she make? All the long years of their intercourse passed +through her memory, and incidents disregarded at the time and +forgotten, came back now to her recollection with a new meaning and a +new force. Their long talks, in which he had spoken so much and she so +little, began now to take a new aspect in her mind. She must have been +encouraging him though she did not know it; and what was more, if she +had to enact those scenes over again, with the new enlightenment in +her eyes, she felt that she would encourage him none the less, but +rather the more. To have excited such emotion in one so clever and +good, was an achievement of which she felt proud, in a wondering and +enquiring way, for she could not imagine how she had done it; but the +thought of his love for her grew more and more sweet and engrossing, +and she began to suspect that down deep somewhere in her nature where +she had never looked or known of before, she was fond of him in +return. + +And yet, she had not answered the letter. What would he think of her? +Since her mother had called her unmaidenly, she had not ventured to +return to the subject in case of another explosion. But now that she +had in cold blood set a matrimonial scheme before her, and +deliberately incited her to endeavour to win the regard of a man for +whom she felt no attraction whatever, simply because he was rich, she +felt strong enough to broach the question again. Whatever her mother +said she would answer his letter somehow, and more than that, should +her mother propose another suitor, she would have nothing to say to +him till she had come to an understanding with Roderick. + +Having donned the blue silk, Sophia descended to the drawing-room, +work-basket in hand. The room was empty, which was disappointing, as +she had strung herself up to concert pitch She settled herself to work +and waited. The monotonous motion of the needle and thread had a +calming influence on her nerves; but as they grew less tense she began +to feel less confidence in her own courage, and to wish her meditated +conversation well over. Visitors came in, which afforded her a further +respite, and in her disturbed state supplied a vent for some of her +suppressed energy. She had never before, perhaps, shown so much +animation and vivacity in general conversation. It surprised her +mother and quite rehabilitated her in the good opinion of that careful +parent, who congratulated her on having so well held her part, and +hoped it was the beginning of a new chapter in her life, and that she +was about to assume with due _éclat_ the part of daughter in so +prominent a household of the Free Church. + +'It's a duty to the cause, my dear! Remember how the daughters of +Israel sewed curtains of scarlet and needlework for the ark in the +wilderness. By all means let us show that we are in no respect behind +the heathen in the graces of life! and let us show forth the beauty of +holiness among the uncircumcised residuaries!' + +It was not altogether plain to Sophia how holiness arrayed in blue +silk was to advance the cause, but she let it pass. Her lady mother +was in tolerably good humour, and that was a point in her favour. She +consulted her about the shading of a rose in the worsted work, to +break the current of her thoughts, and then, like the bather about to +plunge into an unkindly sea, with firm-set teeth, and fingers clenched +beneath her embroidery, she made the leap. After a preliminary cough +to steady the tremor in her voice-- + +'Have you got that letter of mine, mamma? I think I must answer it +to-day.' + +'What letter?' demanded the old lady with a start. + +'That letter from Rod--Mr. Brown.' + +'I thought we had said all that need be spoken on that subject +already.' + +'You said I was unmaidenly,' replied Sophia, aghast at her own +temerity; but even the sheep when it is cornered will turn its horns +to the collie. + +'And was that not enough for any right thinking young woman?' retorted +the mother, showing a pink spot on either cheek--the red lamps of +danger. + +'I am not thinking of myself, mamma! Mr. Brown has written me a kind +and a very urgent letter, and I think I owe him an answer of some +kind, when he shows so deep an interest in me. You said yourself this +morning that a girl will be an old maid and a failure if she is not +married. I suppose you don't want me to propose to the men myself? and +if a gentleman proposes to me, surely I owe him a civil answer.' + +'The lassie's in a creel!' cried Mrs. Sangster, jumping up. She had a +tingling in her finger tips, which not so many months before, would +have relieved itself in an assault on her daughter's ears; but the +blue silk, the tall womanly figure, or an unwonted determination in +the girl's face, restrained her, and she sat down again. + +'I am astounded, Sophia, to hear you use such language! When I was a +girl I think I would have died, before I could have brought myself to +say as much. Have you been reading novels? or what has come over you?' + +Sophia sat speechless, eyeing the danger signals on her mother's +cheeks, with considerable alarm; but that did not appear. Well for us +it often is, that the sluggish frame is a mask and veil, but slowly +responding to the inner working of our minds, or the tide of battle +would oftener be turned in its course. She said nothing, which was the +very best reply she could have made. + +'Here have we got a most desirable match in the very house with +you--one only requiring the most ordinary assiduity on the part +of any handsome and well brought-up young woman, to secure the +prize. Nature has done its part for you, and I, though you think so +little of your mother's love, have done mine; and yet you send your +thoughts wool-gathering far and wide to take up with a penniless, +ill-principled, disreputable licentiate! Not even ordained! Nor ever +likely to be, if a's true that's suspected. For shame, woman! An' show +mair sense!' + +'Mamma! I am nothing to the gentleman you allude to! He would rather +sit in Peter's room and smoke tobacco, than trouble with me. And I +care just as little for him.' + +'Ay! There it is! You're that indolent you canna be fashed to make +yourself commonly agreeable to your brother's friend! Do you take +yourself for another 'Leddy Jean' in the ballad, that all the lords +and great men in the country are to come bowin' and fraislin' for a +glint o' _your_ e'e? You are vastly mistaken if you do! The young men +of fortune now-a-days know their own weight too well for any such +nonsense. A girl will have to make herself agreeable before she need +expect attention even, not to speak of a proposal.' + +'But I don't want a proposal! and I don't want _him!_ Am I for sale, +that I am to be trotted out and shown off to him, as Jock Speirs does +with papa's colts, when the horse-couper comes round?' + +'Sophia Sangster! To think I should live to see the day when my own +child would taunt me with being a match-making mother! Is that the +outcome of all my self-denying care and love? But you'll change your +mind yet, my lady, or I'm mistaken. When your poor mother is laid in +the kirk-yard, and yourself are a middle-aged spinster living in +lodgings, up a stair, in some country town, spending your time cutting +up flannel to make petticoats for beggar wives, and no diversion the +live long week but the Dorcas meetings on Friday evenings, then you'll +remember your poor mother's assiduous endeavours to settle you in +life, and you'll see your headstrong folly when it's too late!' + +Mrs. Sangster seldom attempted to wield the limner's art, and that was +the reason why her present effort was so effective on her own +sensibilities. She buried her face in her handkerchief and gulped. + +'Mamma! what is the good of talking nonsense like this? There is no +present fear of my being an old maid; Mr. Brown has asked me to marry +him, and that is what I want to talk about,--not about suppositions +that can never come to anything.' + +'And what would you wish to say, then, in your great wisdom?' + +'I would simply say that I am not engaged to anybody, and that I am +too much startled by his letter to be able to say more; but he can +speak to papa about it.' + +'But I will not allow you to have any correspondence with that young +man!--a bringer of open reproach upon the truth he professes! All who +have dealings with him will be brought to confusion yet, I am certain! +Touch not, taste not, handle not!' + +'I only want to write him a letter!' responded Sophia, a little +pertly; but the effort of self-restraint had lasted a good while, and +she was approaching that state in which one must either laugh or cry. +'And what do you know against him?' she added. + +'There are rumours in circulation,--and well founded rumours, too, I +am sorry to say,--which preclude decent people from having any +dealings with him whatever.' + +'But what are they about? Considering the subject of his letter, I +ought to know--surely!' + +'I hope you will never know what they are about. They are too shocking +to be spoken about altogether.' + +'And do you believe them?' + +'I cannot help myself! The evidence is too convincing.' + +'Does papa believe them?' + +'I don't know that he does--exactly--just yet. He is so prejudiced in +favour of that young man. But he will be compelled to believe before +long.' + +'Does papa know of his letter to me?' + +'How should he know? Do you think I would bring myself to speak of +what I consider a gross insult to the family? But have done! Here +comes Mr. Wallowby. The dinner was to be kept back on account of his +absence. Go and bid them have it on the table in three quarters of an +hour. But remember, Sophia, I command you in the most solemn manner +not to write to that other man. And think no more of it.' + +The guest's return cut short further discussion; and probably it was +best so. Mrs. Sangster had had the last word, which she would have +insisted on having in any case; and Sophia, if slow, was well known in +the family to be obstinate--one on whose mind, if an idea could once +inscribe itself, it remained for ever, written in ink indelible; and +under the new awakening that was at work within her, she was little +likely to have been moved by any thing that would have been said. Her +mind was made up. Roderick should certainly hear from her, on that she +was resolved; but the lifelong habit of obedience in which she had +been reared, prevented her direct contravention of her mother's +command. She would not write a letter, but she must get at him in some +other way. + +She would have liked to talk it all over with her father, as being a +person of incomparable wisdom, and one better inclined to Mr. Brown, +as she had just gathered, than her mother; but her father if very +wise, was also very far off--a Merovingian king, in affairs of the +household or of his daughter, which he was content to leave under the +absolute and undisputed control of his wife--the mayor of the palace. +She had been used every day to see him preside at table, and read +prayers morning and evening, but she had never had much personal +intercourse or conversation with him; and to go to him and say that a +young man had asked her to marry him, was beyond her strength. She +grew pale at the bare thought of it. + +The next day was taken up with other cares--a dinner party at home, +and on Wednesday came leave-taking, as her brother and Mr. Wallowby +were returning to the South. In the afternoon, however, stillness had +fallen upon the house. Her father was away, having accompanied his +guests to the county town where they were to catch the mail. All the +stir and bustle of the past two weeks was over, and her mother +declaring she had a headache, had retired to her room. Sophia sat down +to her worsted work, and as with busy fingers she wove the many-hued +threads into her web, her own thoughts seemed to disentangle +themselves out of the confused wisp in which they had lain, she began +to perceive what it really was that she wanted, and to make up her +mind what she would do. Roderick's letter somehow kept repeating +itself over and over again through her mind, but she made no attempt +to stifle it, nor did she grow weary of the phrases so often +rehearsed; on the contrary the colour deepened in her cheek, and a +light dawned in her eye, clearer, warmer, more human, than those +organs with all their gazelle-like beauty--their suggestion of the +ox-eyed Heré--had ever revealed before. 'Yes! Roderick should have his +answer--in part at least--for, after all she felt herself, as one of +God's free creatures, entitled to exercise the resources of her +hunter's skill. Before she yielded to his yoke, as Tibbie Tirpie would +have said, she meant to have more courting. And Mary--she could see +and speak to _her_ without challenge and without reproach--_she_ +should be her messenger. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV. + + _LUCKIE HOWDEN_. + + +Roderick was certainly growing worse, although the rheumatic symptoms +had disappeared. His voice was scarcely audible now, and he spoke with +great difficulty. All through Tuesday there was a look of waiting and +anxiety on his face. A step in the passage without, or a passing wheel +on the road, and he would turn his eyes to the door, as though he +expected some one. But no one came, wheels and footsteps alike passed +on their way; and he would heave a weary sigh, turning his face to the +wall. On Wednesday he was more restless, more depressed and certainly +worse. He had not slept the night before, and at early daylight he had +begun again to watch for coming steps, and to sigh as each passed on +without turning in to him. Mary sat by him, and sat alone. Excepting +the Doctor and Eppie Ness, no one came to share her watching, or to +enquire how he was--their minister, for whom they had hitherto +professed such regard, and to whose bounty so many were indebted for +substantial pecuniary aid. + +'I think it very unkind of Mrs. Sangster never to have come to ask +after him,' she said, 'and it is strange as well, seeing that it was +in her service he got so wet; but I am quite confounded at the neglect +the rest of the parishioners are showing him.' + +'Can you account for it, Eppie?' + +'No, mem. Gin it bena just the way o' the world. "Them 'at gets, +forgets." It's an auld sayin', and it looks as gin it was a true ane. +An' they're a' that gleg, to tak up ilka daftlike clash 'at ony +donnart haverel may set rinnin'. Whan a man has gaed out an' in amang +them, an' gien them his strength an' his gear sae free, they micht +think shame.' Here she stopped abruptly and in some confusion, as one +whose tongue had outrun her discretion. She caught the look of +bewildered surprise in Mary's face. 'But I'm thinkin' my ain tongue's +rinnin' awa wi' me. I'm just clean angered wi' the doited gomerels.' + +'I don't understand you, Eppie. There must be something going on we +don't know about. What is it?' + +'Hoot, mem, there's just naething ava! But I'm thinkin' ye'll better +gae ben, the minister's steerin!' + +Mary returned to her brother's bedside, but he told her he had not +called. She took one of his books and strove to interest him by +reading aloud, while she ran over in her mind all that had occurred in +the neighbourhood for weeks past, and how it could in any way bear on +their relations with the people. Roderick grew drowsy in time under +the monotony of her voice, and she herself would shortly have fallen +asleep, when the click of the latch was heard. + +Both were awake in a moment, and starting round, beheld Kenneth +Drysdale standing in the doorway. + +'Is any body in?' he exclaimed, as he stepped into the room with a +laugh. 'I have knocked three times and got no answer. You must both +have been asleep. Ah! I see. A good book! That is just like my +mother's reading on a Sunday afternoon. Good books give such peace of +mind and repose of conscience, that the body shares in it too. One is +sure to find her extended on her sofa any time between luncheon and +the dressing bell. 'Meditating with her eyes closed,' she calls it; +but from the regularity of her breathing, I would venture to call it +by another name. Julia, now, reads French novels, and you won't catch +_her_ napping. Roderick, old man! Laid up?' + +Roderick took his old friend's hand in both his own. It was a great +and unexpected pleasure to see him. The stand he had taken on the +Church question appeared to have severed him altogether from the +family at Inchbracken, and it was by no means the least of the +sacrifices he had felt bound to make for the truth. He had heard of +Mary's visit to Inchbracken before taking to his bed at Gortonside, +but since then his own physical pains, and the misery in his mind +about Sophia's being about to marry the Manchester man, had so +possessed him, that he had not spoken to her on the subject. If he +had, he would have been less surprised at Kenneth's appearance; that +is to say, if she had or could have explained; for in converse where +looks and tones of the voice go so far to modify and even replace +spoken language, it may be doubted whether she would have found +anything she could have reported. _She_ understood, and Kenneth +understood, and each knew that the other understood; and yet what was +there after all to tell? Until you found it necessary to make a +disclosure to your mamma, dear Madam, and the gentleman now your +husband made a formal statement to your papa,--pray what could you +have said in your own case? And would it not have been impossible for +you to say anything at an earlier period to enlighten your elders and +save them from afterwards moralizing on the remarkable secrecy and +cleverness of the young people in managing their tender affairs? A +good deal of the same sort of thing passed on the present occasion. +Kenneth talked mostly to Roderick, and both were happy to renew the +old friendship. Mary sat by perfectly content. The portion of the +conversation that fell to her share was not large, but there were +looks and softenings of the voice, quiet smiles and comings and goings +of a flush, that supplied all she waited to hear or desired to say. + +Roderick felt refreshed by the visit, and when Kenneth, promising to +come again very shortly, at last withdrew, the burden of living +appeared lighter to him, and he lay back armed with new fortitude to +bear and wait. + +Kenneth had been gone but a few minutes when Eppie Ness in her turn +had a visitor--an old woman, toothless and bent, limping on a staff, +and with a covered basket on her arm. A grizzled elf-lock or two had +escaped from the white sowback mutch which was bound to her head by a +winding of broad black ribbon, and hung down over the glittering +beadlike eyes. A hook nose and projecting chin nearly met in a +bird-like beak over the fallen-in mouth, whence one surviving fang +protruded with a grim witch-like effect. Her dress was dark blue +linsey, and over it she wore, as on all occasions of ceremony, the +scarlet cloak in which she had been 'kirket' as a bride fifty years +before, and had worn unfailingly ever since, summer and winter, to +kirk and market. It was Luckie Howden. She pushed open the door +without ceremony, and stood in the middle of the kitchen looking about +her. Eppie, with the child in her lap, sat by the fire and was +crooning some old song in the endeavour to make it sleep. + +'Hear til her noo! wi' her daft sinfu' sangs. Wraxin' the thrapple o' +her like some screighin' auld craw! "Like draws to like," folk says, +an' aiblins ye're no that faur wrang, gude wife, to be skirlin' the +like til a merry-begotten wee din raiser, as that wein's like to turn +out. But wadna "Bangor," noo, or "Saunt Neot's," or some douce tune +like that, an' belike ane o' the waesome Psaulms o' penitence be +fitter baith for the puir bairn an' its ill-doin' faither?' + +'Haud yer lang, ill-scraipet tongue, Luckie Howden! We a' ken what +maks _ye_ sae bitter on the puir bairn. Gin ye'd gotten the tentin' o' +her, an' three shillin's the week forby the feedin', ye'd hae thocht +nae wrang; an' ye wadna hae been sae gleg to hearken to senseless +lees, 'at ony body no clean doited micht ken better nor mind.' + +'Ye ill-tongued limmer! Hoo daur ye even me to the like?' + +'Ou ay! Ye're rael heigh, are na ye? But ye gaed fleechin' to Miss +Mary for a' that, to get the bairn awa frae me, an' ye said ye'd tent +her for half-a-crown. I'm thinkin' she'd no hae fared ower weel, the +bonny lamb, gin ye'd hae gotten yer way. Ye'd hae shotten't by, wi' +ait meal brue, an' drank the sweet milk yersel'!' + +'An' gin I did speer Miss Brown for the bairn, was there ony wrang +kenned anent it than? An' what for suld I no? Wad it no hae been weel +for the bairn gin I had gotten my way! I hae raised twal o' my ain, +an' I'm granny to naar twa score. But you! ye ne'er had but ane, an' +ye kenned na hoo to guide it--made sae puir a job o't the Lord ne'er +chanced ye wi' anither.' + +'The Lord forgie ye! ye ill-tongued witch,' cried Eppie, while her +brimming eyes overflowed. The image of her long-lost darling rose +before her in all its winsome beauty, and she gathered up the baby in +her lap, more closely to her motherly breast, and pressed it fondly +for the sake of the one that was gone. + +'An' sae gin ye hae the merry-begotten brat, an' the siller, ye maun +e'en tak the disdain as weel. I'm blythe for mysel' noo, 'at the +half-crowns didna come my gate. There war nane but decent men's bairns +e'er lay in thae arms.' She stretched her spider-like tentacles, while +the contents of her basket gave a warning rattle, 'An' that minds me I +maun do my errand wi' the young man--I winna ca' him a minister, for +the gown suld be strippet frae his shouthers; an' that's what it will +be afore lang.' + +'My certie! An' ye'se gang nae sic gate,' cried Eppie, rising and +preparing to block the way. 'The minister's lyin' sair sick, an' he +maunna be fashed wi' a randie auld tinkler wife's daft blathers. Set +ye down! Though I winna say ye're walcome, an' I'se fesh Miss Brown.' + +Miss Brown was fetched accordingly, she had overheard high words, and +entered in some surprise. + +'Mrs. Howden,' she said holding out her hand, 'so you have come at +last to ask for the minister. The people seem to have cast us off +altogether. Since he has been sick scarcely one has come to enquire +for him.' + +'Aweel, Miss Mary, an' it's no juist that has brocht me, ill doin' ye +ken maun bring ill feelin'. Whan folk sees the abomination o' +desolation sittin' in the holy place, as the Scripter micht word it, +an the steward o' the Kirk's mysteries gien ower to the lusts o' the +flesh, the douce Christi'n folk beut to hand awa. Touch not, taste +not, haunel not, ye ken what the word says. An' I hae been thinkin', +seein' hoo things hae come round, ye'll be best to tak tent o' yer +bits o' dishes yersel', gin Eppie there can gar it gree wi' her walk +an' conversation as a Christi'n wumman to mind that ill-faured scart +o' a bairn, I see na at she may na keep yer teapat as weel!' So saying +she lifted the cover of her basket, and proceeded to lay out the cups +and saucers on the dresser. + +Mary was too much astonished to say anything. She was glad to see the +ware once more brought within reach of use, seeing that hitherto it +had been a mere embellishment to the glass cupboard in the corner of +Luckie Howden's cabin, a testimony to her piety and helpfulness to the +church; but the cause and the manner of the restitution were beyond +her comprehension. She glanced at Eppie for some explanation, but +Eppie sat with lips compressed in determined silence, a flame of +scarlet indignation burning on either cheek. + +Luckie Howden went on arranging and counting the pieces of crockery. +'Twall cups an' twall sacers, four bread plates, an' twa bowls. Ye'll +find that a' richt, Miss Brown. An' here's the bits o' siller things,' +producing the teapot, over which she passed her hand with a regretful +stroking motion, 'It's gotten neither clure nor dint i' my haunds. A' +siller say ye? An' weel I wat it's bonny. Aiblins it's no sae bricht +an' glintin' as it ance was. "Yer goold an' yer siller are become dim, +yer garments are moth-eaten," that's what the Prophet Ezekil said til +back-slidin' Isril lang syne, an' it's true yet! Wae's me, Miss Brown! +'at the white raiment o' yer puir wanderin' brither, 'at we ance +thocht sae clean an' white, suld be spotted wi' the flesh after a'! +But what's been dune i' the secret chaumer sall be proclaimed on the +house heads afore lang. My certie! but he's been the lad to draw +iniquity wi' cart ropes! an' to sin wi' the high haund! But it's a' +fand out at last, he'll be peuten til open shame, an' be nae mair a +steward o' the gospel mysteries in Glen Effick!' + + +[Illustration: "Ye'll find that a' richt, Miss Brown." Page 190.] + + +'I don't understand one word you say, Mrs. Howden,' cried Mary in +open-eyed amazement. 'If our things are in your way you are perfectly +right to bring them back, and it will not inconvenience us in the +least to have them here. It was kind in you to give them house-room +when we came to live in the village, and we are obliged to you for +having taken such good care of them. But I don't understand what +ground of offence my brother can have given you, or why you should +speak of him in such extraordinary language.' + +'I'm thinkin' ye'll hae to thole waur langidge nor that afore a's +o'er, Miss Brown. An' aiblins ye ken mair nor ye wad like to let-on. +I'm no yer judge, but we hae scripter for't, 'at refuges o' lees winna +stand.' + +'Think shame, woman!' cried Eppie, unable altogether to keep silence, +though she still restrained herself, fearful of provoking a tempest +and disturbing the sick man. + +'An' what wad I think shame for? It's the ill doer 'at fears the ill +word. I hae cleared my skirts this day. I shack the stour frae my very +feet, an' I'm dune wi' the De'il an' a' his warks!' And shaking out +the folds of her red cloak, with a stamp of either foot, she hobbled +away. + +'What does she mean, Eppie? And whatever it is, the rest of the people +must think it too--Don't deny it, Eppie! you know all about it. I have +seen so much as that in your face for several days. What is it?' + +'It's naething ony sensible body wad heed. Just a wheen senseless +havers. Ne'er fash yer thoomb, Miss Mary! It'll a' blaw ower.' + +Miss Mary was resolute, however, and would be told. She sat herself +down on a stool beside Eppie, and between coaxing and sheer +pertinacity she at last prevailed on the old woman to speak. They sat +together for some time with their heads very close, conversing in +whispers. + +'Oh how could any one believe so monstrous an invention?' she cried at +last, her face suffused with crimson, while she kissed the sleeping +baby, the innocent cause of so much confusion, and returned to her +brother's room. + + + + + CHAPTER XXV. + + _SOPHIA'S ANSWER_. + + +Thursday morning was the opening of a great day in Glen Effick. The +foundation stone of the new Church was to be laid, and from the most +distant corners of Kilrundle parish the people came streaming in +across the braes, more numerously even than for the Sunday meeting. +The Session had at last come to an agreement with Widow Forester for +half of her kaleyard on which to build their Church. The foundation +was already dug, and every owner of a horse and cart had agreed to +contribute so many days' labour towards delivering the materials on +the ground. And now the work was to be inaugurated with preaching and +prayer, that it might be brought to a speedy and prosperous issue. The +good people having neither oil nor wine to bestow in cementing the +stones, had resolved to pour forth a copious oblation of words devout +and stirring, and to celebrate their triumph over Laird and Law in +true democratic fashion, by a general gathering and unstinted +speechification. + +The hot stillness of September days had passed away, and the fresh +cool brightness of October had succeeded. In low-lying hollows the +first hoar-frost of the season was melting into dew before the +approaching noon, and straggling flecks of cloud swam merrily overhead +in the breezy sky. The crimson of the moors was withering somewhat +into rusty brown, but the birch along the watercourses had ripened +into sprays of gold, while the distant hills stood out against the sky +in violet and blue. The trooping worshippers displayed all their +Sunday bravery of apparel, but the solemnity of their Sabbath +demeanour they had felt at liberty to leave behind. The children ran +hither and thither shouting their loudest, while the seniors chatted +cheerily as they went, carrying their dinners in heavy baskets between +them, and resolved to make the most of the day's 'ploy.' + +Along the village street the people trickled in a continuous stream, +and by and by Ebenezer Prittie and Peter Malloch put up the shutters +on their respective shops. Donald Maclachlan shut up the smithy, and +Angus Eldrecht, the wheel-wright, closed his yard, and stepped off +with their wives to the meeting place on the brae-side, where Mr. +Dowlas and a reverend brother of the presbytery were already in the +tent waiting to conduct the exercises. + +Mrs. Sangster, with her daughter, was on the ground betimes, +discussing with unwonted affability the terrible scandal to the elders +and more prominent people near her. She occupied, of course, the +beadle's special chairs, and as the time to commence the service drew +near, she beckoned to her Stephen Boague and his wife, and seated them +beside herself and daughter. It was a public recognition of their +exemplary character she considered, which would fully reward the woman +for her hospitality the day she was lost in the mist, and was quite +inexpensive besides. When Mary Brown presently appeared, the good +woman would fain have yielded up to her her accustomed seat under the +matronly wing of the congregation's only lady; but Mrs. Sangster +requested that she would not move. 'I could not countenance Mr. Brown +or his family,' she said, 'under the circumstances.' So the poor woman +had to remain; but she no longer felt promotion in her place of +honour, and all her acquaintances looked askance, and wondered at her +'upsettin' impidence.' Mrs. Sangster was too busy with her 'spy-glass' +and psalm-book to see the approach of Mary, who coloured with +resentment at what, since Eppie's explanation, she now perfectly +understood, and looked about for another seat. The Laird had been +watching his wife's proceedings with cynical amusement, he now came +forward and removed his daughter to the elder's bench, setting the +chair she had been occupying beside her, and seating Mary upon it, +while he took his own stand beside them. + +Mrs. Sangster's spy-glass dropped upon her book; amazement and +indignation paralyzed her, which was fortunate, or she might have +exhibited a tantrum, even in that sacred assembly. She! that +congregation's Deborah without a Barak, as a fawning preacher had once +described her at family prayers, to be thus flouted before them all! +And the wholesome discipline she had meant to exercise in support of +the public morals to be turned round upon herself! and this, too, by +her own husband! the man bound to protect, honour, and obey her! For +_of course_ he was bound so to do, whatever Saint Paul, or any other +old bachelor who knew nothing about it, might say. Was she not the +more advanced Christian? and in right of her higher standing in '_The +Kingdom_' entitled to instruct, advise, and reprove those on a lower +level. Oh! how should she punish him and bring him to book? There was +the difficulty. Scolding would not do. She had tried that before, and +it did not succeed. He was apt to laugh in her face, and sometimes +even to scold back in return, in an altogether dreadful and appalling +way--for an elder--if she persisted; and then nothing, not even her +unfailing Christian meekness could secure her the last word, which was +her due as a lady. She thought of putting him on low diet for a +while.