Henry C. Rowland

“ I will not go so far as to say that there may not be good qualities to the lad which a proper wife might develop.”
Ailsa looked at him thoughtfully.
“Was there ever the like?” said she. “But you must know, Mr. Wishart, that it is quite impossible he should care for me——”
“And why? Y'are a fine, sensible girl, and no so bad to look at. Besides, there is the four million pounds twenty million dollars in sound securities. Many a man has tumbled head over heels in love for less.” ”

“ Naked women and the like. But 'twould not be hard for ye to break him of that. He is also a vagabone, trailin' all over the world with no reason but to be on the move. He has never done a day's work in his life, and I misdoubt he ever will. Ye see, lassie, I am givin' ye his faults, because at this minute I cannot recall any of his virtues. I doubt he has any.”
Ailsa dropped her flushed face in her hands, and her shoulders shook with the laughter she could no longer contain. Old Jeremiah regarded her well-shaped arms with approval, and the wry, twisted grin remained on his shrewd, thin mouth. ”

“ The wife died when little Donald was born, and not long after Uncle Sandy was drowned in trying to save a man who fell into the water at Inverness. Since then grandfather has had to do for all of us, as my Sister Nell and I are orphans, too. That is one reason for my coming to America.
“And how did your grandfather come to be losin' his fortune?” asked Jeremiah. ”

“ That is a weakness for a man who must make his way in the world. He has it. I mind one day he came in here with a cur that he had picked up on the street, and gave my butler five dollars to care for the beast. ”