The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

A Strancre Revenue. j^o
" He was first in the field, this Walsh, and I had not the
remotest intention of ousting him ;
but he appeared to
regard me with suspicion from the outset. A more jealous,
cunning, and disagreeable man than Walsh I never met
before nor since. Importunate in his attentions to Miss
Macleod, and extremely disagreeable to me, we made the
rummiest trio it is possible to have brought together, and
circumstances (or was it fate), threw us together oftener than
any of us desired. I admired Miss Macleod ; few could see
her without doing that ; but I had no matrimonial inten-
tions at the time, and having none, I did not bother myself
even to ascertain in what relationship the pair stood
towards each other. One day, however, an incident
occurred which revealed that to me, and something more
besides.
:
" One evening I was strolling in the wood, pondering
over some domestic news from home, when I heard voices
coming from a glade near by. There are circumstances in
which one is compelled to act the eavesdropper, and this was
one. The speakers were Walsh and Miss Macleod—the
former pleading, the latter defiant. It was evident that a
crisis was happening, and slip away I could not, for the
mention of my name riveted me to the spot.
'" For God's sake,' he was saying, 'give me at least a
show of hope that I may yet win you. I cannot bear the
thought of another coming before me in your estimation ;
I have known you so long, Jessie, and loved you so deeply,'
or something like that, you know.
" ' There is no hope for you,' was the quiet, determined
answer ; for Jessie had great decision about her when put
on her mettle.
" ' Then, you do love someone else—this cur, Stuart,
perhaps, without a penny in the world, and no brains to
earn one,' was Walsh's hoarse, passionate response. Regardless
of consequences, I was about to bound forward and
punch the fellow's head, when Jessie's passionate words
arrested me