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diff --git a/59829-0.txt b/59829-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..50dc426 --- /dev/null +++ b/59829-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5357 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59829 *** + + + + + + + + + + + + + _The Queer Folk of Fife_: + + _Tales from the Kingdom_ + + BY + DAVID PRYDE, M.A., LL.D. + + AUTHOR OF "PLEASANT MEMORIES OF A BUSY LIFE" + "THE HIGHWAYS OF LITERATURE" + "GREAT MEN IN EUROPEAN HISTORY," ETC. + + GLASGOW + MORISON BROTHERS + 52 RENFIELD STREET + 1897 + +[Illustration] + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + THE BREACH OF PROMISE, 9 + + HER DEAD SELF, 33 + + GOD'S OWN SCHOLAR, 52 + + THE GENTLEMAN TRAMP, 84 + + THE ONE FATAL MISTAKE, 123 + + A ROMANCE OF THE HARVEST FIELD, 167 + + THE BOY HERETIC, 198 + + HOW THE DEACON BECAME AN ABSTAINER, 240 + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Fifty years ago, the little burgh-town of Sandyriggs was a sleepy +place. The inhabitants led, what they themselves called, "an easy-osy +life." So little stir was there in the life of the small shopkeeper +or tradesman, that he might be said to "vegetate." He grew and +flourished where he had been born, and among his own schoolmates and +his parents' cronies, who still called him by the fond familiar name +of his boyhood, "Johnny," or "Jamie," or "Robby," as the case might +be. His place of business was part of his home; and during the day he +oscillated comfortably between the front shop and the back parlour. +There was little competition, and very little anxiety about his trade. +His customers were his friends, and he could rely implicitly on their +support. It happened, therefore, that even in what he called his +busiest time, he had many intervals of leisure during which he was at a +loss what to do. + +Of a similar complexion was the life of the small farmers who abounded +in the neighbourhood. The farmer, or "gudeman," as he was called, +toiled, it is true, in the fields by the side of his own servants; but +he had little of the endless anxiety of the husbandmen of the present +time. In those halcyon days of Protection, he was the especial care +of the Lords and Commons of Great Britain and Ireland. They were his +guardian angels. What did it matter to him though the drought burned up +his turnips, and the drenching rains blackened his barley? The prices +rose at once to guard him against loss. Consequently, after his day's +"darg," and when he had exchanged his muddy boots for slippers, and +taken his "four hours" of tea and buttered scones, he could sit down, +snuff-box in hand and free from care, and take his ease by the side +of the blazing kitchen fire. Thus the peasantry, like the townsfolk, +had their intervals of leisure, during which they were open for any +entertainment that might come before them. + +Now, the important question came to be, How were these intervals of +leisure to be filled up? There were no daily papers, few magazines, and +few books to satisfy their craving for knowledge. Their minds were, +therefore, obliged to feed upon the gossip of the country side; and so +it came about that the gift of story-telling was cultivated, and that +there were men and women who were recognised as the chroniclers of +the district. These were the public entertainers, and were constantly +called upon to use their gifts, especially for the delight of the +young. + +Two of these chroniclers, a couple of the name of Steedman, I chanced +to know. Better samples of "auld-farrant Scotch bodies" could not be +imagined. In no other habitat than a quaint burgh like Sandyriggs +could they have grown up. For many years they had "gathered gear" in +a grocer's "shoppie," and had then retired on a competence. They now +lived in a cottage, crooked, grey, and time-worn like themselves. +A favourite niece waited upon them, for they preferred, after the +patriarchal fashion, to be served by their own kith and kin, and not +by the _frem'd_. Their religion, too, was of the olden type. They were +Original Seceders, would not enter an Established Church, travelled +miles to attend a Dissenting Chapel, believed every iota of the Bible +and the Confession of Faith, kept the Sabbath strictly, abhorred +novels as "parcels o' lees," and looked upon food that had not been +consecrated by a long grace as absolute poison. Yet their religion, +straight-laced though it might be called, did for them what more +fashionable religions sometimes fail to do for their adherents. It made +them far more cheerful, and far more appreciative of the blessings of +life. The snow of winter was on their head, but the warmth of summer +was in their heart. A brighter, _cantier_, and cosier pair could not +be seen. They delighted in all their surroundings: their work, their +religious exercises, their pipe of tobacco, and their nightly glass +of toddy. They were particularly fond of recalling the scenes and +incidents of the Past, and as I was an appreciative listener, I was +always a welcome guest, and in fact was invited to drop in upon them as +often as I could. + +As I write, the old couple are before me, one on each side of the +hearth--he, in a brown suit with a cloth cap covering his grey hair, +and with a most intelligent countenance--she, a tidy little body, with +clean-cut features and with coloured ribbons in her cap--he, recalling +with unction some bygone event--she, interpolating occasionally to add +some little detail to complete the narrative--and both radiant with +pleasure, as if the light of other days were warming their hearts and +brightening their faces. + +"What a blessing," he would say, "is a good memory--one of the most +precious gifts of God." + +After the fashion of old people, they often repeated the stories which +they had told me on former occasions; but I did not object, as I was +thus enabled to realise them more thoroughly. + +Some of the scenes and incidents which I acquired in this way, I now +proceed to give as truthfully and clearly as I can. + + + + +THE BREACH OF PROMISE. + + +After a long dearth of news, an event happened to revive the interest +of the gossips of Sandyriggs. That snug, substantial villa, Townhead +Lodge, which stood within a garden, large and sloping to the south, had +got at last a tenant, a Mr Callendar, whose family consisted of a wife, +a son, and two daughters. And what was most interesting, there was a +mystery about them all! Where they had come from, what was the source +of their income, and why they kept themselves apart, no one knew. + +The father drove a gig of his own and was often from home. The mother +was a recluse, and rarely ventured beyond her own walls. But the +one who attracted the most notice was the elder daughter, who was +frequently seen in the streets of the town attended by her brother. +She was a mere girl of sixteen or seventeen, but she was exceedingly +beautiful. Regarding her special charms, I never could learn much, +except that she had a straight and lissome figure, dark hair, clear +blue eyes, and a modest and winning expression, and above all that she +had a sort of glamour about her which bewitched everyone who looked at +her. The family altogether seemed so distinguished, and at the same so +mysterious, that the gossips of the town were all agog to know more +about them. But how was this knowledge to be got? The newcomers were +evidently bent on keeping themselves aloof, and having as little to do +as possible with the natives. There was difficulty even in approaching +them. + +The one who overcame this difficulty was the late minister's sister, +Miss MacGuffog, or, as she was familiarly called, "Miss Phemie." +During the lifetime of her brother, who was a bachelor, she had taken +a motherly interest in all the parishioners, and went out and in among +them like a blood relation. After her brother's death, she kept up +the practice. Uncharitable people sneered at her as a busybody; but +they might have spared their sneers. They might have known that a +busybody is not necessarily bad. It was not selfish curiosity, but +kindly interest that was her motive. She was not a scandalmonger, but +a sympathetic friend. Having a high idea of everything connected with +her brother's parish, she was prepared to find good everywhere, and +generally found it. As a matter of course, it had been her custom to +call upon strangers in order to give them a hearty welcome. In this +way she came to know all that was to be known about the Callendars; +and as she held it to be selfish and unneighbourly to keep anything to +herself, she freely communicated her information to the town gossips +who met over afternoon tea. + +The information which she had gathered was as follows:--Mr Callendar +was a partner in a firm of English merchants who did a large business +all over the kingdom, and he had come to Scotland to establish a +connection in Fife. Mrs Callendar was somewhat of an invalid, and +passed the most of her time in reading. The elder daughter, Phoebe, was +evidently the pride of her life. "Isn't she handsome and graceful," the +mother had said as she fondly watched her going out of the room, "and +would she not look at home in the highest mansion in the land?" It was +evident that they expected her to make a great marriage. + +Meanwhile Miss Callendar's transcendent loveliness was seriously +affecting the male population of the village. What was afterwards +called "the Callendar fever" broke out among the bachelors, both +old and young. And during their fits of delirium they behaved most +absurdly. One began laboriously to train a moustache; another shaved +off his beard to show the fine lines of his face; another allowed his +hair to grow till it fell in ringlets on his shoulders; while gouty +Major Mustard (half-pay) dyed the tuft on his chin, and, looking into +his mirror, said, "Begad! I don't think that she can refuse an officer +of the British Army." + +But the one who had the epidemic in the most aggravated form was +Charles Raeburn, the town lawyer, and the laird of the small estate +of Cowslip Brae. Charles was nothing if not poetical; and his ravings +about Miss Callendar took the form of quotations from his favourite +bards. He compared her to Spenser's Una, to Shakespeare's Portia +drawing suitors from the four quarters of the world, to Virgil's Venus +descending upon earth to fascinate mankind. One day (oh, ecstasy!) +she came into his office to make some inquiries for the information +of her father; but (oh, horror!) he lost his head, and gave the +information in such an incoherent manner that she had some difficulty +in understanding him. He wished to appear to her as a man of genius; +but he had conducted himself like an idiot. All that he could do +after this, was to wander round her house on moonlight nights, like a +silly moth (as someone said) fluttering round a wax candle, or like a +forlorn planet (as he himself said) circling round a central luminary. +At length, his cousin, Dr Raeburn, thought to bring him to his senses +by rating him soundly and telling him plainly that he was "carrying +on like a lunatic." And, to the doctor's utter astonishment, Charles +agreed with him. + +"Yes," said the poor fool, "you are quite right. I _am_ a lunatic--a +monomaniac. I'm haunted by one idea, one image. It appears in my +dreams. It fills my waking hours. Position, friends, relations, are +dross compared with her. I would rather have her than the largest +estate, than a whole county, than a continent, than a bright new planet +all to myself." + +But it was in the church on Sunday where the hopeless infatuation +of the young men of the town was noticed. During the whole of the +service, their eyes were fixed upon this young girl. Her pew was the +pulpit, and she herself was both the preacher and the sermon. And one +Sunday a strange phenomenon happened. The church, which was dingy and +dark even at midsummer, appeared to be lighted up in some mysterious +way. How came this to pass? On the previous Sunday, one of the many +rivals, in order to attract the eyes of his goddess, had appeared in +white waistcoat and white necktie; and all the others had lost no time +in following suit. + +How did Miss Callendar conduct herself under all this idolatry? Most +modestly. When she appeared on the streets with her little brother by +her side, she saluted everybody with a good-natured smile. She smiled +on Major Mustard, and set his well-worn heart palpitating. She also +smiled on Peter Samuel the mercer's apprentice, when coming into the +shop unexpectedly she asked to see some gloves; and when Peter shook +all over while he was showing her the gloves, and answered confusedly, +she smiled still more sweetly. + + "Bright as the sun her eyes all gazers strike, + And like the sun they shine on all alike." + +One Sunday there appeared in the church a stranger, like a being from +another sphere. That he was an aristocrat was evident. He had an +elegant figure, clean-cut features, and easy manners; and, as Peter +Samuel remarked, "was dressed up to the nines, and looked as if he +had come out of a bandbox." In fact, he was a regular London-made +exquisite, "a dandy," "a swell." Nor was there any mistake about the +object of his visit. All during the service his eyes were fixed on +Phoebe Callendar, the village beauty. That evening, too, in the Orchard +Lane he was seen walking with her. Her little brother, indeed, was +there. But the exquisite, with that ease which high society gives, and +which local beaux can never acquire, was looking into her face and +talking, while she blushed and held down her head. In a few days she +disappeared. Had she eloped? Sandyriggs was in a ferment. + +At last Miss Phemie MacGuffog solved the mystery. Miss Callendar's +young lover was the heir to a dukedom. Her parents, alarmed at the +intimacy, and thoroughly disapproving of it, had sent her to a +boarding-school in England; and she was never seen again in Sandyriggs. +In a few months the family gave up their house and departed southwards. + +The one who was most affected by Miss Callendar's departure was +Charles Raeburn. He grew melancholy, lost his appetite and his sleep, +and wandered about like a ghost. He was like the traveller, when the +moon, which has lightened and beautified his path over hill and dale, +suddenly goes down and leaves him to stumble on in the dark. In a +short time he vanished; and when months elapsed without bringing any +intelligence regarding him, his neighbours gave him up for lost. + +A few years passed, and the inhabitants had almost forgotten the +Callendars, when they were startled by a short paragraph in the county +newspaper, to the effect that Miss Phoebe Callendar was about to bring +an action for breach of promise of marriage against the Duke of----. +Here was an interesting subject to talk about! A breach of promise +against a duke by a former inhabitant of Sandyriggs, a girl whom they +all knew! The whole district was in a flutter of excitement. When the +trial came on in London, the editor of the _County Chronicle_ employed +a special correspondent to give a report of it; and when the newspaper +containing the account of the trial arrived, it was devoured with +breathless interest, and handed about from house to house. + +After describing the appearance of the Court, and naming the famous +barristers and attorneys employed on both sides, the reporter went on +to say that the plaintiff, seated in a prominent place beside her legal +advisers, was "the cynosure of every eye," and her exquisite beauty, +and modest but melancholy expression, captivated at once not only the +ordinary onlookers, but even the gentlemen of the jury themselves. + +"The Attorney-General stated her case with all that romantic and +touching eloquence for which he is famous. 'The plaintiff,' he said, +'was a young lady of the greatest personal attractions. When first she +drew the attention of the defendant, she was living in retirement at +the small town of Sandyriggs in Fife. She was a mere girl, attending +to her lessons under the watchful care of her mother, and thinking +of nothing but her daily duties and her innocent amusements. She +was, indeed, the life of her parents' hearts, the idol of her young +companions, and the delight and pride of the whole village. But this +golden age was not to last long; into this innocent paradise the +serpent was soon to find his way. The defendant, then the Honourable +Algernon Colenutt, an Oxford student, happened to be spending his +vacation at a mansion in the neighbourhood. He heard of this charming +young creature--this beauty of Sandyriggs, as she was called,--and he +resolved to see her. It was no mere idle curiosity. He was one of those +golden youths who think that everything is made for their amusement, +that women especially are but toys that may be played with for a time, +and then cast aside for ever.' + +"'On a particular Sunday this gay Lothario attended the Sandyriggs +church. His presence there was noticed by most of the congregation; and +it was particularly remarked that his eyes were upon Miss Callendar +during the whole service, and that, in fact, he was completely +spellbound. Then in the evening he was seen talking to her in a lane +near her own house. He had waylaid her, and it was then, it seems, +that he gained her affections. By such a lover--young, handsome, +aristocratic, elegant in dress and manners, polished in speech and +adroit in flattery--was it surprising that the simple country maiden +was won? Ere they parted she plighted her troth to him; and, proud +of her conquest, the poor girl lost no time in making her mother her +confidante.' + +"'Now, Gentlemen of the Jury, you will very likely be told by my +learned brother, the counsel for the defence, that Miss Callendar's +parents were artful schemers, using every device to entrap an unwary +nobleman. But what did they do as soon as they heard of this courtship? +They immediately sent their daughter away to a boarding-school in +England, and afterwards to France, to be out of the way of this +aristocratic wooer. They were too sensible not to see that such a +connection would be unequal, and likely to prove dangerous to the +happiness of both parties. But their precautions were unavailing. The +defendant was not to be denied. He contrived to find out where his +beloved was, and to continue the correspondence; and after he had +succeeded to the dukedom, and after the Callendars had settled down in +England, at Woodhurst, about sixty miles from his ducal castle, his +attentions became more assiduous. He visited her at her father's house, +and sent many letters,--some of which I now produce,--and all of which +are full of the warmest protestations and the most endearing terms of +affection. At length the wedding was fixed for July, and Miss Callendar +and her mother set themselves to make all the necessary preparations. +Up to this time, there had not been the slightest hitch, the slightest +misunderstanding, and the happiness of the young couple seemed to be +assured. But ere the appointed day arrived, what was the consternation +of the Callendars to read in the newspaper the announcement that the +Duke of ---- had been married to Miss Fortescue Devlin. At first they +could not believe the statement; but after inquiry they found that it +was only too true. And, Gentlemen of the Jury, I can only leave you +to imagine what a disastrous effect this sudden perfidy has had on my +client. Her loving heart has been broken, and her fair young life has +been for ever blighted.' + +"'I believe that my learned brother is to take up the bold and +desperate position that these facts are not true, and that the written +correspondence is a forgery. What! a young, timid, and unsophisticated +girl sitting down deliberately to forge, not one letter, but a whole +bundle of letters, and doing it so accurately that she has deceived +those who are best acquainted with the defendant's handwriting! Why, +Gentlemen, the idea is preposterous, it is inconceivable, it is wholly +and absolutely ridiculous!' (Derisive laughter, which was immediately +suppressed.) + +"The Attorney-General then proceeded to call witnesses in order to +prove his statements. The sister of the plaintiff told that she had +seen the defendant several times at her father's house, and in the +company of her sister, and mentioned one occasion particularly, +the 20th of May, which she had good cause to remember, because it +was the fair day at the neighbouring village of Woodhurst, and the +defendant presented her with a sovereign as a fairing. The mother gave +evidence as to the receiving of the defendant's letters, and about +her daughter's letters in reply being posted. An old clergyman, who +had been the defendant's tutor, swore that the handwriting of the +letters was that of his former pupil. These witnesses were severely +cross-examined, but their evidence on the whole remained unshaken. + +"Then Mr Ridley, the counsel for the Duke, arose. He was famous as a +defender of abandoned criminals, and generally as a cunning handler +of the most desperate cases. It was no uncommon thing for him to +bully witnesses, and browbeat even the judge himself. Everybody, +therefore, expected strong statements from him, but few were prepared +for the merciless terms which he now used. Standing up, and looking +round with a confident, triumphant air, he began his speech. 'The +Attorney-General,' he said, 'in referring to the ground which was to +be taken up for the defence, had scouted the idea of such a young and +delicate creature perpetrating forgery. But my learned friend ought +to know that in the history of crime there have been young girls as +delicate and as refined as the plaintiff, who have been guilty of +this heinous offence. I have only to refer to the cases of Elizabeth +Canning and Mary Glen. In spite, therefore, of what the learned +Attorney-General has said, I now assert, and am prepared to prove, that +the plaintiff, guileless and modest as she looks, has perpetrated one +of the most daring and elaborate forgeries in the whole of our criminal +history.' + +"At this assertion, uttered in a slow, distinct, and severe tone, Miss +Callendar burst into tears, and was so completely overcome that she +had to leave the Court. Cries of 'Shame, shame,' were hurled at the +head of the counsel. But he, nothing abashed, looked round defiantly, +and repeated the phrase with greater incisiveness; and went on in the +same remorseless way to maintain that his client had scarcely ever seen +Miss Callendar, had scarcely ever spoken to her, had scarcely ever +written to her, and had certainly never made any promise of marriage. +The audience glanced occasionally at the Attorney-General to see what +effect this flat denial of all his assertions would have upon him; but +he remained quite calm, just as if nothing unusual had been said. + +"Mr Ridley then proceeded to examine his witnesses in the same +peremptory style; and ever as he drew from them some important bit of +evidence, he gave a triumphant look at the jury, as much as to say, +'What do you think of that? Wasn't what I told you true?' One was made +to confess that the defendant had never seen Miss Callendar since his +accession to the title; another, that the letters which had been read +swarmed with ridiculous errors as to matter of fact; and another, +that the handwriting was totally unlike that of the defendant. +These witnesses were cross-examined, but took care not to contradict +themselves. At all this, Miss Callendar's partisans, of whom there +were many amongst the audience, were puzzled and even confounded; +but an audible whisper, 'they are all relatives, and have got up the +story,' restored their confidence. It was evident, too, that the +Attorney-General felt that something was wrong; because he turned round +to talk with the agent. But the audience was again perplexed by what +followed. + +"An innkeeper from Welldon, fifty miles from Woodhurst, was put into +the box. In answer to examination, he said, 'that he knew the Duke +of ----; that on the 20th of May, the day of Woodhurst Fair, and the +day when he was said to have been at the house of the plaintiff, the +Duke arrived in a post-chaise on his way to Market Bruton; that there +could be no mistake about this, for here were the receipts for the post +horses.' And these receipts were handed to the jury to examine. + +"But the most startling bit of evidence was yet to come. A young +lady entered the witness-box, kissed the Book, and was subjected to +the following questioning:--(_Q._) You are Miss Ironside? (_A._) +Yes. (_Q._) You live at Woodhurst? (_A._) I do. (_Q._) You know the +plaintiff? (_A._) I do. (_Q._) You remember a ball taking place at +Lyndcaster? (_A._) I do. (_Q._) What was the date? (_A._) Last year, in +the month of April. (_Q._) Who went with you to the ball? (_A._) Miss +Phoebe Callendar. (_Q._) How was she dressed? (_A._) In white, with +one red rose in her hair. (_Q._) Was there any person that she wished +particularly to see at the ball? (_A._) The Duke of ----. (_Q._) How +did you know that? (_A._) She told me. (_Q._) Look at that letter. Do +you know the handwriting? (_A._) Yes. (_Q._) Whose is it? (_A._) Miss +Callendar's. (_Q._) You are sure? (_A._) Quite sure. Then Mr Ridley, +turning to the jury, said he would read the letter, which was as +follows:-- + + "'_April 18._ + + "'MY DEAR LORD DUKE,--I hope that you will excuse a stranger giving + you a bit of information which may be for your advantage. You are, I + understand, going to the public ball at Lyndcaster. Well, you will see + there a young lady to whom you lost your heart some years ago, and + who has remained constant to you ever since. She is more graceful and + beautiful than ever, and fit to be the bride of a prince. You will + recognise her at once, for she will be dressed in white, with a red + rose stuck in her raven hair.--I am, my dear Lord Duke, your sincere + well-wisher. + + C' + +"This letter fell upon the audience like a bombshell, and created the +greatest excitement and consternation. But it was evident from the +whispers of 'got up,' and 'bribed by the relations,' that the audience +had not even yet given up Miss Callendar. And they were very much +relieved when they saw the Attorney-General rise. He was evidently +going to put a stop to this wholesale slander and forgery. Alas, +however, for their hopes! Instead of hearing him expose the evidence +that was being given, they heard him make an admission that has very +seldom been made in a court of law. In a perfectly calm voice and +manner he said that this letter had come upon them as a surprise, that +they had neither the time nor the means of throwing any light upon it, +and that, therefore, with the concurrence of his learned friends, the +attorneys for the plaintiff, he now begged leave to withdraw from the +contest. Under these circumstances the plaintiff would be non-suited. +Accordingly the case was dismissed; the letter was impounded in order +that Miss Callendar might be indicted for conspiracy; and the audience +dispersed amid murmurs of astonishment. But it was noted that while +the elder members of the crowd muttered their detestation of Miss +Callendar's shameless forgery, the young men were louder than ever in +their admiration." + +"What a fascinating girl she must be," said one, "to be able to take in +the sharpest attorneys and the most learned counsel at the bar! what a +clever little witch!" + +"By Jove," cried another, in a strong Irish accent, "she's too good for +a duke's wife. She ought to be a queen. She _is_ a queen, the queen of +love and beauty, and should be classed with Helen of Troy, Cleopatra, +and Mary Queen of Scots; and, bedad, it's meself that should loike to +be Paris or Antony or Bothwell." + +Next morning a note appeared in one of the London newspapers stating +that Miss Callendar had been apprehended on a charge of forgery; but it +was not true. She had vanished, and no one knew where she was. + +Imagine the excitement now in Sandyriggs after this report had been +read! The town became a fermenting vat of scandal. Whispers swarmed +as fast as gnats in August, and, like gnats, they flew abroad and +buzzed in the ears of the public. The case was discussed at every +shop-counter, at every tea-table, at every street corner, in every +public-house, on every turnip field. People who had never spoken to +each other before, exclaimed as they passed each other, "Isn't this +a dreadful affair?" And it was astonishing to find that everyone had +foreseen, nay, had hinted such a catastrophe. So many people pose as +true prophets after the fact! + +Even Miss Phemie MacGuffog was forced to forego her usual charitable +views, and to confess that the poor unfortunate girl had been ruined by +her training. Every circumstance, she said, was against her. Her father +was a worldly man, engrossed with money-making, and seldom at home. Her +mother, a silly woman, was abandoned to romance reading, and neglected +her everyday duties, and lived in a world of unreality. The poor girl +herself got no solid education. She had no need, her mother told her, +to be clever or accomplished. She was lovely, which was far better, +and would undoubtedly make a grand match and be a titled lady. To look +handsome, and graceful, and fascinating, therefore, was all that she +required to do. And the despatching of her to a boarding-school, and +then to the Continent, in order to escape her aristocratic admirer, +was a mere device. She was sent to a boarding establishment near Oxford +because _he_ was a student there, and she afterwards went to France to +continue her education because _he_ had gone there. And Miss Phemie was +told that the education which she received at both these places was of +the flimsiest kind, being limited to the singing of one or two songs, +the hammering out on the piano of one or two classical pieces, and +the copying of one or two drawings. The most of the pupils' time and +attention was devoted to talking about fine dresses, equipages, balls, +and aristocratic admirers. "In fact," concluded Miss Phemie, "they were +evidently taught to look upon the world, not as a sphere of duty and +labour, but as a big _cookie shine_." + +The worthy people of Sandyriggs were still discussing this strange +catastrophe, when a new surprise claimed their notice. Intelligence +came regarding the long-lost Charles Raeburn. His cousin, the doctor, +received a letter from him, bearing the postmark of a town in Spain, +and empowering him to sell Cowslip Brae and transmit the price. Before +the gossips had ceased to puzzle their brains over this extraordinary +sacrifice, another letter arrived and explained the whole mystery. In +the frankest and most straight-forward language, Charles Raeburn told +his cousin the following romantic tale:-- + +"I felt that I could not remain in Sandyriggs after the object of my +adoration had gone. So I followed her to Oxford and to France, and back +again to England, and was present at the trial. From my professional +experience I very soon saw how judgment was likely to go, and what a +terrible fate was hanging over the head of the unfortunate girl. So, +when stung by Ridley's merciless language, she left the Court abruptly, +I followed her, and in presence of her mother told her that the verdict +was almost certain to be against her, and that, if it were so, she +would be apprehended for forgery. While she stood aghast and dumb at +this intelligence, I offered my assistance, and they accepted it. I +went with them at once to their hotel, paid their bill, packed their +luggage, and had everything ready for flight. As soon as the result +which I had anticipated was announced, we were off, and by next morning +were on the Continent. I took rooms for them in this town, and a +lodging for myself not far off, and here we remained till we could see +what ought to be done. + +"One morning, Miss Callendar sent to say that she wanted to see me. +When I went to her, she told me with tears in her lovely eyes that her +mother must go back to her husband in England, but that she herself +must remain abroad; and what could she do to earn her bread? Would I, +the only friend she now had, advise her? What could I do but offer, as +her husband, to protect and cherish her for the rest of her life. She +started back in horror, declared that she was a criminal, a felon, a +forger who ought to be in prison, and utterly unworthy to be the wife +of an honest man, and that she would not bring disgrace on one whom she +esteemed so much, whom--and here she gave way and cried most bitterly. +Then there flashed through my brain and heart Spenser's exquisite +lines:-- + + "'Nought is there under heav'n's wide hollownesse + That moves more deare compassion of mind + Than beautie brought t' unworthy wretchednesse + Through envy's snares, or fortune's freaks unkind. + I, whether lately through her brightnesse blind, + Or through alleageance and fast fealtie, + Which I do owe unto all womankind, + Feele my hart perst with so great agony, + When such I see, that all for pity I could die.' + +"These were the very feelings that were thrilling through me. I lost +control of myself. Dropping down on my knees and seizing her hand, I +poured out my whole soul. What I said I cannot recall; but at last +she reluctantly consented to marry me, on condition that I would do +my very best to teach her to be a good woman and a dutiful wife. Poor +broken-hearted darling, she was more sinned against than sinning. The +persons really to blame were her mercenary father and her novel-reading +mother, who neglected her education, and that hollow-hearted aristocrat +who trifled with her innocence. And most touching it is to see how +humble and yet how loving she is, and how her face is still 'combating +with tears and smiles.' If she is not to be forgiven, there can be no +such thing as forgiveness on earth. I am sure that I have done what is +right. Away from her, I would have been in outer darkness. Beside her, +I am in Paradise." + + + + +HER DEAD SELF. + + +The narrative which I am about to give was a prime favourite at the +winter firesides of the parish. Its chief incident is so extraordinary, +that it has often been scouted as an improbability. But it is literally +true, as may be ascertained by those who will take the trouble to +investigate the chronicles of the period. + +In the early years of the present century, the principal baker +in Sandyriggs was Alister Gow. He had one son, Donald, and five +daughters. The four elder girls, Flora, Ellen, Marjory, and Nora, were +good-looking, with bright complexions and red cheeks; the youngest, +Mysie, was plain, with irregular features and dingy colour. The four +soon found husbands, thriving tradesmen in the place, who gave them +what was called "a good setting down"; but no one came to court Mysie, +and she remained at home to attend to the comfort of her parents, and +specially to take charge of the shop. + +"And when are you gaun aff, Mysie," said old Wull Spears, the most +impudent man in the parish, "when are you gaun to be knocked doon to +the highest bidder?" + +"Oh!" said Mysie, in the bright manner peculiar to her, "I'm no in the +market; there's nae demand for gudes like me." + +"I wadna wonder," continued Wull, "that ye're gaun to be an auld maid." + +"And what for no?" replied Mysie. "Maids, like Scotch whisky, improve +by growin' auld." + +The years rolled by and brought changes. While Mysie's married sisters, +harassed by the ceaseless worries of housekeeping and child-rearing, +became more and more careworn, Mysie herself, able and willing for +all her duties, grew cantier and cantier every day. While they began +to lose their good looks, she began to lose her plainness. The truth +is, that she was, though probably she did not know it, a practical +philosopher; and in a business-like manner she weighed the advantages +and disadvantages of her lot. + +"What have I kept," she said to herself, "by remaining single? Good +health, good spirits, home comforts, congenial employment, pleasant +friends and neighbours. And what have I lost? A husband! And what is a +husband? A pig in a poke, a lottery ticket that may take a prize but is +far more likely to get a blank. If I'm not happy now, I never deserve +to be." + +So she resolved to keep a contented mind, to dwell on the blessings +she had, and not on those which she had not, to make the most of her +life, and to find something good in everything. She was cheerful +under all circumstances, and had a smile and a kind word for all her +fellow-creatures. As the old people expressed it, "she was everybody's +body." However dull and cheerless the weather might be in the streets +of the town, there was always sunshine in the baker's shop at the +corner of Water Lane. And this genial, kindly disposition soon began +to tell upon her own appearance. It actually cleared her complexion, +brightened her eyes, and made her look (as an old woman remarked) +"halesome, wicelike, and bonny." She became a walking proof of the +truth of the proverb that "a kindly disposition is the best cosmetic." +And thus it happened, that not only old people and children were +attracted by her, but even wooers; and among them came (wonderful to +relate) the dandy draper, the woman-killer, the gay Lothario of the +town. + +This was Bob Dallas. The worship of his mother and sisters had +convinced him that he was an Adonis; and