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As he neared the house, he heard Duncan's voice. "Malcolm, my son! Will it pe your ownself?" it said. "It wull that, daddy," answered Malcolm. The piper was sitting on a fallen tree, with the snow settling softly upon him. "But it's ower cauld for ye to be sittin' there i' the snaw, an' the mirk tu," added Malcolm. "Ta tarkness will not be ketting to ta inside of her," returned the seer.
I think the men war nigh-han' dazed wi' the terrible cauld and the weariness o' the traivel, and I had sleepit ower lang, and they had forgotten a' aboot me. And what think ye was the first thocht i' my heid, whan I cam' to mysel', i' the terrible white desolation o' cauld and ice and snaw? I wantit to run straucht to you, and lay my heid upo' yer shouther.
"The wee tyke couldna loup up to it, an' a deil o' a pussy got it a'. He was so bonny, like a leddy's pet, an' syne he fell ower on the snaw an' creepit awa'. He didna cry oot, but he was a' but deid wi' hunger." At the memory of it soft-hearted Ailie Lindsey sobbed on her mother's shoulder.
"That's not worth the counting," said the old man. "I hae lived to be weary o' life; and here or yonder at the back o' a dyke, in a wreath o' snaw, or in the wame o' a wave, what signifies how the auld gaberlunzie dies?" "Good man," said Sir Arthur, "can you think of nothing? of no help? I'll make you rich I'll give you a farm I'll"
As the snow blattered in his face, he muttered, "How it raves and drifts! On-ding o' snaw, ay, that's the word, on-ding " He was now at his own door, "Castle Street, No. 39." He opened the door and went straight to his den; that wondrous workshop, where in one year, 1823, when he was fifty-two, he wrote 'Peveril of the Peak, 'Quentin Durward, and 'St. Ronan's Well, besides much else.
Gin I haena the rheumateese screwin' awa' atween my shoothers the nicht it wonna be their fau'ts; for as I cam' ower frae the ironmonger's there, I jist got a ba' i' the how o' my neck, 'at amaist sent me howkin' wi' my snoot i' the snaw. And there it stack, and at this preceese moment it's rinnin' doon the sma' o' my back as gin 't war a burnie doon a hillside. We maun hae mair constables!"
Snaw had fa'en, sae that I could hardly see the track. And I never cam' up wi' them, and I haena heard o' them sin' syne. "The silence at first had been fearfu'; but noo, somehoo or ither, I canna richtly explain 't, the silence seemed to be God himsel' a' aboot me. "And I'll never forget him again, Annie. "I cam' upo' tracks, but no o' oor ain men. They war the fowk o' the country.
Peter attended their departure full of interest, and as soon as they were in the fir woods MacLure explained that it would be an eventful journey. "It's a richt in here, for the wind disna get at the snaw, but the drifts are deep in the Glen, and th'ill be some engineerin' afore we get tae oor destination."
Once she shut her eyes for a minute, and bringing her vivid imagination to her aid, seemed to see Donald Macfarlane and Jean Macfarlane in their cosy kitchen; while Donald said, "It'll be a braw day to-morrow;" or perhaps it was the other way round, and Jean remarked, "There'll be a guid sprinklin' o' snaw before mornin', or I am much mistook." Betty sighed, and walked faster.
If it has happened in the dark hours, nurses pluck their children out of bed and run with them to some commanding window, whence they may see the change that has been worked upon earth's face. 'A' the hills are covered wi' snaw, they sing, 'and Winter's noo come fairly! And the children, marvelling at the silence and the white landscape, find a spell appropriate to the season in the words.
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