Part 12 (1/2)

'I was thinking,' he said '_You_ were thinking; _he_, _she_, or _it_ was thinking Well, ood people, you ate the verb ”to think”; but if you'll take my advice you will put a shoulder to the wheel of life, and try to conjugate the verb ”to do”'

'We all want to _do_ and act,' said Donald, energetically

'Right Well, you see, you have one thing already in your favour You have a wee bit o' siller in your pouch It is a nest egg, though; it is not to be spent--it is there to bring ot on in the world? I'm not rich, but I am in a fair way to be independent I am very fond of work, for work's sake, and I'e Been in this country now for over fourteen years Had I had a nest egg when I started, I'd have been half a millionaire by now But, wae'sto me but my crook and my plaid'

'You were a shepherd before you came out, then?' said aunt

'Yes; and that was the beauty of it You've maybe heard o' Foudland, in Aberdeenshi+re? Well, I came fra far ayant the braes o' Foudland That's, maybe, the way my mither's sae auldfarrent There, ye see, I'm talkin'

Scotch, for the very thought of Foudland brings back ue Ay, dear lady, dear lady, my father was an honest crofter there He owned a bit fars went pretty ith us till death tirled at the door-sneck and took poor father away to the mools I was only a callan o' some thirteen summers then, and e had to leave the wee croft and sell the coere fain to live in a lonely shi+eling on the bare brae side, just a butt and a ben with a wee kailyard, and barely enough land to grow potatoes and keep a little Shetland cowie But, young though I was, I could herd sheep--under a shepherd at first, but finally all bythat wasn't a happy tiht since then have I lain awake thinking about it, till every scene of reen with the tints of spring, or crilorious heather of autuolden broolens and dells, the silver, drooping birch-trees, the grand old waving pines, the wi linns and lochs asleep in the evening sunset And see ht have I lain awake to pray I ain'

'And a kind God has answered that prayer!'

'Ay, Miss M'Cri her een Never reat ”Up-bye” But, dear boys, to continue my story--if story I dare call it Not far from the hills where I used to follow Laird Glennie's sheep, and down beside a bonnie wood and stream, was a house, of not entlelens and country all round They say he got great praise for his pictures, and big prices as well I used often to arrange s for hiroups and attitudes

Then he painted theht to listen to my boyish story of adventure, and in return would tell me tales of far-off lands he had been in, and about the Silver Land in particular

Such stories actually fired my blood He had sown the seeds of aetting away out into the wide, orld, and seeing all its wonders, and, reat man myself But how could a penniless laddie work his way abroad?

Impossible

'Well, one autuan with a perfect hurricane of wind, then it settled down to rain, till it became a perfect ”spate” I had never seen such rain, nor such tearing floods as caood mile lower down the stream than the artist's summer hut It was set well up the brae, and was safe But on looking out next day a sight hs were covered with a sea of water, down the centre of which aon its bosoreen bank, ”stooks” of corn and ”coles” of hay, and, saddest of all, the swollen bodies of sheep and oxen My first thought was for the artist I ran along the bank till opposite his house

Yes, there it was flooded to the roof, to which poor Mr Poas clinging in desperation, expecting, doubtless, that everyround the house and dashi+ng against the tiles

'Hardly knohat I did, I waved my plaid and shouted He saw me, and waved his arm in response Then I remembered that far down strea to touch the ground, till I reached--not the dwelling, that was covered, but the bank opposite; and here, to hed atto the rescue of Mr Power

'”Impossible!” he said ”Look at the force of the streae,” I insisted

'He ventured at last, erous work, and often we found it safest to land and haul up the boat along the side

'We were opposite the artist's hut at length, hardly even the chimney of which was now visible But Poas safe as yet

'At the very moment our boat reached him the chimney disappeared, and with it the artist The turmoil was terrible, for the whole house had collapsed For a ti, then only a head and ar torrent, far down stream I dashed in, in spite of M'Kenzie's reboat That mattered little--the sturdy old ferryman saved us both; and for a few days the artist had the best roo

'And this, dear lady, turned out to be--as I dare say you have guessed-- me as servant He is here now I saw him but yesterday, and we are still the fastest friends

'But, boys, do not let me deceive you Mr Poas not rich; all he could do for e out, and let me trust to Providence for the rest

'I worked at anything I could get to do for a ti horses in the street, for you know everybody rides here But I felt sure enough that one day, or some day, a settler would come who could value the services of an honest, earnest Scottish boy

'And come the settler did He took me away, far away to the west, to a wild country, but one that was far too flat and level to please rand old hills of Scotland