rt
straw, part sods, tied down to cross poles by ropes of twisted heather.
The walls did not rise more than five feet from the ground; and nothing
could be easier than for the goats to leap up, when tempted to graze
there. A kid was now amusing itself on one corner. As Lady Carse
walked round, she was startled at seeing a woman sitting on the opposite
corner. Her back was to the sun--her gaze fixed on the sea, and her
fingers were busy knitting. The lady had some doubts at first about its
being the widow, as this woman wore a bright cotton handkerchief tied
over her head: but a glance at the face when it was turned towards her
assured her that it was Annie Fleming herself.

"No, do not come down," said the lady. "Let me come up beside you. I
see the way."

And she stepped up by means of the projecting stones of the wall, and
threw herself down beside the quiet knitter.

"What are you making? Mittens? And what of? What sort of wool is
this?"

"It is goats' hair."

"Tiresome work!" the lady observed. "Wool is bad enough; but these
short lengths of hair! I should never have patience."

The widow replied that she had time in these summer evenings; and she
was glad to take the chance of selling a few pairs when Macdonald went
to the main, once or twice a year.

"How do they sell? What do you get for them?"

"I get oil to last me for some time."

"And what else?"

"Now and then I may want something else; but I get chiefly oil--as what
I want most."

The widow saw that Lady Carse was not attending to what she said, and
was merely making an opening for what she herself wanted to utter: so
Annie said no more of her work and its payment, but waited.

"This is a dreadful place," the lady burst out. "Nobody can live here."

"I have heard there are kindlier places to live in," the widow replied.
"This island must appear rather bare to people who come from the
south,--as I partly remember myself."

"Where did you come from? Do you know where I come from? Do you know
who I am?" cried the lady.

"I came from Dumfries. I have not heard where you lived, my lady. I
was told by Macdonald that you came by Sir Alexander Macdonald's orders,
to live here henceforward."

"I will not live here henceforward. I would sooner die."

The widow looked surprised. In answer to that look Lady Carse said,
"Ah! you do not know who I am, nor what brought me here, or you would
see that I cannot live here, and why I w