the bright smiles of the +village maidens had confirmed this belief. "A' the lasses," his sisters +would remark to a friend, "are in love wi' oor Bob;" and his mother, +in her strong idiomatic Scotch, would add--"Toots, ye ken, they'll no +lie aff 'im." Accordingly, he wore on his countenance a constant smirk +of satisfaction, and he entered a company as if to the tune, "See +the Conquering Hero comes." He sought female society to captivate, +not to sue, to receive admiration, not to give it. A pretty girl was +a plaything to be taken up for a short time, and then changed for +something else. Some people called this conduct cruelty; but he thought +it kindness. A smile from him, he believed, was a favour which every +woman would prize. + +It was this notorious flirt that now fixed his eye upon Mysie. She +was different from the pink-and-white damsels with whom he had been +accustomed to trifle; but it was this very difference that fascinated +him. He began to "show her attention" at every opportunity, to walk +home with her from church, and to go frequently to her shop in the +evening. At first, Mysie was surprised and not a little amused. She +joked with him, telling him that if he was often seen with her his +many admirers would hate her, and, what would be more dreadful, his +reputation as a judge of female beauty would be gone. And when, one +evening after the shop was closed, he actually went the length of +asking her to be his wife, she laughed outright in his face, and told +him that he didn't know his own mind, that he would tire of her plain +features in a fortnight, and that she could never be any more to him +than a sincere well-wisher. + +But when, like a spoilt child unaccustomed to be balked, he sulked and +mooned about the streets with a pale and miserable face, and at the end +of a few weeks sent her a frenzied letter, vowing that if he could not +win her he would drown himself in the loch, she relented. She was too +charitable to believe that he was not in dead earnest, and what could +she do but ask him to call upon her? And when, dropping on his knees, +he shed tears and vowed that she was the only one he had ever loved, +the only one he would ever love, she yielded and promised to be his +wife. + +Mysie was now happier than ever. Though she had been quite content to +remain single, she was delighted to have gained the exclusive devotion +of a man. Though well able by herself to fight the battle of life, she +felt that her happiness would be made more sure by having constantly +by her side one whom she could call her own, her other self. There was +also a special _éclat_ in having won the prize which so many had in +vain competed for. + +"My certie," said Mrs Patullo, the minister's wife, when she looked in +at the shop, along with her husband and her son Tom, to congratulate +her, "my certie! it's something to have killed the Lady-killer." + +"Yes! Mysie," said the minister, "you have caught and tamed the roving +zebra of the desert, who has hitherto been thought untamable." + +"Ay," added Master Tom, who had contracted the abominable habit of +punning, "and you are now going to lead him to the _halter_." + +Mysie set about preparing for her marriage in a business-like way. +Very little time was spent in billing and cooing. An early day was +fixed for the ceremony. A small house was taken, and suitable furniture +ordered. And that she might have her trousseau ready in time, she +called in her cousin, Bessie Gayley, to assist her. Bessie was a +good-looking, bright damsel, ready with her tongue, with her wits, +and with her hands,--up to anything, equal to any emergency. She made +herself generally useful and agreeable, helped in the house and in the +shop, and when Mysie was specially occupied of an evening, entertained +Bob with her chit-chat. + +It was just two days before the date fixed for the wedding. Mysie had +closed the shop, and was sitting in the back parlour. She was alone, +for her father and mother were in the kitchen, and Bessie and Bob had +gone out on some errand of their own. She felt rather depressed,--a +state which was very unusual with her, and which she could not account +for. In a short time she heard Bob and Bessie come in. Then there +occurred a few awful moments which she never forgot for the rest of +her life, and which made her heart throb. First, there was an earnest +whispering in the passage, then a strange silence, and at last the door +opened. She rose instinctively to her feet, for she saw by their faces +that some calamity had happened. + +"What is it?" she exclaimed. "Why don't you tell me?" + +Bessie looked at Bob as if urging him to speak, and Bob, blushing and +stammering, said, "I'm very sorry, Mysie; but I can't help it. I like +you very much, but I don't feel towards you as a husband should do. The +fact is that Bessie and I have discovered that we were made for each +other." + +Mysie stared at them for a moment, thinking that it might possibly be +a joke; but their guilty looks showed that it was a stern reality. +Clutching the back of her chair, and mustering all her natural strength +of character, she said, in a voice preternaturally calm: + +"So, Mr Dallas, you have found out that you can't give me the affection +of a husband! Well, I'll manage to do without it; and at any rate I'm +glad that you have told me in time. As for you, you serpent in the form +of a woman, I'll leave you to the punishment of your own conscience. +And if you have not got such an article, as seems very likely, it will +be punishment enough to be tethered for life to that fickle fool that +stands beside you." So saying, she passed out of the room, leaving the +pair standing with guilt-stricken countenances. + +It is well known that the lower animals often attack and even torment +one of their own kind when he is sick or wounded. A good deal of this +bestial habit still lingers among men. When distress falls upon us, +our friends often aggravate that distress. They do not know, perhaps, +that they are doing it, but still they do it. Had Mysie been left to +herself, her own good sense and courage would have buoyed her up, +and enabled her to trample her sorrow under foot. But when she went +abroad, people would not allow her to forget that sorrow. Those who +were her friends condoled with her. Those who were not her friends +stared at her. She felt that the town was in a buzz about her affairs. +And at home the tormenting process was even worse. Her mother bemoaned +the slight that had fallen on the family. Her brother breathed forth +threatenings against the features and limbs of the culprit. Her father +talked incessantly about raising an action for breach of promise. In +vain she told her mother and brother that they would best keep up the +family honour, not by bewailings and threatenings, but by looking as +if they thought the rupture of the engagement a blessed release. In +vain she told her father that legal proceedings were not to be thought +of, and that while they might be a punishment to Dallas, they would +be a far greater punishment to herself. Morning, noon, and night, the +worrying went on. + +At length her highly-strung nervous system, which had buoyed her up +above all her other troubles, fairly broke down. She lost the power +of sleeping. She lost her appetite. A strange nausea took possession +of her, and everything grew distasteful, and life itself became +an intolerable burden. From having been the embodiment of happy +good-nature, she changed into a woe-begone hypochondriac. And people +unknowingly aggravated her disease by expressing astonishment at her +altered appearance, by telling her that she looked very ill, and by +bursting forth afresh into recriminations against the man that had +jilted her. Then there came a morning when her room was found empty, +and a note upon the dressing-table told her parents that she could bear +the atmosphere of Sandyriggs no longer, and that she was off to a place +where no one knew her, and where she would have perfect peace. + +Blank consternation fell upon the family. When they recovered a little, +the brother swore that he would go and smash Dallas, the author of all +their woe; and the mother's impulse was to run abroad and get sympathy +and advice from her neighbours. But the father, with far more tact and +knowledge of the world, insisted that the first thing to be done at all +hazards, was to prevent any scandal. They must not of their own accord +say anything about the matter, and if any question should be asked, +they must answer that she had gone to a friend's for a complete rest. +Meanwhile they must try to find her. + +This was no easy task. The very fact that they could not talk about +it prevented them from getting any assistance from the outside world. +For two or three days the brother, Donald, under pretence of paying +ceremonious calls, made the round of all their intimate friends and +relatives in the neighbouring farm towns and villages; but every night +he returned worn-out, and with a despairing shake of the head intimated +that he had got no trace of the lost one. + +Then there flashed into the father's mind the thought that she would +likely be in Edinburgh; and he wondered that it had never occurred to +him before. Why, a large town was the very place where a person, sick +of being stared at and worried by inquisitive neighbours, would find +rest; and they had a cousin there in whose house she would very likely +get a lodging. Accordingly, the father and son set out at once, crossed +the Firth in the ferry-boat from Pettycur to Leith, and then walked up +Leith Walk to Edinburgh. They went to the cousin's address in Broughton +Street, but found that she had moved at the last term, and none of the +neighbours could tell where she had gone. Wearied out and disheartened, +they put up at a hotel at Greenside, where they both passed an anxious +and a restless night. + +Next morning, for want of a better plan, they resolved to look for +Mysie in the thoroughfares, the father taking the New Town and the +brother taking the Old Town. The unhappy old man spent most of the day +in wandering up and down the streets, looking in vain amid the throng +of strange and unsympathetic faces for those familiar kindly eyes that +had been the light of his home. Jaded and perplexed, he had returned +to his hotel in the early afternoon, when the landlord, whom he had +taken into his confidence the night before, laid the advertisement +sheet of a newspaper before him, and pointed to a paragraph headed +"Found Drowned." He glanced rapidly over it, and to his horror saw that +it was a description of his lost daughter. There could be no mistake. +The age, the complexion, the features, the hair, all corresponded. + +Like one stunned by a heavy blow on the head, the old man sat still +for a moment. Then, driven by a feeling made up of hope and fear, he +hurried to the police office in the High Street, all unconscious of the +traffic that rumbled and buzzed around him. In a short time he found +himself in the death-chamber, in presence of a prostrate and shrouded +form, lying so terribly still and quiet; and in another second the +facecloth was removed, and his worst fears were realised. Yes! in the +stiff waxen mask he recognised that countenance which had so lately +been the joy of everyone who looked upon it. He stood gazing at it like +a man in a trance, till his pent-up feelings found vent in tears. Then +it was that there occurred a most extraordinary circumstance--what +would be deemed incredible, were it not vouched for by the chroniclers +of the time. The door opened, and, in company with his son, there +appeared the very woman whose fate he was bewailing and whose dead form +he was gazing upon. She came forward, and her face took on a look of +intense surprise at what she saw. + +"Father!" she exclaimed, "what's wrang wi' ye? And what's this? mercy! +what's this? can it be me? No! and yet it's awfu' like, but, no! no! +Father, that's no' me! this is me." And she took both his hands and +kissed him, and in this way convinced him that she was his own daughter. + +And who was this dead woman that was Mysie's double? The question was +never answered. She went to a pauper's grave unclaimed by anyone. + +And how had Mysie chanced to arrive just at the critical moment? This +was explained by the brother. On returning to the hotel, Donald had +seen the advertisement, and had surmised where his father had gone. +Hurrying up the North Bridge, he saw his sister, whom he had been +picturing as a corpse lying at the police office, coming to meet him +in her usual dress and manner. For an instant he felt like one in a +dream. Could it really be she? His next thought was that she had been +in some way brought back to life, and was hurrying down to relieve +their fears; and when he heard that she had never been in the police +office, he told her about the advertisement, and the two together made +all haste to see their father. + +Mysie stood for some time gazing at the dead face, and feeling for that +poor young creature, who was so like her, a sort of kinship. And as +she gazed, she read herself a severe lesson. What was her own trouble, +she thought, contrasted with the terrible fate that had befallen this +unknown one? A small trouble indeed! To be cast off by a man who had +proved himself unworthy of her! Not a trouble at all, but a blessed +relief! And as these thoughts passed through her mind, her spirit rose +with a sudden impulse and threw off the incubus of melancholy that had +so long weighed it down; and she came away, leaving, as it were, her +dead self behind her. And when, after staying for a month with her +cousin, till the sensation caused by "the wonderful case of mistaken +identity" subsided, she returned home and resumed her duties, she had +recovered her health and good spirits. Taking her place in the shop, +she devoted herself to the helping of her parents and the serving of +their customers. And when any of the more inveterate gossips referred +to her late painful experiences, she would stop them short with a +good-natured smile, and the remark--"that's an auld sang noo, and it's +no' worth the mindin'." Everybody was delighted to see that she was her +old self again. + +"Why," said old Mrs Raeburn, the doctor's mother, "the toon wasna like +itsel withoot ye." + +One day the Rev. Mr Patullo, with his wife and son, called in, to +welcome her on her return. "You see," said the minister, "I could not +want you, Mysie. You are my best specimen of a cheerful practical +Christian. You are as good as a sermon." + +"My certie," said Mrs Patullo, "far more interesting than the most of +sermons." + +"Though rather _floury_," added Tom, pointing to her hands. + +But the best proof that Mysie's good-natured equanimity was restored, +was her treatment of her faithless lover, Bob Dallas. His scandalous +treatment of her had brought him into disgrace. Many of his friends +had cut his acquaintance. Even his betrothed, Bessie Gayley, ashamed +of herself and ashamed of him, had refused in the end to marry him. He +was now completely humiliated, and when he met Mysie in the street soon +after her return, he could not look her in the face. But Mysie was too +good-natured and sensible to keep up any ill-feeling towards this weak +creature. So, the next time that she saw him she said, "Good morning"; +and by and by she got into the habit of stopping to have a chat with +him. At the same time, she took care to keep his familiarity within +proper bounds. When, encouraged by her frankness and deluded by his own +conceit, he imagined that she was still in love with him, and actually +had the infatuation to refer to past times, she caught him up at once. + +"Mr Dallas! remember we are friends, nothing more. And as a friend let +me give you this advice: Don't think of marrying in this country. One +wife would not be enough for you. Go out to the Salt Lake City, and +there, as soon as you are tired of one spouse, you will be able to take +another. Or perhaps, you as well as myself are doomed to remain single. +I am too ugly to be married; you are too good-looking. It would be +selfish in anyone to monopolise a man who gives so much pleasure to all +the girls in the place." + +At the end of many years, Bob Dallas and Mysie Gow were respectively an +old bachelor and an old maid. + +Bob winced keenly under the marring finger of Time, and, by means of +wig, paint, powder, and a jaunty manner, tried to hide its ravages and +to make the people believe that he was still young. He did not convince +the people; but it is said that, sometimes at least, he managed to +convince himself. On one occasion, while talking about his infant +nephew, he said, "he's a fine little fellow," and running his fingers +through his luxuriant artificial locks, he added, "with a head of hair +as thick and as black as my own." Consequently he was seen at every +gay gathering, bearing himself like an Adonis, and paying assiduous +attention to the young ladies; and when they, fooling him to the top of +his bent, gathered round him and bandied compliments with him, he put +on a youthful air and silently congratulated himself that he was still +"Bob Dallas, the Invincible." + +"An auld donnert eediot," said the indignant Mrs Chatteris, the +town-clerk's widow, "deckin' himsel up like an antic for the lasses to +giggle at." + +"You're too hard upon him," said her son Joe. "He's more useful than +that. He's an old battered figurehead, used by the girls as a butt for +practising their arrows on." + +Mysie, on the other hand, received the first touches of age in the most +cheerful spirit, and wore her grey hair like a becoming ornament, and +made her wrinkles shine with good humour; and, as her years grew fewer, +she tried more and more to fill them, with grateful feelings towards +her Maker and kind words and deeds towards her fellow-creatures. + + + + +GOD'S OWN SCHOLAR. + + +Many years ago a new class of preachers started suddenly up in the +country. They were called the sensational school, and were not unlike +a certain section of the clergy in the present day. Their motto seemed +to be: "Catch the public, by dignified means if you can, but by all +means catch the public." Their rules for doing this were these: "Choose +as the subject of your sermon some prevalent vice; denounce it in +the plainest and strongest language; threaten those who practise it, +or even encourage it, with all the misery of this world and all the +eternal woes of the next; draw your illustrations hot from ordinary +life; if they are vulgar or grotesque, and excite a titter, never mind; +one great end is gained if by any means they arouse the interest of the +audience." + +The most promising member of this school was the Rev. Jeremiah +MacGuffog, the new parish minister at Sandyriggs. He took the most +solemn view of his office. He was placed there, he felt, as an +ambassador of the Most High to denounce the iniquities that were +lifting their heads on every side. It was no time for smooth words. +Like the martyred prophets and reformers of old, he must boldly face +the transgressors, tell them of their sins in the most direct language, +and warn them of the terrible doom that awaits them. + +While he was a student in Glasgow, he had often heard that the most +productive root of immorality in the rural districts was the Bothy +System. Everyone seemed to condemn it, and not one word had been said +in its defence. It was clearly his duty, therefore, to strike it down +without delay. Accordingly, one Sunday not long after his settlement, +he wound up his afternoon sermon with a most merciless attack upon the +farmers. + +"The farmers," he said, "are a most respectable class of men, and I am +deeply grieved to be compelled to say anything to wound their feelings; +but I am here to tell them that they are responsible for what I call +_the running sore_, which is draining the life-blood of morality and +religion in the rural districts. I refer to the Bothy System. You, +my brethren, are really treating your fellow-men like your cattle. +You lodge them in a dirty and uncomfortable outhouse, and leave them +there to corrupt each other. Did I say that you treated them _like_ +your cattle? I should have said _worse_ than your cattle. For you do +not prepare food for them, you do not tie them up, you do not lock +them in and prevent them from roaming abroad at night and falling into +mischief. I am sorry that I am obliged to use strong language, but in +the faithful discharge of my duty I am called upon to say that these +bothies are nurseries of the infernal pit, and that you who keep them +up are, though you may not know it, really serving the devil." + +It would be impossible to describe the volcano of feeling which this +onslaught roused within the souls of the farming population. They could +scarcely keep their seats till the service was over; then, when they +went out of church and took their way homewards in the grey winter +dusk, the turmoil within them was almost too strong for expression; +and for a time they could only vent it in such explosive epithets, +as "nurseries o' the infernal pit!" "servants o' the deevil!" +"ill-tongued cratur!" "empty-headed puppy!" "set him up!" "my certie!" +But by the time they reached the foot of the Long Dykes, where the road +divided into three, a group of them, both men and women, stood still to +compare notes. + +"Sic a desecration o' the poopit!" said Mrs Dowie of Seggie Den; +"instead o' preachin' the gospel, misca'in honest folk." + +"Eh, woman!" exclaimed Mrs Caw of Blawearie, "ye may say that. Him to +turn up his nose at bothies, that was brocht up, they tell me, in a +one-roomed hoose in the wynds o' Glesky. My word, it doesna set a soo +to wear a saddle." + +"Low-born smaik," said Mrs Proud of the Hill, "to scandaleese his +betters!" + +"I dinna ken," said Tam Bluff of Cuddiesknowes, "what they teach them +at college, but it's evidently no' mainners." + +"Settin' servants against their maisters," said Stables, the horse +doctor, a Tory of the old school. + +"What could ye expect," asked Ure, the innkeeper at Blawearie Yetts, +"from a teetotaller? Did ye hear hoo he blackguarded onybody that had +onything to dae wi' makin' or sellin' an honest drap o' drink. Haith! +it's my opinion that when the Maister comes to the warld a second +time, they'll steek in His face the door o' His ain kirk, because He +ance turned water into wine." + +Then Manson of the Hole, who had been standing by, red with rage, +now began to splutter forth his resentment. He was a cantankerous +old bachelor, greedy, miserly, and wealthy. If any bothy in the +neighbourhood deserved to be tabooed, it was his. That was the reason +for his feeling the most aggrieved. "By the Lord Hairy," he said, "I'll +astonish the dirty cratur. I'll hae a ring in his nose before he's a +week aulder. I'll ceet him before the Presbytery, and if that wunna +dae, before the Synod and the General Assembly; and if I canna get +Justice there, I'll gang to the Law. Don't ye think I'm richt, Gilbert +Strang?" + +The man who was thus addressed, and who now came up, was evidently +somewhat inferior in station to the rest of the group. In fact, at +first sight he looked shabby. His hat was weather-stained, his clothes +were threadbare and even darned in some places, and his boots were +rough and clumsy. But his well-developed figure, his clean-cut and +healthy features, and his big blue eyes, gave him, in spite of his +mean apparel, a look of superiority. Nay, the neat patches on his coat +seemed, in some odd way, to be badges of respectability. He was the +son of a small laird; but his father had recently died, a heartbroken +bankrupt; the property had been sold; he had been left the sole support +of his widowed mother, and had been obliged to hire himself out as an +ordinary ploughman; and it was understood that he was now pinching +himself to save money, in order, if possible, to redeem the little +family inheritance. + +Gilbert Strang, in fact, was one of those hardy human plants that can +grow and flourish mentally and morally in any soil. He had been but a +few years under the village teacher. The school in which he had learnt +most was the world, where the lessons are undoubtedly very difficult, +but, if once mastered, are most salutary. In the few books which he +had, in the weekly sermons to which he listened, in the ever-varying +shows of earth and sky, and in the rustic gatherings and merrymakings, +he got abundant food both for mind and heart. Then, during the long +quiet days when he was guiding the plough in the meadow, he found a +favourite opportunity for thinking over what he had seen and read, and +for forming his notions of men and things. In this way, he had made +up his mind on most of the subjects that crop up in rural life, and +was able to express his views, not only in the broad vernacular, but +also, when occasion called, in good English. Altogether, he was a fair +specimen of a man of Nature's own training, or what pious people used +to call "one of God Almighty's own scholars." + +"Don't you think I wad be richt, Gilbert Strang, to ceet him before the +Presbytery, and if I canna get redress there to try the Law?" + +"Ye wad be just playin' into his haunds, Mr Manson." + +"In what way, Gilbert?" + +"Ye wad mak him staund oot before the public as a martyr, and that's +what a' thae kind want to be. What I would advise wad be, to gie him +rope." + +"What dae ye mean, Gilbert?" + +"He kens the bothies only by hearsay; and he has spoken a lot o' +nonsense aboot them. Let him alane. He'll gang deeper and deeper +into the mess. Then he'll find himsel in a habble and be obleeged to +apologeese." + +"Apologeese!" cried Manson, "catch a minister apologeese! Dod man! +they're never wrang. At the time o' the Reformation, they jist shifted +the doctrine o' infallibility from the Pope's shouthers on to their +ain; and now, instead o' ane, we hae thousands o' Popes." + +"That may be," replied Strang, "only ca' canny. Look before ye loup. +Mind the proverb, 'Haste maks waste.'" + +"Dod that's true," replied Manson. "But eh man! I wad gie a gude roond +sum to see the gabbie body obleeged to tak back and swallow a' the +nonsense he's been talkin'." + +"Weel!" said Gilbert, "ye'll soon see it." + +Two days after this conversation on the road, winter weather had +come, in all its severity. It was seven o'clock at night. Outside the +farm-house of Pitlour, the cold round moon looked down upon snow-clad +roofs and stacks, icicles hanging from the eaves, the pump in the +barnyard sheathed in straw, and the ploughs hard bound in the meadow +by the frost. But inside in the bothy, which was attached to the +house, all was bright and warm. A fire made of wood and coals blazed +in the chimney; an old-fashioned oil lamp called a cruisie, hung from +the mantelpiece; and the combined light of these two fell upon three +well-fed, well-conditioned, rustic faces. On one side of the chimney +was Gilbert Strang, deeply interested in the weekly newspaper; on the +other side was his fellow-ploughman, Sandy Downie, laboriously scraping +out of his fiddle the tune of "Auld Lang Syne"; and in front of the +blaze was Jim Lochty, the cattle boy, with a copy of Burns in his +hand, crooning over the words of a familiar song. In the background, +two bedsteads made of rough wood, but with white pillows and sheets, +looked snug and comfortable. The occupants were interrupted by a knock +at the door, and who should walk in but the Rev. Jeremiah MacGuffog. He +apologised for what might be called "a surprise visit." But he said he +held the opinion that the minister was the friend of everyone in the +parish, and that he should be able to drop in upon his parishioners +unceremoniously at any time, and take them as he found them. Strang +said that they were glad to see him, and asked him to take a seat. + +Sitting down and scanning the place carefully, the minister said: "You +heard from my sermon on Sabbath that I am deeply interested in the +bothy question; and I want to be thoroughly acquainted with it." + +Strang smiled and said to himself: "Jeddart Justice. He condemned and +executed us on Sunday, and now he is going to try us." + +"I must confess," said the minister, "that I am surprised to see your +place look so tidy and comfortable. You heard, I suppose, that I was +coming." + +"No," said Strang. "The good wife, Mrs Wedderspoon, looks upon this as +part of her own house, and is just as particular about it as she is +about the rooms where her two sons sleep. No place could be cleaner or +more comfortable." + +"But your food?" asked the minister. "Is it not rather coarse?" + +"Well, sir!" replied Strang, "it would be coarse to the like of you. +But for hard working, healthy, country folk, out in the open air, +could anything be better than well-boiled porridge and sweet milk for +breakfast and supper, and kail and meat and potatoes for dinner? And +looking at us, you would say that our food agrees with us." + +"Then," said the minister, after a thoughtful pause, "I am sorry to see +that you have no means of improving your mind. You seem to have no +books." + +"Oh yes," said Strang, opening the door of a cupboard, "we have a few. +Look! here are Brown's 'Dictionary of the Bible,' 'Shakespeare,' some +of Sir Walter Scott's works; and Jim has 'Burns' in his hand. Anyone +who masters all these is better educated than most people." + +"I'm surprised," remarked the minister gravely, "that you read 'Burns.' +He has some very objectionable passages." + +"He's a mixture of good and bad," replied Strang, "just like every +other author. If we read no author that is not absolutely pure, we +shall read none at all. He's a poor creature that can't pick out the +good and throw away the bad." + +"I suppose," remarked the minister, "that there is a good deal of +whisky consumed here sometimes?" + +"For months," said Strang, "we never taste it." + +"When you see," said the minister, "so many of your fellow-creatures +abuse it, why not set them a good example and abstain from it +altogether?" + +"Well, sir," replied Strang, "I've thought of that, and I have also +thought that if I were to abstain from everything that is abused, I +would soon, like the Irishman's horse, come to the last straw and die +of starvation." + +"Of course," said the minister, "you have none of the salutary +influences of a home?" + +"Oh yes, sir," answered Strang, "we go down to the kitchen every +night, and have a crack and snuff with the goodman, a gossip with the +goodwife, and a game at 'catch the ten' with the sons, and finish up +with family worship. To all intents and purposes we are members of the +family." + +"I am told," said the minister, "that there is a good deal of loose +talk in bothies, and that one bad man often corrupts the whole lot." + +"I fear, sir," replied Strang, "that that's the fault, not of bothies, +but of human nature itself. In almost every company objectionable +persons will be found. They are to be met with in the most select +society, and even, I am told, in the rooms of divinity students. You'll +correct me if I am wrong. There was Mr Joram's son of Kilbaigie, a +divinity student, rusticated last year for being tipsy and uproarious +at a gathering in his own lodgings." + +Then after a little, Mr MacGuffog said--"this bothy of yours seems to +be an exception. Is it not?" + +"No," said Strang, "all in this neighbourhood are very much alike." + +"Then I'm afraid," said the minister, looking very uncomfortable, "I've +done the farmers injustice." + +"Indeed you have, sir," replied Strang earnestly, "and they feel it +very keenly. The country folk are talking of leaving your church in a +body. 'Nurseries of hell' and 'servants of the devil' are uncommonly +strong terms." + +"But such terms," said the minister, "if I am rightly informed, must +apply to the system as it exists elsewhere." + +"Not so far as I am aware," said Strang. "Besides, your remarks +referred to this neighbourhood." + +Then after a long pause the minister said in a tone of great +embarrassment, "What am I to do?" + +"Well, sir," replied Strang, "I think you know better than I do. But +what seems to me the only straight-forward plan is this: if you have +been wrong, confess it frankly. If you have done injustice to the +people, apologise." + +"Well," said the minister, "I shall first visit the other bothies in +the parish, and I shall be guided by what I see there." Then after a +pause he said--"But how do you account for the great outcry that has +been raised against bothies?" + +"Partly in this way, sir," said Strang. "There are some ministers (you +will excuse me for saying it) that are like our sporting lairds. They +must have the excitement of the chase. If they start a heresy case, +that's their highest game and gives them their best sport. But not +always lighting upon that, they have no difficulty in finding what they +consider some social evil. Then they give the view halloo, and are +after it in full cry through thick and thin." + +"Ah!" said the minister, rising, "you are hard upon us poor clergy; but +there may be a little truth in what you say. Good night." And away he +went. + +Next Sunday morning there was a great gathering of country folk at the +church. They were discussing the rumour, that the minister was going to +apologise. Some believed it, while others thought that it was too good +to be true. Among the latter was old Manson. + +"Apologeese," he sneered, "no, no. A black coat never surrenders. When +he has been steekit in by the bethal, he can say what he likes, and no' +ane daur utter a cheep. Na, na, the poopit has been ower lang the seat +o' an oracle. It's no' gaun to become the stule o' repentance." + +But old Manson was wrong. Towards the end of the sermon, which was on +the text, "Bear ye one another's burdens," the minister came to a dead +pause. There was a terrible stillness all over the church. Every ear +was on the alert to catch what was coming, and nervous people held down +their heads. Then the minister, looking ghastly pale, and speaking with +slow deliberation, said: + +"Brethren, my great desire is to find out what your burdens are, and +to help you to bear them; but last Sabbath I must admit that I failed. +I had always heard that the Bothy System was one of the curses of +this country; and I had never heard a word said in its defence. Very +naturally, in calling upon the people of this neighbourhood to put away +the evil thing from among them, I used very strong language. Brethren, +I have since discovered that, as far as this parish is concerned, I was +wrong; and I now apologise to the farming people in particular and +the congregation in general. May this be a warning to us all--to you +as well as me--not to be too hasty in forming judgments regarding our +fellow-creatures." + +Here was an event altogether unprecedented! No one had ever heard of +a minister confessing from the pulpit that he had made a mistake. It +was the result of the purest Christian candour; but had it proceeded +from policy it would have been a master-stroke. With one sentence the +minister turned the hearts of the people from the fiercest indignation +right round to an enthusiastic love. The women-folk especially were +loud in his praises. + +"Oh!" they exclaimed, "wasn't it like a real Christian to own that +he was wrang; and didn't he look rale bonny when he was daein' it?" +And they all agreed that it was Gilbert Strang, who by his wonderful +cleverness had opened the minister's eyes, and made him see that it was +his duty to confess. + +On the Monday afterwards, Gilbert was ploughing the Five-Acre Lea. To +one fond of rustic associations it was a pleasant picture; the pair +of horses sleek and well-fed, bending their heads over their strong +chests, lifting their legs leisurely and together, and pulling the +plough slowly through the stiff loam; the knife-like coulter evenly +cutting a narrow strip of the green turf; the shining share turning it +over and forming another long ridge of fresh earth; the man holding +steadily the plough-tails and looking contented and happy; and over +all, the sombre sky of a winter afternoon gradually darkening towards +the dusk. As he was turning the plough at the headrig, he heard himself +hailed in a cheery voice. He looked round, and there was Manson of the +Hole, with his face in a broad grin of delight. + +Shaking the ploughman's hand, and then slapping him vehemently on the +shoulder, he roared out, "Eh, man, ye're an awfu' billy. This is an age +o' novelties, and ye've brocht aboot ane o' the greatest o' them a'. +A minister standin' in the poopit and confessin' to his folk that he +had been wrang! Wha ever heard the like? It's an event in the history +o' the kirk. And the man that had the head and the tongue to manage a' +this--here he is, wastin' himsel on wark that the stupidest clod-happer +could dae. By the Lord Hairy! it's no' richt! You should hae been a +minister yersel, settin' them a lesson o' straightforwardness; and as +sure as I am a livin' sinner they require it. Man! I'll tell ye what +I'll dae. I'm no' a rich man, but I'll lend ye twa hunder pounds to +gang to the college; and ye can pay it back whenever it suits ye. Ye +needna hurry." + +Strang was taken aback; and for about a minute was silent, fascinated +evidently by the prospect which had thus suddenly been called up before +him. At last he said: + +"Mr Manson! dae ye really mean that? It's awfu' generous; and I'm +half