"

Annie's heart bounded for joy; for here was what amounted to an express
invitation for to-morrow.

"But," Alec went on, "come wi' me, and we'll sune get ye warm again.
Gie's yer han'."

Annie gave Alec her hand; and he lifted her out of her heap of spales,
and led her away. She never thought of asking where he was leading her.
They had not gone far down the _close_, when a roaring sound fell upon
her ear, growing louder and louder as they went on; till, turning a
sharp corner, there they saw the smithy fire. The door of the smithy
was open, and they could see the smith at work some distance off. The
fire glowed with gathered rage at the impudence of the bellows blowing
in its face. The huge smith, with one arm flung affectionately over the
shoulder of the insulting party, urged it to the contest; while he
stirred up the other to increased ferocity, by poking a piece of iron
into the very middle of it. How the angry glare started out of it and
stared all the murky _smiddy_ in the face, showing such gloomy holes
and corners in it, and such a lot of horse-shoes hung up close to the
roof, ready to be fitted for unbelievable horse-wear; and making the
smith's face and bare arms glow with a dusky red, like hot metal, as if
he were the gnome-king of molten iron. Then he stooped, and took up
some coal dust in a little shovel, and patted it down over the fire,
and blew stronger than ever, and the sparks flew out with the rage of
the fire. Annie was delighted to look at it; but there was a certain
fierceness about the whole affair that made her shrink from going
nearer; and she could not help feeling a little afraid of the giant
smith in particular, with his brawny arms that twisted and tortured
iron bars all day long,--and his black angry-looking face, that seemed
for ever fighting with fire and stiff-necked metal His very look into
the forge-fire ought to have been enough to put it out of countenance.
Perhaps that was why it was so necessary to keep blowing and poking at
it. Again he stooped, caught up a great iron spoon, dipped it into a
tub of water, and poured the spoonful on the fire--a fresh insult, at
which it hissed and sputtered, like one of the fiery flying serpents of
which she had read in her Bible--gigantic, dragon-like creatures to her
imagination--in a perfect insanity of fury. But not the slightest
motion of her hand lying in Alec's, indicated reluctance, as he led her
into the shop, and right up to the wra