124- ARDENMOHR. 



" Come, you are too hard on me. To the rescue, 

 Abbott < Desdichado to the rescue ! ' Ah, what a 

 book that 'Ivanhoe 'is! an education itself, Major." 



" Yes, in romance." 



" Of course it is not a treasury of learning, like the 

 books of Fuller, Burton, or Montaigne." 



"Bare old authors, Hope; your reading has been 

 peculiar but good, I have noticed. Who directed you 

 in your choice ? " 



" Odd enough, it was a venerable lady, and a very 

 dear friend; I shall tell you about her some day. 

 But it seems to have cleared up : anybody for a 

 stroll?" 



"We went for a walk up the glen; and although 

 still damp and close, the mists were dispersing, and 

 the birds flitting about. On the steep side of the 

 valley the swollen rivulets were brawling down their 

 stony beds to join the burn, which was now a little 

 river in noise and importance. A pair of ravens were 

 cruising along its swollen banks in search of any 

 drowned sheep or hare, and a long-legged heron was 

 watching trout in the shallows, and was coveted for 

 his salmon hackles. 



The aspect of affairs changes quickly in the High- 

 lands, for when we returned in an hour or two it was 



