How thin the Veil, That hides the OTHER WORLD! Change, by a hair's breadth, our poor Mortal vision, The Worlds are ONE. O blessed they, who, having seen, believe ! Yet, Oh, so thin the Veil, That shuts us from the WORLD INVISIBLE! Tinlie Rhymes. ALLIE DICKSIE. WH WHEN the October Moon was full, a spectral figure might have been seen, one evening, not far from midnight, flitting from Cot to Cot amongst the Villagers of Castlebraes, slipping some sort of letter or message beneath the door, and departing quietly without looking for any answer. The early bird catches the worm. And so the first to rise and to look out, next morning, was the first, on perusing the aforesaid Missive, to begin to wonder, then to smile, then to chuckle audibly, and then to burst out into jovial laughter,-a process which was repeated at Cottage after Cottage till half the Village was seen relaxing into one broad Guffah! 'Dominie," cried the Mistress of the School, “hae ye tint yer senses a'thegither? It's no like a man o' your eddication an' standin', tae be sneevilin' an' snichterin' an' befulin' yersel' like that, on yer ain door-step at half seeven i' the mornin'. If the Schule Bairns saw ye, they could never respeck ye mair!" But dear old Dominie Liffie was too much tickled to resent her reflections on his dignity. He merely handed her the Letter, and watched with wicked glee its effect on her features. "Preserve us a'!" cried Nannie Borthwick, "that's the Laird o' Tinlie at the tap, an' yersel', Dominie, i' the middle, as like as twa peas. But wha's that funny wee Chiel i' the corner, signin' the invitation by sketchin' his ain face, instead o' signin' his name? Gude guide us a', but that's the maist comical luik I ever saw on man or beast!" And Nannie was heard chortling an' laughing in to herself, far through the forenoon; while the Dominie never once lifted the Tawse the whole day, but mightily amused the Bairns by incontinent laughter in the very midst of the lessons, not one of them being able to see where the joke came in. During the day the invited guests began to compare Notes, whereby still more was their glee increased. All the Invitations were drawn on a uniform plan, and each was in the esteem of its receiver a work of beautiful art. The Laird o Tinlie (here was sketched in pen and ink a living likeness of my poor face) respectfully commands the attendance of (here the living image of the person or persons invited) at a meeting of Kindred Spirits in Tinlie Hall on Friday Evening. No excuse can be received. PROGRAMME: Scotch Repast, 8 p.m. Ghost Stories, called for at 9. Manifestation of Spirits, 10 o'clock, prompt. (Then, at the foot of each Card, grinned, and winked, and bubbled over with fun, that face of such nonsenical humour and waggery as Nannie "never saw on man or beast.") For the past three weeks or so, the Villagers had been intensely interested in a young friend who had been visiting the Laird at Tinlie Tower. He had been within every door, and had frequently sat by the fireside of almost every House within a radius of half an hour's walk. Scarcely a day went past, on which he didn't "roar in" at the Smiddy, "spier for" Jean Darumple at the Shop, "ca' the clash" with Dave o' the Beacon, or "taste the wine" of Bell MacGregor's crummie. Withal, he charmed. them by sketching everything, with funny exaggerations, that turned the Village life into humorous extravaganza,—the Mill and the Kirk, the Schule and the Smiddy, the Linn and the Castle, the Auld Wifie's Mutch and the Wee Bairnie's Barrow, sticking in here and there on his Sketch Book every face that struck him or interested him. Country life was absolutely new to him, and the Country People of Castlebraes were a completely fresh discovery. His brain was all a-stir. His thin and artistic fingers could not rest. His passion for learning new ideas was almost a craze; and his genius for drawing out all that was original in every human being whom he met was unsurpassed. Every Villager was immediately far more interested in Allie Dicksie than in the men and women they had known for a lifetime; and Allie carried about with him, at the end of three weeks, the secret history and the inmost confidence of two out of every three persons in all Castlebraes. 'Lovan-entie-me! Lovan-entie-me!" exclaimed the Miller, after a two hours' earnest talk with Allie, "that thin-faced, eager-ee'd, beseechin'-lookin' Laddie mak's ma hair staun' on en', wi' his Veesions an' his Speerits, an' his Manifestations frae yont the Veil! It's no cannie tae leeve in a warl' like that, no cannie ava'. But the crack o' the Laddie 's wunnerfu' catchin'. Ye want aye tae hear mair, and still mair. I maun gang tae Tinlie Tour on Friday nicht!" Allie Dicksie had exerted himself to secure, by sundry clever devices, that I should remain at Home on that particular evening; but, as he himself was so manifestly eager to remain also and to share my company, I suspected nothing. Shortly after seven o'clock, while strolling in Tinlie Garden, I observed at the foot of the Hill a figure making towards us, which I surmised, and rightly, to be Moudie Jamie. At once stepping down the road in a neighbourly way to meet him, I answered his extra-cheery salutation with a welcome; and, by-and-bye, in the gentlest possible way, I indicated the most distant desire to find out whether business or pleasure had brought me the honour of his visit. Jamie, from his point of view, took this as part of the joke, and in his own sarcastic vein began complimenting us on our new rôle. "It's a sign o' gude health and gude speerits, ony wey; for it maun be thretty-sax or forty-aucht oors noo, syne the joke was coined!" I'm afraid I must have nettled or coloured at this; for Jamie's good humour suddenly left his face; and, thrusting his hand deep into his breast pocket, he pulled out the Card, handed it to me, and somewhat bitterly expostulated— "I didna expeck tae be received wi' a grumph, after sic a funny Invite!" |