inclined to tak yer offer. But no, the kirk is no' my trade; the +harness wadna sit easy. Nor yet the schule; my nerves wadna stand a' +the tear and wear that's required to stir up a' kinds o' young brains. +Besides, I canna gie up an open air country life. It has nearly a' the +advantages I care aboot. We get the great natural medicines--fresh air, +sunlight, pure water, perfect quiet, and sound sleep. We hae the best +food; for what could be mair nourishin' than milk, eggs, and oatmeal, +all fresh and unadulterated? And we hae the best opportunities (if we +only hae the gumption to tak them) of improvin' oor minds, for we live +in the workshop o' nature, and see the coontless wonders which she is +producin' a' the year roond." + +"But dae ye no' think it richt," asked Manson, "to raise yersel as sae +mony hae dune, to a higher position in society?" + +"Weel," replied Strang slowly, "I'm no' jist sure aboot that. It seems +to me a kind o' selfishness. Should we no' think o' raisin' others? We +owe a duty to oorsels, nae doot, but also to those wha hae produced us +and brocht us up. That's the true way in which the masses are to be +raised--not by being patronised by their superiors, but by being led +onwards and upwards by men of their own class. Not that I think I could +ever lead them; but I could assist them that are really able to lead +them." + +"Weel," said Manson, going away, "my offer is still afore ye, whenever +ye like to tak it." + +Year after year passed away, and Gilbert Strang continued most +religiously to save every penny that he could. When his hoardings +amounted to a handsome sum, he looked for some way of laying them +out at interest. Now, there was in Mr MacGuffog's congregation a Mr +Melville, a lawyer and banker of unquestionable respectability, a +prominent elder in the kirk, and the brother of a celebrated D.D. To +many of the church members he had become the guide, philosopher, and +friend. Besides giving them his advice, he took charge of their spare +cash and got an investment for it. To this gentleman Strang had no +hesitation in committing his hard-earned money, with the injunction, +that the interest when it fell due was to be added to the principal, +and the aggregate sum in this way allowed to accumulate. At the end of +five years, his affairs had prospered so well that he saw a prospect of +buying back his inheritance. He would borrow a sum from Manson, giving +him in return a bond upon the property; and that sum added to his +savings would make up the purchase money. He had got Manson's hearty +consent, he had instructed Mr Melville to realise his investments, and +he had written to his mother to tell her the joyful tidings, and to say +that he would be over at her house on Saturday evening to discuss the +whole matter. + +It was a beautiful day at the end of June, and Strang was busy among +the haymakers in the Bog. The occasion was important; and all the +inmates of the farm--master and servants, old and young, men and women, +and even the dogs--were engaged. Amidst a perpetual ripple of gossip, +joke, and laughter, they merrily turned over the tanned grass, put +it up in cocks (or, as it was called in that district, _coles_), and +carefully raking the cleared space, made the field look tidy and fresh. +The sight of the abundant and well-conditioned crop; the delightful +scent that arose from it; the twitter of the swallows that wheeled +around; and above all the glorious weather, exhilarated every soul. And +when the cart, driven by Jim Lochty and containing the dinner, appeared +at the gate of the field, they laughed aloud in their joy; for what +can be more delightful to a hungry human creature than the prospect of +being seated on a heap of fragrant hay with a large _bap_ in one hand +and a tankard of nut-brown ale in the other. But what was the matter +with Jim? He was all excitement. He had evidently something startling +to tell; and, like your ordinary bearer of sensational news, even when +it is bad, he had a sort of grim pleasure in delivering it. Before he +came up he cried out:-- + +"Gilbert Strang, yer banker, Mr Melville, has cut his throat and has +left a letter to say that he has made awa wi' a' the folks' siller." + +Strang was stunned, and for some time could do nothing but stare at +Jim, wondering if he were telling the truth. + +At last he said: "I don't believe it. Mr Melville o' a' folk! Somebody +has been hoaxing ye." + +"Na," said Jim, "it's perfectly true. It was the polisman that tellt +me; and he had seen him quite stiff and had read the letter. A' the +folk were talkin' aboot it. Look! there's Mr Proud o' the Hill passin'. +Gang and speir at him." + +Mr Proud had stopped his gig and was beckoning to Strang; and when +Strang went over to him, it was only to hear a confirmation of the +terrible report. But that was not all. Misfortune seems to take a +savage delight not only in knocking her victim down, but in trampling +upon him after he is down. Mr Proud had another sad calamity to tell, +namely, that Mr Manson had been found that morning dead in bed. + +Here was the end of all Strang's labour. This double loss dispelled +at once the dream which had lighted up all his future--the hope of +regaining the inheritance of his ancestors, that white two-storeyed +house, with the sunny garden in front, and the snug farm buildings +behind, on whose walls the history of the family seemed to be written, +and where the associations of his own happy boyhood, like the bright +and fresh dewdrops of a summer morning, hung upon every bush and tree. +A cloud of despondency fell upon him; and, seen through it, the sunny +landscape and the merry faces of the haymakers seemed incongruous and +almost unbearable. + +His spirit, however, was too robust to be long weighed down. Towards +evening he threw off his load, and asked himself if he had, on the +whole, any good reason for complaining? He had, indeed, lost the +opportunity of realising a happiness which was chiefly made up of +sentiment; but, on the other hand, what blessings were still spared +to him? Health, strength, congenial employment, wholesome food, sound +sleep, fresh air, the glories of the universe, appreciative friends, +and a kind Providence. He who could mope and mourn in the face of all +these advantages was not a man at all, but a cowardly cur. + +Then the thought of his mother arose in his mind. How would she bear +it? Beneath the double blow of her husband's bankruptcy and death, +the poor body's courage had given way. Thoroughly demoralised, she +considered herself a victim, and expected restitution, not only from +her friends and the public at large, but even from Providence. She had, +therefore, staked her whole happiness upon the recovery of the pleasant +steading and fields at Sunnybrae. And now that the recovery was +impossible, most bitter would be her disappointment, and endless would +be her grumbling against society at large and even against Providence. + +Strang's mother lived at Cauldale, a solitary place four miles north +of Pitlour. It stood far apart from other dwellings, on the side of an +uncultivated hill. It had once been a row of thatched cottages; but +with the exception of the one at the east end, they had been allowed to +fall into decay, and now stood roofless and empty. The hearths which +had once been lit up by warm household fires, and the still warmer +smiles of family affection, were now covered with rubbish and overgrown +with weeds. In the one which was still habitable, Mrs Strang had been +allowed by the Laird to take up her abode; and by the aid of her son +and some kind friends she had managed to get the means of making a +scanty living. A cow grazing on the braes, a pig fed on the refuse +of the garden, a row of bee-hives and a flock of poultry, gave her a +supply of milk, butter, cheese, pork, honey, and eggs--part of which +she devoted to her own use, but the most of which she carried into the +nearest town and sold for hard cash. She even utilised the crops that +grew beyond the range of cultivation. In early summer she culled the +young nettles to make _kail_. In autumn she gathered the brambleberries +to make jam for her afternoon tea; and a bed of wormwood growing on the +hillside in front of her house supplied her with all the medicine she +ever took. + +On the Saturday evening when she expected her son's visit, she was +seated with her knitting on a chair in front of her cottage. She was in +high spirits, and anticipated with great pleasure the discussing with +Gilbert all the details of taking possession of Sunnybrae. Soon she saw +him in the distance coming striding through the pasture land. Still +working at her stocking, she went down the face of the hill to meet +him. But when he drew near, instead of that jubilant smile which she +had expected to see on his face, there was a look of depression. + +"Gilbert," she exclaimed, "what's wrang? Something has happened. Ye +canna hide it from yer mither. Tell me at ance." + +He told her; and with a cry of lamentation she dropped on the ground +and sat there, wringing her hands and bemoaning her fate: "what hae +I dune, what hae I dune, to be afflickit in this way--blow after +blow--blow after blow--and after slavin' and starvin' and savin'. But +that man (what's his name?) canna hae swallowed the siller. He maun +hae spent it on some folk. They should be socht oot and made to pay it +back." + +Strang thought it best not to answer his mother, but to allow her to +give vent to her feelings. Then raising her gently up, taking her by +the arm, and telling her that she must come and give him a cup of tea, +as he was ready to faint, he led her into her cottage. It was a poor +place, but the care which had been taken to make it comfortable in +honour of his coming touched his heart. A clear fire was burning behind +the two iron bars that served for a grate. The cracked hearthstone and +rough earthen floor had been swept and whitened. The most was made of +the scanty bits of furniture, the wreck of her former household; and +everything was clean and in its proper place. A snowy cloth covered +the frail round table; the marriage china was arranged in order; his +favourite brambleberry jam was in a glass dish; his favourite buttered +toast simmered before the fire; and the only armchair in the house was +placed for him in his favourite chimney-corner. + +Wiping her eyes occasionally, and moaning "Oh dear," she poured out a +cup of tea for him; but refused to take any herself, and sat rocking +herself to and fro. Then came another outburst, "Why did ye ever trust +that man? I'm sure I tellt ye weel aboot 'im." + +"Mother, mother," he said in a deprecating tone, "hoo can ye say so? Ye +never did." + +"That I did," she moaned out. "But ye never listen to what I say. Nae +wonder ye forget." + +Strang saw that reasoning would do no good; and so he sat silent +while she continued to give vent to her feelings. And to his great +relief, a knock came to the door, and a gentleman, well-dressed and +well-mannered, entered. + +"Mr Strang, I presume," he said. "I must beg your pardon for +intruding. I called at Pitlour, and they sent me on here." + +Catching fresh alarm, and seeing in this visit a continuation of the +coil of troubles in which they had got involved, the mother cried out, +"Oh sir! what are ye gaun to dae wi' 'im?" + +The gentleman, with a kindly smile, said, "There's nothing to cause +alarm; quite the reverse. I am Mr Kemp, Mr Manson's lawyer." + +And then in a calm manner, as if it was the sort of thing that occurred +every day, he told that Mr Manson had left his money and other +belongings to Gilbert Strang. + +Mrs Strang burst into a rapture of delight: "Eh, dae ye hear that! It's +an answer to my prayers. I aye said that Providence wad mak up to us +what He had made us suffer." + +But Strang himself was strangely silent. At length he said, "I don't +see how I can take it, sir." + +"No' tak it!" screamed his mother. "Are ye mad?" + +"No, mother!" said Strang, quietly, "this money should have been given +to Mr Manson's relatives." + +"He has got no relatives," said Mr Kemp, "and he expressly says that he +leaves it to you as the man whom he most respects, and who will "guide +the money best"; and if you don't take it, why, it must go to the +Queen; and in the ocean of her wealth it will be a mere drop, and will +do good to nobody." + +"Dae ye hear that!" said the mother. "The Queen indeed; set her up! +She's got ower muckle already. She would tak everything." + +"Then," said Gilbert, "if I maun tak it, I canna spend it on mysel. +I'll pay my father's debts, and wipe off the family disgrace." + +"Gilbert Strang!" said his mother, "are ye mad? Sir! ye'll no' allow +him to dae this. The money wasna left for this." + +"Mother," he said, quietly, "my father's memory is ane o' oor dearest +possessions. There's a blot on it, the blot o' bankruptcy. I want to +rub that aff, so that you and me may hae nae cause to blush when his +name is mentioned." + +Utterly foiled, the poor woman collapsed, saying in a tone of +resignation, "Weel, weel, gang yer ain gait, and leave me here to +slave, and starve, and dee. Ye'll maybe wipe yer faither's debts aff +yer conscience, but ye'll sune hae yer mither's death in their place." + +Gilbert now rose to go back with Mr Kemp. His mother refused to shake +hands with him; but he clapped her on the back, and said, "Courage, +mother! there may be some siller left, after payin' a' the debts, to +buy Sunnybrae yet." + +When they were outside, Mr Kemp said, "if you carry out this Quixotic +plan of yours, you'll have nothing left." + +"I can't help that," returned Strang; "I must do what's right." + +Strang lost no time in carrying out his resolve. Ere a few weeks had +passed, his father's creditors, very much to their astonishment, were +paid the full amount of what was owing them, along with interest. On +the next Sunday morning, as he put on his old and faithful Sunday +clothes, he felt a satisfaction which he had never experienced before. +The stain on his father's memory--a memory otherwise bright--was +removed, and he almost felt that his deceased parent was near, smiling +approval of what had been done. + +His appearance among the loungers at the church door created quite +a stir. Every eye was upon him. The farmers and their wives pressed +forward to shake him cordially by the hand. They said nothing, for +their limited vocabulary contained no form of words suitable for such +an extraordinary occasion; but their looks expressed their feelings. +Though they would not very likely, if placed in his circumstances, have +done what he had done; yet they could not help admiring him. As he +stood before them in his well-worn attire, he looked like a hero of the +antique type; and the patches on his coat appeared more than ever like +badges of honour. + +Meanwhile his mother, on the lonely slopes of Cauldale, moped and +grumbled. She felt herself a poor, forlorn wretch, deserted not only +by her son but by Providence also; and she took a morbid pleasure +in thinking that no one had ever been so ill used as she. But one +afternoon, as she sat at her solitary "four-hours," her son burst +in, with every feature beaming. She was then quite prepared for the +good news that he brought. The creditors were so delighted with his +unexpected conduct, that they had met and agreed to return to him half +the money. With that, and the remainder of Manson's legacy, he had +bought back Sunnybrae. + +"So by next Martinmas," he said, "ye'll be in yer ain auld house, +mither." + +Bright glowed the ben-end, or parlour, of Sunnybrae on the evening of +the 12th November. Bright, also, were the occupants, Gilbert Strang +and his mother. They had come in on the forenoon of the 11th, and had +been hard at work "pittin' things to richts." Mrs Strang had complained +bitterly about the state in which everything had been left; but she +had at last arranged things so that they could now sit down with some +degree of comfort. + +"Looking round," she said, "on a' the auld things in their auld places, +I feel as if I had been dreamin' aboot livin' in a strange country, and +that I had waukened up to find mysel at hame. There is only ae great +want,--the presence o' yer faither. But I canna help thinkin' that he +is here in spirit, and shares in our joy. And oh, Gilbert! glad he maun +be that a' his debts are paid, and that naebody can say that they hae +lost onything by him. You were richt, and I was wrang." + + + + +THE GENTLEMAN TRAMP. + + +John Fairgrieve, better known as Hillend, the name of his farm, had +been born with a strong appetite for knowledge. Had his education +been attended to in his youth, he would very likely have been a +great reader. But as he had never got into the way of using books +with facility, he was driven to seek his mental food in the actual +world around him; and this he did with the greatest assiduity. In +plain language, he was a notorious newsmonger, a collector of all the +"clashes" of the neighbourhood. In bright summer weather, before the +hay harvest came on, and when "there was naething pushin'," it was his +delight to stand at his farm gate, under the large plane tree, with his +snuff-box in his hand, and exchange news with all the passers-by. It +did not matter who they were. The farmer in his gig, the ploughman on +his cart, the baker driving his van, the beggarwife with her brats and +her wallets, were all obliged to "stand and deliver." In fact, Hillend +was a sort of informal turnpike man, levying mental toll on the king's +highway. + +Very like him in this inveterate love for tittle-tattle were his two +sisters, Lizzie and Grizzie, who kept house for him. They were seldom +seen separate. They hunted in couples. And their prey was generally +some country laddie that came into the farmyard for milk or butter. +They took complete possession of the unlucky urchin. He had no more +chance of escape than a gooseberry which has fallen before two greedy +hens. The one examined him, and then the other cross-examined him, +or (to use the old Scotch phraseology) the one speired and the other +back-speired, until the poor child was turned inside out, or, as +Geordie Faw, the cattleman, expressed it, "fairly flypeit." + +It was eight o'clock on a wild October night. Outside, in the farmyard, +were darkness and a fierce gale that rattled at the windows and howled +at the chimney tops, and swirled round the stacks and into every hole +and corner. Inside, in the farm kitchen, were light and warmth and +bright dishes on the walls, and still brighter faces grouped round +the blazing fire. With the exception of Collie the dog and Mottie the +cat, all were busy in their own different ways. Miss Lizzie was at the +churn, and Miss Grizzie at the spinning-wheel. Willie Foster and Pate +Mackie, the two ploughmen, were playing at draughts, or, as they called +it, "the dam-brod." Geordie Faw was cobbling his shoes. The itinerant +tailor, John Glen, seated cross-legged on a chair, was mending the +farmer's coat. And Hillend himself, what was he doing? Occupying the +place of honour at the left side of the fire, and, with the usual +snuff-box in his hand, he was keeping up the conversation, or, in other +words, "ca'in the crack." As the corn and the potatoes were safely +gathered in, he was in capital spirits, and bent upon making both +himself and the others happy. + +You would have thought that there was very little entertainment to be +got in that quiet homely scene; but you would have been mistaken. First +of all, there was Glen, the tailor, with a tongue as sharp and slick as +his own shears, and with odds and ends of scandal as many and varied as +his own clippings. Then in came Sandy Livingstone, fresh from a visit +to the smithy, and bursting with all the "clavers" of the parish--who +was dead, who was going to be married, who had _failed_, who had been +fou last July fair, who had been up before the Session, how Grangemire +Mary had got her leave, and Geordie Clephane had lost his watch at +Kirkcaldy market. And while they were still enjoying these tit-bits, +and rolling them like sweet morsels under their tongue, who should +appear but a mysterious stranger, foot-sore and tired with travel. All +grew quiet to look at him. This was no ordinary tramp. + +His clothes were fashionably cut, though threadbare and soiled; and +his features and hands were thin and delicate, though tanned by the +weather. The company were prepared to hear that he had once seen better +days; but they broke into a murmur of astonishment when he told them +that he had been an Oxford man and a man about town, and that he had +tramped all the way from London. "An Oxford swell!" "A London man!" +"Tramped all the way!" Hillend's face glowed with the anticipation of +hearing a wonderful story, and in his excitement he took four or five +_snuffs_ consecutively. Miss Lizzie and Miss Grizzie stopped their +work, rose to their feet, drew near to the stranger, devouring him +with their eyes, and eager to "speir and back-speir." They, indeed, +set him down to a supper of bread and cheese and milk; but they began +at the same time to question him about himself and his adventures. +However, he said that if they would kindly wait till he had refreshed +and strengthened himself with the meal they had placed before him, +he would give them a full and true account of his strange career. +They were therefore obliged, meanwhile, to satisfy their curiosity by +watching him while he stowed away the viands with wonderful celerity. +At length his ravenous appetite was appeased; and, wiping his mouth +with his coat sleeve, and begging pardon for doing so, and giving as an +excuse that he hadn't a pocket-handkerchief, he began the story of his +adventures. In after days it was often repeated, first by himself and +then by others, so that I am able to give it for the most part in his +own words. + +"My father was rich, but I am almost ashamed to confess that he did not +make his money in a very nice way. He was, you see, a pawnbroker in +the High Street of Edinburgh. When I was a boy I used often to be in +the shop on a Saturday night, and, upon my soul, I used to pity the +poor quivering wretches that came in, raising money on their furniture, +their very bed, and even the family Bible. I have seen a poor woman, +half-stripped herself, take off the clothes from a puny child in her +arms, and pawn them. All kinds of scenes went on, haggling and arguing, +and cursing and swearing. The words of one customer, especially, I can +never forget. He was a broken-down author, puffy and shaky. He was +angry because he had not got enough upon his silver watch. + +"'You cursed old Jew,' he said to my father, 'I'll tell you what you +are. You're a wrecker. You wait for those who are cast ashore by the +waves of misfortune, and rob them of the remnants of their property.' + +"'No, no,' said my father, 'I accommodate them with money to keep them +alive, and in return take only the things they can spare.' + +"My father himself did not like the trade, for he gave it up, and went +to live in a villa at Eskbank. He continued, however, to lend money in +private; but it was on a large scale. Young gentlemen, regular swells, +used to call at the house and be closeted with him, and had difficulty +in coming to an agreement. I heard one say as he was leaving, 'one +hundred per cent. is tremendous.' 'So is the risk,' was all my father's +answer. + +"My mother was of an easy-going disposition, had no head for figures, +and left the management of all money matters to her husband. Her whole +care was devoted to me, her only child. I was the apple of her eye. +Dear old mother! how I wish that I had appreciated her more! + +"As we sat at the fire on a winter evening, she would say, 'Ben! my +lad, we must give you the best education. I would like to see you a +gentleman before I die.' + +"'Nonsense!' my father would say, 'I'll not waste any money upon Latin +and Greek, and rubbish of that kind. The training I got will be good +enough for him.' + +"However, to our great astonishment, he came round to mother's view. +You see, he intended that I should carry on the money-lending business, +and he thought that if I were sent to a high-class school, I would form +a wide connection among young aristocratic spendthrifts, which would be +of great service to me. So the question came to be discussed, 'to what +school should I be sent?' and to settle this question our next door +neighbour assisted us. + +"This man was Captain Beaumont, but was popularly called 'the Earl.' He +was, as he told everybody, 'a real gentleman that had taken a thousand +years to be produced, not a shoddy one that can be turned out nowadays +in a few weeks.' He was tall, grey, and scraggy, with a backbone as +stiff as a walking-stick, and with a head that was uncommonly small, +but that was 'large enough,' as our minister remarked, 'for all +the ideas he had got to put into it.' His house was, like himself, +cheerless but pretentious. He called it Dunmore, which, you must know, +was the name of the castle where his ancestors had lived, heaven +knows how long ago. He had a doited old serving-man, who was dressed +in the family livery, and waited at table, and served the thin broth +and scraggy mutton on the family silver. There was also above the +dining-room mantelpiece his genealogical tree, with many branches and +leaves, and each leaf had on it the name of one of his forefathers, +and on the topmost leaf was written his own name, 'Reginald Algernon +Beaumont, the present earl.' + +"For some time the Earl was very haughty towards us, throwing us a +word occasionally, just as he would throw it to a neighbour's dog. +But by and by he made an excuse for calling on us; and in a few weeks +he came in regularly every night to have a game of draughts at our +fireside. 'His hungry nose,' my father said, 'had scented the havannas +and the Glenlivet.' In the first part of the evening he was silent and +grumpy, as if he looked down upon our society, and was half angry with +himself for being in it. But when the whisky and cigars were placed +on the table, he brightened up and grew pleasant and sociable, and +would talk for hours about his ancestors, and would tell that he was +the lineal descendant of Reginald de Beaumont, who came into Scotland +in the reign of David the First, and that he was, therefore, the Earl +of Abernethy; and then he would blackguard the House of Lords for not +acknowledging his title, and would call them 'Brummagem peers, mostly +made out of lucky lawyers, brewers, and cotton-spinners.' On one of +these occasions, my mother took courage to talk about me, saying that +she wished to make me a gentleman, and asked his advice as to what +should be done. He was startled, and, screwing up his nose, said:-- + +"My dear Madam, you can't make your son a gentleman. You can't put blue +blood into his veins and give him a pedigree a thousand years long. +But you may give him a gentlemanly education, and make him as good a +gentleman as ninety-nine out of every hundred who assume the name. Send +him to a high-class English school and then to Oxford. There he will +get up the classics, the only branch worthy of a gentleman.' + +"So by the Earl's advice I was sent to Vere de Vere College, in +Yorkshire: Principal, the Rev. Augustus Caesar, LL.D. The doctor, as he +was called, received me in a very friendly manner. So did the pupils, +after their own way; rather a rollicking kind of way, however. They +were healthy, riotous, and as full of mischief as monkeys. Surrounding +me, staring at me, and pulling me about, they plied me with all sorts +of questions--what was my governor? had he lots of tin? was Scotland +such a wild place? how did I feel in trousers? had I brought my kilt +with me? Then they began 'to make me at home,' as they called it. One +borrowed a sixpence from me; another, learning that I could not box, +showed me the way and gave me a bloody nose; and all of them joined in +crying out, that, as a new boy, I must pay my footing and stand them a +jolly spread of pies and tarts and rum-shrub. + +"For the first few days I had rather a lively time. As I was a new boy, +they thought it only right to practise all their tricks upon me, such +as putting a bunch of thistles in my bed, filling my boots with hot +water, and putting cobbler's wax upon my seat, which held me fast when +the doctor called me to get up. They also exercised their ingenuity in +inventing nick-names for me, and I was addressed as 'Scotty,' 'Haggis,' +'Jew,' and 'Balls' (for they had ferreted out that my father had been a +pawnbroker). But at length Lord Gulpington, who was the trump card of +the college, being the heir to a marquisate, claimed me as his fag, and +would allow no one to torment me except himself. He slept in the same +room with me, and generally awoke me in the morning by throwing his +slipper at my head. Then I got up, and, after dressing hurriedly, went +down for his boots and his hot water. During the day I did anything +that he required, and at night I often had to smuggle in 'grub and +lush,' as he called it. We got on well together. I was quite delighted +to be connected in any way with a lord; and after a while he said that +next to his bull dog, Griffin, which he kept at the butcher's in the +village, he liked me best of any creature about the place. + +"As far as the body was concerned, the pupils got on very well. They +had capital appetites, which they constantly attended to; and they were +not content with the abundance that was placed before them, but they +were constantly devouring apples, oranges, hardbake, and ginger-beer. +Most hearty were they also in taking physical exercise. They played +cricket and football, and talked about them incessantly, as if they had +been the chief end of man; and they ran at hounds and hares as if they +had been hunting a fortune, and not a dirty little boy with a bag of +paper scraps. + +"The physical training, indeed, was splendid, but I can't say as much +for the mental training. With the exception of a little Greek, the +thing that we always seemed to be grinding at was Latin. Our grammar +book was in Latin. Our reading book was in Latin. The very grace said +at table was in Latin. I tried to fix Latin in my head, but it came out +again as fast as I put it in. They endeavoured to improve my memory +by giving me several hundred verses to commit, but that only made me +worse. In despair, one day I told the doctor that I would never be able +to learn Latin. He told me that I must learn it, if I wished to be +educated. I then had the presumption to ask him what was the use of it. + +"'Oh,' he said, 'it is the best instrument for training the faculties. +Besides, it is the "open sesame" into good society.' + +"Had I been the only backward pupil, I might have thought that the +fault lay in my stupidity. But with the exception of two or three, the +other pupils were nearly as bad as myself, and detested their lessons. +If a knowledge of Latin was to be the 'open sesame' into good society, +I'm afraid they would never get in. + +"At the end of four years my course at school was finished; and before +proceeding to Oxford I spent a few weeks at home. One evening my +father, in his business-like way, asked me to make up an account of +the items I had got in return for the money he had laid out,--in other +words, to tell him distinctly how much I had learnt. + +"Afraid to go into details, I said, 'Well, at least, I've learnt the +ways and manners of a gentleman.' + +"'Ah,' replied my father, 'to be sure, that's worth all the book +knowledge. You'll be better able to do business with gentlemen.' + +"In this way I had staved off an ugly question; but in my own room, +before going to bed that night, I ran over in my mind what I had learnt +and what I had not learnt at school. I had learnt to play cricket and +football, to run, to leap, to box, to smoke, to drink beer, and make +bets. I had _not_ learnt to write a good hand, to spell correctly, to +count correctly, and to know something of the history and geography of +my native country. + +"My mother came to have some notion of the true state of matters. She +had asked me to write to the minister, inviting him to our house on +a certain night to meet some friends, and unfortunately I had spelt +_meet_ with an _a_. The minister was a great humorist, and this was an +occasion for a joke which he could not neglect. Consequently, he called +next morning, with my letter in his hand, to ask what kind of meat he +would bring--beef, or mutton, or pork. My mother, when she understood +the mistake, felt it keenly. So, one evening at the fireside, while the +Earl and my father were having their game of draughts, she said: + +"'Well, Ben, I hope you will get on at Oxford, and correct all your +deficiencies, and come out a perfect scholar.' + +"'My dear madam,' said the Earl, 'if any place can make him a scholar +Oxford is that place. It has got all the means; it has the most money, +the best teachers, and the greatest reputation.' + +"My mother, however, although she knew it not, was cruelly deceived. +To men who were in love with learning, Oxford gave every facility for +maturing their scholarship. But to those who had no such love she could +do nothing. Into this latter class I was unfortunate enough to fall. +Lord Gulpington was there before me, and introduced me to his set, +which consisted of the sons of the aristocratic and the wealthy. These +youths, though passing through the curriculum of the University, were +students merely in name. They did almost everything but study. Bless +you! how could you expect them to do otherwise? What charms could they +find in musty, out-of-date Latin and Greek works? They were young, +healthy, spirited, and rich; and the bright and breathing world lay +around them. Everything within them and without them called upon them +to enjoy themselves. They, indeed, went through the farce of attending +chapel in the morning, and lectures in the forenoon. But everyone, +their teachers as well as themselves, knew it to be a farce. As soon as +they went back to their rooms, they tossed their gowns aside, donned +their sporting habiliments, and were off to the river, or the road, +or the hunting-field, or the racecourse. Then back they came in the +evening with a keen relish for other kinds of enjoyment. They feasted, +they caroused, they gamboled, they sang jovial glees and choruses, and +in fact rattled on as if life were to be a perpetual feast, without +any such thing as duty, or trial, or suffering. In all these frolics +I mingled. The jolly fellows, though they knew my origin, and called +me by no other name than 'Balls,' were free and easy with me, played +practical jokes upon me, borrowed my money, smoked my cigars, drank my +wine, and even used my rooms for their parties. + +"But all things come to an end; and the time arrived when the most of +these devotees of pleasure had to lay aside their frivolities, and, in +order to please the old folks at home, had to go in for their degree, +or, as they called it, 'their smalls.' Many of them were, as it is +called, 'plucked,' and no wonder! Their feathers were not home-grown, +but were borrowed plumes stuck on with infinite labour and skill by +tutors, and, therefore, came off easily. On me they would not even +stick, and so I could not go up for the degree, and had not even the +honour of being plucked. + +"My poor parents were spared the chagrin of seeing the failure of their +efforts to make me a gentleman. Before my Oxford career was finished, +they died, both in the same week, the victims of the terrible Asiatic +cholera, during its first visit to this country in 1832. As I now +came into a considerable fortune, I saw no necessity for adopting a +profession, or doing any useful work. To enjoy myself was, I thought, +to be my only business; and the proper place for enjoyment was London, +the centre of all that is pleasant and grand. So, as soon as I had +wound up affairs in Edinburgh, I hastened to the metropolis. + +"I put up at the Golden Cross, and proceeded, as it is called, 'to do +the sights of London.' I visited picture galleries, museums, theatres, +concert rooms, until I was tired out and disgusted. Then came on the +most terrible feeling I ever experienced, a feeling which you busy and +healthy people never had. _I did not know what to do._ I did not care +to stroll about the streets, for the everlasting din and endless throng +grew intolerable. I could not sit all day in the coffee-room of the +hotel, staring at everyone that entered, and pretending to read the +newspaper. When I got up in the morning, it seemed as if I would never +manage to get through the day. Time was my great enemy. It loaded the +present, and blocked up the future. How was I to kill it? To do this I +would have been inclined to try almost anything. I now understood how +men committed suicide through sheer weariness. I also felt the truth of +the saying that idleness is the cause of nearly every crime, and that +the idle man does not wait to be tempted, but of his own accord tempts +the devil. My devil soon appeared. + +"I had noticed among the inmates of the hotel a middle-aged, stout, and +grey-headed gentleman, whom the waiters addressed as Colonel. He seemed +to me to be round and oily with health, good nature, and jollity. One +day, when he appeared to be idle, he sat down and had a talk with me. +Without telling me much about himself, except that he been an officer +in the Spanish service, he managed to extract from me a good deal about +myself; and when he heard me complain about feeling dull, he at once +placed his services at my disposal. + +"'London dull!' he said, 'why, it's a paradise, a garden full of +flowers, and I, like a bee, or rather a bumble-bee, have visited all of +them.' + +"And certainly no idle man could have a pleasanter companion than the +Colonel. He was stimulating and enlivening, like the morning sunshine. +His animal spirits and relish for life never flagged, and he was always +ready, when the occasion turned up, to joke, to laugh, to eat, or to +drink. Every day he had some novelty to offer. 