The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1867-06-22

While we stand by the river, my friend and |,
That gilds tho city of God.
1.-The Best Man Wins Her"
CHAPTER I. .-t
Hid away in the loveliest part of Perth
shire. nesting among the often.sung
Braes of Balquhidder, lies Loch Voel,
npon the shores of which Rob Roy liv-
ed and died; and where, in the quiet
lonely kirkyard rests "Clan Alpin's
omen and her aid" There are M'Greg-
ors still in the clachan of Balquhidder,
MGregors who speak with glistening
eye and heightened color of the chief,
and amongst whom no tales are SO pop
ular as those which treat of the wild
DAYS when the clan with the 'name
nameless by day" was at once the terror
and protection of the country. Every
child knows the story of the feuds be-
tween the MLarens and MGregors, and
how the Stewards of Appin, coming to
help their kinsmsn, were met by the
clansmen at the clachan, where Rob
Roy challenged any one of Appin to sin
gle combat, eager by every such personal
| hazard, to avert the horrors of battle.
They will tell you, too, how the great
Duke of Athol exhausted his time and
| his patience trying to catch Rob Roy;
and the story of the funeral, when lady
Glenfalloch, thinking her brother was
slain, sprang upon the Duke, and, drag
ging him from his horse, gave him such
| a taste of the tenderness of the M'Greg-
ors that he took timely war"ing and re-
tired, leaving Rob Roy to bury his
mother in peace and quiet.
Some ten years ago descendant OF
Rob Roy's, Helen MGregor, was the
beauty of Balquhidder. Helen was a
fair, blue.eyed golden-haired lassie,
with whom life had been one long laugh,
and to whom the world seemed to bear
neither frowns nor clouds. Her father,
Tam MGregor, was a farmer, and well
| to do for his station; his sons helped
him on the hills, and Helen was tidy
hand in the house, quite able to take
many cares from her mothers shoulders.
Their. cottage stood away from the
clachan, near the foot OF the Meal
mach. A lovely little steading it was
toe, with high gray rocks on one side,
ON the other an oak and birch wood,
among the branches of which the soft
summer breezes, when they had kissed
the lake into o ripple of delight, would
sigh, and whisper their pleasant songs
of brighter and warmer lands.
Tam's cottage had served the wants
of many a generation of M'Gregorss,
here little and there little being ad-
ded, as the owners family increased or
his fortunes prOspered. The .thatch
was matted together by tiourishing
growth of various plants, wallhowers
and house-leek predominating. Roses
and honeysuckls hourished in the mar
row border, and. clustering round the
windows, met gay and thriving gerani-
ums, votive offerings from the gardener
at Glennbuckie, who was one of Helen's
many admirers. Helen, being fancy.
free herself, was wont to make a good
Joke about love; and not caring for
either fairs OF gatherings, escaped much
of the gossip which attaches to other
girls. Yet, quietly as the little maiden
lived, she could no more avoid lovers
than can the violet hide away her
treasures from the bee. Love will
venture in whar lie darna weel be seen" J"
and accordingly Helen's lovers were
neither few nor slack in making their
way to the farm; while, much to the
girls discomfort, her mother took pride
| to herself in counting the stalwart, we'll
to.do lads who would take a place by
the ingle-nook, and while talking to
the farmer of the ewes, wool, and mar
kets, would hope to catch a stray glance,
kinder than usual, from Helen; who,
however, went on with her spinning
as if no eyes were seeking hers, and
there were no such thing as love or
wooing. And many o lad doubtless
thought with Hobbie Elliott, that
"whirling a bit stick wi thread trail
ing to it," was but poor and tiresome
work. az. q
One man came oftener than the restg
so often that it was whispered about
that Helen aud Duncan were courting,
nor did Duncan attempt to deny what
b wished in his inmost heart was true.
He had loved Helen long, and had only
waited for farm to enter the lists
openly. Now he had farm and de-
cent house to take wife 20, he thought
1 the right time had come; and seon, see.
ing he thought he had the good will OF
both father and mother, he was con-
tent to wait patiently until some happy
day when Maggie's heart would waken
up and his love meet its reward. And
if Duncan was patient it was because,
never having doubted his success, he
experienced sort of qualification in
beating down his passion, or anticipat-
/ ing from a distance the time when Hell
en- would spin by his own hearth, and
nav him back tenfsld for what she made
him suffer now. -
The honest folk in Balquhidder call
ed Helen a lucky lassie, and watched
the courting with general interest, not
unmixed with envy, for Duncan was
one of the handsomest and steadiest of
the Young men; more than that, and
what perhaps went even further among
the girls, Duncan was the champion
wrestler, runner, and hammer thrower,
and twice had he carried off prizes from
their Braemar Gathering. Dnncan's
courting had made no further impress
sion upon Helen when the Gathering OF
ls5- drew on. All the world went to
Braemar that year, and Duncan, much
to his surprise and the indignation Of the
Baluuhidder people, was beaten both in
wrestling and throwing by a new
conner, q young man who, by his
superior style of dress and man
ner of speech, was evidently from o
different part Of the country, if not in
deed of q ifferent rank in life to that Of
the irate young Highlander and when
standing hot and angry after his last
failure, he was by no means comf0rted
by seeing Helen's cheeks redden before
tho glances Of the victor who, cap IN
hand, introduced himself so Tam M'Greg
or as the son of his old friend, Mel
Lesley, and saying that he had come to
the Gathering on -.his way TO- SBalquhid-
der, his father having told him Of the
sheep-farming there, and how, for suld
acquaintance sake, he might be lucky