out the nakedness of the land, strayed off the public
path, so surely a gray figure, seeming to spring from out the blue,
would come fiercely, silently driving down on him; and he would turn and
run for his life, amid the uproarious jeers of any of the farm-hands who
were witness to the encounter.

On these occasions David vied with Tammas in facetiousness at his
father's expense.

"Good on yo', little un!" he roared from behind a wall, on one such
occurrence.

"Bain't he a runner, neither?" yelled Tammas, not to be outdone.

"See un skip it--ho! ho! Look to his knees a-wamblin'! from the
undutiful son in ecstasy. An' I'd knees like yon, I'd wear petticoats."
As he spoke, a swinging box on the ear nearly knocked the young
reprobate down.

"D'yo' think God gave you a dad for you to jeer at? Y'ought to be
ashamed o' yo'self. Serve yo' right if he does thrash yo' when yo' get
home." And David, turning round, found James Moore close behind him, his
heavy eyebrows lowering over his eyes.

Luckily, M'Adam had not distinguished his son's voice among the others.
But David feared he had; for on the following morning the little man
said to him:

"David, ye'll come hame immediately after school to-day."

"Will I?" said David pertly.

''Ye will.

"Why?"

"Because I tell ye to, ma lad"; and that was all the reason he would
give. Had he told the simple fact that he wanted help to drench a
"husking" ewe, things might have gone differently. As it was, David
turned away defiantly down the hill.

The afternoon wore on. Schooltime was long over; still there was no
David.

The little man waited at the door of the Grange, fuming, hopping from
one leg to the other, talking to Red Wull, who lay at his feet, his head
on his paws, like a tiger waiting for his prey.

At length he could restrain himself no longer; and started running down
the hill, his heart burning with indignation.

"Wait till we lay hands on ye, ma lad," he muttered as he ran. "We'll
warm ye, we'll teach ye."

At the edge of the Stony Bottom he, as always, left Red Wull. Crossing
it himself, and rounding Langholm How, he espied James Moore, David, and
Owd Bob walking away from him and in the direction of Kenmuir. The gray
dog and David were playing together, wrestling, racing, and rolling. The
boy had never a thought for his father.

The little man ran up behind them, unseen and unheard, his feet softly
pattering on the grass. His hand had fallen on Da