hat "he would be good to Hamish and the rest when she was
no more."

"Folk get used to the most sorrowful things at last," said Shenac to
herself, as, after a time, Allister could turn quietly from the mother,
so broken and changed, to renew his playful sallies with his brothers
and little Flora. Indeed, it was a new acquaintance that he had to make
with them. They had grown quite out of his remembrance, and he was not
at all like the brother Allister of their imaginations; but this making
friends with one another was a very pleasant business to them all.

He had to renew his acquaintance with others too--with his cousins and
the neighbours. He had much to hear and much to tell, and after a while
he had much to do too; and through all the sayings and doings, the
comings and goings,--of the first few weeks, both Hamish and Shenac
watched their brother closely and curiously. Apart from their interest
in him as their brother whom they loved, and in whose hands the future
of all the rest seemed to lie, they could not but watch him curiously.
He was so exactly like the merry, gentle, truthful Allister of old
times, and yet so different! He had grown so strong and firm and manly.
He knew so many things. He had made up his mind about the world and
the people in it, and could tell his mind too.

"Our Allister is a man!" said Shenac, as she sat in the kitchen one
night with Shenac Dhu and the rest. The words were made to mean a great
deal by the way in which they were spoken, and they all laughed. But
her cousin answered the words merely, and not the manner:--

"That is not saying much. Men are poor creatures enough, sometimes."

"But our Allister is not one of that kind," said Dan, before his sister
had time to answer. "He _is_ a man. He is made to rule. His will must
be law wherever he is."

Dan had probably some private reason for knowing this better than the
rest, and Shenac Dhu hinted as much. But Dan took no notice, and went
on,--

"You should hear Evan tell about him. Why, he saved the lives of the
whole band more than once, by his firmness and wisdom."

"I have heard our Evan speaking of him," said Shenac Dhu, her dark eyes
softening, as she sat looking into the fire; "but if one is to believe
all that Evan says, your Allister is not a man at all, but--don't be
vexed, Dan--an angel out of heaven."

"Oh, I don't know about that part of it," said Dan; "but I know one
thing: he'll be chief of the cla