(worse) with his old blind
father, to whom he should have thought shame to tell lees in that
graceless way."

Saunners, on the other hand, was inclined to take Jacob's part, and to
make excuses for him as being the one who was to inherit the promise,
and the blame was by him laid at the door "of the deceiving auld wife,
Rebekah, by whom he had evidently been ill brocht up"; and so they
"summered and wintered" the matter, as Jack said they would be sure to
do, and for a while there seemed little prospect of coming to the end of
it. But it mattered less to Jack or to Davie either, as they soon were
fast asleep.

The minister put in a word now and then, and kept them to the point when
they were inclined to wander, but the two had the weight of the
discussion to themselves. As for John Beaton, he never opened his lips
till it was time to raise the psalm; and whether he had got the good of
the discussion, or whether he had heard a word of it, might well be
doubted, judging by the look of his face when Mrs Hume put the
psalm-book into his hand.

It was time to draw to an end, for there were several sleepers among
them before the chapter was done. Allison had made a place for Davie's
sleepy head upon her lap, and then after a little her Bible slipped from
her hand, and she was asleep herself. It had been a long day to her,
and her walk and the keen air of the hills had tired her, and she slept
on amid the murmur of voices--not the uneasy slumber of one who sleeps
against her will; there was no struggle against the power that held her,
no bowing or nodding, or sudden waking up to a sense of the situation,
so amusing to those who are looking on. Sitting erect, with the back of
her mutch just touching the angle made by the wall and the half-open
door, she slumbered on peacefully, no one taking heed of her, or rather
no one giving token of the same.

After a time her mistress noticed her, and thought, "Allison has
over-wearied herself and ought to be in her bed," and she wished
heartily that the interest of the two friends in Jacob and his misdeeds
might speedily come to an end, at least for the present. And then,
struck by the change which slumber had made on the beautiful face of the
girl, she forgot the talk that was going on, and thought only of
Allison. The gloom which so often shadowed her face was no longer
there, nor the startled look, half fear and half defiance, to which the
gloom sometimes gave place when s