JOHN RETURNS TO THE GADIE. 241 



John and she became intimate, and her house was one 

 of his few resorts, for the comfort, quietness and intel- 

 lectual sympathies to be found in it. Scarcely a day 

 passed without seeing him there. When he wished a 

 change from the weary monotony of the everlasting click- 

 clack of the shuttle, he would suddenly appear leaning 

 over the lower half of the shop door, which was divided 

 into two parts, like that of a barn. He would first gaze up 

 to the skies, and then all round, while his hand shaded his 

 eyes, in order to see the state of the weather. Then,- 

 making a sudden leap across the highway, for he was in 

 the hey-day of health and spirits, he would burst into the 

 carpenter's kitchen, as if he had flown there. He would 

 remain for a little, talking, reading or having a romp with 

 the children, and then return to his loom. 



By Mrs. Emslie's quiet fireside, he often spent his 

 evenings, away from the bustle of the Smiths. John's 

 reading being laborious, he used to ask Mrs. Emslie to read 

 to him. This she did with fluency and intelligence, while 

 he sat enjoying the feast, and expressing his interest by 

 frequent ejaculations of "Ay, ay," varied in tone according 

 to the feelings of assent, surprise, doubt, or criticism the 

 subject elicited. John's own style of reading raised her 

 astonishment and respect, from his indomitable patience 

 and determination to succeed. He had to spell all the 

 longer words, and he read and re-read every sentence, 

 accompanied by a running fire of "Ay, ay!" till he 

 conquered both vocables and meaning. He used also to 

 bring his books on Botany, many of them with finely 

 coloured plates, to show and explain them to his* friends ; 

 and he was so earnest and persistent in doing this, that he 



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