March came in like a lion, and, true to its proverbial reputation, it is
going out like a lamb. Nature is waking from her long winter sleep, and
is beginning to clothe herself anew. The hawthorn hedgerows, which only
three weeks ago were hidden in piled-up wreaths of drifted snow, are
covered now with a blush of green, and already in their bielded clefts
the sparrows and yellow-yoits are preparing to build for themselves 'an
house wherein to dwell.' There is a kindly warmth in the sun's rays as
they lie on the upturned brown fields, and a soft genial breath is
stealing through the woods and lingering lovingly round the ash and the
chestnut, those early risers in the first dawn of spring. What a
boldness and assertiveness there is in the big black bud of the ash, and
how promising is the bulging pink-brown bud of the chestnut! To those
who have eyes to see and ears to hear, how wonderful is the story they
tell! If I were a preacher of God's gospel, I question if I could
confine the selection of my texts to the literal words from His holy
book. Of late I have been lying much in Nature's lap; I have listened
with greedy, receptive ears to her song and story; I have felt the
throbbing of her great mother heart, and learned in her workings many of
the wonderful ways of her great Controller. And I am leaving her knee,
creeping out of God's own sanctuary, humbled and chastened, yet
gladdened and relieved withal, to think that into the city life, which I
must soon re-enter, I am carrying with me that heaven-sent faculty of
finding 'tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in
stones, and good in everything.'
And these lanes and solitary bypaths which have been my schoolroom are
becoming daily more interesting, more insistent in their appeal. They
are now providing something fresh and pleasing every day. I must walk
slowly and quietly, so that I may see and hear every titbit of their
store. A country walk at the rate of four miles an hour is very
invigorating, to those in good health very pleasurable; but such is not
possible on my byway at this season of the year, except to the
Philistines. Even Bang and Jip do not exceed the half-mile limit; and as
for myself--well, Dr Grierson has oftener than once accompanied me down
the Gillfoot road, and I know he doesn't gauge the progress of my
recovery by my rate of locomotion. No; if I must see and hear aright I
have to walk slowly, and when the mavis is singing at close o' day I
must halt altogether if I would listen as I ought.
For many mornings past a blackbird from the top of the apple-tree in our
garden has been challenging Tom Jardine to a trial of song; and, much as
I love to lie and listen to my neighbour's pure tenor voice in 'The Lea
Rig' or 'Flow gently, sweet Afton,' I have not been sorry when, as if
acknowledging defeat, he has stopped to hearken to his feathered rival
in the old apple-tree.
Now that Tom has got over all his worries, and the sun is rising
earlier, his heart is becoming attuned, and the familiar old Scots airs
are accompanying the different items of his morning duties just as they
used to do when first I came to stay with Betty. I hear the gray mare's
whinny, the turning of the key in the stable door, the lid of the
corn-bin creaking on its rusty hinges--these are all as they used to be.
But, alas! all is quiet in Betty's kitchen now, and I miss the cheery
sounds of the early breakfast preparations, for Nathan is lying
prostrate in the back-room, and poor Betty's rest is too much disturbed
to permit of her rising with the dawn.
Every Friday evening since I came here I have given Nathan an envelope
enclosing my weekly contribution toward the household expenses--that is,
of course, in accordance with the arrangement I made with Betty; and at
first I often used to wonder if she had fully explained the matter to
him, because he always took the packet from me in a hesitating, doubtful
way, very much as a debtor would accept a summons. Later he just smiled,
and without a word put it in his trousers-pocket, looking sideways at me
and inclining his head toward Betty wherever she happened to be at the
time.
Last Friday night, when I was at his bedside, I handed him the envelope
as usual. He didn't hold out his hand for it; so I laid it down on the
coverlet, and nothing was said for a time. Then, nodding toward a wooden
box in the corner of the room, he said, 'Maister Weelum, will ye open
the lid o' that kist, if ye please, an' bring me the wee tin box that's
lyin' at the left-haun side?'
I did as he requested. It was an old, battered, black japanned
receptacle without a lock, and only secured against accidental opening
by a wooden peg inserted through the catch. Withdrawing the peg and
placing it between his teeth, he took off the lid, and there--some
clean, others crumpled and dirty--was every envelope I had given him,
and all of them unopened, as I had put them into his hand.
'Maister Weelum,' he said, after a pause, 'I mak' nae great shape at
speakin' or explainin'; but I've been thinkin', as ye've been idle an'
aff yer wark sae lang, ye'll mebbe no' ha'e muckle comin' in the noo,
an'--an'----Auch! I was gaun to say something mair, an' I've forgot it;
but ye can tak' it a' back if it's ony use to ye.'
'Nathan,' I said, in astonishment, 'I--I don't quite understand. Why
should you offer me these?'
He gave a wee bit quiet laugh. 'I dinna ken what kind o' a job ye ha'e,
Maister Weelum. Betty never telt me, an' I never asked; but wi' us yins
doon here it's nae wark, nae pey. Ye've been idle a lang time, as I've
said, an' I thocht mebbe it micht come in handy. Of coorse, if ye dinna
need it--weel, there's nae hairm dune.'
