d up the river, and went
through the woods as he and Ben had done. It was a lovely autumn day,
but there were few tokens of decay in the woods and fields through which
they took their way, and they lingered in the sweet air with a pleasure
that made them unconscious of the flight of time, and the afternoon was
far spent before they sat down to rest on the rocky knoll where Clifton
in Ben's company had renewed his acquaintance with the Fleming children.
The remembrance of the time and the scene came back so vividly, that he
could not help telling his companions about it. Elizabeth's face
clouded as he repeated Katie's words about "those avaricious Holts"
which had brought him to a sense of the indiscretion he was committing
in listening.

"The Flemings are hard upon Jacob. Mr Maxwell might have been more
fortunate in his escort," said she.

"Nonsense, Lizzie! Mrs Fleming is far too sensible to confound us with
Jacob; and, Lizzie, you used to be a pet of hers."

"Yes," said Elizabeth, "long ago."

And as they lingered, she went on to tell them about the Flemings, and
their opinions and manner of life, and about the troubles which had
fallen on them. She grew earnest as she went on, telling about poor
Hugh whom everybody had loved so well, whom she herself remembered as
the handsomest, gentlest, and best of all those who had frequented their
house, when her brothel Jacob was young and she was a child; and in her
earnestness she said some things that surprised her brother as he
listened.

"My father and Mr Fleming were always friendly, and sometimes I went
with my father to their house. I did not often see Mr Fleming, but I
remember his coming into the room one day, when I was sitting on a low
stool, holding the first baby of his son's family in my lap. She was a
lovely little creature, little Katie, just beginning to coo, and murmur,
and smile at me with her bonny blue eyes, and I suppose the child, and
my pride and delight in her, must have been a pretty sight to see, for
the grandfather sat down beside us, and smiled as he looked and
listened, and made some happy, foolish talk with us both. My father was
very much surprised, he told me afterward; and in a little while, when I
went into another room, I found Mrs Fleming crying, with her apron over
her face. But they were happy tears, for she smiled when she saw us,
and clasped and kissed baby and me, with many sweet Scottish words of
endearment to us both.