d your last
wush."

And even as the stupefied Laird gazed, the light slowly died away, and
the Man of Peace vanished also.

On the following morning the Laird was roused from sleep by loud cries
of surprise and admiration.

The good wife had been stirring for some hours, and in emptying the
pockets of her good man's coat she had found three huge cairngorms of
exquisite tint and lustre. Brockburn thus discovered the value of the
gifts, half of which he had thrown away.

But no subsequent visits to the hill-side led to their recovery. Many
a time did the Laird bring home a heavy pocketful of stones, at the
thrifty gudewife's bidding, but they only proved to be the common
stones of the mountain-side. The _Shian_ could never be distinguished
from any other crag, and the _Daoine Shi_ were visible no more.

Yet it is said that the Laird of Brockburn prospered and throve
thereafter, in acre, stall, and steading, as those seldom prosper who
have not the good word of the People of Peace.

THE OGRE COURTING.

In days when ogres were still the terror of certain districts, there
was one who had long kept a whole neighbourhood in fear without any
one daring to dispute his tyranny.

By thefts and exactions, by heavy ransoms from merchants too old and
tough to be eaten, in one way and another, the Ogre had become very
rich; and although those who knew could tell of huge cellars full of
gold and jewels, and yards and barns groaning with the weight of
stolen goods, the richer he grew the more anxious and covetous he
became. Moreover, day by day, he added to his stores; for though (like
most ogres) he was as stupid as he was strong, no one had ever been
found, by force or fraud, to get the better of him.

What he took from the people was not their heaviest grievance. Even to
be killed and eaten by him was not the chance they thought of most. A
man can die but once; and if he is a sailor, a shark may eat him,
which is not so much better than being devoured by an ogre. No, that
was not the worst. The worst was this--he would keep getting married.
And as he liked little wives, all the short women lived in fear and
dread. And as his wives always died very soon, he was constantly
courting fresh ones.

Some said he ate his wives; some said he tormented, and others, that
he only worked them to death. Everybody knew it was not a desirable
match, and yet there was not a father who dare refuse his daughter if
she were asked f