MINNIE.
Though few men in their senses ever think of consulting Hansard, I
may mention, that the debates in 1823 will be found to corroborate
much of what Callum advanced in his own peculiar way.
Minnie, who was an amiable and good-natured girl, became alarmed by
the sudden violence of her lover, and its probable effect upon the
temper of Mr. Snaggs; she busied herself in collecting all that
worthy's papers, dockets, and religious tracts, which had been
spilled and scattered abroad by the unexpected capsize of the table,
at which he had been seated with much legal dignity and assumed
benignity of aspect.
'Thank you, my good girl,' said Snaggs, on recovering his breath and
lawyer-like composure; 'thank you--I shall not forget this.'
'Thank you, sir, a thousand times,' replied Minnie, curtsying very
low, as she thought of her old uncle's unpaid arrears.
Minnie Mac Omish was a very pretty girl; under a little lace cap, her
silky brown hair was braided in two thick masses over her temples and
little ears, and enough remained to form a heavy knot behind, where
two very bewildering little curls, that were the joy of Callum's
heart, played upon her plump white neck. Her eyes were large, blue,
and expressive; her bust full and perfect; her figure firm and
graceful, and a healthy bloom, that came with the free mountain air,
tinged her rounded cheeks with red.
'You are a good girl,' continued the factor, slipping a half-crown
into her hand, 'and this will buy a ribbon for your pretty neck,' he
added, kissing her cheek, much to Minnie's surprise.
'Oh, Mr. Snaggs,' said she, anxiously, and with tears, as the worthy
elder still lingered near her, after mounting his pony, 'I hope you
will forget Callum's fury, and show some mercy to my poor old uncle,
Gillespie Ruadh--he is old--his wife is sick, and they have seven
children.'
'The mystical number seems to be the established one in Glen Ora, my
dear,' said Snaggs, retaining the girl's hand in his, despite her
timid efforts to withdraw it; 'by-the-by, lass, can you tell me how
many cattle are in the glen?'
'No.'
'You do not know?'
'We never count them, sir.'
'Why?'
'It is so unlucky.'
'Whew!--how?'
'Some would be sure to die after we had reckoned them; and St. Colme
knows we have few enough for the poor people.'
This was said, of course, in Gaelic, but Snaggs understood it, for,
pressing her hand, he added, more kindly,--
'My good girl, I wish I had you in my own house at Inverness (I am a
quiet old bachelor), that I might teach you the folly of believing in
such personages as St. Colme, and in these old remnants of popery and
superstition, which warp the ideas of the people, and prevent the
diffusion of a purer religion into these barbarous districts. Be
assured, my dear girl, "that when religion is neglected," as the
divine Blair says, "there can be no regular or steady practice of the
duties of morality."'
'But how about my poor old uncle, sir?' she urged again, with tears
in her eyes.
'Gillespie Ruadh is long--very long in arrear,' said Snaggs,
pretending to consult his note-book, while squinting over it, at the
pretty face that was so anxiously upturned to his; 'let me see--let
me see--'
'In arrears?'
'Ay, heavily--not a payment has he made since Whitsunday was two
years.'
'Alas! I know that,' said Minnie, beginning to weep.
'Now, don't spoil those pretty eyes of yours, Minnie--'
'What shall I tell my uncle?'
'Oho,' whispered Snaggs, over whose eyes there shot a strange and
baleful gleam; 'he asked you to intercede with me?'
'Yes, sir,' replied Minnie, with hesitation.
'Meet me to-night at dusk--'
'Where?'
'At the Clach-na-greiné,' said Snaggs, sinking his voice lower still.
'But why at dusk, and why at such a lonely place?'
'Is not one place the same as another--when the spirit of God is
everywhere? But tell no one of this; and when there, I will give you
a message--ay, it may be a receipt in full for Gillespie.'
'Heaven will reward you, sir.'
'It rewards all who have faith, even as a grain of mustard-seed,
Minnie,' said the factor, touching his garron with his riding-switch.
'Can you read English, Minnie?'
'A little, sir.'
'Then take these tracts, "The Sinner's Deathbed"--"The Pious
Policeman"--"The God-fearing Footman"--read them to your friends, and
say they were given by Snaggs the factor, whom they hate so much--and
see that you have all the contents by rote to-night, when we meet at
moonrise near the Clach-na-greiné. But say not a word to any human
being on the subject, or the sequel may prove the worse for your
uncle Gillespie Ruadh--do not forget Minnie--at moonrise;' and with
these words and an impressive gleam in his glassy deceitful eyes, Mr.
Snaggs trotted down the glen to join the minister in prayer at the
bedside of a dying cotter, and thereafter to dine with Sir Horace at
the new manor-house of Glen Ora.