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He would make a speech for the glory of Scotland now, if they pulled the church down about his ears. And he did it well, too. England was forgotten, Ireland was in oblivion, Canada did not exist. But Scotland! the land of the Heather and the Thistle! Catchach grew wildly poetic over her.
"A Lowlander!" repeated the Highlander with withering scorn, "Tonal Neil, Tonal Neil will pe saying she would haf the Gaelic " The rest was lost to the ears of the despised Lowlander in a wild outpouring of Gaelic as Catchach turned and went raging down the road to wreak vengeance on the author of his disappointment. The young minister continued on his way in great annoyance.
McBess," he said stiffly, making the fatal error of failing to detect McBeth in Catchach's lisp, "I am neither Highland Scotch nor can I speak the Gaelic." Catchach let go his coat; a quiver of mortal disappointment passed over his face. "And whoever has told you such falsehoods," continued the young man with some heat, "is an untruthful mischiefmaker!" Catchach's fiery countenance became rigid.
John Egerton did not lack courage any more than his grandfather had done, but he felt it would be scarcely ministerial to have a fight on the public highway the first week of his pastorate. He had not been long enough in Glenoro to recognise the fiery Highlander who kept the Oa in a ferment and who went by the weird name of Catchach.
But the disorderly person had reached the platform, his red whiskers flying, his blue eyes blazing, and his big fists brandishing threateningly above his head. It was Catchach! The schoolmaster sat down very discreetly and hastily. It was Catchach, worked up to a white fury over the insult to Scotland Scotland, the flower of creation, to be neglected, while the scum of the earth was being exalted!
How he ever managed to stop, no one could understand; some people said they supposed he had come to the limit of his English. If Catchach had been able to address his audience in Gaelic, it is likely they would not have seen their homes until morning. But he did stop at last, and went tearing down the aisle and out of the door, shaking the dust of the place from off his feet.
He stepped back and stared so wildly at the minister that the young man hastened to add for his own personal safety, "But I have much Highland blood, you know, and plenty of Lowland Scotch, too." Alas! how little he knew of the spirit of the McBeth! "A Lowlander!" It was all Catchach could utter, but the tone in which he said it showed plainly that if Mr.
Bet it scared next Sunday's sermon clean out o' his head!" Then Wee Andra's deep voice, "Jimminy! It was a better show than all the monkeys at the circus!" "Was he scared?" It was Donald Neil who dared to ask that question. "Looked mighty skittish for a minit, but I was weepin' that hard I couldn't see very good. Catchach swore like a trooper.
For down at the other end of the church a most alarming tumult was in progress. Cries of "Order!" and "Sit down!" were mingled with "Go on, Catchach; speak up! Scotland forever!" and equally ominous sounds. Through the struggling crowd a man was fighting his way fiercely to the platform. "Order! Order!" shrieked the chairman.
"Catchach'll swallow him with joy before he has time to deny it." "Don Neil," cried Jessie, "you surely wouldn't play a trick on a minister!" "It would be fearful wicked," put in Sandy piously. "He'll never know," laughed Donald. "We'll let Catchach foam a while and then bring him down to earth before he does any damage."
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