'Now,' he would say, +'I'll give you a treat that you never had before;' and then he would +drive me to a racecourse or some other resort of fashion, or he would +take me to some famous old chop-house in the recesses of the city, or +some new and gorgeous hotel in one of the fashionable thoroughfares; +and, while we sat down to what he called, 'a nice little dinner,' he +would introduce some new dish, or some new blend of whisky, or some +new brand of wine; and while we discussed it he would smack his lips, +rub his hands, and look at me as much as to say, 'Did I not tell you +so?' His enjoyment of the pleasures of the great city never seemed to +fail. The only thing, in fact, that ever failed with him was money. He +sometimes had no change, or had forgotten his purse; but I was only +too glad to pay his expenses in return for his company. I could not do +without him. He had made life like a dream, a little feverish perhaps, +but exceedingly pleasant. + +"One night after the theatre, he took me to a house in the Haymarket, +where, he said, we could sup cosily together. As soon as we had +entered, to his great surprise, he found two old friends who had just +arrived from the Continent. They were middle-aged, fashionably dressed, +and well-mannered, and were introduced to me as Captain Spurr and +Count Lago. At my invitation they joined us in a private room, where +we supped on lobster and champagne, and all grew as sociable and as +pleasant as you like. A game of whist was proposed, and the Colonel and +I played against the other two for small stakes. We had astonishing +luck, and won game after game; and at the end of several hours, rose +the winners of a considerable sum of money. Of course, we continued +the practice of meeting and playing there, and night after night the +same results happened. The Colonel and I always won. Such a thing had +never been known before. They all attributed it to me; and even the +landlord and the waiters complimented me, and wondered that I did not +back my luck sufficiently. This was pleasant so far; but I did not like +the idea of winning so much money, and feared that we might completely +clean out our opponents, and I frankly told the Colonel my feelings on +the matter, and suggested that we should stop. + +"'Stop!' he exclaimed, 'we can't stop; we must give them their revenge. +Oh, don't be afraid that you'll beggar them; they have plenty of the +needful.' + +"So on we drove in our career of victory, until our winnings amounted +to a large sum. Then fortune changed, and, strange to say, went on as +steadily against us as it had done for us, until our opponents had not +only regained all they had lost, but had won some of our money. + +"While on our way home that night I said to the Colonel--'As our +opponents have recouped themselves, we must now stop.' + +"'Hang it!' said the Colonel, 'not just yet if you please. I can't +afford to lose any money if you can. Let us adopt this method. We are +so much money out of pocket. On our first game to-night, let us stake +the double of that. If we lose, let us double it again; and let us go +on doing this; and whenever the luck turns, and, hang it! you know, it +must turn very soon, we shall, at one go, have won all our money back, +and then we can cry quits.' + +"This seemed a dangerous plan, but I felt that we must follow it. So +on we went, night after night losing our games, and always piling up +the money, till the stake had become something tremendous, and I became +almost mad with excitement. To provide funds, I kept selling out my +investments and lodging the money in a London bank; and to keep up my +nerve I drank champagne incessantly--and then the crash came! + +"I woke up one day with a head a mass of pain, a mouth as dry as a +lime-kiln, and a confused memory of exciting scenes, to find myself in +a bed in our nightly resort. On summoning the waiter, I learnt from +him that I had been very tipsy, and that the Colonel and his friends +had had some difficulty in managing me, and getting me to bed. I lost +no time in going to the Golden Cross Hotel to see the Colonel, but to +my horror I was told that the Colonel had left that morning with all +his luggage. I understood now the hellish plot which had been devised +for my ruin; but I thanked God that I had still ten thousand pounds +in the bank. I hurried to the bank to make sure; but there I was met +with the intelligence that a gentleman, that morning, had presented my +cheque for the whole amount, and that all my money had been paid to +him. I asked to see the cheque, thinking that it must have been forged; +but no, there was my undoubted signature! I had been drugged, and while +in a stupor made to sign my name; and my whole fortune was gone. The +Colonel, who, it seems, was notorious as a most accomplished blackleg, +was advertised for, but was never caught. + +"I had now to give up my rooms in the hotel, and all my refined habits, +take lodgings in a street near Drury Lane, and seek for some way of +earning my bread. Surely, I thought, I can't starve: in this immense +community there must be many thousands of vacant situations. But I did +not take into account, that for every single vacancy there must be at +least ten applicants. And I very soon found that the education which I +had got at school and at the university, and which had cost so much, +was practically useless. In fact, it was now the great stumbling-block +in my way. It had not fitted me for the higher situations, for I could +not even spell correctly; and it had _un_fitted me for the lower +situations, for no one would engage an Oxford scholar for a menial +office. I could not even compete with the ragged street boys in running +on an errand, holding a horse, or sweeping a crossing. Their education, +picked up amid the mud and jostle of the streets, had been far more +practical and effective than mine. Instead, therefore, of living by +my labour, I was obliged to subsist by pawning my valuables, and bit +after bit of my finery, like the plumes of a moulting peacock, dropped +from me, till I was left almost bare. Then I was obliged to give up my +lodgings, and go out on the streets. + +"I was now an outcast in London. It seemed strange that in the midst +of so many thousand houses, I should be without a corner to lay my +head in,--that in the midst of millions of people I should not have a +single one to help me, or take an interest in me. Such was my condition +on a night of August last. I had a few shillings in my pocket, but as +I did not see any way by which I could earn money, it was necessary +to be rigidly economical. I applied for a night's shelter at a cheap +lodging-house in the Borough, but it was so crowded with shabby, dirty, +and noisy lodgers that I turned sick, and was obliged to leave. I then +tried the casual ward in one of the infirmaries, but it was even more +disgusting. Quite at a loss to know what to do, I wandered aimlessly up +and down till I found myself on London Bridge, when the steeples were +pealing out the hour of midnight. Footsore and weary, I threw myself +down on the hard stone seat in one of the recesses; but shortly, a +poor, slouching tatterdemalion squatted down beside me, actually laying +his unkempt head upon my legs. In disgust, I started up, and crawled +away into the city. Hour after hour I dragged my weary limbs along the +solitary, interminable streets, looking for some covered doorway where +I might lay me down and sleep. Twice I had found a suitable spot; +but before I could take possession of it, a policeman's lantern was +seen approaching, and I was obliged to move on. When morning began to +break I found myself close to Regent's Park, and the soft green sward +appeared a temptation which I could not resist. Climbing the fence with +some difficulty, I made for a large beech tree, and pillowing my head +on one of its extended roots, and stretching out my legs on the soft +delightful grass, I fell at once into a deep slumber. + +"After several hours of absolute unconsciousness, I had a dream, and +thought I was back again in Scotland, in our garden at Eskbank, and +heard somebody calling to me. I gradually came to myself, and opened my +eyes; and there was a working-man standing over me, and, in an accent +unmistakably Scotch, calling me by name, and asking why I was there. I +cannot describe the gush of delight that ran through me when I heard +the kindly tones of my native land, and realised that here at least was +a man who took an interest in me. Raising myself up, I asked him how he +came to know me? He told me that he belonged to Eskbank, that he used +to know me by sight, that he was on his way to his work in Regent Park +Gardens, and that he was astonished to see me lying like an outcast +there. What could I do but tell him my sad story? He said that it might +be a long time before I could get any suitable berth in London, and +that my best plan would be to go home at once, and that he would lend +me five shillings--all that he had on him--to help me on my way. My +heart bounded with delight at the suggestion, and I wondered that I +had never thought of it before. So, taking his offered loan, and along +with it his address, and promising to repay him as soon as I was able, +I shook hands with my humble friend, and set off at once to prepare for +my journey. Not having enough money to pay the fare either by coach +or boat, I resolved to go on foot, and hoped that by taking every +precaution, I would not find it too much for me, and that I might be +able to get some odd jobs by the road, which would assist my expenses. +So I packed up all my effects in a napkin, and bravely set my face to +the north. + +"When, from the top of Highgate, I had taken my last look of the smoky +wilderness called London, and when I turned to go forward through +the rich autumn landscape, I felt really happy. After my bitter +experience of the endless rows of brick houses, and the everlasting +stone pavement, I enjoyed the long lines of leafy trees and hedges, and +the soft, fragrant wayside grass. The very thought that every step was +taking me nearer home was a delight in itself. That the distance was +four hundred miles did not seem to matter much. Our school's sports, +especially that of hounds and hare, had taught me to hold in, and not +expend all my resources at once. So I moved along at a steady, regular +pace, taking care not to strain my muscles. When my feet grew hot, I +refreshed them by walking into a brook. When faintness came on, I did +not seek the ale-house; but I bought a penny loaf, and sitting down by +a wayside well, found that plain bread and water were both palatable +and invigorating. For dessert, I sometimes had a young Swedish turnip, +which I found more sweet and juicy than any pine-apple I ever tasted. +At night, as the weather continued remarkably dry and warm, I preferred +the open air to the tramp's lodging-house; and under the newly-cut corn +sheaves, or in the recess of a haystack, I slept soundly till I was +wakened by the rising sun. + +"With all my economy, however, my little stock of money melted fast +away; and I soon saw that if I wished to be saved from the degradation +of begging I must earn something. I therefore hit upon a plan which I +thought would be sure to get me some employment. This was to call upon +the clergymen through whose parishes I passed, to tell them frankly +the cause of my degradation, and to ask them in the name of Christian +charity to allow me to do some work for them, by which I could earn a +meal or a small sum of money. But, unfortunately, this patent plan of +mine failed. Without exception, the parish priests listened to my story +with an incredulous look, shook their heads, and shut their doors in my +face. At length I ventured to ask one why he disbelieved me? + +"'My good man,' he said, 'I can't help it. I have been so often taken +in by people like you. The more plausible your story is, the more +likely it is to be false.' + +"'You look upon poverty, then,' said I, 'as a crime?' + +"'No,' he replied, 'not exactly, but as one of the marks of a criminal. +I may be wrong, but I can't help it.' + +"I saw, too, that my fellow-tramps had the same opinion about me. One +evening, at a sudden turn of the road, I found myself face to face +with one of a most villainous type. There was no mistaking him. He was +a real London-made rough, spawned in the gutter, bred in the slums, +moulded in the jostle of the streets, with plunder in his look and +blasphemy on his tongue. + +"Planting himself right before me, and devouring me with his rat-like +eyes, he croaked out, 'Well, my bloomin' cove! what lay are you on?' + +"I told him that I was a gentleman who had been unfortunate in London, +and was now on my way back to my native country. + +"'Oh! a gent are you?' he said, with a sneer; 'then, by ----, fork out +like a gent;' and he seized me by the coat collar. + +"And now, for the first time, I found I had been taught at school +something that was useful. Throwing off his hand, I leapt back, and put +myself in a boxing attitude; and, as he made a furious assault upon me, +I parried his blows, and letting go my left straight from the shoulder, +landed on his jaw a crashing blow which sent him to the grass; and +there he lay half-stunned, and looking like a heap of filthy clothes. +I asked him if he would have any more, and getting nothing but a +terrible imprecation in reply, I left him, and went on my way. + +"By this time I had passed Newark, and I was in a sorry plight. I was +without shoes and without a waistcoat, and my hat was crushed and +battered out of all shape. With bleeding feet and empty stomach, I was +limping along painfully, when I came to a farmer superintending his +reapers near the roadside. Touching my forehead, I asked him if he +could not give a starving man a job by which he could earn a bite of +bread. + +"'No lad,' he said, 'but if ye had coomed when the taters were young I +could have given you a job. I might have employed you as a scarecrow.' + +"Thereupon all the workers laughed, especially the women, who sent up +a loud skirl of delight. So I had to crawl on, foot-sore, and also +heart-sore at the cruelty of my fellow-creatures. + +"But relief was at hand. I had not gone far, when, turning a corner of +the road, I came upon a strange sight: a fat little man, with a red +coat, and a red face, both discoloured by the weather, sitting at the +edge of a wood, eating his dinner, with his little dog in front of +him, and his properties--a Punch and Judy show, a big drum, and Pandean +pipes--indistinctly seen in the foliage behind him. He was eating bread +and cheese, which he cut with a clasp-knife, and Toby was eyeing him +greedily, ready to snap his occasional bit. Everything about the man +was so hearty, and so suggestive of sunshine and country roads, that he +seemed to warm up the landscape. + +"As soon as he caught sight of me he called out, 'Hallo, mate! you seem +done up. Come and peck a bit. Sit down.' And he handed me a big hunk of +bread and another of cheese, looking on beamingly when I devoured it; +and when at length I could eat no more, he produced a flask. + +"'Here is some of the right sort; take a good swig of it; it will oil +your digestion works. Man! it does me good to see you enjoy your grub. +I feel as if I were eating a second dinner. Now for your yarn.' Then he +lit his pipe and smoked while I gave an account of myself. + +"'Ah,' he said, knocking out the ashes, 'my case is not altogether +unlike yours. I, too, got a good education, or what was intended to be +a good education. But I could never settle in any place. By nature +I was a rolling stone, or rather a rolling ball of fat; and Fortune, +mistaking me for a football, began to kick me about, and has been +playing with me ever since. But thanks to my fat, I always fall soft +and always rebound. Ha! ha!' and he laughed till his face puckered up +and showed his eyes like two small steel beads. + +"While he was talking, I had taken up the Pandean pipes, and I now +played a tune on them. + +"'Ah!' he said, 'can you work that?' + +"'Yes,' I replied; 'when I was a boy in Edinburgh, there was nothing I +so much delighted in as a Punch and Judy performance. I used to loiter +for hours at the foot of the Mound, and see it repeated again and +again; and coming upon a set of Pandean pipes in my father's pawnshop, +I used to practise upon them.' + +"'Why,' said Joe Greener (for, as I learnt afterwards, this was his +name), 'you're the very man I want. Aint it lucky? To tell you the +truth, I'm in a bit of a fix. My pal bolted two days ago with all the +swag. A good riddance at the price.' (And here Joe abandoned himself +to his peculiar snigger. He seemed to laugh all his trouble away, and +blow it off as if with a gust of merriment.) + +"'I have written,' he continued, 'for an old partner in London, but he +can't come for some weeks. Meanwhile you'll do for a substitute. I'll +soon coach you up in the business. All that you have got to do is to +play the overture before the drama begins, and while it is going on to +collect the money and keep the imps of children from pulling aside the +baize and peeping in. The terms are six bob a week and your grub; and +I'll advance something at once to rig you out.' + +"The bargain was struck; and that evening, in the inn yard of the +neighbouring village, we had several rehearsals, and I felt that I +would manage to get through my part fairly well. + +"Behold me now, an Oxford man, and formerly the chum of lords and +swells, degraded into a Punch and Judy assistant. It was a bustling +life. We were out in the road in all weathers, performing at fairs, and +in the evenings in small towns and villages. In fact, wherever we saw +groups of people hanging about on the outlook for amusement, we set +up our stage. Once we were hired to amuse the boys at my old school, +Vere de Vere College. I cannot describe the feelings with which, in my +new character, I entered the well-known scenes. My uppermost feeling +was the fear lest I should be identified as a former scholar. But, to +my infinite relief, I saw that all the pupils and the servants were +strangers. The doctor, indeed, stared at me for a moment as if he +recognised me; but he turned away, muttering 'No, no, impossible!' He +could not believe that anyone who had had the unspeakable advantage +of being taught by him could possibly have fallen so low. His conceit +saved me. + +"This vagrant life had its drudgery and its difficulties; but there +were certain things about it that I liked very much: the quiet country +roads, the resting on the green grass under hawthorn hedges, the +palatable dinners of bread and cheese and cider at rustic inns, and the +merry faces that clustered round us when that abandoned rascal Punch +began to play his pranks. But, at the end of a few weeks, Joe Greener's +former pal arrived from London, and my occupation was gone. So, bidding +a hearty farewell to my merry benefactor, I turned my face northwards +again, and partly by walking and partly by coaching, I have come thus +far. + +"When I arrived at your gate to-night, and listened to the +well-remembered sound of the wind in the big plane tree, the past came +back upon me, and I felt as if I were a boy again, and as if my strange +experiences at Oxford and London were but the medley of a dream." + +"Bless me," cried Miss Grizzie, "did you ever live here?" and she and +her sister were on their feet scrutinising the face of the stranger. + +"Yes," he said quietly; "I once lived in this very house, and I can +give you a proof of it. Look at the back of the fireplace there, on +the left-hand side, and you will see the letters B.L. cut in a stone." +They all crowded round the fire to look; and, surely enough, they +detected the initials, badly formed and rather indistinct, but still +recognisable. + +Then Miss Lizzie, turning round and looking intently at the stranger, +called out, "Are you Ben Levy? Eh! I thocht that there was something +about yer face that I should ken. Ah! I mind ye weel--a bit laddie, +comin' ower here in yer vakens, and introducin' yersel as oor coosin, +and steyin' for three or four weeks." + +"But yer faither," said Miss Grizzie, "was a gentleman, I thocht. I +never heard o' him bein' a pawnbroker." + +"No," said Ben, "he had retired by that time from the three balls, and +wished them to be forgotten." + +Hillend, now putting his hand on the shoulder of the stranger, said, +"Oh man! is this you? Man, I'm fain to see ye. I mind ye weel--an +auld-farrant loon, dour at the readin', writin', and coontin', but +ready with yer haunds, and in the thick of everything--howin', +shearin', and threshin',--and wi' an awfu' wark wi' bease. An' have ye +really been through a' thae ups and doons: and what are ye gaun to dae +noo?" + +"Well," said Ben, "that's just what I want to tell you. You see I have +had my chances--all the advantages which a man could have--education, +society, money. I could not use them, and they nearly did for me. They +have been a curse to me. I don't want them again. It is evident that +my proper sphere is a humble lot in the country. I shall be content if +anybody allows me to work in the fields, and gives me in return bed +and board and a suit of clothes once a year. A man who has frequently +supped on a turnip and slept under a hedge, will look upon a cog of +oatmeal porridge and a bunch of straw in the barn as real luxuries." + +Hillend's eyes glistened. "Well," he thought, "here's something new at +a farmer's fireside, a man that has gaen up and doon the hale ladder o' +Fortune, and kens a' the changes o' Life. What a companion he will be +for the long winter nichts! A' the tales o' the Borders in one livin' +edition! A well that can always be pumped, and will never gang dry! I +think we must ask him to stey for a week or twa at least." + +He gave a significant glance at his sisters, and they returned it. Then +he said--"Ye micht stey on here for a wee till ye can look aroond ye. +It happens that Jamie Doo, oor orra man, has just left. Ye can tak his +place, and pit oot your haund to ony job that's wanted; and ye'se get a +bed in the bothy, and your share o' the parritch and kail that's gaun +in the kitchen." + +Weeks, months, and even years passed, and Ben Levy still remained at +the farm. The truth is that they could not do without him. He was the +factotum of Hillend, and also of the two sisters. During the day, if +any stress of work arose, he was the man to push it through; and in +the evening, if any visitors dropt in, he was the man to entertain them +with his startling experiences. + +One remark he always made at the end of his story. "It's strange that a +few weeks experience of country labour in my boyhood should have been +more useful to me than all my school and university education. It has +enabled me to earn my bread. I believe it's because my heart was in it. + + "'The heart's aye the part aye + That maks us richt or wrang.'" + + + + +THE ONE FATAL MISTAKE. + + +In my boyhood I was familiar with a thin emaciated man, that used to be +seen in the streets of Sandyriggs. Consumption had wasted his body, and +utterly quenched his spirit. Wan and dumb, he moved among the healthy +faces of the town folk like a ghost; and it was a painful sight to see +him crawl up the outside stair that led to his solitary room above the +butcher's shop. People called him "a blighted being" and "a living +wreck," and associated his name with a tragedy which had long been the +talk of the county. Yet, twenty years before, he began his career under +the most favourable auspices. + +When Malcolm Blair entered the University of St Andrews, he might have +been considered a favourite of Fortune. He was the only son and the +pride of his father, a prosperous farmer. His body was healthy and +handsome, and his mind agile and enthusiastic. He had a keen relish, +not only for material blessings, but for knowledge of every kind. It +was as pleasant to him to study as to take a bracing morning walk. +Without any difficulty he drank in classics, mathematics, literature, +and science. In all the college competitions he easily took the first +place, and at the end of every session came out the first man of his +year. + +At the same time, his learning did not make him moody and unsocial. He +put it (to use a homely phrase) "into a good skin." It was thoroughly +digested, became part of his being, promoted his general health, +and fed his buoyant spirits. When the time came for tossing aside +his books, mirth danced in his eyes and rioted in his laugh. His +motto seemed to be "Taste life's glad moments." At all the students' +recreations--the social gatherings on the Friday night, the Saturday +excursions into the country, the jolly junketings at Guardbridge and at +Leuchars--he was the life of the company. He could sing, recite, tell +stories, make a speech or "screamer," as it was called, and give the +most ludicrous imitation of the different professors. + +"Blair," said one of his friends, "is irrepressible. How does he keep +up that vivid tone, both of body and mind? One would imagine that +his food was ambrosia and his drink was nectar; and the air which he +breathed was laughing-gas." + +Altogether Blair was a youth full of promise, and apparently destined +for a popular and successful career. + +But it was this highly-strung excitable temperament that brought him +into danger. The time came, towards the end of his Arts curriculum at +St Andrews, when "the young man's fancy lightly turned to thoughts +of love." If he had been privileged to mix in cultured family life, +his fancy might have settled on a suitable object. But in St Andrews, +where the distinctions of caste are strongly defined, the students are +unfortunately placed. They are regarded as being beneath the upper or +professional class; and they consider themselves as above the under +or trading class. They are, therefore, shut out from family life, and +are left to herd together in their lodgings. And thus it came to pass +that Malcolm Blair's fancy was unable to find a resting-place till it +settled on his landlady's daughter. + +Grace Bourhill, daughter of Mrs Bourhill, lodging-house keeper in +College Street, had no special charms beyond a fresh complexion and a +pair of bright eyes. But she was ambitious, and tried all her little +fascinations on Mr Blair. When she brought in his meals, she was always +tidy as Hebe herself or neat-handed Phyllis. When he spoke to her, she +would blush and smile and look at him from the corner of her eyes. +When she ran against him in the lobby, she would show the prettiest +confusion, and after begging pardon, would trip away like a startled +fawn. As a matter of course, he soon saw that the girl was fond of him, +and could not help appreciating her good feeling and taste. He found +a pleasure in looking upon her and speaking to her, and when he was +singing Burns's songs, he would often call up her image to help him to +realise the poet's heroines. Yet all the while he never once thought of +her as a suitable partner for him. He considered the whole affair as an +innocent flirtation. Miserable delusion! He soon found out his mistake. + +Blair's curriculum was drawing to a close. He was about to take +farewell of St Andrews' University. As he was preparing himself for +the Dissenting Ministry, his divinity studies were to be prosecuted +in Edinburgh. It was a time of great excitement among the students. +The winter, with its dull days and its hard work, had gone; and the +spring, with its bright hours and its prospect of country holidays, +had come. Song and laughter were in the air, and infected every one; +and the evenings were entirely given up to farewell merry-meetings. +One of the most important of these was the _Gaudeamus_ of the Literary +Society, held in the Cross Keys Hotel. The chair was taken by an +honorary member, a divinity student of jovial tendencies; and a galaxy +of youthful faces, all glowing with intelligence and good humour, was +grouped before him. What could be the result but an utter abandonment +to the influence of the time? The past, with all its trials, was +forgotten; the future, with its promised happiness, was taken for +granted; and the present, with its grateful pleasures, engrossed their +whole souls. + +Prominent among the company was Malcolm Blair. He was, in a certain +sense, the hero of the evening. He had just completed his literary +course with the greatest distinction, having taken his degree of Master +of Arts with special commendation, and come out the first man of his +year in every branch; and he had, therefore, every reason for being +in the highest spirits. During dinner his jokes and anecdotes kept up +a constant roar. After dinner he sang songs and proposed toasts in +the most effective style. And then to crown all, he was called upon +by the voice of the whole company to give his imitation of Tammy, the +mathematical professor. Standing up, and putting on the well-known +grimaces, awkward gestures, and broad Scotch accent, he delivered a +speech on elocution, urging them all to cultivate a correct and refined +style of speaking, and to take an example from him, the speaker, who, +though born and brought up in Fife, had so thoroughly got rid of his +native peculiarities of phrase and accent, that he defied any stranger +to detect even his nationality. He sat down amid a prolonged shout of +applause; and on every side he was saluted with cries of "Health and +Imitation," and with pressing calls from dozens of his admirers to +drink with them. + +Replying to these on the spur of the moment, he imbibed more than he +was aware of; and thus it happened, when the meeting broke up, that he +was in a state of the highest excitement. + +This state of excitement was, indeed, very unfortunate. But another +unfortunate circumstance was fated to happen. On that particular night, +of all nights in the year, it chanced that his landlady, Mrs Bourhill, +was seized with a sort of fit; and when he reached his lodgings, he +witnessed a most distressing plight--the mother lying insensible on the +sofa, and the daughter wringing her hands and crying in despair. Alarm +and pity took possession of his heart; and after uttering a few words +of sympathy and comfort, he rushed away and brought back a doctor. The +doctor, a young man beginning practice, was solemn and taciturn. Asking +a few questions, and feeling the pulse of Mrs Bourhill, he looked very +grave, and tried one restorative after another until at length she +opened her eyes; and then, with the aid of the daughter, he led her to +her bedroom and shut the door. + +Blair retired to his own room to wait the result. The minutes passed +slowly without a single sound to break the oppressive silence. At last +he heard the doctor go, and shut the outer door; but he waited in vain +for any other sound. Sick of suspense, and imagining all sorts of +evil, he crept quietly out of his room and entered the parlour; and +there he found Miss Bourhill seated on a chair, the picture of silent +misery. + +"What has happened?" he asked, in a voice of alarm. + +She answered by breaking down into a paroxysm of weeping. + +"For God's sake, Miss Bourhill," he cried, "what has happened? Is your +mother dead?" + +Then she rose, and with her hair streaming over her shoulders, and the +tears running down her cheeks, she clasped his hands, and said, "Oh, +Mr Blair! you have been so kind. But what am I to do? what _am_ I to +do? The doctor says that mother's condition is very serious, and that +another attack may be fatal, and I shall be left alone in the world +with nobody to care for me." And here she broke down again. + +Now, what could this unsophisticated lad do, wrought up as he was by +various causes into a high state of excitement? What could he do but +take her hand, and pat her on the shoulder, and, in his anxiety to +soothe her, protest that he would take care of her? And other tender +promises he made which he was afterwards told about, but which he did +not remember. + +Next morning he awoke with a curious, confused feeling which cannot +be described. Amid all the confusion, however, there still started up +the impression that he had said to Miss Bourhill many things which +he ought not to have said. He feared, in fact, that he had given her +the impression that he really loved her; and he resolved to lose no +time in disabusing her mind. He would represent it as an ordinary +flirtation, and would apologise most earnestly and humbly for trifling +with her feelings. He was not going to allow his future prospects to be +blighted, and he must set himself right at once, and at all hazards. +But, unfortunately, this resolute plan of his was utterly foiled by +unforeseen circumstances. No sooner had he stepped out of his bedroom +into the passage than Miss Bourhill, radiant with the consciousness of +one who was both loving and beloved, and looking really beautiful, had +thrown her arms around his neck and was embracing him; and her mother, +glowing with recovered health, came up and saluted him also. + +"Mother," said the daughter, "this is my future husband." + +And the mother, blessing them fervently, protested that he was the +very one whom she herself would have chosen, and congratulated him upon +his having secured such a priceless jewel. + +"She canna," said she, "strum on the pianny, but she can darn stockins +and mak shirts. She'll no be able to jabber French, but she'll scrub +and cook and keep yer manse comfortable. And she's high-spirited too, +and she'll keep the members o' the congregation in their proper places. +She was jist born to be a minister's wife." + +Now what could the fated Malcolm do, involved as he was in such a +witches' coil! He felt that if he didn't speak out and protest at once +he was lost; but the smiles, caresses, and blandishments that were +rained upon him, drugged and chloroformed his powers, and literally +shut his mouth; and he remained speechless and helpless. Two days +afterwards, Malcolm Blair left St Andrews an engaged man. The one fatal +mistake had been made. + +During the six months of the summer vacation that Scotch students +enjoy, Malcolm Blair had been accustomed to continue his studies under +the most exhilarating circumstances. What a pleasant change it was from +the closeness and monotony of St Andrews' lecture-rooms to the airy +canopy and ever-changing glories of nature! And oh, the delight, at +daybreak, when the ploughman drove his team afield amid the thousand +melodies of morn; or at noon, when a golden haze brooded over the +pastures and cornfields, and the silence was broken only by the hum +of the bee; or in the evening, when the scent of flowers was in the +air and the coo of the cushat came from the firry woodland--oh, the +delight! to dwell upon the country scenes of the Mantuan Bard, or roll +out the winged words of Homer, or trill "the native wood-notes wild" +of the Swan of Avon. Standing on the same green earth, under the same +glorious sky, and amid the same perennial influences, he was able to +look at things from their point of view and in their spirit, and thus +virtually to realise--to make real to himself--their thoughts and +feelings regarding Nature. + +But now, what a difference! He moped about the fields and hedges a +blighted being. The consciousness of his calamity, like a frosty cloud, +enveloped his imagination; and, seen through this cloud, the world +had lost its glory. And before he had been a week at home there came +from his betrothed a letter which brought the blush to his cheek. +With unsteady pen and bad spelling, the poor girl had laboured to +express her affection, but, alas! had only betrayed her meagre and +undeveloped mind. As he read this epistle at breakfast, his mother was +watching him; and he knew that she was wondering who his illiterate +correspondent could be; and to give her no more ground for suspicion, +he was mean enough to bribe Marjory, the servant, to bring his letters +in future directly to himself, and not to lay them on the breakfast +table. + +One day, however, when he was superintending (or "grieving," as it was +called) the haymakers, an idea struck across his brain, and instantly +changed his whole mood, and filled his heart with delight. Grace, he +thought, was uneducated just now, but was it necessary that she should +remain so? She was naturally bright and clever, and without doubt would +be eager to learn. Why should she not have the opportunity? He would +earn some money by going out as a tutor, and with this money he would +send her to a first-class boarding-school, where she would learn the +accomplishments, manners, and graces; and thus she would become a young +lady of whom anyone in his position might be proud. A fond dream which +might so easily be realised! + +But