ud. When they passed Mr. Craigie, who held the plate for
people to drop their money in, Jean whispered to Jock, "He looks
for all the world like a pair of tongs in his blacks, he's that
tall and thin," and then Jock certainly would have laughed
outright if he hadn't seen Mrs. Crumpet's eye on him.

The sermon was very long and the seats were hard and high, but
the service did come to an end at last, although Jock was sure it
was never going to, and afterward the children with their father
stood about in the churchyard for a little while talking to their
neighbors and friends.

The farm of Andrew Crumpet lay in the same direction as the home
of the Campbells, so it was natural that they should walk along
together and that the two men should talk about the thing that
was uppermost in their minds. Mrs. Crumpet had gone on ahead with
another neighbor, and Sandy Crumpet, who was twelve too, and had
yellow hair, a snub nose, and freckles like Jock's own, walked
with the Twins behind the two fathers. As they turned into the
road, the children heard Andrew say, with a heavy sigh: "Aye,
Robin, we must just make up our minds to it. The Auld Laird's
bent on getting us out."

"Has Mr. Craigie given you notice, too?" asked the Shepherd.

"Aye, has he," Andrew answered with bitterness, "and short work
he made of it. It means little to him telling a man to leave his
home and go out in the world to seek new work at our time of
life."

"He passes for a religious man," said the Shepherd.

"So did the Pharisee in the temple," said Andrew, "but 'by their
fruits ye shall know them,' and we're not gathering any figs off
of Mr. Craigie, nor grapes from that thorn of an Auld Laird that
I can see!"

"Nor from Angus Niel, either," agreed Robin Campbell. "The Auld
Laird's servants are of a piece with himself."

"Fine I ken that," answered Andrew.

"Well," sighed the Shepherd, "the toad under the harrow cannot be
expected to praise the plowman, and we're just like the toad."

"Very true," said Andrew, "but the toad has the best of it. We
are being destroyed; not that some one may till the land, but
that it may go to waste, and be kept out of use. We suffer that
the rich may be richer and the poor poorer, that less food may be
produced instead of more. I tell you, Robin, it is not justice."

"It may be so. It may be so," sighed the Shepherd, "but it is the
law, and we must just submit."

The two men walked on in silence to the brid