Show I t I GOOD NEWS FROM A FAR COUNTRY t W J eoG BY IAN MACLAREN Author if Beside the Bonnie Briar Bush Afterwards Etc Copyright 1S95 by John Watson Narrow circumstances and high Spirit drove forth some half dozen I young men and women from the Glen I weiy year to earn their living in the cities of the south They carried with them as a working capital sound education It edu-cation unflagging industry absolute I i integrity and an undying attachment to Drumtochty Their one necessary luxury was a weekly copy of the Muir town Advertiser which four servant f lasses would share between them and circulate at church doors carefully iE i wrapped In a page of some common daily and their one hour of unmixed t enjoyment Its careful perusa column t E by column from the first word to the L larft It would have been foolishness r to omit the advertisements for you might have missed the name of Drum bhcugh in connection with a sale of ftirks and although at home no Drumtochty person allowed himself to take on interest in the affairs of Kil drummie or Netheraird yet the very names of neighboring parishes sounded sound-ed kindly at the distance of Glasgow One paragraph was kept for the last and read from six to twelve times because be-cause it was headed Drumtochty and gave an account of the annual plowing plow-ing match or the school examination or the How r show or a winter lecture when Jamie Soutor had proposed the vote of thanks Poor little news and names hard of pronunciation but the girl sitting alone by the kitchen fire flier fellow servants gone to bedor the settler in the far northwest for heals he-als got his Advertiser after long delays de-lays felt the caller air blowing down the Glen and saw the sun shining on the Torfjty below the mill and went up betwetn the pinks and the moss roses to > the dear old door ah me the did of the garden gate and heard asaiii the sound of the hundredth 3 > salm in the parish kirk If one wished to take a complete Census or our people in Glasgow he had only to attend when Dr Davidson David-son preached on the fast day and 1 make Irs way afterwards to the vestry i doorTheres Theres a gude puckle fouk waitin tae see y < sir the city beadle would I nay to the doctor with much cere mo y am judgiii theyde frae yir ain 1Jarish Is it yir wuil they be ud mit ted I Then in they came craftsmen in j stone and iron clerks in offices and students from the university housemaids house-maids and workingmens wives without I with-out distinction of persons having spent the last ten minutes in exchanging exchang-ing news and magnifying the sermon The doctor gave a Christian name to each and some personal message from I the Glen while they in turn did tluir 3est to reduce his hand to a pulp an j < clare aloud that preaching like his I < could not he got outside Drumtochty i to the huge delight of Bigheart minister j min-Ister of the church who was also a i chaplain to the queen and all Scotland I The dispersion endured any sacrifice I to visit the old Glen and made their appearance from various places at I regular intervals like Jews coming up to Jerusalem An exile was careful to arrive at Muirtown Station on a Friday Fri-day afternoon so that he might join the Drumtuchty contingent on their way home from market It is not to be I supposed however that there was any Ion I demonstration when he showed himself on the familiar platform where Drum I twenty men compared notes with other i parishes at the doors of the Dunleith i train Is that you Robert ye ill be gaein wast the nlcht was the only indication indica-tion Hillocks would give before the general public that he had recognized voting Netherton after three gears ab j sen c and then he would complete I his judgment on the potato crop as if I nothing had happened I Yere there aifter a man a wes feared the sooth train micht be late was all the length even Nethertons paternal feelings would carry him for the time did yt see that yir box wes pit in the van and the father and son might travel in different compart lents to the junction Drumtochty aad still some reticence and did not conduct its emotions in public but it had a heart When the van of the DDrnleith train had cleared the junction and Drumtochty was left to itselffor Kildrummie did not really countit was as when winter melts into spring Koo are ye Robert hoo are ye led tae see ye Drumsheugh would say examining the transformed figure from head to foot man a wud hardly hae kent ye Come awa an res yir news and the head of the commonwealth led the way to our third with Robert Drumtochty closing 5n behind Preliminaries were disposed of in the run to Kildrummie and as the little company made their way through the pine woods and down one side of the glen and over the slope to the parting of tho ways Robert was straightly questioned about the magnitude of the work he did in Glasgow and the well being t > f every single Drumtochty person per-son In that city and chiefly as to the sermons he had heaid their text and I treatment Sabbath the group at the I kirk door would open up at Roberts f I I approach but he would only nod in a IK shamefaced way to his friends and i pass on for it was our etiquette that instead of remaining to gossip a son 1 rhould go in with his mother and sit 3 beside her in the pew and pay such elaborate attention to the sermon that every one knew she was