lso mix a salad.
She played entrancingly on the harp, sang well, recited Ossian's poems by
the league, had a beautiful face, and the heart of a lion, which well
became the sister of a chief.

It is only fair to add that it was aunt who found the sinews of war--our
war with fortune. She, however, made a sacrifice to our pride in promising
to consider any and all moneys spent upon us as simply loans, to be repaid
with interest when we grew rich, if not--and this was only an honest
stipulation--worked off beforehand.

But poor dear aunt, her love of travel and adventure was quite wonderful,
and she had a most childlike faith in the existence and reality of the El
Dorado we were going in search of.

The parting with father, mother, and Flora was a terrible trial. I can
hardly think of it yet without a feeling akin to melancholy. But we got
away at last amid prayers and blessings and tears. A hundred times over
Flora had begged us to write every week, and to make haste and get ready a
place for her and mother and father and all in our new home in the West,
for she would count the days until the summons came to follow.

Fain would honest, brawny Townley have gone with us. What an acquisition
he would have proved! only, he told me somewhat significantly, he had work
to do, and if he was successful he might follow on. I know, though, that
parting with Aunt Cecilia almost broke his big brave heart.

There was so much to do when we arrived in London, from which port we were
to sail, so much to buy, so much to be seen, and so many people to visit,
that I and my brothers had little time to revert even to the grief of
parting from all we held dear at home.

We did not forget to pay a visit to our forty-second cousins in their
beautiful and aristocratic mansion at the West End. Archie Bateman was our
favourite. My brothers and I were quite agreed as to that. The other
cousin--who was also the elder--was far too much swamped in _bon ton_ to
please Highland lads such as we were.

But over and over again Archie made us tell him all we knew or had heard
of the land we were going to. The first night Archie had said,

'Oh, I wish I were going too!'

The second evening his remark was,

'Why _can't_ I go?'

But on the third and last day of our stay Archie took me boldly by the
hand--

'Don't tell anybody,' he said, 'but I'm going to follow you very soon.
Depend upon that. I'm only a younger son. Younger sons are nobodies in
En