226 Winter 



Business was very dull in the Red Lion next 

 afternoon, and Adam retired to his attic room,. where 

 Kitty had a cheerful fire, before which she sat knit- 

 ting. Meg, the celebrated black-and-white grey- 

 hound, of which Adam was very proud, stretched 

 its aristocratic body out on the rug, while beside it 

 reclined a very different-looking dog. Its rough, 

 short, curly hair was that of a terrier, but its long face 

 and limbs and slender contour demonstrated its rela- 

 tion to the breed of which Meg was a pure and 

 beautiful specimen. Jack, as he was called, was the 

 very mongrel for a poacher. 



Adam's conversation did not relate to his hounds, 

 however, but to his son. He spoke about Willie Allan 

 with a moderation and impressiveness his niece had 

 not expected to find. 



'Bairn,' he said, 'ye'll rue a lifetime if ye marry 

 a man like that. It might be fine for a twelvemonth, 

 but after that he'll get worse than ever, and the work 

 and anxiety '11 all fall on you. Better take a man like 

 Aleck, that you can depend on to keep you comfort- 

 able, than one like Allan, that'll expect you to take 

 care o' him.' 



' Ah,' replied Kitty, ' had Aleck been the man his 

 father is, I would never have looked to another ; but I 

 cannot trust him.' 



' That's where you're wrong, lass. Sandy's a well- 

 bred lad both on the mother's side and the father's. 

 There's not a better bred lad in Blackford, and blood 