thinking only of her son If a Drumtochty man distinguished himself in the great world then the Glen invested his people with vicari C uos honor and gathered greedily every t scrap of news Piggie Walker himself although only an associate of the par f Jsh by marriage and many transactions I transac-tions would not have visited David iRoss in the Upper Glen with a view to potatoes without inquiring for Da vids son the professor and after the sale was effected that astute man would settle down with genuine delight de-light to hear the last letter dated from a colonial university and containing con-taining an account of the professors Hew discovery It was Piggie who asked for the letter let-ter David would not have offered to read it for a years rent Drumtochty par < nts with promising sons lived in terror lest secret pride should give l Uiem away and they be accused behind f be-hind their backs of blawing which in a weaker speech is translated boasting I David considered with justice that they ought to take special care and tried to guide his wife with discretion Ve mann be cannie wi Johns iiOe wumnan for ye ken Professor Ss a byordinar word a coOnt it equal itae Earl at the verra least an it I Yudna dac tae be aye usint Ye micht sayt aince in a conversation conver-sation juist lettin it slip oot by accident acci-dent this wy the professor wes sayin in hIs laist lettera mean oor soon in ustralybut wud ca him John at l Cither times Prides an awful mischief rtMeg Yere as pround as am masel r David and theres nae use ye coldin at me for giem oor laddie the honor jhe won wi his brain an wark and the mother flared up Am no feared nvhat the neeburs say Professor he is sod picfessor all ca him ye ill maybe be sayin Jock next tae show i ypre bumble I t Dinn tak me up sac shalrp gude I 1 miEc or think a wud mak little o J i 5 W > c co L I < A 1 John but the Almichty hesna gien ilka faimily a professor an am no i wantin tae hurt oor neeburs an them sae prood o him themsels Ye micht j J read his last letter again wumman theres a bit ave near forgotten I Meg went to the drawers where she I kept the clothes he wore as a boy and i the silk dress he gave her when he i received his great appointment and j the copies of his books bound in morocco i mo-rocco which he sent home with this inscription To my Father and mother From the Author and every scrap of paper about him I and from him she had ever received The letter is taken from an old stocking stock-ing and as she pretends to some difficulty diffi-culty in finding the place Meg is j I obliged to read it for the fortyninth time throughout from the name of the university at the head to the signature Hearts love to you both from I Your ever affectionate son JOHN ROSS 1 while David makes as though he had missed a word now and again in order I to prolong the pleasure It was not hard to tell that he had I such a letter in his pocket on the Sab bath for the kirkyard was very cun I ning in its sympthy i Boos the professor keepin when ye j heard laist Bogleigh Drumsheugh i would say skilfully leading up to the one subject and careful to give David 1 his territorial designation although it was a very small farm indeed he ill send a scrape o the pen at a time am i expeckin gin he hes a meenat tae I snare Busy or no busy answers Bog leigh he maks time tae write hame His mither hes hed a letter frae John I aince a week withoot fail sin he left Bogleigh a laddie o saxteen for Edin I burgh I Theyre no juist twa or three lines aither but sax an aught sheets continued David warming An the names they cowe athing for leng > than th-an learnin Wud ye believe l it the I Professor tells his mither every article he writes and a the wark he dis i He wes tellins laist letter aboot i I some graund discovery hes feenished an theyre threaten tae gie him a i I new title fort Am no juist sure I what it means but it disna maitter gin the laddie dis his duty and keep his health and David affected to close the subject Its fell warm the I day dayYt Ye ill no hae that letter on ye Bogie inquired Jamie Soutar anx iously Gin ye cud pit yar hand nt the neeburs wud like tae hear whatna honor the Professors got len lXa na > Jamie it disna dae for a i body me be deavin deafening the countryside wi clavers aboot his bairns if it hadna been Drumsheugh speirin for John a wudna hae said a word but am muckle obleeged and sae is the laddie for a mind hoo he Wrote My respects to the neighbors on Sabbath That wes rael handsome began udnnnie much impressed by re spects but a mind the Professor wes ave a douce pl Div ye think Bogleigh that the Professor belongs tae yersel noo an the gude wife broke in Jamie juist as if he were some ordinar man Aa na gin a laddie goes < up frae the Glen taethe University an comes oot at the tap o1 his classes bringin hame three medals ilka spring an opens secret things in nature that naebody kent l afore an is selected by government tae foond places o learnin ayont the sea that laddie belangs tae Drumtochty in Di the ye mind the day his ljfe wes London Times and Drum sheugh read it at the Junction This eminent man of science was born at Drumtochy in Pertshire and received his early education at the Parish School Ye haet tae a word Jamie said Drumsheugh and passed his box in Domsie name of the Glen as it were to 001 stand measure concluded TO Jamie eavm oot Airchie Moncur