y
to 'im, for he aye stood on, an' I wasna even sure 'at he saw me. He
raised his heid when he heard me tellin' the bairn no to tear my
wrapper.

"'Dinna set yer heart ower muckle on that bairn,' he cried oot, sharp
like. 'I was aince like her, an' I used to hing aboot my mother, too,
in that very roady. Ay, I thocht I was fond o' her, an' she thocht it
too. Tak' a care, wuman, 'at that bairn doesna grow up to murder ye.'

"He gae a lauch when he saw me tak haud o' the bairn, an' syne a' at
aince he gaed awa quick. But he wasna far doon the brae when he turned
an' came back.

"'Ye'll, mebbe, tell me," he said, richt low, 'if ye hae the furniture
'at used to be my mother's?'

"'Na,' I said, 'it was roupit, an' I kenna whaur the things gaed, for
me an' my man comes frae Tilliedrum.'

"'Ye wouldna hae heard,' he said, 'wha got the muckle airm-chair 'at
used to sit i' the kitchen i' the window 'at looks ower the brae?'

"'I couldna be sure,' I said, 'but there was an airm-chair at gaed to
Tibbie Birse. If it was the ane ye mean, it a' gaed to bits, an' I
think they burned it. It was gey dune.'

"'Ay,' he said, 'it was gey dune.'

"'There was the chairs ben i' the room,' he said, after a while.

"I said I thocht Sanders Elshioner had got them at a bargain because
twa o' them was mended wi' glue, an' gey silly.

"'Ay, that's them,' he said, 'they were richt neat mended. It was my
mother 'at glued them. I mind o' her makkin' the glue, an' warnin' me
an' my father no to sit on them. There was the clock too, an' the
stool 'at my mother got oot an' into her bed wi', an' the basket 'at
Leeby carried when she gaed the errands. The straw was aff the handle,
an' my father mended it wi' strings.'

"'I dinna ken,' I said, 'whaur nane o' thae gaed; but did yer mother
hae a staff?'

"'A little staff,' he said; 'it was near black wi' age. She couldna
gang frae the bed to her chair withoot it. It was broadened oot at the
foot wi' her leanin' on't sae muckle.'

"'I've heard tell,' I said, ''at the dominie up i' Glen Quharity took
awa the staff.'

"He didna speir for nae other thing. He had the gate in his hand, but
I dinna think he kent 'at he was swingin't back an' forrit. At last he
let it go.

"'That's a',' he said, 'I maun awa. Good-nicht, an' thank ye kindly.'

"I watched 'im till he gaed oot o' sicht. He gaed doon the brae."

We learnt afterwards from the gravedigger that some one spent great
pa