and wondering how it was
that Donal got all those strange beautiful words and sounds and
stories out of the book.

CHAPTER XVII.

SECRET SERVICE.

I must not linger over degrees and phases. Every morning, Gibbie
got into the kitchen in good time; and not only did more and more of
the work, but did it more and more to the satisfaction of Jean,
until, short of the actual making of the porridge, he did everything
antecedent to the men's breakfast. When Jean came in, she had but
to take the lid from the pot, put in the salt, assume the spurtle,
and, grasping the first handful of the meal, which stood ready
waiting in the bossie on the stone cheek of the fire, throw it in,
thus commencing the simple cookery of the best of all dishes to a
true-hearted and healthy Scotsman. Without further question she
attributed all the aid she received to the goodness, "enough for
anything," of Donal Grant, and continued to make acknowledgment of
the same in both sort and quantity of victuals, whence, as has been
shown, the real labourer received his due reward.

Until he had thoroughly mastered his work, Gibbie persisted in
regarding matters economic "from his loophole in the ceiling;" and
having at length learned the art of making butter, soon arrived at
some degree of perfection in it. But when at last one morning he
not only churned, but washed and made it up entirely to Jean's
satisfaction, she did begin to wonder how a mere boy could both have
such perseverance, and be so clever at a woman's work. For now she
entered the kitchen every morning without a question of finding the
fire burning, the water boiling, the place clean and tidy, the
supper dishes well washed and disposed on shelf and rack: her own
part was merely to see that proper cloths were handy to so thorough
a user of them. She took no one into her confidence on the matter:
it was enough, she judged, that she and Donal understood each other.

And now if Gibbie had contented himself with rendering this
house-service in return for the shelter of the barn and its hay, he
might have enjoyed both longer; but from the position of his
night-quarters, he came gradually to understand the work of the
stable also; and before long, the men, who were quite ignorant of
anything similar taking place in the house, began to observe, more
to their wonder than satisfaction, that one or other of their horses
was generally groomed before his man came to him; that often there