Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1867-06-21

II of dress and manner of speech, wa
evidently from a different part of tn
| country, if not indeed of a differen
IS rank in life to that of the ir8be yOunl
Highlander; and when standing no
D. and angry after his last failure, he wa
by no means comfOrted by seeing Hell
It ems cheeks redden before the glance
of the victor. who, cap in hand intro
duced himself to Tam M'Gregor as thi
son of his old friend, Mel Lesley, anC
Y saying that he had come to the Gather
ing on his way to BalquhiddeT, hi
father, having told him of the sheep
farming there, and how, for auld ac
0uaiutance' sake, he might be lucky
| enough to get his lesson in the manage
e ment of fiocks from Tam himself, les
/ son he meant to put in practice as
! farmer in Australia. Tam was pleased
/ to ind his friend had not forgotten hin
s nor was he proof against the cOmpli
/ ment neatly offered to his farming skill
J Moreover there is never a lack of hos
pitality among the Celts, and Tan
made his young friend welcome to the
best his house afforded so long as he
liked to stay.
Mel was a fair-haired, blue-eyed man
tall and light-limbed, but with the
muscles and sinews Of a prize-6gbter
He had been at the High School in Ed
inburgh, was well up in modern tC-
pics, able to hold forth upon subjects
which rarely reached the ears of the in
! uaDlEaLAS O4 bllE LLdE6s except 8uGU
/ the shooting season brought down the
great folk, and the great folk brought
their servants then politics, parlia-
/ ments, aud the court were familiarly
discussed in every shieling.
Mel was no idler, either in work, or
play, or love. Everything he set his
! hand to he did in the manner, we are
told, is sure to succeed. So no wonder
/ that, falling in love, as he did at once,
be reused what poor Duncan had watch
ed and waited for in vain and, wax
ing up the sleeping heart, brought the
llOVe-light into the sweet hazel eyes,
that softened and dropped now as they
had never done before any mans gaze
There was no question of love speech
| between the two, and yet, before the
summer came, Helen had found out
! what different place love could make
the world. There had never been such
heather on the hills, or bracken and
| wild roses on the braes, as now bloom
ed the love-filter was acting, and ma
ture took tone, as it always does, from
| the heart.
| Chow bonnie you're growing, Nelly"
( said Tam one day, as Helen came rum
ming up the grass, her hair escaping
! from the sky-blue suOOd, the gay cot
| ton short gown coming half way down
/ the striped linsey petticoat, which was
| just short enough to show her neatly
! clad feet and shapely ankles, cOQuet-
/ tishlv arrayed in bright stockings,
/ with elabOrately-emb brOidered clocks.
| ''What's come to the lassie, wife She's
| breakin' the hearts o. half the lads in
| the place. There's Duncan, puir lad,
fent a smile he'll gle now, but gang as
| dOur-"
''Wheesht, father - cried Helen,
shutting his mouth with a rosy little
palm. ssHere's Duncan COMM"
AS she spoke Duncan stalked up to
the door. 1t was easy to see that some
I q, :
expression of his face, the tone Of his
voice, his very gait was changed his
clothes were thrown on with a careless
ness unlike former days, and his eyes,
restless and blOOdshOt, turned uneasily
to Helen, as he made some common
place remark to her father concerning
the weather.
Helen's color deepened. Something
in the mans eyes struck like knife to
her heart, and lay there ranking, maxi
ing the hot blood spring to her face,
and the hand that had been on her faith
er mouth clench fiercely as if to beat
back some burst of angering indigna-
ton. But the flush faded the next mo-
ment, and a shuddeT shook her from
head to foot, for Mel came in from she
hill and as be turned the corner OF the
hedge, and Duucan's eyes fell upon &
him, Helen saw the thick black brOWs {
drawn passiOnately together, the big 1
veins start like knOtted cords, and the |
strong teeth set hard in the neither lip. |
She saw this, and even then her heart /
sank with an underlined fear but it /
was not until some days afterwards, I
when the braes we're ringing with the |
mysterious disappearance of Mel Les /
ley, that the full significance of that 4
look was revealed to her.
MANY and various were the reports
1t 4
four days they all settled down into
one strong judgment against Niel,-a
Judgment which Helen's outburst of
grief and pale stricken face unWitting-
ly strengthened and it was firmly be-
lieved that Mel, having won her love,
had grown tired of her, and, to rid him
of her and his debt of gratitude to
her father at once, had made q moon
light fitting. Duncan openly took lit
tie part in all that was said, so much so |
that those busy people who are always,
in all ranks, looking after their neigh
bOrs' affairs, began to hold him up as
an example of unselish generosity
There was one, however, to whom his
silence had a different signification, and
that was Helen, who, from the day the
alarm was given, had remembered that
afternoon when she saw, as plainly as
if written in black and white, the hat
red unto death stamped in Duncan's
face. She alone, watching as none 9th
er could. heard the impatient manner
of speech, and saw the strange look
that had come upon the mans face
and a horrible suspicion and dread fill
ed her mind, harder to bear than all
the cruel things raised against NieI's
There was one small ray OF
comfort left,-a COlley dog she had Civ
en- Mel had disappeared the same day
be was missed. He must be alive if
Moss was with him and if he had
run away, as the people said, he would ]
take such a continual sting to {
his conscience, as the faithful dog must {
be. So, in spite of the deadly fears that 7
would at times OVerwhelm her, Helen !
held fast by hope, her anxiety as best
she could by getting away amongst the {
hills, and wandering about where she t
would meet no one TO pity or condOle s
with her. ]
The fifth day had come it was a \
busy time, too. for they were gathering c
the fiOcks off the hills previous to the I
season, and so it came about 1
that Helen fell in with flock in lone I
.y pass on the road TO Ben Ledi, and, L
eager to escape the shepherds, she c
scrambled up the banks and hid her i
self among the whins. c
Down the pass came the sheep, filling i
the air with their voices, stopping now f
and then to snatch a mOuthful Ofheath- q
or. Presently, glancing away to the C
Helen caught sight of a dog t
1Ouuulu& GOWN over BEttuE anu DtSn v
but not until it was nearer, and divert 1
ed by the sounds in the glen, had turn /
9d aside and taken its stand upon a l
rock along the foot of which the sheep t
we're passing, did she recognize her old I
,oIIey, the very Moss she had given O
Mel Helen's heart leapt to her mouth v
rs she leant forward to watch the dog, a
who, falling into bis old trade, stood a
yelping and bowling over the flock.
waking every echo in the pass and rous- s
ing a perfect storm of bleating. il
Helen tried to whistle, but her lips S
we're shaking and dry. Then she call f
I'd him by name. The dog came rush 9
ng up to her, and was soon whining at v
ler side, licking her hands and face. t
AS soon as she could see anything clear f
y through the tears that were binding t.
her, she saw that a blue ribbon was Il
led round Moss's neck, nearly hidden S
amongst the thick wool. Helen recOg- t
1ized the ribbon it. had once been t
hers and she knew no hand but Niel's t
could have tied it there, and But il
81 a 1anenH in hal a 10