Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush

cause neither the Drumtochty houses nor his manners were on that large scale. He was accustomed to deliver himself in the yard, and to conclude his directions with one foot in the s

g of a sign, and laboured under a perpetual disability o

Annie no come through?" and Tammas looked MacLure straight i

hes a chance, but a' daurna; a' doo

dgment, he laid his hand on Tammas's shoulder wi

play the man and no vex Annie; sh

uld have crushed the bones of a weakling. Drumtochty felt in such

in her beautiful eyes, for she had seen many tragedies, and in

hoo she ever lookit at me, 'at hesna hed ae word tae say aboot her till it's ower late.... She didna cuist up tae me that a' wesna worthy o' her, no her, but aye she said, 'Yir ma ain gudeman, and nane cud be kinder tae me.'... An' a' wes minded tae be kind, but a' see noo mony little trokes a' micht hae dune for her, and noo t

ed with his sorrow dry-eyed, for tears were denied Drumtochty men. Neither the doctor nor Jess moved hand or foot, but their hearts were wit

g as luve. If Annie gaes frae the sicht o' yir een she 'ill come the nearer tae yir hert. She wants tae see ye, and tae hear ye say that ye 'ill never forget her nicht nor day till ye meet i

dae without seein' Annie comin' tae meet me in the gloamin', an' gaein' in an' oot the hoose, an' hear

re a sae prood o' ye, an' pleased tae think that ye hed keepit deith frae anither hame. Can ye no think o' somethin' tae

saw the doctor shake in his saddle. A' never kent till that meenut hoo he hed a share in a'body's grief, an' carried the heaviest wecht o' a' the Glen. A' peetied him wi' Tammas look

mither's een, and it wes me hed tae tell her she wes an orphan, an' nae man wes better pleased when she got a gude husband, and a' helpit her wi' her fower bairns. A've naither wife nor bairns o' ma own, an' a coont a' the

-oot ruckle o' a body o' mine juist tae see ye baith sittin' at the fireside, an' the

t him the winsomest man a' ever saw. He wes transfigured that

a'm no ungratefu' tae you, doctor, for a' ye've dune and what ye said

road, with a skill that came of long experience, and t

nd a' wud raither hae ta'en ma chance o' anither row in a Gle

land fit for't, and they micht as weel try tae get the mune oot o' heaven. Sae

' if Annie wes a duchess her man wudna lose her; but bein'

for he hesna lost mair than five per cent, o' his cases, and

d a heavy day. But it wud be the grandest thing that was ever dun

deith, and he wes aye kinder than fouk kent;" and the doctor passed at a gal

a' heard ye on the ro

oo's the gudewife? a

heugh, an' Tammas is l

in his wife as Tammas, and there's no a bonnier wumman o' her age crosses oor kirk door than Annie,

d but ane, and it wud cost a hundred

rt day's work; but hundred or no hundred we 'ill hae

sheugh?" and MacLure tur

r broke the Drumtochty reserve, "a'm a lonely man, wi' naebody o' ma ain b

barley, an' what's the gude o't? Burnbrae gaes aff tae get a goon for his wife or a buke for

bit fairin' in his pooch for the fouk at

oking) wi' me aboot their fairing, or feeling ma pockets. Ou ay, a've seen it a' at ither hooses, th

ved the noblest wumman in the glen or onywhere,

gift. Ma hert turned tae bitterness, but that passed awa beside the brier bush whar George Hoo lay yon sad si

for Drumsheugh's hand, but ne

tae keep the licht frae gaein' oot in anither hoose. Write the telegram, man, and Sand

l lat me pay the half, bit by bit-a' ken yir wullin' tae dae't a',-but a' haen

ther more marvellously dressed than ever, for Drumsheugh's topcoat had been forced upon him for the occasion, his face and neck one redness with the bitter cold; rough and ungainly, yet not without some signs of power in his eye and voice, the most heroic type of his noble profession. MacLure compassed the precious arrival with observances till he was securely seated in Drumsheugh's dogcart-a vehicle that lent i

snaw, but the drifts are deep in the Glen, and th'ill

e they forced a passage through a slap in a dyke, thrice they used

ae an inch; we 'ill get through this steadin' here tae the

t, sae we hev tae ford, and the snaw's been melting up Urtach way. There's nae doot the

er; wud ye mind haddin' them on yir knee till we're ower, an' keep

n the trunk of a tree. There are summer floods, when the water is brown and flecked with foam, but this was a winter flood, which is black and sullen, and runs in the centre with a st

l struck a hidden stone or fell suddenly into a rut; but when they neare

ither be on yir back; but ye never failed me yet

and it seemed as if it were to be carried away. Sir George was as brave as most men, but he had never forded a Highland river in flood, and the mass of black water racing past beneath, before, behind him, aff

e will be suner or later gin ye shirk yir d

ortly, but this is what they intended to

; MacLure leant forward in his seat, a rein in each hand, and his eyes fixed on Hillocks, who was

sit heavy in yir seats. Up the channel noo, and ye 'll be oot o' the swirl. Weel dune, Jess, weel dune, auld mare! Mak straicht for me, doctor, an'

e middle; a Hielan' ford is a kittle (hazardo

Tochty in flood. Ye're boond tae succeed aifter sic a graund beginning" for it had sprea

heap of speechless misery by the kitchen fire, and carried him off to the barn

ot stoppin' till a' come for ye, an' a'll shut the door tae haud in the noise, an' k

thingye want

be danger; but what are ye feared f

ve twice, when Tammas crept to the door and l

ng back, and MacLure filled the doorway, preceded by a

d me that there was nothing like it to be seen that a

he like again; it's a' ower, man, withoot a hitch frae beg

nk Annie ..

oose inside a month; that's the gude

e? it's a mercy a' keppit ye, or we w

ll come back in a whilie, an' ye 'ill see Anni

and let him kneel

eech came only once in his lifetime to Tam

ir George in our solitary first next morning, he

and I were on the gossip last night, and I k

you count me a mean, miserly rascal," and the cheque with D

voice from the first called so

'm proud to have met you; you are an honour to

nly Jamie Soutar and Hil

cks? hoo dae ye feel? A

locks had recovered, and be

A' wud like to hae it

words, an' they're tr

sna ken that,

's that,

he sud fecht awa for us a', and maybe dee before he ken

orge, an' him the greatest doctor in the

ae missed it for twen

rdinary to the par