A man sat at the table in the middle of the floor, his forehead on his hand. Donal did not see his face. He seemed waiting, like his father for the Book, while his mother got it from the top of the wall. He stepped over the threshold, and in the simplicity of his heart, said:--
"Ye"ll be gaein" to hae worship!"
"Na, na!" returned the man, raising his head, and taking a brief, hard stare at his visitor; "we dinna set up for prayin" fowk i" this hoose.
We ley that to them "at kens what they hae to be thankfu" for."
"I made a mistak," said Donal. "I thoucht ye micht hae been gaein" to say gude mornin" to yer makker, an" wad hae likit to j"in wi" ye; for I kenna what I haena to be thankfu" for. Guid day to ye."
"Ye can bide an" tak yer parritch gien ye like."
"Ow, na, I thank ye. Ye micht think I cam for the parritch, an" no for the prayers. I like as ill to be c.o.o.nt.i.t a hypocrite as gien I war ane."
"Ye can bide an" hae worship wi" "s, gien ye tak the buik yersel"."
"I canna lead whaur "s nane to follow. Na; I"ll du better on the muir my lane."
But the gudewife was a religions woman after her fashion--who can be after any one else"s? She came with a bible in her hand, and silently laid it on the table. Donal had never yet prayed aloud except in a murmur by himself on the hill, but, thus invited, could not refuse. He read a psalm of trouble, breaking into hope at the close, then spoke as follows:--
"Freens, I"m but yoong, as ye see, an" never afore daured open my moo i" sic fashion, but it comes to me to speyk, an" wi" yer leave speyk I wull. I canna help thinkin" the gudeman "s i" some trible--siclike, maybe, as King Dawvid whan he made the psalm I hae been readin" i" yer hearin". Ye observt hoo it began like a stormy mornin", but ye h"ard hoo it changed or a" was dune. The sun comes oot bonny i" the en", an"
ye hear the birds beginnin" to sing, tellin" Natur" to gie ower her greitin". An" what brings the guid man til"s senses, div ye think?
What but jist the thoucht o" him "at made him, him "at cares aboot him, him "at maun come to ill himsel" "afore he lat onything he made come to ill. Sir, lat"s gang doon upo" oor knees, an" commit the keepin" o"
oor sowls to him as til a faithfu" creator, wha winna miss his pairt "atween him an" hiz."
They went down on their knees, and Donal said,
"O Lord, oor ain father an" saviour, the day ye hae sent "s has arrived bonny an" gran", an" we bless ye for sen"in" "t; but eh, oor father, we need mair the licht that shines i" the darker place. We need the dawn o" a spiritual day inside "s, or the bonny day ootside winna gang for muckle. Lord, oor micht, speyk a word o" peacefu" recall to ony dog o"
thine "at may be worryin" at the hert o" ony sheep o" thine "at"s run awa; but dinna ca" him back sae as to lea" the puir sheep "ahint him; fess back dog an" lamb thegither, O Lord. Haud "s a" frae ill, an"
guide "s a" to guid, an" oor mornin" prayer "s ower. Amen."
They rose from their knees, and sat silent for a moment. Then the guidwife put the pot on the fire with the water for the porridge. But Donal rose, and walked out of the cottage, half wondering at himself that he had dared as he had, yet feeling he had done but the most natural thing in the world.
"Hoo a body "s to win throuw the day wantin" the lord o" the day an"
the hoor an" the minute, "s "ayont me!" he said to himself, and hastened away.
Ere noon the blue line of the far ocean rose on the horizon.
CHAPTER IV.
THE TOWN.
Donal was queer, some of my readers will think, and I admit it; for the man who regards the affairs of life from any other point than his own greedy self, must be queer indeed in the eyes of all who are slaves to their imagined necessities and undisputed desires.
It was evening when he drew nigh the place whither he had directed his steps--a little country town, not far from a famous seat of learning: there he would make inquiry before going further. The minister of his parish knew the minister of Auchars, and had given him a letter of introduction. The country around had not a few dwellings of distinction, and at one or another of these might be children in want of a tutor.
