ed keepin' the promise he made her. For a lang
time after her death, he was ne'er seen to enter a public house ava',
an' again he applied himsel' to his wark wi' much industry. After the
death o' Mrs. Stuart Geordie an' his father bided a' their lane. Their
house was on the ither side o' the burn which crossed the high-road, a
wee bit out o' the village. Time gie'd on for some time wi' them in this
way. Davy continued sober and industrious, an' the neebors began to hae
hopes that he had gotten the better o' his evil habit; he had ne'er been
kenned to taste strong drink o' ony kin' sin' the death o' his wife.
One evening after he an' Geordie had ta'en their suppers, he made
himsel' ready to gang out, saying to Geordie that he was gaun' doon to
the village for a wee while, and that he was to bide i' the house an' he
would'na be lang awa'. The hours wore awa' till ten o'clock, an' he
had'na cam' hame. It was aye supposed that the boy, becoming uneasy at
his father's lang stay, had set out to look for him, when by some
mishap, it will ne'er be kenned what way, he lost his footin', an' fell
frae the end o' the narrow brig which crossed the burn. The burn was'na
large, but a heavy rain had lately fa'n, an' there was aye a deep bit at
one end o' the brig. He had fa'n head first into the water in sic a way
that he could'na possibly won 'oot. It was a clear moonlicht night, an'
when Davy reached the brig, the first thing he saw was his ain son lyin
i' the water. I hae often been told that a sudden shock o' ony kind will
sober a drunken man. It was sae wi' Davy; for the first neebor who,
hearin' his cries for assistance, ran to the spot, found him standin i'
the middle o' the brig, perfectly sober, wi' the drooned boy in his
arms; although it was weel kenned that he was quite drunk when he left
the village. Every means was used for the recovery o' the boy, but it
was a' useless, he was quite deed an' caul'. "Ah," said Davy, when
tell'd by the doctor that the boy was indeed dead, "my punishment is
greater than I can bear." Geordie had aye been as "the apple o' his
een"; never had he been kenned to ill use the boy, even when under the
influence o' drink; and the shock was too much for his reason. Many
wondered at his calmness a' the while the body lay i' the house afore
the burial--but it was the calmness o' despair; he just seemed like ane
turned to stane. The first thing that roused him was the sound o' the
first earth that fell on