--'And it would serve that monkey Sophia right, too, for +sympathising with her father. See how contentedly she cottons up to +Mary Brown!' thought she. But she did not like bad dinners herself, +and it would come out if she had a sweetbread quietly in her own room. +Besides, she had attempted a penitential regimen of cold mutton once +before, and it had not ministered to his spiritual needs; on the +contrary, he had broken out in a way that was simply dreadful, and had +threatened her with a housekeeper if she could not keep a better +table. Her crosses were indeed many and grievous, and she might have +grown weak and hysterical in reviewing them, but that other cares and +anxieties demanded her present attention. Surely there was something +rubbing up against her in a familiar and unbecoming way. She turned, +looked, and almost leaped into Mrs. Boague's lap. Stephen's largest +collie was titillating his spine by pushing it up and down against her +new plum-coloured silk gown. + +'Haud steady, mem! The folk 'ull see ye, an' ye're nae licht wecht +forby!' whispered Mrs. Boague. 'Ne'er mind the dugs, an' they winna +fash wi' _you_. An' de'il a yelp or snap wull they gie, sae lang as ye +dinna staund on their tails.' + +Touseler, finding his scratching-post withdrawn, stretched himself on +the ground to sleep out the sermon, and Mrs. Sangster resumed her +chair. Her tranquility was of short duration. First would come a tug +at her parasol, accompanied by a strangled yelp, as a puppy having +swallowed the tassel would struggle to escape, like a trout on a +fish-hook; and next it would be her shawl. A dirty little finger would +be found tracing the flowing lines of its elegant embroidery, or the +corner would be pulled down, that the critics squatting on the sward +might more conveniently scrutinize the elaborate design. + +When Sophia's chair was removed it had left an open spot in the crowd, +to Mrs. Sangster's left, and as nature abhors a vacuum, the unplaced +material of her party had flowed in to fill it. She looked down on a +confused knot of dog and child life, heads and tails, legs and arms +swaying and kicking to and fro in silent happiness. Had a quadruped or +a biped given tongue in the 'House of God,' there would have been +whipping behind the first big boulder-stone on the home-going, and +they had all felt the weight of Stephen's hand at sometime, so were +wary; but so long as silence was kept, and they remained beside the +shepherd and his wife, they might kick, roll, and be happy as they +pleased. + +Poor Mrs. Sangster's attention was fully occupied in protecting her +dress from the busy fingers of the little boys and girls, and in +seeing that the dogs did not make a coverlet of her skirts; and she +vowed never again to 'take notice' of people from the 'lower orders,' +who so little appreciated the honour she did them, and made themselves +so utterly abominable with their ill-reared dogs and children. She +lost all the good of their sermons as she told the reverend orators +that evening at supper, and was far too concerned for what might +befall her own draperies, to give much heed to the Rev. Æmelius +Geddie's description of the curtains of fine linen and badger skins, +blue and scarlet, prepared for the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and +his tender appeal to the women of Glen Effick to go and do likewise. +Mr. Dowlas described the building of Solomon's Temple, its joists of +cedar covered with plates of pure gold, the chapiters, the +pomegranates, and the wreathen-work, the brazen pillars and the +vessels of pure gold. He interspersed these with spiritual +interpretations and mystical images drawn from the Prophets, till the +hearers were brought under a general vague impression of splendour and +solemnity, they could not have explained wherefore; but they all +agreed that it was a 'graund discoorse,' and 'very refreshing,' and +that they had entered on a high, noble and arduous work, in proposing +to build themselves a little meeting house; and that, though propriety +forbade their saying so, the Divine Head of the Church was greatly +beholden to them, and that they might look, as their certain due, for +large amounts of blessing, spiritual and temporal, to requite their +exertions in church-building, as well as that heroic penny-a-week to +the Sustentation Fund. + +Like other fine things, the sermon came to an end at last, and after +psalms and benediction, it was announced that they would proceed in +procession to the site of their future church, where reports of the +different committees would be received, and addresses given, after +which the foundation stone would be laid with prayer and praise. + +The congregation then broke up, and in the confusion Sophia got the +opportunity she had been desiring of a quiet word with Mary. +Circumstances had befriended her wonderfully she thought, when her +father had brought her away from her mother, and placed her beside +Mary Brown. She had always been fond of Mary, but now she felt a +sisterly drawing towards her which she had not known before. Mary was +her junior by about a year, but was quicker and earlier to mature, and +this had sometimes made Sophia feel a rawness in herself, and a +general slowness and obtuseness by comparison, in a way approaching as +near to jealousy as her somewhat stolid and easy-going disposition was +capable of experiencing. But as Mary neither assumed nor probably was +aware of any advantage, this feeling in great measure slept; and now, +when Sophia's development had advanced as with a bound, under the +stirrings of awakening emotion, the latent grudge was altogether +overborne. She sat up very close to her and pressed her softly. Mary +was surprised. Demonstration of the faintest kind was something new in +Sophia, and altogether unexpected. Her heart was sore at the +unkindness of the parishioners to her brother, and their haste to +adopt unwarrantable and improbable suspicion against him; and that +Mrs. Sangster; who had assumed to play the rôle of mother to her in +her lonely position, should turn and publicly visit the imaginary +misdeeds of her brother on her head, had been very grievous. She +assumed that Sophia meant to signify her disbelief in the idle rumours +afloat, and, accepting the proffered sympathy, she returned the +friendly pressure with grateful warmth. The two read from the same +bible and psalm-book, and sat so close that the Laird was able to find +room on the bench beside his daughter, just as he was beginning to +think a two hours' stand rather a heavy penalty for interfering with +his wife's absurdity. + +'Mary!' whispered Sophia, when the assemblage was breaking up, 'I want +you to tell your brother that I received his letter. Whoever told him +that I am engaged is altogether mistaken. Nobody ever asked me to--be +engaged, and there is no one who could have any right to do so. I +would have answered his letter, but mamma forbade me; she even says I +must not come and see you, while some report or other, I don't know +what it is, is going about. So I have been waiting for an opportunity +to speak to you. Mamma says papa does not believe the report, so--' +here the words died away and the colour deepened on her cheeks--'but +papa does not know of his letter to me.' Mary leant forward to bestow +a kiss, but Sophia started back under a sharp prod from the parasol of +her mother, who was eagerly reaching over the shoulders of the +intervening crowd. + +'Sophia Sangster! what are you lingering there for? Don't you see +everybody is on the move? Come to your mother's side, your proper +place, this moment.' + +It was not a happy half-hour for Sophia that followed. The maternal +plumage was sadly ruffled, and in the 'preening' that ensued to +readjust the feathers mental as well as physical (for the silk gown +was rumpled as much as the self-complacency was disturbed), not a few +stray pecks fell to her portion. That her husband should have carried +away her own girl from her side was almost intolerable; only, till she +could devise a way to punish him which she had not yet discovered, she +must bear that; but the girl had acquiesced without sign of reluctance +or remonstrance, had consented to be separated from her own mother +with perfect equanimity, and in spite of all that had passed, had +seemed entirely comfortable beside Mary Brown, notwithstanding the +maternal taboo. She had had little leisure for observation. Her gown, +her shawl, the children, the sheep-dogs had made constant demands on +her attention, and when she looked for succour to the shepherd and his +wife, they were drinking in the sumptuous splendours of Solomon's +temple, and had no thought for the turbulent little Bethel at their +feet. Once however she had found time to glance across and was +disgusted to see Sophia and Mary singing amicably from one book and +evidently on the best of terms. + +'You're a saft feckless tawpie, Sophia Sangster!' she enunciated with +much emphasis, as she and her daughter were carried along in the +stream of the procession. 'It seems to me sometimes that you have no +more sense than a sookin' turkey!' Mrs. Sangster rather prided herself +on her English, which she considered equal to that of any body on her +side of London or Inverness. These were the two seats of perfect +speech she considered; but failing them Auchlippie could hold its own +against Edinburgh, St. Andrews, or anywhere else, and was decidedly a +better model than her son Peter since he had adopted a Lancashire +brogue. Nevertheless when she became 'excited' (_i.e_. angry), she +admitted that she had to fall back on the pith and vigour of her +native Doric with its unlimited capacity for picturesque vituperation. + +'It's not from me you take your fushionless gates! That comes o' the +donnart Sangster bluid in you, I'm thinking. But what possessed you to +take up publicly like yon with Mary Brown, when you know I want you to +steer clear of her just now? When the Presbytery has taken the matter +up, it will be proper enough to bestow patronage and show sympathy for +the poor girl; but meanwhile we have a testimony to bear, and it will +not do to countenance evil doers or their families.' + +'Mamma, I don't know what you are talking about.' + +'Of course not. It's no subject for a young girl to know anything +about; but you must not think in your ignorance to set yourself above +the advice and opinion of your mother, who knows all about it.' + +Sophia said no more. To speak was but to stir the fire of her mother's +wrath. She held her peace, and left the flame to burn itself out, or +smother in its own smoke and ashes. She simply did not attend, and +when her mother, stopping for breath, turned to survey, as it were, +the field of battle, or at least to view the result of her onslaught +as depicted in the girl's face, she was smiling to a bare-footed +urchin who trotted by her side, Stephen Boague's youngest, who had +taken a fancy to the gay apparel of Mrs. Sangster, and still kept it +in view. + +'Let that de'il's buckie alone, Sophia Sangster, and attend to me! It +has been pulling the fringes of my shawl for the past two hours, and +made it smell of peat-reek and moss-water so that I shall never be +able to put it on again.' + +The meeting was held in the field adjoining the excavation made for +the church's foundation. Mr. Sangster was in the chair and supported +on either hand by a minister, and there were chairs in front for Mrs. +Sangster, her daughter, and Miss Brown, to which the matron, somewhat +mollified by this observance, was ushered, when she very quickly +appropriated the remaining seat for her shawl, so that there might be +no vacant place for any one else. She might have spared herself the +trouble. Mary was not in the crowd, and if she had been, would not +have desired to sit beside her. + +At the close of the religious exercises, Mary had hastened home to her +brother, from whom she had already been longer away than at any +previous time since he was taken ill. She would not have attended the +meeting at all, but for his desire that she should; and she was glad +to return home at the earliest moment, for since she had learned its +proneness to think evil without cause, she loathed Glen Effick utterly +and all its affairs. Her brother had been drowsing, but he woke up at +her entrance, and asked to hear what had been done. + +'Just the usual thing. Mr. Geddes preached about the Tabernacle, and +Mr. Dowlas about Solomon's Temple.' + +'Ah! I can imagine it; very pretty and flowery, no doubt. But I think +when so many were collected they might have had something more useful +and more likely to do good to the poor people. "A dish of metaphor," +as my good father used to say, "is light feeding for hungry souls."' + +'They did not think so, I assure you; they seemed quite delighted; +though I confess I rather wearied over the inventory of the golden +vessels, and I saw Sophia Sangster yawn once at any rate.' + +'Was Sophia there?' + +'Oh yes. And by the way she sent a most particular message to you; or +at least she seemed particularly anxious that you should receive it.' + +'Ah!' said Roderick, raising himself, 'tell me quick.' + +'I declare, Roddie, you look quite excited! She asked me to tell you +she had received your letter--You rogue! What have you been writing to +her? I remember now how restless you were one morning till you had got +Joseph sent off to Auchlippie! But I, simple soul, supposed it was +Session business with the Laird. To think I should be so obtuse with a +little comedy going on under my very nose! But, ah me! It has been +more like tragedy of late, you have been so ill, and we have both been +so lonely.' + +'But, to return to your comedy, or at least to Sophia, what more?' + +'She said she had got your letter! Was not that enough? She did not +_say_ it was a sonnet to her eyebrows--but I suspect, she blushed so +prettily--yet, now I think of it, it was not a sonnet you sent, for I +was to tell you that she is not engaged--that there is no one who has +a right to ask her to be engaged. You must have been jealous, Roddie! +Who was it? And she said she would have written, but her mother +forbade her.' + +'Oh that tiresome Duchess! What ridiculous fancy has she got in her +head now, I wonder? I feel quite ashamed when I recall the black +thoughts I have been nourishing against that poor harmless cockney or +whatever he is, Mr. Wallowby; all along of some absurd scheme of hers, +which rushed to her lips in her agitation that day on the hill. Poor +Duchess! She must have a bee in her bonnet; but she is a sad worry.' + +'She is far worse that that!--hard, evil-minded, worldly.' + +'Hush, Mary! "Judge not," et cetera. But proceed!' + +'Sophia told me that her mother says there is some rumour afloat which +must be cleared up before she can have communication with us; and, in +fact, the tiresome old thing did her best, not only to cut me to-day, +but to keep Soph away too; but the Laird, honest man, was too many for +her.' + +'You do not mean to say that that abominable Duchess was publicly rude +to _you?_ I could not stand that! Though she may do or say to me as +she likes (and she generally does;) for I do not suppose any sensible +man could seriously mind her.' + +'Oh no! The Laird came to the rescue like a man and a gentleman, as he +always does; and, in fact, if the Duchess had behaved herself, and +Soph and I had been under her wing, I do not believe the poor +oppressed child would have had courage or opportunity to send you your +message, sir, so do not be harbouring bad thoughts of the poor +Duchess! Ah! ah! And by the way, there is more message yet! Sophia +says her father does not believe the rumours which her mother has been +so ready to accept; and--but she blushed and stammered and I could not +make sense of it, for you see I was not in your confidence, Mr. +Prudence--but, if I were an old woman and understood about those sort +of things, it sounded suspiciously like bidding you carry your tale to +'Papa!' Ha! Have I found you out, old gentleman? I suppose I may go +for a governess now; I may be losing my place as house-keeper any +day!' And she laughed merrily while Roderick coloured and looked +confused, but intensely happy. + +When the Doctor came to visit his patient that afternoon, he was +astonished at the improvement in his condition, and quite confirmed in +his belief as to the wisdom of his own prescriptions, and general +course of treatment. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVI. + + _FAMA CLAMOSA_. + + +The meeting was an undeniable success. The chairman called on his +reverend supporters for addresses, which they made in their warmest +and most florid style. They recalled the rebuilding of Jerusalem and +the Temple, when each man laboured with his sword by his side, and +worked, and watched, and fought by turns; till every hearer present +believed that he might emulate Nehemiah and Zerubbabel by contributing +to the collection, and began to finger his loose change with a view to +doing it. There were stirring references, too, to John Knox, +(especially to the scene at Holyrood, when he spoke back to the +Queen,) to George Wishart and Andrew Rutherford, Margaret Wilson, John +Brown of Priesthill, martyred by 'Clavers,' Jenny Geddes with her +creepie attacking the Dean of Edinburgh, and other Scots Worthies. + +Then followed reports, statements of funds and calculations of +expenses from the Deacons, and finally speeches from all who chose to +address the meeting. This last feature in the proceedings was +especially popular. Every greybeard in the crowd was in turn urged and +goaded by his admiring family and neighbours to step forward, and +when, after much shame-faced trepidation, he had hummed and stuttered +through a few sentences and would finally come to a dead stop and +return to his friends, he had earned the self-satisfied consciousness +that he was a potential orator, and that 'gin the Lord had but granted +him schulin' in his youth, he might have wagged his pow in a poopit +wi' the best.' + +At length the hoary grandsires had all spoken, the fathers, the sons, +even the 'halflin callants,' began to feel the stirrings of ambitious +eloquence. Luckie Howden, too, felt movings to rehearse her testimony +in favour of good morals, and Brother Dowlas saw it was time to draw +the line. In a whisper he called attention to the practice of Saint +Paul, who suffered not a woman to teach--a sentiment which was +overheard by Mrs. Sangster, and elicited from her a look of most +contemptuous wonder, but nevertheless received the adhesion of the +Laird. They therefore proceeded to lay the foundation stone, with +appropriate prayer and praise, and the proceedings came to an end. + +At this moment, Mr. Dowlas came forward and stated in a loud voice +that he had been requested to intimate 'that the Session and Deacons' +Court were requested to assemble for special and important business at +the Post Office, immediately after the close of the present meeting.' +Mr. Sangster was taken by surprise. He asked on whose authority the +intimation had been made, but the reverend announcer replied that a +written notice had been placed in his hand, and that he and Mr. Geddie +had been requested to be present. + +The elders and deacons were already assembled when Mr. Sangster and +the ministers entered the place of meeting, Joseph bringing up the +rear in his most official manner, yet diffidently,--as if uncertain +whether he were wanted,--but still desirous to know what was going +forward, and willing to give weight to it by the presence of the +beadle. He stood by the door with his hand meekly before his mouth, +and surveyed the silent assemblage, whom he afterwards described to +Jean Macaulay as resembling 'a curran hoolets wi' their muckle +blinkin' een, lookin' terrible wise an' sayin' naething.' Perhaps it +was in their silence that their wisdom lay. + +Ebenezer Prittie, being host, or at least the party in occupation of +the premises, rose to his feet, and after clearing his voice, proposed +that the ruling elder, Mr. Sangster of Auchlippie, now take the chair, +and that the clerk of session take the desk and minute the +proceedings. + +Mr. Sangster rose in reply, saying that before he did so, he desired +to understand the nature of the meeting over which he was asked to +preside, as he knew nothing about it but the intimation which had been +read after the meeting just closed and while it was dispersing. + +Ebenezer replied that it was the meeting adjourned from Monday, as +agreed on, that they might consult with the two reverend members of +Presbytery, who were now kind enough to be present. + +The Laird answered that the joint meeting of Session and Deacons' +Court on the Monday, had concluded its business and been adjourned +_sine die_ by their acting minister who presided, and that when he +(the speaker) subsequently conversed on the same evening with his +friends, whom he had been happy once more to meet in that place, he +had dwelt strongly and without being gainsaid, on the fact that their +meeting as a Church Court having been dissolved by the presiding +officer, that which they were then holding was merely a friendly +conversation, and without authority. And he begged to inform the +person, whoever he might be, at whose instance they had now come +together, that it was altogether '_ultra vires_' (his voice hung +emphatically on the Latin words, and they greatly impressed his +auditors) for the Session to assemble itself at the pleasure of any of +its members, and to act as a court. Mr. Brown as acting minister was +'_ex officio_' (more emphasis and deep impression) the proper caller +and president of such courts; and failing him, it was the ruling elder +on whom it devolved to summon and preside over the Court. But the +minister had no knowledge of,--far less had he called or sanctioned +their meeting,--and for himself he could not, as a constituted +authority in the Church, be party to a proceeding so irregular and +subversive of all Church government, as the course proposed. + +'But Mester Sangster,' put in Ebenezer, 'ye canna but say that we met +here on Monday nicht, and gin ye dinna ken that we agreed to come +thegither again the day, to consult wi' the twa ministers here +present, it's yer ain faut. Ye gaed awa at yer ain wull, an' naebody +cud tak on him to bid ye bide.' + +'Brethren,' interposed Peter Malloch, with an elated but solemn smile, +'what say ye to ca't a' a meetin' o' the Deacons' Coort? An' we could +meenit it a' in our books,--I'm thinkin' that's our plan. I'm the +convener, an' I hae a richt to convene my ain coort!' + +'Certainly, Mr. Convener,' responded the Laird, 'you may call a +Deacons' Court; but on what point is it that you want the advice of +the Eldership here present? Will the treasurer's books not balance? +Have some of the collectors failed to make their returns? Or what is +it?' + +'Hoot, Laird! ye ken just fine! The treasurer's a' richt, an' sae are +the collectors. It's the minister an' his bairn we're after, as ye ken +brawly.' + +'I regret then, Mr. Convener, to have to remind you that your court +has no jurisdiction. Faith, morals, and discipline, are the exclusive +province of the Session; and I for one protest against the Deacons' +Court presuming to touch such matters.' + +'Presumin'! quotha!' interjected Andrew Semple. 'An' hasna ilka auld +wife e'y Glen been presumin', as ye ca' 't, for twa week back an' +mair?' + +Here Mr. Geddie felt compelled to intervene, and pour the oil of +evangelical sweetness on the troubled waters. He was to dine and spend +the night along with Mr. Dowlas at Auchlippie, therefore he would fain +have agreed with his host; at the same time he had no intention of +being balked of a sensation, and what promised to be a most +interesting hunt after recent iniquity, at the very outset. + +'It appears to me, my friends,' he said in his smoothest accents, +'that the points of order raised by our excellent brother have great +weight, and are taken with that clear and perspicuous wisdom which +have made his opinions a tower of strength to the church in turning +back the army of the aliens; and therefore while the Deacons' Court +are manifestly moved by a holy zeal for righteousness, such as we +might have expected at their hands, it will be best that they do not +take action officially in this matter.' + +'I defy them to do it!' interjected the Laird, little mollified by the +unctuous adjectives. + +'It is also not to be expected,' continued this reverend Achitophel, +'that our erring brother'---- + +'Prove the error,' muttered the Laird. + +'That our brother who has wandered from the paths of holy living, but +whom we all love (and brethren, I may add that he is still but young, +and the flesh is weak)! It is not to be expected that he should call a +Court to investigate into his own shortcomings; or that until he has +been brought to see and admit the heinousness of his offences, and +that they have all been found out (for that, brethren, I have always +observed is a powerful lever in awakening a slumbering conscience)--It +is when the poor sinner has discovered that his refuges of lies will +not stand, that they are all swept away like mists before the winds of +indignation, and that the clear light of truth is shining down on his +nakedness, and wretchedness, and moral wounds; it is then that the +poor sinner comes forth with tears in his eyes and sackcloth on his +loins, and cries aloud, "I have sinned."' + +Here the orator stopped for breath. He was moved by his own pathetic +elocution, and his picture of the returning prodigal. Also, he had got +entangled among his parts of speech, and lost his way among the +parentheses; and now he scarcely knew where he was, or what he had +intended to say next. + +'Are you not condemning a man before you have even heard the +accusation brought against him?' inquired the Laird; but without +gaining much attention from any one. The audience, in fact, was just +then uttering a sigh of satisfaction over the moving words of the +previous speaker, which were as impressive as a doleful sing-song +could make them, besides being in accordance with their own opinion; +and nothing is more interesting and weighty than our own sentiments +uttered by another, with a fluency and copiousness which we could not +have lent them. It is like looking at ourselves through a glorifying +medium, contemplating our own portrait from the brush of a +distinguished court painter; which, judged by the walls of Royal +Academy Exhibitions, is the highest, as well as the best paid form of +art. The golden bowls and pomegranates of the morning were nothing to +this! it was as good as a sermon, and 'so practical,' as some one +whispered. Nothing like a practical sermon! my friend; and much +tilting at sin. Always premising that the sin is not yours nor mine +(which would be personal and rude), it makes one feel virtuous by +proxy. + +Mr. Geddie looked over for a suggestion how to proceed, to brother +Dowlas, who was quietly enjoying the scene. He knew what it was to be +flown away with by Pegasus, and then dropped helpless in a swamp. It +had happened to himself; but he was older now, and it was not +disagreeable to see his young friend meet the reward of his +overforwardness in this miscarriage. + +Mr. Dowlas suggested that the present was properly to be considered a +meeting of members and office-bearers of the congregation, to +investigate certain rumours affecting the character of their acting +minister, and to decide what action, either by way of petition to the +Presbytery or otherwise, as might seem most expedient was to be taken +thereanent. + +'Ay! Thereanent, Elluck! Hear ye that?' whispered a neighbour to Alec +Lamont, 'That's juist what they say e'y Presbytery. I ken, for I hae +heard them mysel'! A graund head for business he's gotten, that Mester +Dowlas. We's gang the richt gate to wark noo, I'm thinkin'. An' hear +till him noo, Elluck!' he continued. 'Hear til him noo!' while poor +Alec was straining his ears to listen, and was only prevented by the +chatter of his talkative neighbour. + +Mr. Dowlas went on to propose that the postmaster, Mr. Prittie, act as +secretary to the meeting, which was carried with general applause; and +Ebenezer took a new quill pen from his drawer, examined the nib +critically on his nail, and then placed it thoughtfully between his +teeth, while he took his stand at the little shop desk. Observing the +tall stool he bethought him that a chairman was wanted, and forthwith +reciprocated the holy man's politeness by proposing that he take the +chair. Mr. Dowlas bearing in mind his own bulk, and surveying the tall +and slender legs of the stool, demurred, suggesting that the chair +should be filled by one of themselves--the Laird in fact. The Laird +declined with emphasis. He said that it would not be long till they +would not only regret, but be heartily ashamed of what they were +doing, that he would not compromise himself in their proceedings, even +so far as to be present, but that he thought it well that a friend of +both sides, who had not yet committed himself to a judgment without +evidence, should be present, to prevent mischief as far as possible. + +No one ventured to retort. The majesty of wealth and prosperity +forbade that; but it may be safely said that for the moment the +kindness and goodwill of a lifetime did little to mitigate the +indignation begotten of that rebuke. + +With some trepidation and much care, Mr. Dowlas clambered up to his +lofty perch, from which he looked giddily down. He could not now +_rise_ to speak, and there was nothing so abstruse going forward that +he need come down to the level of his hearers, wherefore he remained +where he was, and like the Queen addressing her Parliament, he spoke +seated. + +He looked down over Ebenezer and his clean sheet of paper and directed +him how he should begin the minutes of the meeting, and then informed +his auditors that they might now consider the meeting as constituted, +and that it would be in order for some one to bring before it a +categorical statement of the business which had brought them together. + +All eyes were turned on Ebenezer, but that terrible word 'categorical' +had proved a stumbler to him. Looks, winks and nods were in vain, +because he had resolved not to see them, and was busy remaking his +pen, and flicking the point with his thumb that the hair split might +come straight. Next they looked to Peter Malloch, but _he_ was +persistently looking to some one else, so that the electric influence, +if there was any, was simply passed along further by him as a +conductor, and nothing came of it. + +'Is there no one,' said Mr. Dowlas at length, 'who will state the +purpose of this meeting? We have nothing before us which we can +consider or come to a decision upon, surely some one present could +repeat the charges and statements on which Mr. Geddie and myself were +induced to attend here.' + +His eye had fallen on that of Andrew Semple, who was looking up and +listening with all attention, and there, unwittingly fixed, it had +remained, till Andrew feeling himself singled out and addressed +individually, stood up as by special command, and after some +introductory stammering, found voice. + +'It's little I can say 'at I _ken_, Mester Dowlas, an' I see na what +for ye suld look to me to mak yer statement; but seein' ye're a +minister 'at kens what's richt, an' wad na be for leadin' simple folk +'at lippens to ye, intil harm, I'm no mindin' gin I say what I can. A +weel, sir, ye see it was just the very day our Davie was ta'en down +wi' the jandies. It may hae been on a Tuesday? Na, it was Wadnesday, +I'm gye an' sure it was a Wadnesday. I had gotten thegither a score o' +yows, an' I was just gaun to herd them down by til Elluc Powie's; an' +the gudewife she comes to me an' she says, "Andra," says she, "I'm +sair misdoubtin' but our Davie"--or na! It was "that puir bairn Davie" +she ca'd him. Ay! thae was her very words, "that he's gotten the +jandies, an', gin yer road's through Glen Effick, I wuss ye wad +just rin in as ye gang by, an' tell my Auntie Lillie, she's just +graund on the jandies." An', says I, "gudewife, I'll do yer biddin'." +An' sae, me an' my yows, an' my dug Bawtie--ay it was--Bawtie, I'm +thinkin'--Mustard had gotten a lang jag in's forepaw, sae he bed at +hame. Aweel, as I was sayin'--' + +'Hurry up! Andra,' whispered the Laird, 'or it will be supper time +before you get through! I want to get home.' + +'The truith's better nor rubies, Laird! speer the minister there gin +it's no! I wull no lee, for a' the lairds atween here an' Fruchie! an' +it's a sair job to be mindin' byganes. But, as I was sayin', minister, +we was just fornent the smiddie, (me, an' the yows, ye ken, an' +Bawtie) whan wha suld I see but Auntie Lillie hersel, an' says I to +her, "Hoo's a' wi' ye, Auntie?" says I--Na! that's no hit. It was her +'at says to me, "Andra Semple," says she, "but the sicht o' you's gude +for sair eyen," says she, an' syne she speered for the gudewife. An' I +up an' telled her hoo our Davie was down wi' the jandies, an' her, she +was sair afflicket to hear tell o't, for she's a rael kindly auld +body. An' says she to me, "It's just trouble an' affliction a' round," +says she, "I'm thinkin' it's the days of the end 'at's comin' to +pass," says she. "An' there's nane to lippen til. We're just born til +evil as the sparks flee up. An' there's non that doeth gude, no not +wan," for she's weel grundet e'y scripter, our Auntie Lillie. "An' +ye'll no hae been hearin' what's come o'er our minister," says she, +"Him we a' tuk for sic a sonsie honest laad, an' a gude!