and
proud and glad to do the same."

"You see, Mother, it is nearly the end of things with me at Aberdeen,
and it would be hard if my future was scrimped at its beginning. That
is what Ballister thinks. 'Neil,' he said to me, 'you will have to
speak before the public--lawyers and people of full standing--and you
must have the dress that is proper and fitting.'"

"Weel, your feyther will hae to get new nets--if he is to mak' bread
for the lave o' us."

"The herring season is over now, and there is no immediate expense
regarding it."

"You are much mista'en, and ye ken it fine! The barrels in which the
fish are packed are to pay for, and the women who packed them are not
fully paid. The coopers who closed the barrels, and the Fishery
Office, hae yet to send in their bills."

"The Fishery Office! What have we to do with the Fishery Office? It is
a government affair."

"Mebbe sae. But the barrels canna be shipped until an officer frae the
Fishery Office puts the crown brand on every barrel. Do you think the
man does that for naething?"

"I never heard of such a thing."

"Weel, it has to be done, whether Neil Ruleson has heard o' the thing
or not."

"What for?"

"The crown isna branded on any barrel unless the fish in it are fine,
fresh, and unbroken. But as soon as the barrels get the crown, they
can be shipped to foreign ports, mostly to Stettin."

"Why Stettin?"

"I don't know. Ask your feyther. You are just making a put-aff wi'
your questions. Answer me the one question I asked yoursel'--What can
ye do to help your feyther? Answer me that."

"Father will not use nets until the next herring season--a whole year
away--in the winter, he always does line fishing. With your help,
Christine can weave new nets before they are needed."

"I see weel that you dinna intend to pay your debt to Christine, nor
yet to help your feyther."

"Father has not asked me for help. Everyone knows that father is well
fore-handed."

"O lad, the dear auld man barely saved the boat and the lives she
carried! He has been roughly handled by winds and waves, and may hae
to keep his bed awhile, and your brither Eneas is that hurt and
bruised, he will ne'er go fishing again, while your brither Norman has
a broken arm, an' a wife that has gane into hystericals about the lost
nets. You'd think it was her man she was screaming for. And Fae and
Tamsen waited too lang, and went o'er the boat wi' their nets, an'
there's ithers that hae