for a few seconds. "The
auld barn micht do. There's some bits o' sticks lyin at the end o' the
byre, an' some auld nails i' the stable--as mony o' baith as would be
required, I believe. Jock could bring a cartfu o' clay the nicht yet--he
could mak the cats the morn; ye micht bide at hame a day frae the
school, an' carry them in; an' I could pit up the lum mysel."

"But it would need a hallan too, faither," rejoined George.

"Hoot ay," said his father, "it would need a hallan, an' a hantle things
forby; an', after a' has been done that we can do, the place will be but
little, an' unco inconvenient; but it'll aye be a hole to shelter her
an' her bairnies frae the drift, afore they can get a better. An', e'en
though the scheme had been less feasible than it is, it maks my heart
glad to see that--laddie as ye are--ye hae a thought for ither folk's
distress."

"Na," interrupted George, "na, faither; it wasna me--it was Nan Black
spoke about it first, an' I only promised to tell ye."

"Weel, weel, laddie," rejoined the other, "I'm glad to hear that Nan
Black, as ye ca' her, is likely to turn out a better _woman_, if she be
spared, than ever her faither was a _man_--but, as he has a' his actions
to account for, of him I would say naething." With these words, the
worthy farmer was about to resume his labours, when his son, flushed
with the success of his plan, exclaimed--

"But will we no tell her, faither? Her mind canna be at ease afore she
ken about some place."

"That's weel minded too," said the father--"she's maybe gotten a house
already; but, in case she hasna, gang ye owre to your mither, an' tell
her I bade ye get a piece; an', when ye've gotten it, ye can rin yont,
some time afore it be dark, an' see a' about it. An' ye can tell her
that, if she likes, she's welcome to our auld barn, for a year; an', if
she taks it, we's no fa' oot about the rent."

Though George obeyed his father so far as to go the length of the house
door, he could not find time to go in for his promised _piece_; and,
without opening it, he turned, and set off at the top of his speed in
the direction of Nettlebank.

Return we now to the widow's cottage. The poor woman was far from
having recovered, when she was called upon to attend the deathbed of her
husband. The fatigue, terror, anxiety, and want of rest, from which she
had suffered during that period, might have been sufficient to break
down even the strongest constitution. When to th