--aweel gin a' +the folk says," says she, "be true, he's gaen clean wrang a' +thegither." An' sae she up an' telled me a' 'at a'body kens a'ready; +an' ye a' ken't, an' that's just hoo I cam to hear tell o't at the +first. An' sae I hae telled ye a' I ken.' + +'But you have told us nothing at all,' said the Laird, 'except that +your Auntie Lillie has skill with the "Jandies," and it was not that +we assembled to hear about, though it is a far more useful thing to +know than the other stuff. I think we had better go home!' + +'Patience! brethren,' said the chairman, 'let us cultivate a calm and +judicious frame of mind. What was it, Andrew, that your aunt told you +about the minister?' + +'Hear-say evidence!' interjected the Laird. + +'Not at all! It is not evidence in the legal sense we are after at +present, simply a beginning of some kind,--an allegation, a statement +to be afterwards sifted. Now, Andrew Semple, what was it your aunt +told you about Mr. Brown?' + +'Aweel, sir, she telled me o' the bairn 'at auld Eppie Ness was takin' +tent on; an' I says, ne'er misdoubtin' wrang, ye ken, says I, "It's +juist like him; it's him 'at's aye doin' gude." An' Auntie Lillie she +just leugh, an' gae a kin' o' glint o' the e'e, an' syne she gae the +ither nicker, an' says she, "Andra," she says, "Semple's yer name, an' +simple's yer natur! It's his ain bairn, bless ye!--the pawkie young +sneckdrawer 'at we a' thocht was sae blate an' sae douce. I canna but +laugh whiles, to think sic fules as he has made o' us, for a' it's sae +wrang." "But it's no true," says I. "That's just the fash o't," quo' +she; "it's ower true! There's no a wife e'y hale glen 'at disna ken a' +about it."' + +'You affirm, then, that it is commonly reported, Andrew,' said the +chairman, 'that the infant adopted by Mr. Brown is his own child? Here +is an allegation which the ecclesiastical authorities cannot possibly +let pass unsifted. On what authority is the assertion made?' + +'Just a' body tells the same tale. An' I hae telled ye a' 'at I ken, +an' that's naething!' + +The ice being broken, every one was now willing to contribute a +surmise or a circumstance, till in the end they had worked up the +narrative to the full strength at which it was circulating out of +doors. + +'And now,' said the chairman, 'we have the accusation before us; and +yet, strange to say, there is no accuser. We have here a public +scandal, a case which would give the enemy ground to blaspheme. We +must do our duty to the Church by taking steps for the removal of its +withered branch. Now, who will undertake the Christian duty of +libelling Mr. Brown before the Presbytery? Will the Session do it? or +will the members of Session do it? It is a thing that must be done! +You are all guilty of connivance, and are in fact accessories to the +sin. Will the Session undertake to present the libel?' + +'I won't for one,' said the Laird. 'I believe it to be all idle +tattle. You have not a thread of evidence to support your libel, +whatever.' + +'Is there no one whom we could examine, so as to get at the facts?' + +'Here's Joseph the bederal,' said Peter Malloch. 'The minister's man +sees mair o' him nor ither folk!' + +'I ken naething!' said Joseph, coming forward with a troubled look, +'naething ava! I'm ower weel kenned for a douce an' peacefu' +Christian, for ony body to let on to me, gin their walk and +conversation wasna what they suld be.' + +Mr. Geddie appeared touched, and began to observe more attentively +this excellent person. + +'Did you see Mr. Brown bring home this infant?' + +'No sir; but I saw the bairn in Miss Brown's arms, no lang after.' + +'Where was the child brought from?' + +'Naebody kens.' + +'The child was brought from the seashore,' interposed the Laird, +'where it had been cast by the waves after a shipwreck. Mr. Brown +never made any mystery about that!' + +'Ah yes!' broke forth Mr. Geddie in his most dulcet cadence, 'charity +never faileth! It is good for us to be here! This simple undoubting +credence in our beloved and highly esteemed brother, is refreshing to +the soul, as the grapes of Eshcol in a thirsty land! We know, my +brethren, that we must all become as little children, trustful and +believing in the gospel message. And here is one who has been +nourished on the slopes of Carmel, in the footsteps of the flock, on +whom the heaven has dropped her fatness, and the wisdom of the word +has been his abundant nourishment. He is as a prince among us, and +dwells in his own land among his flocks and herds, with none to make +him afraid. Lo! my brethren, behold the simple and confiding innocency +of our well-beloved brother, and his charity that never faileth, and +his voice that is as the voice of a dove. But ah! my brethren, this is +not the primeval Eden of our earliest progenitors! Alas! the trail of +the serpent can be traced among the flowers! Sin has entered on our +goodly land, and though we should still seek to be harmless as the +dove, the wisdom of the serpent is also required, and we are cautioned +to arm ourselves with that wisdom, even before we show the lovely +gentleness of the bird of beauty, whose wings are sprinkled with +silver, and its feathers with yellow gold. It is a wicked world, my +friends, and while we may well envy our brother his beautiful charity +of soul, we are clearly called upon to take heed to our steps, and not +to be deceived by the cunning craftiness of evil men.' + +An angry flush suffused the forehead of the Laird. I sadly fear he was +not the heavenly-minded person depicted by the gushing preacher. He +certainly would have resented and repudiated the portrait himself, and +would have liked to detect some palpable sign of ironical intent, that +he might quarrel with the man on the spot. But the preacher continued +to regard him with his most lambent and seraphic smile, and in perfect +good faith, without the smallest tinge of mockery. The audience, too, +bore the outpouring in the best possible spirit. It struck them as +very pretty language, and no doubt the Laird deserved it, though that +was scarcely the view of his excellences which had hitherto presented +itself to their minds; however, no doubt, the minister being a learned +man knew best. + +Joseph was the only person present whose sense of humour was in any +way disturbed. When he heard the Laird likened to a bird of beauty, +his wandering eyes alighted on his honour's bald and blushing poll. He +felt tempted to grin, but checked himself in time, raised his eyes to +the ceiling and sighed long and softly, like one recovering breath +after a protracted draught of sweetness. Mr. Dowlas bore the effusion +with entire composure. Such bearing is a necessary gift in the +eloquent professions. He had often had to practise it for the behoof +of his fellows, and he suspected that they too had had reason to use +it for his. He took up the examination. + +'How was this infant brought home? he asked of Joseph. + +'On Patey Soutar's pownie, sir. The minister cam hame ridin'.' + +'Patey Soutar!' ejaculated Ebenezer, 'Patey Soutar the cadger? The +maist ill doin' drucken vagabond e'y parish. Ye may tak yer aith the +minister was after nae gude whan he gaed ridin' Patey Soutar's +pownie!' + +'Did you see him riding it then?' asked the Laird. + +'No sir, but I heard tell o't.' + +'Who told you?' + +'I'm sure I canna say, sir.' + +'Then we must question Soutar himself.' + +'He's the warst leear e'y glen!' cried Joseph, who had no desire that +it should be found out that it was himself who had procured Patey's +pony for the minister. Had that come out, and the object of the +minister's journey, all the suspicion and mystery would have fallen to +pieces; and while he had no deliberate wish to injure the minister +(whom indeed he liked as well as any one, except Joseph Smiley), yet +if somebody else did it, and if Tibbie could be induced to join, why +then his suit to Jean Macaulay might come to something. His attitude, +therefore, may be described as 'expectant,' and his policy, to use his +own words, was 'to haud a man on his ain gate.' + +'And what do you think about this yourself, Joseph?' asked Mr. Geddie. + +'A weel sir! I dinna weel ken just what to think; but my granny had an +auld sayin' 'at there was "aye water whaur the stirk was drowned," an' +I'm feared it's a true ane, for the heart of man rins on evil +continual, we hae Scripter for that, an' the flesh is waik ye ken, +sir, for, after a', ministers are but men, though wi' a hantle grace +they may come to great things, as in yer ain case,' said this polite +Joseph. + +Mr. Geddie was visibly touched,--the tribute was as unexpected as it +was gratifying. 'Evidently a very superior man,' he thought, 'and one +who has the root of the matter in him. He seems to know his Bible well +too.' + +'And now,' said Mr. Dowlas, 'what is to be the result of our +deliberations? We dare not let this matter drop. Of all here present, +who will sustain before the Presbytery the libel that must be drawn?' + +'Who _can_ sustain it?' said the Laird, 'that is what I want to know.' + +'There is clearly a _fama clamosa_ in this parish, against the acting +minister, destroying his usefulness, and injurious to the church. If +some of the office-bearers here present will frame a libel, it will be +the best and most expeditious mode of proceeding; if not, Mr. Geddie +and I must bring this _fama clamosa_ before the Presbytery, that it +may deal with it as in its wisdom may appear best, and I call on you +all here present to assist us in the work! Further, it seems to me +that we should appoint a committee to visit and deal with the +suspected transgressors, in all faithfulness and love. Who knows but +they may be brought to a due sense of their offences, and may make +confession (which would simplify proceedings)? Or at any rate such +admissions as they may make, will be of assistance in framing our +libel.' + +'Wha's that he's gaun tae gar confess?' asked Alec Lamont. 'I ne'er +heard the name afore. Phemie wha? I'm thinkin' ye hae her name wrang, +minister!' he continued in a louder voice. 'Her name's no Phemie ava, +it's juist Tibbie Tirpie!' + +Alec was speedily reduced to silence by his neighbours, and Mr. Dowlas +went on. + +'I have important duties at home which will call me away to-morrow, +but I propose that the committee to call on and deal with the parties +under suspicion, be as follows:--To represent the Presbytery, Brother +Geddie, who, I feel sure, will see it his duty to remain over, Mr. +Sangster and Mr. Prittie to represent the Eldership, Mr. Peter Malloch +the Deacons and congregation.' + +'For myself,' said the Laird, 'I will accompany your deputation to +wait on Mr. Brown, if it were only to show him that there are some who +believe in him still; but as for visiting the young woman who has had +the ill luck to fall under the suspicion of this meeting, I must crave +to be excused. How any man can think of going on such an errand to a +lonely old woman and her daughter is beyond my comprehension. For +myself, I could not do it.' + +'Duty, brother! duty!' cried Mr. Geddie. 'That should be the watchword +of every true soldier of the cross! Likings and dislikes will go for +nothing in the eyes of true wisdom when duty calls, and _her_ ways are +ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace!' + + + + + CHAPTER XXVII. + + _DEALING WITH A SINNER IN LOVE AND FAITHFULNESS_. + + +The next day Roderick, having slept well, was greatly refreshed, and +felt strong enough to move to his easy chair by the fire. Mary had +heaped up the peat and coppice oak on the hearth, and thrown open the +window till the air grew sweet and wholesome, and the clammy damps of +their hovel were dissipated like the nightmares that had been +oppressing his brain all through the past dreary week. + +'And what can the rumours be that Sophie spoke of, Mary?' he asked. 'I +really am curious to know. I suspect they have influenced more people +than that absurd Duchess. That would account for the way the people +have stayed away from me, which has been surprising and even +distressing me a good deal. However, I am getting better now; a day or +two more and I shall be out among them, and I shall find it all out. +But I really feel hurt by their coldness and indifference to me.' + +'Nonsense, Roddie! They are a foolish and ungrateful lot; never mind +them. You must follow the doctor's advice, and go south for the +winter, as soon as you are able to travel. Just look at the walls! +green with damp, and the moisture trickling down the plaster; and yet +this is only October! What will it be in January? It is fine weather +now, and we are burning as much fuel as can be done without setting +the house on fire, and it takes it all to drive the horrid mouldiness +even temporarily out of the air. When winter comes and the rain is +incessant out of doors, except when it snows, perhaps, for a change, +the window must be kept closed, and the mouldiness and the damp will +turn the place into a very cave, and, as the doctor said, after this +attack a very little matter will drive you into a consumption. You +must not think of it--it terrifies me, and, indeed, I am afraid even +for myself. As for the people--I think they will very likely think +better of you after we are gone. When your charities among them are +suspended, very likely they may think more of you and them. It will +serve them right, and be a warning against wagging their tattling +tongues so freely for the future. Have done with them! They are a +worthless set.' + +'Fie, Mary! What are any of us but poor worthless creatures? We who +have education and an income, should not be hard on the poor souls. +The world must appear very different to them, from what it does to us. +Think what it must be to look into the half empty meal-girnel, and at +the little heap of potatoes, and know that that is all between them +and starvation, till more is earned,--that the smallest miscarriage, a +delay in receiving the weekly wage, a stumble ending in a sprain, +sickness of a child, even an accident to a horse or a car, may entail +a supperless night, or a day of hunger! And when all the energy and +care are needed to stave off from day to day their physical +destitution, is it not too much to look for those more graceful and +spiritual charities which make our life pleasant? It takes so much of +light and heat and moisture to support the mere plant life; and when +these are so stintedly supplied, it is surely over-exacting to look +for the same profusion of flower and fruit on the bare hill-side as +one expects in a sheltered garden. In visiting among the poor, I have +often felt humbled at the view of their sturdy fortitude under +privation, and the extent of their unostentatious charities to one +another. They will stint themselves of the necessaries of life to help +those worse provided than themselves, but they cannot talk about it. +Indeed, the beautiful act and the gracious word are never to be met +with both on the same bush among these wind-swept hills, and I am +thankful to say it is the deed I have oftenest observed. I feel bound +to make allowance for much rugged speech which might sound hard and +uncharitable to a stranger. You may sow mignonette and gilly-flower in +your garden, but it is the heather, tough and sturdy, which grows upon +the braes, and defies the blasts; and that, too, has its beauty and +its sweetness, and we value it less only because it is more abundant +and common.' + +'Poor Roderick! The hebdomadal orator had broken out in him after his +long rest in bed,--the habit of prelecting before a silent auditory, +which many find so difficult to acquire, and which, when learnt, makes +so many long-winded and pragmatical nuisances in private life. It did +not trouble Mary. Born in a manse, she had been used to prelections +all her life, and as the periods would grow longer and more resonant, +she would know that no answer was expected, and would go on with her +work. Perhaps she regarded it as practise for Sunday, most likely she +did not think of it at all, as she settled more steadily to her +tatting and crochet work--the Penelope's web, always beginning and +never apparently coming to an end,--which kept her fingers pleasantly +busy, and left her mind in perfect peace. + +There is no saying to what heights and depths of wisdom, or, mayhap, +nonsense, Roderick might have attained. The muse theologic, after a +week's inaction, inclined to long and discursive flight, but was +interrupted in full career by the entrance of Mr. Sangster. + +Mr. Sangster was always a welcome visitor, being indeed the only man +in the congregation of education or judgment sufficient to warrant +confidential consultation. His rugged face and burly form showed some +discomposure, as, after a greeting of unusual warmth, for him, he took +his seat. + +'This is not a mere friendly visit, Mr. Roderick,' he said;' I wish it +was. I am the advanced guard, if I may say so, of a deputation which +is going to wait on you; and I wish you distinctly to understand, that +I have no sympathy with it whatever. I would say that their errand is +both impertinent and absurd, but that these expressions are not half +strong enough to convey what I think; and, as I have told them, I only +accompany them to assure you that, though they are taking upon them to +speak in the name of your flock, we are not all to be taken as +represented by them. Quite the contrary!' + +Mary flushed and looked disturbed, and presently she left the room. + +Roderick's face showed only astonishment. 'But what is it about, Mr. +Sangster? Mary has used the word '_rumours_' more than once, but she +has not explained it, and you know I have been shut up here for a week +past. There must be something the matter, for none of the people have +come to see me, and scarcely any so far as I know have even asked how +I am. I have been so ill as scarcely to have noted the neglect, but +to-day, when I am again able to think, it seems strange. There are so +many warm hearts among them.' + +'A set of born idiots!' muttered the Laird testily. But at that moment +the door opened, and the deputation appeared. Ebenezer Prittie and +Peter Malloch were grave and austere of demeanour, and dignified +withal, but a little uncertain. They had thought to gather facts, +hints, and experience for this more weighty visitation, in their +preliminary raid on Tibbie Tirpie; but when they had arrived before +her shieling, the door was locked, and no sign of life showed around +the premises but a starveling black cat, which arched its back +threateningly at their approach, and guarded the threshold with a +display of needle-sharp claws and teeth. + +Mr. Geddie's deportment also was grave, but solemn rather than severe. +He was minded that his disapproval should be chastened with much love, +and expected thereby to win the culprit to repentance, and what would +be especially convenient in the present unripe and ill-gotten-up state +of their case, to confession. + +Roderick greeted them with his wonted cordiality, provided them with +seats, and sat down facing them to hear what they would say, while the +Laird twirled his thumbs in expectancy; but they said nothing. + +The laymen exchanged shakes of the head and glances of sorrowful +reprobation at the tranquil composure of this impenitent sinner, then +they sighed despondingly and looked at the carpet, till their clerical +leader should begin. Mr. Geddie had his voice and demeanour attuned to +sad solemnity and love, but the words which these sentiments were to +clothe were slow to arrive. He looked secretly at his intended +penitent, as if inviting him to open the conference, but the +invitation was unheeded. Curiosity and a well-mannered patience only +were apparent in his bearing, and these were gradually changed into +astonished amusement as the silence continued, and perhaps some slight +gleam of mischief, as Mr. Geddie's regard grew more appealing. It was +evident that their errand, whatever it might be, was hardly a friendly +one, or they would not feel so much difficulty in putting it into +words; and there was no reason why he should assist them to get into +position the artillery with which they were about to open a cannonade +on himself. + +Mr. Geddie was an accomplished preacher. He could preach from any +text, at any length, and what was more, on any subject,--at least he +could work round to the subject he meant to discuss, from any text or +subject whatever, in a way the most natural. But a text or starting +point of some kind he must have, and hence his desire that Roderick +should speak. Had he even spoken of the weather, there would have been +an opening to compare present climatic conditions with those which the +impenitent wicked shall hereafter experience, and the whole affair +would then have been open before him, to discourse on such points and +phases as appeared expedient. But this obdurate person remained +persistently silent, instead of helping with becoming meekness to +prepare the discipline for his own shoulders. Mr. Geddie at length +bethought him of his Bible, and, like any other proper-minded person, +had recourse to that in his difficulty. Lifting his voice in a +melancholy cadence, while he opened the book-- + +'Let us read,' he cried, 'for edification and correction, a few of the +Psalms.' + +His voice rose and fell according to his peculiar theory of elocution, +getting fuller and louder as he warmed to the work, till he had read +through the seven penitential Psalms. Then he paused and closed the +book. + +'Brother!' he said, 'the words which we have read are the inspired +expression of contrition and penitence. They give fitting voice to +every agonized soul that has--stumbled in the miry ways of life. +Still, they are but in the general. Each case must bring its own +particular specification of transgression--must bring forth its own +dead out of its secret chambers, must lay bare its own moral wounds, +and expose them to the healing sight of truth. The passer-by may shoot +out the tongue and say, 'Aha!' but thou, my brother, hast purged thy +skirts by open confession and separation, and mayhap thou mayest save +thy soul! And oh! my brother, it is above price!' + +Roderick sat speechless and amazed. Had Mr. Geddie been alone, he +would have supposed that he had lost his wits, or, in view of the +weight he attached to the penitential Psalms and to penitence, which +might perhaps mean penance, especially when coupled with confession, +he might have supposed that he had joined the Jesuits, who were +believed to be especially active at that time, and to be using all +manner of crafty devices to secure converts; but after what the Laird +had said, and in view of the lay delegates present, some other +explanation was needed. + +'And art thou still speechless, Oh, my brother?' the exhorter went on, +'Thou for whom our hearts have yearned with many tears? Think not +longer to shelter in delusive secresy. Thy refuges of lies are +overthrown, thy sin discovered. Come forth and make submission to the +Church, while there is time! lest no place be found for repentance, +though thou seek it with tears!' + +Mr. Geddie's own handkerchief here came into requisition. If we would +raise the sluices of our neighbours' tears, it is not amiss to begin +by letting loose our own. Hysteria is infinitely infectious, as more +than one pulpit orator, blessed with the gift of tears, has found in +his brilliantly successful experience. + +Roderick caught at the momentary silence to enquire what it all meant, +and to what circumstance he could possibly be indebted for the +singular scene. He looked to Ebenezer and Peter Malloch, but both +turned their eyes austerely away, and fixed them on the carpet. He +next addressed the Laird; but the Laird replied that they must state +their own errand, he would not soil his lips with it, and if they had +sense enough left to let decent shame keep them even yet from +speaking, the best thing they could do would be to leave it unsaid, +and trust to the whole exhibition being condoned as a mistake. + +Mr. Geddie, handkerchief in hand, eyes fixed on the ground, was +gathering his forces for a fresh onslaught on this hard and obdurate +conscience. Mr. Sangster's remark appeared singularly inopportune, +treacherous even, and most censurable. What hope of reducing the +garrison if his own followers, his auxiliaries at least, were thus to +turn and raise a diversion in favour of the besieged? He turned to the +Laird in sorrow rather than in anger-- + +'Surely, Mr. Sangster, in view of the heavy responsibility we +yesterday undertook, it is not well to encourage our brother in +hardening his heart!' + +'What responsibilities have you undertaken, Mr. Geddie?' asked +Roderick; 'and who has laid them upon you?' I have listened to your +reading and your exhortation, which I assume are meant for my benefit, +but you have not condescended to explain their object, and I am at a +loss to understand what it is you want.' + +Mr. Geddie looked to his two associates, appalled at such persistence, +and sadly shook his head. The associates shook their heads also, and +looked uncomfortable. They were aware from the attitude of the Laird +that there was a certain degree of thinness as yet in their case, when +it came to be stated in detail without inference and insinuation; and +they had been hoping that the solemn exercises in which they had +engaged were to move the sinner to repentance and compel him to +confess his fault. For they began to fear it might be hard for the +present to prove the fault, and would have preferred to be left only +the easier parts, rebuking the offender, and figuring before the +Church as its zealous and victorious champions. The silence continued. +Mr. Geddie had been dwelling on the moral and emotional aspects of the +case, rather than the circumstantial. To his excellent, and even +devout, but far from legal mind, the question had appeared to be one +of sin, repentance, and church discipline; the more secular +considerations of guilty or not guilty, facts, proofs, and +probabilities, had never occurred to him at all. The case had been +presented to him by persons whom he believed to be excellent and of +sound evangelical views, and he had never dreamed of questioning what +they said, revising the grounds of their suspicions, or asking what +there might be to urge on the other side. When, therefore, the +defendant requested, as it were, to hear the indictment against him, +his thoughts and ideas had to be called in from the wide and very +different field over which they were scattered, and brought to bear on +a different and entirely new aspect of the case. While he had been +deeply moved and interested in the case, viewed as one of established +ill-doing, and had thought out very fully the relations of the church +to the sinner and the sin, he found that his mind had entirely left +out of consideration the grounds on which the accusation had been +based, and that if it came to discussing the question of guilty or not +guilty, he knew nothing about it and had nothing to say. It is not to +be supposed, however, that on that account he believed any the less +utterly in the guilt of the accused. He felt that he could not discuss +it, being unprepared; but his mind, though well-meaning and incapable +of intentional disingenuousness, was of the tenacious rather than that +facile and self-styled candid order which, because it is incapable of +taking strong hold, and is easily moved by every fresh suggestion, +claims to be dispassionate and judicial. This man had been represented +to him by what he considered good authority, as a sinner, and a sinner +he would continue to regard him till irrefragable proof or higher +authority declared the reverse. Mr. Geddie, therefore, kept silence +under the new aspect of the case. He was clearly entitled to do so, +seeing that in a question of circumstance, a parishioner with local +knowledge must be able to speak with more understanding than a +stranger, even though an ordained minister. On Ebenezer it naturally +devolved to speak. He straightened himself in his seat, opened his +mouth even and drew in the needful breath; but while he considered how +the 'winged words' ought to arrange themselves, the vital wind escaped +unmodulated from the doubting chest. A henpecked person, his verbal +ventures had so often come to grief, that he had learned so to think +and think, before he hazarded an utterance, that the opportunity, the +breath, and even the idea were generally gone before he had strung +himself to the utterance. The duty, therefore, fell to Peter Malloch, +on whom no suspicion of henpecking could rest, as witness the mild +apologetic sister who sometimes waited in the shop, and the meek old +mother who was always stitching shirts for him, and spoke of him as +the Convener;--and then there was no wife. + +Peter cleared his voice and leant forward. Nothing could have pleased +him more than thus to hold forth before a minister and the Laird; a +success might lead to his being admitted to the eldership, and would +certainly add to his weight in the church, so he resolved to do +himself justice. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVIII. + + _MORE FAITHFULNESS BUT LESS LOVE_. + + +'We have been compelled, sir,' said Peter Malloch, and he fixed his +eyes sternly on the tie of Roderick's cravat (he would have liked to +frown into the face of the culprit, and to wither him up with the +sternness of his regard, but the amused astonishment in his eyes was +discomposing). 'Me, that's to say an' Mester Prittie there, or may be +I suld say the Deacons' Court an' the Eldership, though they arena a' +Israel that are _of_ Israel. An' there was a Tummas even amang the +Apostles,' (and here he glanced reproachfully at the Laird). 