e; an' sometimes
at nicht I kind o' greet to think o' ye.'

"Ay, after that I've nae doot he was sittin' wi' his airms aboot her.
She didna tell me that, but weel he kens it's what she likes, an' she
maks nae pretence o' its no bein'. But for a' he said an' did, she
noticed him put the glove back in his inside pouch.

"'It's wrang o' me, Jamie,' she said, 'but I canna bear to think o' ye
carryin' that aboot sae carefu'. No, I canna help it.'

"Weel, Jamie, the crittur, took it oot o' his pouch an' kind o'
hesitated. Syne he lays't on the back o' the fire, an' they sat
thegither glowerin' at it.

"'Noo, mother,' he says, 'you're satisfied, are ye no'?'

"Ay," Leeby ended her story, "she said she was satisfied. But she saw
'at he laid it on the fire fell fond-like."

CHAPTER XX

THE LAST NIGHT

"Juist another sax nichts, Jamie," Jess would say, sadly. "Juist fower
nichts noo, an' you'll be awa." Even as she spoke seemed to come the
last night.

The last night! Reserve slipped unheeded to the floor. Hendry
wandered ben and but the house, and Jamie sat at the window holding his
mother's hand. You must walk softly now if you would cross that humble
threshold. I stop at the door. Then, as now, I was a lonely man, and
when the last night came the attic was the place for me.

This family affection, how good and beautiful it is. Men and maids
love, and after many years they may rise to this. It is the grand
proof of the goodness in human nature, for it means, that the more we
see of each other the more we find that is lovable. If you would cease
to dislike a man, try to get nearer his heart.

Leeby had no longer any excuse for bustling about. Everything was
ready--too soon. Hendry had been to the fish-cadger in the square to
get a bervie for Jamie's supper, and Jamie had eaten it, trying to look
as if it made him happier. His little box was packed and strapped, and
stood terribly conspicuous against the dresser. Jess had packed it
herself.

"Ye mauna trachle (trouble) yersel, mother," Jamie said, when she had
the empty box pulled toward her.

Leeby was wiser.

"Let her do't," she whispered, "it'll keep her frae broodin'."

Jess tied ends of yarn round the stockings to keep them in a little
bundle by themselves. So she did with all the other articles.

"No 'at it's ony great affair," she said, for on the last night they
were all thirsting to do something for Jamie that would be a grea