"And now that I've run all my line off the reel, father, you must give
me a spell, and let's hear all that's been put down in your log since I
left you."

"Oh, it's no muckle I hae to tell, Tam," replied he; "ae day has been as
like the ane that gaed afore't, as ae pear to anither; I was born here,
and here I'll maist likely dee."

"But what's become o' bonny Jean Cameron, father? I remember well how
fond I was of her, when I was a boy at school; I've oft thought on her,
when we've been keeping up Saturday night, at sea. Many's the _tot_ I've
emptied to her health."

"She's still to the fore, Tam, and 'maist as bonny as ever; she was
married four years syne, but she's a widow noo." He then went on to tell
his son the other changes that had taken place since his departure, the
principal of which was the death of his late master and kind friend,
Murray of Greenha'. "He was a guid freend to me," said Willie, drawing
the back of his hand over his eyes; "but he's gane noo. I've nae cause
to compleen o' my present maister, for a kinder couldna be; but he'll
never be to me like him that's gane."

James Hamilton, old Willie Duncan's present master, had made a large
fortune in the West India trade, and was proprietor of a valuable estate
in Jamaica. For a series of years, so rapidly had he amassed wealth,
that he seemed to be a peculiar favourite of Fortune; but Fortune has
ever been a capricious dame, and those who are apparently highest in her
good graces, are often made to feel how uncertain is the tenure by which
they hold them. She seems, like some of the savages of the western
world, to pamper her victims with the good things of this life, only to
make them feel more keenly the reverses she is preparing for them. James
Hamilton was one of those men, unfortunately too rare, who do not allow
themselves to be dazzled by the flattering appearances of present
prosperity, but who, aware of the changeable and fleeting nature of all
earthly possessions, hold on the even tenor of their course, with minds
prepared for every vicissitude. He always acted upon high and pure
principle, and never, in the height of prosperity, forgot that the same
Supreme Benefactor, who in his bounty had blessed him with abundance,
might, in his wisdom, think fit to try him with adversity. He was a
kind-hearted and liberal man, but withal cool, quiet, and methodical in
his manners and actions. Heedless of the opinion of the world, he acted
up to th