'Aweel, +sir, to come to the tail o' 't at ance, we hae just been haudin' a bit +meetin' wi' the Presbytery, as ane micht say, or wi' twa o' the +ministers ony gate, to consider yer terrible on-gaein's, Mester Brown! +An' I'm just fairly dumfoundered to see the brazen effrontery o' ye, +man! To be sittin' there an' glowerin' frae ye, as though ye had dune +nae wrang, when the hale glen's ringin' wi' the din o' yer iniquities, +an' the enemies o' the truth's lachin' i' their sleeve, an' cryin' +aha! as they pass on the ither side. An' we hae been app'inted, hiz +four that is, though I'm feared we hae gotten an enemy amang us 'at's +no takin' kindly t'ey wark' (another glance at the Laird), 'a Gallio +'at cares for non _of_ thase things, to ca' on ye an' to dale +faithfully wi' ye anent yer transgressions. We're wullin' to dale wi' +ye in luve, my brither, my little brither, I micht say; for I can mind +ye a bit hafflin callant no lang syne; an' we'll allow 'at youth's ill +to haud e'y strecht gate, an' 'at flesh is waik; we'll allow a' that, +an' dale wi' ye in a' kindness for yer saul's sake, but ye maun e'en +mak a clean breast o' 't, an' speak out afore waur comes o' 't. It's +a' kenned! Sae just up an' own til't, for we're busy folk, me and +Ebenezer here, an' we hae nae mair time to waur on parryin' an' +senseless havers. Ye beut to repent o' yer misdeeds, seeing they're a' +fand out, and the very first step is to confess them. Sae out wi' 't +a' like a gude laud, for ye can be nae mair a minister, an' the less +fash an' din ye mak ower't noo, the less ill ye'll do to the kirk ye +hae disgraced.' + +'What do you mean? demanded Roderick, beginning to flush indignantly. +'State what it is you accuse me of! You appear to have found me guilty +and condemned me already, without troubling yourselves to try me; but +if you wish me to confess anything, you must at least state your +accusation.' + +'An' winna ye take my word for it, 'at a' is kenned 'at ye hae dune? +An' wull ye gar folk gang ower yer shame word for word, afore the very +face o' yer auld father there? Him 'at was sae gude a man, for a' he +was a Moderate, lookin' doon on ye frae the wa'! I'm misdoubtin' but +he couldna lie still e'y moulds this day, gin he kenned o' yer +on-gaein's!' + +'Mr. Sangster!' exclaimed Roderick, 'this is growing intolerable! I +must request you to state the purpose of these persons' visit. What do +they accuse me of? And on what grounds? They seem unable themselves to +say intelligibly what is their errand.' + +'I certainly will not soil my lips,' said the Laird, 'with anything so +outrageous as well as absurd; and I am not surprised that even in the +midst of this ridiculous scene, they should have sufficient sense +left, and good feeling, to make it difficult for them to clothe their +preposterous accusation in words. Forgive them, and overlook the whole +escapade. It is the wisest and kindest thing to do.' + +'Mr. Sangster!' remonstrated Mr. Geddie, 'I do think, and you must +permit me to say, that your language is not judicious. Even although +in your overflowing charity, which I admit is beautiful and refreshing +to see, and will no doubt be fruitful of blessing to your own soul, +you are still (though I confess it seems unaccountable to me) +persuaded of the innocence of (alas, that I should have to use the +words!) our erring brother, even you must admit that there prevails in +this parish a _fama clamosa_ of the most crying and distressing kind, +affecting the moral character of the misguided young man whom the +Presbytery has set over it for the present to minister to it in +spiritual things. His teaching may be within the letter of the +Standards. I am thankful to say I have heard nothing of false doctrine +and soul-destroying error; but, alas! his example is not what it ought +to be! His teaching may be orthodox, his head knowledge of the +mysteries not to be impugned; but if the heart is wrong, if his walk +and conversation are not convenient, if his conformity to common +morality is not what it should be, we must rebuke and chasten him till +he repents of his evil life,--we must cut off the withered branch, and +cast it out of the vineyard. Oh! my brother!' he cried, 'repent and +confess! Put an end to this clamour! Enable us to bring the matter +before the Presbytery in such form that it may be able to deal with it +promptly if sharply, and without delay. Why should this clamour of +indignation go forth over all Scotland to put us to shame?' + +'Say what it is you accuse me of, Mr. Geddie. I certainly shall +confess if I am guilty.' + +'Alas! my brother! Will you still hide your head in a bush like the +ostrich, and believe yourself concealed? Think you that the pursuer +will overpass thus easily? I tell you nay! But if you will force us to +discuss in detail your lamentable backslidings, tell us how the infant +which you lately presented for baptism, and which, as I understand, +you continue to nourish under this roof--tell us how it came into your +hands.' + +'The child was saved almost miraculously from a shipwreck, I believe. +At least I saw the ship perish, and afterwards picked up the child on +the sea-shore near the place, where it appeared to be the only living +thing that had come to land. Being impatient to get home, and yet +bound to render succour to the little one, I picked it up and brought +it home with me, rather than carry it the four miles back to +Inverlyon, where the bodies of the drowned were conveyed later in the +morning, when the fishermen and coastguard had made their rounds. From +the clothing of the child, as well as from reading in the newspapers +that the ship was an East Indiaman, I believe that it is the child of +some Indian officer who has perished in the wreck, and I have +advertised in an Edinburgh newspaper regarding the child, but have +received no communication or enquiry from any one whatever; but I +cannot imagine how any _fama_ can have arisen in the parish over such +a matter, which can only be looked on, I should imagine, as an +ordinary exercise of Christian charity.' + +'Hech!' sighed Ebenezer, 'but he sticks til't weel! But, I'm sayin', +sir, Wasna some o' yer ain folk i' the Indies? An' wasna there siller +an' gear cam to ye frae there? I'm thinkin' I mind hearin' tell o' +kists o' plenissin' an' bonny things 'at was brocht t'ey auld manse +frae there awa.' + +'Certainly. I had an uncle who died in India and left his property to +my mother.' + +'Aweel, then, the claes 'at ye say cam wi' the bairnie wad pruive +naething, sin ye had plenty sic like e'y house. Ye micht just hae +dressed up the puir thing in ony auld duds ye fand i' thae kists. But +what o' the bairnie's mither, sir? Tell's about Tibbie Tirpie!' + +'Tibbie Tirpie? What connection is there between her and the baby?' + +'Mither an' bairn, I'm thinkin'; or sae the folk say.' + +'They must be mad! or most abominable slanderers to trifle so with the +good name of a decent young woman.' + +'An' ye ken naething about it, minister?' demanded Peter; 'an' wull ye +really be for haudin' to that when I have seen ye slidin' hame frae +there mysel' after dark? Ye _ken_ ye gaed there ae forenicht, it was +Sawbith by the same token, an' ye gied them siller, ye ken that! to +gar them keep a calm sough. I hae had that siller through my ain +fingers, sae ye needna deny't!' + +'Deny what? Deny that I gave charity to widow Tirpie? Why should I? +She is poor and deserving, I believe, and I gave to her as I hope I +should give to any other in like case, so long as I had it to give, +and the recipient appeared to need it.' + +'An' what was't ye gae her, sir? Was na't a note? It's braw crackin' +about _charity!_ an' a bawbee til a puir body, or aiblins a penny gin +ye haena the change is a godly ac'; but folk dinna part wi' their pund +notes that lichtly!' + +'I regret to observe, Peter, that my ministrations have made so little +impression on your memory. Let us hope my successor may be more blest. +Have you forgotten the words of David? "Shall I offer to the Lord of +that which cost me nothing?" Or of another, "Sell that which thou hast +and give to the poor?" The gift of the bawbee would show little +self-sacrifice in either you or me!' + +'Speak for yersel', sir! I hae muckle fash gatherin' the bawbees 'at +ye lichtly sae; an' I care na to waur mony o' them on a curran +feckless gowks, 'at suld be garred get for themsel's; but I'm thinkin' +it's the ither gate wi' you an' yer like--easy come easy gang. Arena +we a' payin' intil the Sustentation Fund? An' ye hae naething to do +but tak yer share, an' read yer books an' crack til's. My certie, but +it's a braw tred the preachin'! But I'm just winderin' hoo ye can +gar't gree wi' yer principles, 'at whan ye gie sae muckle, ye dinna +support mair the tred o' them 'at's contreebutin' to support yersel'! +We're no a' beggars i' Glen Effick, but gin a' body did as ye do, +there's Mester Prittie an' mysel micht tak t'ey beggin' afore lang for +a' the tred we'd do.' + +'As to that, Peter, we live in a free country. You take your Gospel in +any church you have a mind to, and no one has a right to gainsay your +choice; and so, also, my sister buys her groceries where she thinks +proper. As it happens, she continues, I believe, to buy them mostly in +Inverlyon, where her mother bought them before her. And as to the +people in the Glen having a claim to our custom, because they +contribute to the Sustentation Fund, and I am paid out of it, I can +only say that I distribute among them all I receive from that source, +and more, though I make no merit of it. I have lived on my own means +ever since I have been among you. My residence, however, is drawing to +an end. My physician warns me, it will be at the risk of my life if I +remain here during the winter. I have been unwilling to follow his +advice, believing it my duty to remain and labour while strength +lasted; but after this conversation and the state of feeling in the +parish which it betrays, I see clearly that all hope of usefulness for +me here is at an end, and so soon as I am sufficiently recovered, I +shall go. The discovery that such suspicions are entertained against +me, coming too so suddenly and unexpectedly, is deeply painful; but if +I am to suffer, it is a consolation to know that it is for my good +deeds, and not for evil. Saint Peter's words, which Mr. Geddie there +can point out to you, are my assured consolation.' + +'Ye maunna be thinkin', sir,' urged Ebenezer, somewhat overawed by the +bold front and indignant tone assumed by Roderick, whom he had +expected to see humbled in the dust, in tearful penitence, and for +whose benefit he had actually prepared a little speech full of +superior pity, to be delivered before taking leave, 'ye maunna be +thinkin' 'at there's nae evidence against ye but the pund note 'at +Peter there has traced. The first o't cam frae Inchbracken, I'm +thinkin', frae the very castle o' the persecutors; for the puir lass +gaes working up there whiles, I'm thinkin'. An', oh sir! but it was an +ill-faured trick o' ye, 'at ye wad expose our shame an' our nakedness +up yonder!--tellin't in Gath, as a body micht say, publishin' 't in +Askelon! An' ye beut to confess afore ye gang, sir, an' mak reparation +to the puir lass, an' syne ye an' her micht begin ower again, whaur ye +wisna kenned, an' ye micht do weel yet, afore ye dee!' + +'I must protest,' said Mr. Geddie, 'against removal out of the parish +at present! though it is only right that your ministrations should +cease. Brother Dowlas will have seen the Moderator of the Presbytery +ere now, and I doubt not a _pro re nata_ meeting is already called to +investigate this terrible _fama_. The case will be taken up forthwith, +and it would be a fleeing from discipline, which you are aware, my +poor brother, is a most serious ecclesiastical offence, were you to +remove yourself beyond the bounds. The law of the Church requires that +you should be tried and put to open shame, that your soul may be +saved. Accept the chastening in a fitting spirit. And oh! my brother! +confess! confess! if peradventure the publicity and the discredit +which it will bring upon the Church be averted!' + +Roderick rose to his feet. 'Enough! Mr. Geddie,' he said. 'I can +permit no more of this! I have told you how the innocent cause of this +misunderstanding came into my hands, and I cannot consent to hear my +statements treated as falsehood in my own study. I would say more, but +I know well that when you come at last to perceive the truth of the +case, there is no man living who will be more ashamed of his +acceptance of a preposterous calumny.' + +Mr. Geddie would have made still another heart-moving appeal to the +sinner to confess, but the Laird had risen, so too had Peter and +Ebenezer, and he found himself borne along to the door. With a last +great cry he raised his hands aloft, and as he crossed the threshold +he exclaimed--'Ephraim is joined to his idols! Let him alone!' + + + + + CHAPTER XXIX. + + _CONSULTATION_. + + +The Laird returned into the room with Roderick, and it was well that +he did so. But for his sturdy arm the young man would have fallen; +and, as it was, he dropped breathless and trembling into the nearest +chair. Weakened by his illness, the agitation had nearly overcome him, +and, but for the salutary presence of the Laird, might have found some +hysterical mode of relief. As it was, the pain in his side had +returned with renewed violence, he gasped for breath, and, with the +Laird's assistance, had to throw himself on his bed. + +He, who believed he had been striving after so lofty an ideal, who had +been leading, and as he fondly hoped with some success, the majority +of his flock towards the same high standard, to be thus cast down! +What must his walk and conversation really have been, notwithstanding +his approving conscience, that he should so lightly have been +suspected of such abominable hypocrisy and vulgar debauchery? He +groaned as he thought of it; his temples burned, and, despite the +presence of a stranger, the tears at last oozed abundantly through the +fingers which he had pressed against his eyes. + +The Laird flourished his large silk handkerchief, bepatterned over in +yellow and crimson like a small carpet. He coughed, he blew his nose +like a trumpet, and then he crumpled up the handkerchief and mopped +his eyelids in a very suspicious way. 'Hoots! Mr. Roderick!' he said, +while he laid his enormous paw as tenderly on the young man's forehead +as Mary might have done. 'Never mind, man! A set of born idiots! But +you answered them well, lad, and nobody with any sense that knows you +will care a snap o' the thumb for all their havers. Keep up your +heart, man! There's nobody whose good opinion is worth the having will +think a bit the worse of you. Just leave them alone, and if their +whole case does na fall to pieces like a girdless tub, my name's no +James Sangster! A set o' senseless pridefu' bodies! that dinna ken +which end o' them's uppermost for pure conceit!' + +Mary came in presently, and behind her was Captain Kenneth. He had +ridden over to enquire for his old friend Roderick (that was how he +worded it), and arrived just after the 'deputation' had been admitted +to the study. Mary received him, and led him for the present 'ben the +house,' where Eppie, and the baby, and herself were holding a little +conclave of their own. The conference in the adjoining room naturally +furnished a subject of conversation. Mary was indignant and bitter, +but not very precise; and Kenneth imagined that Roderick had become +unhinged in his theology, and was being set up as a mark to sling at +by all the orthodox in the parish, and expressed himself more freely +than reverently on polemical hair-splitting, even girding somewhat at +the Headship, the pet doctrine of the Free Church, but here Eppie's +patience broke down. + +'It's naething o' the kind, sir!' she cried; 'Mister Brown's as sound +as a bell on a' p'ints o' doctrine, an' nane has ever ventured to say +the contrar. It's a daftlike story o' ill livin' 'at they're wantin' +to pruive on him, an' they canna do 't, an' sae they hae come here til +himsel', to gar him confess an' save mair fash. I hae heard my granny +tellin' the gate they gaed to wark wi' the wutches lang syne, hoo they +garred them confess whether they wad or no, an' I'm thinkin' gin they +daured, they'd be for tryin' sic like on him. Drobbin' him wi' prins, +an' what no. But it's a terrible daftlike haver, an I'm thinkin', sir, +ye'll hae heard tell o't afore noo.' + +Captain Drysdale had not heard of it, but Eppie very speedily made him +acquainted with the whole story, while Mary and the baby were out +looking at his horse tethered to a post hard by. + +Kenneth's entrance brought composure alike to Roderick and the Laird, +both from necessitating more self-control, and also from the +satisfaction of seeing that not quite all the world had turned their +backs on him. Roderick could not speak above a whisper, but the Laird +gave a very full account of the late visitation. + +'There is one point, Captain Drysdale,' he added after a lengthy +narrative, 'on which you may be able to throw light. One of the points +they made against him was that this story of his exploits had +originally come from Inchbracken.' + +'I cannot imagine how that could be. Ah!' he added after a pause, 'it +must be one of my uncle's heavy jokes! I do remember, now I think of +it, his telling us how he had met Roderick carrying home a baby, and +the clumsy joke he made over it. You know my uncle is a very good +fellow, but he can scarcely be called a wit, though he would vastly +like to be thought one, and when by any chance he has struck out some +little smartness he _will_ repeat it till every one for ten miles +round has heard it. I remember it perfectly now, and Tibbie Tirpie's +name got into the conversation about that same time somehow, and so +the servants combined the two. Oh, Rod! He will be so awfully sorry. +But this poor little baby who has been the innocent cause of all the +annoyance. Such a pretty little thing it is too! How did you come by +it?' + +Roderick was lying on the bed, calmer now, and soothed by the friendly +sympathy of his two friends, but his voice was weak and the pain in +his side made speaking irksome. He looked to Mary, and she repeated to +Kenneth the story of the shipwreck and the finding of the baby. + +'And what was the name of the ship?' asked Kenneth; 'was that ever +discovered? To know it would be the first step towards finding out who +the child belongs to, and after all the annoyance it has brought, you +would no doubt be glad to restore it to its lawful guardians.' + +'Indeed, then, we shall be very sorry to part with it. It is the +dearest little thing in the world. I should cry my eyes out if it were +taken from us, I do believe. The sweet little pet! And it is so +wonderfully pretty. No doubt of its gentle birth, poor little waif! To +think it has not a relation in the world!' + +'And the name of the ship was?' + +'We saw the ship's name in the _Witness_ the following week. 'The Maid +of Cashmere,' was it not, Roddie?' + +Roderick nodded. + +'That,' said Kenneth, 'was the name of the ship in which my poor +friend Jack Steele lost his wife. He is Major in the Dourgapore Light +Cavalry, and they are not two years married yet. They were both to +have come home in her, but a week before sailing his leave was +cancelled, owing to a threatened rising in the Mahratta country. His +wife was ordered home by the doctors, who said her only chance of life +was the sea voyage, so she sailed alone with a child only a week or +two old, I believe, and the nurse. Poor things! both were lost. After +making the voyage round the Cape in safety, to be lost upon the Scotch +coast, within a few hours of home! Was it not sad? The Mahratta alarm +died out as fast as it arose; and six weeks after Mrs. Steele had +sailed, Jack was able to set out himself. He knew nothing of the +disaster till he reached his father's house in Edinburgh, and you may +suppose what a shock it was to him. He arrived at home just three +weeks after his wife's funeral. His, you see, had been a quick +passage, while the ship his wife sailed in was considerably overdue +before the wreck occurred. Poor fellow! when he asked for his wife and +child, and why they had not come to meet him, you may suppose how +terrible it was; they had nothing to show him but his wife's grave, +and the shock nearly killed him. He was in bed for three weeks after +it, and is only able to creep about now. The old judge took to his bed +after his daughter-in-law's funeral, so you may suppose the dismal +house it was. Jack is an only child, and the old man had set his heart +on having a grandchild, and he was cut up in a way you would not think +possible, if you had ever seen the hard grim way he has of dealing out +justice to offenders. It appears that the child was not born till a +fortnight before Mrs. Steele sailed, and that the letter announcing +that Jack and his wife were going home was posted before its birth; +and so the old people did not know they had a grandchild till Jack's +letters, written after his wife had sailed, reached them. They did not +know of its existence, in fact, till after they were assured of its +death, but the poor old lady cries and laments, I am told, over +this--I must call it an imaginary bereavement (for she had never seen +or even heard of the little thing till after its death) as bitterly as +if it were a child of her own she had lost. The body of this child, +too, has never been found; and they say it has been a great +aggravation of poor Jack's grief, to think what may have become of it. +How old would you suppose your baby to be, Mary? Would it not be +strange if it turned out to be Jack's little daughter?' + +'We saw in the _Witness_ that Lord Briarhill and Mrs. Steele had gone +to Inverlyon and claimed their daughter-in-law and took the body back +with them to Edinburgh; and we advertised in the Witness that we had +picked up an infant apparently washed ashore from the wreck, but no +one took any notice, and we have not had a single enquiry.' + +'It might still be quite possible, nevertheless, that your little +foundling is the Steeles' lost baby. The old judge was bearing the +loss of his daughter-in-law, I understand, with very proper +resignation. He had never seen her, so that there was no room for +personal grief or deep feeling, beyond what the melancholy manner of +her death must necessarily call forth, and sympathy for his son. But +the next mail brought letters which mentioned the birth of the child, +and its having accompanied its mother on the homeward voyage, and +then they say the poor old man was completely overcome--took to his +bed--and the old lady sat beside him and cried by the hour. As for +Jack, he was like one out of his mind when they told him, and he has +been very ill since. His oldest friends dare scarcely intrude on him +yet; he is so badly cut up. By and bye he will want a change, and I +have asked him to come to Inchbracken for a few weeks.' + +'And do you think then that he ought to be told about our little waif! +I quite dread to tell any one about it now lest he should claim it, +and I cannot bear to think of losing our pretty plaything.' + +'Surely he ought to be told, if there is the smallest possibility of +its being his own child; and if you like, Roderick, I will relieve you +of that duty. In your present health you will probably not be sorry to +avoid unnecessary letter-writing.' + +Roderick nodded. + +'I fear, Captain Drysdale,' interrupted the Laird, 'that is to say if +a stranger can judge correctly in the matter, you will find it rather +a difficult piece of news to break to this Major Steele. Do you think +the probability of the child being his is sufficiently strong to +justify you in subjecting him to the dreadful disappointment that +would follow, if it proves not to be his after all? It appears to me +scarcely warrantable to raise hopes which, if unfounded, will cause a +disappointment more cruel than was the original loss. If I might +suggest, I would urge very great caution.' + +'I see what you mean, Mr. Sangster, but how are we to avoid it? Nobody +in this country has ever seen the child or could identify it but +himself, and surely it is due both to him and the child that he should +be informed of its history, if there be even the slightest possibility +of his being its father.' + +'Undoubtedly, but did you not say just now that you expected him to +visit you at Inchbracken very shortly? Might it not be well to wait +till then before saying anything to him whatever? It could then be +mentioned to him carefully and gradually. Any clothing of the child +that he might perhaps recognize, or even the child itself might be +shown him, and then its story could be told. That would spare him the +misery of suspense, and the possibility of disappointment; whereas if +you write, the man will order post horses at once, and set out to +investigate your story. Think of his impatience and suspense as he +sits in the post chaise, thinking and thinking about it till he grows +giddy. It will be twenty-four or perhaps thirty-six hours from the +time he gets your letter till he can reach Glen Effick. He may fret +himself into a fever in that time. You say he has been ill already, +and he will be sure of a relapse if the child turns out not to be +his.' + +'I believe you are right, Mr. Sangster. I will merely write and urge +him to come as early as possible. The season for shooting and visitors +is about over, and he may be as quiet as he likes.' + +'And are you really going to leave us, Mr. Roderick? asked the Laird. +'I remarked your saying so to Mr. Geddie, and was really tickled at +his unwillingness to let you go away, even while he would not let you +stay in the Church. That man would have made a fine grand inquisitor +if he had been born in a Catholic country.' + +Roderick smiled, and answered in a low voice--'He is a good man, and +very zealous. But it is quite true. If he had lived two centuries ago +he would have wanted to burn every one who saw things differently from +himself, and he would have thought he did God service in burning them. +He thinks if he is right every body who differs from him must be +wrong. He does not comprehend toleration, and he has no common sense. +As my father would have said--"he wants a wife!" if only to teach him +that there is a world of daily providence and common things, as well +as the world of doctrines and theologies he lives in. But he is a +worthy creature!' 'Yes!' he continued, still almost in a whisper. 'We +shall go south--Ventnor or Torquay--for the winter. I shall write to +enquire at once; but I am not fleeing from discipline, Mr. Sangster! I +shall appoint an agent to protect my interests before the Presbytery.' + +'Then,' said Mary, 'might we not stop over in Edinburgh, and show +Major Steele the baby?' + +'I did not propose to take it with us. Supposing Major Steele is +unable to recognise it, it would have to come back here and raise more +talk; and I fear we should not know what to do with it during our +travels if we carried it south, so I think we shall have to leave it +here with Eppie for the winter.' + +The tears stood in Mary's eyes. 'Oh, Roderick,' she said, 'I shall be +so sorry to part with it.' + +'Could you not remain too, Mary?' whispered Kenneth. + +Mary coloured and shook her head, but a smile peeped from her eyes in +a passing glance, which effectually dissipated the threatening shower. +'I shall look out poor baby's chain, and the things she was picked up +in, and give them to you to show Major Steele. So mind you come for +them before we go.' + + + + + CHAPTER XXX. + + _TIBBIE'S TROUBLES_. + + +Elspeth Macaulay sat in her doorway and basked in the autumn sun +repining, and browning herself like the hazel nuts in the adjoining +thicket, which, like herself, were hard of shell, though sweet and +sound of heart when you could reach it,--and wrapped in thin wrinkled +leathery husks, not far different from the withered parchment which +served her aged bones for a fleshly covering. She was very old, but +her eye had not grown dim, and her bodily force had not abated. She +lived all alone in her shieling perched high on a steep brae looking +down the glen, but she felt quite able to do for herself, and carried +her eggs and butter to market as blythely as the youngest. The hearth +within was clean swept, and the turf on it burned brightly; while the +oaten cakes toasting before it diffused a nutty fragrance through the +house. As Elspeth sat knitting her stocking and looking down the glen +extended beneath her, she spied a white mutch on the highroad wending +towards her. Presently it reached the 'slap' in the stone and divot +dyke, where the footpath leading to her own residence debouched on the +road. The wearer of the mutch passed through the slap and proceeded to +thread the upward path. + +'Preserve us a'!' she muttered to herself, 'wha's this? It's no mony +comes in as they gae by to see Elspeth noo a days! I'se fesh out the +kebbock, it looks hearty. An' there's few comes to pree't noo. Na! na! +They're a' yardet maist, my cronies, by noo. An' them 'at's t'ey fore +yet's ower dottle to travel that far! I'm no wantin' the young +gomerals either, 'at stuffs their head i' bannets, an' thinks to be +mista'en for their betters! But here's a decent auld wife 'at's no +abune wearin' a mutch like her mither 'at gaed afore her.' + +The huge cheese was produced from the awmry, the toasting cakes turned +before the fire, and Elspeth was back in her place before the guest +had mounted the brae. + +'An' is that yersel', Tibbie Tirpie?' she presently exclaimed as the +wearer of the mutch, slowly mounting, began to raise her head over the +edge where the hill slid down out of sight. 'Hoo's wi' ye, woman? I'm +blythe to get a sicht o' ye.' + +'An hoo's yoursel', Elspeth! Hech sirs! But that's a stey brae for +auld folk! It's braw when ye're up, but it's a sair job to clim't.' + +The two old women partook of the cheer provided; after that they took +snuff together, and then they settled themselves in the sunshine for +their 'crack.' Elspeth's walking powers were not what they had been, +and she had not been present at the ceremonies of the day before, so +there was much for Tibbie to tell. Both of them would have been +classed, I fear, as 'of the world,' by the more devout. Kirks and +preachings were not by any means to them the most important matters in +life, still they were the news of the day, and, as such, interesting. + +'An' what said our ain young minister himsel', Tibbie?' inquired +Elspeth at last, after all the fine things said by the others had been +duly discussed. + +'Hoot, woman! He wasna there ava. Did ye no ken he was lyin'? an' rael +ill. I winder Jean didna tell ye that! For it was Mistress Sangster, +the folk's tellin', 'at cam near giein' him his death. Ye see they +gaed stravaigin' ower the hills, an' what suld come ower my leddy but +she maun coup in a burn! Up comes the minister to pu' her out, and a +sair job he'd hae fand it at the best, for she's a muckle hefty wife; +but the daft auld rinketer, whan ance she'd gotten a grip o' him, she +gied a screech an' a fling, an' pu'ed him in ower aside her, an' baith +gat a sair drookin', an' a wamefu' o' cauld water. Aweel! Stephen +Boague's wife, she dried the claes o' my leddy, an' she's nae waur; +but the puir minister beut to gang hame as he was--a' drouket--an' +he's gotten a sair host 'at's like to be the death o' him.' + +'Puir chield! The cauld water he drank was ower strong for him. I +ne'er thocht muckle o' that for a drink mysel'. It wants whusky peuten +til't, to gar't lie licht on the staumick. But if a' folk says be +true, it's het water he's gotten amang noo! honest man. Think ye he'll +thole that better nor the cauld?' with a sidelong glance which was not +observed. + +'I ken there's daft-like clashes rinnin' round, but I ne'er mind them. +There's folk 'at maun aye be blatherin' some gate. But he's a gude +man, I'll say! an' a worthy son o' the gude auld minister 'at gaed +afore him.' + +'An' ye think it's lees the folk's tellin' about him?' with a +quizzical smile. Elspeth had heard all the rumours, and after a +lengthened experience of her fellow-creatures, she was disposed to +credit all she heard against any of them, without thinking much the +worse of them for merely being found out, which she supposed to be the +only difference between them and their accusers; but it was a tempting +amusement to prod Tibbie on the subject of these reports, and to hover +about the edge of what must not be said to a friend or a guest. + +'I'll believe naething on Mester Brown till there's pruif for't! He's +a gude lad, an' a free-handet as I hae cause to ken.' + +'Ay! What is't ye ken, Tibbie?' + +'Aweel! he has gien me siller like the fine gentleman he is! An' me no +seekin't frae him either.' + +'An' hoo was that, Tibbie?' + +'He heard tell I was a lanesome widdie an' no weel aff, an' he cam to +speer after me. An' he out wi' his siller an' gied it til me, an' me +no seekin't, mind! An' no the gate ye wad fling a bawbee til a beggar, +or a bane til a dug; but just like's he was a man, an' me a woman made +o' flesh an' bluid like himsel'.' + +'Ay? But wha's yon wi' Jean, coming danderin' alang at this time o' +day. I maun gie that lassie a bit o' my mind about a' this +galavantin'. We'll be haein' the folk's tongues waggin' after _her_ +next,' with a mischievous glance at Tibbie; but the latter's eyes were +fixed on Jean's companion. + +'She's a gude bairn, Jean,' Elspeth went on, 'an' rael mindfu' o' her +granny. There's ane o' my kye like to gang frae her milk, an' I can do +naething wi' her, but Jean's a grand milker, an' she comes ower ilka +day an' milks the puir beast hersel'. I'm thinkin', yon chield's +comin' up here wi' her, an' if it's no that auld sneckdrawer Joseph +Smiley! I'm thinkin' we'll be for haein' a waddin' here afore lang; +but gin I was Jean, it's no a shilpet auld tike like yon wad be the +lad, an' mair to wale amang. But it's Jean's waddin' ye see an' no +mine, sae she beut to wale her ain ground; an' gin she brews gude +yale, she'll drink the better. But sit ye still!' + +Tibbie was rising to go. 