Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1900-11-29
DAVID and JONATHAN :
OF T H E HILL S
By William Buchan.
If v, rh.v 7vers ouesr nair-

- A Y! They were a queer pair
n a very queer pair. We ca'ed
them David an Jonathan; no that
they were very friendly in public
far frae that; they never could gree
thegither a meenute. I've seen them
fechtin' like twae dougs about the
sma'est thing, cain ane anither a the
blackyird names We could think o..
And syne, when they were feenished,
they gaed AVA lookin' quite satisfied.
Jock Scott was leeberal, so Wat
Dempster had to ca himself a tory.
Jock belonged to the Parish kirk, so
Wat had to join the Free; though
neither o. them darkened the door O.
the house of God very aften. They
even gaed the length O. each using a
different kind O. sheep-dip. Ayl they
were a strange pair. But for a they
couldna gree, there never were twae
truer friends, and if onybody else
miscaed the ane by a word in the
ither's hearing-weel, he didna dae 1t
again.
They were herds away up among
the hills. Jock herded the Crammil
and Wat the Ruchill. They mairit SIS
tiers, and for Is years they lived about
a mile apart. But did We ever hear
how they cam to separator"
1 had not; and the shepherd OF
Highlands told me the story.
The cause of all fell out one stormy
night in early spring. The shepherd
of the Crammil had come in from the
hill. He had removed his wet boots
and dripping plaid, and had stretched
himself luxuriously in the great arm
chair beside a blazing fire. Outside
the wind howled and the snow drift
ed; but the mind of the shepherd was
at ease, for he knew that his sheep
were so safely folded in the lee of the
hill that no harm would come nigh
them during the night. The warmth
of the fire crept through his limbs
and comforted him. The whistling OF
the wind round the cottage sang him
lullaby; and as he drowsed pleas
antly his soul was filled with much
content.
Sleep had almost mastered him when
he was aroused by the sudden opening
of the door and by the entrance, like
an apparition, of a small girl with
frightened eyes. 1t was his niece, the
daughter of the neighboring shepherd
of the Ruchill. with the news that her
father had gone out that afternoon
at two o'clock and had not yet re-
turned
The shepherd Of Crammil started up
rubbing the sleep from his eyes with
his fists.
"Eh!-what!" he cried.
The little girl repeated her story.
Never! Twae o'clock, We say? AND
it's eight moo. Sax ours on the hill!
Surely He caught sight of the
frightened little face and checked him
self "But there! dinna be feared
There can be nacthing wrang. Hell
Just haze game up TO Jock Shells a
the Craig Slap Rim and tell YOU
mither no to faeh herself, and II gang
and bring him hame.'
Thus he soothed the girl with re
assuring words. Then he turned tC
his wife.
Quick" he cried; "my butts anc
my plaid There's something faI
wrang, and there's nae time to b.
lost"
He slipped on his boots, stuck bon
net on his head, and vanished into thu
night, wrapping his plaid around hin
as he went.
"Sax 'ours!" he muttered to him
self as he strobe through the snow
"and it's been dark for fower-and 81
a NIGHT! Dodl if he should be" HI
shuddered, and the bare though
heightened his stride as he swung on
ward into the teeth of the storm.
For moment Jock Scott halted a
the burnside to determine his course
But in such darkness of night ther
could be little choice; for all tn
tracks were nearly equally bad. TIL
only feasible plan was to strike tn
Ruchill at its highest point and scare,
the hill downwards. So he crossed tn
burn and struck up the leeside of tn
Crammil. In the snow and darkness
no mortal could pick his way, no
even the shepherd who had herded o
the hill for is years, and knew ever
inch of the ground. The blacknes
of the pit closed around him. Severe
times even at the outset he almos
lost his bearings. No earthly objec
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