when, in his next letter, he had propounded his plan to Grace, she, +instead of accepting it gratefully, rejected it with the utmost scorn. +She had some difficulty in expressing her love, but none in giving vent +to her indignation. So (she wrote) he was ashamed of her because she +could not jabber a few French phrases, and hammer on the piano; and he +wanted her to go to one of those boarding-schools, where nothing but +what was bad could be learned. She would not go to one of these dens +of wickedness; but as he was ashamed of her, she would poison herself, +and her murder would lie at his door. Thus ended Blair's first and last +attempt to educate his betrothed. + +Three years had passed without altering the state of matters. His +parents had come to know of his engagement, and he saw, by their looks, +how deeply disappointed and chagrined they were. He had frequently +visited Grace; and although he could not help being pleased with +her affectionate greeting, yet her frequent vulgar remarks, and her +mother's coarse style of joking, stung him to the quick. And now there +happened a change of circumstances which stirred up within him a +strange mixture of vexation and delight. The letters of Miss Bourhill +came to be short and far between. He suspected that there was some new +attraction engrossing her; and he asked a confidential friend in St +Andrews to ascertain if this was so. His suspicion was correct. She was +frequently seen with a divinity student, by name Harker, good-looking +after a sort, but notoriously self-indulgent and even loose in his +principles. In fact, his very name at the University seemed redolent +of dissipation; and his presence among innocent young girls would have +been deemed absolutely blighting. He would have looked like an obscene +raven among a troop of snowy doves. This man was now Mrs Bourhill's +lodger, and it was evident that Miss Grace was trying her charms upon +him. The reason of this double-dealing was equally clear. As a student +of the Established Church, he had the prospect of a better manse, and a +larger and surer stipend, than Blair would ever possess. + +This revelation threw Blair into a fever of excitement; and various +feelings within him struggled for the mastery: Indignation at being +jilted for such a worthless rival; shame at having been inveigled into +tying himself to such a mercenary flirt; determination to do his utmost +to free himself; and exultation at the prospect of being able to do so. +Under the influence of this whirlpool of emotion he set out to walk to +St Andrews, and was carried along at a great pace, scarcely noticing +the objects that he passed, and making little of the long distance. As +he drew near to the ancient city, there came into his view two figures +that instantly revived his flagging feelings--Harker and Miss Bourhill +returning from a walk on the links. Keeping well behind them, he dogged +their footsteps, and watched with a fiendish gratification how they +talked, looked into each other's faces and laughed, until they reached +College Street and disappeared in Mrs Bourhill's house. Then he entered +without much ceremony, received the surprise and the salutation of the +two women, who were in the lobby, with a cold and stern manner, said +that he wished to speak with Grace alone, and following her into the +parlour, locked the door to keep the mother out. + +Malcolm lost no time in giving vent to his feelings. He told her the +reports that had reached him; he exposed the deplorable character +of Harker; he demanded that she should break off all correspondence +with this man whose touch was an insult to a woman; and he wound up by +saying that she must, on the spot, and once for all, choose between him +and this new admirer. He spoke with great vehemence and determination, +and expected to see her completely overwhelmed with shame and confusion. + +But what was his astonishment to find that this uneducated girl, with +nothing but her animal cunning, was more than a match for all his +culture, and was prepared to defend her conduct out and out. With the +air and smile of one who was dealing with a testy and unreasonable +child, she proceeded to argue the matter with him. Did he really mean +to blame her, because she spoke to her mother's lodger, and because +she allowed him, when he met her in the street, to walk home with her? +And did he really wish her to promise not to speak to Mr Harker? They +could not afford to turn him away, and as long as he remained in their +rooms they could not insult him. Then, waxing righteously indignant, +she demanded why he employed sneaks to tell tales of her, and why he +came raging and locking the door as if he were going to murder her. The +fact was, that he was ashamed of her, and wanted to pick a quarrel, and +to get an excuse for throwing her off. But, thank God! although she was +a poor girl, she was not without friends. Her uncle, the solicitor in +Edinburgh, would see that she was not wronged. And having said all this +calmly, she unlocked the door and went out. + +After a rest and slight repast at the Star Hotel, Malcolm returned home +full of the gloomiest thoughts. This wretched girl had come out in her +true character--cunning, unscrupulous, heartless. While she claimed the +liberty of throwing him off, he was not to have the liberty of throwing +her off. That reference to her uncle, the solicitor, showed that the +terrors of the law would be employed, if necessary, to keep him to his +bargain. It was a gloomy future that was opening up before him; and for +several days he wandered aimlessly about, the most melancholy of men. + +But Nature takes care that a healthy young soul shall not droop for +long. Like a downtrodden daisy, it revives under the influence of +sunshine and shower, and opens its heart to the brightness of Spring. +When weeks had passed without bringing a letter from Miss Bourhill, he +became sanguine, nay, even confident. Her new flirtation was evidently +prospering. Harker would soon be licensed; and, as he was glib and +clever enough, he would soon get a church and marry her; and then, +oh! what an ominous cloud would be lifted from his life! He would +then be a free man! And so a miraculous change now came over him. +His youth seemed to be restored; and he began to look with a new and +fresh interest on all the old familiar scenes. His mother noticed the +transformation, and knew the cause; and, as she said to her husband, +"Now that the boy was himself again, the farmyard and the fields seemed +brighter and pleasanter." + +But unfortunately this exultation was premature. One evening towards +the end of March, as he sat in the parlour reading the county paper, +his eyes fell upon a paragraph which struck him like an electric shock. +He tried hard to fancy that the narrative might not be true after all; +but the details were given in such a circumstantial and confident +manner, that he was compelled in the end to believe them. They were as +follows:-- + +"SAD DEATH OF A STUDENT. + + "On the afternoon of Friday last, two divinity students, Harker and + Johnstone, set out from St Andrews for a walk in the country. As they + passed through Strathkinness, they stopped for refreshment at a small + inn. After a time they seemed to have grown reckless, and to have + set in for serious drinking; and in rapid succession they ordered + tumbler after tumbler of whisky toddy; and when the landlord, becoming + alarmed, refused to supply them with any more, they left and went + to another public-house, where they had several glasses of brandy. + When they started to go home, they were both unsteady, especially + Johnstone. Some of the villagers saw them staggering down the street, + and overheard Harker abusing his companion for being drunk. Next + morning, Johnstone was found lying dead by the roadside near Denbrae, + between Strathkinness and St Andrews; and when Harker, who had arrived + at his lodgings late on the previous night, was asked what had become + of his companion, he grew confused, and could only say that he could + not get him to come along, and had been obliged to leave him. On + Monday, the Senatus Academicus summoned Harker before them, and, after + due deliberation, passed upon him the extreme sentence of expulsion. + This is a severe punishment, blighting as it does his whole future + career: but a still more terrible punishment must be the reflection, + that he took a poor unsophisticated youth into a public-house, + deliberately set to work to make him tipsy, and then in the end left + him to perish by the wayside." + +As Blair read this passage, he fell back again into the Slough of +Despond, and all the delight of life vanished once more. He knew that +the siren, whom he now loathed and had hoped to get rid of, would fall +back upon him and again cling to him; and, just as he had foreboded, in +a few days came the well-known hateful scrawl, appealing in a vulgar +manner to his affections. What, she went on to say, had come over him? +Had he fallen in love with some milkmaid and forgotten his poor little +Gracie. She had been breaking her heart, waiting for a letter from him; +and all the neighbours had been noticing that she had fallen away from +her clothes. Was not that a dreadful scrape Harker had got into? She +was not surprised at it, knowing what a bad character he was. Though +she had been obliged to be civil to him, she had always hated him. +Thank goodness she would now get rid of his attentions! With a whole +lot of kisses, and waiting for a letter from him, she was his own Grace. + +After reading this, he gnashed his teeth with vexation and disgust, +tore the letter to pieces, and threw it in the fire. He did not answer +it; and he vowed that from that time he would treat her with the silent +contempt she deserved. + +At the end of another year, Blair was licensed to preach, and became +what is called a _probationer_. He had looked forward to this as the +great epoch of his life, the turning-point of his career, when he +was to become the accredited legate of heaven, to bear the message +of salvation to his perishing fellow-creatures. Could anyone have a +nobler work? But, unfortunately, this sacred office was hampered by +preliminary conditions which he felt to be exceedingly humiliating. +He had first to get a church; and in order to get a church, he had +to please that very uncertain thing called the popular taste. In +this perplexing task, the great stores of learning which he had been +piling up for so many years gave him little or no assistance. He sat +down doggedly and constructed his sermon after the most approved +conventional method. By persistent reiteration he committed it to +memory, word for word. With fluttering heart and trembling knees he +went up to the pulpit on Sunday and began to give it off. During this +unwinding process, he did not see the congregation before him; but he +was looking at the image of his manuscript; and his mind's eye was +running over line after line and page after page. It was a recitation +exercise, and not a living speech coming warm from the heart of the +speaker and going direct to the heart of the hearers. And all the +while, he did not feel that he was pleading with his fellow-creatures +to accept the Word of God. He felt that he was really begging them to +notice how ably he was treating the subject, how effectively he was +delivering it, and what a promising young creature he was. He was, in +fact, a sort of itinerant theological hawker, hawking his spiritual +wares from town to town. + +And as time went on, he found himself beaten in the bid for popularity +by fellow-students who were far inferior to him in ability and +scholarship. Sim, who could not for the life of him construe a Latin +sentence, and Macfarlane Macdonald, who was never known to have a +single idea in his head on any subject whatever, found no difficulty +in tickling the ear of the many-headed beast, and became ordained +ministers while he continued to wander about, an uncalled probationer. +It soon became evident that Malcolm Blair, the most distinguished +student of his time, was in danger of becoming "a stickit minister." + +But this universe is constructed on the grand principle of +compensation. Providence seldom inflicts a wound without supplying a +soothing plaster. That want of success, which lands us in poverty and +hardship, scares away our false friends. Miss Grace Bourhill thought +herself too good to be a stickit minister's wife; and while Blair's +fate hung in the balance, ceased altogether to correspond with him; and +at length, to his infinite relief, he heard that she was married to a +cousin of her own, a prosperous brewer in St Andrews. Freedom at last! +and brought about in an unexpected way! He now gloried exceedingly +in his failure as a preacher. What was the want of manse and stipend +compared with the escape from that incubus which had pressed the very +spirit out of him! The world now lay bright before him, and he was +free to go his own way by himself. As the church did not want him, he +would adopt some other calling; and he was actually preparing himself +to undertake either literary or scholastic work, when he received an +invitation to engage in one of the most striking enterprises of the day. + +Those that knew Fife more than fifty years ago must remember Miss +Singleton, who worked such wonders in the way of evangelising the +mining village of Coaltown. She belonged to that strongly-marked +and combative class of female social reformers; and certainly she +was one of the best specimens of the class. She was not, like some +of her sisterhood, conceited, arrogant, and masculine. Though she +was strong-minded, she was also strong-hearted. If she was bold and +aggressive, it was in urging the claims of the oppressed, and not in +exhibiting her own cleverness. Her plan for raising the sunken masses +was direct and drastic. "Get rid," she said to the missionary, "of all +that priestly parade and formality which have concealed so long the +true living face of religion. Return to Christ's sublimely simple plan, +which is founded on the two everlasting facts of the Fatherhood of God +and the Brotherhood of man. Imitate Him as far as the circumstances +of the time will allow. Go down among the lapsed masses, not with +man-millinery, patronising airs, and doles of blankets and soup, but +with wisdom in your head and real love in your heart. Live amongst +them, become one of themselves, and help them in their difficulties and +sorrows." Such was the method which Miss Singleton herself had carried +out; and the results were said to be marvellous. + +This was the lady who now wrote to Malcolm Blair. "She had listened +to his preaching," she said, "and had heard of him from some other +friends, and she thought that he might be able to assist her in her +labours. She could not give him very much in the form of money, but he +might be able to find some of his reward in the work itself. Should he +think favourably of this proposal, would he kindly call upon her?" + +After considering this matter long and carefully, Blair came to the +conclusion that he could not do better than wait upon Miss Singleton. +And when he had once seen her and talked with her, he could not refuse +her offer. Miss Singleton's whole personality was like a pleasing +revelation to him. Instead of the bold-featured, masculine-looking +woman that he expected to see, he beheld a gentle and beautiful young +lady, the secret of whose power lay in her feminine tact and sympathy. +And when he saw her moving about among the poor, she seemed to him +the very embodiment of the spirit of Christianity. Wherever there was +sickness or sorrow--that was her chosen abode. There was comfort in +the sound of her voice; there was healing in her very touch. Her smile +was the highest reward, and her look of painful disapproval was the +heaviest punishment. In her presence the coarsest miner felt ashamed +of his conduct, and silently vowed to give up swearing and drinking. + +Like the rest of those who came under Miss Singleton's influence, Blair +soon caught her enthusiasm. He threw himself heart and soul into the +work of evangelising Coaltown, visiting the houses of the poor miners, +talking with them in a brotherly way, listening to their troubles +and ailments, and helping them to help themselves. There were many +experiences which filled his senses with disgust, and even sickened +his very soul. But there were also many surprising results which amply +atoned for all his pain. What sight could be more pleasing than to see +a ragged and red-faced drunkard gradually being transformed into a +well-clad and intelligent man; and what sound could be more delightful +than to hear the thanks of a wife and children for a husband and father +reclaimed, and a home made happy? + +But the most gratifying circumstance was a change in his own nature, +which may seem almost miraculous, but which has happened to others, +and which can easily be explained. This new evangelising work actually +remedied the defects of his theological training; and "the Back +Raw" of Coaltown became a school of eloquence, and did for him what +the University and Divinity Hall had been unable to do. The intimate +knowledge which he there acquired of human nature filled his heart +with a fuller sympathy; and this fuller sympathy let loose his power +of utterance. Out of the abundance of his heart his mouth spoke. He +was so eager to supply comfort and guidance that he gave no thought +to his language, and his language came readily of its own accord. +In preparing his Sunday discourses, there was no longer any need of +slavishly writing them down and committing every word. All he had to do +was to think out the subject, to arrange the details, and to trust to +the inspiration of the moment for the language. The consequence was, +that he drew large audiences, that his fame as a preacher soon spread +abroad, and that, when he least expected such a thing, he received a +call from a large dissenting congregation in the town of Easterton. + +Though this call gratified him exceedingly for several reasons, and +chiefly because it vindicated his character as a preacher, and took him +out of the black list of stickit ministers, yet he hesitated before he +accepted it. He found himself bound to Coaltown by a feeling almost +stronger than life itself. In spite of its dismalness and poverty, +it had become to him an enchanted ground. There was a presence which +brightened the landscape; there was a voice which diffused a holy calm +through the air; and this presence and this voice belonged to Miss +Singleton. She was the daybreak that had arisen upon his night of +despondency, and had filled the world with light and melody; and to +part from her was to go back into darkness again. And when he spoke +about his dilemma to herself, he found that she was just as much +affected as he was. With tears in her eyes, she confessed that she +would miss him very much. + +However, just when he was on the point of asking why they should part, +and why they should not continue to work together as husband and +wife, she rallied both herself and him to a sense of duty. This call, +she said, had brought a great opportunity of applying the system to +the degraded classes of a large town, which might never occur again. +It was an epoch in his life: it might be an epoch in the history of +Christianity. He must, therefore, throw all other considerations aside, +and accept it. Meanwhile at least, they must deny themselves all other +pleasures. Self-denial was necessary to their spiritual life. It was +the manna which kept them alive in this wilderness of a world. + +Malcolm Blair, accordingly, had no other alternative than to accept +the call; and at the end of a few weeks had to tear himself away from +Coaltown. His only consolation (and it was a great one, filling his +soul with the highest hopes) was that Miss Singleton had shown that she +was most tenderly attached to him. + +The 27th of April was set apart for his ordination by the Presbytery in +the dissenting church of Easterton. It was a day that was doomed to be +memorable to him for ever. At the beginning of the ceremony he was in a +melancholy mood. He had been overworking himself, had fainted more than +once, and felt weak and nervous. As he sat under the pulpit, looking +out upon the crowded pews, he saw nothing in the faces of his new +congregation save staring curiosity; and away to the right was a dark +countenance full of settled hate. He knew who it was. It was the Rev. +Ewan Murdoch, who had been his fellow-student at St Andrews, and had +been known as "Dark Murdoch," and who had been one of the unsuccessful +candidates for the pulpit of the present congregation. + +"If I have a mortal enemy," said the new minister to himself, "there +he sits, one of those wretched beings who look upon the success of a +fellow-creature as an unpardonable injury." + +Towards the conclusion of the service, however, Malcolm passed into a +better mood. The preacher's sermon on the text, "Fellow-workers with +God," spoke words of encouragement that went to his heart. The first +line of the concluding psalm was, "Unto the upright light doth rise," +and no sooner was it read than an outburst of sunshine flooded the +building. Then, when the congregation in a long line passed before him +to give him the right hand of fellowship, there was warmth in every +smile and in every grip. And amongst them, what should he see but the +face of Miss Singleton! He was so delighted that he compared her to an +angel bringing with her the atmosphere of heaven. + +"Miss Smeaton and I," said she, "came this morning. We must make some +calls in the town, and then we shall drop in at the manse to have a cup +of tea and a long chat." + +He left the church full of hope and happiness. As he walked up the +High Street, it was with a springy step, so that the gossips standing +on the stairheads remarked what a pleasant-looking, active man he was. +And when he entered the manse garden at Highfield, he thought that +he had never seen a more charming place. The house stood on a site +commanding an extensive view of the Firth of Forth, with the castle and +spires of Edinburgh distinct against the horizon; and the garden in +front, with its green gooseberry bushes and apple trees, sloped towards +the sunny south. There, too, in the doorway of his new abode, stood his +mother, now in widow's weeds, who had brought herself and her furniture +to make a home for him. Truly he thought, "the lines had fallen to him +in pleasant places." And after a comfortable lunch, they had a long +confidential talk, in which he told about Miss Singleton's intended +visit, and gave a glowing account of Miss Singleton herself, and hinted +that he intended to ask her to be his wife. + +"Then, oh! happiness," he said, "for us three to live in this paradise +together! What a blessed helper she will be in my work, and what a kind +housekeeper and guardian you will make! It is a prospect almost too +good for this world." + +They were still talking when the servant came in to say that two ladies +were in the drawing-room wishing to see the minister. Malcolm started +up, radiant with joy. + +"Bring them in here," he cried. "Now, mother, you will see my dearest +friend, and, I hope, my future wife." + +But, horror of horrors! who should be announced and ushered in but Mrs +and Miss Bourhill, the mother and daughter who had been such familiar +figures in his nightmare of the past. As the terrible significance +of this reappearance dawned upon him, it seemed to strike him to the +heart, and he fell back in a swoon. + +When he recovered consciousness, he found himself propped up in an +easy chair, and saw four women standing round him in a state of silent +excitement. Miss Singleton, pale and pensive, was gazing intently +at him; the two Bourhills were staring at Miss Singleton with an +expression of indignant surprise; and his mother, full of keenest +anxiety, divided her attention between him and the others. + +Miss Singleton broke the silence by saying--"I must go. We strangers +had better leave the invalid to quiet and the care of his mother." + +"Thank you, my dear lady," said his mother, "for that sensible remark." + +"But," said Miss Bourhill, "that remark does not apply to me, his +betrothed." + +"Nor to me," added Mrs Bourhill, "his mother-in-law to be." + +"Dear me," said Mrs Blair to Miss Bourhill, "you are married, you know. +We saw it in the papers." + +"A mistake," replied Miss Bourhill, "a cousin of the same name, not me." + +"But," pleaded Mrs Blair, "the engagement fell to the ground. The +correspondence stopped years ago." + +"Malcolm's fault," replied Miss Bourhill quietly. "I wrote last." + +"A promise," added Mrs Bourhill, "can't be broken but by the consent of +both parties. A bargain's a bargain." + +These replies, curt and remorseless, sounded in the young minister's +ears like his death-knell, and he lay back in his chair and closed his +eyes in mute agony. + +But Malcolm Blair, enfeebled though he was, was too brave to be +crushed at once. In a few days his mind had regained its strength, +and was calmly looking the difficulty in the face. He had, he saw, +just two alternatives. One was to hold himself bound by his blindfold +engagement, to marry Miss Bourhill, and so to blight his whole future +career: the other was to break his promise and bravely take the +consequences--a law suit, a public exposure of all his private affairs, +the payment of heavy damages, and the resignation of the position to +which he had just been appointed. The latter course was the one which +he was inclined to take. But before definitely deciding, he wrote to +Miss Singleton stating his resolution, and giving his reasons for it. +The engagement between him and Miss Bourhill, he argued, was made in a +moment of excitement, and when they were both young and thoughtless. +Any affection they might have had for each other was a mere fancy, and +very soon vanished. By a tacit agreement they ceased to write to each +other, and for years there had been no correspondence between them. +To go through the solemn and binding rite of marriage under these +circumstances would be to lay the crime of perjury upon their souls. +This argument seemed to Malcolm to be so unanswerable, that he felt +sure of the approval of Miss Singleton. + +Great, therefore, was his surprise when he received a letter from +her expressing her deep regret that she could not approve of his +resolution. The exchange of the heart's affection, she said, between +a man and a woman was a serious and solemn engagement. It was often a +matter of life and death. Not only the happiness of the individuals +themselves, but the welfare of society might depend upon it. It was +really as binding as the marriage vow itself. No cooling of affection, +no temporary estrangement, nothing but infidelity could be a reason +for setting it aside. And as for his future happiness, he should not +despair. By the use of tender and assiduous sympathy he had succeeded +in rekindling healthy affection in many a degraded soul. Why should the +influence which had been so effectual in the slums of Coaltown fail at +his own fireside. Let him keep his promise like an honourable man and a +Christian. Let him do the right, and trust in God for the result. + +When Malcolm Blair was reading this letter, he felt like a criminal +receiving sentence of death. Had anyone else than Miss Singleton +offered this opinion, he would have spurned it. But she was his +guardian angel, one who, in his belief, had never erred, and could +never err. Besides, if he did what she considered a dishonourable +action, he would forfeit her approval; and that was all the world to +him. He therefore felt himself bound to follow her advice, although +he broke his heart in doing it. He even forced himself to take up her +sanguine view of the future, and hoped that by kind and sympathetic +treatment, he would succeed in making Grace Bourhill into a useful +minister's wife. + +Four years have elapsed--four momentous years. Mr and Mrs Blair are +seated at breakfast. He is wan and wasted, and stoops over his cup and +plate as he drinks his weak tea and eats his thin toast. She is stout, +red, and restless-eyed. A pervading air of discomfort is given to the +room by the dirty discoloured tablecloth, the disarranged furniture, +and the careless dress of the two occupants. The following is the +conversation which passes between them. + +"There!" says she, tossing to her husband a letter which she has just +opened and glanced over, "there's Goodsir's, the grocer's account." + +"Good heavens!" replied he, staring at it and turning pale. + +"Don't swear." + +"Sixty-four pounds seventeen and eightpence! and of that, thirty pounds +odd for wine! We must really do with less wine." + +"You say _we_, meaning that I have consumed most of it. You grudge me +the glass of port which the doctor ordered." + +"My dear! have I not often pressed you to take it?" + +"You forget the wine you give away to your paupers." + +"I can't see my poor sick fellow-creatures perishing without sharing +with them the best that I have." + +"You smuggled two bottles away last night in your greatcoat pocket." + +"Yes, and if I can save poor widow Slight to her young family, and +Robbie Stark to his distracted parents, my reward will be great." + +"You forget, too, the bottles which you sent to your mother. She is the +greatest pauper of them all. She wanted to live here to sorn upon us; +but I soon sent her to the right about." + +"My dear, is it kind, is it Christian-like to use such language?" + +"You never send any to _my_ mother." + +"Your mother is strong. Besides, you forget the yearly allowance that I +pay to her." + +"If I do forget it, it's not for want of it being cast up to me. Why +don't you ask for a rise of stipend?" + +"My dear, I could not, through sheer shame, do such a thing. My poor +people are severely taxed already to make up my salary. There's Sandy +Slack, with ten shillings a week and six children, giving one shilling +a month toward my maintenance. Upon my word, I'm ashamed to look the +poor man in the face." + +"Why don't you look out for a better situation?" + +"No, no, no! I could not go about like a hireling, offering myself to +the highest bidder. I would forfeit my own self-respect as well as the +respect of every one in my congregation." + +"Much respect they have for you when they insult your wife as they do." + +"No, no, not insult." + +"You know they do. I'm sure (_shedding tears_) when I came here I tried +to do my duty as a minister's wife. I went among the poor and gave them +the benefit of my advice. And what was my reward? That man, Kinnell, +because I found fault with him for giving his children tea instead of +porridge, turned me to the door, and I became the laughing-stock of the +whole congregation." + +"Unfortunately, your zeal carried you away. In dealing with these +people we must come down to their level, and look at things from their +point of view." + +"Come down to their level, indeed! I should be sorry to do so. And +then the big folk of your congregation! You can't say that I did not +come down to their level. And what did I bring upon myself? One day at +afternoon tea at Lady Brockie's, I heard her friends, Mrs Soutar and +Mrs Stables, call her Sarah, and I followed suit. You should have seen +her face. She was never the same afterwards; and now she never invites +me along with you. I'm not good enough for your grand friends." + +"My dear, we all receive slights. You should be like those who have +given themselves up to mission work. They look upon such slights as +part of the cross they have to bear." + +"I know what you mean. You were about to say I should be like your +precious Miss Singleton. You are constantly casting her up." + +"My dear! I never mentioned her name." + +"That makes it all the more suspicious. You are constantly thinking of +her. Don't deny it. I tell you I _know_ it; and I know your ongoings +with her at Coaltown. Mr Murdoch told me. And I know that on the day of +your ordination you were waiting for her, in the manse here, to propose +to her, when I dropped in, in time to spoil the sport. Ha! ha! you +wonder how I found that out. Your mother let the cat out of the bag. +And you got a letter from her this morning. I detected the handwriting. +If there's nothing wrong, why do you hide it?" + +"I did not hide it. I was just going to show it to you. There it is. +Read it." + +"What? coming here to-day at eleven (_starting to her feet_); she +sha'n't come here. Not so long as _I_'m here. I'll tell the servant not +to let her in." + +"I will certainly countermand that order." + +"Then I'll go to the door myself and slam it in her face." + +"And I will certainly take means to prevent you. Listen to me. I'm +speaking quite calmly. That venomous man, Murdoch, who told you about +the ongoings of Miss Singleton and myself, is a slanderer. Our whole +souls were in our mission work. Every word exchanged between us was +about it, and might have been published to the world. She comes here +to-day as a servant of God, interested in God's work, and I would be +a heartless, graceless coward if I allowed my door to be shut in her +face. Now let that be understood. Let that be understood." + +Mr Blair sits waiting for a reply. His wife, however, preserves an +unusual silence, and sits staring into vacancy with a fixed look. He +does not like this, as it is so uncommon with her, and he anticipates a +stormy scene. But to his infinite surprise, when the door bell sounds, +she does not get up; and when Miss Singleton is ushered in, she rises +and shakes hands with her, and goes out of the room saying that she +will bring her a cup of tea. And then comes a scene which can never +cease to haunt his memory! He feels himself to be in a sort of trance, +seeing horrible deeds swiftly done before him, desiring to prevent +them, but utterly unable to do so. He and his visitor have scarcely +exchanged the usual inquiries regarding health, before he sees his +wife enter with a cup. He sees her give it to Miss Singleton; he sees +Miss Singleton receive it with a smile; before he can cry out to her, +"Don't drink it," he sees her take several sips; he sees her fall back +lifeless; he sees his wife throw her arms into the air with a demoniac +gesture of delight; and he sees and hears no more. + +When he comes to his senses, he is conscious of the presence of several +people, and hears Sir Benjamin Brockie's voice, very much broken down +and full of tears. This hard, unsympathetic man, generally so replete +with narrow opinions, and so stubborn in maintaining them, is, by some +strong influence, quite softened. The flinty rock has been touched as +if by the prophet's rod, and the pure waters of Christian charity flow +forth. + +"This excellent woman," he is saying, "has died a martyr. She had heard +of Mr Blair's unhappy married life, and she came over expressly to try +and put things right. She called upon me to see how the land lay, and +she thought that we had been lacking in sympathy towards Mrs Blair. All +that we want, she said, to regenerate mankind is enough of sympathy. +Sympathy is the great sanitary agent in the moral world. If applied +in large enough measure, it will neutralise every evil, and sweeten +the social atmosphere. She had great hopes that she would make all +right; and I believe that she would have succeeded had she not been so +suddenly cut off by the unfortunate woman whom she was trying to save. +I don't know how it was, but her own example seemed to be a mirror in +which other people saw how defective they were. For my own part, I felt +to-day, after seeing her, that I and my family, and the rest of the +congregation, had been remiss in our duty towards Mr and Mrs Blair; and +I hurried over to lose no time in atoning for my mistake." + +The sight of the best and purest being whom he had ever known, murdered +before his eyes by the woman who bore his name, was never to be +forgotten by Malcolm Blair. It haunted his soul like a spectre, would +give him no rest, and wasted his strength away. For many weeks he lay +prostrate, hovering between life and death; and during his hours of +delirium, when his judgment no longer kept the door of his heart, his +feelings wandered forth at will, and those waiting at his bedside heard +him express repugnance for his wife, and call in agonising tones for a +glimpse of Julia Singleton's face. He recovered enough of strength to +be able to rise from his bed, but it was only to find himself alone +and helpless. His wife was a hopeless lunatic in a private asylum; his +aged mother, crushed by the misfortunes of her dear son, was dead; and +he felt himself called upon to resign his pleasant manse, and to retire +to the solitary lodging at Sandyriggs in which I knew him. + +At first, he felt that his Divine Master had no more work for him, and +that all that remained for him was to lie down and die. But by and by +Milton's noble lines occurred to him: + + "Who best + Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best: His state + Is kingly: thousands at His bidding speed, + And post o'er land and ocean without rest; + They also serve who only stand and wait." + +And thus he waited patiently till Death, the remover of all burdens and +the solver of all difficulties, came to his release. + + + + +A ROMANCE OF THE HARVEST FIELD. + + +A large field of ripe wheat