HIS FINIS. 371 



should never see my bairn again. Yes ! when the 

 blood was hot in me, and I cried that I would go to 

 faither, he spoke such words as made me feel that I 

 had no' the power o' myself any more. Ah, James 

 Gertson — cold, selfish brute — knows how to tame a 

 hot-hearted lass when he has her child in his grasp. 

 And yet, I think I hate him less, because my Liza is 

 his daughter. Oh ! " 



The ejaculation was forced from Breeta's lips by the 

 sudden appearance of her husband, who was standing 

 not far from her — certainly near enough to have over- 

 heard the wrathful words she had uttered, believing 

 herself alone. He was not an ill-looking man, but 

 advanced in life, and certainly no fit match for the 

 blooming girl who had been tempted by his reputed 

 wealth into putting her fate into his hands. There 

 was a harsh expression on every feature, and a strange 

 dark look in his eyes — such a look as never dwells 

 in the glance of a man whose every action can bear 

 the closest inspection. It is true that men may wear 

 a mask so close-fitting that they can for the most part 

 defy the whole world to see what lies behind it; yet, 

 in a bad man's eyes the keen observer cannot fail to 

 read something of the true character which is so care- 

 fully shrouded in every other way. The very reserve, 

 the "on guard" expression of the soul's sure inter- 

 preters, reveals the truth as much as an evil deed 

 would do. James Gertson's eyes did not belie him. 

 He did not speak when his trembling wife uttered 

 that " Oh ! " He merely looked at her with the 