The sun was setting over the hills behind him as he entered the little town. At first it looked but a village, for on the outskirts, through which the king"s highway led, were chiefly thatched cottages, with here and there a slated house of one story and an attic; but presently began to appear houses of larger size--few of them, however, of more than two stories. Most of them looked as if they had a long and not very happy history. All at once he found himself in a street, partly of quaint gables with corbel steps; they called them here corbie-steps, in allusion, perhaps, to the raven sent out by Noah, for which lazy bird the children regarded these as places to rest. There were two or three curious gateways in it with some attempt at decoration, and one house with the pepperpot turrets which Scotish architecture has borrowed from the French chateau. The heart of the town was a yet narrower, close-built street, with several short closes and wynds opening out of it--all of which had ancient looking houses. There were shops not a few, but their windows were those of dwellings, as the upper parts of their buildings mostly were. In those shops was as good a supply of the necessities of life as in a great town, and cheaper. You could not get a coat so well cut, nor a pair of shoes to fit you so tight without hurting, but you could get first-rate work. The streets were unevenly paved with round, water-worn stones: Donal was not sorry that he had not to walk far upon them.
The setting sun sent his shadow before him as he entered the place. He kept the middle of the street, looking on this side and that for the hostelry whither he had despatched his chest before leaving home. A gloomy building, apparently uninhabited, drew his attention, and sent a strange thrill through him as his eyes fell upon it. It was of three low stories, the windows defended by iron stanchions, the door studded with great k.n.o.bs of iron. A little way beyond he caught sight of the sign he was in search of. It swung in front of an old-fashioned, dingy building, with much of the old-world look that pervaded the town. The last red rays of the sun were upon it, lighting up a sorely faded coat of arms. The supporters, two red horses on their hind legs, were all of it he could make out. The crest above suggested a skate, but could hardly have been intended for one. A greedy-eyed man stood in the doorway, his hands in his trouser-pockets. He looked with contemptuous scrutiny at the bare-footed lad approaching him. He had black hair and black eyes; his nose looked as if a heavy finger had settled upon its point, and pressed it downwards: its nostrils swelled wide beyond their base; underneath was a big mouth with a good set of teeth, and a strong upturning chin--an ambitious and greedy face. But ambition is a form of greed.
"A fine day, landlord!" said Donal.
"Ay," answered the man, without changing the posture of one taking his ease against his own door-post, or removing his hands from his pockets, but looking Donal up and down with conscious superiority, then resting his eyes on the bare feet and upturned trousers.
"This"ll be the Morven Arms, I"m thinkin"?" said Donal.
"It taksna muckle thoucht to think that," returned the inn-keeper, "whan there they hing!"
"Ay," rejoined Donal, glancing up; "there is something there--an" it"s airms I doobtna; but it"s no a"body has the preevilege o" a knowledge o" heraldry like yersel", lan"lord! I"m b"un" to confess, for what I ken they micht be the airms o" ony ane o" ten score Scots faimilies."
There was one weapon with which John Glumm was a.s.sailable, and that was ridicule: with all his self-sufficiency he stood in terror of it--and the more covert the ridicule, so long as he suspected it, the more he resented as well as dreaded it. He stepped into the street, and taking a hand from a pocket, pointed up to the sign.
"See til"t!" he said. "Dinna ye see the twa reid horse?"
"Ay," answered Donal; "I see them weel eneuch, but I"m nane the wiser nor gien they war twa reid whauls.--Man," he went on, turning sharp round upon the fellow, "ye"re no cawpable o" conceivin" the extent o"
my ignorance! It"s as rampant as the reid horse upo" your sign! I"ll yield to naebody i" the amoont o" things I dinna ken!"
The man stared at him for a moment.
"I s" warran"," he said, "ye ken mair nor ye care to lat on!"
"An" what may that be ower the heid o" them?--A crest, ca" ye "t?" said Donal.
"It"s a base pearl-beset," answered the landlord.
He had not a notion of what a base meant, or pearl-beset, yet prided himself on his knowledge of the words.
"Eh," returned Donal, "I took it for a skate!"
"A skate!" repeated the landlord with offended sneer, and turned towards the house.
"I was thinkin" to put up wi" ye the nicht, gien ye could accommodate me at a rizzonable rate," said Donal.
"I dinna ken," replied Glumm, hesitating, with his back to him, between unwillingness to lose a penny, and resentment at the supposed badinage, which was indeed nothing but humour; "what wad ye ca" rizzonable?"
"I wadna grudge a saxpence for my bed; a shillin" I wad," answered Donal.
"Weel, ninepence than--for ye seemna owercome wi" siller."
"Na," answered Donal, "I"m no that. Whatever my burden, yon"s no hit.
The loss o" what I hae wad hardly mak me lichter for my race."
"Ye"re a queer customer!" said the man.
"I"m no sae queer but I hae a kist comin" by the carrier," rejoined Donal, "direckit to the Morven Airms. It"ll be here in time doobtless."
"We"ll see whan it comes," remarked the landlord, implying the chest was easier invented than believed in.