I an masel will rin tae aboot sax feet j I but a coontit that we gaed up the hill that mcht wi fower inches a tae spare hars man that g letter j i lei hf Bog j After a feint of seeking it in hi I his I trousers pocket AVhere the was Js as I likely to carry it as the family Bible I Davad produced it from an inner I breast pocket wrapped in newspaper and handed it to Domsie without word a wordDh Pvye want me tae read if this had not been the schoolmasters due Weel wee all lae ma best and then Domsie laid himself out to do justice to the professors letter while Drumtochty wagged its head in ad miration Fellow Of the Royal So Domsie Society and became solemn Ito the height of reverence this cowes athing Am credibly informed that this is the land est honor all be given boond tae learnin in high oor F R S in sax thel1 no be anither coon ties May mail taa11 njco ua > be no land twa or three in braid Scot Its the graundest thing the dune yet Glens and Jamie took up the strain hes M A already an some ither letters ye cudna rin them Then B oer Domsie gave John Ross de grees one by one That live maldu r mention comes tae 0 ither tIle honors theres thlS degrees in Glen the iso and Tohn heads the list if r a micht call a jrofessor I laddis name by a I Vha has a better rIeht said the I father with much spirit ye laid thc foondation ot n an he Often ll msel said that I Domsie Opinion differed whether David or I I day but looked Jamie prouder in l irk that inclined I to Domsie whom he had detected degreeS over again during counting the the chapter I Four days after David appeared in the kirk ard with such Woe Upon his face that I Drumsheugh I could only im agine one reason and liminaries omitted pre 1 Naethin wrang wi the prOfessor Bogleibh and Domsie held his in mid air pinch John wes deem when this letter left an noo he m maybe be dead an buriedhis mither an me ower prood 0 him but ye ken hO were > gUde and the old man broke utterly down They looked helplessly at one an I other averting their gaze from the pro fessors father and then Drumsheugh took hold of the situation This is no lichstome I I Dauvid an the neeburs share yir tribble but dinna gie up houp and then Drumsheugh read the letter from Australia while Hillocks and Vhinnie turning their backs on David sheltered his grief from public view I friend Heed Dear that Ir the RossYou last letters will from have no my Dr Ross I were written in a feeble hand lIe was laid down aboUt three weeks ago with what has turned out to be typhoid fever and ought not to have seen paper But we considered the case a mild one and he was deter mined to send his usual letter home Now the Disease has taken a bad turn I and he is quite delirious mentioning his mother and his old schoolmaster by turns and thinking that he is again in Drumtoehty His colleagues In med icine are consulting twice a day about him and everything will be done for one we all admire and love But lie is very low and I think it right to pre pare you for what may be bad news Believe me with < much respect Yours faithfully FREDERICK ST CLAIR Ave seen a mail cheerfu letter leter and Drumsheugh looked at the lather from above his spectacles but it i micht TJC waur All guarantee the I i J I i professors na as far through wit as I Saunders an yonder he is alive and livin like nodding in the direction j j where that brawny man propped up 1 the gable of the kirk with his shoulders j j shoul-ders and maintained a massive silence with Saunders Mitchell I I Xae doot nae doot said Hillocks deriving just encouragement from the study of Saunders figure aifter the wy Teelum iMacLure brocht Saunders i through a wud houp for the best gina I gin-a wes Bogleigh Sae a wud neeburs and David came forth again gin we hed ocr I laddie at hame an oor man tae guide him But theres nae Weelum Mac Lure oot yonder naebody > but strang I j ers We micht ask the doctor tae pit up I a prayer suggested Hillocks it I t r I I tAM t = AXD DAVID FIXED HIS EYE OX TRE LETTER WIIILD MEG DARE OI IIUEATHE I cudna dae ony mischief an itp aye a comforL He daurna daet cried David whose mind was quickened by grief it ill be a ower lang syne an its no lawfu tae pray for the dead Dinna be feared Bogie laid Jamie the doctor ill tak the responsibeelity himself and ye may be sure he ill get some road oot 0 the wood I wud be a puir kirk the day gin we cudna plead wi the Almichty for oor professor Ye hae the word Jamie said Drumsheugh an all gang in an tell the doctor masel but Whinnie confessed con-fessed afterwards that he thought this prayer beyond even the doctor I followed the petition for the harvest har-vest and this was how i ranthe Free Kirk people had it word for word by Monday 1 Remember we beseech most merciful merci-ful Father a father and mother who wait with anxious hearts for tidings of their only son and grant that before be-fore this week be over thy servant who is charged with many messages to this parish may bring good news to them from a far country Didnt a tell yeeV triumphed Jamie going down to the gate while Posty who had required the whole length of the sermon to recognize himself omit and departed much lifted declaring aloud Thell be nae black edge in the bag next Friday or am no postman o Drumtochty Letters for Bogleigh were ieft about 2 ocock in a box on the main road two miles distant and brought up by the scholars in