t," the old lady said, and the tears were running down her
face, "but you know--you know. And if he had married you, Janet, and
stayed at home at Dare, there would have been none of all this trouble.
And now--what is there now? It is the young English lady that has broken
his heart; and he is no longer a son to me, and he is no longer your
cousin, Janet; but a broken-hearted man, that does not care for
anything. And you are very kind, Janet; and you would not say any harm
of any one. But I am his mother--I--I--well, if the woman was to come
here this day, do you think I would not speak? It was a bad day for us
all that he went away--instead of marrying you, Janet."

"But you know that could never have been, auntie," said the gentle-eyed
cousin, though there was some conscious flush of pride in her cheeks. "I
could never have married Keith."

"But why, Janet?"

"You have no right to ask me, auntie. But he and I--we did not care for
each other--I mean, we never could have been married. I hope you will
not speak about that any more, auntie."

"And some day they will take me, too, away from Dare," said the old
dame, and the spinning-wheel was left unheeded; "and I cannot go into
the grave with my five brave lads--for where are they all now,
Janet?--in Arizona one, in Africa one, and two in the Crimea, and my
brave Hector at Koniggratz. But that is not much; I shall be meeting
them all together: and do you not think I shall be glad to see them all
together again just as it was in the old days; and they will come to
meet me; and they will be glad enough to have the mother with them once
again. But, Janet, Janet, how can I go to them? What will I say to them
when they ask about Keith--about Keith, my Benjamin, my youngest, my
handsome lad?"

The old woman was sobbing bitterly; and Janet went to her and put her
arms round her, and said,--

"Why, auntie, you must not think of such things. You will send Keith
away in low spirits, if you have not a bright face and a smile for him
when he goes away."

"But you do not know--you do not know," the old woman said, "what Keith
has done for me. The others--oh yes, they were brave lads; and very
proud of their name, too; and they would not disgrace their name,
wherever they went; and if they died--that is nothing: for they will be
together again now, and what harm is there? But Keith, he was the one
that did more than any of them; for he stayed at home for my sake; and
when other