'It's time I was hame,' she said. 'But I'll +gie a look till yer coo afore I gang. Ye ken I'm skilly on kye! or sae +the Inchbracken folk thinks. Bide still an' hae yer crack wi' Jean. +I'se find my road t'ey byre mysel'!' + +Tibbie's wrath was aflame against Joseph. She dared not trust herself +in his presence, with Elspeth and Jean for audience or chorus in the +scene that might follow, so she stole off to the byre before the young +people could reach the brow of the hill. Their eyes having been +engrossed with each other, they had not observed her while they were +still at a distance, and Joseph was not aware how near she was, or his +heart would have failed him. + +Tibbie placed herself conveniently to overhear the conversation, and +as usual with eavesdroppers, heard little that could gratify her +feelings. + +'Behave yersel', Joseph Smiley,' were the first words that reached her +ear, spoken with energy, 'or I'se gar yer lugs dirl! Ye muckle calf! +I'se hae nane o' yer slaverin' an' kissin', sae stand aff! Wha gae ye +the last ane til, I winder?' + +'I gae the last til yer ain bonny sel' last nicht, Jean. Think ye I'd +let ony body--' + +'Ye leein' rascal! Tak ye that!' followed by a resounding crack, as +though a palm and a cheek had come in violent contact. + +'Od, woman! That's sair!' + +'I'se gie ye a harder skelp nor that next time, sae mind yer tongue!' + +There were sounds of scuffling after this, but eventually they were +calmed by Elspeth's. + +'Whisht, bairns! Behave yersels! Ye kenna wha micht be hearkenin'. An' +what's yer news, Joseph? Hae ye nae cracks to divert a lane auld body, +forby daffin' wi' Jean? Is there naething steerin' e'y glen ava?' + +'There's plenty steerin', granny! Muckle din, but aiblins little 'oo, +as the dei'l said whan he scrapit the soo.' + +'Mind what ye're sayin', Joseph Smiley! She's no' _your_ granny, she's +mines; an' what's mair, gin ye dinna talc yersel' up, she'll ne'er be +yours ava! Sae dinna let yer tongue wag ower soople!' + +'Be quiet, Jean, ye fechtin' hempie, an' let the man speak! I'm juist +wearyin' to hear the news. An' what's a' the din for, Joseph?' + +'It's just about the minister an' his bairn, an' his carryin's on +amang the lasses.' + +'Ay? An' is't a' true, think ye?' + +'Wha kens? The lad's but young yet, an' the lass is no that ill +faured. The Kirk Session's taen't up, an' the Presbytery, an' there'll +be sair wark afore a''s dune.' + +'An' what'll be dune wi' them, think ye, Joseph?' + +'Oo! The minister '11 be peuten oot, nae doubt o' that, gin a' 'at's +said be true. An' the puir quine, she beut to be sotten e'y cuttie +stule, an' be rebuket afore the hale congregation. Hech! but it's weel +for Angus Tirpie he's no t'ey fore this day to see his dochter come to +sic shame. An' I'm wae for the lass hersel'. There's naebody wud hae +thocht it o' her; but she's a randie auld tinkler yon mither o' her's, +an' it's sma' winder 'at them she had the guidin' o' suld come to +harm.' + +Tibbie clenched her teeth, and seized a heather besom leaning near +her. She could scarcely contain herself, and would gladly have broken +the slanderer's head; but the women, his companions, would be sure to +side with him either by words or blows, seeing it was but another +woman's character that was in question! And then the after-talk in the +glen! Naturally she heard less than other people, but still she had a +candid friend or two, as who has not? and the averted looks of the +neighbours when she appeared gave full confirmation of all the candid +friends had to say. She dared not furnish new food for talk. Turning +round, she hurried away, choosing a path which sheltered her from the +view of Elspeth and the rest, and vowing bitter vengeance on Joseph +Smiley's treacherous head. + +Home she hurried with panting speed. Her perturbed mind deprived of +other utterance, vented itself in tumultuous motion, and by the time +she reached her cottage she was comparatively calm. She unlocked her +door, entered, revived her fire, and sat down to meditate on revenge: +but not for long. As Mr. Geddie and his companions were coming out +from their interview with Roderick, Tibbie was passing homewards. +Ebenezer, discontented with the result of their mission, and +foreboding diminished honour at his own fireside from her who acted +Little Conscience there, and had kept him to his duty through years of +wedded life, with the whipcracks of her stinging tongue,--Ebenezer saw +her, and proposed that they should follow her home, and 'deal' with +her as they had meant to do when they visited her earlier in the day. +Mr. Geddie consented, 'and I take it as a token for good,' he added, +'that we have seen her returning home at the very time we had given up +hope of being able to find her.' + +It was not long, therefore, before Tibbie's meditations were +interrupted by the entrance of the inquisitors. They saluted her but +briefly, and seated themselves on such chairs and stools as appeared, +without waiting for much invitation, and disregarding Tibbie's enquiry +of 'What's yer wull?' Mr. Geddie opened his book, lifted up his voice +and held forth. It was a discourse on the vanity of concealment in the +matter of sin, and an exhortation to confession as some measure of +atonement, and the first step to repentance. Having concluded, he +fixed his eyes on her and sat waiting to see what effect his words +would have on her moral nature. Apparently they had none. + +'Do you know, my woman, what brings us here today?' + +'The very thing I hae been wantin' ye to tell me.' + +'Where is your daughter?' + +'What's yer wyll wi' my dochter?' + +'Behave yersel', Tibbie Tirpie!' said Peter. 'Ye're no blate to speak +that gate til a gentleman far less a minister.' + +'I see little signs o' the _gentleman!_ Stappin' richt in ower o' my +house, an' never wi' yer leave, gude wife,' an' just settin' himsel' +down, an' syne t'ey preaching'! Wad ye daar noo, my birkie, to stap +that gate intil my Leddy Drysdale's parlour? I'm no thinkin' 't! Do ye +think a puir body maun aye be like a cadger's tike, 'at ilka gowk can +gie the ither kick til? An' then ne'er venture to bite? Gin I had mair +siller, ye wad tak mair tent! An' as for my dochter, just mind what +ye're after! gin ye daar say an ill word o' her I'se hae ye up afore +the Shirra, an' I'se hae there twa freends o' yours for witnesses +against ye. I hae some notion o' the ill tales they hae been tellin' +through the glen, an' I'se gar them swear afore the Shirra against ye +for the very tales they hae telled ye themsel's, sae tak ye tent! Them +'at lie doon wi' dugs, rise up wi' fleas! An' it's little worth +company ye hae been keepin', for a' their holy sough an' their lang +faces. They'll rin round spyin' an' keekin' intil ilka kale-pat but +their ain. (It's no in Mig Prittie's kale-pat 'at Ebenezer there daar +stick his neb, I'm thinkin'). An' syne they rin round wi' a curran +clashes, swallin' ilka gowk's head wi' their clavers. But gin they +dinna gie ower prankin' wi' my gude name an', my dochter's, I'se gie +them something they're no lookin' for, an' they'll wuss they had +steiket their jaws afore they meddled wi' Tibbie Tirpie!' + +Wull ye no' whisht, an' hear til the man o' God? ye rantin' auld +tinkler!' cried Peter. 'Ye hae a tongue 'at wad clip clouts!' + +An' ye hae a conscience like a mill-door, for a' yer whingin',' +retorted Tibbie, grown louder at the interruption. It wad set yer man +o' God better nor bautherin' a puir auld wife, gin he wad dale wi' +_you_. Wi' yer saul, I mean, for he'll better leave the shop alane. +Echtpence the pund for saand frae the burn-side, is ower dear to pay, +an' I hae coosten the last sugar at echtpence I gat frae ye t'ey hens! +It's no fit meat for christian folk!' + +'Ye jad! But whaur gat _ye_ the siller to be buyin' sugar? That's +just what we're comin' til!' + +'I cam by't honest, an' that's mair nor ye can say for yer pose e'y +savin's bank.' + +'It was the waages o' sin, Tibbie, yon siller! an' that ye ken.' + +'I tak you twa men to witness, what Peter Malloch has said! an' I'se +hae the law o' him! An' there's plenty witness e'y glen forby, whan +the time comes!' + +'Alas! alas! poor woman!' cried Mr. Geddie, 'you are sinning with the +high hand and brazening out your iniquity. Confession would better +become you, and repentance, and public penitence before the church, +for the public scandal you have brought on it.' + +'Ay! an' the cuttie stule for them baith,' ejaculated Peter as he made +for the door, for Tibbie was reaching up for her porridge-stick on the +shelf, and an onslaught seemed imminent. The other two followed +without the ceremony of leave-taking, further 'dealing' with the +enraged old woman, being manifestly out of the question. Slowly and +disappointedly they wended back to the village, while Tibbie stood out +in the road before her cottage shaking her fist and scolding at the +top of her voice. Doubtless she had reason; but the wind caught up her +words as they flew, and they never reached the ears of her retreating +enemies. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXI. + + _A CATECHIST_. + + +Mr. Geddie parted from his companions in the village, and finding he +had missed the Laird, set forth on a solitary walk back to Auchlippie. +It had been but a sorry day's work, with much that was painful in its +course, and no good done to show for it. He sighed as he passed in the +waning light the remembered landmarks of the morning, and recalled the +very different state of feeling in which he had then remarked them. +The light had faded in himself as well as in the sky overhead. Then, +was he not going forth in his might? a Gideon in armour to vanquish +the armies of the aliens? or Ithuriel, perhaps, his bright pinions +flashing in the sun, the long sharp spear of truth in his hand, +gleaming like a star, and ready to pierce through sin and falsehood? +Now it was different. The spear was blunted or had lost its point, the +wings hung limp and useless from his shoulders, and the feathers were +all in disarray, like some poor game-bird worsted in the fight, or +caught in heavy rain; the gay plumage draggled pitifully and dim, the +neck and tail, that erst stood so erect, now drooping and forlorn in +wisps of humiliation. The day had faded and the sun had gone down. It +was a new chapter added to his ministerial experience. Alas, for the +persistency of the besotted human heart in sin, and its callous +insensibility to words in season, spoken in love and faithfulness. +Mankind must be wickeder even than he had thought, and he had been +taught to believe in their total depravity. It never occurred to him +that there might be some mistake. The accusers comprised nearly the +whole body of office-bearers in the church--the excellent of the +earth, men with the same 'views' and shibboleths as himself; and +more than that, most attentive hearers and great admirers of his +preaching--the strongest possible proof in favour of their credibility +and soundness of judgment. He felt fully justified in adopting their +suspicions and accepting them as certainties--facts either already +established or about to be proved, and then with the characteristic +tenacity of the clerical mind, he held them fast. It was true that +this accused brother had hitherto led an exemplary life, that, +refusing opportunities of greater ease and emolument, he had declined +to be a candidate for more than one city charge, and that his life in +the parish had hitherto been an almost apostolic example of all the +charities and virtues; still, to err was human; and had not the most +conspicuous saints been permitted at times, (doubtless for wise +purposes and the good of their souls, in saving them from spiritual +pride), to fall into grievous sin? 'Humanly speaking,' and 'to the eye +of sense,' the man's whole walk and conversation' stamped the charge +with improbability. But what was that to the theologian equipped at +all points to contend with error? The doctrine of total depravity +removed all difficulty on that point, and the more improbable from a +mere worldly point of view, the more likely it became when attributed +to a wile of the enemy. He felt that his erring brother must have been +over confident, hence his fall. Still it was a new view of total +depravity, and an appalling one, that it should have been able to +withstand his preaching. He went over in his mind all the telling +things he had said, and considered how they might have been +intensified, but he found that he could have added little to their +force. And yet all had been in vain. His words had fallen like drops +of rain on the flinty hardness of that obdurate heart, and failed of +any effect. It was a bitter experience, but he resolved to profit by +it, and as he went along he thought over the heads for a discourse to +backsliders, in which this sad incident should be introduced, and +might perhaps even turn to good in the end, if it warned some wayward +sheep to retrace his steps. + +Thus meditating, Mr. Geddie beguiled the time away. He had come within +sight of Auchlippie gate, whence Joseph Smiley was issuing at that +moment, and coming towards him. Joseph descried his reverence +simultaneously, and prepared for an interview by passing his sleeve +across his lips. 'I wuss he mayna be findin' out the dram on me,' he +muttered to himself; but added reassuringly--'Hoot, no! They're +glaiket bodies thae ministers! They wadna ken their ain parritch gin +ye didna haud the spune fornent their nebs.' + +'Well, my friend!' said Mr. Geddie, with outstretched hand and a +condescending smile. 'I am glad to have another opportunity of +speaking to you. That was a very sad meeting at which I saw you give +your evidence yesterday--a sad and a humbling investigation!' + +'Hech, sir, an' it was a' that. Terrible backslidings were na they, +sir? But ye see, sir, it's just the flesh 'at's sae weak. We canna a' +houpe to be strong in the word, an' able to resist, sir, as _ye_ can, +an' sae there's aye some o' 's gettin' a tum'le.' + +'I fear, my friend, I must not venture to rejoice in my strength,' +replied the minister, much gratified, and smiling with pensive +radiance, as one who, after long neglect, is appreciated at last. 'It +is humility alone that can hope to pass scatheless along the seductive +paths of life.' + +'Deed ay, sir. Let him 'at thinks he's stan'in' tak tent he dizna fa', +says Scripter. We're but puir craeters! That's me an' my likes, I +mean, sir. As for a godly minister an' a powerfu' preacher, wha's +praise is in a' the churches, I wadna venture to say the like o' him.' + +'I fear we are all alike, Joseph! (is not that your name?) said Mr. +Geddie, slowly shaking his head, and blushing with pleasure so far as +his drab and yellow complexion would allow. 'I fear we are all alike,' +he repeated, still toying with the sweet morsel before he swallowed +it. + +'Ou ay, sir! Dawvit was a man, an' sae was Sant Paul! A man of like +paussions, an' sae aiblins a body micht ventur to say o' yersel'; but +it's terrible odds atween the likes o' ye, an' hiz 'at's creepin' on +wur bellies, as I may say, just worms o' the dust!' + +'Alas! alas! Joseph, there are no exceptions! Just look at the unhappy +man who has created so sad a scandal in this very parish!' + +'Nae doubt, sir, an' I'm wae to think o't. But after a' he's but +young--an' he's no ordeened--an' ye ken, sir, his faither was a +moderate! That maks a terrible odds! What says Scripter? "The faithers +hae aeten soor grapes," (gye an' like the grosets, I'm thinkin', afore +they're just ripe), an the bairns' teeth is set on edge. (I see na sae +weel what that means, but I'm thinkin' it's just 'at it gars their +rotten teeth dirl). An' again the sins o' the faithers on the children +til the third an' fourth generation. Hech, sirse! It's weel for me my +granny wasna a moderate! an' as for my faither, I ne'er heard tell o' +him.' + +'Yes, Joseph! (I believe I am right in calling you Joseph?) But you +have a fine lively knowledge of Scripture, and I think--I hope--I may +almost say I am sure, from what I have seen, that the root of the +matter is in you. Now, my friend, would you not like to come forward +openly, to take a plainer, bolder, stronger, nobler stand for the +truth? Does not your heart burn within you? when you see this glen and +other glens too, my brother, there are so many other glens, given over +to sin and worldliness, or it may be to moderatism--as soul-destroying +an error as any of them. Does not your heart burn within you? And do +you not feel constrained to cry aloud--"Here am I, send me?" To put it +to you in plainer, if less moving words, how would you like to be a +catechist?' + +Joseph's heart did indeed burn at the suggestion, though not perhaps +exactly in the sense intended by Mr. Geddie. It had been promotion for +him when he was made beadle and appointed to carry the great Bible up +and down the pulpit stairs,--a ministrant, and in his own opinion an +essential one, in all the public functions of religion; and he loved +to skip about among the hushed and reverent worshippers, showing one +where he might sit, and admonishing another to behave. But what was +all that to being a catechist? which was 'the next door,' as he told +himself, 'to a minister a' thegither;' not merely to go up the pulpit +stairs, but to go into the pulpit and sit down, while future beadles +would meekly follow, and close the pulpit door behind his reverence. +It was too delightful! An utterly beatific vision! He had just parted +from Jean Macaulay, and his mind had been full of schemings how to +secure her for a wife. But would Jean make a help-meet for a +catechist? Even with Elspeth's croft and her savings, he feared Jean +would scarcely be equal to that higher sphere; and before even he had +replied to Mr. Geddie, he had almost made up his mind that she would +not suit. + +'Aweel, sir! there's nae misdoubtin' but it wad be a preevilege to be +layin' out the truith afore the neglecket puir. But whaur was't ye was +wantin't for?' + +'There is a neglected district along the coast, where the people are +too poor to support a minister; but yet they should not be left a prey +to Erastianism, and it has been proposed to send some pious man to +labour among them who would read to them and talk to them, enlighten +them on Free Church principles, and address them occasionally. How +would the work suit you? And would you like to give it a trial?' + +'Aweel sir! I wad like weel to be direckin' the puir bodies the gate +they suld gang. An' what's the waages, sir? Or I'm thinkin' I hae +heard tell it's saalary ye ca' a catechist's pay, being mair +honorable.' + +'About thirty pounds a-year we think we could raise. You would live +among them, of course, and you would find it a most interesting and +constant employment. I should think for an earnest and active man like +you it would be the very thing.' + +'But thirty pound the year's no twal shilling e'y week, an' the folk +ye say's puir, an' gin a man gaed out an' in amang them, he beut to +help them whiles wi' siller. I see na hoo yer catechist cud do't at +the price.' + +'Think on the privilege, Joseph! And if you do well no doubt we will +be able to find higher work for you.' + +'Ay! But a man canna just eat an' drink his preevileges, an' he canna +sell them for siller to buy shune! I'm but a bederal, sir, but week +out an' week in, it 's liker twunty shillin's, what I can mak atween +that an' my tred.' + +'Well! we must think it over, Joseph, and you can write to me what you +think you could undertake the work for, and we'll consider how much we +can give. Mr. Sangster! I am so sorry to have missed you, but I +understood you had gone home.' + +'I have been waiting for you at the inn for an hour past. Never mind! +get in now.' + +The Laird in his gig had driven up during the negotiation with the +proposed catechist. He now caught up Mr. Geddie, and left Joseph in +the middle of the road to pursue his reflections. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXII. + + _CHANGES_. + + +Three weeks passed after the sitting of the Congregational Council +which had agreed that there was a 'fama clamosa' in the parish. The +Presbytery had sat with closed doors to consider the case. It had +adjourned, and met again to further consider, decide, and order under +the circumstances. Enquiry into the facts, and such like trifles, +would come later, when the evidence for the prosecution was matured. +Clearly there could be no defence until there was an indictment, a +defence in its very nature being a reply; and until the thesis of +accusation could be formulated, there was nothing to reply to. +Wherefore Mr. Brown could not be heard either in person or through his +friends at this early stage of the proceedings. Still he was +suspected, though not formally accused; and, although he possessed the +common right of all men to be deemed innocent till found guilty, he +was by no means in the position of an innocent man. The immortal +interests of the Free Church adherents in the Parish of Kilrundle were +at stake, and could by no means be left for a single day exposed to +the influence of a perhaps improper person. He had been notified to +discontinue his duties till further notice, and another young man had +been sent to fill his place, as well as (but these were his private +instructions from the leaders and wire-pullers who guided the +Presbytery's movements) to act as amateur detective in ferreting out +evidence for the prosecution, which, singularly enough, was yet too +defective to warrant bringing the case into court. + +There is no power like a democracy for precipitate and arbitrary +action. The units composing it so fully realize their authority, and +so like to exercise it; while, being many, and co-ordinate, they have +little or no sense of individual responsibility. They propose, vote, +and order, each in obedience to his individual whim or impulse, and +imagine that they are doing great things; but it is the body +corporate, the official abstraction, which is left to bear the blame +when justice or policy miscarry. In this respect, if in no other, the +one-man power has the advantage, the king or bishop is personally +identified with each transaction of his reign, and when a failure +occurs he feels himself personally discredited; he has therefore the +strongest incentive to walk circumspectly, that he may not have +hereafter to retrace his steps, while with popular assemblies, a +reversal of policy or a change of front is immaterial, so long as the +majority has its way. + +Roderick, therefore, being suspected, was now placed under a vigorous +taboo--boycotted we would have called it thirty-five years later, but +boycotted under a wisely modified form. Ebenezer Prittie or Peter +Malloch would still have been happy to sell him all they had in their +shops,--at a proper advance on cost--seeing that the coin of an +excommunicate is no worse than other people's, and money, however come +by, is 'all right,' as Vespasian found out long ago. There was no +fear, therefore, of his being starved out so long as he continued able +to buy. But intercourse with his parishioners had come to an end. Some +few were veritably unwilling to have dealings with iniquity, but the +majority dared not offend public opinion by appearing to hold +communication with him; and these secretly knowing the shakiness of +their own principles were the loudest in denouncing any one who should +venture to approach the Browns, thereby contributing much of the +strength of that public opinion which tyrannized over themselves. The +only exceptions were Roderick's pensioners. These, defying the +censorious, presented themselves in shy and deprecatory fashion +(deprecatory alike to the offended righteous without, and to the +indignant and maligned within), each as his pay-day came round. The +money had become an established item in their income, which those who +disapproved would assuredly not make good; wherefore, they felt +constrained to revisit the flesh pots. After all, even if the worst +were true, what was it but a spoiling of the Egyptians? A perfectly +allowable, perhaps a praiseworthy act, which Moses himself had +suggested, and even recommended to the chosen people of old. They took +the money, therefore, in defiance of such as shook their heads, and, +finding it retained its old purchasing power, were none the worse. + +The days dragged wearily along for Roderick and his sister. October, +which began in summer sunshine, relieved but not chilled by bracing +airs, was waning in cloud and gloom; dull foggy days of rain, or windy +tempests ending in early frosts. The sick room was close and damp. The +ruddier the blaze upon the hearth, the stronger the flavour of mould +and damp drawn out from the oozy walls and cold clay floor. The +chamber would grow close but never warm, and the capacious chimney +seemed powerless for ventilation, and served only as an escape for the +heat. After undergoing the visitation of Mr. Geddie and his +companions, Roderick had had a return of his more serious symptoms. +Indignation and outraged feelings sent the blood boiling in stormy +tumult through his veins, and he was not weak enough to obtain the +relief of tears. Self-respect required him to preserve calmness before +the friends who were with him; and his irritation, deprived of vent in +speech or action, settled in the morbid part of his system, and +rekindled the expiring inflammation in his chest. He was therefore a +prisoner once more to his bed, when he would gladly have been removing +himself from the scene of his mortifications, and had no alleviation +save the visits of Kenneth and the Laird; but these were frequent. + +Whenever other matters brought the former to the village he made a +point of calling to enquire; and it was remarkable how frequently +business demanded his presence there at this time. During the first +week the gossips observed him ride three alternate days down their +street, and the traders began seriously to consider whether they could +not so improve their stocks as to tempt some share of the Inchbracken +petty custom from Inverlyon. After that, however, his visits became +daily, there was no longer even a pretence of other business, and +Ebenezer Prittie abandoned the hope of supplying the Drysdale property +with nails and ironmongery. Kenneth was sincerely interested in his +friend's health, and sat sympathizingly by his bedside, but the +patient was not able to talk much, and even if he had been, was +forbidden to try. He was often drowsy, too, and sometimes slept, owing +to the restless wakefulness of his nights. It fell, therefore, on Mary +to make the conversation, a duty which she fulfilled apparently to +their mutual satisfaction, seeing that the visits grew more frequent +and of longer and longer duration. What they found to talk about no +one can say, for their voices were pitched in the lowest tones--of +course that the patient might not be disturbed; and apparently he was +not, if we may judge from the ease with which he soon fell into an +established routine. He would welcome his visitor with a cordial +handshake, answer the regulation questions about his health, hear any +little item of news that might be stirring, and then calmly close his +eyes, and turn round for another nap. + +When two people find pleasure in each other's conversation, +surrounding circumstances are of little account. The most momentous +questions have ere now been asked and answered during the gyrations of +a waltz, or the intervals of a square dance. Pyramus and Thisbe were +happy in whispering to each other through the chink in a paling, and +my neighbour next door used to save shoeleather by chatting to a young +lady at the other end of the town down the pipe of a telephone. That +turned out badly, however, in the end, as one night his soft engaging +whisper was replied to in the gruff and stormy tones of papa! who bade +him have done with his nonsense, or he would put the d--d wire out of +the house! He had done something of the same kind to my poor friend +already. It was nothing new, therefore, if these two young people +forgot for the time the stuffy little room in which they sat, and the +gruesome army of medicine bottles, getting more and more numerous +every day. They were as utterly content as though they had been +sitting under one of the great shady trees of Eden, with only birds, +flowers, and tame lions to listen to their discourse. The flowers, at +least, they had in ever increasing profusion, as poor Colewort knew to +his cost, in the sad devastation that fell on his most sacred +preserves in the greenhouses of Inchbracken. Their sweetness brought +something like the freshness of spring, (or was it only of hope?) into +that close and frowsy place; even the fumes of damp and mouldiness +fled before the breath of these children of dew and sunshine. + +At length there came a day, after many others that had been made +bright with flowers, and fragrant with sweeter words, when Kenneth +brought nothing in his hand but a bunch of violets, which he told her +his mother had sent. A slip of paper was tied to them on which was +written, 'For dearest Mary.' 