A LETTER FROM MARGARET.--JANET'S ILLNESS.--ANXIETY ABOUT ALEC'S
RETURN.--A DELIGHTFUL SURPRISE.--ARRIVAL OF ALEC AND MARGARET WITH
JANET.--MARGARET HAS BECOME ALEC'S WIFE. CONDUCTED BY THE BROTHERS TO
THEIR NEW HOUSE.--ARRIVAL OF MR. SKINNER'S SISTER, MRS. RAMSDEN AND HER
DAUGHTERS, WHO, AS MIGHT POSSIBLY BE EXPECTED, BECOME THE WIVES OF
DONALD AND DAVID JANET CONTINUING TO LIVE WITH MARGARET, PAYS FREQUENT
VISITS TO HER OTHER BAIRNS, AND IS EVER WELCOMED BY THEM, AND THE
NUMEROUS WEE BAIRNS WHO SPRING UP IN THEIR MIDST.--CONCLUSION.
In those days, when no magnificent ocean steamers, with rapid speed,
crossed weekly the Atlantic, the settlers in Canada, whose friends had
returned to the old country, had often to wait three or four months
before they could hear of their safe arrival.
Some time after Alec had gone a letter was received from Margaret,
written in a less happy strain than was usual to her. Janet had been
suffering from rheumatism, and found it impossible to spin as much as
she had been accustomed to do. The state of her health made her feel an
unwonted anxiety about the future prospects of her beloved charge. "I
know, however, that all will be well," wrote Margaret, "so I do my best
to keep up her spirits, by reminding her of God's loving kindness, in
which she has hitherto so firmly confided. Were it not, however, for
the assistance you have given us, my dear brothers, I confess that we
should have a great difficulty in supporting ourselves. I do all I can
to repay our kind and loving friend for the years of tender care she has
bestowed on us. What would have become of us all had it not been for
her?"
Donald and David had a short time before this sent home a larger sum
than usual, which they hoped would have been received soon after the
letter was written, and they trusted that it would assist to restore
Janet's spirits, and convince her that as long as they lived Margaret
would not be left destitute.
Weeks and weeks passed by, and no acknowledgment of the sum was
received, and no other letter came to hand.
As they hoped that Alec Galbraith would not be long absent, wishing to
give him a pleasant surprise, they had gone on with the erection of his
house, and completed it, declaring that as their reward they would sell
their property, for which they had had several advantageous offers, and
go and live with him till they should fix on another location further
off in the wilderness, to bring under cultivation.
"He must have been at home several weeks, and had plenty of time to
arrange his affairs with his brothers," observed David.
"I wonder he has not written to us. Perhaps the letter, or the vessel
herself bringing it, may have been lost," observed Donald. "That has
been the fate of several of Margaret's letters. Depend upon it we shall
hear from him or our sister before long, and he is sure to pay her a
visit before he comes back, that he may bring us news of her and Janet."
They were seated together one evening in their log-house, their meal
just placed on the table. "I fancy I heard footsteps," said David.
"Yes, some one hails."
It was Alec Galbraith's voice. Donald and David rushed out. There
stood Margaret and Alec Galbraith, while dear old Janet followed with
eager looks close behind them. Donald, seizing his sister's hands, drew
her to him, while David grasped those of Alec, till his brother could
relinquish Margaret to him, and then land Janet, rushing forward, threw
her arms around both the brother's necks, and sobbed out, "My bairns, my
bairns, though I feared the salt sea I would have gone over more than
twice the distance to hold ye thus agen!"
The new arrivals were soon seated at the already spread board. As
Margaret happened to place her hand on the table Donald observed a plain
gold ring on her finger.
"What!" he exclaimed, turning quickly to Alec. "Is it really so?"
"I thought we should surprise you," he answered, laughing. "But I would
not come away without her, and as she knew that you would mourn my
absence, she at last consented to return with me as my wife, provided
Janet would come also. It was a hard matter, however, I can assure you,
to persuade her to venture across the ocean."
"Indeed, my dear Donald," said Margaret, when she and her brother were
shortly afterwards together, and her husband was absent, "much as I
found I loved him, and had loved him since I was a girl, I would not
have consented to be his wife had I not been convinced that he had
abandoned those infidel principles which had caused his poor mother so
much grief, and had also become a faithful follower of the Lord. I was
at first delighted to see him, and then my heart sank within me for fear
that he was unchanged. He did not leave me long in doubt on the
subject. I knew by his gentle and subdued manners, by the unmistakable
expressions he used, and then by the deep sorrow that he expressed, that
the opinions he once held had grieved his poor mother, that he no longer
adhered to the vain philosophy in which he had formerly gloried. I soon
discovered that he loved me, and then I had no hesitation in giving him
my heart in return."
