"Ye"re late, Sam"l," said Henders.
"What for?"
"Ou, I was thinkin" ye wid be gaen the length o" T"nowhead the nicht, an" I saw Sanders Elshioner makkin"s wy there an oor syne."
"Did ye?" cried Sam"l, adding craftily, "but it"s naething to me."
"Tod, lad," said Henders, "gin ye dinna buckle to, Sanders"ll be carryin" her off."
Sam"l flung back his head and pa.s.sed on.
"Sam"l!" cried Henders after him.
"Ay," said Sam"l, wheeling round.
"Gie Bell a kiss frae me."
The full force of this joke struck neither all at once. Sam"l began to smile at it as he turned down the school-wynd, and it came upon Henders while he was in his garden feeding his ferret. Then he slapped his legs gleefully, and explained the conceit to Will"um Byars, who went into the house and thought it over.
There were twelve or twenty little groups of men in the square, which was lit by a flare of oil suspended over a cadger"s cart. Now and again a staid young woman pa.s.sed through the square with a basket on her arm, and if she had lingered long enough to give them time, some of the idlers would have addressed her. As it was, they gazed after her, and then grinned to each other.
"Ay, Sam"l," said two or three young men, as Sam"l joined them beneath the town-clock. "Ay, Davit," replied Sam"l.
This group was composed of some of the sharpest wits in Thrums, and it was not to be expected that they would let this opportunity pa.s.s.
Perhaps when Sam"l joined them he knew what was in store for him.
"Was ye lookin" for T"nowhead"s Bell, Sam"l?" asked one.
"Or mebbe ye was wantin" the minister?" suggested another, the same who had walked out twice with Chirsty Duff and not married her after all.
Sam"l could not think of a good reply at the moment, so he laughed good-naturedly.
"Ondootedly she"s a snod bit crittur," said Davit, archly.
"An" michty clever wi" her fingers," added Jamie Deuchars.
"Man, I"ve thocht o" makkin" up to Bell mysel," said Pete Ogle. "Wid there be ony chance, think ye, Sam"l?"
"I"m thinkin" she widna hae ye for her first, Pete," replied Sam"l, in one of those happy flashes that come to some men, "but there"s nae sayin" but what she micht tak ye to finish up wi"."
The unexpectedness of this sally startled every one. Though Sam"l did not set up for a wit, however, like Davit, it was notorious that he could say a cutting thing once in a way.
"Did ye ever see Bell reddin" up?" asked Pete, recovering from his overthrow. He was a man who bore no malice.
"It"s a sicht," said Sam"l, solemnly.
"Hoo will that be?" asked Jamie Deuchars.
"It"s weel worth yer while," said Pete, "to ging atower to the T"nowhead an" see. Ye"ll mind the closed-in beds i" the kitchen? Ay, weel, they"re a fell spoilt crew, T"nowhead"s litlins, an" no that aisy to manage. Th"
ither la.s.ses Lisbeth"s hae"n had a michty trouble wi" them. When they war i" the middle o" their reddin" up the bairns wid come tumlin" about the floor, but, sal, I a.s.sure ye, Bell didna fash lang wi" them. Did she, Sam"l?"
"She did not," said Sam"l, dropping into a fine mode of speech to add emphasis to his remark.
"I"ll tell ye what she did," said Pete to the others. "She juist lifted up the litlins, twa at a time, an" flung them into the coffin-beds. Syne she snibbit the doors on them, an" keepit them there till the floor was dry."
"Ay, man, did she so?" said Davit, admiringly.
"I"ve seen her do"t mysel," said Sam"l.
"There"s no a la.s.sie maks better bannocks this side o" Fetter Lums,"
continued Pete.
"Her mither tocht her that," said Sam"l; "she was a gran" han" at the bakin", Kitty Ogilvy."
"I"ve heard say," remarked Jamie, putting it this way so as not to tie himself down to anything, ""at Bell"s scones is equal to Mag Lunan"s."
"So they are," said Sam"l, almost fiercely.
"I kin she"s a neat han" at singein" a hen," said Pete.
"An" wi"t a"," said Davit, "she"s a snod, canty bit stocky in her Sabbath claes."
"If onything, thick in the waist," suggested Jamie.
"I dinna see that," said Sam"l.
"I d"na care for her hair either," continued Jamie, who was very nice in his tastes; "something mair yalloweby wid be an improvement."
"A"body kins," growled Sam"l, ""at black hair"s the bonniest." The others chuckled. "Puir Sam"l!" Pete said.
Sam"l not being certain whether this should be received with a smile or a frown, opened his mouth wide as a kind of compromise. This was position one with him for thinking things, over.
Few Auld Lichts, as I have said, went the length of choosing a helpmate for themselves. One day a young man"s friends would see him mending the washing-tub of a maiden"s mother. They kept the joke until Sat.u.r.day night, and then he learned from them what he had been after. It dazed him for a time, but in a year or so he grew accustomed to the idea, and they were then married. With a little help he fell in love just like other people.
Sam"l was going the way of the others, but he found it difficult to come to the point. He only went courting once a week, and he could never take up the running at the place where he left off the Sat.u.r.day before. Thus he had not, so far, made great headway. His method of making up to Bell had been to drop in at T"nowhead on Sat.u.r.day nights and talk with the farmer about the rinderpest.
The farm kitchen was Bell"s testimonial. Its chairs, tables, and stools were scoured by her to the whiteness of Rob Angus" saw-mill boards, and the muslin blind on the window was starched like a child"s pinafore.
Bell was brave, too, as well as energetic. Once Thrums had been overrun with thieves. It is now thought that there may have been only one, but he had the wicked cleverness of a gang. Such was his repute that there were weavers who spoke of locking their doors when they went from home.
He was not very skilful, however, being generally caught, and when they said they knew he was a robber, he gave them their things back and went away. If they had given him time there is no doubt that he would have gone off with his plunder. One night he went to T"nowhead, and Bell, who slept In the kitchen, was awakened by the noise. She knew who it would be, so she rose and dressed herself, and went to look for him with a candle. The thief had not known what to do when he got in, and as it was very lonely he was glad to see Bell. She told him he ought to be ashamed of himself, and would not let him out by the door until he had taken off his boots so as not to soil the carpet.
On this Sat.u.r.day evening Sam"l stood his ground in the square, until by and by he found himself alone. There were other groups there still, but his circle had melted away. They went separately, and no one said good-night. Each took himself off slowly, backing out of the group until he was fairly started.
Sam"l looked about him, and then, seeing that the others had gone, walked round the town-house into the darkness of the brae that leads down and then up to the farm of T"nowhead.
To get into the good graces of Lisbeth Fargus you had to know her ways and humor them. Sam"l, who was a student of women, knew this, and so, instead of pushing the door open and walking in, he went through the rather ridiculous ceremony of knocking. Sanders Elshioner was also aware of this weakness of Lisbeth"s, but though he often made up his mind to knock, the absurdity of the thing prevented his doing so when he reached the door. T"nowhead himself had never got used to his wife"s refined notions, and when any one knocked he always started to his feet, thinking there must be something wrong.
Lisbeth came to the door, her expansive figure blocking the way in.