babies?" Mrs. MacDougall exclaimed, in amazement. "Who have been
tattling to you about what don't concern them?"

"Then we _are_ those babies!" Elsie cried, with a flash of excitement.

"You!" cried Mrs. MacDougall; "that you are not. What could make you
think such a thing? Whoever told you so much--an' I reckon your foolish
old grannie was the person--might as well have told the whole story,
which, however, it was my great wish should be kept quite a secret.
Robbie was your poor Aunt Nannie's bairn."

"Robbie!" Elsie exclaimed, slowly; "but there were two babies, mother."

"There were twin babies, but one died the next day after it reached me,
poor bairn. It was a girl baby, and the one the father took an interest
in; but it died, and he cared little or nothing about Robbie, so I kept
him my own self, for he was but a poor little lad, and could no bear a
rough life. Often I've been tempted to let the child go back to his own
flesh and blood, but I hadn't the heart, knowing there was none that
would look after him with the care he needed."

"Is Robbie better than we are, mother?" Elsie asked, with the old
jealousy cropping up once more. "Uncle Grosvenor is a grand laird, is he
not?"

[Illustration: "ROBBIE WAITED ON HIM" (_p. 329_).]

Mrs. MacDougall laughed. "He's just a well-to-do tradesman, though he
had mighty fine airs when he used to come to Dunster; but I never liked
the looks of him. He broke his poor wife's heart, and never believed it
till she lay dead, and then he was sorry, and tried to make some amends.
He was a bit touched when he saw his motherless bairns, and did a kind
deed when he sent them to me; but he soon grew blithe and gay again, and
troubled his head no more. I've never heard from him from that day to
this, except that he sends me payment for the babies still. He doesn't
even know that the little one died, for he has never written; and I
don't know where he is; but any day he may come, and just take it into
his head to fetch poor Nannie's bairn away from me: but I hope he won't,
for now that he's married again and has many children, as I am told,
poor Robbie will be ill-welcomed among them."

What a different tale this was from the one Elsie had concocted in her
own mind! How utterly foolish and ashamed she was feeling. She would
tell all, and would so ease her mind.

"Mother," she said, speaking quickly, "it was all through a letter I
picked up and read, and because I always thought