Part 2 (2/2)

This last sounded very profound, and a little irls to note the effect Grace eeping, and weeping only; but Lucy looked saucy andface, as rain so

”Yes,” I repeated, with emphasis, ”'of all responsibility in the prelish, although I know that Mr Hardinge has been trying to e, that you turn up your noses at a profound sentirandiose had by no e of the country, that it has since done Anything of the subliood deal more apt to provoke a s, as I have understood through better judges than reat melioration of ress, and to the profundities of the newspapers Rupert, however, frequently orna ambitious that adorned ht Lucy ih at senti ht and terreat authority, by fairly pointing hi with all her heart, though a little hysterically; ”I thought so, for this is just like Rupert, who is always talking tothe responsibility,' and 'conclusions in the premises,' and all such nonsense Leave the boys to my father, Grace, and he will 'assu the pre with it!”

This would have provoked me, had not Grace manifested so much sisterly interest in my welfare that I was soon persuaded to tell _her_--that h I had half a o away--all about our project

”You see,” I continued, ”if Mr Hardinge knows anything about our plan, people will say he ought to have stopped us 'He a clergyman, and not able to keep two lads of sixteen or seventeen fro to sea!' they will say, as if it were so easy to prevent two spirited youths fro about it, nobody can bla him from the responsibility' Noe intend to be off next week, or as soon as the jackets and trowsers that areboat-dresses, are finished WeNeb with us to bring the boat back Now you know the whole story, there will be no occasion to leave a letter for Mr

Hardinge; for, three hours after we have sailed, you can tell hione a year; at the end of that tih shall we all be to see each other

Rupert and I will be young h you call us boys now”

This last picture a good deal consoled the girls Rupert, too, who had unaccountably kept back, throwing the labouring-oar altogether on me, caue, began to ht I do not think he blinded his own sister in the least, but I fear he had too h all heart, was as enious in glozing over truths; she, nearly unerring in detecting thes, than there was between these two children of the same parents, in this particular I have heard that the son took after the hter took after the father; though Mrs

Hardinge died too early to have had any moral influence on the character of her children

We ca the next two or three days The girls endeavoured earnestly to persuade us to ask Mr Hardinge's permission for the step ere about to undertake; but all in vain We lads were so thoroughly determined to ”relieve the divine froht as well have talked to stones We knew these just-irls would not betray us, and continued obdurate to the last As we expected, as soon as convinced their i all they could to render us cos to hold our clothes, two each, and s, &c, and even helped to procure us some clothes more suited to the contemplated expedition than s,” indeed, we deter just one suit each, and that of the plainest quality In the course of a week everything was ready, our bags well lined, being concealed in the storehouse at the landing Of this building I could at anyvery considerable, already, on the farm

As for Neb, he was directed to have the boat all ready for the succeeding Tuesday evening, it being the plan to sail the day after the Wallingford of Clawbonny (this was the naular trips, in order to escape a pursuit I had made all the calculations about the tide, and knew that the Wallingford would go out about nine in the ht It was necessary to depart at night and when the wharf was clear, in order to avoid observation

Tuesday was an uneasy, nervous and sad day for us all, Mr Hardinge excepted As the last had not the smallest distrust, he continued calm, quiet, and cheerful as was his wont Rupert had a conscience-stricken and furtive air about hiirls were scarcely a moment without tears Grace seemed now the most composed of the two, and I have since suspected that she had had a private conversation withpoere of a very extraordinary quality, when he set about their use in downright earnest As for Lucy, she see the entire day

At nine o'clock it was customary for the whole family to separate, after prayers Most of us went to bed at that early hour, though Mr Hardinge hiht This habit co out of the house, in which Rupert and myself succeeded, however, without discovery, just as the clock struck eleven We had taken leave of the girls in a hastyhis own sister, as he affected to retire for the night To own the truth, erehow reasonably Grace and Lucy behaved, on the occasion, and not a little surprised, for we had expected a scene, particularly with the former

We walked away fro the paternal roof for the first time, to enter upon the chances of the world, without a deep sense of the dependence in which they had hitherto lived We walked fast and silently, and reached the wharf in less than half an hour, a distance of near two ure I could see in the boat, when I caught a glimpse of two female forms within six feet ofour arrival, with a view to see us depart!

I confess I was shocked and concerned at seeing these two delicate girls so far from their home, at such an hour; and my first impulse was to see them both safely back before I would enter the boat; but to this neither would consent All ed to submit

I know not exactly how it happened, but of the fact I am certain; odd as it may seem, at a moment like that, when about to separate, instead of each youth's getting his own sister aside to ot his friend's sister aside I do notof the sort; ere a little too young, perhaps, for that; but we obeyed an impulse which, as Rupert would have said, ”produced that result”

What passed between Grace and her companion, I do not know As for Lucy andThe excellent creature forced on old pieces, which I knew had come to her as an heirloom from her mother, and which I had often heard her declare she never meant to use, unless in the last extremity She knew I had but five dollars on earth, and that Rupert had not one; and she offered old I told her Rupert had better take it; no, _I_ had better take it I should use it ood of both ”Besides, you are rich,” she said, sh her tears, ”and can repay ive_ theirl, and took the money, all half-joes, with a determination to repay them with interest

Then I folded her to ht ti in two years, and tore myself away I do not think Rupert eh ere standing within three or four yards of each other, the whole tiirls leaning forward from the wharf, as we shoved off It was not so dark but we could see their dear forms for several minutes, or until a bend in the creek put a dark mass of earth between us and them

Such was the manner of my departure from Clawbonny, in theseventeen; Rupert was six ain, by near a twelve was in the boat but our hearts Mine, I can truly say, remained with the two beloved creatures we left on the wharf; while Rupert's was betwixt and between, I fancy--seldo the dear tenement in which it was encased by nature

CHAPTER III

”There's a youth in this city, it were a great pity That he from our lasses should wander awa'; For he's bonny and braeel-favoured witha', And his hair has a natural buckle and a'

His coat is the hue of his bonnet so blue; His pocket is white as the new-driven snaw; His hose they are blue, and his shoon like the slae, And his clean siller buckles they dazzle us a'”

BURNS