136 EEMINISCENCES OF THE LEWS. 



old Grouse the First's grandson — do you ever 

 think of those days and the old trapper that 

 shared them, now a miserable, old worn-out 

 one indeed ? Yes, those were happy days, and 

 we were then both merry hearts; we both 

 had cheerful homes, the day's work over, to 

 return to. 



" Two blyther hearts ye ne'er would see, 

 The lee-lang night in Christendie." 



And there were those who loved to listen to 

 our account of our day's work. And now how 

 changed ! Cheerily has gone and goes the 

 world with you, and long may it continue so 

 to do ; but you are now a staid patriarch, with 

 pledges to the State for the grave and sober 

 observance of your patriarchal duties, and 

 would not turn out to dine at the governor's 

 in Halifax with Madame, with little Johnnie 

 and his trap, as you used to do at the Castle in 

 Stornoway ; while I live almost on recollections 

 of the past — of the light that once brightened 

 my own happy fireside — of the long-loved home, 

 now passed away to others. 



