Wullie

“ Lindsay and others as they had opportunity, and the mother was always sure to buy Belle's clothes with the proceeds of the knitting. Annie was a bright little girl ten years old. She too was busy, for none were allowed to eat idle bread in honest Wullie's cottage. Wullie's own son David, or Davie as he was called, was also taught to save steps. But the most stir and activity was in the morning. No one was allowed to lie in bed after the sun was up. The mother called to any one who was likely to transgress this rule, "Come, dinna let the sun beat you up the morn." ”

“ Wullie, seeing he would have no help in the matter, came to the point at once, "His talk aboot wedlock, to be sure."
"It is but ane o' his daft notions," she replied, but in a tone less severe than the words.
"It isna sae daft a notion, perhaps," he said, following up his advantage. "It is true I hae neither riches, wit, nor beauty. I hae naught but a hamely living to offer ye, and that ye s'all hae at ony rate if I can win it. I will always do my best to provide for Rab's family, but it might be mair proper to hae the family a' in ane. ”

“ I'll do as I like."
"Ye're too young tae understand yet," began Wullie.
"I'm not. I'm not too young to understand that I won't be weak—tied down. The doctor said women were all weaker than men, and I thought perhaps most women might be. But not me. And then—Wullie, I want to be like a lion or a tiger, and kill things that get in the way, and—oh, I'll hate being a human being with a body that gets in the way."
"My poor old carcass has always been in the way," said Wullie wistfully, and she ran out of the hut, unable to bear the pity of that, right up on Ben Grief. ”

“ Rab was so much engaged that he did not notice the entrance of the new-comer.
"Gude save us!" exclaimed one of the company, "if here isna honest Wullie! I would liefer see the de'il himsel' in this place."
Wullie walked straight to his brother. "It is time all honest folk were at hame," said he.
Robert looked at him a moment, hardly knowing whether to be angry or to yield and feel foolish.
"Can a man no hae a bit o' merriment but ye maun come spierin' aboot after him?" he asked.
"Come hame. Dinna stop here makin' a gowk o' yoursel'," said Wullie in an undertone. ”

“ While the warld is changing men canna stand still. I'm muckle changed mysel frae the Donald I once was, and I owe the gude that is in me to your faither. I could a'maist as soon forget my ain name as to forget honest Wullie. I hae him as plainly before me as though he died but yesterday, and it is seven years agone. There will be mair o' us gane soon, or auld age will no hae dune its wark. God grant that when the angel o' death puts in the sickle we may a' be as ripe for the heavenly garner as your gude faither was. ”

“ I love the smell of it, too—it makes me think of the Queen of Sheba bringing spices and gold to King Solomon."
"Ye seem to be having a fine queer lot of thoughts the day, Marcella," said Wullie, eating slowly and looking at her.
She flushed and looked away from him.
"I have, Wullie, horrible thoughts. About getting old."
"So old, lassie—ye're nearly a woman now," he said gently.
"Wullie, I won't be a woman! I hate it! The doctor's been telling me disgusting things about being a woman. And so has Jean. Why should they be weak and get ill? ”

“ A man canna let his ain brither suffer, even if it s'ould be through his ain faut. Rab was aye a careless lad. He s'ouldna hae married withoot changing his ways. Hoo did he suppose he would support a wife and weans! He aye depends o'er muckle on me." While he was thus mentally soliloquizing his brother appeared, struggling through the snow.
"Weel, Wullie, ye are aye warking; ye are o'er industrious."
"A man canna sit in the hoose and be snawed in. Hae ye no made paths aboot your ain door?" ”

“ All that day M'Adam sat in his kitchen, drinking, muttering, hatching revenge.
“Curse it, Wullie! curse it! The time's slippin'—slippin'—slippin'! Thursday next—but three days mair! and I haena the proof—I haena the proof!”—and he rocked to and fro, biting his nails in the agony of his impotence.
All day long he never moved. Long after sunset he sat on; long after dark had eliminated the features of the room.
“They're all agin us, Wullie. It's you and I alane, lad. M'Adam's to be beat somehow, onyhow; and Moore's to win. ”

