returning home from casting a large loop of wandering over several hills, walk

knocked: had it been the daytime, he would have gone straight in. Agnes came,

he saw the shape of Cosmo in the dimness. "There's

nly wantit to lat ye ken 'at I wasna

aister behaved til ye, the laird cud ill lat ye gang there again. But what's he gaein'

to maister Simon,

r ye're no to be seen there, Cosmo. An' we maunna hate, for that, ye ken,'s the hin 'er en'

, "the hairst-play 'ill be here sune, an' syne the hair

cies are a' terrible for min'in'. Na, there's no forgettin' o' naething. Wh

for the sake o' them 'at did ye the wrang, for wha wad tak up again a fool (foul) thing ance it was drappit?-but for yer ain sake; for what ye hae dune richt,

"but ye're unco wice

sic a father as yon o' mine. What wad ye think o' yersel' gien the

reply, for the voice of her

onfab wi' in the middle o' the night? Ye

ther, whan Maister Cosm

e him stan' there? Ye

ke-in rizzon, that

I'm gey and sleepy. Only I was sae pleased 'at I was gaein' to learn my lessons wi' Maister Simon,'at I bude to te

thing i' the mornin', an' seein' gien the laird had ony eeran' to the toon.

cud help ye wi', Aggi

lt me ye was tryin'

ut I WAD fain ken what's intil the thing. I canNOT un'erstan' hoo fowk can coont wi' letters an' crosses an' strokes in place o' figgers. I hae been at it a haill

ing ither ye micht hae to ca' 't; an' ye bargain awa' aboot the x an' the y and the z, an' ley t

ced the word with the accent on the se

the licht breaks oot o' 't. Ye maun win throuw the wa' first. I doobt gien onybody un'erstan's a thing oot an' oot, sae lang's he's no

maun be nearhan' seein' o' himsel' a

"I may be able to help ye, though I canna lat ye see a' at once. It wad be an ill job fo

ation: n

t of train oil, hung against the wall, and under that she had placed the one movable table in th

e lent me the bu

en'ye ane? I could hae gien ye a b

open as the day, she

face from him

stan' jist as weel's a laddie. I wantit to see whether ye was richt or wrang; an' as algebra luiket the maist oonlikly thi

I never said onybody cud learn a' o' themsel's, wantin' help, ye k

t least the false dawn, as they call it, through the thickets of algebra. It was nearly midnight when Cosmo

whom they loved-allowing him wondrous good, but regarding him as a kind of God's chicken: nothing is so mysterious to the children of this world as the ways of the children of light, though to themselves they seem simple enough. That Agnes never treated Cosmo with this degree of protective condescension, arose from the fact that she was very nearly as much a child of light as he; only, being a woman, she was keener of perception, and being older, felt the more of the mother that every woman feels, and made the most of it. It was to her therefore a merely natural thing to

back, but on his left hand in the next rank. No spy most curious could have detected the least love-making between them, and their talk, in the still, dark air, sounded loud all the way as they went. Strange talk it would have been counted by many, and indeed unintelligible, for it ranged ove

gave his son; it was neither decent nor in order; it was against all ancient rule of family life; she must speak about it! But she never did speak about it, for she was now in her turn afraid of the son who, without a particle of obstinacy in his composition, yet took what she called his own way. Grizzie kept grumbling to herself that the laddie was sure to come to "mischief;" but the main forms of "misc

and ancestors; for he frequently found himself, more especially as drowsiness began to steal upon his praying soul, seeming to hold co

ch holy messengers heavenward for his sake. He imagined none anxious about him-eith

to quicken his pace, or to glance over his shoulder, as he ascended the second stair. Without any need of a candle, in the still faint twilight which i

put them on, and head foremost he shot like the torrent into the boiling mass, where for a few moments he yielded himself the sport of the frothy water, and was tossed and tumbled about like a dead thing. Soon however, down in the heart of the boil, he struck out, and shooting from under the fall, rose to the surface beyond it, panting and blowing. To get out on the bank was then the work of one moment, and to plunge in again that of the next. Half a dozen times, with scarce a pause between, he thus plunged, was tossed and overwhelmed, struggled, escaped, and plunged again. Then he ran for a few moments up and down the bank to dry himself-he counted the use of a towel effeminacy, and dressing ag

the day, Grizzie," he said.

d woman, irritated at being found fault with in a matter wherein

e min'," answered Cosmo,

got ye ye

gied me a quarter o' breid as I cam by, or rather as

akin' up her time wi'! I never h'ard o' si

he sort of thing algebra was, but apparentl

e bring me noo, I never did hear tell o'! What can the warl' be comin' till!-An' dis the father o' ye,

d they sat down to breakfast. The grandmother within

son, and must therefore be content to lead the conversation in the direction of it, hoping it might naturally appear. So, about the middle of Cosmo's b

r hear the a

n nor mune, Laich t

have, Grizzie,"

rs ye come o

nae kirk, oot an' aboot as sharp as a gled, whan the young laird is no in his bed-oot wi' 's algibb

ird with a twinkle in his eye, and a glance at C

answering the first part of the double question

d to laugh. Not a few laughed at

r the auld saw, G

r an' how gaed th

he waught o' an

aegait 'cep' here i'

parage the authority o

. "But, sir, ye sud n

may be oot i

, the nicht shin

kent to a' the cuintry roon'?-the auld captain,'at canna lie still in's grave, because o'-because o' whatever the

said the laird. "But what for sud ye put sic fule things intil the bairn's heid? An' gien th

, and she held her

e laird rising; and th

mon's