I didn't know very well what to say, but I thanked him, and assured him
that I didn't require money, explaining that it came to me whether I was
working or not. This last bit of information roused Nathan's interest.
'Comes in to ye whether ye're workin' or no'! Imphm! Ye maun be
connec'it wi' meenisters somewey, then,' he said.
'No, Nathan; I'm connected with law.'
'Oh, imphm!'
'I'm astonished that Betty never told you I was a lawyer, Nathan.'
'Mebbe she wadna like, man. Betty's very discreet.' Then he added by way
of sympathetic encouragement, 'Dinna think ocht aboot it; there maun be
fouk for a' kinds o' jobs, ye ken, Maister Weelum.'
Nathan is capable of unconsciously starting many different emotions. I
was touched by his kindness and unselfishness, and amused at his
reflection on my profession. But I couldn't find words to thank him for
the former, and I dared not laugh at his serious remarks on the latter.
Then I bethought me of my plan to relieve him of his long, weary walks,
and to find something to take up his attention nearer home. I asked him
if he wouldn't give up his present work and take to the cultivation of
tomatoes, and I outlined my little scheme as clearly as I could.
Somehow, I didn't succeed in making it plain to him, for after I had
finished, and when I asked him what he thought of it, all he said was,
'It has nae attraction for me, Maister Weelum, for I never could eat a
tomato a' my life.'
'But, Nathan,' I said, 'you needn't eat them unless you like. You've to
grow them, and then you sell them. There might be money in it for you,
and for your goodness of heart in offering me all these envelopes I want
to pay for the putting up of the glass-houses and stoves and piping;
that will be a small return for all your kindness to me. You know all
about the growing of tomatoes?'
'Ay, brawly.'
'And what do you think about it, then, Nathan?'
'What would Betty say, think ye?'
'I don't know,' I said, 'but we'll soon hear.'
Betty was baking soda-scones, and when she was free to leave her girdle
she came in, and I told her all I had told Nathan. She looked from me to
Nathan, and then, answering a sign, she went up and leaned over his
bedside. I heard a throttled sob and a whispered word or two. Thinking
they wished to talk it over by themselves, I slipped into the kitchen.
In a minute Betty was with me. 'Maister Weelum,' she said, and her lip
trembled, 'Nathan, puir falla, broke doon there. He didna want you to
see. He says he's obleeged to ye, but--but--but--it's no' worth while.'
I laid my hand on her shoulder in silent sympathy. Without a word she
turned to her bakeboard, and I went into my room and quietly closed the
door.
* * * * *
Last night, just after I had lit the gas and settled myself down for an
hour's perusal of M'Crie's _Vindication_, Betty opened my door and came
quietly in. 'Maister Weelum,' she said with a trembling lip, 'Nathan's a
wee mair relieved. Him an' me ha'e had a closer he'rt-to-he'rt crack
than ever we had in a' oor lives. I'm gled, in a wey; but--but I canna
help thinkin' it'll be oor last.' She wiped her cheek with her apron.
'Hoots! hoots!' she said as the tears continued to flow; 'it's--it's no'
like me to be a' begrutten like this; I'm gettin' awfu' soft-he'rted;
but, oh, Maister Weelum, I'm awfu', awfu' sair-he'rted!'
I was at her side in a moment. 'There noo,' she said, 'I've dune;' and
she choked down a sob. 'What I wanted to tell ye was that Nathan's very
anxious to see ye; he wants to speak to ye aboot something. It's the
first time he's speirt for onybody, an' I'm gled it's you. I ha'ena to
gang in wi' ye, for he wants to see ye your lane.'
I pulled in my big chair nearer to the fire, put my mother's kirk
hassock in front of it, and after I had seated Betty comfortably I went
ben to Nathan's back-room.
A week or two ago, at his request, we had turned the bed round so that
from where he lay he could see into the garden. I was present when Joe
and Deacon Webster made the alteration; and when Nathan and I were alone
and he had looked his 'e'efill' on the scene of his lifelong labour of
love, he said, 'I'll no' weary noo, Maister Weelum. The flo'ers and the
yirth ha'e aye a hamely look to me.'
And to-night, when I approached his bed, his eyes were fixed on the
darkened shadowy plots outside. I didn't speak for a minute, and neither
did he. Then, thinking he was unaware of my presence, I said, 'Nathan, I
am here, beside you.'
'Ay, I ken.'
'Shall I bring in your lamp? It's getting dark now.'
'No, no, if ye please, dinna licht the lamp. I want to see--to see oot
as lang as I can.'
I sat down beside him, and together we watched in silence the shadow of
the night's wing creeping around bush and tree. And when everything was
shrouded, and nothing was visible through the blue-black window-panes,
Nathan's head turned on the pillow toward me. 'Man, Maister Weelum,' he
said, 'it's quiet, quiet wark that. I'll never see it again--no, never
again. Ye dinna mind sittin' in the dark?'
'No, Nathan.'