'And so you may know, Mary,' he said, +'that everything between us is known at home, and you will be made +welcome. My mother will come and see you, or if that cannot be managed +she will write to you, after you have left Glen Effick; and I think +you will overlook her not coming here. After the decided stand our +family has taken against this church secession, she would rather not +do that; and as you are going to be one of the family yourself, you +will not wish us to stultify ourselves. That is what the old gentleman +calls it at least, though I daresay it is nonsense. Still, he is an +old man, and he is going to be very fond of you, so we must humour +him.' There came a tear in Mary's eye, a smile to her lip, a blush, +and words presently. She said exactly what was prettiest and nicest, +or so thought Kenneth. Every nice girl knows what the words would be, +they were just what she would say herself on a like occasion. As for +the men, they will hear them, each for himself let us hope, when the +time comes; therefore let us not rub the bloom from the plum by unwise +anticipation. + +The visits of the Laird were somewhat less frequent; but he was +fortunate in always finding Roderick awake, and, after the first few +days following the relapse, eager to converse; and as the visits were +repeated two or three times a week, an intimacy sprung up between the +two men which had not existed before. The Laird was pleased to find +what he had not hitherto looked for, a sound and mature judgment and +abundant common sense where he had been wont to expect only pious good +intentions and a youthful enthusiasm, beautiful and interesting enough +but somewhat raw, and needing much of the pressure of time and +circumstance to squeeze out the green and vapid whey of youth and +inexperience. Roderick was equally surprised to find that the husk of +hard dry business shrewdness, which he had hitherto looked upon as the +man himself, was but the dried or hardened scars or cicatrices of rubs +and bruises long since endured by a true and gentle nature, now healed +and wholesome, and that beneath the somewhat repulsive exterior, there +were rich stores of experience, charity and christian wisdom. +Heretofore their intercourse had consisted in visits from Roderick to +Auchlippie on parochial business; and on these occasions Mrs. Sangster +in her character of Mother in Israel, high patroness and Lady +Bountiful to the congregation, was always present. It might be +Roderick who proposed the subject to be considered or it might be the +Laird, but at the first opening Mrs. Sangster would take up her +parable, and after that there was little opportunity for any one else +to slip in a word even edgewise. She loved the sound of her own sweet +voice better than any other music, and with a silent, perforce an +attentive audience, her periods would swell and round themselves with +evangelical commonplaces, and a general overflowing of conventional +piety. When his lady opened her mouth on any subject, it was the +Laird's practice to close his for good and all; that was his mode of +fulfilling the apostolic precept to honour the weaker vessel. Had he +spoken, he would have been compelled to distinguish and except, to rip +up sophisms and show that the conclusion arrived at was not deducible +from the premises stated, and endless altercation would have ensued. +Wherefore, like a sensible man, he held his peace, and left his fair +partner to discourse at her own sweet will. When, also, it became +necessary for him to express his own views, he would do it in the +dryest, clearest, and most concise form, leaving no room for question +or debate from his better and more loquacious half. It was therefore +as if for the first time that these two met and became acquainted in +that sickroom; and the discovery each made of the other was an +unexpected happiness to both. Timidly and doubtfully Roderick would +sometimes bring the conversation round to Sophia, but it was in a +diffident and uncertain way. He hungered to hear or talk of her, but +as regarded his hopes and aspirations he felt bound to keep silence. +His instinct of what was fitting withheld him from attempting to +entangle his friend in his more genial moments, in any kind of promise +or consent, so long as a breath, however groundless, hung over his +reputation. It was true that the Laird did not believe a syllable to +his disadvantage, but on that very account he felt so deeply indebted +to him, when all the world beside had turned its back, that he could +not take advantage of the old man's goodwill. + +Whether the Laird saw more than Roderick put in words, it would not be +easy to say; but it is certain that at that time an understanding +sprung up between himself and his daughter which had not existed +before. He had hitherto regarded her simply as a child, female child, +belonging to his wife, and rather a dull one as that. It now first +seemed to dawn on him that she was a woman, a distinct person, and his +own daughter, and that it was in her to become the dearest companion +of his life. What he may have known of her relations with her mother, +incident to Roderick's letter, cannot be known, for he never told; but +from the evening after the congregational council, when she plucked up +courage to enter into conversation with him, and glean such news about +the proceedings as she could ask or he communicate, they found they +had entered upon new relations with each other. It may have been the +Sangster element in her, of which her mother so loudly complained that +engaged his sympathy so directly, or it may have been the incense of +her feminine hero worship, seeing that he appeared to her so great, +and strong, and good, in opposing himself singly to the universal +prejudice, and manfully espousing the cause of worth and innocence +maligned, but certainly from that day forth, father and daughter +became fast friends and constant companions. Often she would accompany +him in his walks to the village, and though she would not defy her +mother by accompanying him to the Browns', still her father would +carry messages to and fro between her and Mary, which brought +assurance both to Roderick and herself that they were not parted. The +old lady was the only party dissatisfied with these new combinations. +She felt her authority slipping from her fingers. Her daughter had, +she could not tell how, developed an independent personality of her +own, and was evidently now held in allegiance to herself only by a +sense of duty. The daughter was also establishing a hold on her +father's regard, which her mother herself had long since allowed to +pass from her, as costing too much trouble to retain; and Mrs. +Sangster beheld already in prophetic vision, herself as a meek old +lady seated by her work-table near the fire, while Sophia, the +mistress of Auchlippie, ruled the roast! The meekness of her future +rôle had not as yet, however, come to Mrs. Sangster. She fumed and +fretted like a spirit in chains, and the mornings which mother and +daughter spent together were by no means smooth or enjoyable for poor +Sophia. Her mother's grievance being incapable of statement, the +ebullitions thence arising could neither be foreseen nor assigned to +any specific cause. The scandalous rumours relating to the Browns were +retailed and enlarged on in a way that, but a few short weeks before, +Mrs. Sangster would have been shocked to think she could indulge in +before her carefully nurtured child; and Sophia, as her only defence, +had to fall back on the paternal gift of silence. But that invariably +drove her mother vanquished from the field, seeing that it takes two +to fight, and with a parting shot at the dull _dour_ blood of the +Sangsters, she would seek relief in the privacy of her chamber from +that sovereign remedy, 'a good cry.' + +At the end of three weeks Roderick was found well enough to travel, +and it was time that they should start, if, in those ante-railway +days, they would avoid the delays, discomforts, and extra fatigue of +bad roads. They took the stage coach as far as Dundee, where they +would embark in the steamer for London. Thence there was railway +westward, and with more staging, they would reach their destination. + +It need scarcely be said that Eppie and the baby stood on the inn +steps to watch the travellers drive away, and wish them 'God-speed.' +Mary kissed them both, hoping a father might shortly be found for the +little one, but grudgingly, for she deeply loved it herself. Kenneth +was there, likewise, with regretful adieux and repetition of the +already-made promises to write soon and often. So too was the Laird, +and this time Sophy was on his arm, and Roderick thenceforth had at +least one smile and handshake to treasure in his memory, unspoken +answers to his letter of a month back, and tokens from which to bode +hopefully of the future. + +There were other onlookers, but they peered from windows, over averted +shoulders, or from behind corners. The parishioners had begun to find +out many differences between their new pastor and his predecessor. +There were no alms now, for the new man had no money to give; and +there was less sympathy, for he was a stranger in the parish, and +likewise new to ministerial work. Shame kept them from coming forward; +but when the guard blew his horn, the coachman tipped up his leaders +with the whip, and the lumbering vehicle rolled up the eastern brae, +every one felt that he had a friend the less left in Glen Effick. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIII. + + _DISCOMFITED_. + + +Within the Post Office as well as in other places, there stood a group +watching Roderick's departure, and among them, as might be supposed, +was Joseph Smiley. It would have been a very unexpected event indeed +that could have transpired in the village without his being there to +see. + +'I wuss we may na hae dune the laad some wrang,' sighed Angus Kilgour. +'He gangs like's he thocht nae shame, an' gin there cam few to bid him +"Gude bi wi' ye," thae few war the first e'y land. See to the young +Captain, hoo he's crackin' til Eppie an' the bairn 'at a' body said +was merry-begotten. That looks like 's he didna think sae.' + +'Hoot awa!' said Ebenezer, who had become a man of consequence through +the prominent part he had taken in the minister hunt, and would +tolerate no gainsaying. 'Hae na we scripter for't, Angus, 'at evil men +an' seducers wax warse an' warse? An' think ye, 'at gin a chield was +sae far left til himsel as yon puir laad maun hae been, he wad turn +round that easy an' own til his fau't? Na, na! The De'il's a hard +master 'at's aye wantin' mair service. An' as for puir Mester Brown, +I'm sure I wuss him nae ill, but juist 'at he may be brocht til own +til his transgressions. He's gangin' the gate o' thae wanderin' staars +for whum is reserved the blackness o' darkness! I think naething o' +yer young Captain comin' to see him awa. He's been danderin' round him +ilka day sin' he fell out wi' his flock, or sin' they _fand_ him out I +suld say. He's juist a laad o' Belial 'at cares naething for the sauls +o' hiz puir folk, (dizna he get a' the nails an' the pleughs an' the +iron wark for the property doon by at Inverlyon?) an' he wants to pu' +down the wa's o' Zion. He's juist like Tobiah the Ammonite 'at fashed +Nehemiah langsyne, but it's no a tod like him rinnin' on the wa's o' +our Jerusalem, 'at's gaun to kick them ower. An' as for the Laird +comin' wi' his dochter, he's been sair left til himsel', but we a' ken +he's pridefu' an' winna be direcket by puirer folk, an' that's what's +made him sae camstairy. But I'm juist winnerin' 'at Mistress Sangster +(an' sic a graand christian as she is!) lets him gang sic daftlike +gates!' + +Joseph listened to the harangue with respectful attention, looking +approval but saying nothing. Instinctively he had the wisdom in +conduct by which men have become Roman Popes or American Presidents. +If he had few friends, he gave no offence, and made no enemies. The +friends are but broken reeds to lean upon in getting one in, but the +_unfriends_ are omnipotent in keeping him out. It was popedom in a +small way that Joseph contemplated, catechist being as great a rise in +life for the Glen Effick beadle as Pope for the Archbishops and +Princes of the Church. The emoluments, as stated by Mr. Geddie, were, +of course, altogether inadequate, but then Free Trade principles were +just about that time being established as the economic faith of the +nation, and he understood perfectly that even Mr. Geddie, a +merchantman in search of goodly pearls, felt disposed to dabble in the +law of supply and demand, and if he could pick up a catechist at half +price, would not 'feel justified' in paying him more. Economic piety +is apt to be economical as well, and alas, alas, for the Church and +the world! it is the spurious article for sale that is best able to +haggle with the greedy religiousness that would buy. Saintly holiness +is sent at half price to labour in the slums, while sensational +pretence gets the velvet-mounted pulpit, the snug parsonage, and the +comfortable living. + +Joseph was not much of a letter writer. He never had had opportunity +to practise the craft, or doubtless his pen would have grown as glib +as his tongue. If he wrote to Mr. Geddie himself, his letter might +stamp him illiterate, and consequently a half price article; and even +if not, being but an obscure person, he could not hope to influence +conveners, committees, contributors, and the rest of the sacred +machinery in Mr. Geddie's church, whence the money was to come. He +thought therefore to procure intercession. He would petition Mrs. +Sangster to write on his behalf, and by and by he would ask Ebenezer +to say a word in his favour, after he knew the lady's letter had been +sent. + +With this view he set out for Auchlippie, whither he had gone less +frequently of late, fearing to compromise himself with Jean Macaulay. + +As already said, Jean's expectations made her unquestionably 'a catch' +for the beadle, but Joseph found she might prove a millstone about the +neck of a catechist. For Joseph was far-seeing. Such imaginative +faculty as had been vouchsafed him was circumscribed within the hopes +or possible achievements of Joseph Smiley, but within these bounds at +times they soared! Once a catechist he might find favour in zealous +and wealthy eyes, and he might be enabled to attend the Divinity Hall, +whence he would issue a full-fledged minister. Favouring circumstances +might work out so much for a bachelor, but who would undertake a man +already weighted with a wife and family? Vulgar too! and unfit to +associate with the upper classes as minister's wife! If, however, he +should fail to secure any such enthusiastic person, and he knew they +were rare, Jean would not be so far amiss as spouse to a catechist for +life. The _placens uxor_ he could appreciate when more substantial +considerations did not stand in the way, and her tocher would be 'a +help,' and enable him, if still subordinate to the Established clergy +and those of the Free Church, to hold his own with 'Seceder bodies' +(there were no U.P.'s in those days), 'Baptists, Methodists, and sic +like.' At that time there was no word of voluntary principles in the +Free Church, and it required a good many years 'in opposition,' as +politicians would say, before it even was suggested to drop the +twenty-third chapter of the Confession of Faith, and along with it the +old feeling of superiority to the dissenting communions. + +When Joseph reached Auchlippie, he was considerably taken aback by +Jean's extreme coolness. He had been considering as he fared along, +the exact degree of friendliness it would be prudent to show to Jean. +He must be kind but not quite fond, friendly but not intimate, with +just a suggestion of the superiority which he hoped was hovering over +him and he trusted might alight. Distinctly then, he felt taken aback +by Jean's reception. + +'Ye want to see the mistress? Gang intil the laundry than, an' set ye +doon, an' whan I'm through here I'll gang ben an' speer gin ye can see +her.' + +'But I cud help ye to shell the peas, Jean.' + +'Wha's seekin' yer help? Tak yer guttery shune out ower the clean +kitchen, an' gang intil the laundry or I'se prin the dish-clout til +yer tail! Think ye I haena gowks eneugh e'y stable-yard to shell my +peas gin I wanted their help? Awa' wi' ye!' + +Nothing like a little cool repulsion to draw on the young men when +they begin to hang back. The cherries a little out of reach are always +redder than those which hang ready to the hand. Looking at the buxom +lass and the saucy twinkle in her merry black eye, Joseph's foreseeing +circumspection began insensibly to abate, or rather he forgot all +about it. + +'What ails ye, Jean, woman?' he poured out in his most insinuating +tones, and his queer little eyes looked plaintive or nearly so. 'An' +me juist hungerin' for a glint o' yer bonny eyen!' + +'Get out my gate, ye blatherin' skate!' with a jaunty toss of her +head. It is pleasant to be appreciated, is it not? No matter by whom. +But she had no thought of relenting yet awhile. 'It's like's ye cudna +bide awa frae me, ye leein' twa-faced body! It'll be four weeks come +Thursday sin' I hae seen a sicht o' ye, an' I hae dune brawly wantin' +ye. Gae back to them ye saw last an' bide there. It's no Jean Macaulay +'at's wantin' ye. An' gang out ower the clean kitchen! See til the +jaups o' glaar, about yer guttery trotters! Gang out ower, I'm sayin'! +or I'se lay the taings about yer cantle.' + +'Whisht, woman! an' I'se tell ye a' about it,' said Joseph, sideling +nearer. Then throwing the right arm round her waist, he drew up the +left to protect his face from nails or accidents, and attempted to +steal a salute. + +Jean screamed and sprang aside, catching hold of a broomstick, and her +face aflame with crimson wrath, ordered him out of the kitchen. At +that moment an inner door opened and Mrs. Sangster stood on the +threshold surveying the scene. + +'Jean Macaulay! what is the meaning of this? Do you take my kitchen +for a country tavern, to go touzelling with strange men in it in that +unseemly way? When I engaged you I said distinctly that no followers +were allowed.' + +'There's nae touzellin' here, mem; an' what's mair, I winna hae 't +said o' me by ony body, sae ye can suit yersel' wi' anither lass 'at +taks less tent o' her gude name nor I do! The man's nae follower o' +mine; it was yersel' he came speerin' for, sae I cudna tak on mysel' +to pet him out, an' syne the impident rascal he grippet me about the +waist, an' I skirled, an' ye see the lave o't.' + +'It's Joseph Smiley, the minister's man! I declare. What do you want? +You may well be ashamed, and hang your head! What will the session +say? You, that ought to be an example of sober and godly deportment, +to be raising a riot in a gentleman's kitchen!' + +Joseph was abashed. All his bright schemes seemed to dissipate +themselves before his eyes, like a morning mist, and he could only +wish himself away. He coughed behind his hand, and stood balancing +himself first on one foot, then on the other. + +'I'm sair dumfoondered, mem!' he said at last. 'An' I'm thinkin' I +juist canna be very weel. My head gaed clean soomin' ey noo, an' I +cudna keep my feet, an' sae I out wi' my arm to catch something, an' +it was her I grippet, puir lass. An' Jean, it's like she thocht it +wasna mo-odest, an' sae she gae the bit skirl. But there was nae wrang +intil't ava, mem, as ye may weel ken. Wad it be likely noo, mem, e'en +gin I was ane o' the licht mindet kind, as a' the folk in Kilrundle +Free Kirk kens weel I'm no', for me to be comin' intil the kitchen o' +the first leddy e'y laand, an' carryin' on wi' rigs, an' daffin', an' +touzellin's? Weel I wat, mem, ye'll own I hae mair sense nor that.' + +Joseph's demeanor was so deeply humble, and his way of putting the +case so respectfully argumentative that Mrs. Sangster was considerably +mollified, but consistency required some continuance of rigour. + +'I fear, Joseph Smiley, you must have been drinking this morning. That +would explain the giddiness you describe, as well as your trying to +steady yourself against Jean Macaulay, which was not like the conduct +of a sober man. And, after all, from what you say, Jean's conduct +seems to have been perfectly proper. So, Jean, I will not consider +that you have given me notice to suit myself with a new maid until you +say it again!' + +'There's naething but a wheen parritch gane down my craig this day, +mem, an' I'm wae 'at ye suld think sae ill o' me,' said Joseph, +feeling his way back into the usual sanctimonious groove. 'I'm no' +weel, mem, an' I'm juist fear'd I'm no' lang for this world, an' +that's what's brocht me here this day. I cam seekin' a word o' ye, +mem!' + +'Then follow me, Joseph.' + +Joseph followed, and laid before Mrs. Sangster the statement of his +hopes and desires. 'I'm no' lang for this warld, mem, an' gin I cud do +some gude first I wad be mair contented like, but they wad need to +double the steepend, mem. I cudna gang for less.' + +'If you are going to die so soon, Joseph, I should think the temporal +reward would be of little consequence to you.' + +'Ou ay, mem! But ye ken the labourer is worthy of his hire.' + +'I should doubt your ability for the work, Joseph; and at any rate you +must wait till your giddiness is cured. A giddy catechist, to judge +from the scene in my kitchen to-day, might give rise to serious +scandals! I know a person who will exactly suit Mr. Geddie, if the +salary can be made sufficient; and I am much obliged to you, Joseph, +for having brought me the information. You may rest assured too, +Joseph, that if you will but do your duty with all your might, in the +circumstances in which Providence has placed you, you are making the +very best preparation for the great change which, sooner or later, +will overtake us all.' And with this moral sentiment still ringing in +his ears, Joseph found himself dismissed and on the gravel in front of +the house, not only a disappointed, but an utterly discomfited man. He +retraced his steps to the village, and went back to his joiner-work +thinking how little good had come to him out of his idle morning. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXIV. + + "_WOOED AN' MARRIED AN' A'_." + + +Joseph Smiley lived in a small cottage all by himself. It was not on +the main street, but built in what should have been the back yard of a +house on that thoroughfare, and was approached by a narrow passage +round the end of the house in front. It was just the place for any one +who desired retirement, being extremely private, which, strangely +enough, seems the great desideratum of all inquisitive people. Joseph +was extremely expert in spelling out the affairs of his neighbours +from external signs, and it may have been owing to that, that he kept +his own life so studiously in the shade, knowing so well how much may +be divined from passing glimpses. He spoke of his home as 'juist the +bit placey whaur he bed,' 'weel eneugh for a quiet lanesome chield +like himsel', but no' fit to tak folk til,' which was scarcely doing +it justice, seeing that it was perhaps the snuggest little cabin in +the village; for Joseph was a Sybarite according to his lights. It was +the best feather bed in the village on which he took his nightly rest, +and there was a comfortably cushioned chair or two in which he might +repose during the day. The cupboard contained pickles, spices, and a +good many bottles; for his fare was dainty, and far different from the +vigorous parritch on which he professed to subsist. Parritch may be +said to have been the food of his imagination, for he continually +spoke of it, but it was with something considerably more succulent +that he nourished his material frame. + +Yet Joseph enjoyed a high reputation for saving thrift. + +This was owing to the fierceness of his principles, his tenacity in +holding them, and the vigour with which he carried them out. There is +nothing in the world so helpful as a clear understanding between a man +and himself as to what it really is which he wants, and a consistent +pertinacity in meaning to have it; and yet it seems even rarer than +the self-knowledge so highly recommended. Think of the force wasted in +desultory effort for the attainment of what is really not desired! + +Joseph's principles might all have been resolved into one, and that +was to take care of Joseph Smiley. Nothing was too good for that +cherished person, so he got the lead; and as nobody else ever got +anything at all, it was not more costly than an unprincipled life of +impulse, and much more comfortable to the beloved object. Had his +brother man been allowed to dip with him in the dish, both must have +contented themselves with plain fare, but by letting the brother +forage elsewhere, a smaller and choicer mess would be enough for the +rest of the party. + +When Joseph went out in the morning he locked his door and handed the +key to Peggy Mathieson, his neighbour, whom he employed to make his +bed, cook his meals, and 'do' for him generally. Peggy was a lone +widow, who supplied the youth of the village with bullseyes and +marbles. She was discreet and silent, asked no questions and told no +tales, and knew how to make him comfortable. + +On the evening of the day which had witnessed Joseph's discomfiture at +Auchlippie, Peggy was engaged as usual in preparing his evening meal. +The fire was lit, and the kettle set to boil, the floor swept, the tea +things arranged on the table, and a neat rasher stood ready for the +frying pan when he should come in. She was giving a last look around +to see that all was in order before retiring to her own premises, when +the door opened and Tibbie Tirpie walked in, followed by her daughter +carrying a baby. Each had a basket on her arm, and both took seats, +which they drew up to the hearth, and seated themselves, before either +appeared to observe that any one else was present. As for Peggy, she +was a woman of few words, and her employer she knew to be what in +higher circles is called a peculiar person, that is one with whose +affairs it is safest not to meddle, except by his particular request; +therefore she stood silent waiting to be addressed. + +'I wuss ye gude e'en, Peggy!' said Tibbie. 'We're juist waitin' for +Joseph to come in, and we'll bide till then, e'en gin he be late; sae +ye needna mind stoppin' here for hiz. We'se mak out brawly our lane!' + +'Aweel, Tibbie, I'se leave ye, for my yett's steikit, an' aiblins +there's bairns wantin' some o' my sma' trokes, an' wearyin' to get +in.' + +'An' noo, Tibbie,' said the mother when they were left alone, 'gie me +the bairn, an' gang ye til yer bed. Aiblins ye'll can sleep. Ony gate +steik yer eyen ticht, an' dinna cheep, what e'er may come o't; an' +let's see gin I canna gar this balksome naig o' yours tak baith bridle +an' saidle, ay, an' a lick or twa o' the whup as weel afore I'm +through wi' him. Heest ye, lass! an' dinna staand there fummlin' wi' +prins. Aff wi' yer bannet an' in wi' ye! Juist hap up weel. It's a +kittle job at the best, but gin I'm to hae ye at the greetin' on my +haands, forby him, I may lay by afore I begin. In wi'ye!' + +Thus exhorted, the daughter lay down in the bed, and covered herself +with the blankets. + +'Turn round t'ey wa', Tibbie! Ye'd be for keekin' at ween yer eyen, +an' greetin', (wha kens?) an' gin he catches sicht o' a sign o' +saftness in ye, it's a' ower wi' you an' the bairn!' + +The daughter complied, and Tibbie, seated before the fire, brought out +certain little habiliments from her basket, and proceeded to array her +grandchild for the night, hanging his daylight apparel on chairs, on +all the chairs she could find, and marshalling them before the fire, +till that staid apartment assumed the appearance not only of a +nursery, but of one for a dozen infants. Having got so far, she had +leisure to survey the refreshments provided for her son-in-law. + +'Od, Tibbie! ye'll be rael crouse here, woman! The best o' a' thing, +an' plenty! An' here's as bonny a fry o' bacon as e'er was seen! I'se +on wi' 't til the fire. It gars a body's mouth water juist to see til +'t! He little thocht, honest man, it wad be his gudemother wad fry his +supper for him the nicht! Ay faigs! 'An' eat her share o' 't as weel. +But there's little enough for twa here,' she added, going to the +cupboard where the remainder of the flitch was discovered, as well as +the other little comforts and supplies with which Joseph had provided +himself. + +'My certie, laad! But ye live weel! An' ye'll do credit to yer +gudemither or a's dune! He was aye ane o' the unco gude, an' here's +the gude livin'! Whether it be holy livin' or no'.' + +Another plentiful rasher was cut, the frying-pan laid on the coals, +and Tibbie returned to her seat. But now, disturbed by so many +gettings-up and sittings-down, the babe began to whimper. + +'Whist, my bonny man! Ye'se hae yer share o' yer daddie's supper as +weel as the lave!' And thereupon she emptied the contents of Joseph's +milk jug into a basin. Then she cut the nice new loaf and broke some +of the bread into the milk; after that a contribution was levied on +the sugar basin, and lastly the singing kettle completed the gracious +mess, of which the wandering heir thus unexpectedly returned to his +father's halls partook with appetite. Then stretching himself out in +his grandmother's arms, he fell asleep. + +Joseph Smiley being a beadle, and liable to be called away at all +times and seasons, worked by the piece. He was a good workman, and so +could dictate in some measure his terms. He was working on the new +church, and having lost so much time fruitlessly in the morning, he +remained at work after the other men had left. It was nearly dark, +therefore, when at last he laid aside his tools and moved homewards +very much beyond his usual hour. + +He had been depressed and disgusted with himself all day. How could +he, a man of sense as he had always supposed, and one accustomed to +play upon the weaknesses of his fellows--how had it ever come to pass +that he, so clear-sighted as he thought, should have come to grief in +this utterly discreditable fashion? To himself it was incomprehensible, +though to the perspicuous reader plain enough. Joseph had been trying +to do two things at once--to capture both Jean and her Mistress, +meaning to use whichever might happen to answer best in the end; and +he had missed both, as any man of his intelligence should have known +would come of it. But then small successes make a man conceited, and +conceit makes a man blind (Pray to be defended from small successes, +my reader!) It is the single eye which hits the mark. + +As Joseph walked along the main street, a subtle fragrance seemed to +hover in the air, thin, bright, appetizing, but indefined. + +'Hech!' he said to himself, 'somebody has a gude supper the nicht! I +wuss I was there.' + +As he neared the approach to his own dwelling the odour began to grow +specific. + +'That's bacon, an' gye an' like my ain!' + +The '_close_' reached, the whole air seemed greasily aromatic. 'Can +Peggy be eatin' my bacon hersel'? I ne'er catched her yet at ony sic +tricks; but still water's rael deep. I'se drap on her an' her no +thinkin', an' hae my share o' 't, an' gin I dinna eat an' drink tea +an' sugar and bread to the vailey o' a' she's stealt, I'm no Joseph +Smiley!' + +Joseph hurried homeward so quickly, and so full of thief-catching +thoughts, that he failed to observe the gleam of the candle from his +casement. Joseph always lighted his candle himself. It was therefore +as if some one had struck him when he threw the door open, and the +cheerful light of the fire and two candles fell on his sight. Tibbie +seeing a spare candlestick and a number of candles, thought that if +the candle on the table was necessary along with the fire-light for a +solitary man, it would need at least one more candle to lighten his +family fittingly. Wherefore she stuck a candle in the spare +candlestick, and when the daylight outside had altogether faded away, +she lit the two candles and heaped fresh fuel on the hearth. + +Joseph stood in the doorway contemplating the scene. Had he been +drinking? The candle was double. But no! He had washed down his dinner +with a draft of buttermilk, and that was never known to go to +anybody's head. + +The air was heavy with the richness of frizzling bacon. The chairs +were gathered like a palisade around the hearth, and hung all over +with baby linen. Joseph's next idea was that he had mistaken the +house, turned up the wrong close or entry. No! There was Peggy at her +back door, ostensibly sweeping something out, but, as Joseph knew full +well, in reality watching to see what he would do or say. Was she +partner in some plot against him? Then he would leave her no excuse or +opportunity to intervene and join forces with the enemy. He entered +with as resolute a stride as he could assume, and banged the door +behind him. + +'Hm!' he coughed with a mighty effort, endeavouring to rally his +sinking heart, where black foreboding sat heavily and blocked the +lagging current of his blood, while cobwebs of misgiving seemed +gathering in his throat, till the nearly stifled voice could hardly +come. + +'Whisht man! whisht!' hissed Tibbie in her loudest whisper, from the +hearth where she sat, and throwing up a warning hand. 