surrounded by a fringe of trees; a long +line of sun-brown reapers, of all ages and of both sexes, stretching +across the whole breadth of the field, and bending to their work; the +golden shocks falling before the gleaming sickles; and over all a warm +autumnal haze. + +It is a great occasion, a sort of annual festival to which people have +flocked from every quarter of the country. There are solid-looking +Highlanders in garments rough-spun, and smelling of peat reek; canny +Aberdonians asking "far is't" and "far was't"; Edinburgh wives, with +tongues so slick and sharp that (to use a vulgar phrase) they could +almost "clip a clout"; well-favoured matrons and maidens from the +cottages round about; and chubby boys and girls who glean, or (as they +call it) "gather" among the stooks, making up their gatherings into +"singles." Even the infant is there, attended by his elder sister, +and kicking his heels as he lies on a couch of sheaves. There is a +feeling of hilarity in the air. The thought of the higher wages they +are earning, the prospect of scones and ale for lunch and dinner, +the sight of the abundant harvest they are reaping, the scent of the +aromatic herbs they are treading upon, and the glorious weather, all +combine to gladden their hearts and let loose their tongues. They talk, +they laugh, and they sing. And sometimes, in the superfluity of their +spirits and strength, they take to what is called "kemping," that is to +say, each _rig_ or company or division of shearers tries to get before +the others. In other words, there is a competition as to which band +will do the most work. Strange! will workers of the present day believe +this? + +High above all the clamour is heard the voice of Peg Jackson, a +broad-beamed, brawny virago, who is known by the expressive name of +"The Bummer." She is one of that class who bring themselves into notice +by virtue of a loud and glib tongue, and a bold and brazen countenance. +In her remarks she is no respecter of persons. Her satire glances at +all sorts of game, from Dave, the herd boy, up to Mr Stocks, the +master. Many of her phrases also are very graphic; and, like burrs, are +prickly and apt to stick to the persons against whom they are cast. +This self-elected oracle is engaged in disposing of some local scandal +that has been brought up for her judgment, when she catches sight of +the farmer, along with a gentleman and several ladies, entering the +field. + +"Oh," exclaims Peg, "there's Stocks himsel comin' to keep us at oor +wark; and he has brocht some friens wi' him to glower at us, jist as +if we were wild beasts in a show. My certie! a bonnie sicht we'll mak, +raxin' and sweatin' like pownies in a mill." + +"But wha's thae wi' him," asked Kate Corby, a girl from the Nethergate +at Sandyriggs, who, after a few days' acquaintance, had become Peg's +admirer and toady. + +"Tuts, lassie, whaur hae ye been cleckit that ye dinna ken that," +replied Peg. "That thing in a white frock, and wi' a face made o' +skim-milk cheese, is Stocks's sister, Miss Tammy (Thomasina they ca' +her when they want to speak proper). And that lanky shaver, for a' +the warld like a pair o' tangs oot for a daunder, is her sweetheart, +young Tosh o' Lammert's Mill. That little black-e'ed cratur in a red +jacket is Miss Winnie Laverock, a veesitor from East the Coast. She's +as bonnie and lively as a robin, and is briskin' up, they say, to Mr +Stocks. But, my word, she'll no nab him withoot a warstle. Dae ye see +that cummer in black, for a' the warld like a howdie craw wi' a sair +gaby? That's Magdalen Jaap, the maister's cousin, but awfu' anxious to +be the maister's wife." + +Miss Winnie Laverock, whose appearance and character have thus been +touched off by the irrepressible Peg, was the daughter of the minister +of Pitlochie. Her father was a man of great accomplishments and strong +character. Winnie was all that was left of his family; and it was his +ambition to teach her everything he knew. And most amply was he repaid +for his trouble. She had a merry heart, and a keen and active mind; +took an interest in everything; and mastered every subject. Ill-natured +people, it is true, sometimes said that "if she was quick to learn, she +was also quick to show off." But, as her father remarked, why should +her intelligence be kept to herself? If she was witty, how could she +help expressing her wit? She was a real gem, and it was her nature to +sparkle even amid the dullest surroundings. If there was a ray of light +to be got under the whole horizon, she was sure to catch it and reflect +it. + +As they entered the harvest field, Winnie was in high spirits and +full talk. "How delightful this is," she said. "What a glow from the +hawthorn hedges and from the ripe grain! I actually feel myself getting +warmer and brighter every minute." + +"Not brighter," said Mr Stocks, "that would not be possible." + +"No irony, Mr Stocks!" she replied. "But here comes Collie to welcome +us and do the honours of the field." + +"Collie," said Mr Stocks, "is an important personage here. He fancies +that he is superintending the shearers." + +"Superintending the universe, I should say," replied Miss Laverock, +"judging from the way he looks above and around. Controlling the laws +of gravity! In fact, he is gravity itself. But, Mr Tosh! why does he +put out his tongue, as he stands staring at you?" + +"Bad manners, I suppose," said Mr Tosh. + +"No," replied Miss Laverock, "he takes you for the family doctor, and +wants you to prescribe." + +"Then," said Mr Tosh, "I shall prescribe a little more _bark_." + +"Oh, Mr Tosh!" said Miss Laverock. "But what a delightful scene this +is! The sight of the shearers with their bright faces and strong arms, +the clatter of their sickles, and the rustle of the falling corn, have +a strange effect upon me. I feel inclined to share their work. Such is +the influence of good example." + +"It's like the measles, infectious," said Mr Stocks. + +"Or like the moral leaven," replied Miss Laverock, "which leaveneth +the whole lump. But I am really ashamed to stand idle before all these +industrious people. They must have a low opinion of us. Look at the +glances which that stout woman in the striped shortgown is casting +at us! She evidently pities me as a poor feckless idler, and thanks +Providence that she has got a pair of strong arms and plenty of honest +work to do." + +"That's Peg Jackson," said Mr Stocks, "the randy of the parish; and I +don't think that she is much given to thank Providence for anything." + +"Oh," said Miss Laverock, "I don't know. I should say that she belongs +to the sect of the muscular Christians. And she really looks a good all +round woman." + +"She goes by the nickname of The Bummer," explained Mr Stocks. + +"That means the Queen Bee," said Miss Laverock; "and a very appropriate +name, for she has got a fine swarm of busy bees around her. But look +at that big black man in tattered attire! What an illustration of +Shakespeare's phrase, 'looped and windowed raggedness.'" + +"Yes," remarked Mr Stocks. "In one way at least he attends to +ventilation." + +"But," exclaimed Mr Tosh, "what a villainous look he has! That means +murder, robbery, and all the other seven deadly sins." + +"Not at all," said Miss Laverock. "These black beetle brows were very +likely handed down to him from his grandmother, along with a stocking +full of her savings. The stocking he has squandered; but he couldn't +get rid of the beetle brows." + +"Yes," remarked Mr Tosh, "he has squandered the stocking, if we may +judge from the bare toes peeping out from the ventilating holes in his +shoes." + +"That little man beside him," said Mr Stocks, "is his inseparable +companion, although he looks a being of a different stamp. He has not +been used to this kind of labour. His features are refined, and his +hands are white and delicate." + +"Oh!" said Mr Tosh, "he's the worst of the two. He reminds me of a +portrait I once saw of Jack Sheppard--keen, rat-like eyes, and fingers +like claws itching to clutch his prey. But, look! how he is darting +glances at Miss Laverock. By Jove, Miss Laverock, you have made a +conquest! I congratulate you." + +But Miss Laverock did not reply. She was dumb with amazement and +horror. The sight of that face had recalled a painful episode in her +life; and, under the coarse guise of a reaper, she had recognised +one who had formerly been very dear to her. After a few moments she +recovered so far, and tried to resume the conversation; but her spirit +and elasticity were gone. All the members of her party noticed the +sudden collapse. Mr Tosh asked if she had been hurt by the rude staring +of that man, and offered to give the fellow a wigging on the spot. And +Mr Stocks, remarking that the heat was too much for her, drew her arm +into his, and suggested that they should all return to the house. + +But there was one person who did not take such a lenient view of the +incident. This was Miss Jaap. She had already expressed to her chosen +confidante, the tablemaid, her opinion of Miss Laverock. + +"People," she had said, "admire what they call her brightness. +Well, forwardness is often mistaken for cleverness. I might even +use a stronger word than forwardness. I might call it by the good +old-fashioned name of impudence. And the way she ogles men, and jokes +with them, and leads them on to make idiots of themselves--it's +disreputable. That's what it is." + +And now, here was an incident which seemed to justify all Miss Jaap's +suspicions, and to give her an opportunity of supplanting her rival. +Her excitement was so great that she could scarcely walk home quietly +along with the others. And when she reached the farm-house, she rushed, +bursting with confidence, to the tablemaid. + +"Oh, Kirsten!" she cried, "such a scandal to happen in any respectable +community! Ye may well cry, 'What is't?' Your precious Miss Laverock +exchanging glances with a common shearer on the harvest field, and +turning deadly pale. Yes! a common dirty shearer! Some poor unfortunate +wretch with whom she has had an intrigue! That woman would intrigue +with anything in the shape of a man. You must help me to find out more +about him. He is the companion of Black Morgan. I'll expose her; and +I'll see that your poor deluded master's eyes are opened." + +Talk about vivisection! There are human beings who are vivisected by +their fellow-creatures, sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously. +That day at dinner, Miss Winnie Laverock was one of these hapless +victims. The operators were Miss Thomasina Stocks and Mr Tosh; and Miss +Jaap, with her bold black eyes, was a keen and gratified spectator of +the operation. + +First, Miss Stocks insisted upon leading back the conversation to +the incident in the harvest field, and again and again expressed her +astonishment at Winnie's sudden faintness. "What was it made you ill, I +wonder? Was it the heat, do you think? For, you know, you were so well +and bright a minute before." + +Then Mr Tosh, in turn, after his headlong, haphazard manner, took up +the subject. He had, he said, been instituting inquiries about that +ruffian who insulted Miss Laverock and made her ill. The fellow, it +seemed, called himself Riley, for the nonce at least. Whether it was +his real name was very doubtful. Blackguards kept several names, just +as decent folks kept several changes of garments, and as soon as one +became too soiled, they put on another. Riley was the inseparable pal +of Black Morgan, who had the words "burglar" and "garrotter" written +on his countenance--yes, written in the Devil's own handwriting. +Altogether, this Riley was a bad lot; and those keen eyes and greedy +hands must have been inherited from a long line of thieves. He was +some desperate criminal in disguise. What if he should turn out to be +Crouch, the Glasgow murderer, that they were searching for everywhere? + +Under this ruthless talk, poor Miss Laverock sat wincing and quivering +and answering at random. At length her host interfered for her relief; +and oh! how she thanked him inwardly from the bottom of her heart. Mr +Stocks was, what I may be allowed to call, a natural Christian--one who +had an instinctive sympathy and consideration for the sufferings of +his fellow-creatures. Without the slightest fuss he adroitly diverted +the conversation, by asking if they had heard of the last escapade of +Rory Brand, the converted shoemaker: and then he told a most ludicrous +incident,--how Rory had been at July Fair on an evangelising mission; +how, when he was returning in the gloaming, near Inverarden, he had met +a shabby old man, apparently a tramp; how he had addressed him at once +as a lost sheep, exhorting him to give up his wandering and lawless +life; how he had pressed upon him a tract entitled "Hoary Sinner, +Stop!" and how this hoary sinner had turned out to be the saintly +Dr Gowans, an ex-Moderator, and Convener of the Church's Missionary +Society. In this way the attention of the company was diverted from +Miss Laverock, and during the remainder of the dinner she was left in +comparative peace. + +But after she had retired from the table to her own room, she could +not rest. She must see this infatuated young man, and ascertain the +reason of his extraordinary condition, and implore him to spare her. +The proceeding was dangerous, but at all hazards it must be done. So, +without more consideration, she put on her hat and went out. + +When Miss Laverock passed through the farmyard, the shearers had +emptied their large basins of oatmeal porridge, and were lapped in that +most delicious of all luxuries--rest after a long day of hard labour. +On the heap of fragrant grass at the stable door reclined three or +four Highlanders, passing the snuff-mull, and exchanging their rather +stinted sentiments in their native Gaelic. On a seat improvised by the +laying of a plank on two upright stones, sat some pawky Aberdonians +enveloped in a small cloud of tobacco fumes. And outside on the road, +under a tree, was a group of women, mending their linen as they rested +their weary limbs on the cool green turf. On another occasion, Winnie's +quick sympathy would have enabled her to appreciate this picture of +honest well-earned content. But now, her eyes were searching right and +left for one figure; and there he was, seated on a stone opposite the +garden gate, and attended by his evil genius, Black Morgan. As she +passed him, she gave him a glance, which he understood, for he rose +and followed her; and when she had walked a short distance, she turned +round, and the two stood face to face, ready for an explanation. + +But there seemed to be no chance of the poor girl escaping from her +perplexity. She had only time to ask--"Why do you come here, of all +places, to disgrace me?" and he had only time to answer--"Don't be +alarmed; I shall not disgrace you," when out from the farmyard appeared +Mr Stocks, talking with his grieve. Like one surprised in a criminal +act, Winnie turned aside abruptly into the garden gate. And there +inside the wall was Miss Jaap, who made no attempt to conceal the fact +that she had been eaves-dropping. With an air of the most righteous +indignation she said,-- + +"Really, Miss Laverock, for the sake of public decency, you should not +be seen talking to that man." And then she went out of the garden into +the road as if to get hold of Riley and question him. + +"How dare you!" was all that poor Winnie could answer, and then escaped +hurriedly to her own room. There her vexation found vent in a tempest +of tears and bemoanings. + +"Oh, why," she sobbed, "has this happened just when I was so happy, +and everything was going so well. And what will Mr Stocks think? I'm +anxious to stand well in his opinion. I have such a sincere admiration +for him. He is not a genius, but he is something far better--a +large-hearted, shrewd-minded man, who cannot fail in any of the duties +of life. And to-day, I have liked him more than ever, for the tender +and clever way he protected me from these babbling fools. And he is +really beginning to show that he likes me. Oh, it is provoking that +this hapless ne'er-do-well should turn up here of all places in the +world to spoil everything. What should I do? What should I do? Should +I run away home at once? No! that would draw more attention to the +unfortunate circumstance; and besides, the evil is already done. No! +there is another course, a very disagreeable one; but I will face +it. Why should I not? Why should I not confess the whole thing to Mr +Stocks? He will place himself in my position; and may not think a +bit the worse of me. My mind is now made up. In the morning, after +breakfast, I shall explain the whole matter to him." + +In the morning, however, she did not see Mr Stocks. He had been +summoned away to meet the factor on important business, and would not +be home till the evening. Her heart sank within her; and she felt that +she would never get through the long weary hours. And her misery was +intensified by the contrast which she saw in everything around her. +There was merriment, as well as excitement, in every countenance. +It was to be the last day of harvest, and the great question was, +who was to get "the maiden," that is, the last handful of grain that +was reaped. To determine this, it is true, a well-known device was +generally practised. Some of the young men conspired, before the end +of the field was reached, to leave a shock of grain uncut and cover +it up with a stook. Then when the close came, and every ear of corn +apparently was reaped, the favoured lass was taken to the spot, the +stook was cleared away revealing the unreaped shock, she cut it and +thus secured "the maiden," and became "the Queen of the Harvest"; +but this device required to be cleverly carried out in order to be +successful. + +Meanwhile, Miss Laverock was passing the weary hours under a cloud of +apprehension. Some great calamity, she feared, awaited her. What shape +it was to take she could not divine, but it was in some way connected +with that unfortunate young man. And when, in the afternoon, she +walked out with Miss Stocks and Mr Tosh to see the end of the harvest, +she felt as if she were going to her doom. Accordingly, she was not +surprised, when, in approaching the Five Acre Park, they became aware +of a great hubbub. The end of the harvest had evidently been reached; +the reapers were clustering together in a noisy mob at the end of the +field; groans mingled with shouts arose in the air; and prominent in +the turmoil were seen the figures of Peg Jackson and Black Morgan. +"Now," thought Winnie, "it has come at last. My disgrace has been +discovered, and will now be held up before the world." + +But on this occasion, at least, she was alarming herself needlessly. +The commotion was caused by no serious matter. Peg Jackson, it seems, +at the dinner hour had noticed three or four stalks of corn that had +been left uncut by the side of the field. She had squatted down upon +them, and had beaten them flat, and concealed them under her capacious +person; and as she was always the first to sit down and the last to +rise up, no one had seen them. She waited till the device for securing +"the maiden," which we have explained above, was carried out, and +Grace Fleming, the favoured damsel, was proclaimed "the Harvest Queen." + +Then she came forward and protested that the last of the harvest was +not yet reaped; and in proof of the statement she went to the handful +of grain which she had concealed in such a grotesque way, cut it, and +held it up in triumph. Many loudly demurred; but others declared that +The Bummer was right, that she had got "the maiden," and a proposition +was made to carry her shoulder high. Peg, however, was not to be +trifled with; and when Black Morgan advanced to lay hold of her, she +gave him a cuff which sent him backwards into a stook. + +This cloud of alarm melted away without doing any damage; but a more +ominous one was gathering on the horizon. That evening, the shearers +were to be entertained in the barn to a supper and a dance; and the +farmer and his friends were expected to be present at a part of the +entertainment. At eight o'clock, the ladies were in their rooms making +ready to go into the barn, when a cry arose, that Miss Stocks's +jewel-case was stolen. The last time it had been seen was at the dinner +hour of the previous day. Mr Stocks, who had just arrived from his +journey, summoned the whole household--guests, servants, and all--to +ascertain if any clue could be got to the mystery. No one could give +any definite information. Then Miss Jaap, who, it was evident to all, +was bursting with something, struck in:-- + +"It's that man Riley. He was hanging about the garden gate last night. +You saw him, Miss Laverock, and you were speaking to him; and, by the +by, you must have left the garden door of the house ajar, for it was +found open this morning, and that was the way by which the thief must +have got in. And what confirms his guilt is, that he has disappeared. +He wasn't at his work to-day. Do you know where he is, Miss Laverock?" + +"Magdalen," said Mr Stocks sternly, "there must be no rash accusations. +What we have got to do is not to suspect, but to detect. I shall wait +till to-morrow morning, and if the matter is not cleared up by that +time, it must be put into the hands of the police. Meantime, Magdalen, +don't introduce Miss Laverock's name. She has got nothing to do with +it: depend upon that." + +What Miss Laverock's feelings were during this ordeal may be imagined +but can't be described. When it was all over, the only remark that she +could make was, that she could not go to see the shearers. But Miss +Stocks, taking her aside, and kissing and coaxing her, said, "Don't +mind what that spiteful cat insinuates. It is all jealousy. Show your +contempt for her by appearing as usual, and going about as usual." And +Winnie set out with her friend to the barn. + +When they reached the barn, the supper was over, and the tables and +forms were being cleared away to make room for the dance. Whether it +was owing to the solid nature of the viands, or to a scanty supply of +inspiriting beverage, I can't say, but the men and women were dull and +dumb, and the sight of their betters from the big house only tended +to make them look more sheepish and awkward. How they were to be +entertained seemed to be a great difficulty. But a remedy was at hand. + +There was present an Orpheus who could animate the stocks and the +stones. This was the old, bandy-legged fiddler, Geordie Wilkie. On +ordinary occasions he was a simple clodhopper, trudging at the plough +tail, or sitting upon his muddy cart; but at a foy, a penny wedding, +or any other merrymaking, he was a potentate, a magician swaying the +crowds at will, as the moon sways the waters of the deep. On this +particular night, he was, as he himself expressed it, "in fine fettle." +No sooner did he, after a few preliminary tunings and squeakings, +strike up an old-fashioned reel, than the dead mass of humanity began +to move, and throb, and leap. The music, like electricity, had flashed +through their nerves and muscles and made them jump into life. In a +trice they had fallen into sets and were involved in the mazes of the +dance, thumping the floor with their hob-nailed shoes, cracking their +horny fingers, grinning and grimacing to their partners, "hooching," +and wheeling nimbly about, shaking off their cares as a dog shakes off +the hail-drops, and looking as if there was to be no more worry or want +in this world, and all was to be peace and plenty for evermore. + +On another occasion, Winnie, with her sunny sympathetic disposition, +would have entered thoroughly into this scene, and would have enjoyed +to the full all its escapades and humours. But now her heart was frozen +by despair, and could not feel anything like pleasure. Their bright +merriment by its contrast only made her despondency all the darker. +It seemed a mockery of her grief, and aggravated it intensely. She +looked on in agony, and was wondering where she should go and what she +should do, when she saw the unwonted sight of a policeman at the door +of the barn; and immediately afterwards a servant whispered in her ear, +"Please, Miss, you are wanted in the parlour." Then she knew that the +catastrophe was at hand, and went away to meet it. + +But a strange change had come over her--a change which surprised +herself. Despair had become desperation, and she now felt herself +perfectly calm and collected. She was eager to make a full explanation +of the whole matter, and to abide the consequences. Therefore, when she +entered the parlour, and saw a policeman, with the official calmness +on his countenance, and Riley well dressed and bright, and Mr Stocks +anxious and perplexed, and Miss Jaap flushed and giving her evidence, +she was not surprised, but quietly took a seat and listened. + +Miss Jaap in excited tones was telling her story--how she had seen +Riley last night about seven o'clock watching the garden gate, how +she had gone back half an hour afterwards and found him still lurking +there, and how she was sure it was he who took the jewels, and it could +be no one else. Then turning to Winnie, she said, "You know that this +is true, Miss Laverock, for you saw him and were talking to him on the +road, and came in through the garden and did not lock the door, and +that was the way he got into the house." + +At this venomous speech the hearers were visibly fluttered. Mr +Stocks looked stern indignation; the policeman condescended to smile +contemptuously; and Riley, producing a box, asked Miss Jaap if that was +the stolen article. + +"Ah, look there now!" cried Miss Jaap; "was I not right? He's obliged +to confess that he is the thief." + +"No, Miss! there you are wrong. But," he added, after listening to +footsteps coming along the passage, "here, if I mistake not, comes the +thief." + +And two policemen entered with Black Morgan in charge. + +"So," growled out Morgan, regarding Riley with a murderous look, "you +hound, you split upon your pal after all your gammon! But look here, +policemen, this smaik is the real boss of the plant. He has got the +jewel-case on him." + +"Right so far," replied Riley coolly; "but I took it from you in the +way of business. I am Macnab, the detective." + +"The d---- you are," exclaimed Morgan. + +"Whew ---- by ----, if I had known that, I would have spoilt your mug +for you. Mean! low! mean! d----d mean!" + +"Come now, Morgan," said Riley, "don't be uncharitable. Every man to +his trade. Your trade is wholesale criminal. Mine is detective officer. +You prosecuted yours with unflagging enthusiasm. Allow me to do the +same. I was asked to look after you. From information received you were +thought to be the man wanted for a notorious crime. It was a difficult +job, for you were up to no end of dodges. Now, I had always been fond +of play-acting. In fact, I was once upon the boards. So I resolved +to dress up as a brother pal, and I stuck to you like a brother and +followed you here. And you must confess that I made up and performed +the part to perfection. And what's more, I have got the evidence that I +wanted. You are not Will Morgan. You know you are not. You are James +Crouch, that has been wanted so long for the Trongate murder." + +This intelligence startled the little company like the shock of an +earthquake. The thought that they were in the presence of that ruthless +cut-throat, Crouch, who for so many weeks had been advertised for +and sought for all over the country, and also in the presence of +Macnab, the famous Glasgow detective, produced what journalists call +"a sensation." For several minutes they could do nothing but devour +with their eyes the criminal, who returned their stare with a scowl of +defiance. But their amazement was interrupted by the detective and the +policemen rising and preparing to leave with their charge. While doing +so, the detective glanced at Miss Laverock, and said, "I'll call here +and see you to-morrow morning." + +The company in the parlour sat for some time expressing their +astonishment at this wonderful denouement. Then Winnie, noticing that +Miss Jaap still regarded her with suspicion, fairly turned on her. + +"You are wondering, Miss Jaap, what connection this detective has with +me. Well! I shall tell you. This man is _not_ my husband. He is not +even my discarded lover, a statement which you were overheard making +to Kirsten the tablemaid. He is only my brother, nothing more. He was +an only son, and my father devoted his whole time to his education, +and resolved to make him a scholar. But when Eric (that's my brother's +name, and his middle name is Macnab) was ready for the University, he +refused to go. He said that he had no taste for learning, and that his +whole heart was for acting, and that he would go upon the stage. Now, +my father is passionate, imperious, and accustomed to get his own way. +Besides, if there is one calling that he considers disreputable it is +_play-acting_, as he styles it. He therefore solemnly declared that +if Eric went upon the stage, he would from that moment disinherit and +disown him. But Eric, who had inherited his father's hot and wilful +temper, declared that he would not be forced into a profession which he +hated, that he himself was the best judge of what he was best fitted +for, and that if his own father chose to throw him off, he would fend +for himself. So he went away and disappeared; and for years, up till +yesterday in fact, we have seen and heard nothing of him. Now, Miss +Jaap, was it not natural that I should be disturbed when I came +unexpectedly on my long-lost brother in the harvest field? Was it not +natural that I should blush for him, when I saw him in the garments of +a hireling reaper? And was it not natural that I should try to have +a talk with him? And was it not very cruel, Miss Jaap, when you had +only these grounds to go upon, to jump to the conclusion that I was an +abandoned girl, and actually to accuse me of aiding and abetting in +this robbery of the jewel-case? I ask you, Miss Jaap, has your conduct +not been very, very cruel?" + +Miss Jaap sat silent, and only replied by a look of inveterate hatred. + +But Mr Stocks, in the most earnest manner said, "If nobody else will +reply, I will, Miss Laverock. You have been used most cruelly. You +were invited to the house as a guest, and you have been treated like +a criminal. As the master of the house I humbly apologise; and as for +Miss Jaap, she ought to go down on her knees and ask your pardon for +her vile suspicions and accusations." + +But this only brought Miss Jaap's hate to a climax, for she rose up in +stern silence and went out of the room. + +"That woman's unamiability," said Mr Stocks, "is a most pitiable +spectacle. She was always irritable; but latterly her bad temper has +become chronic. It is a madness, a monomania, which she takes a morbid +pleasure in nursing. Almost every person is looked upon as an enemy, +and almost every act as an insult. I myself am afraid to move or to +speak lest I offend her. But I will stand it no longer. She shall go at +once. I have done with her." + +"Don't, Mr Stocks, I entreat you, cast her off," said Miss Laverock. +"You are her only friend, I understand. The poor thing is more to be +pitied than blamed. Her infirmity is more physical than moral. It is +the result of biliousness, and can only be cured by medical treatment. +But I believe that I am partly to blame. My presence and my incessant +chatter have aggravated her. I know that I talk too much. Ever since I +was a child, my father has made me his companion, and has encouraged me +to give my opinion on every subject; and when in company, I am apt to +forget that other people are not so partial as he is, and I allow my +tongue to go like a bell. And poor Miss Jaap, along with others, has +suffered. My everlasting gabble must be a great nuisance." + +"Well!" replied Mr Stocks, "if that's gabble, then all I have to say is +that I don't wish to hear anything better than gabble during the rest +of my life." + +"There's no accounting for taste," said Winnie laughing. "But, Mr +Stocks, to speak seriously, you'll not cast that poor thing off? +Remember that you are her best friend. If you do, I shall be very +miserable, for I shall feel that I have been the cause of it. You'll +not do it, will you?" + +"Well, Miss Laverock, if it's to give you pain, I will not do it." + +"Now! that's like you. And you'll find that everything will now go +right. I'm going home to-morrow, and Miss Jaap will then become quiet. +This (_pointing to her jacket_) is the red rag that has made the +cow mad. When this is removed the cow will settle down to chew the +cud--yes, the cud of sweet and bitter memories." + +Mr Stocks was now aghast. "Miss Laverock," he stammered, "you can't +mean it. No, no--it will never do--why, you have only been here +two days, and you came to stay a month at least. I was looking +forward--that is, _we_ were all looking forward--to a happy time, and +now"--and here the good man's feelings overpowered him, and fairly +carried him away. What he said he never could exactly remember; but +he gave her to understand that he could not do without her, and that, +deprived of her presence, life would not be worth living. + +Then she, blushing very much, yet unable to repress a merry twinkle in +her eye, said that this was dreadful. It was just another proof that +she had been too long there. She was the wicked fairy that, without +meaning it, had introduced confusion into the family. She must, +however, persist in going home to-morrow. She wished to be present at +the meeting between her father and brother, and to try to reconcile +them. But (_and here she looked down and faltered in her speech_) +if her father approved, and she had no doubt he would, she would +come back; and after all the proper forms had been gone through she +would stay. She could not bear the idea of having his death upon her +conscience, or even his unhappiness--all the more so as she had always +admired and liked him, especially during her late trouble, when he had +shown her so much sympathy and good feeling. Would he agree to this +arrangement? + +Of course, he was only too delighted to agree; and he was anxious +that there should be witnesses to the agreement. So he led her into +the drawing-room, where Miss Stocks and Miss Jaap were sitting, and +introduced her as his affianced bride. Miss Stocks rushed to her, and +took her in her arms; Miss Jaap bounced out of the room. + +"What wonderful chemical properties I must have," said Winnie. "I +possess the power both of attraction and repulsion." + +"No wonder," said Mr Stocks, "that she is ashamed to look you in the +face, after accusing you of theft." + +"But," said Winnie, "I was really guilty of theft. I stole your heart; +but you punished me, for you stole mine." + + + + +THE BOY HERETIC. + + +The parish of Sandyriggs had been, time out of mind, noted for its +orthodoxy. In the days of the Covenant its inhabitants had suffered for +the good cause; and at the Battle of Tippermuir its most prominent men +had sealed their testimony with their blood. It had also been blessed +with a long succession of faithful ministers, both Established and +Seceding, men who had not only held the form of sound doctrine, but +also of sound words. The minister of the parish, at this time, was the +Rev. Jeremiah MacGuffog, a preacher famous all over the land for his +persistent and deadly attacks upon organs, images, printed prayers, +human hymns, private interpretations of Scripture, intemperance, and +all the other backslidings of the day. The result was, that while +heresy was breaking out in various parts of the country, it never was +known in Sandyriggs. The theological atmosphere was evidently too keen +and bracing for such a hothouse plant. + +Imagine, then, the sensation when it was reported that, at last, heresy +had appeared among the rising generation. The inhabitants were struck +dumb at first; but gradually recovering themselves, they began to talk +about it. It was discussed by the men at the church door on Sunday, and +by the women over their _four hours_ tea. What could be the cause of +it, was a question frequently asked? One suggested bad education; while +another asserted that it was too much education, and boldly wished for +the return of the good old time when the young bolted their knowledge +as they bolted their monthly dose of castor oil, and never thought of +complaining that it disagreed with them. + +The _fama clamosa_ became so great that it could no longer be ignored +in his pulpit messages by that faithful minister, the Rev. Mr +MacGuffog. With bated breath he told his hearers that this was only one +instance among many of the fact that the spirit of evil had rallied +his powers and was making a desperate attempt to ruin mankind. "Yet," +he added, "this incident which has taken place in our midst is also +fraught with comfort; because it is the fulfilment of the prophecy +that children will rise up against their parents; and, taken with the +wars and rumours of wars that prevail in the world at present, it is a +sign that the glorious time is at hand when Satan shall be bound for a +thousand years." + +Who was this arch heretic, this chosen emissary of Satan, at whom the +parish turned pale? Little Willie Torrance, aged seven, the son of +George Torrance, a small farmer. What