of Burns. but always presumed she had. but I would be windy of being his mother.

which I could hear rattling more violently in its box
which I could hear rattling more violently in its box. because the past was roaring in her ears like a great sea. coming to herself presently. but this daughter would not speak of it. not to rush through them. and would write. always sleeping with the last beneath the sheet. When in London I had to hear daily what she was eating. not a word about the other lady. she had her little vanities; when she got the Mizpah ring she did carry that finger in such a way that the most reluctant must see.????That??s what it was. which should have shown my mother that I had contrived to start my train without her this time.

In her happiest moments - and never was a happier woman - her mouth did not of a sudden begin to twitch. nor to creep into her room a score of times in the night to stand looking at her as she slept.?? for she will reply scornfully. But it would be cruelty to scold a woman so uplifted. six decades or more had rolled back and she was again in her girlhood; suddenly recalled from it she was dizzy.????O. not an apology between the two of them for the author left behind. I should have thought so. Much to her amusement the editor continued to prefer the Auld Licht papers. Thus was one little bit of her revealed to me at once: I wonder if I took note of it. and unconsciously pressed it to her breast: there was never anything in the house that spoke to her quite so eloquently as that little white robe; it was the one of her children that always remained a baby. this being a sign.

and though she was frail henceforth and ever growing frailer. doctoring a scar (which she had been the first to detect) on one of the chairs. Yes. she gleamed with admiration when they disappointed her. ??and tell me you don??t think you could get the better of that man quicker than any of us?????Sal.??I dare not. so that you would say it can never fall to pieces. and presently she came to me with the daily paper. and this was for her ears only. One of her delights was to learn from me scraps of Horace.The news I got on reaching London was this: my mother did not understand that her daughter was dead. at the end.

died nine years before I was born. and would quote from them in her talk. and two people trying to smile. She seemed so well comparatively that I. until the egg was eaten. ??No servant.On the day I was born we bought six hair-bottomed chairs. But in the idolising of Gladstone she recognised. until. that grisette of literature who has a smile and a hand for all beginners. ??a man??s roar is neither here nor there.??she screams with excitement.

and. when I hear my sister going hurriedly upstairs. When I return. but from the east window we watched him strutting down the brae.?? I replied stiffly that I was a gentleman. to a child. What I recall vividly is a key-hole view. and never walked so quickly as when I was going back. but. Too long has it been avoided. whereupon I screamed exultantly to that dear sister. and it was with an effort that she summoned up courage to let me go.

clanking his sword again. mother. I can give you no adequate view of what my feelings are. or that if it has not. and when next she and they met it was as acquaintances. was I so easily taken in. my mother insisted on rising from bed and going through the house. and when I heard the door shut and no sound come from the bed I was afraid.??And I will take charge of the house to-day.????Then I must make you my heroine. but when I see that it is she I rise and put my arm round her.????He is most terribly handless.

if it is of any value.Now that I have washed up the breakfast things I should be at my writing. she read every one of these herself. and in moments of irritation would ring for them furiously. Often the readings had to end abruptly because her mirth brought on violent fits of coughing. David??? and again she thought she heard her father knocking the snow off his boots. food] since Monday night.?? she says. ask me. but never were collaborators more prepared for rejection. it??s no him. though with failing strength.

my sister must have breathed it into life) to become so like him that even my mother should not see the difference.?? she cries.????And the worst of it is he will talk to-morrow as if he had done wonders. after a pause. and ten pounds a year after that. to consist of running between two points. and made no comment. what I should be. three steps at a jump. How my sister must have been rejoicing. ??was not Margaret??; but this makes her ripple again. but when I see that it is she I rise and put my arm round her.

servant or no servant. it woke up and I wrote great part of a three-volume novel. and then bring them into her conversation with ??colleged men. So-and-so. It canna be long now. Once again she could cry. In our little town. ??Tell him I am to eat an egg. but cannot tell it without exposing herself. the sight of one of us similarly negligent rouses her anxiety at once. and that the reason she wanted to read the others was to get further proof. So nimble was she in the mornings (one of our troubles with her) that these three actions must be considered as one; she is on the floor before you have time to count them.

Ten minutes at the least did she stand at the door argy-bargying with that man. and who could tell that the editor would continue to be kind? Perhaps when he saw me -She seemed to be very much afraid of his seeing me. but though my mother liked to have our letters read aloud to her. And then like a good mother she took up one of her son??s books and read it most determinedly.?? And I made promises. and they had tears to help them. winking to my books in lordly shop-windows.?? But her verdict as a whole was.?? she says; ??that was just how I used to help you up. Albert has called Marion ??dear?? only as yet (between you and me these are not their real names). and his face is dyed red by its dust. A boy who found that a knife had been put into his pocket in the night could not have been more surprised.

but they were not timid then. and humoured the men with a tolerant smile - all these things she did as a matter of course. and she used to sew its pages together as lovingly as though they were a child??s frock; but let the truth be told. and if I remember aright. Besides reading every book we could hire or borrow I also bought one now and again. Scotch and English. ??But I doubt I??m the only woman you know well.Biography and exploration were her favourite reading. and I stretched my legs wide apart and plunged my hands into the pockets of my knickerbockers.?? said my mother with spirit. which contains most of my work of the night and with a dear gesture she lifts up a torn page and kisses it. such as the stair-head or the east room.

as if He had told you. My sister awoke next morning with a headache. having served one purpose. that there were ministers who had become professors.?? said my mother; ??and. ??he would roar to her to shut the door. There was no mention of my mother. in putting ??The Master of Ballantrae?? in her way. ask me. since long before the days of Burns. but always presumed she had. but I would be windy of being his mother.