eyes, and the absence of that vivida vis, by which his countenance was generally marked, it was not difficult to perceive, that he had passed a night of mental suffering and agitation.

"Ye're a kind laddy, Cyril," said he, "ye're a kind and good laddy, to come and sit at the bedside o' a crabbit and cankered auld man."

I, of course, disclaimed any merit on this score, and expressed my sympathy for the loss he had sustained, and by which he seemed so deeply affected.

"Maybe," rejoined he, "the death o' an auld man, aboon threescore and ten, can hardly be called a loss, to a brither that hadna seen nor spoken to him, for mair than forty years. Death has now separated us for ever; but there was a separation between us worse than death while he lived. We were brithers, Cyril, but ye may be ken we were never friends. The strife o' blood relations is no like the enmity of ither folk. It cuts deeper, and the wounds it leaves are cankered and ill to cure. I needna tell you how our difference began, though till now I have aye thocht the wyte o't didna lie wi' me. Nae matter for that now. Yet, as God knows my heart, had I been in his place, and he left like me, a penniless and younger brother, we might have lived and died in love and charity."

As he said this, the old man turned from me in the bed, seemingly in strong emotion, and a silence of some minutes ensued. I assured him of my sincere sympathy in his sorrow, but requested him not to dwell on a subject which occasioned such deep agitation.

"It's a relief to me to speak," rejoined he, " and my heart feels easier when disburdened of its load. To naebody on this wide earth but you hae I ever spoken o' my troubles. May you never feel, Cyril,

the pangs and the reproaches under which I now suffer, from the dourness of my own heart. He was unkind, but I was hard and unforgiving. Nay, were he even now to appear before me in the flesh, I fear I might still turn from him in anger. But he is gone before his Maker, where I must shortly follow him, and resentment canna reach beyond the grave, though mine, God forgive me, has followed him till his."

Here his voice was again choked, and he turned himself once more toward the wall and was silent. I too was agitated. There is a blind propensity in our nature, to participate in deep emotion of any kind, and I felt its influence at that moment. To a spirit so perturbed, I felt it would be impertinent in me to offer either condolence or consolation. I took the old man's hand, and pressed it in mine; and when, after a considerable interval, he again turned towards me, I saw that the veins of his forehead were turgid, and his eyes bloodshot. For some hours 1 sat by his bed-side, and he became gradually calmer, and the storm, by which he had before been so powerfully stirred, at length subsided.

The task of making the necessary arrangements for the funeral devolved upon him, and I think he experienced relief from having it in his power to offer this, the last and only tribute to. his departed brother.

By his dictation, I wrote to Bailie Cleland all suitable directions with regard to the conduct of the funeral; and letters of invitation having been prepared by one of the clerks, and signed by my uncle, were despatched to all the friends of the family. It was likewise arranged, that on the Monday following, we should set out for Balmalloch in a mourning coach, in order to attend the obsequies of the Laird.

CHAPTER XI.

But when return'd the youth? The youth no more
Return'd exulting to his native shore;

But fifty years elapsed, and then there came

A worn-out man.

CRABBE.

With easy roads he came to Leicester,
And lodged in the Abbey.

Henry VIII.

IN a few days, the shock occasioned to my uncle by his brother's death, in a great measure subsided. His sorrow, if it did not pass away, was at least calm and silent, and the tortures of self-reproach, under which he had at first suffered so deeply, gradually softened into feelings of melancholy regret. He did not again speak on the subject of his brother; little change was observable in his deportment, and his countenance gave no indication of internal suffering.

On the morning fixed for our departure, I breakfasted with Mr. Spreull, and the meal was scarcely concluded, when the arrival of the mourning coach, which was to convey us to our destination, was duly announced. The vehicle in question was one of preposterous dimensions, apparently crazy from age, and drawn by two long tailed black horses, which would have done no discredit to the team of the Newcastle wagon. The driver was a red-faced and facetious-looking person, suitably clad in sables, and mounted on a coach-box decorated by a hammercloth of black calico. The work of packing the

baggage in the carriage now commenced, under the special superintendance of Girzy and myself. Mine consisted only of a small portmanteau, and was easily disposed of. This was not the case, however, with my uncle's. I could scarcely refrain from laughing, when my servant and Sanders MacAuslan appeared laboriously descending the narrow stairs, bearing with difficulty between them an enormous hair-trunk, about the size of a meal-girnel, fortified at every corner with iron plates, and the letters D. S. conspicuously traced in brass nails on the lid. Honest Jehu stood aghast at this unlooked-for addition to his load, and appeared sorely puzzled as to the mode in which the transit of this ponderous appendage was to be effected.

While we were yet engaged in such meditations as may be supposed to have occupied Mr. Belzoni when he first contemplated the removal of the Memnon, our cogitations were interrupted by the appearance of my uncle, who came to inspect the travelling arrangements,

"Deevil tak the woman," exclaimed he, exasperated at the heavy marching trim in which the faithful Girzy was about to despatch him; "why, here's baggage enough for a regiment of heavy horse. Do ye think, born tawpy as ye are, that I'm gaun a voyage to the Indies? Why, that kist's about half freight for an American lumber-ship. Just tak it back, and pit me up a change o' linen in a napkin. I declare the woman's little better than a bedlamite!"

Against the execution of these orders Girzy strongly entered her protest. She declared she would on no account allow him to travel at this season of the year, so slenderly provided with necessaries as he desired. To do so, she said, would be a wilful tempt, ing of Providence. Who could tell that he might

not be seized with one of those attacks of cramp in the stomach, to which he was so liable. He might get wet and require a change of clothes. He might

But it is unnecessary to follow Girzy through all her supposed cases of contingent misfortune. She concluded, however, by positively declaring, that the things could not now possibly be unpacked; but were that even practicable, the trunk contained not one iota that could be spared. As a proof of this, she said it contained "only nine couls, a dizen sarks, fifteen

"Nine couls, and a dizen sarks !" exclaimed my uncle, impetuously interrupting her; "do ye think, gowk, gomeril, and idiot, as ye are, that I can use nine couls, and a dizen sarks in twa days! But there's nae use in speaking to a senseless tawpy, that can neither understand reason nor common sense;" and he walked away in anger, leaving Girzy mistress of the field, and still determined to carry into full exe, Icution her schemes for the comfort of her master. After some delay, the trunk, which had been the subject of so much perplexity and contention, was with difficulty placed on the roof of the coach, where it was secured by about twenty yards of new rope, which Saunders M'Auslan provided for the occasion. This addition gave the vehicle a singular and picturesque appearance, which on the journey did not fail to attract abundance of attention.

At length the carriage was reported ready. Peter (for such was the coachman's name) had already mounted the box, and my servant who was to accompany us, stood with his hand on the carriage door, ready to enclose us in its lugubrious cavity. But the cares and importunate anxieties of Girzy still impeded our departure. She had succeeded by her eloquence, in prevailing on my growling com