elf. Before
the gate was open he had charged up the hill like a whirlwind and
caught Granny off her feet.

And then such a time as there was with talking and hand-shaking and
laughter and tears, for even Mary Sandy took to crying out of sympathy
with her mistress, and Scotty himself had some work to keep his eyes
dry.

And no one could hear a word anyone else said, for as the long-absent
one crossed the threshold, Old Farquhar burst into loud and joyous
song. And what could do justice to the great occasion but "The Grave
of Highland Mary"? The old man's voice was strong with excitement, and
he drowned both the noise of joyful greeting and the din of the barking
dogs as he shouted triumphantly,--

"Then bring me the sigh of a fond lover's bosom
And bring me the tear of a fond lover's e'e,
And I'll pour them a' doon on thy grave, Highland May-ay-re,
For the sake o' thy Bur-urns who sae dearly loved thee!"

When the excitement had slightly subsided they had to sit down and
partake of such a supper as had never before been set out in that
house; for Granny would not listen to such foolish nonsense as that
they had eaten at Murphy's. She sat beside her boy, never touching her
own food, but heaping his plate, clapping him upon the back and
showering upon him all the endearing epithets she knew in a language
that is famous for them.

Big Malcolm sat close to him on the other side, his old warlike spirit
aroused, as his boy told his story. Scotty softened the hardships for
his grandmother's ears and said nothing of his own encounter in the
desert. He was graphically describing the manoeuvres of the
Highlanders at Kirbekan, much to his grandfather's delectation; when,
as if to give point to his narrative, there suddenly arose from the
direction of the road a splendid roar of pipes; and behold here came
Rory driving up the lane in a wagon, his whole family aboard; and he
himself, forgetful of his dignity as the father of the family, standing
up in the wagon and blowing up a tremendous pibroch on Fiddlin'
Archie's Sandy's bagpipes!

Scotty flung out of doors to meet him and had scarcely time for a
greeting when they sighted Weaver Jimmie and Kirsty hurrying up the
path from the bush. Then a shout from the hill behind the barn
attracted everyone's attention, and Long Lauchie's whole household
appeared trooping down the slope; Long Lauchie himself plodding
joyfully at the tail of the procession, full of bew