the group in the playground, he could pick
little Jamie out of it in a moment. And oh, how good it was to see the
old man defying his failure with Neil, and building still grander
hopes on this lad of ten years old! Truly, from the good heart Hope
springs eternal. It forgets that it is mortal, because it takes hold
on immortality.

Christine heard constantly from Cluny, but it was nearly a year since
she had seen him, for the crew of a passenger steamer trading to
foreign ports, do not obtain leave easily, especially in their first
year. And Cluny had never been in Glasgow port long enough to make a
journey to Culraine and back possible. Christine did not fret herself
because of his absence. She was not as one of the foolish ones, who
regard a lover and love-making as the great essential of life. She had
proved in her own case, that Duty was far above, and beyond Love. She
had known cases where Honor had been put before Love. She had seen
Angus Ballister put mere social caste before Love. It was a fact known
to all the world, that gold laughed at Love, and bought and sold Love,
as if he were merchandise in the market place.

She loved Cluny, but her love was subject to her duty, which at
present was evidently in her own home. Her father was strong and full
of the joy of living, but his work was on the winter seas, and he
needed the comfort of a well-ordered house and properly-cooked food
after his hard day's fishing. Her mother was sick and failing, and it
appeared to Christine's anxious heart that she was losing, instead of
gaining, ground. Margot denied this position, but Christine noticed
that one little household duty after another was allowed to drift
quietly into her hands. Then also there was Jamie, whom she tenderly
loved, and who was wholly dependent on her care and help. His
food--his clothes--his lessons! What could Jamie do without her?

One morning in February, she had a letter from Cluny, which set at
naught all these claims. He had two hundred pounds in the Bank of
Scotland, and he wanted to get married. He was studying navigation,
and he would be third officer in another year. He was fairly wasting
his life without Christine. He was growing old with the disappointment
he was getting constantly. He was next door to dying, with one put-off
after another. If he came up on the fifteenth, would she walk over to
the Domine's with him? He felt as if the Domine might bury him, if he
didna marry him. He decla