were the influences under which +this heresy was developed, it is now our task to describe. + +Willie was what his mother called "a fell laddie," and his father "a +fair heartbreak." Do what they liked, they could never make him behave +like other boys. His dull red hair was always in disorder; his face +seemed a favourite resting-place for dust and smut; his hands were +soiled with the stroking of rabbits and pigeons; and his corduroys were +torn and worn with the climbing of trees. A book was a thing which he +never of his own accord touched. When he should have been learning his +lessons, he was outside watching the ducklings and the chicks; and on +Sabbath evenings, when all the members of the family were questioned +on the Shorter Catechism, he mixed up the answers in the most profane +and ludicrous manner. Every effort was tried to reclaim him. His +brother and sister, who were much older than he, were most faithful +in holding up before him all his sins against cleanliness and order; +his father at intervals conscientiously applied Solomon's educative +instrument, the rod; and his mother, though longing to be kind and +sympathetic, frowned upon many of his ways. But all these measures +seemed to produce no effect. He, indeed, endured all their treatment +without a murmur or protest, and really felt at times that he was a bad +lot and would come to a bad end; but his patience was unhesitatingly +pronounced to be "dourness," and was added on to his list of crimes. + +But in spite of all this, he could not have been a bad boy, for he +had some devoted friends. The moment he appeared in the farmyard, his +presence was hailed by both "the fowl and the brute." In the sound of +his voice and the touch of his hand there was that miraculous power, +sympathy, which at once won their hearts. He understood them and they +understood him. Sweep, the cat, rubbed and purred against his leg; +Rover, the dog, jumped up to kiss his face; Blaze, the bob-tailed +horse, turned round its head in its stall to neigh to him; the brown +calf put its nose over the fence to be scratched; and the pigeons +settled on him like a small cloud to eat the corn from his hand. + +But Willie's greatest blessing was his staunch bosom friend, Bob +Fortune. A friend is dear at any time, but he is especially dear in our +childhood, when the heart is fresh, the conscience clean, and the world +full of untasted pleasures. Not only is he another self, doubling our +delights and lessening our troubles, but he is what Shakespeare calls +"an earth-treading star," shedding a new light on everything. Answering +exactly to this description was Bob Fortune, nine years of age, and a +neighbour farmer's son, who called in, every morning, for Willie and +accompanied him to school. He was a healthy, hearty, intelligent boy. +It seemed as if his soul were made of sunlight, which warmed every limb +and shone through every feature. He had a smile and a soft word for +every living creature; and it was only when he witnessed cruelty that +he was ever out of temper. Overflowing, too, with animal spirits and +all kinds of boyish accomplishments, he was ever ready to run, leap, +sing, whistle, and imitate all sorts of sounds. He was also clever with +his hands and with his tongue, and, therefore, well fitted to be not +only a friend but a protector to Willie. + +Your ordinary boy is apt to be cruel. He is as Dickens remarks, "an +enemy to all creation." He stones cats, beats the dumb driven cattle, +robs birds' nests, and in general gets "his sport," as he calls it, at +the expense of the lower animals. Like his full-grown fellow-sportsmen, +when he wants to be happy, he says, "Let us go and kill something." +This habit is not the result, as some suppose, of the cruelty inherent +in human nature, but rather arises from sheer thoughtlessness. It never +occurs to him that the lower animals feel the same pain as we do; and, +strange as it may seem, in this age of education, sympathy towards our +fellow-creatures is not taught at school. + +From this savage habit our two lads had been saved by a painful +accident. One day a pretty, bright, playful young spaniel, named +Spring, which they had just been fondling, darted before a carriage, +and was run over and killed. Willie, especially, was dreadfully +shocked, and could not get rid of the sight of the poor animal +writhing in the death throes on the hard road, looking up pitifully +into his face as if struggling to tell what it was suffering, and +venting all its agony in one long, pitiful whine. Next day he stated +to Bob that it was wrong to torment animals, "for," he said, "they +suffer jist like hiz." They both resolved that they would not be cruel +to any creature, and that they would no longer rob nests. They might +take one egg, but that would not matter, as the bird could not count +and would never miss it. Then they wondered where Spring was now; and +Bob, whose imagination was always active, declared that he was sure to +be in heaven. Good dogs, he said, must go to heaven; for their masters, +when they went there, could not be happy without them. To Willie this +reasoning was conclusive, for he could not fancy any perfect state of +happiness where there were no four-footed favourites. + +Our story begins on a bright summer morning, when the two boys set +out together for school. Delightful as their walks always were, +this particular walk was to be more delightful than usual. They had +scarcely left the farm buildings and were passing a whinny knowe, +when out there came running in a great state of flutter and anger, +as if to attack them, a hen partridge. Knowing by this that her brood +was near, they searched among the furze, and found instead of young +partridges, five barn-door chickens. There they were--yellow, black, +and white--staggering on their wire-like legs, and wondering very +much at this strange world into which they had evidently just newly +come. On searching still further, they came upon a nest with the +empty shells. It was evident that the pair of partridges, having been +robbed of their own eggs, had come upon this neglected nest, had taken +possession of it, had hatched the brood and were now trying, like good +foster-parents, to bring up their adopted family. + +The next object before which the boys stood was a well-grown larch at +the foot of the avenue. On it was their favourite nest, a chaffinch's, +a perfect specimen of bird-craft. They had been able to examine and +admire it by climbing a neighbouring tree and looking into it. It was +snugly and securely placed in a fork of the larch, was cosy inside with +hair, wool, and feathers, and outside was covered skilfully all over +with lichen so as to look like a bit of the tree. They had also taken +an interest in the two birds, and by feeding them every day with seed +had made them quite tame. On this morning, the boys saw that something +unusual had happened; for the hen-bird was flitting excitedly between +the ground and the nest, and the cock was singing his favourite song +with more than his usual briskness; and on climbing the neighbouring +tree, they saw that the nest was full of gaping little bills. No wonder +that the mother was busy and the father proud! + +But the most exciting event was seen when they were passing along the +pathway that skirts the back of the Gibbet Wood. Out in the air above +the field, a beak-and-claw fight was going on between two birds that +were discovered to be a wood-pigeon and a sparrow-hawk. The pigeon was +having the worst of it, and its feathers were falling fast, when some +crows, happening to pass, darted upon the common foe, the hawk, and +forced it to let go its hold. The pigeon alighted on a wall to recover +itself and then disappeared, and the hawk retreated, pursued and +harassed by its black enemies. + +Then without further adventures they sauntered along by the loch side +under the blue unclouded weather. Bright and sympathetic, they formed +a part of the general joy that was abroad on the earth. They carolled +with the lark, whistled with the blackbird, and sported with the +butterfly among the flowers. And in the intervals Bob, full of bright +fancies, told what he was to do when he was a man: how he was going to +be a farmer, and have a garden full of the bonniest flowers, and keep +all kinds of horses, dogs, rabbits, and birds. + +But when the boys reached the village and looked down the Overgate +where the school was situated, a sudden change came over their mood. +There was a dreadful silence which struck terror into them. The school +"was in" and they would be punished for being late. With fluttering +hearts they mounted the outside stair, went through the "pend" that led +to the school building, opened the door, stood before the indignant +teacher and the expectant and by no means sympathetic scholars, took +their punishment bravely, and sat down with smarting hands to their +work. + +This humble institution was about the last specimen of its class. +It was an instance of the comparative ease with which, not so long +ago, schools could be set up, and schoolmasters could be made. The +schoolmaster, Mr Sloan, had been a house-carpenter. When old age +began to steal upon him, and he found manual labour too much for his +strength, he was advised by his fellow-elders in the small sect to +which he belonged to start a school. "You've a gude haund o' write," +they said, "and ye're no a bad coonter; and the members o' oor body +will send their bairns to ye." He took their advice, and carried it +out with the greatest ease. First of all, there was no difficulty +about getting a schoolroom. Choosing his own workshop, he cleared out +the benches and the shavings, scrubbed the earthen floor, swept down +the bare walls, put in a few plain desks and forms which he had made +with his own hand; and the thing was done. According to his idea, no +more furnishings, such as maps, globes, or pictures, were required. +Then there was just as little difficulty in converting himself into a +schoolmaster. He laid aside his working-man's clothes, wore his Sunday +best every day, bought a bit of old leather and fashioned it into +_tawse_; and lo! the transformation was complete. The house-carpenter +in one day had been changed into a teacher of youth. + +Equally simple and easy was his method of education. All he required +his pupils to do, besides their writing and arithmetic, was to commit +to memory the Shorter Catechism, Proofs, and Psalms; and he rested +satisfied that these good words, when swallowed, like a blessed +medicine would purify the heart, and enlighten the head. And all that +he, the teacher, needed to do was to direct and stimulate them by means +of the tawse; for did not the wise man say that the scourge was the +great instrument to be used in the education of the young! "He that +spareth the rod hateth the child." His scholars were placed on the +plain, beaten highway, and his whole duty was to drive them forward. He +was an educational _drover_. He was never known to have given a single +explanation of any kind on any subject whatever. + +On this particular day, it chanced that the work of the school bore +very hard on poor Willie Torrance. The first lesson he was called upon +to say was a question in the Shorter Catechism. "Wherein," asked the +teacher, in slow and solemn tones, "consists the sinfulness of that +estate whereinto man fell?" "The sinfulness," answered Willie, in a +lugubrious, singsong voice, "of that estate whereinto man fell"--and +then he came to a dead stop. "Go on, sir!" said the teacher, sternly. +Willie could only run over again, "The sinfulness," etc., in the +desperate hope that he would thus gain an impetus which would carry him +through the remainder of the answer; but it was all in vain. Leather +was applied smartly to the palm of his hand; but this, while it gave +a keener realisation of the _feeling_ of the sinfulness, did not +contribute at all to its _theological conception_. He was sent to his +seat in disgrace, and sentenced to be kept in during the dinner-hour to +learn his neglected task. + +The reading lesson came next, and every boy and girl was called +upon in turn to read a verse. The chapter was in the Old Testament, +and consisted chiefly of a long list of jaw-twisting Hebrew names. +Easy-going teachers used to skip such a chapter,--one of them, an +irreverent Gallio, alleging as a reason, that it was "a mere hatteril +o' nick-names." But Mr Sloan, a strictly orthodox man, held that every +word and letter, nay, every jot and tittle, were "profitable for +instruction in righteousness," and would not tolerate this playing +fast and loose with the inspired record. As it was, these Jewish names +stuck in Willie's throat. In the supple jaws of old Orientals, without +doubt, they were as a sweet morsel to be rolled under the tongue; but, +in the narrow and stiff jaws of a Scotch boy, they were hard nuts which +could neither be cracked nor swallowed. A smart box on the ear was +suddenly administered, but it did not contribute to the clearing of the +head, or the loosening of the vocal organs. There was no help for the +lad. He was left in the midst of the verse, like a lamb entangled in a +thicket of brambles, and the class proceeded with the remainder of the +task. + +The writing lesson followed. Willie, grasping the pen tightly between +the forefinger and thumb, dipped it in the ink; but alas! the ink +bottle was too full, and, on bringing out the pen, he let a big blot +fall upon the paper. He licked the ink up with his tongue; but a very +ugly mark was left upon the copy. And when he tried to make a stroke +he only made another blot. The master gave him a smart rap on the +knuckles with the ruler; but this only shook his hand, and flustered +him. He could not keep his fingers free from the black liquid; and, in +his desperation, he wiped them sometimes on his corduroys, sometimes on +his hair, and sometimes on his face, until he looked as if he had been +exposed to a shower of ink. + +The dinner-hour now intervened, and he was locked up in the schoolroom +all alone to get up the Catechism lesson which he had been unable to +repeat. By dint of sheer hammering, he managed to fix the words, not +the meaning, in his memory. Yet all the while he was looking out on a +green hill opposite, where a boy of his acquaintance was herding a cow. +Oh! how he envied that boy! How delightful it would be if he could get +free for ever from school, and pass the long summer day in the open +air, rolling on the grass among his favourite animals! + +After the dinner-hour came the most difficult task of all. A column of +figures on the slate was put before him, and he was told to add them +up. He did not know how to add; he did not know even the meaning of +the word, and no explanation was vouchsafed to him. He sat wondering +how it should be done, and feeling that his brain was becoming a mass +of confusion. Casting a stealthy glance upon his neighbour's slate, he +found that his neighbour was putting down quite easily under the column +a row of figures. He concluded that the whole thing was a puzzle, and +was only to be found out by experiment. Accordingly, he tried first one +set of figures and then another, but every time he was wrong. At last +the master, losing patience, was driven to the use of sarcasm. Seizing +the boy's ear, twisting him round, and pointing to a stucco bust which +was over the door, and which, indeed, was the sole ornament in the +school, he said, in withering tones, "There's your brother." Then, +tapping the little confused skull, he added, "You've a head, and so +has a pin." The whole school laughed at these sarcasms. They were well +known. They were the master's only jokes, and, therefore, did duty very +often. + +Willie had now run the gantlet of all the lessons and all the +punishment. The road to knowledge had not been to him a green and +flowery lane, along which he was led with ease and delight. It had +rather been a thorny brake, through which he had been dragged by main +force, and from which he issued hot, dishevelled, and bleeding. It +never occurred to him to ask, "What is the use of all this?" He had a +vague impression that this education, like measles and whooping cough, +was one of those serious dispensations of Providence which all must go +through, and which must be borne with patience. + +But now came a relief. Mr Sloan, soothed by the good dinner which he +had just eaten, sank into his usual afternoon nap; and the scholars +immediately turned from their books and slates to subdued fun and +talking. Willie, greatly relieved, stood up and began to tell his +neighbour, Button Bowie, as they called him, all the strange sights +which he and Bob Fortune had seen that morning: the partridge with the +brood of chickens, the chaffinch's nest, and the fight between the +wood-pigeon and the sparrow-hawk. + +But this interval of relief was not to last long. In every school, +just as in every company of human beings, there is always to be found +a bully; and this bully requires two persons near him,--a victim to be +tormented by him, and a toady to laugh at his cleverness. Christopher +Bain, nine years of age, was the bully; poor, harmless Willie was the +victim; and Button Bowie, whose father was foreman to Bain's father, +was the toady. Bain founded his superiority on the fact that his father +was the largest farmer in the neighbourhood, and kept a gig. He was +conceited, brazen-faced, and loud. Coming forward, he cried, "Weel, +what's that little numskull, that dunce o' the hale schule, been sayin' +noo? He's gettin' stupider than ever." + +Button, eager to curry favour with the son of his father's employer, +told him. + +"Ye lee'in beggar," said Bain to Willie, as if in righteous +indignation, "hoo daur ye tell sic stories? Why, ye're sae stupid that +ye wadna ken a pigeon frae a hawk. Ye wadna ken a B from a bull's +fit;" and, so saying, he gave the little fellow a push which sent him +sprawling on the floor. + +While some of the girls cried out "Shame," and Button Bowie sniggered, +Bob Fortune exclaimed, "Stop that, ye big coward. Strike ane o' yer ain +size. I tell the same story that Willie telt aboot what he saw this +mornin'. Ca' me a leer! Try't!" + +"Ay, I'll try't," retorted Bain in a blustering voice. + +"Just try't," repeated Bob. + +"Ay, I'll try't, and dae't tae." + +But now an explosive snore proclaimed that the master was waking, and +in an instant the scholars were intent on their slates and books, just +as if they had never stopped their studies; and the teacher himself +tried to look as if he had never been asleep, but had only shut his +eyes to think out some deep problem. A fine bit of acting on both sides! + +After the scholars were dismissed, Bob and Willie went to do some +errands at the village shops, and then they took their way homewards. +When they came to the foot of the avenue, whom should they see but Bain +and Bowie looking up at the chaffinch's nest? "Oh, ho!" cried Bain, +"so, this is yer precious nest;" and before they had any idea of what +was going to happen, the wretch had shot a stone with unerring aim, and +the ruins of the nest and the young birds, gasping out their little +lives, were lying on the hard ground. Willie burst into tears; but +Bob, rushing at the heartless rascal, thrashed him soundly, and ended +by throwing him down in a bed of nettles. Bain, starting up, ran to a +distance, and then threw a big stone which, had not Bob smartly ducked, +might have done serious damage. Bob, crying out, "Twa can play at that +game," sent after him a missile which hit him on the small of the back, +and he went howling round the corner, followed by his sympathising +spaniel, Button Bowie. Bob and Willie sorrowfully gathered up the +murdered birds, and buried them in a tuft of moss, while the parents, +fluttering round, filled the air with their distressful notes. + +The next day, Thursday, was the annual fast, which, in this primitive +village of Sandyriggs, was most rigidly observed. As the preparation +for the solemn rites of the communion, it was considered even more +sacred than the Sabbath itself. Any secular work or any amusement on +such a day was considered to be an act of desecration. There is a story +still handed down, that a stranger, who was passing through the village +on a Fast Day, and who chanced to whistle, was stoned by the natives, +and obliged to run for his life. I myself distinctly remember my horror +when I saw two boys on such an occasion playing at marbles. I trembled +lest lightning should fall from heaven, and strike them dead. But of +late, there were some bold spirits who regarded this day as a mere +human institution, and, therefore, not binding upon them. Bob Fortune's +father was one of these. On principle, neither he nor his children went +to church on a Fast Day. And thus it happened that Bob had told Willie +that he was going on the morrow to see his big brother fish in the +loch. + +On the forenoon of the Fast Day, George Torrance, silent and serious, +like a man bent on living up to a high ideal, set out with all his +family to church. It was a brilliant summer day, and as they went along +Willie could not help occasionally giving vent to his delight, when a +golden butterfly wavered across his path, or a lark sprang up singing +from a neighbouring grass field. But his unseasonable joy was frowned +down by his father; and his mother said, "For ony sake, laddie, mind +whatna day it is." When they came to the loch, there was Bob Fortune +in the distance. He had taken off his shoes, and was lying on his back +on the grass, and luxuriating in the sunshine. On seeing them, he rose +up and waved to them. Willie had soon good reason for remembering that +action. For the rest of his life, the image of the bright boy waving +his hand never left his memory. + +The services that day in the church, in which George Torrance was +an elder, were solemn and long. First of all, the minister of the +congregation, Mr. Peden, went up into the pulpit, gave out a psalm +to be sung, and offered up a long prayer. Then, while a second psalm +was being sung, he gave place to a reverend brother, Mr. Herd, of +the Byres, who, not satisfied with the prayer already given, thought +it necessary to engage in another of equal length. The sermon came +next, severely doctrinal, many-headed, long-tailed; and then a short +prayer and a psalm concluded the forenoon service. Mr. Torrance, in +the interval, led his family to a room in a private house, where +they silently lunched on _baps_ and ale. The afternoon service was a +repetition of that of the forenoon, with one of the long prayers left +out. + +Some people of the present day may be inclined to sneer at this service +as "weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable." But to the intelligent +and pious rustics who had few books, it was an intellectual and a +spiritual treat, which edified and refreshed them. Their most heartfelt +associations clustered round the church and its worship, and they could +sing with genuine feelings the lines of the psalm: + + "Blessed are they in Thy courts that dwell, + They ever give Thee praise." + +A great mistake, however, was made in subjecting mere children to these +ordinances. It was thought, indeed, that the preaching of the Word, +though not understood, was bound to touch them and foster within them +a love of religion. The very reverse, however, was often the result. +Their bodies were wearied out, their minds were stupefied, and they +formed disagreeable associations with the church, which were sometimes +never dispelled. + +Willie Torrance, in the afternoon especially, passed through a very +disagreeable ordeal. He sat on a high, hard seat with his feet dangling +in the air. Under the influence of the heat of the crowded church, +and the monotonous tones of the minister, he fell fast asleep. Then +he was roughly awakened by a nudge from his father, and a kick from +his brother; and his mother whispered to him, "Sit up, and listen to +the minister." The poor lad, rubbing his eyes, tried to obey her, +but he could not understand a single scrap of the sermon. It was as +meaningless and depressing to him as the moaning of the east wind at +the kitchen window on a wild winter night. What could he do, therefore, +but sit wearily, and allow his thoughts to stray to all sorts of +things, and, above all, wonder what Bob was doing at the loch side, +until the word "Amen" told him that the sermon was at last done, and +the end of his imprisonment near. What a welcome sound had that word +always been! It was the only part of a discourse that ever stirred +him; and even in a dead sleep he could hear it, and waken up with the +feeling that a wearisome ordeal was passed. Yet on that particular day +when he came out into the sunshine, he did not experience his usual +joy. A strange depression lay upon his spirits. He could not help +feeling that God was angry with him for not listening to the sermon, +and for not liking the church. He had also the apprehension that a +punishment was hanging over him, and on this occasion that apprehension +was fated to be realised. + +On their way home, when they came near the loch, he saw that something +unusual had happened. A group of people were standing on the bank, +and talking excitedly; and two men, hurrying towards the village, +whispered something to his father, who was in front. He heard the name, +"Fortune," and in another minute he became conscious that a terrible +calamity had befallen him. His boy friend and protector was drowned. + +Two young men, in the course of the day, had come to the loch, and had +got hold of a boat to have a row, and had invited Bob to go along with +them. When they were at some distance from the land, the two young men +fell into a dispute, and after the foolish manner of gawks, stood up +in the boat and had some horse-play. In an instant the boat was upset, +and the three occupants were in the water struggling for life. The +young men managed, with difficulty, to reach the shore; but the boy, +who was not a swimmer, could only cling to the bottom of the boat. For +some time he struggled to get out of the water on to the keel, crying +desperately all the while for help. But his brother could not swim, +and the two young men were either too tired or too timid to venture to +rescue him; and while they were standing wondering what they should +do, the poor lad, worn out with his ineffectual struggles, sank out of +sight. A minute afterwards, men from the neighbouring farm arrived in +another boat, but it was too late. All they could do now was to recover +the body. After an hour's dragging, it was found, placed on a barn +door, and covered with a cloak to be carried home. The Torrances, on +arriving at the loch side, saw the melancholy procession proceeding up +the road by the Mill Farm. + +This terrible disaster fell upon Willie like a blow, and stunned him. +His powers were paralysed, and he could neither speak nor weep. He +saw the loch, the excited groups on the shore, and the muffled figure, +lying on the barn door, disappearing in the distance; but the whole +scene appeared to be a terrible nightmare. This stupor continued as he +walked home, and sat silent by the fire. But after he had gone to bed, +his mother heard him sobbing, and, in a voice half-choked with tears, +praying that God would restore to life his lost friend. And in the +morning he was really hopeful that his prayer would be answered. God +had raised the dead in past times, and why should He not do the same +now? And he actually waited for his daily companion, looking up the +pathway in the Back Planting, and expecting to see him, as formerly, +coming bounding down like a deer. But he waited and looked in vain, and +was obliged to set out for school alone. + +As he went along the familiar road, his grief broke out afresh. Almost +every object reminded him of his best friend, who was gone, and would +never, never come again. He lingered awhile with a strange, melancholy +feeling over the ruins of the chaffinch's nest that still lay on the +road. There was one object, however, that he could not face, and that +was the cruel loch which had drowned his friend; and to escape it he +went round by the Myre Farm, and down the links. Then as he came near +the village, the thought suddenly flashed across his brain: What if Bob +should be there, if he should have recovered, and, for some reason, +gone to school by another way, and should be sitting waiting for him? +But alas! no such joyful experience awaited him, but another of a very +different kind. + +There is a set of well-meaning but narrow-minded Christians, who take +a very paltry view of God's government of this vast and complicated +universe. They imagine that every calamity is a judgment, that it +is the punishment of some particular sin, and that this sin can be +identified. They are also convinced that it is their duty to call +attention to this calamity, and hold it up as a warning to their +fellow-men. And this they call "sanctifying the dispensation of +Providence." Mr Sloan was one of these; and when Willie entered, he +was beginning to read to his awestruck scholars a speech which his +minister, the Rev. Mr Moodie, of the Original Protesting Church, had +prepared for him: + +"They were met," he said, "under the gloom of a sad calamity. One of +their number, while playing by the loch side on the Fast Day, had been +drowned. His heart bled for the poor boy cut off in the springtime of +his days. But while he owed a duty to the dead, he also owed a duty +to the living. He had now to tell them that God was reading to them a +terrible warning. Had this unfortunate boy been attending to his duty, +had he been at church, had he been observing the day set apart by God's +own people, he would still have been in the land of the living and the +place of hope. As it was, the punishment fell upon him in the midst of +his sin, and without any time for repentance he was sent before the +Great Judge. It was an awful thought, but if they believed the Bible it +was a thought that they could not help having, that their unfortunate +schoolmate was now bitterly repenting his neglect of ordinances in the +place of woe." + +At the sound of these last three words, horror fell upon the young +listeners, and a childish voice was heard calling out, "It's a lee." + +"Who said that?" cried the master, white with rage. + +"William Torrance," cried the officious Christopher Bain, in a tone +of exultation; and, seizing the culprit by the collar, he dragged him +forward. + +The master took the child by the throat, and shook him. "Now, sir! do +you know what you are saying? you are calling, not only my word, by the +Word of God a lie. Do you still say that what I said was a lie?" + +"It's no true," said Willie, with flashing eyes, and a look of +determination on his childish features. + +"Then," said the master, taking off his coat and pulling out the +_tawse_, "I must punish you, first for the offence, and then I must +flog you till you express your regret for what you have said." + +Then was witnessed a spectacle which was not uncommon in that class of +schools--a man trying to beat what he called "human depravity" out of a +child, just as a housemaid beats the dust out of a dirty carpet. But, +in this case, the man failed in his task. The boy frequently writhed +as the cutting stripes fell upon him; but he shed not a single tear, +and kept his teeth resolutely clenched; and at every interval when he +was asked if he was not sorry, he kept repeating the phrase, "it's +no true." At last the master, puffing and perspiring, was obliged to +give in and sit down; and the small culprit stood before him, red and +dishevelled, but unsubdued. + +"Go out of this school," panted forth, at last, the defeated pedagogue; +and the little lad, with a dignity beyond his years, took up his cap +and books, walked to the door, and deliberately shut it behind him. He +took the same way by which he had come in the early morning; and he +carried out his determination not to cry, till at the turning of the +road, he unexpectedly caught a glimpse of the loch. Then, before he was +aware, an uncontrollable paroxysm of grief came on, and when he arrived +at home he was sobbing hysterically. At first, he could not tell his +mother what was wrong; and it was only by persistent questioning +that she extracted from him all the details of the disaster. She was +struck dumb with consternation, and she could only wash his face, +brush his hair, and lay him down to rest on her own bed. But when +the family assembled at dinner, the horror which his crime excited +found expression. "It was an awfu' like thing," said the mother, "to +contradick the maister." + +"Contradickin' the maister," said the father, "that was the least o't; +it was contradickin' the Word o' God." + +"I wonder what the neibours will say," skirled the sister, "and Sawbath +the Sacrament. I'll never be able to gang forrit." + +"It should be threshed oot o' him," growled the brother. + +"And that's exactly what I'll dae," said the father; "bring the strap." + +The mother, however, was instantly up in arms. She was in general an +obedient wife; but here her obedience found its limit. "'Tweel," she +cried, "ye'll dae naething o' the kind. The bairn's been hashed enough +already. The bluid's barkened on his skin, and his serk's stickin' to +his back;" and she took him in her arms as if to protect him. + +Next morning his father told him that he must go back to the school and +apologise to the master; but that look of determination came again into +his youthful face, and he said, "No, I'll no gang." The father got hold +of the strap, seized him by the collar, and was about to flog him; but +stopped when he said, "Ye may kill me, but I'll no gang." The father +was startled and half afraid at this unprecedented rebellion. It was +something eerie and uncanny. He did not know what it might lead to. He +therefore desisted, and throwing the boy aside, said-- + +"Weel, I'm through wi' ye. I've dune a' that I can for ye; and if ye +gang to the bad, it's yer ain faut. But ye'll no eat the bread o' +idleness here. If ye wunna learn ye maun work. Ye maun gang and herd +the sheep in the Back Park." + +And now was this little fellow made to suffer for his sin. His life +must have been very like that of an excommunicated one in the Catholic +times. His own father would not speak to him, and would not permit +him either to attend church or family worship. The neighbours stared +and shook their heads when he passed. His former school-fellows must +have been told to avoid him, for they never came near him. The only +sympathy he got, if it could be called sympathy, was from "auld Wull +Crabbie," the stone-breaker, who plied his hammer near the entrance +to the village. This wayside philosopher, shaggy-browed keen-eyed, +hook-nosed, perched upon a seat made of an upright stone with a bunch +of straw on the top of it, _knapped_ away at the "bing" before him; +and in the intervals of labour watched all that was going on. From +every stranger that passed he levied some bit of information, and to +every acquaintance that came near he imparted some sarcastic comment. +In fact, he was a cynic, a true follower of Diogenes, scorning the +luxuries which never came to him, and finding his true luxury in +criticising severely the failings of his fellow-creatures. + +One morning when Willie was passing, Wull, fixing his ferret-like eyes +upon him, said, "And sae, laddie, ye were bold enough to ca' auld Sloan +a leer. Ye stupid shaver, dae ye no ken that dominies and ministers +never tell lees. They're perfeck. Did ye ever hear them confess that +they were ever wrang? Na! Dod I come to think that they must have been +present at the creation, and that they brocht awa wi' them the Mawker's +plans, and hae packed them a' into the twa buirds o' the Confession o' +Faith. But, toots, what am I sayin'? I'm jist haverin'. Wha am I, to +sit in judgment upon men o' that kind? It's aye best to be ceevil, as +the auld wife said when she bobbit to the deevil;" and with that he +made a fierce blow at a stone and said no more. + +For several months Willie continued to be a herd-boy. It was thought +a degradation by his father; but he himself felt it to be the +reverse. After the bondage and oppression of Sloan's school, what an +unspeakable relief it was! He had now the freedom--a freedom which +should be the birthright of every young creature--to wander about over +the green earth and under the blue sky, to drink in the fresh air and +sunshine, to notice all the beauties of beast, and bird, and flower, +and to share in the general banquet of joy provided by nature. And +another pleasure altogether unexpected awaited him. + +One Sunday morning, as he was setting out for the Back Park, his mother +said to him that, as it was the Sabbath day, he should take his Bible +with him and read it as he herded the sheep. To please her, although +the method of his education had given him unpleasant associations +connected with the Book, he put it in his pocket; and in the afternoon, +as he lay on the grass in a listless mood, he took it out and opened +it. Now, it chanced that the passage which caught his eye was the +history of Abraham, and before he was almost aware, he was reading it +attentively. He could not master some of the hard names and allusions; +but he knew enough to understand and appreciate the narrative. Here +was a