med to have bent
beneath the weight of years; for the ridge had sunk in the middle of
its mossy, grass-grown expanse, and threatened to fall upon its
occupant to the peril of his life. A small barrel served for a
chimney. One window possessed still two small panes of glass; the
other openings were filled in with bits of boarding, as was the whole
of the other window.

There was something quite uncanny about the silence of the place. The
monotonous ripple of the burn below seemed to intensify it. I stood in
hesitation for a moment or two before venturing to knock at the door.
When at last I had done so, shuffling footsteps sounded within, and
Archie opened the door; the same bland smile which I had noticed when I
first saw him appeared on his wrinkled face, and the faded blue eyes
lighted up.

"Come ben, sir; come ben!" he said hospitably. "Ye're kindly welcome,
tho' 'tis but a puir hoosachie for ane o' the gentry."

It was indeed a sorry place to live in. The roof was so unsound that,
as I learned later from Bell, it was difficult to find a dry spot for
his wretched bed in wet weather. Added to this, as the same informant
assured me, the place was a happy hunting-ground for rats.

"The rats is that bould, sir," she said, "that he's fairly to tak' a
stick to bed wi' him o' nichts, to keep the beasts off. It's a wonder
they rats hasna' yokit on him afore this!"

But on this, my first visit, no rat put in an appearance.

I gave no motive for looking in, nor did Archie seem to be surprised at
my call. He was evidently much pleased to see me; but I could not help
thinking at the time that his cordial welcome was due in great measure
to my relationship to Val.

That first visit was short, but it was succeeded by others. It soon
became quite customary to wind up my daily walk with a chat with the
"hermit"--as I got into the way of calling him. For beyond the mystery
attaching to the man--or perhaps I ought to say intensifying it--was
the fact that he was a really attractive personality. He could talk
about the various countries he had seen with a degree of intelligence
unlooked for in one of his condition; moreover, he could season his
remarks with much spice of sound, earnest wisdom, which amused while it
edified me. It did not take long to discover that Archie "Gairdener"
was a man out of the common.

That Archie was a good Christian was self-evident. No weather, however
tempestuous, could keep him fr