"I thank ye, but I hope ye'll excuse me," said the factor. "I have some various things to look into, and I'll just give the evening to them at the inn."
"Then we shall see you in the morning"—and therewithal the Little Red Dwarf took his departure.
Now to tell the truth, when the sheep-farmer of Craiglarig was asked to assist in this scheme, he did not express himself very hopefully as to the issue; but he was a good-natured man; and he said he would place as much of his time at Miss Stanley's disposal as he reasonably could. And so they set to work to revalue the crofts. No doubt the composition of this amateur court might have been impugned; for it consisted of the owner of the estate, her factor, and her chief tenant; but then again Mary constituted herself, from the very outset, the champion of the occupants of the smaller holdings, Mr. Purdie took the side of the landlords, while Mr. Watson, apart from his services as interpreter, maintained a benevolent neutrality. It was slow and not inspiriting work; for the crofters did not seem to believe that any amelioration of their condition was really meant; they were too afraid to speak, or too sullen to speak; and when they did speak, in many cases their demands were preposterous. But Mary stuck to her task.
"I must put myself right, to begin with," she said, as she had said all along. "Thereafter we will see."
And sometimes she would look out towards Heimra Island; and there was a kind of reproach in her heart. How much easier would all this have been for them, if only young Ross had consented to put aside for the moment that fierce internecine feud between him and the factor! Was Mr. Purdie, she asked herself, the sort of man that Donald Ross of Heimra should raise to the rank of being his enemy? However, the days passed, and there was no sign—no glimmer of the white sails of the Sirène coming away from the distant shores—no mention of the young master having been seen anywhere on the mainland.
"I warrant," said Mr. Purdie, when some remark chanced to be made, "I warrant I can tell where that cheat-the-gallows is off to—away to France for more o' that smuggled brandy so that he can spend his days and nights in drunkenness and debauchery!"
"You forget, Mr. Purdie," said Käthchen, with something very nearly approaching disdain, "that we have made the acquaintance of Mr. Ross, and know something of himself and his habits."
"Do ye?" he said, turning upon her. "I tell ye, ye do not! And a good thing ye do not! A smooth-tongued hypocrite—specious—sly—it is well for ye that ye are ignorant of what that poaching, mischief-making dare-devil really is; but ye'll find out in time—ye'll find out in time."
And indeed it was not until the self-appointed commission had done its work, and Mr. Purdie had gone away to the south again, that young Ross of Heimra reappeared: he said he had heard of what had been arranged; and he thought Miss Stanley had been most generous. This casual encounter took place just as Mary and Kate Glendinning were nearing Lochgarra House; and when they had gone inside, Käthchen said—
"Well, I don't know what has come over you, Mamie. You used always to be so self-possessed—to seem as if you were conferring a favour by merely looking at anyone. And now, when you stand for a few minutes talking to Mr. Ross, you are quite nervous and shamefaced—and apparently anxious for the smallest sign of approval——"