HIS MARRIAGE. 107 



at times he had been anxious and despondent, for he 

 never wavered in his determination either to marry Miss 

 Eraser into the position of a lady or not to marry her 

 at all. He had now established himself in all points 

 essential to right success in life, and might contemplate 

 the future in a mood of quiet assurance. He had made 

 his mark in the literature of his country. He had passed 

 into the ranks of the brain-workers of the community, 

 depending no longer for livelihood on the toil of his 

 hands. Any bride might now be proud of him. What 

 was very pleasant for him at the time, and is pleasant 

 for us to contemplate from this distance, his ascent had 

 been viewed with unaffected satisfaction by his fellow- 

 townsmen and by all who knew him. He had approved 

 himself a thoroughly friendly man, and he had been 

 rewarded by the good-will and kind wishes of many 

 friends. On the occasion of his marriage his happi- 

 ness was heartily shared in by the people of Cromarty, 

 and the married pair drove off on their wedding trip 

 in the carriage of Mrs Major Mackenzie, which she 

 had offered, some time before, to her friend Miss 

 Eraser. 



' Setting out, 5 says Miller, ' immediately after the 

 ceremony, for the southern side of the Moray Frith, 

 we spent two happy days together in Elgin ; and, 

 under the guidance of one of the most respected 

 citizens of the place my kind friend, Mr Isaac Eor- 

 syth visited the more interesting objects connected 

 with the town or its neighbourhood. He introduced 

 us to the Elgin Cathedral ; to the veritable John 

 Shanks, the eccentric keeper of the building, who 

 could never hear of the Wolf of Badenoch, who had 

 burnt it four hundred years before, without flying into 



