t.

"A' richt, Robin," she replied with a sigh of resignation. "I suppose
it'll hae to be done. It'll be yer first start in life, an' I hope
ye'll aye be found doin' what's richt; for guid never comes o' ill
thinkin' or ill doin."

"If I get a job, mither, maybe I'll get one-an'-tippence a day like Dick
Tamson. If I do it'll be a big help to you, mither. My! I'll soon mak' a
poun' at that rate," and he laughed enthusiastically at the thought of
it. A pound seemed to represent riches to his boyish mind. What might
his mother not do with a pound? Ever so many things could be bought. And
that was merely a start. His wages would soon increase with experience,
and when he went down the pit, which would be soon, he'd earn more, and
his mother would maybe be able to buy new clothes for all the family.

He wondered what it would be like to have a new suit of clothes--real
new ones out of a shop. Hitherto he had only enjoyed "make downs," as
they were called--new ones made out of some one's cast-off clothing. But
a real new suit, such as he had seen the schoolmaster's boy sometimes
wearing! That would be a great experience! And so, lost in contemplation
of the things big wages might do, the day wore on, and he was happy in
his dreams.

That same night Robert went to call on the "gaffer," Black Jock, and as
he neared the door he met Mysie Maitland.

"Where are ye goin', Rab?" she enquired shyly.

"To look for a job," he replied proudly, feeling that now he was left
school, and about to start work, he could be patronizing to a girl.
"Where are you gaun?" he asked, as Mysie joined him in the direction of
Walker's house.

"I'm gaun to look for a job, too," she replied. "I'm no' gaun back to
the school, an' my mither thinks I'll be as weel on the pit-head as at
service. An' forby, I'll be able to help my mither at nichts when I come
hame, an' I couldna' do that if I gaed to service," she finished by way
of explanation. As Mysie was the oldest of a family of six, her parents
would be glad to have even her small earnings, and so she, too, was
looking for a job.

When Walker came to the door, Robert took the matter in hand, and became
spokesman for both himself and Mysie.

"We've left the school the day, Mr. Walker, an' Mysie an' me want to
ken if ye can gie us a job on the pitheid?" and Walker noted with
amusement the manly swagger in the boy's voice and bearing.

"We dinna' usually start lasses as wee as Mysie," replied Wa