Donal Grant

ctly like him. But ere the evening was over, Donal saw there was no featural resemblance between the two faces, and was puzzled to understand how

anting room-homely enough it was, but luxurious compared to what he had been accustomed to. He saw white walls and a brown-hued but clean-swept wooden floor, on which shone a keen-eyed little fire from a low grate. Two easy chairs, covered with some party-coloured

e at yer service, sir," said Doory, "an'

n if it had been carpeted. A small mahogany table, black with age, stood in the middle. On a side-table covered with a cloth of faded green, lay a large family bible; behind it were a few books and a t

y the week? I wad fain bide wi' ye, but whaur an' whan I may get w

till that be ower. Upo' the Mononday mornin' we s' haud a cooncil thegither-you an'

helpers; and after much washing and brushing, all that was possible to him in the way of dressing, reappeared in the kit

ain cheir frae

t's onything oors for but to gie th

had a sair

sair day'

I'm y

an' my labour t

I'm s

get sair pressed therein. Life 's as hard upo' the feet o' a man as upo' ony pairt o' 'm! Whan they gang wrang, there isna muckle to be dune till they be set richt again. I'm sair honourt, I say to

to himself; "there's mair i' the

e seat app

rt wi' that buik o' yours, an' lat yer sowl gie place to yer boady's ric

ny I gie ye a bit noo an' than, specially w

ony mair nor o' your boady! Sae ye see, sir, we're like Joh

ed Donal. "Ye couldna

t we wad fit better yet gien

ns ye had whan he broucht

n ye, an' I be content wi' the brains ye gie me, what richt hae ye to be discontentit wi' the brains y

onal Grant,"

n respec'," returned the cobbler. "M

in i' your askin'

began to eat-first of oat-cakes, baked by the

ory, "we're but semple fowk, ye see-content to haud oor earthly t

hoose fa's doon, an' ye haena to think o' ony damages to pey-forby 'at gien it laistit ony

his wife, "there's naethi

s no i' scriptur'? Ye ken a heap, I alloo, aboot what's

best to ken w

nt a

eturned in pl

was a joy to his heart: he was himself an original-one,

ght it an equal lapse in breeding not to show interest in the history as well as the person of a guest. After a

haud yersel', sir, i' th

replied Donal; "my mother s

hiles no that curiou

llowing, h

till ye ken Doory an' me a bit better, sir," he

Donal. "I'll tell ye onythi

r, an' keep what ye wu

ne. For mony a year I kent mair aboot the hill-side nor the ingle-neuk. But

n something hoo he hauds things gaein' inside the hoose-in a body's hert, I mean-in mine an'

nk God fillsna a'thi

ro't o' a burnin' m'untain! God himsel' canna win sae far ben in a shallow place as in a deep place; he canna b

ke the win's an' the wawves, as gien they had been gaein' at their ain

hink aboot it 'afore I ans

ned. Then said An

lad frae a shop i' the muckle toon-or a clerk,

at, I thank Go

. I wudna hae ye thank God ye're no a cobbler like me! Ye micht,

l fancy an angel a shepherd-an' he wad coont my father guid company! Troth, he wad want wings an' airms an' feet an' a' to luik efter the lambs whiles! But gien sic a ane was a clerk in a coontin' hoo

hepherd the noo?"

A freen'-ye may 'a' h'ard his name-sir Gilbert Galbraith-made the beginnin' o'

time to say 't to ye, Anerew, but I was sure he was frae the college,

y kist, though-whan that co

na be ower muckle t

e it s' come 'atween 's!" said Donal. "Gien ye'll hae m

e yer mither-tongue?" said the cobbler,

but weel eneuch t

id ye hae't-but the ae thing I wud fain be a scholar for mysel'!

he made little o' comparet w

wha has the speerit wad fain hae the letter tu! But it disna maitter; I s' set to lea

an' the maister himsel', speyks plain Scotch! What for no! What wad they du there wi' Greek,

ughed merrily,

n be a gran' mither-tongue there, 'at 'll soop up a' the lave, an' be

ed the cobbler, wit

the Greek; onygait, it has mair Greek nor Laitin words intil 't, an' ye ken the Greek 's an aulder tongue nor the Laitin. Weel, gien we could work oor w'y back to the auldest grit-gran'mither-tongue o' a', I'm think

l 's i' the warl' ootside," said Andrew, "that sic a language wad be mair like a bairn

word he wantit, haein' eneuch common afore to explain 't wi'! Afore lang the language wad hae in

' haein' to learn sae muckle!" said the

and laug

she said, laughing too. "Ye'll be dot

. Gien he's aye been haudin' by the trowth, I dinna think he'll fin' the trowth, hasna hauden by him.-B

he Lord wulls,"

r; an' eh, we want nae le

ho never loved wisdom so much as when she appeared in peasant-garb.

's no puttin' in her appearance! I was sure o' h

talk of things their guest did not understand; that

n up wi' the things o' this warl' mair nor her grannie an' me could wuss. She's in a place n

ars could in justice be expeckit," interposed the grandmother.

ken when a light foot was

to answer for hersel'

d, and a good-looking girl

hoo 's a' wi' ye?

speth, the grand-daughter's h

'father," she answered.

cobblet!"

mother, "by the spark o' fire

e girl. "I hae run a' the ro'd to get a

s gaein' up a

ve o' 's: whan she's weel, she's no ane to spare hersel'-or ither fowk aither!-I wadna c

ies, yoong Eppy!" said the cobb

y, gran'father!" said the girl, w

to du as she tells ye? 'Atween her an' you that

t. But, eh, it's q

gs committit til oor trust. Ane peyt to serve in a hoose maun

ut the hoose was as partic'lar

my lord

an' doon the stair the forepairt o' th

people must be humoured. Donal was not too simple to understand her: he gave her look no reception. Be

o my bed. I hae traivelt a maitter o'

considert that!-Come, yoong Eppy, we maun

ithout shoes or stockings a gentleman. Not the less readily or actively, however, did she assist her grandmother in preparing the tired wayfarer's couch. In a f

eep in the luxury of conscious repose, when the sound of the cobbler's hammer for a moment roused him, and he knew the