ng it suddenly above the glorious masses
of her brown hair, which shone with the soft and shimmering hue of
evening sunlight. But he dared not. Kissing under the mistletoe was all
very well for boys and girls--but for a mature bachelor of thirty-nine
and an "old maid" of thirty-five, these uncouth and calf-like
gambollings lacked dignity. Moreover, when he looked at Mary's pure
profile--the beautifully shaped eyes, classic mouth, and exquisite line
of neck and shoulder, the very idea of touching those lips with a kiss
given in mere lightness, seemed fraught with impertinence and
irreverence. If ever he kissed Mary, he thought,--and then all the
powers of his mind galloped off like wild horses let loose on a
sun-baked ranch--if ever he kissed Mary! What a dream!--what a boldness
unprecedented! But again--if ever he kissed her, it must be with the
kiss of a lover, for whom such a token of endearment was the sign of a
sacred betrothal. And he became so lost and abstracted in his musings
that he almost forgot the simple village merriment around him, and only
came back to himself a little when the party broke up altogether, and he
himself had to say "good-night," and go with the rest. Mary, while
giving him her hand in farewell, looked at him with a sisterly
solicitude.

"You're tired, Mr. Reay,"--she said--"I'm afraid we've been too noisy
for you, haven't we? But one can't keep boys and girls quiet!"

"I don't want them kept quiet,"--said Reay, holding her hand very
hard--"And I'm not tired. I've only been thinking."

"Ah! Of your book?"

"Yes. Of my book."

He went then, and came no more to the cottage till a week later when it
was New Year's Eve. This they celebrated very quietly--just they three
alone. Mary thought it somewhat imprudent for "old David" to sit up till
midnight in order to hear the bells "ring out the Old, ring in the
New"--but he showed a sudden vigorous resolution about it which was not
to be gainsaid.

"Let me have my way, my dear,"--he implored her--"I may never see
another New Year!"

"Nonsense, David!" she said cheerily--"You will see many and many a one,
please God!"

"Please God, I shall!" he answered, quietly--"But if it should not
please God--then--"

"There!--you want to stay up, and you shall stay up!" she declared,
smiling--"After all, as Mr. Reay is with us, the time won't perhaps seem
so long for you."

"But for you,"--put in Angus--"it will seem very long won't it!"

"Oh, I