the neck.

It was a tender, silent moment. The man's eyes were misty with tears,
and his voice had a new tone in it as he said, "Ruleson, this little
lad is mine, as well as yours. I have been spoken to. Through him we
shall all be greatly blessed, and we shall yet see a grand preacher
come out of the boats and the fisherman's cottage."

There was a few moments' silence, and then Margot said, "Take your
sitting, Sir, and a cup o' tea will do you mair gude than doing
without it."

"I'll sit down gladly." Then they talked of the child's extreme
weakness and nervousness, and the Domine said that with plenty of
fresh milk, and fresh fish, and with all the fresh air he could
breathe, and all the sleep he could shut his eyes for, the little one
would soon be well. "Then Christine," he said, "must give him his
first lessons. After they have been learned, it will be joy of Magnus
Trenabie to see him safe through school and college. Give me so much
interest in the boy, Ruleson, for he is called and chosen, and we have
in our hands the making of a Man of God."

Later in the evening, when the school affairs had been discussed and
the boy and Christine had disappeared, the Domine was told the few sad
incidents which made up the whole life of little James Ruleson. There
was a strong tendency on his grandfather's part to make excuses for
the mother of the neglected boy. "You see, Domine," he said, "she has
never been sick, and her ither children are as rugged as hersel'. She
couldna understand James. She didna ken what to do wi' him, or for
him."

"I know, Ruleson, but physical pride is as real a sin as spiritual
pride, and is the cause of much suffering and unhappiness. My own
father was one of those bronze men, who thought weakness to be
cowardice, and sickness to be mostly imagination. His children were
all weak and sensitive, but he insisted on our roughing it. Fagging
and hazing were good for us, he enjoyed them. Bodily strain and mental
cram were healthy hardening processes. I had a little sister, she was
weak and fearful, he insisted on her taking the cold water cure.
Nerves were all nonsense! 'Look at me!' he would say proudly, 'I get
up early, I work all day, I know nothing about headaches, or
neuralgia, or nerves'--In the world he passed for a genial, hearty
man."

"We hae plenty o' such unfeeling fellows," said Ruleson. "I dinna
fret, when they hae a hard spell o' rheumatism. Not I!"

"It is not mere flesh and bl