'Ye'll waaken +yer wife! Hsh! She's beddet! an' she's sleepin'. + +'Tibbie Tirpie!' The exclamation hovered feebly about Joseph's lips, +like the thin grey smoke that hangs over a hill of burnt whins, when +food for fire has been exhausted, and nothing remains but black and +hopeless desolation. The bag of tools slipped from his nerveless +fingers with a clatter. + +'Ca' canny! Joseph! or ye'll waaken yer bairn! Yer supper's juist +ready, sae set ye down.' + + +[Illustration: "An' wha bade ye come here, an' mak my supper, +gudewife?" Page 271.] + + +'An' wha bade _ye_ come here? an' mak my supper, gudewife?' + +'Hoot, toot, Joseph! Say naething! It's nae fash ava! Think ye yer +gude-mither wadna do faar mair nor that for ye? Juist bide or ye see!' + +Here the baby, aroused by the talking, opened its eyes, and the +grand-mother began to shake and addle him after the usual manner of +nurses. + +'Bonny man! An' did his daddie waaken him?' + +'He's gotten yer ain glint o' the e'e, Joseph! Ye pawkie rascal! I'se +tell ye he's the gleg ane like his faither afore him.' + +'Lay by, gudewife! an' get ye hame! you an' a' belangin' to ye! Ye hae +carried on eneugh for ae nicht, an' I'se hae nae din here!' + +Tibbie made no reply. She merely regarded the speaker with a shrug of +amusement, mingled with a dash of humorous pity, while she lifted the +frying-pan from the coals and deposited the bacon done to a nicety on +the dish. She then began to place the second rasher which she had cut +in the pan; but this was more than Joseph could endure. + +'Let alane o' my baacon, ye auld jad!' he cried, 'an' get ye gane! you +an' a' yer tribe.' + +Then followed a silence of some duration, for Tibbie did not seem to +think the last observation worthy of notice. At length, however, she +spoke again. + +'Are ye for nae baacon the nicht, than, Joseph? I'm thinkin' I cud eat +maist a' 'at's fried mysel'. An' I wadna say but Tibbie micht be for +tryin' juist a bittie, whan she waakens out o' her first sleep.' + +'Tibbie! say ye?' gasped Joseph, looking around. His eyes fell on the +disordered bed, and there they fastened, widening and rolling as +though they beheld a ghost. + +'Gudesakes! Pity me! gin there's no' a wummin' i' my very bed! To the +de'il wi' the weemin', say I! gin ye gang na to _them_, they'se come +efter _ye!_ Sae there's nae haudin' awa frae them!' + +'Deed no! Joseph! an' that's sae. Whan it's a likely bit chappie, like +yersel'. They're no that plenty, ye see. But keep up yer heart, laad! +Atween yer wife an' yer gude-mither, ye'll be clear o' the lave. Ye +needna misdoubt o' that.' + +'But set ye doon an' eat yer supper, or it grows cauld,' she +continued, at the same time selecting a piece of the bacon from the +dish and putting it in her mouth with manifest relish. + +'Lay by! ye auld wutch. An' awa wi' ye!' cried Joseph, roused into +vigour by the raid on his provisions. 'I'se pet ye out gin ye winna +gang!' + +'No ye winna! Joseph. Ye hae mair sense nor raise a din whan it's +yersel' wad get the dirdom o't.' + +'Gang quiet then, an' gang smart!'' + +'An' wad ye? Honest noo! wad ye raelly pet 's a' out e'y the dark this +nicht? There's yer ain wee bairn no sax month auld. An' him juist in +his wee sark, an' a' his coats hingin' afore the fire! Wad ye noo? + +'Deed then, Luckie, an' I wad!' cried Joseph, gathering courage at the +tone of remonstrance he thought he detected in the old woman's voice. +'An' it's no afore my fire but intil't, the duds o' yer dochter's brat +sall gang, ay! an' her ain as weel! gin ye tak na them out o' here. +The shameless limmer! to lay hersel' down in a decent man's bed, an' +never "wi' yer leave?"' He even got so far as to begin tossing the +child's clothing together in a heap, when the old woman, snatching a +brand from the hearth, struck him across the hand with the red hot +end, making him desist with a scream of pain. He glared at her for an +instant as if about to rush on her, then wavered and turned round as +if about to call for help. + +'Noo! set ye doon, Joseph Smiley! an hear sense. Gin ye gang yaupin' +an' skirlin' out there, ye'se raise a din wull do far mair scaith to +yersel', nor it can til hiz. An' gin ye aince raise 't, ye'll ne'er +can lay't again! sae keep ye a calm sough, an' let me hae my say.' + +It wasna muckle,' she continued, ''at I kenned o' you an' Tibbie's +on-gaein's, whan I spak to ye first, an' I spak ye fair, an' ye ken +what cam o' 't--juist naething ava, sae noo I hae fand out a'thing, +an' I hae ta'en advice, an' ye beut to yield, or I can gar ye. I'll +pruive yer contrac' an' promise o' mairriage by auld Forsyth 'at I +ance named to ye afore, an' hoo ye garred puir Tibbie swear no' to let +on, sae lang as Jess Clapperton be'd a single woman, for fear she suld +hae ye up afore the shirra for breach o' promise, an' get a' yer +siller frae ye for daamage. Weel she's waddet noo, sae the steek's aff +Tibbie's mouth, an' sae she's gane an' brocht hame yer bairn, an' ye +beut to tak them hame til ye, or I'se gar ye! ye dirty tinkler's tyke! +Ye wad hae gotten them to set the puir lass on the cuttie stule, alang +o' the minister's bairn, an' _ye_ kennin' the very contrar yer ain +sel'! But, my certie! gin scaith or scorn e'er fa's on _her_, it's +_ye_ sall stand aside her, an' tak yer share! An' Jean Macaulay wad be +the first to fling the rotten eggs at ye--ye leein' brock! Didna I +hear ye evenin' my dochter t'ey cuttie stule afore Jean, wi' my ain +lugs, an' garrin' auld Elspeth lauch? Od! but I'd hae liket to pu' the +ill scrapit tongue out o' yer leein' head! An' what's mair, I'se do't +yet, gin ye tak na tent. But there's nae gude, ye an' me to gang +fechtin'. We ken ane anither by noo--yer character's gane, and yer +name o' godliness in Glen Effick, an' ye'se be peuten out o' the +beadleship, gin ye mak a fash--an' the shirra wad gar ye tak her after +a'. Sae juist ye tak thocht in time, an' say naething ava! Ye hae na +sped sae waur as mony anither birkie laad, 'at wad before tryin' on +his gemms. For Tibbie's a decent lass an' a bonny, tho' it's me 'at +says't, (an' ne'er a word wad there hae been o' her, gin it hadna been +for that auld rinketer Briggs, my leddy's wumman up by), an' she liket +ye rael weel ance, an' she may again, gin ye're juist ordnar gude til +her.' + +Joseph sat and listened with a lengthening visage, and his finger in +his mouth. He felt very foolish. A scandal would ruin him in Glen +Effick, and after the scene of the morning he had nothing to hope from +the good opinion of his whilom patroness Mrs. Sangster, or his late +sweetheart Jean Macaulay. He would become the common talk, and no girl +worth anything would have a word to say to him. He felt like some gay +butterfly caught by the heel in a cobweb of gossamer. Why flutter his +pretty wings any more? They would only get broken for nothing. He +would never fly again! The admiring flowers would spread their rosy +bosoms all in vain, and breathe their fragrant sighs. Poor, poor +Lothario! His day was done. He was caught at last. And there like a +dreadful spider sat Tibbie, his (to be) mother-in-law, regarding him +with red-rimmed eyes, and opening her mouth to devour--well, if not +him, at least his bacon. As he looked, she selected another tempting +slice (it was cooling now), and her jaws closed on it with a snap, +followed by a snort of relish. + +'Aweel, Tibbie! Ye can gang hame for the nicht, you an' yer dochter. I +wad like to think ower't, an' sleep on't.' + +'Fient a stap her or me sall gang out ower yer door, Joseph Smiley, +afore Sawbith! We micht na get in sae chancey next time. O' Sawbith +she'll gang linket wi' ye t'ey Kirk, an' I'se walk ahint ye, carryin' +yer bairn. Sae ye maun speak t'ey minister the morn, an' speir him to +baptise't. An' sae ye'll can explain a' thing t'ey minister yersel', +afore they hae time to raise clashes. Ye can juist tell the tale about +Jess Clapperton, 'at ye made a fule o' puir Tib wi'. I wad na say but +it micht do for the minister very weel, an' _ye_ ken hoo to put legs +an' arms til't as weel as the next ane. Ye was ne'er at a loss for a +lee in yer life, Josey, my man, I'm thinkin'! Losh keep me! I'm +thinkin' I've begood to like ye a'ready! It'll be yer ain fau't gin I +be na the _gude_ mither to ye, forby the gude-_mither_. Set ye doon +noo, an' tak yer supper. I'm fear'd it's cauld for ye, an' ye'll hae +to drink yer tea wantin' the milk. Wee Josey drank that a while syne. +It's a' e'y family! An' syne, I'm fear'd ye'll hae to sleep e'y fluir +for the nicht; for me an' the bairn's gaun in aside Tibbie.' + +Joseph groaned in spirit, and ate his supper in silent despair. Not +one kick of resistance was left in his miserable soul, and he +submitted to his fate as meekly as Sindbad, after some experience of +the old man of the sea, found it best to do. + +Tibbie devoted her attention to the entertainment of the young heir, +who seemed to enjoy his return to the paternal hall, and rode on her +knee crowing in the highest spirits, to the enlivening strains of-- + + + 'Wooed sn' married an' a',' + + +which his grandam lilted to him, with just a suspicion of malice in +her humorous triumph. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXV. + + _FOUND_. + + +Time hung rather heavily on Kenneth's hand. The raw damp autumn +offered little temptation to exercise out of doors. His daily ride to +Glen Effick was discontinued, his friends having left; and he smoked +cigars in the billiard-room, or wrote letters in his own, the +live-long day. Julia, hitherto so available, was now never to be found +when wanted, or if she did appear, her ready sympathy with the whim of +the moment, and her quickness to suggest congenial pastime, seemed to +have forsaken her. She sat mostly in her own room now, or in Lady +Caroline's, which, as far as Kenneth's entertainment was concerned, +was much the same thing. She, who had formerly taken so much interest +in mess-room reminiscences and general gossip, would now look up +vacantly when she was addressed, as though her thoughts had been far +away, and were only induced to return for a moment by a sense of +politeness. The distribution of the morning letters would rouse her a +little--there appeared always to be letters for her now--but having +secured her own, she would relapse into abstraction, and seize the +earliest opportunity to withdraw. + +Kenneth had letters of his own to write now, and knew all about the +coming in and going out of mails for Torquay. But that occupied only a +portion of his time, and he felt aggrieved that Julia should be so +pre-occupied. 'What is the use of a girl in the house if she is always +to be busy?' He expressed his discontent to Lady Caroline, who was +immensely amused. + +'Julia is engaged, Kenneth, or almost; for it is not announced yet.' + +'I am very glad to hear it, mother, I am sure. If the girl had stayed +here much longer without marrying, she might have felt herself badly +used if I did not marry her myself. And I do not know that I am equal +to marrying for politeness. But why should that prevent her being +jolly at home? unless, indeed, the man is Bluebeard, and she expects a +bad time? _I_ am engaged myself, but I think I could be jolly on that +account, if only there was opportunity.' + +Lady Caroline said nothing; but she was amused, as often before, at +the single-minded egotism of his lordly sex, which knows no law but +its own pleasure, and imagines that must be equally delightful to +every one else. The male baby graciously believes that it pleases his +nurse to sing herself hoarse in coaxing him to sleep, and he is +pleased that she should make herself happy, shaking his rattle till +her arm aches, in endeavouring to amuse him; and all subsequent female +ministrations to his solacement are accepted in the like simple good +faith that it must be joy to the girl to be merry in his company, and +that mirth is its own reward. + +Lady Caroline liked her son better for his unreasonableness, and felt +proud of herself, in being the mother of such a rajah. Wherever the +idolatrous instinct exists, there must be a love of the unreasonable. +Who could worship a being capable of being argued with, persuaded, +coaxed, or bullied? It is the utter passiveness of Juggernaut that +attracts his devotees. No matter how ugly he may be, he sits there +serene among his gilded carved work, while the crashing wheels of his +car grind on their course regardless of the blood and groans of +mangled victims--force unpitying and inflexible. + +It was some weeks before Major Steele would come to Inchbracken, not, +indeed, till the last shred of autumn had been withered up by foot or +swept away by wintry storms. He lingered on by the sea shore, +wandering for hours by the hungry waves which swallowed up his love, +accompanied by his old mother, in whose unspoken sympathy alone he +seemed to find comfort. He seldom spoke to her, but he shunned every +one else. When, however, winter became established, her health +compelled them to return to town. There the closer contact with his +fellows inseparable from city life became intolerable, and he was glad +to avail himself of Kenneth's invitation, reminding him at the same +time of the freedom and privacy he had promised. + +Lady Caroline agreed that they should see as few visitors as possible +during the poor man's stay; 'but, indeed,' she added, 'we have all +grown so unsociable since we became engaged, that the excluded will +have nothing to regret.' + +'Indeed I am not engaged, dear Lady Caroline!' remonstrated Julia in a +subdued voice. + +'And indeed, mother, I am not unsociable,' added Kenneth, who was +going on to 'define his position,' as precisely as an American senator +does, but his voice was drowned in the uproarious guffaw with which +his uncle greeted his opening words. + +'Poor man!' moralized Julia, 'the quiet of the country will soothe +him. His was indeed a fearful calamity.' + +'Ah yes!' sighed Lady Caroline, 'and I declare I like him the better +for being inconsolable! They are not all so tender-hearted and +faithful, Julia, by any means. Now, my General! Do you think _I_ can +count on leaving so much desolation behind me? The idea would almost +console one for having to go.' + +'You forget, my dearest lady,' said the General finishing his egg (it +was at breakfast), Major Steele had been less than two years married. +Providence has been far kinder to us than that, and I doubt not, when +the time of our separation shall arrive at last, that you will wear +your weeds admirably, and continue to justify the opinion I have +always held of you as the best dressed woman of my acquaintance.' + +It was December when Major Steele arrived at Inchbracken. The ground +was powdered with early snow, and the higher hilltops looked solidly +white and alpine. The sharp air and the movement had stirred his +torpid blood into some appearance of animation, but as the excitement +of arrival wore off, he relapsed into wan despondency, and was indeed +a melancholy object. + +The two older men from the first gave up the case in reverent despair. +What had there ever been in their most comfortable but burdensome +lives, to entitle them to intrude their ignorant sympathy on the +unparalleled tragedy of this man's sore bereavement? Like Job's three +friends, they would have sat by him without speaking for three days +and three nights, with eyes fixed sorrowfully on the carpet, had human +life been still as of old, a majestic but monotonous sequence +extending over centuries; but in its modern abbreviated form, with so +many things to attend to in the brief threescore and ten, that was +impossible. They sighed and looked gloomy when they found themselves +near him, and then escaped to some other quarter of the house with all +decent speed. + +It was on Kenneth, as old friend and special host, that the full duty +of condolence devolved. He led his friend to the smoking-room where +they could sit together by the hour in silent amity, watching the blue +smokerings widen and disappear, companionable to each other's sight, +yet leaving the mind at rest from disturbing talk. Fearing to touch +unwisely on the open wound, Kenneth did not venture on any allusion to +his friend's bereavement. Mary's commission was ever present in his +mind, but he dared not approach the subject to raise a hope that might +only be quenched again in deeper gloom. He dared not question him +even, that he might judge of the probability for himself; he simply +waited, hoping that in time the other would give the opening which he +desired. + +Julia was perhaps the most successful sympathizer in the household. +Her fine dramatic instinct enabled her to throw herself into the +artificial mood, and play the part with an abandon relieved and varied +by graceful little touches which she could never have displayed in her +natural character. She was a woman with a head rather than a heart, +and it was when feeling was presented to her through the imagination +rather than her own emotions, that she was able to realize, seize and +clothe it in expression. Her performance in the new rôle of 'Woman the +Consoler,' was delicate, but beautiful and touching in the extreme, +and more than once brought the handkerchief to honest Lady Caroline's +eyes, who declared in confidence to her General that Julia was a 'fine +creature,' and far too good for that vulgar Cr[oe]sus in Manchester. +Perhaps the same idea may have struck Julia, or it may have been that +the artist in her was engrossed by the new delineation of character, +and revelled, for the time, in the artificial emotions of her own +creation. It is certain that the Manchester correspondence lost much +of its interest. The morning letter was slipped into her pocket as +usual, at breakfast, but she no longer seized the first opportunity to +escape with it to her own room, and by the end of the week she found +three of them still in her pocket unopened. They were all opened at +once, glanced over, and locked up in the drawer with those that had +gone before them, and some sort of an answer was scrawled to 'Dear +Augustus.' It was scarcely so charming a letter as some that had +preceded it, and Augustus thought so, with his first twinge of love, +pain, and jealousy; for hitherto his path had been one of rose-strewn +triumph. But the letter did not take long to knock off--that was the +main point at the moment--and she descended the stairs, gloved and +bonneted, for a stroll by the lake, before Major Steele had begun to +think of growing impatient. + +When the bereaved widower first arrived at Inchbracken, Julia was very +silent. Young innocence and awakening womanhood stood appalled before +the revelation of grief and mystery in human life. Her eyes and voice +drooped plaintively, but it was not till the following morning that +she and the sufferer exchanged a word. Even then it was but little +that was said, some civil words of routine, but the gentle pensive +droop in word and look, distilled like heavenly dew over some acrid +waste. Even so the Angel of Pity may look down on the vanquished and +sore wounded in the battle of life; and the poor woe-begone Major felt +grateful and consoled at the gentle tribute to his grief. She would +linger in the breakfast-room with needle work or a book, and the Major +got into a way of hovering round, as some frost-benumbed toad might +creep from under his cold stone, to stretch his stiffened limbs, and +thaw them in the watery sunshine of a February afternoon. When this +arrangement seemed growing into a habit, Julia betook herself to the +morning-room, which she could count on having to herself at that hour, +for pursuing her work or studies. Presently the door would open and +the widower would appear, asking her permission to sit awhile, and +apologizing for his intrusion. There must have been companionship in +each other's presence, for there was not much conversation, and what +there was was vapid enough; but the divine pity in Julia's pensive +droop transfused itself through each syllable, and the desolate one +felt soothed and refreshed. + +What Julia felt, it is difficult to say, and one cannot but wonder +that, after the first three days, she did not find the whole business +a lackadaisical bore. We can only suppose that life in the proper +character and circumstance of Julia Finlayson had become intolerably +dull, and that she had adopted those of the Angel of Pity by way of a +change. She could not have seriously contemplated capturing the +broken-hearted widower, especially since Lady Caroline had just +secured Mr. MacSiccar's report as to the fortune and standing of +Augustus Wallowby, Esquire. The report had been most satisfactory, in +fact had so far exceeded expectation, that good Lady Caroline had been +seduced into a momentary irreverence at the ways of Providence, in +giving vulgar people so much money. She was sorry for it immediately +after, however, for she was a good Tory, and honoured the powers that +be, among which Providence admittedly takes the first place. As to the +vulgarity even, Lady Caroline might have been brought to admit that +she had seen examples of it in circles bordering very closely on the +Court, and she would not have been at all reluctant to acknowledge +that it existed in the army, and when found there was quite as +offensive as any thing that the proverbial Manchester of her day could +produce. + +At last a morning came, when, over a sympathetic pipe, the Major +expressed a wish to go and look at the Effick water, where all his +happiness and love had come to such dismal shipwreck. + +'All right,' said Kenneth; 'would you like to drive over to-day? We +shall have plenty of time if we start at once. The dog-cart can be got +out in twenty minutes, and we may be off in half an hour.' + +He had now the opportunity he had been waiting for to fulfil Mary's +commission, and already he felt himself writing to her in triumph, and +describing how judiciously he had fulfilled her wish. He took the +proofs she had given him of the poor baby's identity from his desk, +and placing them in his pocket, was ready to mount the dogcart when it +was brought round. The brotherhood of so many silent pipes had at last +established itself between him and his friend Steele. The poor fellow +at last felt able to speak the thoughts that were gnawing at his +heart, and as they drove along that wintry road down to the sea, he +spoke freely of his misery and of the shipwreck. + +'Were there any passengers by the 'Maid of Cashmere' besides Mrs. +Steele?' Kenneth ventured to ask. + +'Old Brigadier Currie had engaged the state-room on one side of the +cabin for himself and his native servants, and I had taken the other.' + +'And had the captain or crew any women and children on board, do you +think?' + +'My wife, her maid, and the baby were the only females on board.' + +'Then cheer up, old fellow! Perhaps things are not so bad as we have +been thinking! Do you know that, now, for instance?' he added, pulling +out the gold chain from his pocket. + +'Know it? That? If I could believe my eyes I would say it belonged to +my wife!' He took the chain and handled it very tenderly, and then +went on. 'There was an old Begum we had been able to be kind to. A +hill tribe had attacked her town, and she had fled for protection to +Dourgapore, where we were stationed. My wife was the only lady in the +station, therefore she was put under her care, and when she went back +to her principality, after we had driven off the marauders, she made +my wife some presents, and among the rest a bag of gold mohurs. I was +doubtful how receiving a money present would sound at head-quarters, +but our Colonel said it was a matter between the women, I could not be +held to know anything about. However, to prevent misrepresentation, we +determined to make it into jewellery, so we got a native goldsmith to +string the pieces into a long chain. He sat in our compound and +riveted the coins together with bits of gold wire, while we sat under +the verandah looking on. You know these creatures are always watched +while they work, to prevent their swallowing the gold, they are such +inveterate thieves. But how came this into your possession? A piece of +it was found clutched in my poor Lydia's hands when she was found.' + +'Then I may tell you. I would have written weeks ago, but I was afraid +to add disappointment to your other misfortunes, so I asked you to +come here, and when you had come I found I could not speak to you +about it. A man's grief seems such a sacred thing. But now. There was +a friend of mine actually saw that ship caught up by the storm, and +carried in shore and dashed against the rocks. They are rocks +completely surrounded by water and surf at a high tide, and with an +easterly wind. He could not possibly get near, and there was no human +dwelling within sight, or for miles around, so he could give no help. +But the following morning he was riding along the shore very +early--earlier than the fisher folk, who, of course, came prowling +along later in search of plunder and sea wreck. He came on the bodies +of several of the drowned, and at last on a lady with her Indian maid. +The lady had a piece of that chain twisted in her fingers, and not far +off he came on a little baby so carefully tied up, and still alive. He +had his own duties for the day, and he could be of no service to the +dead, who, he knew besides, would be cared for by the proper +authorities in a very little while, so he left them where they lay. +But the baby was alive, and while he was examining it looked up in his +face with such a friendly trustful look that he could not help taking +it up and vowing to be a father to it till its own should be found.' + +'And so he has been keeping my child hidden away through all these +months of desolation!' + +'My dear fellow, he had' no intention of that whatever. He wrote to +the Edinburgh newspapers at once; but you must remember that at the +time of the shipwreck your father was not aware that he had a +grandchild at all, nor for weeks after. If Roderick Brown had left the +child beside its mother to be found by the coastguards or the +fishermen, it would have been handed over to the mercy of parish +charity, which is perhaps not over tender. And who can tell if it +would have survived till you went to claim it? The chain, too, is +heavy and valuable, and who knows but that might have been temptation +enough to keep the child out of your sight for ever?' + +'Let us go to the child at once, then, Kenneth! and not to the shore +with its miserable memories of wrecks and corpses.' + +So the horse was put about, and they struck across the moor to Glen +Effick. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVI. + + _AUGUSTUS WALLOWBY_. + + +Eppie Ness was at her door when Kenneth and his friend drew up before +it. She had a foreboding, when she saw two of them, that the other +must be the father of her baby, and that he was come to take it away; +and tears rose plentifully to her eyes and trickled over her withered +cheeks as she led them into her house. + +The baby was in its cradle and asleep, and however homely might be the +cottage surroundings, no one could say that it had suffered from +neglect or privation. It lay among dainty coverings of cambric and +lace, like some infant princess, or a sacred image before which a +perpetual oblation of praise and incense is offered up. + +It was impossible that Steele should recognize his child, seeing that +its life had been measured only by days when he last saw it, but he +_thought_ he recognized it, and no one would dispute his right to do +so. He also observed a strong resemblance in it to its deceased +mother, which confirmed his faith in its identity, if that were +possible. Yet, when one recalls that only a few weeks before Mrs. +Sangster had seen with equal clearness its strong family likeness to +Tibbie Tirpie, one may doubt if the likeness test is of much +consequence. + +The clothing in which it had been wrapped up when found was produced. +It consisted entirely of Indian fabrics. Even Steele could tell that +much, but not having the feminine eye for embroideries and tissues, he +could not identify any of the articles. He was able to recognize his +wife's cipher, however, embroidered on a handkerchief, so that all +possibility of doubt was at an end. + +He thanked Eppie profusely, and handed her his purse as some +instalment of the debt he owed her. + +'Na na, sir!' she said, 'Miss Brown pays me weel, an' it's her ye're +awin' yer thanks til, for the care o' yer bairn, for she cudna hae +ta'en mair tent on't gin it had been her ain. I'm misdoubtin' but +she'll be wae to ken it's to be ta'en frae her. An', oh sir! gin ye +hae nae body partic'lar to mind it for ye, will ye tak _me_ for its +nurse? It wad be a sair heartbreak to me to be parted frae the wee +dawtie, an', I'm thinkin', she wad miss me hersel'!' + +Steele felt a twinge of jealousy already. To think that any one should +have a nearer place than himself in his child's regard; but he +consented, and with thanks, that his daughter should remain for the +present where she was, till he had time to consider of her future +disposal. After hanging over the cradle, awakening the baby and making +it cry with his awkward endearments, he was at last persuaded to hand +back the new and incomprehensible possession to Eppie to be soothed +and comforted, and then after lingering and talking, and repetition +manifold, Kenneth was able to get him away and to carry him home. + +All the village idlers were in the street to admire the dog-cart and +the groom, and wonder what the gentlemen could have to say in so long +an interview with Eppie Ness. No sooner had they gone, however, than +Eppie herself came forth brimming over with the news, and mightily +uplifted, if also sad at the possible chance of being parted from her +charge, to tell the neighbours that a great gentleman was claiming her +nurseling for his own child, that it was to be brought up as one of +the first ladies of the land, and that aiblins she, Eppie Ness, might +have to journey into foreign parts in attendance on the precious +infant. + +'An' it's wae gude Mister Brown wull be, to hae the wee dawtie ta'en +frae him!' + +'An' it's blate the Presbytery may weel be,' added Peter Malloch 'for +a' the daftlike clavers they hae set rinnin' fornent him.' + +Mrs. Sangster was in Ebenezer Prittie's shop when the news was brought +in of the father that had appeared to claim the minister's bairn. They +both listened to the tale with much curiosity and interest, but +without one twinge of compunction at their own uncharitable +constructions in time past. They were both far too excellent for that, +and the lady's mind too well regulated to suppose that she could +possibly have acted or thought amiss. On the contrary, she was +disposed to draw improvement and instruction from the whole matter in +the usual way, by moralizing on the inscrutable ways of Providence, +and hoping that it would be 'a warning to the church office-bearers to +practice a more abundant charity in the future, and to refrain from +hasty judgments.' + +'Hech! ay, mem,' sighed Ebenezer, 'it's juist hum'lin' to think what +haste an' uncharitableness the Presbytery hae leuten themsel's be +betrayed intil! An' Mester Dowlas! an' Mester Geddie! twa sic gude +men. That they suld sae far hae forgotten a' christian charity! It's +juist hum'lin'! But the best o' us wull gae wrang whiles!' + +Joseph Smiley was the last man in the village to hear the news. His +wife was cooking, while he sat rocking the cradle till the food should +be prepared. Tibbie came bustling in from the street. + +'There's news steerin', Tib!' she cried, 'but I haena juist gotten the +richts o't yet. Get up! Joseph Smiley, I win'er ye dinna think shame! +A muckle man like you, hingin' about the house like a singet cat, at +this time o' day! Out wi' ye! an' bring back word what's steerin'. An' +de'il a bite ye'se get, till ye can tell us a' about it!' + +'Poor Joseph! He had come to this! Laid by the heels at last! and no +mistake. The jaunty bachelor, so alert and brisk, was quenched for +ever, and a poor, meek, hen-pecked creature had taken his place, +sighing under a mother-in-law's iron yoke, which grew heavier each day +as the victim developed new capacity of endurance. + +After Tibbie's bold stroke of invasion, there was nothing left for him +but to succumb. Resistance would have raised such a scandal as must +have lost him his beadleship, and would probably have driven him from +the parish, so he had felt compelled to admit his marriage as the +lesser evil, even although it involved a severe private _rebuke_ +before the assembled kirk-session for the matrimonial irregularity. + +The bitterest day of his life was probably the Sunday on which he +'kirket' his wife. Shambling down the village street in front of his +mother-in-law, who stepped out behind with the briskness and precision +of a corporal's guard, he seemed 'going,' as Mrs. Ebenezer Prittie, +who surveyed them out of her window, observed to her spouse, 'like a +fool to the correction of the stocks,' and Mrs. P. was not sorry for +him. There was a twinkle of scornful pity in the eye of the onlookers +at seeing this notorious lady-killer thus taken in charge, which stung +Joseph's self-love like the cut of a whip; but his discomfiture was +not complete till they met Jean Macaulay. Jean surveyed their +procession with open eyes, and then looking her old sweetheart full in +the face, she threw back her head and uttered an echoing laugh. There +was a ring of vexation in the sound which might have brought +consolation for the affront, but Joseph was already too miserable to +be nicely observant. His eyes fell before her, and his head hung +forward in abject confusion; and he crept about his duties that day +around the tent more like a whipped cur than the brisk and +consequential beadle of other days. + +As Kenneth drove his friend home to Inchbracken, his kind heart was +rejoicing to note the improvement in his condition. The happy +discovery had acted on him like a cordial given to a fainting man. His +very bearing was altered. He sat squarely in his seat looking about +him with clear and animated eyes, a different person from the limp and +nerveless invalid, seeing nothing left to him in earth or sky worth a +moment's regard, whom he had driven out a few hours before. Finding +there was still something left in his own life to interest him, Steele +began also to interest himself in the life of his fellows. He talked +to Kenneth about the Browns who had so tenderly cared for his child, +and the Browns with Kenneth was an inexhaustible subject. Now that he +had found a friendly listener, he talked about them freely enough, and +by the time they had reached Inchbracken, Steele knew all about his +engagement. + +Understanding in what direction the morning drive had been made, the +sympathetic Julia had arranged herself for dinner in a species of half +mourning, and her voice and mien were more subduedly sorrowful than +ever. As the disconsolate entered the drawing room, she lifted her +head from a book over which she had been drooping in willowy fashion, +all mournful sympathy for the haggard desolation she expected to see +depicted on his face; but for once she found herself completely out of +tune. + +Major Steele sat down beside Lady Caroline and began to recount the +discovery he had made--what a miracle had occurred on his behalf, and +what a paragon among infants was his new found daughter. + +'Mary Brown's baby! your daughter?' cried Lady Caroline. 