the evening but it was agreed early in the week that Daid and his wife should go down and receive the letter from Postys own hands on Friday In order not to be late Meg rose at 4 that morn inff but indeed she need not have gone to bed and by S oclock was I afraid they might be late Three times she took out and rearranged her treasures and three times broke I down utterly because she would never see her laddie again They followed I fol-lowed Posty from his start outwards out-wards and were comforted about 1 with the thought that he was on the return journey Hes fairly aft fur hame noo wum man David would say an wheep in through Netheraird hes no mair than ten mile aiwa all warrant an hes a terrible walker I He ill surely no be tastin at the Xetheraird public house David an I loiterin ave kent him no be at the box till half past three Na na thers nae fear o Posty I the day all be boond hes savin every meenut ye mind hoo prood he wes tae bring the letter wi the professors ap pintment Isnt it michty tae think were pit tin aff the time here and Meg began to get ready when hes maybe in the pairish already I It was exactly a quarter past twelve I when the two old people sat down in the shadow of the firs above the box I to wait for the first sight of Posty A daurna meet him Dauvid aifter a she said well juist watch him pit the letter in and slip doon when I hes gane an oh but a ken what it ill beAm I be-Am expeckin tae hear Johns on the mend masel said David manfully I man-fully and he sat himself to fortify his i wife with Saunders case and the doctors doc-tors prayer till she lifted her head again and watched I A summer wind pasesd over the pines the woodpigeons cooed above their heads rabbits ran out and in beside be-side them the burn below made a pleasant sound A sense of the divine love ascended on their hearts The Almichty whispered Meg ill surely no tak awa oor only bairn an him dune sae weel an sae gude a son A wes coontin on him com in hame next year an seem him aince mair afore a deed A bread cart from Kildrummie lumbered lum-bered along the road MacLure passed on Jess at a sharp trot A company of tourists coming from Glen Urtach sang Will Ye no Come Back Again Donald Menzies also sang as he brought a horse from the smiddy but it was a psalm I to the hills will lift my eyes From whence doth come mine aid Canye no see him yet Dauvid a doot hes hed an accident it maun be lang past the oor noo Yonder he is I But i was only a tramp who hesitated hesi-tated at the foot of the upland road and then continued his way to the village lage careless who lived or died so that he had meat and drink Round the distant corner Posty came I at last half an hour before his time j and half a mile the hour above his common speed hWul ye gang doon Meg A canna bring up tae me when hes past and she sat down again and coverd her face tell me gin its come Posty halted and swung round his bag he took out the packet ofl roadside road-side letters and dropped four into the box without attention then he kept a fifth in his hands and hesitated he held i up against the light as if he would have read its contents Hes goti an Meg wumman a dlnna see ony black ont Posty looked at his watch and said aloud I J < All risk the time I ill no take ihair than an ocr and he leaped the dyke Lords sake Bogleigh is that you A wes thlnkin J whuppin round yir way the day for a change in fac and I Postys effort at Indifference collapsed col-lapsed words come frae Australy Wull yeopent fors ra hands no verra steady an the gude wifehasna her glesses Mr David Ross Farmer BogleighDrumtochty Drumtochty Scotland read Posty with official importance thats a r richt at ony rate thats aye sent it tae his mither hiim sel juist read the beginnin Posty that ill be eneuch begnnin David fixed his eyes on the letter while Meg dared not breathe I affords me unspeakable satisfaction satisfac-tion began Posty in a low voice and then he suddenly lifited it up in victory vic-tory to send some good news The very day I wrote the worst symptoms I disappeared and ypur son is now on the way to recovery Theres fower pages an a can read no cause now for < alarm but ye canna better the affset A kent what it wud be the doctor said gude news in his prayer and thats the verra wordHere Here Mistress Ross is the letter for Bogleighs no fit tae tak chairge ot Me Ave dune naethin but I cairry it All no deny though a wud hae I liket fine tae hey seen the inside ot l doon bye sail as sune as a passed I the boondary 0 the pairisli the folk set on me but a cud say naethin mair than this Theres an Australy letter and its no blackedged Am aff noo buckling his bag for Mrs Ross had risen and was threatening threaten-ing to seize his hand an its worth 1 gaein up the Glen the day wi sic j I news All warrant Domsies on the I road lang syne Yeel hae the profes i I sor wi ye in the kirk again gude wife and the ieeborurs ill be prood I tae see ye baitn gang in the gither and Potsy leaped into the road like a i fouryearold Beginning at tIme Manse and continuing I con-tinuing unto Drumsheugh there was not a house along the road where Posty did not give a cry that day and it was affirmed in credible evidence in the kirkyard next Sabbath that he stood upon a dyke and made Hillocks understand under-stand at the distance of three fields breadth that Drumtachty had still a professor I |