MacLure

“ They could see the women standing at the door of every house on the hillside, and weeping, for each family had some good reason in forty years to remember MacLure. When Bell Baxter saw Saunders alive, and the coffin of the doctor that saved him on her man's shoulder, she bowed her head on the dyke, and the bairns in the village made such a wail for him they loved that the men nearly disgraced themselves. ”

“ MacLure compassed the precious arrival with observances till he was securely seated in Drumsheugh's dog cart—a vehicle that lent itself to history—with two full-sized plaids added to his equipment—Drumsheugh and Hillocks had both been requisitioned—and MacLure wrapped another plaid round a leather case, which was placed below the seat with such reverence as might be given to the Queen's regalia. Peter attended their departure full of interest, and as soon as they were in the fir woods MacLure explained that it would be an eventful journey. ”

“ As Drumsheugh told Dr. Davidson on that snowy Christmas night, 'if ever there was a man who could have stood on his own feet in the Day of Judgment, it was William MacLure.' Through all his long years in the glen, the old doctor had simply lived for others. As long as he could cure his patients he was content; and he was never happier than in handing the sick child back to its parents or in restoring the wife to the husband who had despaired of her recovery. If ever there was a man who could have stood on his own feet in the Day of Judgment, it was William MacLure. ”

“ I cannot keep this up much longer, Angel."
"Died," gasped Maclure. "How—" With the feeblest semblance of mockery the ancient creature whispered: "A man does not meditate for a hundred years without a moment's pause without learning so simple a secret as the difference between life and death. I sought the Center, Maclure, that I might find youth and being again. There was hot in me the urge to smash and create anew —the thing that is the trouble of every mind above the ape. ”

“ It was a high tribute to their nobility, when Ian Maclaren, in his visit here, was told over and over again, in many parts of our land, that when his lion-hearted "Doctor Willem MacLure" risked his life so often to save his patient; loved in that simple Scottish glen as no one else was loved—and who won all American hearts too—"That's just the way our doctor does!" What is sweeter to any true man than the esteem and affection of his fellows? ”

“ I saw you at twelve the equal of men four times your age, physically and mentally their actual equal. And I know that after the death of your father you chose to disappear. I knew you would do this, Maclure, for a while. It was your intention to slip into the way of the world and forget that you were the infinite superior of your fellows. Well—you succeeded, in your own mind at least. You are well on the way to forgetting that to those around you you are as a man among apes. That is so of all men except you—and me."
Angel grinned bitterly. ”

“ It seemed to me a fitting day for William MacLure's funeral, rather than summer time, with its flowers and golden corn. He had not been a soft man, nor had he lived an easy life, and now he was to be laid to rest amid the austere majesty of winter, yet in the shining of the sun. Jamie Soutar, with whom I toiled across the Glen, did not think with me, but was gravely concerned.
"Nae doot it's a graund sicht; the like o't is no gien tae us twice in a generation, an' nae king wes ever carried tae his tomb in sic a cathedral. ”

“ We have buried the remains of one that served this Glen with a devotion that has known no reserve, and a kindliness that never failed, for more than forty years. I have seen many brave men in my day, but no man in the trenches of Sebastopol carried himself more knightly than William MacLure. ”

“ There was only one man who ever complained of the doctor's charges, and that was the new farmer of Milton, who was so good that he was above both churches, and held a meeting in his barn. (It was Milton the Glen supposed at first to be a Mormon, but I can't go into that now.) He offered MacLure a pound less than he asked, and two tracts, whereupon MacLure expressed his opinion of Milton, both from a theological and social standpoint, with such vigor and frankness that an attentive audience of Drumtochty men could hardly contain themselves. ”

“ We rather prefer that the brothers Maclure should go on their way as they are going, seeking honourable promotion, and possibly when Mr J. W. Maclure becomes Prime Minister of England, he may sink political differences and make his brother an Archbishop!” The reference is an amusing one, showing that the brothers were regarded—and rightly—as being quite inseparable.
At Rochdale, Canon Maclure applied himself zealously to the work of Church extension, and materially assisted in the promotion of elementary, secondary and technical education, and other philanthropic work in that district. ”

