as each
had far to walk back, and as a storm seemed brewing--for the wind had
suddenly lowered, and the thick mists came creeping down the
hill-sides, all dank and chill, and laden with frost-rime, that
settled crisp and white on our hair--we deemed it scarce prudent to
indulge in our usual long conversation together.

'You will find,' said Eachen, as he handed me the paper, 'that things
are looking no better. The old Tories are going on in the old way,
bitterer against the gospel than ever. They will not leave us in all
Skye a minister that has ever been the means of converting a soul; and
what looks as ill, our great Scotch railway, that broke the Sabbath
last year, in the vain hope of making money by it, is to break it this
year at a dead loss. And this for no other purpose that people can
see, than just that an Edinburgh writer may advertise his business by
making smart speeches about it. Depend on't, Allister, the country's
_fey_.'

'The old way of advertising,' said I, 'before it became necessary that
an elder should have at least some show of religion about him, was to
get into the General Assembly, and make speeches there. If the crisis
comes, we shall see the practice in full blow again. We shall see our
anti-Sabbatarian gentlemen transmuted into voluble Moderate elders,
talking hard for clients without subjecting themselves to the
advertisement duty,--and the railway mayhap keeping its Sabbaths.'

'Keeping its Sabbaths,' replied Eachen; 'ay, but the shareholders,
perhaps, have little choice in the matter. I wish you heard our
catechist on that. Depend on't, Allister, the country's _fey_.'

'Keeping its Sabbaths? Yes,' said I, catching at his meaning, 'if we
are to be visited by a permanent commercial depression--and there are
many things less likely at the present time--the railway _may_ keep
its Sabbaths, and keep them as the land of Judea did of old. It would
be all too easy, in a period of general distress, to touch that line
of necessarily high expenditure below which it would be ruin for the
returns of the undertaking to fall. Let but the invariably great
outlay continue to exceed the income for any considerable time, and
the railway _must_ keep its Sabbaths.'

'Just the catechist's idea,' rejoined my cousin. 'He spoke on the
subject at our last meeting. "Eachen," he said, "Eachen, the thing
lies so much in the ordinary course of providence, that our blinded
Sabbath-breakers, were it to happen, woul