“O my poor, dear father!” cried Sandie in an agony of grief.
And what could his mother do but weep with him.
Yes, M‘Crae, the honest farmer of Kilbuie, had been called away.
What a change!
The farm itself was not kept on by Sandie’s mother. Everything had been sold, and she and Elsie had come to live at a pretty little granite cottage on the outskirts of Aberdeen.
So this, then, would be Sandie’s new home.
But as soon as the first great wave of grief had passed over his soul, leaving it sad and chastened, Sandie determined to live but for his mother and sister alone.
He was now well and strong, and could resume his studies without fear.
But he would not have to tax his brain so much in future. For the study of Divinity presents no such difficulties as do Greek, Latin, and Mathematics.
The cottage in which Mrs. M‘Crae had settled down, though by no means an expensive one, was very pretty. It stood at the Rubislaw end of Union Street, quite on the outskirts, and had a pretty little bit of garden in front, and a long one behind.