oon' aboot this youth, wha surely is nae muckle waur
than him 'at the Saviour lo'ed; and when thou seest his ship gang
sailin' into the far north whaur thou keepest thy stores o' frost and
snaw ready to remin' men o' thy goodness by takin' the heat frae them
for a sizzon--when thou seest his ship gaein far north, pit doon thy
finger, O Lord, and straik a track afore't, throu' amo' the hills o'
ice, that it may gang throu' in saf-ety, even as thy chosen people gaed
throu' the Reid Sea, and the river o' Jordan. For, Lord, we want him
hame again in thy good time. For he is the only son of his mother, and
she is a widow. But aboon a', O Lord, elec' him to thy grace and lat
him ken the glory o' God, even the licht o' thy coontenance. For me,
I'm a' thine, to live or dee, and I care not which. For I hae gotten
the gueed o' this warl'; and gin I binna ready for the neist, it's
because o' my sins, and no o' my savours. For I wad glaidle depairt and
be with the Lord. But this young man has never seen thy face; and, O
Lord, I'm jist feared that my coontenance micht fa' even in thy
kingdom, gin I kent that Alec Forbes was doon i' the ill place. Spare
him, O Lord, and gie him time for repentance gin he has a chance; but
gin he has nane, tak' him at ance, that his doom may be the lichter."

Alec rose with a very serious face, and went home to his mother in a
mood more concordant with her feelings than the light-heartedness with
which he generally tried to laugh away her apprehensions.

He even called on Robert Bruce, at his mother's request. It went
terribly against the grain with him though. He expected to find him
rude as of old, but he was, on the contrary, as pleasant as a man could
be whose only notion of politeness lay in _licking_.

His civility came from two sources--the one hope, the other fear. Alec
was going away and might never return. That was the hope. For although
Bruce had spread the report of Annie's engagement to Curly, he believed
that Alec was the real obstacle to his plans. At the same time he was
afraid of him, believing in his cowardly mind that Alec would not stop
short of personal reprisals if he should offend him; and now he was a
great six-foot fellow, of whose prowess at college confused and
exaggerated stories were floating about the town.--Bruce was a man who
could hatch and cherish plans, keeping one in reserve behind the other,
and beholding their result from afar.

"Ay! ay! Mr Forbes--sae ye're ga