"You acted wisely and rightly, dear Margaret and David and I are truly
glad to welcome him as a brother, whom we have long looked upon as the
most intimate of our friends."
The next day, Alec and Margaret, accompanied by Janet, were conducted in
due form by Donald and David to the house which they had but lately
finished on Alec's property. The surprise was indeed a great and
delightful one. As it did not take long to get in as much furniture as
was required at that season of the year, Margaret and her husband, with
her faithful nurse, in a few days took up their abode there.
Alec's worldly circumstances had greatly improved, for much more of his
father's property had been recovered than he expected, so that his share
was considerable, and with the experience he had gained, he was able to
employ his capital in farming, with great advantage.
"What will you two poor bachelors do by yourselves," said Margaret.
"Could you not manage to come and live with us in this house as you
purposed doing had Alec returned alone?"
"We have work enough in drawing our plans, and other business of our
office to employ nearly every hour of the day," answered Donald. "And
besides, we are anxious to assist Mr Skinner, who wishes to enlarge his
house as soon as possible, as he expects a widowed sister and her family
to join him shortly, and he does not consider the accommodation he can
now offer them, sufficient."
"Oh, I suppose he wishes to have a nursery built where the children may
be out of hearing," said Margaret, laughing.
"He has not mentioned the ages of his nieces, or how many there are of
them," said David, "but I should think, from a remark he made, that they
cannot be little children."
The young men made no inquiry of their friend about the more juvenile
portion of the family of his expected relatives. As he had himself now
been some time absent from England, he might have been able to give them
very little information. David, however, confessed to Margaret that he
felt somewhat curious on the subject. This was increased when the new
part of the house having been finished, Mr Skinner fitted up one
chamber which he said was for his sister, and two other pretty little
rooms for his elder nieces, and certainly the furniture, which he put in
to them, was scarcely such as he would have chosen for young children.
Just at the time Mr Skinner was expecting the arrival of his sister,
Mrs Ramsden and her family, Donald and David had to leave home to visit
some distant township on business. Mr Skinner had, before this asked
the assistance of Margaret and Janet in fitting up his house. Janet,
with her usual kindness of heart, offered to remain for a day or two to
receive the new comers, whom she understood had no servant with them.
"The poor lady may be tired, and the bairns will ha' na one to gie them
their supper, and put them to bed, and it will be just like old times
coming back, and be a muckle pleasure to me," she observed, to Margaret.
Mr Skinner was very glad to accept her services, feeling sure that she
would be of much assistance, although he might not have supposed that
his nieces would require the attendance of a nurse.
Janet was to bring word to Margaret when Mrs Ramsden would be able to
see her, and she proposed then walking over with Alec to visit her.
She had numberless occupations which kept her and Janet fully employed;
for though her husband had engaged a sturdy Scotch girl to milk the
cows, and perform some of the rougher work of the farm, the damsel
herself required her constant superintendence. There were poultry of
several varieties, as well as pigs, to be fed; the flower and kitchen
garden to be cultivated, and numerous household duties to be attended
to, Alec himself being constantly engaged in clearing fresh ground, and
in the more laborious work about the farm.
Margaret had greatly missed Janet the days she had been absent, and with
much satisfaction, therefore, she saw her with her knitting in hand--
without which, even in Canada, she never moved abroad--approaching the
house.
"Oh yes, they are come, my bairn," she said, to Margaret's inquiry.
"Mistress Ramsden herself is a brave lady, and seldom have my eyes
rested on twa mair bonny lassies than her daughters, na pride, na
nonsense about the young leddies, Mistress Mary and Emily Ramsden, and
just as gentle, and loving, and kind as lambs to the younger children.
They thanked me for my help; but they put their hands to everything
themselves, and would nae let me do half as much as I wished. I'll tell
you what, Margaret, I have set my heart on having them for my twa
bairns. They would make them bonny wives, indeed, but don't ye gang and
tell your brothers, for there is that obstinacy in human nature that
they might back, and kick, and run off into the woods rather than do
what, if left alone, they would be eager after."
Margaret promised to be discreet, and allow her brothers to judge for
themselves, without praising the Misses Ramsden, should her opinion of
them, as she had little doubt it would agree with that formed by Janet.
Next morning she and Alec paid their promised visit, and she was fully
as much disposed as Janet to admire the Misses Ramsden and their mother.