“ They were the volunteers that would lift the coffin and carry it for the first stage. One was Tammas, Annie Mitchell's man; and another was Saunders Baxter, for whose life MacLure had his great fight with death; and the third was the Glen Urtach shepherd for whose wife's sake MacLure suffered a broken leg and three fractured ribs in a drift; and the fourth, a Dunleith man, had his own reasons of remembrance.
"He's far lichter than ye wud expeck for sae big a man—there wesna muckle left o' him, ye see—but the road is heavy, and a'll change ye aifter the first half mile." ”

“ Davidson, your minister, to choose the text to be inscribed.”
“We thank you, Lord Kilspindie,” said the doctor, “for your presence with us in our sorrow and your tribute to the memory of William MacLure, and I choose this for his text:
“'Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends.'”
Milton was, at that time, held in the bonds of a very bitter theology, and his indignation was stirred by this unqualified eulogium.
“No doubt Dr. MacLure hed mony natural virtues, an' he did his wark weel, but it wes a peety he didna mak mair profession o' releegion.” ”

“ But neither his biographer nor his circumstances have been able to obscure MacLure who has himself won all honest hearts, and received afresh the recognition of his more distinguished brethren. From all parts of the English-speaking world letters have come in commendation of Weelum MacLure, and many were from doctors who had received new courage. It is surely more honor than a new writer could ever have deserved to receive the approbation of a profession whose charity puts us all to shame. ”

“ Lady Maclure looked at her maid. "Bertha," she said, "go downstairs, and see that none of the other servants come up, meanwhile, to their bedrooms." Lady Maclure was not quite to the manner born, and had never acquired the hateful aristocratic habit of calling women servants by their surnames only.
But the detective interposed. "No, no," he said, sharply. "This young woman had better stop here with Miss Remanet—strictly under her eye—till I've searched the boxes. ”

“ Maclure, Professor of Humanity,{127} that is, he filled the Latin chair. A little man, perky, proud, and fat. He was an Englishman, but a great admirer of Burns, whom he was constantly quoting. The students called him “Cockie Maclure,” but it is to be hoped he did not know this. However, breakfast with him, although not such a heavy meal as that with the Dorian, was always most enjoyable.
Sandie used to think he would give a good deal could he only speak English with so charming an accent. ”

“ We are the symbiosis of evil, Angel. Do you yield now?"
Maclure's fingers danced over the immense keyboard that semicircled around him, setting up the combination of a snap-calculated field. "Beat this!" he taunted, plunging home a switch. And a plane of glowing matter intersected horizontally with the projection, cutting it cleanly in half.
"So!" rasped the whisper of Mr. Sapphire. "We shall do battle in earnest, Angel Maclure. I am com ing for you!" The severed projection faded away.
Chapter V
Like a comet from nowhere a second ship roared into the sky, fully as large as the Angel's. ”

“ Patience and a good, genial spirit may be said to have stood Dr Maclure in excellent stead. Than he, probably no man was wider awake to the fact that originality can only be maintained at the cost of much difference of opinion, much criticism, verbal and literary, possibly even much abuse from the mouths of extremists. If so, conjecture for once was well-founded. To-day it is nothing new to readers of both London and provincial journals to find their Church news prefaced with some such line as “The Dean of Manchester and His Critics.” ”

“ Noo a'll juist hae the rael Drumsheugh, Geordie's Drumsheugh,” and again Marget thanked Maclure afresh.
For the moment the heroism of the deed had carried her away, but as she went home the pity of it all came over her. For the best part of his life had this man been toiling and suffering, all that another might have comfort, and all this travail without the recompense of love. What patience, humility, tenderness, sacrifice lay in unsuspected people. ”

“ You may not live at the Court, but it is equally certain that you are not going to the workhouse.”
He held out his hand, and Ruth said good-bye with a little tremor of relief and thankfulness in her voice. Dr Maclure was a man of few words, but what he said he meant, and his quiet, assured manner made him seem a veritable rock of refuge in the midst of the storm.
Ruth felt happier and more hopeful than she had done for many a long day, despite the uneasiness caused by the doctor’s appearance. ”

