somebody or anither aboot it."

Donal was right, for within a month the house was bought, and
certain necessary repairs commenced.

Sometimes on those evenings they took tea with Mistress Croale, and
it was a proud time with her when they went. That night at least
the whisky bottle did not make its appearance.

Mrs. Sclater continued to invite young ladies to the house for
Gibbie's sake, and when she gave a party, she took care there should
be a proportion of young people in it; but Gibbie, although of
course kind and polite to all, did not much enjoy these gatherings.
It began to trouble him a little that he seemed to care less for
his kind than before; but it was only a seeming, and the cause of it
was this: he was now capable of perceiving facts in nature and
character which prevented real contact, and must make advances
towards it appear as offensive as they were useless. But he did not
love the less that he had to content himself, until the kingdom
should come nearer, with loving at a more conscious distance; by
loving kindness and truth he continued doing all he could to bring
the kingdom whose end is unity. Hence he had come to restrain his
manner--nothing could have constrained his manners, which now from
the conventional point of view were irreproachable; but if he did
not so often execute a wild dance, or stand upon one leg, the glow
in his eyes had deepened, and his response to any advance was as
ready and thorough, as frank and sweet as ever; his eagerness was
replaced by a stillness from which his eyes took all coldness, and
his smile was as the sun breaking out in a gray day of summer, and
turning all from doves to peacocks. In this matter there was one
thing worthy of note common to Donal and him, who had had the same
divine teaching from Janet: their manners to all classes were the
same, they showed the same respect to the poor, the same ease with
the rich.

I must confess, however, that before the session was over, Donal
found it required all his strength of mind to continue to go to Mrs.
Sclater's little parties--from kindness she never asked him to her
larger ones; and the more to his praise it was that he did not
refuse one of her invitations. The cause was this: one bright
Sunday morning in February, coming out of his room to go to church,
and walking down the path through the furniture in a dreamy mood, he
suddenly saw a person meeting him straight in the face. "Sic a
queer-like chi