324 A widow's stoey. 



■we had been lang thinldn' o' takin' in a wee orphint till bring 

 up as oor ain ; and noo that the sillet was geyan' plenty, we 

 settled that Marion M'Farlane should come hame till us by 

 the beginnin' o' November. My guidman was thinkin' about 

 iuyin' a new boat, although his auld ane was no sae muckle 

 the waur for wear. I was thinkin' aboot askin' the guidman 

 for a new Simday's goon : in fac', we were biggin' castles in 

 the air a' on the foundation o' the herrin' siUer ; but hech, sir, 

 its ower true that man — ay, and woman tae — ^purposes, but 

 the Great Almighty disposes. The wee orphint wasna till find 

 a new faither and mither in my guidman and me; the auld 

 boat wasna till mak' room for a new ane; and my braw 

 Sunday goon, which, gin I had had my choice, would hae been ' 

 a bricht sky-blue ane, was changed intae black — ^black as 

 nicht, black as sorrow and as death could mak' it. There 

 was a fine flshin' o' the baddies, and the siller in the bank 

 was growin' bigger ilka week, for the wather was at its best, 

 and the fish plentifu'. Aweel, on the nicht o' the seventeent 

 o' November, after I had put a' the lines in order, and gien 

 Archibald his supper, aflf he gangs frae the herbour wi' his 

 boat, and four as nice young chiels as ye ever set an ee on for 

 a crew. An' there wasna muckle fear o' dirty wather, although 

 the sun had gaen doon rayther redder than we could hae 

 wished. Some o' the new married, and some o' the lasses that 

 were sune to be married, used tae gang doon tae the herbour, 

 and see their guidmen and their sweethearts awa'. I was lang 

 by wi' that sort o' thing ; no that my love was less, but my 

 confidence was mair, seein' that it had. been tried and faund 

 true through the lang period o' fourteen years. As I was 

 tidyin' up the hoose afore gangin' tiU my bed, I heard the 

 men in the boats cryin' till ane anither, as they were workin' 

 oot intae the firth. Tae bed I gaed, and lookin' at the lowe o' 

 the fire, as it keepit flichterin' up and deein' awa', sune set me 

 soond asleep. What daftlike things folks think, see, and dae 

 in their sleep. I dreamt that nicht that I was walkin' alang 

 the sands till meet my guidman, wha had landed his boat at 

 Morrison's Haven. The sun was shinin' beautifu', and the 

 waves were comin' tumlin' up the sand, sparkliil' and lauchin' 

 in the sunlicht, dancin' as if they never did only ill. I saw 

 my guidman at the distance, and I put my best fit forrit till 

 meet him. I was as near him as tae see his face distinckly, 

 and was aboot tae cry oot, ' Archibald, what sort o' fishin' hae 



