d carried a shilling in his
snuff-mull. The remainder of the money he must have made by extra work
at his loom, by working harder, for he could scarcely have worked
longer.

It was one day shortly before Jamie's return to Thrums that Jess saw
Hendry pass the house and go down the brae when he ought to have come
in to his brose. She sat at the window watching for him, and by and by
he reappeared, carrying a parcel.

"Whaur on earth hae ye been?" she asked, "an' what's that you're
carryin'?"

"Did ye think it was an eleven an' a bit?" said Hendry.

"No, I didna," answered Jess, indignantly.

Then Hendry slowly undid the knots of the string with which the parcel
was tied. He took off the brown paper.

"There's yer cloth," he said, "an' here's one an' saxpence for the
beads an' the buttons."

While Jess still stared he followed me ben the house.

"It's a terrible haver," he said, apologetically, "but she had set her
heart on't."

CHAPTER IX

THE POWER OF BEAUTY

One evening there was such a gathering at the pig-sty that Hendry and I
could not get a board to lay our backs against. Circumstances had
pushed Pete Elshioner into the place of honour that belonged by right
of mental powers to Tammas Haggart, and Tammas was sitting rather
sullenly on the bucket, boring a hole in the pig with his sarcastic
eye. Pete was passing round a card, and in time it reached me. "With
Mr. and Mrs. David Alexander's compliments," was printed on it, and
Pete leered triumphantly at us as it went the round.

"Weel, what think ye?" he asked, with a pretence at modesty.

"Ou," said T'nowhead, looking at the others like one who asked a
question, "ou, I think; ay, ay."

The others seemed to agree with him, all but Tammas, who did not care
to tie himself down to an opinion.

"Ou ay," T'nowhead continued, more confidently, "it is so, deceededly."

"Ye'll no ken," said Pete, chuckling, "what it means?"

"Na," the farmer admitted, "na, I canna say I exac'ly ken that."

"I ken, though," said Tammas, in his keen way.

"Weel, then, what is't?" demanded Pete, who had never properly come
under Tammas's spell.

"I ken," said Tammas.

"Oot wi't then."

"I dinna say it's lyin' on my tongue," Tammas replied, in a tone of
reproof, "but if ye'll juist speak awa aboot some other thing for a
meenute or twa, I'll tell ye syne."

Hendry said that this was only reasonable, but we could think of no
subject at the moment, so we o