Morris tribune., 1882-09-14
"UNLI JEAN"



manufacturing town in the south OF Stotlaud
anu having suffered severely from fever, l
GLADLY accepted an orr made NE by a friend
to so for l few months in summer 10 take
charge Of q parish III tho West Highlands, 4
remote dlStriS: on the sna coast.
In order 10 appreciate thoroughly the beauty
OF the scenery 20 which Went, and realize the
sense o exquisite freshness given by the sea
breczcS, one must have suffered as | had suf-
Tered from the constant SMOKE and dirt which
made open wiuGows almost forbidden pleas
ure. How logged and painted for fresh air.
and here the very act Of breathing was y pleas
ure. As health returned began - wander far
and wide and one day | found myself exulor-
lnS long stretch OF moor. seemingly inter-
mlnable Heather not yet IL full bloom, and
countless marsh tlowerS were mingled to-
gether; piles Of peat were drying in the wind
al this lay before mo and around me- On the
one hand, while on the other, far below nv
feet. tue sea lay sparkling a. each wave caught
the sunlight on is crest On the opposite
coast rose the beautiful hills Of Skye: the
breeze swept the clouds overhead fast and
their shifting lights aud shadows made their
forms seem ever new: mvrladS Of sea birds
whlrlel high above me, screaming 70 each
other IL the ceaSeess uprOar; larks sang Joy
ouslv through !; all, and all the time the grand
Elonotouy Of the rolling waters breaklu, upon
the rocks chanteu an accOmpauluent
After walking some distance I came 10 one
OF those sudden breaks in the land forming a
narrow glen. Ii waterei BY burn
charged WIKI the brown memory of the ueatv
soil through which it passed, aul growing
purer Sud clearer as it filtered through the
stones, leaplug over others as the descent grew
deeper, I'LL II fell in one lovely gathering
shower into the
The ground rose abruptly on either side Of
it, and on the banks all the way Gown prm-
roses grew in utmost protU>ion-ate Drim-
roses, such as can hardly be found elsewhere
with such exquisite freshness such long
stems aud sucn iuXnrlant leaves; their very
look brought L sndIeu sense Of rno.uess and
sprlnEtlde. Beside them. IL SoI.la.W hat stately
beauty, fOXClOyrs reared their heads lust com
ing tut" bloom, aud of every magma ole hue
pure white, GecaIe pink, with ~p.ashes of
darker color in their hearts, tnl beautiful
crimson, wlth lain'v brown peuci.iugS Ferns
grew in their tea,ierest green's: clnb moses
showed every "a .a;iOu Of TIM, from richest
emerald 10 Owe green: a few silver Stemmcd
birch trees dipped and moved, swaved by the
wind. and forming a lovely contrast to some
sturdy, stE Scu;ch pines that stood at the
heat OF the glen, as though they were Its SEN
tiLeis
Near these PINES, and sheltc~al by 4 rising
ground behind IT, s'OOd q SnleIiu-; OF cottage,
humbiy built, hUt with evi leuces Of unusual
care i'll its surroundings. Nothing OF the IN
tldlnees that speaks Of hurried life was there:
Spailug, almOs. concealed by hOuevsuckle aud
the common Ayrshire rose, fenced the little
garden; more honeysucke was trained against
the wall, and the windows stood wide open 1t
was the only 81 n Of man or his habltation |
had seen IL my walk, and as / sat down on the
bank to rest and ca! my luncheon, l wondered
II the people living in this solitude were in any
way influenced by the beauty which surround
ed them or whether they lived unappreciative
lives, not Rowing that their Zines had fallen
IN such pheasant places"
In a moment or two my thoughts were, in a
measure, answered: the door of the cottage
opened, and girl came out with dish under
her arm piled with clothes she had been wash
ing. She paused for momeut, though
little dazzlcd by the san, and looked round as
if she thoroughly enjoyed the beauty that lay
about her; and then, with swift, light step
she came down the bank till she stood on tia;
stone close TO where the burn was imprisoned
in sort Of pool Setting down the clothes,
she began to rinse them in the clear water and
wiring them out; then holding them up she
shook them out one by one aud threw them on
the bank. l. was the homeIiest possible oc-
cupatiOn, aud her dress differed in nothing
from the dress of most HIGHLAND girls-a
short linsey pettcOat, a jacket Of some wash
ing material. with the sleeves rolled high up
above the elbow; but her gestures were full of
grace, and her hair was Of a rich ruddv brown
that shed a sort of light round her head, and
reminded me of ole pictures l had seeu.
I was unwilling to remain near her with
out letting her know of nv presence, 80 rose
and went down the bank 10 speak to her. She
answered me with the utter absence Of self
consciousness and with the simple directness
possessed by all fine natures; her manner
toned aud musical. She was not beautiful, if
beauty depends upon feature and outline, but
she had most interesting and pathetic e1-
preston in her dark eyes, and when she smiled
her face lighted UP wonderfully. She offered
me refreshment which l declined, but l &C
> acpted her invitation to rest for little while
in the cottage.
There is no use in trying to account for the
interest claimed by one stranger when many
pass by uEheeded, but from the first, before
knew her. felt that this gill had history,
and that in some way she had suffered and
borne nobly.
The cottage at first seemed dark after the
sunshine, but as my eyes became accustomed
to the subdued light, saw the figure of an old
- woman lying on bed at the furthest end of
the room. had never seen any one living so
absolutely devoid of color she was-hair
and face were b!eached; nothing but the keen
and restless look of her eyes, and the incessant
movement of her long, thin hands busily knit
ting spoke of life.
The girl went up to her and told her in a low
voice vino 1 was, and then placed chair for
me by the bedside; AMI 1 sat down felt
conscious of a peculiar feeling, as though in
the presence of some wieTd being, and sat
silent for little by the side of this motionless
figure, under the gaza of those piercing and
questioning eyes. When she spoke, the i'm
preston was increased, it was in clear,
shril whisper that seemed to reverberate
through the room in q manner absolutely
startling.
asked if she had been long lying idle there
And she said, Near eleven years." with lite
- sigh
'Does your granddaughter always live with
you?" asked.
She looked at me quickly. do You mean
Jean? She's not my granddaughter; she's only
Jean"
''Only Jean" I thought it sounded strange
way of naming the acknowledging girl before
me, moving to and fro quietly about household
matters, but it was not said unkindly. Was i
my fancy or did brighter color come into hel
face as she heard tho words?
stayed some little there; and though the
old woman Whose name | found was Elspeth,
commonly called Widow Grant, did not ask me
to return; she looked pleased when | offered tc
do SO; and left the place interested in my new
acqua1ntances, Jean showing me quicker but
not 80 beautiful! wav home across the moor
CHAPTER IL
The practitioners of whom l was now in
charge lived in widely scattered houses and
: could not hell often contrasting their lives
with the lives of my own people IN the South.
There everything was contracted and small
space was our most needed thing-families
were huddled together in houses made more
dirty and wreched by what is called ''com.
mon STAIR" and which was therefore no ones
business TO keep clean; and though an inspec
ton was made now and then by sanitary COM
missioners and charitable people did their best
y there are a thousand ways in which sanitary
laws can be evaded; and charitable people
with a few notable exceptions, have the mos
unhappy knack of assisting the wrong people
Who can blame them? AS rule, the desery
ing poor are exactly those who shrink from
help, and who, with handful of meat ant