gine."

It was noticed that the foolhardy traveller kept the full length of the
junction between himself and Peter till the Dunleith train came in,
while his very back was eloquent of humiliation, and Hillocks offered
his snuff-box ostentatiously to Peter, which that worthy accepted as a
public tribute of admiration.

"Look, Kate, there he is;" and there Peter was, standing in his
favourite attitude, his legs wide apart and his thumbs in his armholes,
superior, abstracted, motionless till the train stopped, when he came
forward.

[Illustration: Peter was standing in his favourite attitude.]

"Prood tae see ye, General, coming back at laist, an' the Miss wi' ye;
it 'll no be the blame o' the fouk up by gin ye bena happy. Drumtochty
hes an idea o' itsel', and peety the man 'at tries tae drive them, but
they 're couthy.

"This wy, an' a'll see tae yir luggage," and before Peter made for the
Dunleith van it is said that he took off his cap to Kate; but if so,
this was the only time he had ever shown such gallantry to a lady.

Certainly he must have been flustered by something, for he did not
notice that Carmichael, overcome by shyness at the sight of the
Carnegies in the first, had hid himself in the second, till he closed
the doors; then the Carnegies heard it all.

"It's I, Peter," very quietly; "your first has passengers to-day,
and . . . I 'll just sit here."

"Come oot o' that," after a moment, during which Peter had simply
looked; then the hat and the tweeds came stumbling into the first,
making some sort of a bow and muttering an apology.

"A'll tak' yir ticket, Maister Carmichael," with severity. "General,"
suddenly relaxing, "this is the Free Kirk minister of yir pairish, an'
a 'm jidgin' he 'll no try the second again."

Carmichael lifted his head and caught Kate's eye, and at the meeting of
humour they laughed aloud. Whereupon the General said, "My daughter,
Miss Carnegie," and they became so friendly before they reached
Kildrummie that Carmichael forgot his disgraceful appearance and when
the General offered him a lift up, simply clutched at the opportunity.

The trap was a four-wheeled dog-cart. Kate drove, with her father by
her side and Carmichael behind, but he found it necessary to turn round
to give information of names and places, and he so managed that he
could catch Kate's profile half the time.

When he got down at the foot of the hill by Hillocks' farm, to go up
the near road, inste