essly, open the door of the
pew, get out into the passage, take the old man by the hand, and
lead him to his place beside the satin-robed and sable-muffed
ministerial consort. Obedient to Gibbie's will, the old man took
the seat, with an air both of humility and respect, while happily
for Mrs. Sclater's remnant of ruffled composure, there was plenty of
room in the pew, so that she could move higher up. The old man, it
is true, followed, to make a place for Gibbie, but there was still
an interval between them sufficient to afford space to the hope that
none of the evils she dreaded would fall upon her to devour her.
Flushed, angry, uncomfortable, notwithstanding, her face glowed
like a bale-fire to the eyes of her husband, and, I fear, spoiled
the prayer--but that did not matter much.

While the two thus involuntarily signalled each other, the boy who
had brought discomposure into both pulpit and pew, sat peaceful as a
summer morning, with the old man beside him quiet in the reverence
of being himself revered. And the minister, while he preached from
the words, Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall,
for the first time in his life began to feel doubtful whether he
might not himself be a humbug. There was not much fear of his
falling, however, for he had not yet stood on his feet.

Not a word was said to Gibbie concerning the liberty he had taken:
the minister and his wife were in too much dread--not of St. James
and the "poor man in vile raiment," for they were harmless enough in
themselves, but of Gibbie's pointing finger to back them. Three
distinct precautions, however, they took; the pew-opener on that
side was spoken to; Mrs. Sclater made Gibbie henceforth go into the
pew before her; and she removed the New Testament from the
drawing-room.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

NEEDFULL ODDS AND ENDS.

It will be plain from what I have told, that Donal's imagination was
full of Ginevra, and his was not an economy whose imagination could
enjoy itself without calling the heart to share. At the same time,
his being in love, if already I may use concerning him that most
general and most indefinite of phrases, so far from obstructing his
study, was in reality an aid to his thinking and a spur to
excellence--not excellence over others, but over himself. There
were moments, doubtless, long moments too, in which he forgot Homer
and Cicero and differential calculus and chemistry, for "the bonnie
lady-lassi