“ Rasper beneath him now; three at his throat; two at his ears; a crowd on flanks and body.
The Terror of the Border was down at last!
“Wullie, ma Wullie!” screamed M'Adam, bounding down the slope a crook's length in front of the rest. “Wullie! Wullie! to me!”
At the shrill cry the huddle below was convulsed. It heaved and swelled and dragged to and fro, like the sea lashed into life by some dying leviathan.
A gigantic figure, tawny and red, fought its way to the surface. A great tossing head, bloody past recognition, flung out from the ruck. ”

“ Around him were his sheep, which were carefully watched by three fine collie dogs, who marched around the flock, and kept them in order, as an officer does his soldiers. "Auld Wullie" was a great friend of the children, who never tired of hearing his tales of sheep-dogs and shepherds, and their lonely lives on the moors and hillsides. "Auld Wullie" was [67] a descendant of an old Highland shepherd family, who always among themselves spoke the old Gaelic tongue, and it was great fun for the children to get him to address them in the tongue of his forefathers. ”

“ But human strength, at best, is weak; and there was to be one more trial, the hardest and the last.
[Pg 29]
CHAPTER IV. DEATH IN THE CUP.
The rolling year again brought the winter. During the coldest weather there was little to be done on the farm, and Wullie and Rab spent many days at home. One very cold evening Rab went out "to look after the coo," as he told his wife. While he was at the cow-shed, Donald McPherson, who was passing that way in hope of seeing his old comrade, approached him softly.
"Come awa wi' me to Daft Jamie's, and get a drop to warm you this cauld night." ”

“ When Donald and Annie had been married a twelvemonth a daughter was born to them. Great was the joy in the household. The grandfather was hardly less pleased than the father. He went to honest Wullie's to communicate his gladness and to congratulate him.
"We hae a fine granddaughter, neebor Murdoch. The sight o' her will be gude for oor auld een. If the gude Lord spares her till us, she will beguile the lang weary hours o' auld age."
"Ay, it is gude to see young faces when we are auld; but I think ye will find your hours nane too lang, neebor McPherson. ”

“ Wullie's heart was full of glad thankfulness. He rose and stirred the fire, and added fuel. There should be no lack of anything now. "Jamie, ye s'all hae new shoon, and wee Belle s'all hae new shoon; and Rab, ye s'all no want for medicines. Jeannie, ye will see till 't that there is plenty o' parritch made, for if the meal gies oot ye can hae mair. Weel, weel, I canna forget it. Is it no wonderfu' that the gentleman s'ould hae left the money for me! I hae nae doot he is a servant of the Lord, sin' he considers the puir. ”

“ I am no sure but I fainted, for I canna remember what happened after I fell. When I was able to think I felt a pain in my back, and I was so sair that I could hardly stir. I didna dare to move in the darkness for fear I should get another fall, so I just prayed a' by mysel here, and I kenned weel ye would pray for me at hame, so I wasna afeard. But where is the flock?"
"The flock is a' right. Dinna fash your heid aboot the flock," said Wullie, brushing away a tear.
Jamie tried to rise, but the first movement gave him pain. Wullie lifted him tenderly. ”

“ But my faith was o'er weak, for when wee Jamie was disappointed I had a'maist gien o'er again to fear."
"Weel, Wullie, if ye lack faith, what would ye think o' me?" asked Rab.
"Ah, Rab, ye hae na proved what comfort ane gets in just takin' God at his ward. I dinna see hoo folk can endure life withoot the Heavenly Father's smile. It is true they hae the bonny things in nature; but they are far bonnier when ane can not only see their beauty, but can trace in them the gudeness and wisdom o' the Creator, and can feel that he has this all-wise Creator for his freend. ”

“ I can see right weel that your heart is no in your talk. It would be better to lay aside sic pretences, for ye hae na deceived me frae the vera first. Ye hae a trouble that is pressing sair upon you. Will ye no tell me at ance what it is? Perhaps I might comfort you."
"Wullie," replied Rab, "ye hae had ane look into my heart, and noo I will mak it bare to you. I am thinking I will never be a sound man again. It isna my feet alane, but I hae a sair pain when I cough; and I hae nae mair strength than wee Jamie; and it is nae wonder, for I sweat sae muckle o' nights. ”

“ I sit and ponder it o'er and o'er, and Jeannie thinks perhaps that I am ill-tempered; but I canna bring mysel to tell her. It would break her heart if I were to dee without hope. Puir lass! I hae never been gude eneuch for her. Many a time I hae pitied her that she wasna better mated."
Wullie was much moved. As soon as he could trust his voice he replied, "Rab, I hae seen all that ye hae tauld me, and mair than ye [Pg 39] hae tauld me. Ye are seeking to find favor in the sight o' God; and ye are looking within yoursel to find something to recommend you to him, but ye canna find onything. ”

