Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1912-03-07
THE SCOTCH
LASSIE
BY ELIZABETH OtARNLEY
Copyright by American Press Assoc
citation. 1911.

III citation, 1911 III
My brother is young wldower with
several little children, and |. his sister
am his housekeeper. l advertised for
a governess for the children and Sc
cured the services of a young girl
who mad recently arrived from Scot
land. She had lived in affiuence in her
native land, but shortly before her
coming to America large bank failed
Of which her father was a director.
The law in Scotland is very hard on
men who directly or indirectly lose
money for others, and in this case all
the directors Of the bank, though they
were entirely innocent. having left ey-
erything pertaining to the bank to the
president, were all convicted of fraud
and sent to prison. Our goyerness' ia
Their was among the number. She beg
ged to be allowed to go to prison in his
place. but of course was not permit
ted He died long before the end OF
his term. and his daughter was left an
orphan
In time my brother began TO APP
pear conscious Of Grace MacAlister's
presence in the household. If he came
home and found that she had gone out
on any errand for herself or the chill
dreu / could easily detect look of dis
appointment in his face But after his
wifes death be was very dependent In
finding every one of us at home when
he returned from business. and 4 was
impossible for us to get away f1f any
length of time. Then, too, in the even
ing he would rely on US to play cards
with him, usually calling in a neighbor
to make a fourth hand. And so a year
went by and all was going well when
something happened.
young man about Graces age,
with a trifle of the Scotch dialect
about him. came to the house and
called for her. That evening Ed
gar was in a very bad humor. He
was obliged TO give up his game Of
cards Grace remained in the draw
ing room with the stranger till late,
while | was trying to amuse Edgar in
the library At 10 Edgar went out
to his club-something he had not
done before since Miss MacAlister had
become one of us-and at II returned
in, if possible. worse humor than
when he departed.
| supposed Grace would say some
! thing about the visitor--the only caller
she had had since she came to us-but
| she did not, and 1t would have been
impertinent for me to question her
about him Edgar fenced a good deal
with me to find out who the man was
without appearing anxious to know,
and when | told him that Miss Mac
| Alister had not said anything, about
| him to me my brother seemed to be
very Ill at ease.
For d few weeks the stranger called
/ to see Grace frequently, When with
! him she usually closed the door Of
/ the room they were In, and. in any
event. when conyersing with him 1t was
/ In such low tones that not a word
/ they said was even overheard, Dur
]
/ unbearable He fretted because he
must forego his cards and at one
I time went so far as to ask me to sug-
! gest to the governess that the stran-
gers absorption Of her time aud Mt
tentlon was interfering with her care
of the children. | knew that he was
suffering from jealousy and that if I
did what he proposed he would never
forgive me
/ One evening when the young Scotch
man did not call Miss MacAlister came
to me and said:
The gentleman who has been to see
me frequently of late is a sutton OF
mine from the time | was a wee thing.
When my father was in trouble my
/ lover kept away from us. Now he
comes counting me, but | dinna love
/ hin, and, IL | did, that he once blamed
my father would be a barrier between
US. l sent him hame yesterday. and
he's now on the ocean on his way to
/ bonny Scotland I've known that his
I presence here might excite curiosity,
! bAA AAhAd Int " ten Nt VIM lie
was and what was his errand till he
/ had gone
+ | lost no time in impartiug the conf
dence to Edgar. telling him for the first
+ time who was Miss MacAlister's visitor
and the reason Of his presence in Amer
! lea. | shall never forget the sigh Of
relief he drew or the expression on his
I face while | gave the girls history
/ You see, my dear" added Miss
4 MacAlister is sensitive on the point Of
/ her fathers misfortune or failure to
watch those interests he was expected
I 70 watch"
/ | said this because had feared rs
have already mentioned. that Edgar's
/ feelings or treatment Of the girl would
change IL he knew the facts or that his
sturdy honesty and discrimination be.
tween right aud wrong might lead him
70 say something that would turn
Grace against him. He made no com
ment whatever on what had told
him but the next day informed me
that be had proposed TO Miss Mac
Alister and been accepted
And then ! learned for the FIRST time
that ana AFFAIR bad been in progress he
tween them ever since Grace had been