ringin' the pair stray lamb back to the auld place, an' berryin'
the auld man; an' it's no fit ye'll be carryin' the burden. Beside,
ye'll be leavin' us a' sune, ah doot. Yon braw leddy 'll no be able to
spare ye lang."

Elizabeth slowly shook her head. "I don't intend going back," she
whispered.

"Not gaun back!" Auntie Jinit's very figure was a living interrogation
mark. But her penetrating glance saw the misery in the girl's face,
and her pity, always more active than even her curiosity, made her
pause. She tactfully changed the subject. She could afford to wait;
for all things that were hidden within the surroundings of Forest Glen
were certain to be revealed sooner or later to Mrs. Jake Martin.

"It's a raw day," she said. "Ah didna like to venture oot, but ah
thocht ah'd jist rin ower an' see pair Wully. He's no weel, an' he
wearies for me whiles. Ah tauld Jake if he wesna jist himsel, ah'd
bide wi him the nicht." She gave a sidelong glance as she said this,
half amused, half defiant. But Elizabeth had not been home long enough
to understand the full meaning of the words and look. These periodical
illnesses to which "pair Wully" was so strangely subject had a peculiar
significance in the Martin household. It was reported throughout the
neighborhood that when Jake grew obdurate, as he sometimes dared, even
yet, his wife, by some process of mental telepathy, became convinced of
the notion that pair Wully would be jist wearyin' for her, he wasna'
weel onyway, an' micht jist slip awa' afore she saw him; and away the
devoted sister would hie, leaving the forsaken husband and his home to
whatever ill-luck fate might send. As his house was faultlessly and
economically run when its mistress was there, and fell into ruinous
neglect in her absence, Jake generally succumbed at an early date.
Wully's physical condition having a strange correspondence to Jake's
mental state, they always recovered at precisely the same time, and
Auntie Jinit returned triumphant. On this present occasion, the
proposed papering of the Martin parlor had caused a serious
indisposition in the Johnstone home, and Auntie Jinit was on her way
gayly thither, prepared to nurse her brother until the paper was ready
to be hung. She anticipated a struggle over Eppie, but Auntie Jinit
knew her power and was ready for the fray.

She kissed Elizabeth affectionately as she left her at the MacAllister
gate, bidding her be cheery, it would al