ng. This is perhaps natural enough in town, where the silence of
the streets and the sound of bells proclaim the day; but why the same
phenomenon should occur in the middle of a Highland moor, where every
day is one glorious open-air Sabbath, passes my comprehension.

I discussed the problem after breakfast as I sat and smoked my pipe in
the heathery garden of Strathmyrtle, a shooting-lodge at which we were
being hospitably entertained by Kitty's uncle, Sir John Rubislaw, a
retired Admiral of the Fleet, whose forty years' official connection
with Britannia's realm betrayed itself in a nautical roll, syncopated by
gout, and what I may describe as a hurricane-deck voice. My three
companions in the debate were my host, Master Gerald, and another guest
in the house, one Dermott, an officer in a Highland regiment.

The Admiral ascribed my Sabbath intuition to the working of some inward
and automatic monitor; while Dermott, among whose many sterling
qualities delicate fancy was not included, put it down to the smell of
some special dish indigenous to Sunday breakfast. My brother-in-law's
contribution to the debate was an unseemly and irreverent parallel
between Saturday night potations and Sunday morning "heads."

To us entered Dolly and Phillis.

Our hostess, together with Kitty and the other girl of the party--an
American young lady of considerable personal attractions--had driven off
to church in what is locally called a "machine." The duties of escort
had been voluntarily undertaken by an undergraduate named Standish, who
was the latest recruit to the American young lady's army of worshippers.
The rest of us had stayed at home--the Admiral because he not
infrequently did so; I because I was expecting Robin back by the
"machine" (which was to pick him up at a wayside station, where he had
been sitting on his portmanteau ever since six o'clock that morning,
having been dropped there by the night mail from London), and was
anticipating two or three hours' solid work with him; Gerald because he
had succeeded in evading his eldest sister's eye during the search for
church recruits; Dolly to look after Phillis; and Captain Dermott for
reasons not unconnected with Dolly.

It was Phillis's birthday, but out of consideration for Scottish views
on Sabbath observance the festivities in connection with that
anniversary had been postponed until the morrow. However, this did not
prevent my daughter from demanding (and obtaining) va