Part 47 (1/2)

”'Aye wakin o'!'--Do ye think, noo, we sall ha' knowledge in the next warld o' them we loved on earth? I askit that same o' Rab Burns ance; an' he said, puir chiel, he 'didna ken ower well, we maun bide and see';--bide and see--that's the gran' philosophy o' life, after a'. Aiblins folk'll ken their true freens there; an' there'll be na mair luve coft and sauld for siller--

”Gear and tocher is needit nane I' the country whaur my luve is gane.

”Gin I had a true freen the noo! to gang down the wynd, an' find if it war but an auld Abraham o' a blue-gown, wi' a bit crowd, or a fizzle-pipe, to play me the Bush aboon Traquair! Na, na, na; it's singing the Lord's song in a strange land, that wad be; an' I hope the application's no irreverent, for ane that was rearit amang the hills o' G.o.d, an' the trees o' the forest which he hath planted.

”Oh the broom, and the bonny yellow broom, The broom o' the Cowden-knowes.

”Hech, but she wud lilt that bonnily!

”Did ye ever gang listering saumons by nicht? Ou, but it's braw sport, wi'

the scars an' the birks a' glowering out blude-red i' the torchlight, and the bonnie hizzies skelping an' skirling on the bank--

”There was a gran' leddy, a bonny leddy, came in and talked like an angel o'

G.o.d to puir auld Sandy, anent the salvation o' his soul. But I tauld her no' to fash hersel. It's no my view o' human life, that a man's sent into the warld just to save his soul, an' creep out again. An' I said I wad leave the savin' o' my soul to Him that made my soul; it was in richt gude keepin' there, I'd warrant. An' then she was unco fleyed when she found I didna haud wi' the Athanasian creed. An' I tauld her, na; if He that died on cross was sic a ane as she and I teuk him to be, there was na that pride nor spite in him, be sure, to send a puir auld sinful, guideless body to eternal fire, because he didna a'thegither understand the honour due to his name.”

”Who was this lady?”

He did not seem to know; and Katie had never heard of her before--”some district visitor” or other.

”I sair mis...o...b.. but the auld creeds are in the right anent Him, after a'.

I'd gie muckle to think it--there's na comfort as it is. Aiblins there might be a wee comfort in that, for a poor auld worn-out patriot. But it's ower late to change. I tauld her that, too, ance. It's ower late to put new wine into auld bottles. I was unco drawn to the high doctrines ance, when I was a bit laddie, an' sat in the wee kirk by my minnie an' my daddie--a richt stern auld Cameronian sort o' body he was, too; but as I grew, and grew, the bed was ower short for a man to stretch himsel thereon, an' the plaidie ower strait for a man to fauld himself therein; and so I had to gang my gate a' naked in the matter o' formulae, as Maister Tummas has it.”

”Ah! do send for a priest, or a clergyman!” said Katie, who partly understood his meaning.

”Parson? He canna pit new skin on auld scars. Na bit stickit curate-laddie for me, to gang argumentin' wi' ane that's auld enough to be his gran'father. When the parsons will hear me anent G.o.d's people, then I'll hear them anent G.o.d.

”--Sae I'm wearing awa, Jean, To the land o' the leal--

”Gin I ever get thither. Katie, here, hauds wi' purgatory, ye ken! where souls are burnt clean again--like baccy pipes--

”When Bazor-brigg is ower and past, Every night and alle; To Whinny Muir thou comest at last, And G.o.d receive thy sawle.

”Gin hosen an' shoon thou gavest nane Every night and alle; The whins shall pike thee intil the bane, And G.o.d receive thy sawle.

”Amen. There's mair things aboon, as well as below, than are dreamt o'

in our philosophy. At least, where'er I go, I'll meet no long nose, nor short nose, nor snub nose patriots there; nor puir gowks stealing the deil's tools to do G.o.d's wark wi'. Out among the eternities an' the realities--it's no that dreary outlook, after a', to find truth an'

fact--naught but truth an' fact--e'en beside the worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched!”

”G.o.d forbid!” said Katie.

”G.o.d do whatsoever shall please Him, Katie--an' that's aye gude like Himsel'. Shall no the Judge of all the earth do right--right--right?”