'Ay, the licht hurts my een; an'--an' I've never said muckle a' my life,
but I've often thocht oot lang screeds in the darkness, an' mebbe it'll
help me oot wi' what I've to say to ye the noo. Ay, the Hebrons dinna
speak muckle, Maister Weelum; but this is a forby time wi' me, an' I've
something to ask o' ye. I hardly expec'it the ca' at this time o' the
year. The back-en's the time o' liftin'. I aye thocht, somewey, that
when my time cam' it wad be when the growth was a' by, the aipples pu'd,
and the tatties pitted; and it seems awfu' queer that I should ha'e to
gang when the buds are burstin', an'--an' the gairden delvin'
on--imphm!--but it's His wull. "The young may, the auld
must."--Imphm!--Ay, are ye listenin', Maister Weelum?'
I rose from my chair, and I stroked the gray hair back from his
forehead. 'Yes, Nathan, I'm listening; but you must not give up hope;
you're really not an old man, and'----
'No' an auld man! Imphm! I've--I've been an auld man a' my days. I canna
mind o' ever bein' young. I was ten--only ten--when my faither was ta'en
awa', an' I had to mak' the handle o' his spade fit my wee bit haun.
Ay, I had to, for the weans had to be brocht up, an'--an', thank God, I
managed it! But it killed the youth that was in me. Ay, an', as I was
gaun to say, I'm seein' things differently lyin' here. Coontin' the
times ye've been at the kirk'll no' quieten your fears. Thinkin' o' the
guid ye've dune or tried to do micht, an' my crap o' that's a very sma'
yin. Still, I maun ha'e pleased the Almichty in some wey, or He wadna
ha'e been sae kind to me; He wadna ha'e gi'en me Betty. Oh, man, Maister
Weelum, I wish I could tell ye a' that Betty's been to me! I'm vexed I
canna. I'm a Hebron, an' I needna try; but ye ken yoursel' in a sma'
wey. She nursed ye--ay, an'--an' noo this is what I want to ask ye--when
I'm away, Maister Weelum, will ye see that my--that Betty's a'
richt--eh? Is that askin' an awfu' lot?'
'Oh, Nathan,' I said, and I knelt down at his bedside and took his
softened hand in mine, 'Betty is to me a sacred trust, and if it be
God's will that you must leave her, I will be with her till she goes out
to meet you again.'
He pressed my hand. 'Thank ye, Maister Weelum. I--I thocht ye would; but
I juist wanted to mak' sure. That's a', I think--a' at least as far as
this world's concerned. There's a lot--an awfu' lot I should do, but I
canna. I doot I've been careless. I've left the want to come at the
wab's en', an' I ha'e nae time to mak' it guid noo. I maun juist leave
it to Him. Guid-nicht, Maister Weelum, an' ye'll tell her--ye ken whae I
mean--that I was gled a Hebron was o' service to her. Guid-nicht. God
bless ye, man! Guid-bye.'
* * * * *
'Guid-nicht--God bless ye!--Guid-bye.' These words kept ringing in my
ears as I sat by my fire, and during the quiet hours my sorrowing
thoughts strayed again and again into that wee back-room where Betty sat
watching, and where Nathan lay dying.
Long after the village folks had gone to bed I heard the street door
open quietly, and the doctor's shuffling footsteps in the lobby. He went
through the kitchen into Nathan's room; then he came in and sat down in
the big chair opposite me. 'I told Betty I would be here if I were
needed, William,' he said, and he took out his old clay pipe and smoked
in silence.
Just when the night was on the turn he opened the door and went quietly
across to his patient. I followed him into the kitchen, and there, by a
cheerless fire, sat Mrs Jardine in Betty's chair, and, poor,
hard-working soul, she was asleep, with her head resting on Tom's
encircling arm. I put my hand on his shoulder and thanked him for his
presence. Then I went back into my room, and, sitting down in my chair,
closed my eyes, for their lids felt heavy and weary.
* * * * *
'William, Betty wants you.' The voice seemed far away. I rose hurriedly
and rubbed my eyes. The sparrows were twittering in the lime-tree, and
the gray light of a March morning was lying cold in the room. The doctor
was standing with his hand on the handle of the half-open door. 'Betty
wants you, William,' he said in a whisper; and I passed him without a
word, and with a heavy, apprehensive heart.
On the little round table was an open Bible which I knew well, and a
pair of spectacles lay across the flattened-out leaves. Betty was
standing at the bedside, her dimmed eyes fixed on Nathan's long, wan
face. She didn't turn her head when I came in, but she held out her hand
to me, and together we watched. Suddenly he raised his head from the
pillow and his sunken, sightless eyes turned toward the window. 'Ay,
imphm!--weel, Betty lass, it's aboot time I was daunerin'. It--it's a
nice mornin' for the road; the birds'll be whusslin' bonny in the
Gillfit wood, an'--an' the sunshine will be on the hawthorn. No, I'll
no' mak' a noise. I'll open the door canny, and I'll no' wauken Maister
Weelum. I'll--I'll juist slip oot quietly. Ay'----
And Betty and I watched Nathan slipping out quietly--oh, how
quietly!--into the sunshine of God's own everlasting morning.