The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

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The Highland Monthly.
than he had in Edinburgh. I knew that the money which
I had pressed upon him was a yoke upon his neck, and that
he would have no peace until it was repaid. Well, I
wrote him at once, and— I dare say I put a little fancy
colour on the necessity—told him that my work was more
than I could do, my income more than I could spend, and
that I would give him so much if he became my clerk for
a twelvemonth. I hinted, if he would give up the law and
qualify himself for the civil service, or prefer seeking his
fortune in India, that I could, perhaps, obtain for him the
patronage of Lord H . To my great joy Willie at
once jumped at the bait. This occurred before 1 took the
cottage, and I was somewhat afraid of the denouement, but,
as the reader has seen, my brother and sister-in-law entirely
agreed with me when they heard all my plans.
The economy of life is ruled by mixed motives, as far
as it is at all ruled by man. I am not at all free from
selfishness. I can safely say that the arrangement which I
have described was intended for Willie's good as well as
my own. But Willie did for me more work than he was
ever paid for. He entered heart and soul into the employ-
ment, and, as a proof that he succeeded, I may mention
that my second report was the best I ever sent, and that it
did not contain a scrap of blotting paper. Lucy herself
sometimes laughed at my blunders— I liked to see her
laugh, and sometimes committed blunders on purpose—and
Tommy, the young scamp, was ever playing tricks with my
books and papers, and greeted my consequent perplexities
with roars of merriment. Tommy had a large heart of his
wn, but he never zuoidd understand that Lucy was dying-
She bore his boisterous merriment uncomplainingly, and'
when she was able, joined in his less noisy sports. Willie
understood her nature and condition better. I do not think
they often talked of death, but their serious conversations
on a Sunday evening, when I composed myself to somno-
lescence in my easy chair and Tommy went away to see
his parents, told me plainly that it was in the thoughts of