“ He has ta'en his brither's family into his hoose, and there is seckness amang them. The brither himsel is seck, and his wife has a wee bit bairn, and they hae na onything laid by. I am right sorry for Wullie, [Pg 42] for a better man never put his hand to a sickle. I would help him though I s'ould never be paid. But there is nae danger o' that. He hasna come to his name withoot gude reason. I ken him weel. He has a generous nature; and he is aye ready to help ithers when he has the means in his hands. ”

“ Mrs. Murdoch yielded to sorrow after her husband was dead. No one interfered with her grief until Wullie thought she had wept "o'er lang." "Compose yoursel, sister Jeannie," he said, speaking in a persuasive manner. "I ken it is hard to bear; but neither yoursel nor the bairns will want for a freend while it is in the [Pg 57] power o' Wullie Murdoch to help you. He wha has gaen frae us can never return to us, but we can gang to him in the Lord's ain gude time."
A simple funeral service was held at the church, and the body was committed to the earth whence it came. ”

“ Then wi' Jamie bein' awa, I hae times when I feel a bit tenderer for him too; but I couldna wish better sons than Wullie and Archie. And gin onything happened to them, I think ye would find oot they are as dear to your heart as ony o' your bairns."
"Nae doot, nae doot. It is but a notion, after a'. Archie says he willna marry—leastways, while his parents live. He says he wants to be aye free to help us, s'ould there be ony need o' 't. Saw ye ever mair thoughtfulness than that, Jeannie?" ”

“ Well, it is often sae. I think sometimes, What do parents rear bairns for? They arena mair than grawn before the flittin' begins."
"It is aye so," said Annie; "leastways in some families. There is my Robin; he takes a deal too muckle interest in information about America. I fear he will take it into his heid to gang there before mony years."
Davie with a startled look glanced towards his sons, who had been listening to all that had [Pg 143] been said, as if he feared they might become infected with a desire to leave home too. But Wullie, already sixteen years old, was a home-loving lad ”

“ Then they go after the man they need, like the witch-woman. And—take him."
Marcella frowned.
"It sends them on strange roads sometimes," said Wullie, and would say no more.
It was Marcella's rest night, and tired as she was, she lay thinking long in the silence. It was a strangely windless night, but her thoughts went whirling as though on wings of wind. Thoughts of fate, thoughts of scepticism jostled each other: pictures came; she saw the apple tree breaking through Lashnagar; she saw a landslide many years ago on Ben Grief that had torn bare strange coloured rocks in the escarpment. ”

“ A dull flash of passion swept across M'Adam's face. “Come here, Wullie!” he called. “Gin yon Hielant tyke attacks ye agin, ye're to be disqualified.”
He was unheeded. The battle for the Cup had begun—little Pip leading the dance.
On the opposite slope the babel had subsided now. Hucksters left their wares, and bookmakers their stools, to watch the struggle. Every eye was intent on the moving figures of man and dog and three sheep over the stream. ”

“ Then he turned on David, seized the stake from his hand, and began furiously belaboring the boy.
“I'll teach ye to strike—a puir—dumb—harmless—creetur, ye—cruel—cruel—-lad!” he cried. “Hoo daur ye strike—ma——Wullie? yer—father's——Wullie? Adam—M 'Adam's—Red Wull?” He was panting from his exertions, and his eyes were blazing. “I pit up as best I can wi' all manner o' disrespect to masel'; but when it comes to takin' ma puir Wullie, I canna thole it. Ha' ye no heart?” he asked, unconscious of the irony of the question.
“As much as some, I reck'n,” David muttered. ”

“ Murdoch busied herself with restoring things somewhat to their wonted order; her thoughts were no less busy than her hands. "Oor life is unco checkered, Wullie," she said; "but still God has never gien us sae mony sorrows as to overwhelm us, nor sae mony joys as to turn oor heids. When we are a'maist fainting for fear o' the darkness, he sends light; and when we are o'er muckle exalted in oor feelings, he gars us through some turn o' his providence to come doun."
[Pg 104]
"That is weel said, wifie. Ane canna fail to see the Faither's gudeness in sic management o' us. ”