im, and the desire to confide in him became irresistible. I had been wondering in my mind for hours how best I could introduce the subject; a

t, and told me he was quite sure I had undergone a sudden mental strain which had adversely affected me

e had rather a queer experience lately, and, if you care to hear about it

ladly,'

at easy-chair by the fire, and you may sit with

smoking steadily, he listened in silence till my story was finished. I gave him the whole history, kept nothing back; and i

re things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy, and your experience certainly goes to prove it. It is usual, especially during a man's romantic years, to dream of a fair lady's face-very usual indeed; but I consider it most remarkable that ev

es, doct

r age, again

y in J

ve never been

o; but since that interview in Nithbank Wood I'm more hopelessly in love than eve

rose slowly from his chair, knocked the ashes out of his pipe on the top rib of th

N

hy

the dear old soul is "nearer" to me than any one else in the wo

have lived a queer, prosaic, loveless life-a full life if hard work and gain and recognition be reckoned everything, but empty-oh God, how empty!-if love counts for all. I am old, but not so old that I cannot understand you and sympathise with you, for I well remember days which were brightened to me by the sunshine of a woman's loving smile; times when all this earth was heaven to me, the singing of the birds an angel song, all its people upright and just; sermons I read in stones, and good I saw in everything. But that was long ago. When love was taken away from me the whole world se

at the foot of my bed, facing me

first visit to you here, Betty in course of conversation, ca

distinctly, and also that yo

it may be that, by doing so, you have relieved your mind and hastened your recovery; and perhaps, if I recount mine to one who can understand, it will bri

and, to be sociable, I

! Nothing like tobacco for

l leaden sky the first of winter's snowflakes were quietly falling-falling, as it appeared to me, into the eager upstretched arms of the leafless lime. The docto

is always to me, as it is to Robert Wanlock, "a wanderin' word frae hame." The human voice raised in song conveys nothing to me, but the crooning lullaby of a loving mother over her suffering child tirls the strings of my heart and makes me humble. To be unable to feel the pleading of the violin, the rich soprano, and the resonant bass is something I deplore. But Providence has ordained that if one sense is minus one, another sense will be plus one. Well, my sense of sight is plus one, both in strength and appreciation; and in the midst of these beautiful surroundings in which, for the last forty years, my lines

elcome of which I may say I took ample advantage. Your father and mother got married shortly after I became acquainted with the family; and as your aunt Margaret was thus deprived of a sister and companion to whom she was ardently attached, I gladly embraced every opportunity of showing her little kindly attentions, acting the part of a thoughtful brother, and generally doing my utmost to minimise the loss which I was sure she had sustained. Well, William, this ended in the usual way. Sympathy begets love, and I fell hopelessly in love with Margaret Kennedy. How I found out that my love was returned is a secret which is a joy to me, too holy to share even with you, William. Ah me! the happiness of those halcyon days-the quiet afternoons in that old drawing-room facing southward to the distant Pentlands, the evening walks on Corstorphine Hill when the sunset rays still lingered above Ben Lomond, the talks we had of the future we had planned! Tennyson says that "sorrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier things." That may be poetic, but I don't think it is true, for it is a crown of joy to me to call these times to mind, and I feel that to have had this experience, and to have garnered such memories, I have surely not lived in vain. Our love, as is the case with all young people, was unreasoning. We gave no thought to ways and means, and position or status we never for a moment

With this ray of hope I had to be content. She wrote to me at intervals; but, as letter followed letter, each became more despondent and despairing, and at last she informed me that it was evident she would not be allowed to return until she promised not to see or correspond with me again. Then came a little, short note pleading for an interview. "It is a long journey, I know," she wrote; "but I dearly-oh, so dearly!-wish to see you again. Your presence will cheer me and strengthen me to bear whatever the future may hold. On Wednesday next my uncle goes to Kirkwall, and on that afternoon I will walk down to a little sheltered creek called Corravoe. It is the nearest point to the mainland, and only a mile or two from Huna. Matthew Howat has a good boat. When you reach Huna ask for Matthew. He knows everything, and will help us...." Never a day passes but that weird, solitary scene comes before my eyes-no trees, no hills, no signs of human habitation; onl

r reached its haven. What happened no one ever knew. The sullen waters guard their secrets well; but a broken oar bearing Matthe

. Then he wearily rose from his chair and went quietly downstairs without saying good-bye. He has a keen sense of the fitness of