The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-02-26
pALEs OF THE BORDERS.
rnE GHOST o. MowDvoR Alos.
~ ALEKANDka RsrHrKa.


| They gather round, and wonder At ,he tale
| OF hOFrid spraritlOn. tall and shs-sly "-BlAn
(CONTNUED.0r
! But, when not engaged IN these battles,
Jbck was rather kind TO Nelly than other.
Wise sometimes be assisted her With such
Psrts of her work as a man could PsTfOrm
AID sometimes, too, when the evening was
W.T. or stormy, to save her from going out,
hi would take her pitchers Of his own 90
cfrd, and " bring in raik O water ? This
Kindness Nelly was careful to repay by
nfending his coat, darning his stockings,
aSd performing various her little services
f4s him. When the faculty Of observation
bsss few objects upon which to exercise it.
sSif, little things become interesting; this
Interchange of good offices was soon noticed
BIZ the wise women Of the neighbOrhOod,
alld, as they knew Of only one cause from
Which such things could proceed, to that
Tuse they attributed them, making certain
il their own minds that the whole secret
would, some day or other, be brought before
the parish by the session n-clerk Such was
-tlle general belief; and whether it was 'sthe
BIRDS of the air, as Solomon saith, or
tAether it was the beggars ahd chepsen,
occasionally quartered at HOwdycraigs, who
: carried the matter" is Of little import
5nce but in time the whole Of the facts,
rith the inferences drawn therefrom. reached
Neiiy's former acquaintances, and then, for
fome reason, which has never been satisfac-
torily explained, they saw occasion entirely
p alter their previous opinion. Instead Of
iay;ng, as they had done before, that
7 Nelly tCHd max q guild wife to Jock.
SSQt she 1c"a," they now said, that I" Jock,
sha was scarcely outgane nineteen. was
ewre young ever to think O maryin an
;uld hizzie O three-and-thirty like her !"
bat "the carTyin o the water, and the
harnin O. the stockins, sOsSd a end in naeth-
)" that "Jock Wu7 be far better
without hers" and when they recOliected the
implied malediction Of the witch, they con
,sidered that it was as impossible for her to
pc his wife, as it is for pc;atocs . grow
Above ground; and concluded the discussion
with pious wish 8 that she MIGHT aye be
'Seepit in the rieht road
In the course of the winter, Jock had
been absent for several nights, during which
be was understood to have braved the ter
.ors of witch, ghost, and fairy, in going to
see Lizzie GimmertOn ; but Nelly took no
further notice of the circumstance than BY
asking " if he had seen naethin- about the
glen On these occasions le promptly
denied having been near the glen :" ami
Nelly, whether she believed han or not, was
Obliged TO be satisfied But this gave her
an opportunity, of which she never failed
to avail herself, to give him friendly eau
ton to : tax care o himsel when he gaed
that art after it was dark !" nor did she
forget to assign a proper reason for her
care over him, by reminding him Of as many
Of the supernatural sights which had been
seen in this region as she could remember
These hints were not without their effect
for, as the spring, which was said to be a
particularly dangerous season, advanced,
Jocks nocturnal wanderings was nearly
discontinued. But Abernethy Market,
which, time out Of mind, had been held be-
tween the goth and 3Oth Of May, was now
approaching, and to this important period
the parties 10 question looked forward with
different feelings. Markets have frequently
changed the destinies of lads and lasses 10
the same manner as revolutions have some
times changed the dynasties Of kings-the
latter always aiming at subverting an estab-
lished government the former is often the
means of overthrOwing an empire in the
heSrt and, for these reasons, both should
be avoided by all who would wish to live at
peace. Jock looked forward to the pleasure
which be should have in spending a whole
day with the peerless Lizzie Gimmerton-
stufing her pockets with ssOesties and gin
gerbread, and paying innumerable cOmpli-
ments to her beauty the while and poor
Nelly apprehended nothing less than the
loss of every particle of that influence
which she had some reason for supposing
she now possessed over him. In this
dilemma, she resolved to accompany him 10
the scene of action, and there to watch the
revolutions If the wheel Of fortune, If per-
adventure anything in her favor might
turn up.
jock said she," on the evening pre-
viOus to the important day, "I'm gaun wi
ye to the market, and ye maun gle me my
market-fare."
At this announcement Jock scratched
his bead, looked demure for a little, and
appeared as though he would have pre-
ferred solitude to society in the proposed
expedition. But be could find no excuse
for declining the honor thus intended him.
He recollected, moreover, that, as be had
been the better for Nelly's care in time
past, 50 her future favor was essential to his
future comfort, and that it would be preju-
dicial in the last degree to his interest to
offend her. After having thought Of these
things, in time infinitely shorter than that
in which they can be spoken Of, Jock sagely
determined to yield to necessity" which,
according to the common prOverb, " has no
law" He also determined to watch the
revolutions of the wheel of fortune, in the
hope that bis own case might come upper
most. But, for the present putting on as
coed grace as he could, "Aweel, Aweel,
Nelly, said he, "I'll be unco glad O. your
company for to say the truth, dinna like
very weel to gang through the glen my lane,
+, If il hadua been for you, the feint fl
would have been at my stockings langsyue
and as ye aye darned them, and mendit the
knees O nv breeks, and the elbows o my
coat fOrby, it would be i'll o my PART no d
eie YOU your market-fare. Sac we can e'eE
gang thegither and If we dinna lose itbel
7 the thrang. III maybe get you to come
owre the bill vi at nicht." !"
Mind moo we've promised" " said Nelly
highly pleased with the reception her pro
pOsal had met -" mind ye've promised T.
come hams vi me and there's ma ane II
a. the ward l would like sae weel to come
.hame wi as our ain Jock"