e had
received.

The care of ministering to the new guest devolved principally upon
Betsy Braikens, who had been the first to give notice of his previous
distress; and for such an office she was better qualified than any
other female who, at the time, could have been found, within several
miles--both from that knowledge of the conventionalities of society
which she had acquired during her residence in Perth, and from a
disposition which was naturally kind. With that alacrity which is
common to her sex, she made the necessary preparations for enabling
him to shift such parts of his clothes as were wet. A repast
calculated to refresh him, after the fatigues of his journey, was next
provided; and, as there was no inn or other place of accommodation
within reach, and the night was one in which no stranger could find
his way, she represented the necessity of his remaining where he was
till morning; and then he might travel with her and her brother, if he
chanced to be journeying in that direction; and, if his road was
different, he would at least have the advantage of daylight to direct
his steps.

To this proposal the stranger did not seem to be averse. In such
circumstances, men are often more grateful for a mere trifle than, in
others, they would be for the greatest favours. He seemed highly
sensible of the kindness with which he was treated, and soon began to
regard his entertainers with a feeling of respect. Upon further
conversation, it was discovered that his name was Robert Walker--that
he was the son of the Glasgow merchant whoso failure has been already
noticed as having been prejudicial to the interests of James Braikens;
and, on learning that he was in the society of one who had been in the
habit of dealing with his father, he proceeded to give them a brief
sketch of his story.

After his prospects had been obscured by the bankruptcy of his father,
he had succeeded in procuring for himself a situation in Aberdeen;
and, as he was a good pedestrian--and had, moreover, a liking for
rural scenery, rural manners, and unfrequented roads--these
considerations, backed by motives of economy, had induced him to
undertake the journey on foot. He had accordingly proceeded by
Kinross, intending to make his line as straight as possible, without
paying much attention to the highways; and, on reaching the village of
Strathmiglo, he had been directed across a part of the Ochils as the
nearest road to Newburgh--at which part