speecial occasion!" cried the one addressed as Gavin, "a speecial
occasion! I should say it is--verra speecial! It's twa an' forty years
sin we claspit ane anither's hand--man, Andra, friendship's sweet, an'
God's guid! It wad be fair sinfu' no' ta tak a drop at sic a time as
this. The minister himsel' wad taste, gin an auld schulemate came back
after forty year. Sae wad the Apostle Paul--the stomach's sake was
naethin' compared wi' this. What'll ye hae, Andra?"

"Let this be mine, Gavin," answered Andrew, reaching for his pocketbook.
When it appeared, it was fat and full, and Gavin stole a wistful glance;
for, in Scotland, colonial pocketbooks are proverbially plump. "What
shall it be?" he added.

"Whatever ye say, Andra," answered Gavin. He glanced again at the
disappearing purse and heaved a little sigh. Patriotism is not good for
pocketbooks, thought Gavin.

"Well," said his old schoolmate, holding a sovereign between his thumb
and finger as fondly as though he had lived in Scotland all his life;
"well," said he, "I say champagne--here, waiter!"

But Gavin interrupted: "Na, na, Andra, dinna get champagne. I took it
ance when the young Duke came o' age, an' I cudna hae tell't I had
onything, half an hour later. I dinna care for ony o' thae _aeryated_
waters. Forbye, it's awfu' dear, an' we can hae far mair o' the ither,"
he concluded, smiling tenderly at Andrew.

"The other" was produced; and it justified the trust reposed in it. Well
it knew its duty, and well it played its part; for it burnished memory
bright, stirred emotion from its hiding place, and even led tears out by
long deserted paths.

The lonely man in the outer room watched, and envied, and secretly
absolved his brother elder--the latter was giving abundant proof of his
freedom from all narrow bigotry. Like himself, his old prowess had come
back. He was confidential now:

"She wouldn't have me, Gavin. I told her I was rich, and that I loved
her ever since I left. But she wouldn't listen to me. Then I told her I
owned ten thousand sheep, and that I dreamed about her every night. But
it never moved her. I told her I had twenty thousand pounds in the bank,
and her picture next my heart besides--but she wouldn't. She said she
was promised to another. Did you ever hear of Janet Strachan caring for
any one else?"

"Na," said Gavin, absently, "she'll no' hae nocht to dae wi' onybody in
the way o' love--hae anither, Andra. Dinna droon the miller. Wad