"Yes," I answered, "that is why I deserted," and I looked into her eyes, from which the anger had faded.
"I'm sorry I was so hasty. I didna mean to be cruel. Forget what I said. I meant it at the meenute, but I dinna mean it noo," and she held out both her hands impulsively. I clasped them, and drew her down beside me again, and she did not resist. For a moment or two she sat in silence pulling at the blades of grass around her. Then she laid a hand upon my arm, and said quietly:
"Tell me aboot her again. Was she really very bonnie?"
"Yes," I replied, "very bonnie."
"The bonniest lassie you ever saw?"
"Yes, the bonniest lassie I had ever seen till then."
"Oh," she exclaimed, "then you've seen a bonnier? And where did ye see her?"
A woman versed in the wiles of her sex would not have thrown the glove down so artlessly. Unwittingly she had challenged me to declare my love--and I was sorely tempted to do so: but I hesitated. A riper moment would come, so I answered simply:
"Yes, I have seen a bonnier lassie among the hills."
"Oh," she exclaimed, and looked at me questioningly, "and what was she daein' there?"