n a little moved. "I ay mind the first look I got o' the
hills ower yonder, and the kirk, and the gleam of the grave-stones,
through the trees. We all came round the water on a Saturday afternoon
like this; and Norman and Harry took turns in carrying wee Rosie, and we
sat down here and rested ourselves, and looked ower yon bonny water.
Eh, bairns! if I could have but had a glimpse of all the years that have
been since then, of all the `goodness and mercy' that has passed before
us, now my thankless murmurs, and my unbelieving fears would have been
rebuked!"

They were on their way up the hill to spend the afternoon at Mr
Nasmyth's, and Mr Millar was with them. Nothing more had been said
about his going away, and if he was not quite content to stay, "his
looks belied him," as Miss Lovejoy remarked to herself, as she watched
them, all going up the hill together. They were going very slowly,
because of Mrs Snow's lingering weakness. One of the few of the
"Scotch prejudices!" that remained with her after all these years, was
the prejudice in favour of her own two feet, as a means of locomotion,
when the distance was not too great; and rather to the discontent of Mr
Snow, she had insisted on walking up to the other house, this afternoon.

"It is but a step, and it will do me no harm, but good, to go with the
bairns," said she, and she got her own way.

It was a "bonny day," mild, bright, and still. The autumnal beauty of
the forests had passed, but the trees were not bare, yet, though October
was nearly over; and, now and then, a brown leaf fell noiselessly
through the air, and the faint rustle it made as it touched the many
which had gone before it, seemed to deepen the quiet of the time. They
had stopped to rest a little at the turn of the road, and were gazing
over the pond to the hills beyond, as Mrs Snow spoke.

"Yes, I mind," said Graeme.

"And I mind, too," said Rose, softly.

"It's a bonny place," said Mrs Snow, in a little, "and it has changed
but little in all those years. The woods have gone back a little on
some of the hills; and the trees about the village and the kirkyard have
grown larger and closer, and that is mostly all the changes."

"The old meeting-house has a dreary look, now that it is never used,"
said Rose, regretfully.

"Ay, it has that. I mind thinking it a grand and stately object, when I
first saw it from the side of the water. That was before I had been in
it, or very near it.