The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-04-28


err levels aid rushing with pleasant
noise to Join the river. AS he came
down from the bare uplands at Dalna-
spidal into the sheltered glen at Blair
Castle, the trees made an arch OF the
most delicate emerald over his head.
for the buds were beginning to open,
and the wind blew gently upon his
face. The sight OF habitations as he
came nearer to the Lowlands, the sound
of the horses feet upon the road, the
gayety of his band of troopers. the
children playing before their humble
cottages, the celebrating air. and the
hope OF the season when winter was
gone. told upon his heart and rein
forced him. The despair OF the night
before when he tossed to and fro upon
wretched bed or paced up and down
before the farmhouse door. imagining
everything that was horrible, passed
away rs n nightmare. Was there ever
such madness as that he. John Graham,
should be doubling his wife. Jean Coch-
rane. whom he had won from the midst
of his enemies. and who had left her
mother and her mothers house to be
his bride? How brave she had been,
how self Sacrificing, how uncomplain-
ing, how proud in heart and high in
spirit; she had given up the wholA
world for him: she was the bravest
and purest Of ladies'. That his wife
>
n few weeks ago OF his child should
forget her vows and her love, and con-
descend to a base intrigue; that she
should meet a lover In the orchard
where they often used to walk. where
the blossom would now be opening on
the trees that Livingstone. whom he
knew and counted in sense friend.
though he held King Williams COM
mission now. and had not stood by
the right side. should take the oppor-
tunity of his abscnce TO sot,uce his
wife 1t was hideous and ncredi-
BILE idea. some mad mistake which
could be easily explained Dundee.
throwing off his black and brooding
burden of thought. would touch his
horse with the spur and gallop for a
mile in gayety OF heart and then ride
on his way. singing some Cavalier song.
till Grimond who kept away from his
master those days and rode among the
troopers would shake his head. and
say to himself. God grant he be not
fey" (possessed). Dundee would con-
tinue in high spirits till the evening
shadows began to fall. and then the
other shadow would lengthen across
his soul. The night before he met HIS
wife he spent in Glamis Castle. and
the grim. austere beauty of that an
Client house affected him Imagination.
Up its winding stairs with their bare.
armor, through the thickness OF the
outer walls secret stairs connected mys-
terous chambers one with another.
Strange deeds had been done in those
low-roofed rooms with their dark
carved furniture. and there were secret
places in the castle where ghosts OF
the past had their habitation. Weird
figures were said to fit through the
castle at night, restless spirits which
revisited the scene of former tragedies
and crimes and the room in which Gra-
ham slept was known to be haunted
Alas! he need no troubled ancestor OF
the Strathmorc house to visit him, for
his own thoughts were sufficient tor
ment and through the brief summer
night and then through the dawning
light of the morning he threshed the
question which gnawed his heart. Evil
suggestions and suspicious remem-
ORANGES Of the past, which would have
fed before the sunlight, surrounded
him and looked ont at him from the
shadow with gibbering faces. Had he
not been told that Jean laid traps for
him in Paisley that she might secure
the safety OF her lover Pollock, and
also of her kinsman. Sir John Coch-
rane? Had she not often spoken
warmly Of that Covenanting minister
and expressed her bitter regret that
her husband had COMPRISED Poilock's
death! she nau tTleu w Keep MN IoIIi
attending the Convention, and of late
days and often suggested that lie had
better be at peace and not stir up the
country. After all, can you take out
OF the life what is bred in the bone?
and Jean Cochrane was OF Cove
nantng stock. and her mother very
harridan of higotry. Might there not
have been some sense in the fear Of
his friends that he would no longer
be loyal to the good cause, and was
Jock Grimond's grudge against his
marriage mere stupidity and jealousy?
Every one was securing his safety and
adjusting himself to the new regime;
there was hardly Lowland gentleman
who had irretrievably pledged himself
to King James, and as for the chiefs.
they would fight for their own hand
as they had always done, and could
only be counted on for one thing, and
that was securing plumber. Was not
he alone, and would not he soon be