ot for long, here."

Still the Scot held him with grave steady gaze, but speaking no word.

"You understand me, McNish?" said Maitland, nettled at the man's
silence.

"Aye, A've got a heid," he said in an impassive voice.

"Well, then, I hope you will govern yourself accordingly. Good-day,"
said Maitland, closing the interview.

McNish still stood immovable.

"That's all I have to say," said Maitland, glancing impatiently at the
man.

"But it's no all A have to say, if ye will pairmit me," answered McNish
in a voice quiet and respectful and apparently, except for its Doric
flavour, quite untouched by emotion of any kind soever.

"Go on," said Maitland shortly, as the Scot stood waiting.

"Maister Maitland," said McNish, rolling out a deeper Doric, "ye have
made a promise and a threat. Yere threat is naething tae me. As tae yere
job, A want it and A want tae get on, but A'm a free man the noo an' a
free man A shall ever be. Good-day tae ye." He bowed respectfully to his
employer and strode from the room.

Mr. Maitland sat looking at the closed door.

"He is a man, that chap, at any rate," he said to himself, "but what's
his game, I wonder. He will bear watching."

The very next day Maitland made a close inspection of his plant,
beginning with the sawmill. He found McNish running one of the larger
circular saws, and none too deftly. He stood observing the man for some
moments in silence. Then stepping to the workman's side he said,

"You will save time, I think, if you do it this way." He seized the
levers and, eliminating an unnecessary movement, ran the log. McNish
stood calmly observing.

"Aye, yere r-right," he said. "Ye'll have done yon before."

"You just bet I have," said Maitland, not a little pleased with himself.

"A'm no saw man," said McNish, a little sullenly. "A dinna ken--I don't
know saws of this sort. I'm a joiner. He put me off the bench."

"Who?" said Maitland quickly.

"Yon manny," replied McNish with unmistakable disgust.

"You were on the bench, eh? What sort of work were you on?"

"A was daein' a bit counter work. A wasna fast enough for him."

Mr. Maitland called the head sawyer.

"Put a man on here for a while, Powell, will you? You come with me,
McNish."

Together they went into the planing mill. Asking for the foreman he
found that he was nowhere to be seen, that indeed he had not been in the
mill that morning.

"Show me your work, McNish," he said.

McNish led hi