dear
girl, and a poor requital for all the happiness you have brought back
to these old walls;" and the words were spoken with a degree of feeling
that made all indisposed to break the silence that followed.

"I should like to see the capital, I own," said Kate, "if my absence
were to be a short one."

"And I wad hae nae objection the capital should see yersel," said Sir
Archy; "albeit, I may lose a sweetheart by my generosity."

"Have no fears of my fidelity," said Kate, laughing, as she extended her
hand towards him, while, with antique gallantry, he pressed it to his
lips. "The youth of this land are not, so far as my little experience
goes, likely to supplant so true an admirer; they who have so little
devotion to their country, may well be suspected of having less for its
daughters."

Mark's brow grew dark with the flush that covered his face and
forehead in an instant; he bent his head almost to the table to avoid
observation, and, as if in the distraction of the moment, he took up the
note and seemed to pore over its contents; then suddenly crushing it in
his hand, he arose from the table and left the room.

"My sweet Kate," said Sir Archy, as he led her within the deep recess of
a window, "tak care ye dinna light up a flame of treason, where ye only
hoped to warm a glow of patriotism; such eyes and lips as yours are but
too ready teachers; be cautious, lassie. This country, however others
may think, is on the eve of some mighty struggle; the people have
abandoned many of their old grudges and seem disposed to unite."

"And the gentry--where are they, who should stand at their head and
share their fortune?" cried Kate eagerly; for the warning, so far from
conveying the intended moral, only stimulated her ardour and excited her
curiosity.

"The gentry," replied Sir Archy, in a firm, decided tone, "are better
satisfied to live under a government they dislike, than to be at the
mercy of a rabble they despise, I ha'e lived langer than you in this
dreary world, lassie, and trust me, the poetry of patriotism has little
relation to the revengeful fury of rebellion. You wish freedom for those
who cannot enjoy the portion of it they possess. It is time to outlive
the evil memories of the past, we want here--time, to blunt the
acuteness of former and long-past sufferings--time, to make traditions
so far forgotten as to be inapplicable to the present--time, to read the
homely lesson, that one half the energy a peopl