“ MacLure was in the saddle, and as he gave his judgment, he laid his hand on Tammas's shoulder with one of the rare caresses that pass between men.
ENLARGE TO FULL SIZE
“It's a sair business, but ye 'ill play the man and no vex Annie; she 'ill dae her best, a'll warrant.”
“An' a'll dae mine,” and Tammas gave MacLure's hand a grip that would have crushed the bones of a weakling. Drumtochty felt in such moments the brotherliness of this rough-looking man, and loved him. ”

“ I hope you are quite well. You had letters for Mrs. Maclure. Surely you are earlier than usual."
"It wass only a post-cairt from her niece, Jeanie Maclure, from the school at Govan sayin' she would come for the week-end maype," answered David, as if the matter were of moment to the whole glen. "Yes--there pe lots an' lots of letters. I hope yourself an' the General are fery well this mornin'."
"Thank you, we are," said Isla as she leaned against the shaft of the old cart, stroking the fat pony's yellow eldes, her eyes a little more bright and eager than usual. ”

“ Maclure and Hanney, lawyers, in Glasgow, where he remained till his health broke down and he was sent to Australia. It was soon evident that he would never be a shining light in the legal profession: his chief interest still lay in his private studies and his earliest efforts in literature. In order to find time for all he wished to do, which included a keen interest in the theatre and opera whenever the chance offered, he allowed himself during these two years four hours only out of the twenty-four for sleep; a procedure which did not tend to strengthen his already delicate health. ”

“ Drumsheugh was full of tact, and met MacLure quite by accident on the road.
"Saunders'll no need me till the shearing begins," he explained to the doctor, "an' a'm gaein' tae Brochty for a turn o' the hot baths; they're fine for the rheumatics.
"Wull ye no come wi' me for auld lang syne? it's lonesome for a solitary man, an' it wud dae ye gude."
"Na, na, Drumsheugh," said MacLure, who understood perfectly, "a've dune a' thae years withoot a break, an' a'm laith (unwilling) tae be takin' holidays at the tail end. ”

“ Hastily he turned down the psycho band, and concrete thoughts emerged from the welter of elemental emotion that rushed from the screen.
It took Maclure only a moment to solve the unfamiliar thought-patterns of the Morlens. One of them, in some commanding position, was addressing the rest in cold, measured tones. The Angel's mind strained at the effort of encompassing the weird concepts and imagery of the creatures.
". . . increase of destruction," the Morlen was saying. ”

“ Did ye... ever hear onything, doctor? It 's no for clashin' (gossip) a' wud ask, but for peety an' his gudeness tae ma bairn.”
“Is't likely he wud tell ony man, even though he be his freend?” and Maclure fenced bravely, “did ye hear naethin' in the auld days when ye wes on Drumsheugh?”
“No a whisper; he wes never in the mooth o' the Glen, an' he wesna the same then; he wes quiet and couthy, ceevil tae a' the workin' fouk; there wes nae meanness in Drumsheugh in thae days. A've often thocht nae man in a' the Glen wud hae made a better husband tae some gude wumman than that Drumsheugh. ”

“ J. Campbell McClure, Minister of Marykirk, Kincardinshire, Scotland, is that the McClures are a sept of the Clan McLeod. In addition to extant records in Galloway of the McClure family, showing it to be of McLeod origin, Mr. McClure states that the family tradition handed down to him through a long line of long-lived ancestors is, "In early times a sept of the MacLeods left the Island of Skye for Ulster, where the northern Irish slurred the 'd' of MacLuide (as it was then pronounced) into 'r,' hence, MacLure. ”

“ Elspeth Maclure stood, thunderstruck and horrified, staring vaguely in front of her.
"Sell Achree what hass peen the place of the Mackinnons for efer and efer!" she repeated slowly. "God forpid. He would nefer let it come to pass. Oh, Miss Isla, the laws made py men are not good laws. I'm only a plain woman, put this I see that, when a man iss like what Maister Malcolm iss, without the fear of God or man in hiss heart, he should not haf the power. I suppose he hass porrowed the money on the place, put it iss not him that will haf to pey," she added fiercely. ”