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"Then here's to ilka cannie
Scot,
Wi' mony gude broths he boils his pot,
But rare hotch-potch beats a' th' lot,
It smells and smacks sae brawly.
For there's carrots intil't, and neeps intil't,
There's peas and beans and beets intil't,
And hearty halesome meats intil't,
That steek the kyte sae brawly."
—Old Ballad.
AT table Jamie adroitly
turned the conversation mineralogicalwards, and a learned dissertation on
Tertiary, Carboniferous and Eozoic formations, on Laurentian and Huronian
systems, on crystalline rocks, on magnetite, hematite, apatite, mica
schist, and conglomerates ensued. All of it was not clearly intelligible
to the listeners, but much native shrewdness gave Jamie and Douglas a good
idea of the general drift, and ere long they were able to give some
valuable leads as to conditions in their section. Margaret and Jean
listened without comment or question as became the women folk.
But Philip Maxwell's
scientific enthusiasm waned, and polite attention to his host's choice in
a topic of conversation was receiving a severe strain, ere he was able to
direct a few words to the ladies of the household. As Jean was not
disposed to recognize a previous acquaintance, neither did he allude to
the contretemps of last night, though he looked sincere penitence for the
misadventure.
Barley brose and kail,
pigs' feet, potatoes grown on new land (each year a little clearing was
done), no later crop is so rich, dry and "mealy," and bye and-bye bannocks
and maple syrup, from pure Canadian sap, with its subtle suggestion of
ferns and mosses and all things woodsy, and its sweetness—"sweeter than
honey in the honeycomb"—this was the dinner. The table was laid with a
profusion of "genuine willow pattern"—then an article of use as well as
beauty—that to-day would make a corner in willow pattern, and consume with
envy the collector who can only buy, beg, or borrow a single jug or
platter.
Jean, too, was in blue, as
became her best—no modern dye that fades in white or yellow streaks, but a
blue that is blue while two threads of the fabric hold together. It was as
simple in its structure as one of Worth's choicest creations, and as crisp
and fresh as though it had not been washed as many times as Jean was years
old.
She was no whit awed by
this wise young man who could tell how many hundred years old the rocks
were. In fact, after dinner, she showed quite a disposition to let by-gones
be by-gone and to show their guest the hospitalities of the flower-garden
and farmyard. At the former, a bunch of grass pinks with feathery "old
man" for foliage was tendered him as a boutiniere. I forgot to say the dog
was left behind, so when Bess's calf was proudly displayed there were no
disastrous consequences; wee chicks, just trying their wings in chase
after yet smaller winged creatures; waddling, quacking ducklings, diving
and catching bluebottles in their spoonlike bills; and, lastly, some
yellow halls called goslings, a late brood, and Jean's very own.
Clear and merry her laugh
rang out at her guest's exclamations. As before remarked, I am trying to
tell the truth here, therefore am sorry to have to record that
sometimes—all unsuspected by the subject of her mirth—she even laughed at
him. Not that there was anything about him to excite risibility in a
sober-minded individual; but because Jean was not sober-minded, and could
take nothing—not even a young man—seriously, she laughed. And as the young
man never for an instant did himself the honor to claim so much attention
for himself, in this instance, as in many others, ignorance was bliss.
"Ye'll be fine an' welcome
tae cam in an' hae a sup wi's at ony time," said Jamie, at parting.
It might seem that Philip
Maxwell's thanks were rather diffusive, as he had not the appearance of
lacking either associates or creature comforts; nevertheless he was
decidedly grateful for the opportunity offered to soon again discuss
barley brose and Silurian rocks, maple syrup and pyrites, posy beds, blue
eyes, and a laugh like a silver bell—e'en though an outward and visible
sign of mirth was tabooed by social ethics. |
