“It is the bonny knowe with the maples on it, looking down on the lake, where John brought me that first day to breathe the fresh air. John saved my life that time, and I will never forget it, nor all his goodness to me since then. Of course, Mr Strong would not have sold a rod of it to any one else. But Elsie is an only child, and it would be hard for him to part from her.
“The more I think of it, the more I wish to go farther West before I take up land of my own—and you must come when I have got it—”
All this Allison glanced over in silence, but she could not bring herself to read it to Mrs Beaton.
“He has told her himself, doubtless, though she has no call to tell it to me. I am glad—or I would be glad but for the sake of Willie, poor lad.”
And then, as she rose to go, the door opened, and Saunners Crombie came stumbling in.
Chapter Twenty Five.
“Show me what I have to do,
Every hour my strength renew.”
“Mistress Beaton,” said the old man, “it is a liberty I am taking to trouble you at this late hour. But I hae been at the manse to get speech o’ Allison Bain, and if I dinna see her the nicht I kenna when I may see her, and it is of importance.”