o not say such a thing; and Yankee will drive you in his buckboard
to-morrow."

His brother did not promise, but next day the congregation received a
shock of surprise to see Macdonald Dubh walk down the aisle to his place
in the church. And through all the days of the spring and summer his
place was never empty; and though the shadow never lifted from his face,
the minister's wife felt comforted about him, and waited for the day of
his deliverance.

CHAPTER XIII

THE LOGGING BEE

Macdonald Bhain's visit to his brother was fruitful in another way.
After taking counsel with Yankee and Kirsty, he resolved that he would
speak to his neighbors and make a "bee," to attack the brule. He knew
better than to consult either his brother or his nephew, feeling sure
that their Highland pride would forbid accepting any such favor, and all
the more because it seemed to be needed. But without their leave the bee
was arranged, and in the beginning of the following week the house of
Macdonald Dubh was thrown into a state of unparalleled confusion, and
Kirsty went about in a state of dishevelment that gave token that
the daily struggle with dirt had reached the acute stage. From top
to bottom, inside and outside, everything that could be scrubbed was
scrubbed, and then she settled about her baking, but with all caution,
lest she should excite her brother's or her nephew's suspicion. It was
a good thing that little baking was required, for the teams that brought
the men with their axes and logging-chains for the day's work at the
brule brought also their sisters and mothers with baskets of provisions.
A logging bee without the sisters and mothers with their baskets would
hardly be an unmixed blessing.

The first man to arrive with his team was Peter McGregor's Angus, and
with him came his sister Bella. He was shortly afterward followed
by other teams in rapid succession--the Rosses, the McKerachers, the
Camerons, both Don and Murdie, the Rory McCuaigs, the McRaes, two or
three families of them, the Frasers, and others--till some fifteen teams
and forty men, and boys, who thought themselves quite men, lined up in
front of the brule.

The bee was a great affair, for Macdonald Bhain was held in high regard
by the people; and besides this, the misfortune that had befallen his
brother, and the circumstances under which it had overtaken him, had
aroused in the community a very deep sympathy for him, and people were
glad of the opp