, 1890-10-23

their "lines" herself; and the pair
were entitled to succor on that
score. No, again; because ne had
been cycling, was In grays, ana
knickerbockers, to boot; and VINO
ever heard Of u clergy man marry
Ing or burying anybody without the
regulation black? But | had him
there; and soon saw him clapped In
side black evening suit Of my own:
But oh, Scotch perversity. he had
no white collar and chokcr Then
/ cornered him again; this time
wi ith Yankee paper-collar and u
ha'penny white muslin tie; ana we
were now sure of victory, Tor
under these conditions we got
him to the landing below.
Here he baked completely. On
how slight q thread hung the fate OF
this wretched couple then! He had
not the form of service with him,
and proceeding without 1t was utter
ly out OF the question. Bless those
secondhand books, this time they
were the recourse. i bade the land.
lady hold the man of prayer, and
with visions of loss and the aroma
of u scorching dinner prompting,
she held him like a wise. In mo-
ment more l had bounded To my
room, with the emotions of defeat,
hope vict ory, and swept my eyes
along the mildewed covers of my
secondhand books, and finally
pounced with exultant delight upon
q little brown volume OF 1856, "An-
derson's Ministers Directory"
THE KNOT TIED.
Bounding back to our captured
''meenister," / placed this in his
hands, opened at page IL, and before
he could offer further protest that
vigorous Scotch landlady and my
self had him In front of the blush
ing bride and bridegroom, perspir-
ing through an Established church
form of marriage ceremony and with
in ten minutes time Isabella Nc
Carthy Cameron, and Charles Mac
donald, burgh and parish Of Alloa,
SHIRE OF Clackmannan, kingdom OF
Scotland, were made man and wife;
/ had set my name down with bold
ness and flourish as one of the wit
nesses; the "rosy cheekip Alloa
girls accompanying the pair had
hustled the bride until the window
panes ratified, for the one first
rubbing her left shoulder against
q BRIDES left shoulder
will be married; with laughter and
jest and many n sally at the
captured parson, we all partook of
the wedding dinner, done to turn,
and all the more graciously served,
as the Ian dlady got two prices for at
least two plates of IL; my friend
surely got sovereign for his en-
forced clerical labors; and l., with
the good fortune ever favorlng those
who rescue love-lorn folk from
plight and distress, was, in turn,
perforce made to come to the glori-
Gus North with my home In a sweet
old manse where | could see, for SC
long as my fancy willed, life as II
truly Is In the very heart of the re-
motest Highlands of Scotland.
A WEIRD LANGUAGE.
1t was a strange, weird coach
load of folk, speaking in strange
weird tongue, and we rolled rapidly
along through a strange, weird
country. Every soul of the dozer
or more within the wagonette, bu
myself, spoke the Gaelic tongue, ant
not word was spoken during the
entire journey in English, save
when / was addressed. 1t was ar
immediate revelation Of condition
of things in the Highlands which
even intelligent Scotchmen in tn,
large lowland cities are unac
quainted with, or affect to be ignor
ant of. From every source of book
newspaper and oral information
outside the Highlands, you gain the
impression that the Gaelic Language
Is dead; that perhaps some wher,
among the peat and mists of inac
: cessible peaks in Donegal and Con
naught, in Ireland, or of Suther
, land, Ross, Skye and the Heb
rides, in Scotland. there are few
old men and women who have re
tanned a few words of a languag,
once common to the Cymric Celts
indeed that the Gaelic language
with the crumbling remains Of the
glorious antiquities of Ireland anC
Scotland, are but the fabrics of zeal
OTIS dreams. But If you will com,
far enough you will find this Ian
guage in all its original richness
, purity and power, and will be as
founded TO know that every soul IL
many districts in Ireland and, geo
graphically, in the lower portion o
Scotland, speak 1t every waking
hour of their lives precisely as theii
forefathers spoke it for unknow II cy
cles of years before them.
"Oh, yes" explained my friend
tive are all Gaelic still, north o
. Perthshire and Aberdeen-shire, ant
in all the outlying Islands" AnC
then modestly, and as though ther,
might be something of the lingering
old Jacobitic sedition In 1t: ~ preacl
TO my people in Gaelic every othel
Sunday"
"And do they all understand it?'
Understand 1t! They will tel
you that Adam spoke Gaelic; tina
the Scripture can be alone properly
expounded in Gaelic. My English
, sermons are given to empty benches
the Gaelic Sundays bring heareri
from twenty miles away; and every
face Is q picture of radiant devotion
and joy-even to the last one of Iheil
brave collie dogs!'
7 TITS PROVEN.
Bless them for loyalty to thei