Adam Hepburn's Vow

ich and picturesque part of Lanarkshire which included the parish and village of Inverburn. It lay in a secluded and lovely valley, sheltered from the north and east by heather-clad hills, while to t

arm to be pleasant. Upon a gentle eminence about a mile removed from the village, the grey turrets of Inverburn, long time the seat of the Hamiltons, peeped out from among its ancestral trees. It was a fine, proud old place, renowned for its beauty and its antiquity even in a district where many a princely heritage reared its stately head. The graceful spire of the parish church intervened, however, between the village and the mansion. It also sto

about doors and windows with a loving clinging touch. It looked fair indeed that mild April evening, for lilac, laburnum, and hawthorn were in flower in the shrubberies, and primrose and polyan

t was a pleasant face, as I said, yet there was a grave firmness about the mouth, a dauntless gleam in the fine clear brown eye, which betokened that Jane Gray was not without a will of her own. She looked what she was, a firm, prudent, self-reliant woman, who had known the cares as well as the joys of life. To her dying mother

wever, in the resolution of the elder daughter of the manse. Very faithfully year by year she discharged her duties as mistress of her father's household. She was mother and sister in one to her brothers

d pleaded for her love. But though there came one at last who stirred her heart to its deepest depths, she shook her head. She looked at her father's white head and drooping shoulders, thought of his desolate old age, the empty, childless home she would leave behind, and, crushing down the yearnings of her heart, she answered no. Perhaps it was that experience, undreamed of by those to whom she so unselfishly minist

he young, eager face with a kindly smile, for the eldest son of her brother Andrew was very dear to her heart. He had been sojourning for some months at the manse, his grandfather taking much pride and pleasure in forwarding him in his studies preparatory to his entering the University of Edinburgh

m eager and excited," said

e it is the Reverend James Guthrie. It is his horse, I am quite sure, b

ng the impetuous boy, as he was about to run off in search of his grandfather. "Stay, and I will walk down wi

you can be right, Gavin," she said thoughtfully, "for I remember that Mr. Guthrie intended to be present at a spec

exclaimed the lad, and darting forward, he was the first to greet the much-

d to meet her father's revered friend, who was almost a brother to

ook hands; nevertheless her eyes dwelt rather anxiously upon his fine face, for in these t

have arrived to find your honour

from home on a Friday evening if he is to supply his own pulpit on the S

the hot and dusty steed away in the direction of his grandfather's stable, "so I may say that a strange apprehension of evil came upon me in my bed last night, and so strong was the conviction in my mind this morning that I should not lon

alarm into the minister's face. She was astonished and relieved at its sweet sere

alued servants," she said involuntarily; "but pray tell me, Mr. Guthrie, have you

e so, I cannot hope to escape, for I am doubly guilty of the actions which have doomed him. If it be so, and the Lord call me to bear witness

frame, for not yet had the scaffold become so common, and in those brutal times so desirable a mod

n ill be spared from the vineyard in these times," said Jane Gray, earnestly. "But now, let us

raised his eyes to Heaven and reverently invoked a benedictio

ling, had arrived at the manse. Betty, or Elizabeth McBean, had served with the Grays since her girlhood, and her love for the family was only exceeded by h

amily room, very warmly greeted his friend and brother-minister, whom he had known and loved these many years. There was a great change in the minister of Inverburn

ead, his long hair and flowing beard as white as the driven snow. He looked a patriarch indeed, and the serene and heavenly expressi

rmly and fervently grasped Mr. Guthrie's hand. "But I trust no untoward circumstances prompt

minister of Stirling. "I only returned from Edinburgh yesterday, and what I heard there augured ill for the peace of Zion. I

plied the minister of Inverburn. "Gratitude for past invaluable

ld scorn passed ove

tly. "The Marquis, I am told, leaves for London on Monday, to offer his congratulations

fully. "No man, either prince or peasant, shall die before the appointed time. But here comes Jane with your re

unities for sweet counsel together, though more sorely needed, will become more limited, I fear. And now, are all

ones of satisfaction. "Here comes young Gavin Gray, in whose studies I take a deep interest. Here Gavin, lad, com

ard frankly, and was again addressed

Guthrie's visitation both to his father's house, and to his uncle and aunt at Rowallan. Andrew and Susan, I am sure, would be greatly

aunt says, Gavin," he added to the lad. "Run and get Donald saddled and

grandfather's behest, and was soon sca