discovery: The Bible, after all, was not a collection of hard +names and difficult passages fitted only to puzzle and torment school +children. It was a delightful story-book. So he continued to read it +day after day. Surrounded as he was with pastoral associations, he +dwelt with especial delight on the pastoral scenes in Genesis. In fact, +he was never tired of reading them. What a wonderful magic lies in a +book which enabled this Scottish shepherd lad in the nineteenth century +to enter into the lives and feelings of those primitive shepherd kings +of the East! In his own little way he fancied he saw them and heard +them speak. He often found himself placing the scenes of the principal +events in the pastures that lay before him. For instance, a large +beech standing by itself was the tree under which Abraham pitched his +tent; a pleasant meadow in the distance was the field where Isaac was +meditating at the eventide, when "he lifted up his eyes and saw, and +behold, the camels were coming;" and the watering-place at the foot of +the Back Park was the well where "Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up +his voice and wept." This was literally bringing ancient history home +to him. + +When the winter was coming on, Willie's mother saw that something must +be done for his education. Now, there was in Sandyriggs another school +of much higher standing than Sloan's, and the master of it, Mr Fairful, +was college-bred, and had the very highest character for intelligence +and Christian philanthropy. She, therefore, resolved to apply to him. +He was very likely, she thought, to refuse to take her scapegrace, +through fear of his contaminating the other children; but at any rate +she must do something for the boy. So, one morning, with Willie in +her hand, she knocked at the door of the school and asked to see the +master. When he came out, he looked so frank, genial, and kind, that +she had no hesitation in telling him all about her child. + +"I know all about the case," he said. "No doubt the lad was wrong; but +those that provoked him were still more to blame. There are certain +religious questions so mysterious that they should never be handled, +especially before the young. What we have got to do, is to set people +on the right road in this world: we should never attempt to fix their +everlasting destiny in the next." Then, taking Willie by the hand, and +looking at him kindly, he added: "I'll be happy to receive him, and +do what I can for him." Mrs Torrance thanked him warmly, and went away +very much relieved. + +As time passed on, Mrs Torrance fancied that she saw a change for the +better in Willie. He became tidier, and was more particular in washing +his face and hands and brushing his hair; and on Sabbath evenings he +was often seen reading the Bible. But, on the other hand, very little +time seemed to be devoted by him to the preparation of his lessons. On +the long winter nights he was usually engrossed with a book, entitled +"Natural History of Beasts, Birds, and Fishes," poring over its pages, +and copying on paper its pictures of animals; and when the lightsome +evenings of spring came, he was almost always out of doors, playing +with the tenants of the farmyard, or roving through the woods in search +of nests. His big brother, in that masterful tone generally assumed by +big brothers, often asked him, "Hoo are ye gettin' on at the schule?" +But the invariable answer was "fine." "What dae ye mean by _fine_?" the +brother demanded. "Ou, jist fine," was all the reply. + +At length came the time when the school year was to be closed with +the public examination. It was a great event; for not only were the +pupils to be examined in presence of the public, but the prizes were +to be decided on the spot by the voices of the scholars themselves. +This method, though common enough in those days, seems to us rough and +ready, and apt to lead to favouritism. Yet it seldom failed to arrive +at the right decision. The fact was, that the best pupils generally +stood out unmistakably; and when there was any doubtful case, the +teacher had ways and means of turning opinion in the right direction. + +The parents were respectfully invited to be present at this ceremony. +Mrs Torrance resolved to go; but it was with fear and trembling. +She was afraid that Willie would fail in his examination, and bring +disgrace upon her before the public. He was such a queer laddie, and +had never brought them anything like credit. And when she went into the +schoolroom, and saw the company assembled, her feeling rose to alarm. +There were the laird's wife, Mrs Campion, and the parish minister's +sister, Miss MacGuffog, and the wife of the principal grocer and of the +principal baker, Mrs Figgins and Mrs Cook, and many others. There were +several ministers, black-coated, white-necktied, solemn-faced. Above +all there was the Rev. Mr MacGuffog, who had denounced Willie from the +pulpit. Oh, what a countenance he had, self-denying and holy without +doubt, but oh, so hard and so devoid of ordinary sympathy! There was +no saying what this fanatical man might think it his duty to do. He +might seize this opportunity of catechising her son and exposing his +deficiencies before the assembled company. + +The examination, however, went on quietly; and when Willie's class +came forward a pleasant surprise awaited her. There was her boy at the +top, happy and intelligent, catching encouragement from the teacher's +eye, and answering every question. She could not believe that it was +the same lad who was so silent, and often so stupid-looking, at home. +With flushed cheeks and bright eyes he actually appeared good-looking. +His very hair seemed no longer red, but auburn. And when the time came +for his class-fellows to award the prizes, there was just one name on +their lips, and that was "William Torrance"; and the three rewards, +for English, Bible Knowledge, and Arithmetic respectively, all went +to him. And how shall I describe her emotions when the exhibition was +over, and all the principal people--Mrs Campion, Mrs Figgins, Mrs +Cook, the ministers, and among them Mr MacGuffog himself--came up to +congratulate her! The tears were in her eyes, her heart was in her +mouth, and she could scarcely frame words wherewith to thank them. + +Then the teacher, Mr Fairful, came up, and shaking her hand, told her +how gratified he was by Willie's success. "The poor boy," he said, "had +been very much misunderstood. He had within him a keen desire to know +all about the natural objects around him--human beings, beasts, and +birds. Instead of gratifying this desire, those who should have known +better tried to cram him with tasks that had no interest for him. The +consequence was that he became disgusted, and wore what was considered +a sullen and stupid look. But when he came to us, we gave him lessons +that were not only interesting, but referred to the familiar scenes +around him. Therefore, he devoured them eagerly, and became a most +diligent scholar. And then it was that the information about country +sights and sounds, which of his own accord he had collected, became of +use to him and gave him an advantage over his fellows. A young human +soul, in fact, is a rosebud full of delightful possibilities. Keep it +in a chilly atmosphere, and it will never develop itself properly, and +will very likely become a canker. Surround it with bright and genial +influences, and it will gradually open wide its petals, and delight the +world with its grace, fragrance, and splendour." + +"But, sir, he did not spend much time over his lessons at night." + +"No," replied Mr Fairful, "we do not approve of long home lessons. If +children give all their attention at school for four or five hours a +day, that should nearly be enough. They should then be allowed to enjoy +their own freedom, to run about and use their eyes, their limbs, and +their lungs, and to learn what their parents and Mother Nature herself +can teach them. You need have no anxiety about your son. Leave him to +himself, and he will develop his talents in his own way, and if he is +spared he will yet be a credit to you." + +The master's prophecy was fulfilled. Twenty years afterwards, a lecture +on "The Poetry of Science" was given in Sandyriggs. The lecturer +was the eminent professor, Dr William Torrance, from Canada; and the +lecture-hall was that very church where he had been denounced as a Boy +Heretic. + + + + +HOW THE DEACON BECAME AN ABSTAINER. + + +About sixty years ago a stranger arrived in the burgh, who at once +attracted notice. His name was Mitchell Roper, wholesale brazier; but +everyone called him "The Deacon." Why he was called so, nobody knew; +and, indeed, nobody inquired, for it was felt that such a special man +required a special title. + +The truth is that it was his face which at once struck public +attention. His face was really his fortune. What his character was, +I cannot describe better than by saying, that it was ineffably +respectable. Not only all the ten commandments, but all the Christian +doctrines, seemed to be written on it. As a natural result, there came +very soon to be a demand for it. Those who were getting up a public +meeting said to him, "You must give us your countenance." At every +public gathering, therefore, it was seen in a prominent place, like +the full harvest moon in the sky, or rather (to be more correct) like +one of his own copper kettles on a farmer's kitchen wall. And on the +mere strength of it, and for no other reason, the Deacon was made, in +a very short time, a member of the parochial board, a town councillor, +and an elder in the parish church. In this last capacity especially, +his influence was potent. Whenever it was his turn to stand at the +plate, the collection was nearly double; for when such a sublimely +religious visage was regarding them, the members were ashamed to put +in the regulation halfpenny. At funerals, too, his presence lent +solemnity. The very way in which he partook of the wine that was handed +round, gave the company the impression, that he was paying a tribute of +respect to the deceased and showing his sympathy with the survivors. + +In spite of his popularity, the Deacon, like every other great man, +was modest and conciliatory. He had a good word to say about all, +especially those in high places. "An excellent man, sir," was the +comment which he invariably passed when one of these was mentioned. +With him an influential position was like charity: it covered a +multitude of sins. He was particularly obsequious to the minister of +the parish, Mr Patullo, for he regarded him as the local representative +of Church and State, and national institutions generally. + +There was one national institution (if we may be allowed to call it +so) which the Deacon assiduously kept up, namely, the practice of +closing the labours of the day with a tumbler of toddy. Every evening, +punctually at ten, as soon as family worship was over and the Bibles +were removed, the servant lassie, Eesie, put down on the table whisky, +sugar, and hot water. This operation was gone about in such a serious +way, that a stranger might have fancied that it was another religious +rite which was about to be performed. And if we may judge from the +grave manner in which he proceeded to mix the elements, the Deacon +evidently thought so too. His wife, indeed, who had not the same +reverence for her great husband as the outside world had, tried to +limit his allowance of spirits to "one glass and an _eke_." But, as +he whispered to himself, he was a sound Whig and could not abide any +but Liberal measures. Accordingly, as soon as her back was turned, he +dexterously tilted up the bottle and swelled the quantity of spirits; +and if she chanced to remark that the colour of the toddy was stronger +than usual, he would asseverate in his gravest manner, "only one and +an _eke_, my dear." He did not think it necessary to explain that +they differed in their notions of the word _eke_. To her mind it +meant merely half a glass, to his mind an addition _ad libitum_. A +wonderfully accommodating term! + +In fact, the Deacon belonged to the old school of worthies commemorated +by Lord Cockburn and Dean Ramsay, who practised drinking as a virtue, +and who considered whisky as an indispensable necessary of life,--a +salve for the body, a balm for the heart, a clarifier for the mind, +a solder of friendship, a good omen at births and marriages, and a +consolation at funerals. In other words, he was about the last relic of +those thorough-going topers who found in almost every circumstance of +life a reason for drinking. As he was mixing his toddy he would say, +"It is a fine old custom, sir," and then (altering Shakespeare to suit +his meaning) he would add, 'A custom more honoured in the observance +than in the breach.' He had heard of a new-fangled set of men called +teetotallers, who condemned drinking on any occasion whatever, but he +classed them with those poor creatures--idiots and savages--who had +not yet come into the use of all the blessings of civilisation, and +did not know what was good for them. Little did he think that he was +destined to become a member of that very body which he so much despised. + +The New Year festivities, or, as they were called in Scotland, +"the daft days," had come. In Fife, the great day of the feast was +Handsel Monday, that is, the Monday after old New Year's Day. It was +dedicated to complete relaxation from toil and care, and to the kindly +interchange of good wishes and hospitality. Men forgot for a time that +they were rivals struggling for existence, and remembered only that +they were Christians. They threw off the hard armour of selfishness, +and appeared in the guise of charity. Every mansion, every farm-house +was turned into a sort of banqueting hall, and was well supplied +with comforting viands: oatmeal cakes and cheese for the children, +and currant loaves, shortbread, wine and spirits for the adults. No +invitations were sent out, but everyone was made heartily welcome. +And what a pleasant sight it was to see the merry, chubby-faced +tackety-shoed _jockies_ and _jennies_ going their rounds,--the boys in +their well-darned corduroys, the girls in their white _daidlies_, the +infants of a year old hoisted on the backs of their brothers, and all +carrying pokes to hold the quarter cakes and _whangs_ of cheese, which +they were sure to get at every farm-town. + +Of the adults who kept up these old-fashioned festivities, there was +none more faithful than the Deacon. For several years, at Handsel +Monday time, he had been accustomed to travel ten miles into the +country, starting on Sunday at mid-day, and returning on Tuesday +forenoon. His ostensible purpose was to eat his Handsel Monday dinner +with one friend, Mr Stark of Kingswell, and his Handsel Monday supper +with another friend, Mr Piper of Hallyetts; but he also made it his +business to call by the way at many houses, both public and private. +Some irreverent wag compared him on these occasions to a Dutch lugger, +putting in at every available port for the purpose of victualling; +but he felt himself to be a sort of missionary going forth to promote +good-will and good-fellowship among men. Sociality, he held, was a +virtue which ought to be encouraged for the sake of the dispenser as +well as of the receiver. "It is twice blessed: it blesseth him that +gives, and him that takes." + +On the particular occasion to which this story refers, the Deacon was +accompanied by his nephew, Sam Slater. As they set out after forenoon +service on a sombre Sunday, they presented a striking contrast. The +Deacon was stout, and full and red in the face; Sam was little, and had +a lean and hungry look. The Deacon was heavy with a sense of his own +dignity; Sam was light and airy as a bird upon the tree. The Deacon was +bent upon taking advantage of every possible refreshment by the way; +Sam was on the alert to mark the solemn excuses which would be given +for this indulgence. It was Bully Bottom led on by tricksy Puck. + +They had not gone far before the refreshing process commenced. At the +outskirts of the town, when they were passing a small change-house, the +Deacon, giving a shiver, said, "I feel cold; prevention is better than +cure; let us fortify ourselves against a chill by a timely dram." And +this accordingly they did. + +They had travelled four miles, and after climbing a steep hill they had +arrived at Baidlin Toll Inn, when the Deacon stopped, and, wiping his +perspiring forehead, said, "We must go in here, and cool ourselves with +a little of the national beverage." + +When they were drinking it, Sam, with a twinkle in his eye, said, "It's +strange that we should take our first dram to warm us, and our second +to cool us." + +"No," replied the Deacon, gravely, "not at all strange; good whisky, +sir, is a cure for almost every complaint. It's a sympathetic, +comforting friend that fits into all our wants. Yes sir! it fits into +all our wants;" and he took a large gulp, and smacked his lips. + +The next place of entertainment was at the Cross Roads, three miles +farther on. As they came up to it, Sam hurried on and passed the door; +but the Deacon, telling him to stop, said, in a voice quavering with +emotion, "This house is kept, sir, by a decent woman, Mrs Dowie, who +has just lost her husband. It was a sudden call, and my heart bleeds +for her. This is not a time to forget the widow and the fatherless. Let +us go in, and give her our sympathy." The sympathy was expressed by +quaffing two glasses to her very good health. + +The only other inn on the way was the well-known house at Inverarden +Bridge, near the church and manse. + +"Surely," said Sam, as they came up to the inn, "we need not go in +here. This house is not kept by a widow." + +"This house," said the Deacon, ignoring the gibe, "was used by my +honoured father during his journeys for twenty years, and for his son +to pass the door would imply disapproval of his conduct. In these +radical times, sir, we should not desert the old paths. Besides," he +added, rising into a higher tone, "an inn is a public institution, +sanctioned by the magistrates, and paying taxes to uphold the Church +and State. As loyal subjects of the King, we must support it." + +So in they went, and, fortified by what they imbibed, were able to +reach Kingswell, an old-fashioned farm-house surrounded by ancient +trees. + +That evening the Deacon, with his impressive personality, fairly +took possession of the house and its inmates. At tea his face, under +the influence of buttered toast, scones, savoury ham, and new-laid +eggs, literally shone like a lamp, self-feeding and self-adjusting. +Then, seated in the farmer's easy chair beside the fire, he directed +the conversation to famous preachers, as a subject appropriate for +the evening; and when one minister after another was mentioned, he +signified his approval of each by saying, "A workman not needing to +be ashamed," or, "A polished shaft in the temple." There was, perhaps, +a want of variety about these judgments, but they were uttered with +such an air of wisdom that they appeared perfectly conclusive. At nine +he "took the Books," and conducted family worship in a manner which +satisfied everybody. The servant, Kirstie Clash, whispered to Sam, +"He's a wonderfu' man that deacon o' yours. He has eneuch o' unction +and command o' Scripter to sair a haill Presbytery." And when he +retired for the night, after partaking of a liberal tumbler, it was +with the air of a man that had left no duty unperformed. + +Next day was one of those mild and sunny gleams that sometimes fall +on the sterile landscape of winter, like the memory of some youthful +pleasure on the face of an old man. The Deacon rose in the morning like +a giant refreshed, and with a giant's appetite. + +After a breakfast of ham and eggs and cold fowl, he said to his host, +Mr Stark, "By the by, you have a new neighbour at Myreside, Mr Potter. +I should like to call upon him." + +"Do you know Mr Potter?" asked Mr Stark. + +"Not exactly," replied the Deacon, "but he is a relative of my friend, +Councillor Tawse." + +"Your friend!" exclaimed Sam Slater, in a tone of surprise; "why, +Councillor Tawse is your greatest enemy." + +"Municipally, but not socially," said the Deacon. "We disagree at +the council board, but we make it up at the festive board; and even +although he were my enemy, should we not, especially at this season, +return good for evil?" + +There was no gainsaying this high religious reasoning, and so the +Deacon, accompanied by his host and Sam, called at Myreside; and there +they were entertained with shortbread, currant loaf, and whisky; and +there the Deacon, like a well-oiled machine, performed the conventional +task of wishing health and prosperity to the household. But it was at +the dinner, which took place at mid-day at Kingswell, where the great +man came out in his full strength. After the turkey and plum-pudding, +his soul seemed to melt and flow forth in benevolent expression. He +proposed toast after toast, he uttered sentiment after sentiment, he +christened each toast and sentiment with a liberal libation of toddy, +and he got into such a full flow of sociality that it was a difficult +task to stop him. At last, when the gloaming was coming on, Sam started +up and said that they must set out at once. They were to return +homewards by a different road, and stay all night with a hospitable +friend, Mr Piper of Hallyetts, who lived at a village half way on their +journey. + +After a most impressive farewell to Mr Stark and his family, the Deacon +took Sam's arm, and proceeded on his way. He had been wound up so +tightly by the festivities of the day that he was not yet nearly run +down; and as he went on, he descanted warmly upon the hospitalities +and virtues of the people they had left. And when Sam, in his own +mischievous mood, began to sneer at toast-drinking, and to wonder +how the swallowing of liquor could have any effect upon the health +and prosperity of other people, the Deacon grew red with righteous +indignation. + +"Sam," he explained, "I am astonished at your ignorance. The Bible, +sir, says that wine maketh glad the heart of man. In other words, it +fills the heart with kindly social feeling. This feeling finds its +legitimate outlet in kind wishes towards our fellow-men; and what are +kind wishes but prayers; and are you such an unbeliever, sir, as to +hold that prayers have no effect?" + +There was only one public-house by the way; and the whisky which they +got there was pronounced by the Deacon to be disgraceful. But he told +Sam to cheer up, for they would soon be at a house where they would +have every comfort. And then he went off into a eulogy on his friend +Piper. "He is a good Samaritan, sir, and his home is a perfect haven +of rest; and as for his whisky, it's the balm of Gilead, soothing the +wounds of both soul and body." + +But, alas for human expectations! When they arrived at Hallyetts, and +were welcomed warmly by Mr and Mrs Piper and their family, and when +they had been ushered into the dining-room where the table was laid +for supper, the Deacon stood aghast. So stands the country gentleman +when he steps out of his mansion on a May morning expecting to see +nothing but beauty and warmth, and finds the landscape under a sheet of +chilling snow. Instead of the warm, heart-cheering decanters that were +wont to be there, the Deacon beheld nothing but _cauldrife_ bottles +of soda water. Was it possible? Was he not mistaken? No, it was too +true! The well-remembered, much-comforting Glenlivet was gone! He sank +speechless into a chair. He turned red and then white. His friends in +alarm gathered round him, asking him if he were ill. He could only +whisper, "Brandy, for heaven's sake!" + +"I'm very sorry," said Mr Piper, "but we have not a drop of spirits or +wine in the house. Did you not hear that we have become abstainers? I +thought that all our friends had heard it." + +The Deacon could only answer with a look,--a look of pity not unmingled +with contempt. + +"The fact is," continued Mr Piper, "we were so appalled when our +cousin, poor Ned Venters, while under the influence of drink, murdered +his wife, that we took the pledge at once." + +"Your cousin's vile disposition," said the Deacon, in feeble tones, +"was the cause of the crime,--not the drink, unless it was bad. Good +sound whisky can't make a man a murderer. It makes him more amiable." + +"As Christians," said Mr Piper, "we felt that we were bound to give up +strong drink, which causes our brother to err." + +"As Christians," retorted the Deacon, still feebly, "we are commanded +to celebrate the communion, and while celebrating the communion, we +are commanded to drink wine. Your appeal to Christianity won't hold +water." + +"Come, come, Deacon," said Mr Piper, "have a cup of tea. It will do +you more good than brandy, and then you'll go to bed and you'll be all +right in the morning." + +"No bed for me," murmured the Deacon. "If I was to try to sleep here +in my present condition, there would be a _corp_ in your house before +morning. I'll go home. Come, Sam, we'll find the needed medicine in +some humble change-house by the wayside." So saying, the Deacon rose, +got his hat, and in a dignified, but (it must be confessed) rather a +staggery manner, went out of the house, closely followed by Sam. + +Next morning the Deacon awoke with the feeling that he was in unknown +quarters. He opened his eyes, and saw that he was in a strange room. +For a moment the thought flashed through his brain, "Can this be +me?" But the sight of his well-known pantaloons lying on a chair, +and in a rather muddy plight, restored his consciousness of personal +identity. He rose and looked out at the window, but saw nothing +except a few outhouses and a strip of garden, all of which were +unfamiliar. He dressed himself hastily, and opened the door of the +room, but found himself in a passage where there was no sight or +sound of anybody. He crept quietly along, and finding a room door +open, entered it. There was no one in it. It was evidently a parlour, +bright and comfortable, with a clear fire in the grate, and with the +walls covered with numerous pictures and sketches. And what was this +paper on the table? It was a sketch of a figure. He took it up; and, +could he believe his eyes? Yes! rough and hasty though it was, it was +a representation of himself in a state of stupor--hair dishevelled, +eyes swollen and closed, features distorted, mouth open, jaw hanging +down; and underneath it was written "A Drunken Sot." Could this be the +countenance of which he was so proud, and which, his admirers said, +was the embodiment of respectability? As he looked at it, he felt that +his good name was gone, and the perspiration fell in drops from his +forehead. What enemy could have done this? + +He was still wondering, when steps were heard approaching, and he had +just time to push away the picture, when there stood in the doorway the +very last man whom at that moment he would have wished to see--the +Rev. Mr Patullo. And this gentleman behaved in an extraordinary manner. +Not a smile of recognition did he give. Not a word did he utter. He +merely sat down and gazed sorrowfully on the Deacon. His feelings were +evidently too strong for words. The silence continued for about a +minute. It was an awful minute for the Deacon. He felt that he ought to +speak; but he really could not do it till he knew where he was; and it +would be a most humiliating question to ask, "Where am I?" + +At last the minister broke the oppressive silence. In that slow, deep, +and funereal tone for which he was famous, he repeated again and +again just one word--"Lost! Lost! Lost!" and then stopped. This was a +favourite method of his, which he often used at the beginning of his +sermon, and which at once riveted and solemnised his congregation. And +on this occasion it sounded in the Deacon's ears like the voice of +Doom. Then after an awful pause, the minister continued: + +"This is terrible, Mr Roper, terrible for me, and still more terrible +for you. I came here yesterday to dine and stay the night with my +friend, Mr Virtue, the artist. We were sitting at supper, when +intelligence arrived that a gentleman of respectable appearance had +dropped down by the roadside, and that his friend who was with him was +unable to take him any farther. He was brought in, and you may imagine +what was my horror when I found that the gentleman was my friend and +chief elder, and that he was in a plight which I can't trust myself to +describe. Now, as I must bring this matter before the Kirk Session--" + +"Oh! Mr Patullo, you surely will never do that." + +"I must. I would be quite unworthy of my place if I did not do it. If +it were not your own case, you yourself would advise that. You remember +how severe you were upon poor Willie Flett, who was up before us last +month. But before I make up my mind definitely, I shall listen to any +explanation you have to give." + +The Deacon, fortunately for himself, had long cultivated the faculty of +putting the best face on every matter, and this faculty now served him +in good stead. So, shaking Mr Patullo's hand, and wiping a tear from +his eye, he said, "Thank you, sir, you are acting as my best friend, +as you have always done. I will, therefore, tell you frankly the whole +matter. Sam Slater and I were keeping our Handsel Monday at Kingswell. +I am not an abstainer, as you know, and have always used the gifts +of Providence without abusing them. At dinner I had my share of the +punch, but no more, and when we set out I was perfectly well. But, +unfortunately, at a half-way house where we stopped for refreshment, +the whisky was bad. As soon as I had taken it, I felt ill, and said +so to Sam. It was some time before it acted; but at length it made me +quite sick and helpless. Mr Patullo! it was poison and not drink that +put me into such a sad condition! I was really ill, not intoxicated." + +Mr Patullo hummed and hawed, and said, "Would you object to me hearing +what Mr Sam Slater has got to say?" + +"Nothing would gratify me more," said the Deacon, although he did not +look as if he were gratified. The fact is, that he was not sure on what +line the whimsical Sam might get. + +When Sam came in and was asked point blank by the minister, "How do +you account for the state in which Mr Roper was last night?" it seemed +as if he were going to put his foot into it. Blushing and hesitating +he said, "Well! really I could not undertake to say." But when the +minister asked him if they got anything at the roadside public-house +which disagreed with them, he saw what cue he was to take. + +"Ah! yes," he said, brightening up, "I remember now--the bad whisky. +The Deacon, after drinking it, said that it was atrocious. It had no +bad effect at first; but when we were in Mr Piper's house, I noticed +that the Deacon turned as white as a sheet, and when we came out into +the open air, he became so sick that he had to sit down by the wayside. +Yes, it must have been the adulterated drink that poisoned him." + +"But how was it that you were not poisoned?" asked the minister. + +"For the simple reason," answered Sam, "that I merely put the stuff to +my lips and did not take off my glass." + +"Well," said the minister, after some anxious consideration, "as a +Christian pastor I must take the most charitable view; and even as +a humane man, I must, where there is a doubt, give the accused the +benefit of a doubt. I therefore will agree to make no charge against +you. But you must take means instantly to prevent yourself ever falling +into such suspicious circumstances again." + +"How can I do that?" asked the Deacon. + +"By taking the pledge," replied the minister: "not publicly--just now +at least, that might rouse people's suspicion, but privately to myself. +I shall draw up a paper here to-day, which you will sign, and to which +Mr Slater will append his name as a witness. I shall then explain to +the people of the house that you were ill, not intoxicated, and that to +prevent the uncharitable world putting the worst construction on the +circumstance, they must mention this lamentable occurrence to nobody." + +But the Deacon demurred, and turned sick at the idea of taking the +pledge. What! he who had upheld moderate drinking as the right use of +the mercies of Providence, and had branded total abstainers as casting +a reflection on Him who turned water into wine! + +Mr Patullo, however, in a resolute voice said, "Mr Roper, if you could +have seen yourself as others saw you last night--but what is this?" He +had caught sight of the sketch on the table, had taken it up and was +looking at it. "This is the work of Tom, Mr Virtue's son. He is an art +student, and sketches everybody and everything. It was too bad of him +to take advantage of you in your unfortunate plight. But its turning +up just now, at this critical moment, serves a good purpose. It gives +you the power which Burns so much desired for mankind--the power of +seeing yourself as others see you. Look at it, Mr Roper, and listen to +me. What happened yesterday may happen again in your own town. You may +take a glass too much, and that glass, like the one that has made you +ill, may be poison. And what will be the result? You will appear before +your fellow-townsmen, your fellow-Christians, your own wife, in this +disgusting condition. Your ruin will then be instant and irretrievable. +The high character which you have maintained for so many years will +fall to pieces; and from being the respected and admired of Sandyriggs +society, you will become, what you are represented here to be, 'a +drunken sot.'" + +The Deacon shuddered at the prospect thus held up before him, and +seizing Mr Patullo's hands, declared that he was ready to sign a +promise, renouncing drink for ever. + +The Deacon was able to keep his promise; for, if he ever felt tempted +to stretch forth his hand towards the enchanted cup, the thought of +that horrible sketch appalled him and quenched the desire. He now gave +his countenance to every teetotal platform; and if that countenance had +lost the florid complexion which at one time had been so much admired, +yet it still beamed with wisdom. He seldom spoke, but his silence was +far more expressive than his speech would have been. His usual luck +also attended him. He was now pointed out as a fine specimen of a +self-sacrificing Christian, one who had given up all the delights of +convivial society, of which he was a great favourite, in order to set +an example to his weaker brethren. + + +THE END. + + +_Printed by_ M'Farlane & Erskine, _Edinburgh_. + + + + +_MORISON BROTHERS' PUBLICATIONS._ + + +FIRST SERIES. Third and Popular Edition. + +The Auld Scotch Sangs. + +Arranged and Harmonised by SINCLAIR DUNN. + +Containing 96 Scotch Songs with Pianoforte Accompaniments. + + Paper Covers, 2/6 + Cloth (Gilt Boards), 3/6 + Leather, Limp (Gilt Edges), 7/6 + Silk Clan Tartan, 10/6 + +(Special Tartans bound to order.) + + +SECOND SERIES. Just Published. + +Auld Scotch Sangs and Ballads. + +Arranged and Harmonised by SINCLAIR DUNN. + +Containing 96 Scotch Songs with Pianoforte Accompaniments. + + Paper Covers, 2/6 + Cloth (Gilt Boards), 3/6 + Leather, Limp (Gilt Edges), 7/6 + Silk Clan Tartan, 10/6 + +(Special Tartans bound to order.) + + +COMPLETE EDITION IN ONE VOLUME OF + +Auld Scotch Sangs + +AND + +Auld Scotch Sangs and Ballads. + +Arranged and Harmonised by SINCLAIR DUNN. + +Containing + +192 Scotch Songs with Pianoforte Accompaniments. + + CLOTH (Gilt Boards), 6/- + LEATHER (Limp), 10/6 + SILK CLAN TARTAN, 15/- + +(Special Tartans Bound to Order.) + +Complete Illustrated Catalogue Post Free on Application. + + +JUST PUBLISHED. + +Fcap. 4to. Art Linen Illustrated Boards, Gilt Top, with 16 +Illustrations, 237 pages. + +Price 6/- + +SKETCH-BOOK OF THE NORTH. + +By GEORGE EYRE-TODD. + +Illustrated by A.S. Boyd, A. Monro, S. Reid, and Harrington Mann. + +"A handsome and beautifully illustrated book, worthily preserving Mr +Todd's graceful and pleasant prose from oblivion."--_Scotsman._ + +"A very handsome book."--_Glasgow Herald._ + +"We cannot imagine a more acceptable gift to an exiled Scot or an +artistically inclined Sassenach."--_North British Daily Mail._ + +"It would not be too much to say that an Englishman, desiring an +intimate knowledge of Scotland and its people, would gain it more +readily by reading Mr Eyre-Todd's book than he would by becoming a +student of the Kailyard Academy."--_Academy._ + +"An exceptionally delightful book."--_New Saturday._ + +"The book is one that is likely to find its way into every patriotic +and cultured home in Scotland."--_Scottish Society._ + + +Works of Scottish Humour and Pathos. + +By NICHOLAS DICKSON. + + _NEW EDITION._ Cloth, 2s. Postage, 4-1/2d. + + THE ELDER AT THE PLATE } + } + A Collection of Anecdotes and Incidents relating to } + Church-door Collections. } One + } Vol. + and } + } + THE KIRK BEADLE. } + } + A Collection of Anecdotes and Incidents relating to } + the Minister's Man. } + + + THE AULD SCOTCH MINISTER } + } + As sketched in Anecdote and Story. } + } One + and } Vol. + } + THE AULD SCOTCH PRECENTOR. } + } + As sketched in Anecdote and Story. } + + +Morison Brothers, 52 Renfield Street, Glasgow. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Queer Folk of Fife, by David Pryde + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 59829 *** |