es.

At length the period arrived when he was to be sent to college.

I need not attempt to describe the feelings of the family when this
little revolution in their domestic life occurred; the quiet but deep
anxiety of Rachel--the restless and troubled looks and actions of the
old shepherd--and the exulting anticipation of the bright world into
which he was about to enter, which William displayed, tempered or
repressed, every now and then, by natural sorrow, at leaving the hills
and streams where his boyhood had been spent pleasantly, and the dear
parents to whom he owed so deep a debt of love. The last words of
David to his son, as he stood grasping his hand, at the foot of the
glen where the path turns off to the next market town--while big tears
stood heavily on his eyelashes, visitants unknown for twenty
years--were almost those of Michael to Luke, in Wordsworth's exquisite
poem--

"Amid all fear
And all temptation, Luke, I pray that thou
Mayest bear in mind the life thy fathers lived,
Who, being innocent, did for that cause
Bestir them in good deeds."

The old shepherd and his son had never been separated for a single
night--now they parted knowing that many months must elapse before
they could behold one another again. It was a bitter moment, though
full of the germs of joyful anticipation.

William had taken his farewell embrace, and, with convulsive sobs, had
walked hastily away to a little distance; he turned, and beheld his
aged father still standing on the spot, with clasped hands uplifted,
and eyes fixed intently on his own receding form. He was unable to
withstand the sight--he rushed back again, and threw himself, in an
agony of affection, upon the old man's neck, weeping--though a manlier
heart throbbed not--weeping like a child. But at length they parted; a
sadder heart never entered into the solitudes of nature than old David
Riddell bore into the mountains on that evening--a purer never left
the innocence of the country for the crowded city, than his son
carried with him to the metropolis of Scotland.

For four years William attended college during the winter, and
remained with his father during the summer months.

It was not that his labour was required by the old man: for he had now
amassed a sufficient sum, with his moderate habits, to make him
independent; but the sight of William was pleasant to the aged
shepherd, among the hills where they had played together,