Part 4 (1/2)

'I'etting well again'

'And, mother,' I persisted, 'father does not seem easy in mind either He comes in and talks toto other subjects'

'Foolish child! nothing could make your father unhappy He does his duty by us all, and his faith is fixed'

One day they came and told me that the doctor had ordered me away to the seaside Mother and Flora were to come, and one servant; the rest of our family were to follow

It was far away south to Rothesay ent, and here, an to groell and strong again But the sorrow in h I had ceased to refer to it

The rooms we had hired were very pleasant, but looked very sreat halls I had been used to

Well, on a beautiful afternoon father and my brothers arrived, and we all had tea out on the shady lawn, up to the very edge of which the waves were lapping and lisping

I was reclining in a ha ht his camp-stool and sat near ently, alh to bear bad news?'

My heart throbbed uneasily, but I replied, bravely enough, 'Yes, dear father; yes'

'Then,' he said, speaking very slowly, as if to mark the effect of every word, 'we are--never--to return--to Castle Coila!'

I was cale to say, the news appeared to be no news at all

'Well, father,' I answered, cheerfully, 'I can bear that--I could bear anything but separation'

I went over and kissed my mother and sister

'So this is the cloud that was in your faces, eh? Well, the worst is over

I have nothing to do now but get well Father, I feel quite a ald; 'and we are all going to work Won't that be jolly?'

In a few brief words father then explained our position There had arrived one day, soerous part of my illness was over, an advocate froe He had, he said, a friend with him, who seemed, so he worded it, 'like one risen from the dead'

His friend was helped down, and into father's private room off the hall

His friend was the old beldame Mawsie, and a short but wonderful story she had to tell, and did tell, the Aberdeen advocate sitting quietly by the while with a bland sh and groan, and e of Le Roi the dragoon with the Miss M'Criirl at the tis, that the priest's books were hidden for safety in a vault, where he also kept all the money he possessed No one knew of the existence of this vault except her, and so on and so forth So voluble did the old lady become that the advocate had to apply the _cloture_ at last

'It is strange--if true,' my father had muttered 'Why,' he added, 'had the old lady not spoken of this before?'

'Ah, yes, to be sure,' said the Aberdonian 'Well, that also is strange, but easily explained The shock received on the night of the fire at the chapel had deprived the poor soul of memory For years and years this deprivation continued, but one day, not long ago, the son of the present claihtful heir, to Coila walked into her roo at Strathtoul, and naturally came across to view the ruin so intimately connected with his father's fate and fortune No sooner had he appeared than the good old darandfather's naone She had even told hi sives herevents cast their shadow before”'