one.

My eyes fell upon the Invitation Card for the first time. My instant impression was not a pleasant This was another of Allie Dicksie's pranks! But my second feelings were harsher still, when I heard from Jamie, "that the lave were a' on the road, an' there micht be frae auchteen tae twunty."

Sincerely and cordially begging my visitor's pardon, and assuring him of the best welcome that Tinlie Tower could give him, I asked him to step round the Garden and look at the flowers for a moment till I delivered a message. I thereon hurried in by the Kitchen door, to escape further observation, and began communicating to Maysey, my antiquated Housekeeper and domestic Factotum, the truly appalling news! But her face only grew radiant, and more radiant, the more I stormed; and, with an unwonted twinkle in her eyes, and a new light on her leathery face, she protested

"Please, Laird, tak' ma word for't, an' content ye, Everything 'll be creditable tae you an' yer Hoose, an' a' 'll be happy. Maister Allie kent better than tae invite siccan a Company without takin' Auld Maysey into the ploy. Yield yersel' tae the fun, Laird, an' let things tak' their swing."

Meantime, the Company gathered fast. According to the Country and neighbourly fashion, they assembled outside, some daundering about the Garden, some about the Stables, some about the Stack-Yard, "ca'ing the crack," and waiting for the homely summons to "come awa' ben," or to "boo their knee," that is, to enter the house and rest on a seat.

Allie was the centre of all the life and move

ment. Wherever a roar of laughter burst up unexpectedly, for certain he was there. But he kept flitting briskly from knot to knot, taking precious care never once to come face to face with me, nor let our eyes once meet together. It was sufficiently manifest, by this time, that Moudie Jamie and other Worthies had now thoroughly taken in the whole situation, and were lending themselves to Allie's ploys with unstinted delight. Thereon I resolutely determined, once for all, to let the thought that I had been tricked be banished entirely, and I began to throw myself heart and soul into the fun. Poor dear Allie, he was determined to have a happy night with his new Country friends in his own peculiar way; and no one would ever be able to say that I had marred it! He had been looking so very thin, so fearfully pinched; and his eyes had of late such a far-away, dreamy, yet beseeching look,-as of one drawing too close to a devouring mystery,that I was prepared to do anything rather than to vex him. I gave myself, therefore, without reserve to the spirit of the evening, taking very good care to let Allie see, and know no change on my part, that his own spirit might freely work out its own sweet will, for once at least, to his nature's fullest bent.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," began the rogue, right cheerily, mounting on a footstool near the door, that all might hear and see, "the Programme now begins. It is 8 o'clock. Maysey has the Supper served, and I invite you, in name of the Laird of Tinlie, to a Scottish Repast. Let every Gentle

man take in to the Dining Hall the Lady of his choice!"

Suiting the action to the word, he offered his arm with the bow of a Prince to Killogie Kate, the most witch-like Old Wife in all Castlebraes, and marched off with her majestically to the Dining Room. The Spirit of Frolic thereon seized us. We paired, amidst shouts of laughter that could be heard half a mile away, and marched hilariously after him,-Black Bauldy with the Miller's Leddy, Angell James with Dirty Bett, Drucken Wull with Nannie Borthwick, Elder Shanks with Heather Bell, Dominie Liffie with Agg Novells, Dave o' the Beacon with Jean Darumple, Moudie Jamie with Angell Jenn, and so on, in a glorious tapsalteery, till I led up the rear with Daft Meg o' the Shields. Well might the Dominie affirm that "never before in the history of Castlebraes had such a company surrounded one table"; and, without fear of challenge, I may now add-Never since!

Getting us all seated, according to his own fantastic idea of the proprieties of the occasion, Allie rose and said:-"As this is to be a Scotch Repast, we shall repeat the Grace before Meat, used by the greatest of all Scotchmen, Robert Burns." Thereon, without a smile, nay, with a kind of genuine solemnity, he continued:

"Some hae meat, that canna eat;

And some could eat, that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat;

And sae,-The Lord be thankit!

Amen!"

Maysey and her two Maids, who had been

standing, as grave as Judges, at the Side-Board, now moved off, one with jugs of new foaming creamy milk, and the other with a Tray on which sat small bowls full of Oat-Meal Porridge, and the third with a Tray on which sat little plates, with two white roasted mealy Potatoes, a lump of butter, and a whang of cheese on each. Every guest was offered this luxurious choice! When Allie, the villain, saw the look of smothered shame on my face, he buoyantly began:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, you will honour us, and you will still more benefit yourselves, by partaking freely. This is the food on which were nourished Burns and Scott and Carlyle. It is certified, by a thousand generations, to be good for muscle and morals, good for bone and brain! What more does the world want?"

Which sentiment, Bauldy of the Smiddy received with a thundering "Hoorrah!" and proceeded to dispatch a double supply of everything, protesting, when he could do no more,―

Maysey beats ye a' at makin' Parritch an' roastit Murphies." To which, Killogie Kate, feeling her personal credit at stake, vigorously rejoined,―

"Bauldy, the Cuif, doesna ken that Maysey's milk's a' cream, and that mak's ony kin' o' Parritch fine; an' Maysey's Tatties are a' drookit wi' butter, and that mak's Murphies slidder ower the Craigie unco smooth!"

As everybody else began to be conspicuously and amazingly happy, I recovered my equilibrium. I heard every tongue at the table wagging its

best. I saw every face beaming with a delight that could not be feigned. Like all genuine conversation, — not lecturing or dramatising, but the natural talk that arises out of the occasion and dies with the occasion,- this would not bear to be reported nor repeated. But there was no possible mistaking of the fact that every one was eager to listen or to speak, and that every soul at that table was interested and happy. So much so, that I myself felt greatly surprised, when Allie's voice broke on us,—

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the first hour has fled! It is now 9 o'clock. We shall therefore adjourn to the Library, where the second part of the Programme will at once begin."

"What, in name of all the Muses," said I inwardly, "will the young rogue do with these people in my Study!"

If, at that moment, I could have got at him, unseen, I would certainly have pommelled his ears; but my slow wits had to be content with scheming how on Earth to entertain this Village Crowd for the next hour. Had I enough of Curios, and old Armour, and Souvenirs of my travels, to kill the time! Again, however, I was reckoning without my host. For, ere we had all got comfortably settled in our places, Allie was calmly announcing, with the immovable non-chalance of the Master of all Eventualities,

"I have much pleasure in now calling upon Killogie Kate, to tell The Story of the Wutch's Bush.”

This Bush had been known to me, ever since I knew anything. But the Story of it, the why and wherefore of its name, I had never heard in all my

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