Chapter 44 - Page 2

find the key beneath the clock in my parlor. The tokens
are in the topmost drawer in my bedroom.

"The weekly prayer-meeting will be held as usual on Thursday at
eight o'clock, and the elders will officiate.

"It is my wish that the news of my death be broken to my mother by
Mr. Ogilvy, the schoolmaster, and by no other. You will say to him
that this is my solemn request, and that I bid him discharge it
without faltering and be of good cheer.

"But if Mr. Ogilvy be not now alive, the news of my death will be
broken to my mother by my beloved wife. Last night I was married
on the hill, over the tongs, but with the sanction of God, to her
whom you call the Egyptian, and despite what has happened since
then, of which you will soon have knowledge, I here solemnly
declare that she is my wife, and you will seek for her at the
Spittal or elsewhere till you find her, and you will tell her to
go to my mother and remain with her always, for these are the
commands of her husband."

It was then that Gavin paused, for Lord Rintoul had that to say to
him which no longer could be kept back. All the women were crying
sore, and also some men whose eyes had been dry at the coffining
of their children.

"Now I ken," said Cruickshanks, who had been an atheist, "that
it's only the fool wha' says in his heart, 'There is no God.'"

Another said, "That's a man."

Another said, "That man has a religion to last him all through."

A fourth said, "Behold, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."

A fifth said, "That's our minister. He's the minister o' the Auld
Licht Kirk o' Thrums. Woe is me, we're to lose him."

Many cried, "Our hearts was set hard against him. O Lord, are you
angry wi' your servants that you're taking him frae us just when
we ken what he is?"

Gavin did not hear them, and again he spoke:

"My brethren, God is good. I have just learned that my wife is
with my dear mother at the manse. I leave them in your care and in
His."

No more he said of Babbie, for the island was become very small.

"The Lord calls me hence. It is only for a little time I have been
with you, and now I am going away, and you will know me no more.
Too great has been my pride because I was your minister, but He
who sent me to labor among you is slow to wrath; and He ever bore
in mind that you were my first charge. My people, I must say to
you, 'Farewell.'"

Then, for the first time, his voice faltered, and wanting--to go
on he could not. "Let us read," he said, quickly, "in the Word of
God in the fourteenth of Matthew, from the twenty-eighth