'That is +perfectly delightful! Would you like me to send over for it, that you +may have it here under your own eye?' + +She was probably not very sorry, however, that Major Steele thought it +would be better for him to make a daily visit to his offspring, until +he could arrange to remove it to Edinburgh. + +The two elder men were agreeably surprised by the brightened manner of +their guest. He seemed transformed since morning from a dismal +hypochondriac, into a person cheerful and companionable; or, as +Captain John put it, 'he seemed to have completely picked himself up.' +He in particular was well pleased to meet some one who could talk to +him of India, and enable him to live over again the years he spent +there in his youth. It followed that they sat longer than usual in the +dining room, drank their coffee there, and adjourned straight to the +smoking room, so that the ladies saw no more of them that evening. + +This was just as well for Julia, whose artistic soul had been sadly +jarred by finding herself pitched in a wrong key. It took her hours to +modulate down into a more everyday state of feeling,--for there must +be a kind of feeling at the back even of make-believe emotion, if it +is to be a successful representation. But that was only part of what +she would have to do. The spectator must be led down by easy +gradation, or her revulsion from pensive melancholy to a chastened +cheerfulness might seem abrupt, intentional, and ridiculous. +Artificial feeling has this advantage in displaying itself, that it is +single, and free from the complexities and contradictions which +confuse and distract the real, in its manifestation; and hence grief +on the stage is often beautiful, while in private life it is generally +revolting and grotesque. But this very singleness and clear definition +makes it more difficult for the artificial to change front; while the +real, having been always blurred and muddy and indistinct, can readily +transfer itself to a new category. The floating cloud passes readily +enough from the form of an eagle to a ship, a horse or a whale; but +clay once trimmed and modelled into a given shape must be broken down +and worked up afresh in order to take a new form. Julia therefore kept +in the background for a day or two, before coming forward prominently +in a new rôle. Prominence, however, was by no means so very easy now. +Since Major Steele's mind had recovered a healthier tone, the men in +the house were all eager for his company. The General had Blue-Books +and Reports of the Board of Control on which he desired information, +and Captain John talked pig-sticking and tigerhunts by the hour. + +If Julia would only have taken some personal interest in the baby, she +might have succeeded, but she was much too clever and artistic to try +any course so obvious as that. Besides, she abominated babies. 'Damp, +sticky little abominations, which always squalled when you did +anything to them! and scrabbled their little wet fingers over your +face, which was always unpleasant, and sometimes inconvenient.' If she +would have talked about bringing up young children, infant health and +disease, baths, powders, pap and teething, she might have kept the +Major at her side by the hour; for the new responsibilities of a +parent weighed heavily upon him, and he had no one to advise with, +Lady Caroline having forgotten all she ever knew on such matters, if +she ever knew anything. He rode over to Eppie every day and had long +talks with her on the engrossing subject; but when he returned, the +billiard room or smoking room were his usual haunts. + +It was not long too before Julia had other matters of her own to +attend to. Since the awakening of her fantastical interest in Major +Steele, Augustus Wallowby's daily offerings of amorous rubbish had +grown wearisome, and reply to them a positive bore. Her letters had +grown intermittent, and dwindled down to the shortest billets. +Augustus remonstrated--waxed plaintive--drivelled--Julia lost patience +and ceased to write altogether. Had Augustus followed suit, it is +likely the correspondence would not have remained long in abeyance, +and that it would have been the lady who would have revived it; but +Augustus dared not venture on that experiment, indeed he had become +too deeply in earnest to think of it. He had thought over her pretty +speeches spoken, and written in her earlier letters, and the delight +of having a lord for a cousin and visitor, till from merely supposing +that she must admire him very much, he had worked himself up to an +almost crazy eagerness about _her_, believed himself to be cherishing +a most ardent attachment, and began to feel deeply touched at his own +sensibility. + +Likewise he had cut the ground from under his own feet; or perhaps +'burned his ships' is the more usual metaphor. On returning home from +the North, his good fortune with the ladies and this new conquest were +much in his thoughts, weighty hints and dark sayings babbled from his +lips before he was aware, and then, to mend matters, he would explain +and confide till they were made much worse. All his acquaintance knew +that he was going to be married, and the younger men reverenced him in +advance on account of the noble family he was about to enter, 'related +to half the peerage.' + +The news did not act so pleasantly for him on his lady friends. No one +should say that they had been jilted, or had made fruitless attempts +to win him! and they took care that the cooling of the intimacy should +begin on their side. His neighbour Sir Timothy Kettlebotham had three +fine daughters, with £20,000 certain to their fortunes a-piece, and he +had been wont to practise a good deal of archery with them on the +lawn, as well as to sing numberless duets and glees, and assist at +small carpet dances in the evening. But now Miss Kitura had strained +her wrist and could not draw a bow, Miss Felicia had medical orders +not to sing until her chest grew stronger, and Miss Frances was away +on a visit. He found himself condemned to dine at home four or five +times in the week, and to knock about the billiard hall of an evening +if he could secure a companion, or to fall asleep in his chair if he +could not, without a chance of the female society and admiration to +which he had grown accustomed. + +He wrote more and more pleadingly, which to Julia was more and more +tiresome, and therefore elicited no reply. In sheer desperation, he +packed his portmanteau and hurried to the north. He had a standing +invitation to return when he pleased from Mrs. Sangster, who still +cherished fatuous hopes of making him a son-in-law. Therefore, when +one frosty evening about Christmas time he drew up at the door, he was +made as welcome as the flowers in spring. Since the vindication of +Roderick Brown's character, that lady had an uncomfortable intuition +that her all-wisdom was set less store on both by her husband and +daughter. But here was the prize returned; it could be with only one +object, and these ingrates would have to admit her judicious +management after all. + +Augustus drove over to Inchbracken the following day very early. When +his card was brought to Julia she was greatly surprised, and better +pleased with the man than she had been yet. This long journey at such +a season, and over muddy roads showed some energy and strength of +purpose, and if only he would talk like a rational being and a +gentleman, instead of maundering like a lackadaisical idiot as he had +been doing of late in his letters, she believed she might bring +herself to respect and even like him. She was beginning to realize, +too, that her sympathy for Major Steele was so much brain power thrown +away. There had been something respectable, nay more, touching, and +almost grand, in such abandonment of grief and utter desolation on the +part of a widower crushed by the untimely loss of his wife and child; +but that a distinguished officer should ride away from good company +every day to drivel for hours with an old woman over a sticky infant +was preposterous, nay it was disgusting! + +There were half-a-dozen of Augustus' latest letters on her table still +unopened. She tore them open now, and glanced at the contents to place +herself _au courant_ with the gentleman's ideas, but the reading +nearly destroyed her good resolutions. The letters were both abject +and ridiculous, and she wondered how she would even learn to tolerate +such a husband, and hesitated whether to go down to him at all. Being, +however, a business minded person, who meant to settle herself +comfortably and respectably in life, and knew she could not have +everything, she choked down the unpractical idea, and after a critical +survey of herself in the glass, she went down to receive her visitor. + +Her manner was all gracious friendliness, and Augustus was disarmed +for the moment, and saved from doing anything absurd, which might have +been the death of his hopes. He had expected to be received with +coldness, and had prepared many moving protestations; he had even +selected the precise spot of the carpet on which he was prepared to +kneel; and surely that, he thought, with perhaps a tear or two (and he +had a misgiving that in certain contingencies they would not be far +of!) would finish the matter. And so it would have done, for in spite +of self-command, Julia would have laughed, and Augustus Wallowby's +love, his infatuation,--whatever it should be called,--would never +have survived a laugh. He would have rushed from the house, and no +apology would ever have induced him to return. + +They chatted as pleasantly as possible, thanks to Julia, who kept the +conversation well on the ordinary track, carefully avoiding sentiment +and everything tiresome. Augustus regained his equanimity under this +treatment, and was saved from making a fool of himself. He had come +with a purpose, however; and that purpose must be fulfilled, if not in +the melodramatic fashion he had intended, at least in such form as +circumstances would permit. He told her that his life was a burden to +him at so great a distance from her, and begged that she would let the +marriage take place the following month. + +She replied that it was very nice of him to be so impatient, of +course; but really he must allow her a little time to prepare for so +momentous a change in her life. He pressed her to name a time. She +supposed in a year. 'And you must not, dear Augustus, be so exacting +as you have shown signs of being lately. A woman should be allowed to +take the full enjoyment out of her last year of freedom. You know, +after that, you expect us to be obedient slaves. Oh yes! Don't +protest! Men are all alike!' with an engaging smile, which gratified +Augustus, and made him pull out his whiskers to their greatest length. + +He remonstrated about the year, however, with great earnestness, and +there were threatenings of a watery look in his eyes, which induced +her to relent so far; for her gracious blandishments being really well +done, had had a reflex action, and she was getting into a less hard +humour herself. + +'Six months! then,' she said. 'Now see what influence you have +already! It quite frightens me.' + +But Augustus was not yet content. He reminded her of the discomforts +of a northern spring. 'Would she not like to spend the dreariest +months of the year in Italy, with its blue skies and its--' The +special descriptive attributes of Italy forsook him at the moment, +but, 'and all that sort of thing' answered as well. 'And we might +spend Holy Week in Rome, and see all the church ceremonies; and there +are to be an unusual number of foreign princes there this year, I am +told. Would you not like to be there?' + +Julia thought that she _would_ like it. And after all, if it was to +be, the sooner she entered on her fortune, and the less time she had +to think about it beforehand, perhaps the better. So March was fixed +on as the date of their happiness, and Wallowby was led up stairs to +Lady Caroline's sitting-room, to be presented as an expectant +relative, and to be duly congratulated. The interview did not last +long, however; Lady Caroline speedily got tired of tiresome people, +and Julia, knowing the signs, bundled her admirer off in good time. He +was invited to dinner for the following day, with instructions to go +back to Manchester the day after, and to remain there till the day of +the wedding, as the settlements could be arranged between Mr. +MacSiccar (who had Lady Caroline and the General's instructions as to +what was proper) and his solicitors. + +He returned to Auchlippie in exuberant delight, and unburdened himself +of his good news to his hostess, who made shift to receive it as well +as she could. So he had come north with matrimonial intent after all! +And yet he had turned his eyes elsewhere! It was too bad! And her +husband and daughter would think less of her wisdom than ever. + +She was not very effusive in her congratulations, and she told him +that he would no doubt stay at Inchbracken when he came north next +time; from which he was left to infer that the Lady of Auchlippie had +no wish to see his face again. + + + + + CHAPTER XXXVII. + + _THE END_. + + +Roderick Brown's health rapidly improved under the milder and more +genial airs of Devon. The threatening symptoms of impending disease +were speedily mitigated, and gradually disappeared altogether. Torquay +was but a quiet little place in those days. The carriages filled with +much dressed company, and the depressing trains of hopelessly sick and +dying, were not as yet. He and his sister could go in and out as +inclination led them, and wander little disturbed by other sojourners +along the shore. + +Roderick revelled in the ease and repose that comes of the cessation +of long continued worry. He knew that there he could go, and say, and +do as he listed, with none to criticise; and for once after several +years he found himself with nothing whatever to do but amuse himself. + +He had frequent letters from the Laird, which told him all the news he +cared to know of Glen Effick, whose dust he vowed to himself he had +shaken from his feet for ever. The beadle's appearance at church +in the new character of married man had overturned and shivered to +pieces the whole fabric of scandal under which he had lain, and the +old gentleman grew quite humorous over the consternation and +recriminations of his brother elders in Session assembled. A scapegoat +had at first appeared necessary to these wiseacres, and poor Joseph +was selected as the victim on whom they might lay the punishment of +their stupid credulity, sending it and him forth into the wilderness +to be no more heard of or remembered; and it had taken all the Laird's +and the new minister's eloquence and influence to dissuade them from +their vindictive intentions, and let the poor wretch work out in peace +the heavy domestic retribution he had brought upon himself. 'I might +say,' he added, 'that we all congratulate you; but you know we never +supposed that there was anything in it, and we only regretted that you +should have taken a nonsensical accusation so seriously to heart.' + +'We all' Roderick understood to be the old gentleman's way of +including Sophia with himself, and he was greatly cheered. He kept up +a constant correspondence with the Laird himself, and took care that +Mary's letterwriting to Sophia should never flag, so that he felt by +no means cut off from her. He might have adventured a letter to her +himself now, with far greater hope than he had felt on a previous +occasion, but he had begun to doubt and wonder as to his own future +plans in life, and he misgave as to his moral right to commit another +to the hazy uncertainties he begun to see before him. His utter +outrooting from Glen Effick was not a process which could take place +without leaving changes and permanent effects on his whole nature. It +was no mere transplanting-process, in which the fibres retain some +clod of the old for stay and nourishment until they are able to spread +themselves and take hold on the new soil. His clerical brethren had +treated him as a diseased and withered branch, a weed to be plucked up +by the root and cast out of the vineyard; and finding himself thus out +for the moment, he was minded to look well about him before he +returned. + +In England he came for the first time in contact with a national +church differing from his own, and to which the traditions and +prejudices of his early training were opposed. The written prayers, +rubrical directions, and instrumental music, were all opposed to his +experience and prepossessions, so much that, in a sense, and apart +from controversial considerations, Prelacy and Popery had appeared as +nearly convertible terms. But as the novelty wore off there was much +in them conducive to devout feeling, and he could not close his eyes +to the signal and thousandfold examples of holy living which +flourished under the system. The extension of railways has assisted to +bring similar suggestions to many of his fellow countrymen. Roderick +began to realize what, perhaps, he would only have admitted in a +speculative but doubtful way before, that there are more folds than +one; or, to speak more orthodoxly, that the limits of the one fold are +not conterminous with those of one special pen in which some portion +of the faithful flock have chosen to house themselves. He began to +read more foreign theology than had been his wont, and with less of +his old feeling that he knew more and better than any dweller in lands +of a dimmer Gospel light could possibly tell him. + +Mary, of course, was not long in hearing from Kenneth that baby Steele +had been reclaimed by its new found family, and the delighted father +wrote her a letter overflowing with gratitude. He told her that he had +persuaded Eppie, who understood her constitution so wonderfully, to +remain in charge of his little Mary, and assured her that she should +be brought up to remember for life the debt of gratitude she owed to +her name-mother's charity. Mary cried a little to think that she had +lost her winsome plaything, but admitted it was perhaps just as well. +Lady Caroline might not have relished an infant in the house, not of +her kindred, and belonging to none knew whom. + +In March came the county _Courier_, describing the marriage in high +life at Inchbracken, 'Augustus Wallowby, Esquire, to the beautiful and +accomplished,' etc., with all the great doings and high festival kept +on the occasion. This was especially welcome news to Mary. She had +known of it from the beginning, but she had feared something might +happen to delay or break it off; the attachment seemed so unreal, to +judge from Kenneth's cynical observations made on the spot. Her +acquaintance with Julia had been slight, and she felt as if they did +not like each other, though she could not have said why. Julia had +always been quite civil, but Mary knew this, that she did not +understand her (Julia) in the very least, Inchbracken was going to +become her own home in the coming autumn, and she had feared that the +presence of Julia would not be conducive to her happy relations with +her mother-in-law. But that was settled, and Mary received an +occasional billet from Lady Caroline, who felt lonely and dull now +that she was deprived of Julia's companionship, and whose thoughts +naturally turned to the coming daughter-in-law. + +Roderick and Mary broke up their winter quarters soon after hearing of +Julia's marriage. They had no occasion to move northward before May or +June, but having as yet seen little of England, they determined to +move along the south coast by easy stages, stopping at famous towns on +their way, and seeing all that they could--Exeter, Dorchester, +Winchester, Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight, Canterbury, and finally +Dover. They were sorely tempted to cross the straits, but it was now +May, and if they were to see London, it was time for them to hurry +thither, for they were due in Edinburgh at the end of the month. + +They strolled down the pier to watch the steamer come in, and had the +consolation of seeing by the forlorn aspect of the landing passengers, +that their inability to cross was not an unmixed evil. The wind blew +from the east, and the confused chopping waves betokened a detestable +passage, and the seagreen visages of the people, as they followed +their baggage into the customhouse sheds, showed plainly what they had +suffered. In time there issued from the sheds a party, the chief +members of which struck them as familiar, though they could not recall +when they had seen them. A lady, whose long ringlets had somewhat lost +their curl in the damp sea air, but who did not appear to be otherwise +discomposed, walked first; a courier came next carrying her reticule, +her Murray, and her smelling bottle; a gentleman followed, dismal of +countenance and rumpled in attire. Manifestly he had not been happy +during the voyage, and he appeared to have lain down or leant up in +undesirable places. It appeared an exertion to him to drag himself to +the neighbouring 'Lord Warden,' whither their steps were bent, and yet +he had other burdens to carry. On one arm hung a voluminous fur +cloak,--evidently a lady's,--and he had also a parasol. Clutched to +his side under the other arm was a French poodle, caught below the +shoulders, with its after-part dangling helpless like a hairy +caterpillar about his legs. It appeared to be in much discomfort, +blinked piteously, and would have yelped and bitten also, but that the +breath was squeezed out of its body by the elbow which kept it in +place. A maid followed with a vast bundle of shawls, and then came a +man with a folding stool, who lingered to watch the baggage being +conveyed to the hotel. + +'Adolphe!' said the lady to the courier, 'go and bid Mr. Wallowby take +better care of that poor Fidele. I _know_ he is handling the tender +darling roughly! Men are so coarse and indifferent. I am _sure_ I +heard a whimper!' + +The delivery of Adolphe's message was followed by a shrill yelp, cut +short in the middle by want of breath, as its aggravated bearer bent +in a few more of its ribs with a jerk of his elbow, and wished it in +the sea. The lady stopped in her saunter and turned round. + +'Augustus!' she said in a severe and injured tone, 'Had you not better +wait till you get indoors, before giving way to your disgusting +brutality of temper? The servants cannot possibly admire the +exhibition.' + +At this moment she descried the Browns, and her face cleared as she +approached them with cordial alacrity. + +'Oh, Miss Brown! or Mary you must allow me to call you, we are so soon +to be cousins you know. So nice to meet old friends on setting foot in +dear Old England once more!' She was as enthusiastic over her return +as if she had been abroad for years; but then she knew Mary had never +crossed the Channel, and this was the civillest way to remind her of +it. + +Mary returned her salutation with as much effusion as she could call +up, and then turned to greet Mr. Wallowby who stood a step behind, +like the attendant of a princess on the stage. He could only bow +himself, with a weakly smile to his encumbered hands and arms, for +there was a vicious twitch about Fidele's mouth and eye, which warned +him that any relaxation of watchfulness or elbow would be followed by +a snap or perhaps an ugly bite. + +'Ah! To be sure you know each other! I had forgotten that. Met at +Auchlippie last summer, of course. It was there _we_ met first, too, +by the way, in our days of young love and inexperience. How long ago +it all seems now! And how droll! Does it not, Wallowby?' + +'Very droll,' returned the husband in a dull and absent voice, as if +he might have added, 'And very wretched, too,' but had still so much +self-respect as kept him from parading his disappointment. + +He had tasted more of gall than sweetness during his honeymoon, and +had found himself matched to so expert a manager that it was harder to +struggle than submit; and he had meekly subsided into poodle-bearer +and banker before the honeymoon was half gone through. Julia made no +pretence of admiring him now, and this was so strange an experience +that he worshipped her for her superiority, and probably loved her in +some weak and querulous fashion. Do not people love and reverence all +the queer idols they set up, if only they are strong and heavy enough +to crush their worshippers? But Julia would have none of his +endearments or devotion. They bored, and after a few days did not even +amuse her. Adolphe the courier spoke French and Italian, and she +practised herself in those tongues under his direction, which was +better than talking vapid sentiment with her husband; and so long as +their expenditure was liberal, there were plenty of talkative +foreigners--counts--princes--all sorts of interesting creatures to be +had, who conversed delightfully, and were so romantic, realizing to +her mind some of the most charming passages in the French novels she +doted on. Thus Julia enjoyed her tour immensely, and was returning +home in the best of good humour, prepared to queen it over the Misses +Kettlebotham and all the people who should come within her circle. + +Roderick stood in the back-ground. A distant bow was all the +recognition he either expected or received from the lady, and when +they moved on he followed with Wallowby. He offered to relieve him of +some of his burdens, but the poor man declined--he clung to his +service as the only hold left him on the woman he had married--though +he did wish that something would happen to Fidele; that its morning +cream, for instance, would disagree with its liver, and that it might +shortly die. + +The Browns parted with their friends at the hotel door, and hastened +to London, whence in due time they returned to Scotland. + +There is little to record in what afterwards befell them. Like +those fortunate nations which have little or no history, their lives +were happy, monotonous to the onlooker, but full of various and +engrossing interest to themselves. Mary returned to Inchbracken as +daughter-in-law in the autumn, and Lady Caroline speedily ceased to +regret that her son had not made a more splendid alliance. + +Roderick met the Laird and his family in Edinburgh, where the Laird +was a delegate from his Presbytery to the General Assembly, and before +the young man well knew it, he had said all that was in his mind both +to Sophia and her father. He spent two years in Germany to the no +small anxiety of Mrs. Sangster, who felt certain that his principles +would be sapped, and that he would come back a rationalist, or imbued +with peculiar German views, whatever that may mean. But on his return +he was called to an influential city charge, and duly married, +realizing in the end the original hopes of that worthy but somewhat +mixed old lady for the wellbeing of her daughter--a comfortable +provision for this life, and the glorious certainties of a minister's +wife for that which is to come. + +Roderick has preached and published many remarkable sermons; he is +highly respected for personal piety; and as his lucky star has more +than once interposed to prevent his being made a professor, there is +every likelihood that he will live to a good old age in peace, +contentment, and universal esteem. + + + + THE END. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Inchbracken, by Robert Cleland + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40330 *** |