Mrs. Glasford, however, would easily answer the question, if an answer is all that is wanted; for she, notwithstanding the facts of the story, which she could not fail to have heard correctly from the best authority, and notwithstanding the nature of the night, which might have seemed sufficient to overthrow her conclusions, uniformly remarked, as often as their escape was alluded to in her hearing,

“Lat them tak’ it They had no business to be oot aboot thegither.”

CHAPTER XV.

Transition.

Tell me, bright boy, tell me, my golden lad,
Whither away so frolic?  Why so glad? 
What all thy wealth in council? all thy state? 
Are husks so dear? troth, ’tis a mighty rate.

Richard crashaw.

The long Scotch winter passed by without any interruption to the growing friendship.  But the spring brought a change; and Hugh was separated from his friends sooner than he had anticipated, by more than six months.  For his mother wrote to him in great distress, in consequence of a claim made upon her for some debt which his father had contracted, very probably for Hugh’s own sake.  Hugh could not bear that any such should remain undischarged, or that his father’s name should not rest in peace as well as his body and soul.  He requested, therefore, from the laird, the amount due to him, and despatched almost the whole of it for the liquidation of this debt, so that he was now as unprovided as before for the expenses of the coming winter at Aberdeen.  But, about the same time, a fellow-student wrote to him with news of a situation for the summer, worth three times as much as his present one, and to be procured through his friend’s interest.  Hugh having engaged himself to the laird only for the winter, although he had intended to stay till the commencement of the following session, felt that, although he would much rather remain where he was, he must not hesitate a moment to accept his friend’s offer; and therefore wrote at once.

I will not attempt to describe the parting.  It was very quiet, but very solemn and sad.  Janet showed far more distress than Margaret, for she wept outright.  The tears stood in David’s eyes, as he grasped the youth’s hand in silence.  Margaret was very pale; that was all.  As soon as Hugh disappeared with her father, who was going to walk with him to the village through which the coach passed, she hurried away, and went to the fir-wood for comfort.

Hugh found his new situation in Perthshire very different from the last.  The heads of the family being themselves a lady and a gentleman, he found himself a gentleman too.  He had more to do, but his work left him plenty of leisure notwithstanding.  A good portion of his spare time he devoted to verse-making, to which he felt a growing impulse; and whatever may have been the merit of his compositions, they did