the front door: it might prove stiff! Donal took
it, and having oiled it well, set out for Morven House. But on his way
he turned aside to see the Comins.

Andrew looked worse, and he thought he must be sinking. The moment he
saw Donal he requested they might be left alone for a few minutes.

"My yoong freen'," he said, "the Lord has fauvoured me greatly in
grantin' my last days the licht o' your coontenance. I hae learnt a
heap frae ye 'at I kenna hoo I could hae come at wantin' ye."

"Eh, An'rew!" interrupted Donal, "I dinna weel ken hoo that can be, for
it aye seemt to me ye had a' the knowledge 'at was gaein'!"

"The man can ill taich wha's no gaein' on learnin'; an' maybe whiles he
learns mair frae his scholar nor the scholar learns frae him. But it's
a' frae the Lord; the Lord is that speerit--an' first o' a' the speerit
o' obeddience, wi'oot which there's no learnin'. Still, my son, it may
comfort ye a wee i' the time to come, to think the auld cobbler Anerew
Comin gaed intil the new warl' fitter company for the help ye gied him
afore he gaed. May the Lord mak a sicht o' use o' ye! Fowk say a heap
aboot savin' sowls, but ower aften, I doobt, they help to tak frae them
the sense o' hoo sair they're in want o' savin'. Surely a man sud ken
in himsel' mair an' mair the need o' bein' saved, till he cries oot an'
shoots, 'I am saved, for there's nane in h'aven but thee, an' there's
nane upo' the earth I desire besides thee! Man, wuman, child, an' live
cratur, is but a portion o' thee, whauron to lat the love o' thee rin
ower!' Whan a man can say that, he's saved; an' no till than, though
for lang years he may hae been aye comin' nearer to that goal o' a'
houp, the hert o' the father o' me, an' you, an' Doory, an' Eppy, an'
a' the nations o' the earth!"

He stopped weary, but his eyes, fixed on Donal, went on where his voice
had ended, and for a time Donal seemed to hear what his soul was
saying, and to hearken with content. But suddenly their light went out,
the old man gave a sigh, and said:--

"It's ower for this warl', my freen'. It's comin'--the hoor o'
darkness. But the thing 'at's true whan the licht shines, is as true i'
the dark: ye canna work, that's a'. God 'ill gie me grace to lie still.
It's a' ane. I wud lie jist as I used to sit, i' the days whan I men'it
fowk's shune, an' Doory happent to tak awa' the licht for a moment;--I
wud sit aye luikin' doon throuw the mirk at my wark, though I couldna
see a