The more she saw of them the more pleased she was, not only with their
appearance, but with their earnest piety, their simple unassuming
manners, and their apparent energy and determination, and their evident
readiness to submit to all the inconveniences to which settlers in a new
country must, of necessity, be subjected.
A few days after this Donald and David returned, and called on Margaret
on their way home. They naturally inquired whether Mrs Ramsden and her
family had arrived. She wisely said but little about the young ladies,
and Janet was equally discreet. They, however, managed to find their
way that evening to Mr Skinner's.
They were always glad to pay their kind friend a visit; but from their
sister's and Janet's discreet silence, they suspected that the change in
the character of his establishment would be a drawback to the pleasure
of their previous intercourse. Not, however, till a much later hour
than usual on the evening in question did they discover that it was high
time to take up their hats and wish Mr Skinner and his sister and her
daughters good-bye.
As they walked homewards, Donald, after a long silence, burst out
laughing, exclaiming, "Weel, I expected to see a number of bairns in
pinafores, but eh! she's a braw lassie."
"She is the sweetest young creature I have ever had the happiness of
meeting," said David.
"But I am talking of the elder sister," exclaimed Donald.
"And I speak of the younger," observed David. "But they are both very
nice girls--there is no doubt as to that--no nonsense about them--so
full of spirits and fun, and yet so lady-like and quite, and I heard
Emily's voice, when joining in the prayer, it was so true and earnest."
"I was nearest Mary, and was struck by the genuine tone of her's,"
observed Donald.
"Do you know, David, that I had made up my mind to follow the example of
Mr Skinner, and to live a bachelor for ten years to come at least, and
then, perhaps, to go back to the old country to look out for a wife.
But eh! that looking out for a wife must be unsatisfactory work at best.
How can a man possibly discover the real character and disposition of a
lady when the object he has in view is suspected, if not well known."
"We may be sure we shall be guided aright if we seek guidance in that as
in all other matters," answered David. "But I cannot help hoping that
neither you nor I need be compelled to make the expedition you suggest.
I have sought guidance, and I am sure that in God's good time we shall
be directed aright."
Day after day, when their work was over, they had some cogent reason for
calling at their friend's house; and when Margaret next met them, Donald
confessed that if he ever could venture to marry he should be thankful
to make Mary Ramsden his wife, while David made the same acknowledgment
with regard to her younger sister.
Happily, in a prosperous country like Canada, to steady and industrious
men like the young Morrisons, the impediments were not insuperable, nor,
indeed, did they take long to overcome.
Faithful Janet was overjoyed when she heard that the lassies she so much
admired had promised to become the wives of her twa bairns, with a full
approval of their mother and uncle. As they agreed that their old house
might not always be sufficiently large to hold them both, they moved
further off to the west, where they were enabled to purchase, by the
sale of their already well cultivated farm, two good sized allotments of
land, on each of which they reared a comfortable log-house, where,
shortly afterwards, they and their brides took up their abode.
"My work is among my fellow-creatures," observed Mr Skinner, "or I
should be much inclined, my dear nephews, to follow your example, and
move nearer you."
He therefore remained at the now well advanced township, though before
long, to their great satisfaction, the Galbraiths became their near
neighbours, Alec having purchased a property a little beyond theirs.
The Morrisons gratefully remembered the kindness they had received from
Mr McTavish and other friends in the old country. To many young men
who came out with introductions from them they gave a hearty welcome,
extending a helping hand to those who required assistance, while they
rendered a still greater service to not a few whom they saw falling into
evil ways, by perseveringly, though gently and lovingly, warning and
exhorting them--not leaving them in spite of ingratitude and opposition,
till they had been the means of bringing them back into the right path.
In the latter respect especially, Alec followed their example. He
remembered into what a depth of sin he had sunk, and that it was through
the love of Jesus, and by no merit of his own, he was drawn out of it.
His sin he knew was washed away. Gratitude to that loving Saviour urged
him to try and call those sheep who were wandering away along the thorny
paths he had followed into the true fold, where they might rest secure
under charge of the faithful Shepherd who never forsakes those who seek
Him.
Janet, though continuing to live with Margaret, paid frequent visits to
the other houses of the family, at which her coming was always hailed
with delight by the numerous wee bairns, who, in the course of time,
made their appearance among them, as she was also warmly welcomed by
Donald and David, who, though they felt that to Mr Skinner they were,
humanly speaking, indebted for the spiritual life they enjoyed, could
never forget how devotedly she had watched over their infancy and youth,
and that it was mainly to her training and instruction their present
prosperity was owing.