An' I'm fear'd, sir, ye maun hurry, for she's real far through." The excuse for this long extract must be its excellence as a specimen of a long-winded statement, just such as a Scotch fisher boy would make when once the ice was broken. Not less idiomatic is the interview between Mrs. Boague, the shepherd's wife, and Mrs. Sangster "of Auchlippie," the great lady of the congregation, when the latter has had her painful experience of mountain climbing, till rescued by the "lug and the horn" at the hands of her spiritual pastor. Other good scenes are the meeting of the two old wives in mutches an the brae side, and the final discomfiture of the hypocritical scamp Joseph Smiley by his mother-in-law, Tibbie Tirpie, who rights her daughter's wrongs and the minister's reputation by a capital _coup de main_. Of more serious interest, though full of humour, are the trials the excellent Roderick endures at the hands of his kirk session. Ebenezer Prittie and Peter Malloch are types of many an elder minister and ministers' wives have had to groan under, and the race is not extinct. But all who are interested in such specimens of human nature should refer to Mr. Cleland, who knows his countrymen as well as he can describe his country. * * * * * Select Novels by Popular Authors. _Crown 8vo, cloth, 3s. 6d. each_. By Florence Marryat. MY SISTER THE ACTRESS. A BROKEN BLOSSOM. PHYLLIDA. THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL. FACING THE FOOTLIGHTS. By Annie Thomas. ALLERTON TOWERS. FRIENDS AND LOVERS. EYRE OF BLENDON. By Mrs. Eiloart. THE DEAN'S WIFE. SOME OF OUR GIRLS. By Lady Constance Howard. SWEETHEART AND WIFE. MOLLIE DARLING. By the Author of "Recommended to Mercy." BARBARA'S WARNING. By Mrs. Alexander Fraser. A PROFESSIONAL BEAUTY. By Harriett Jay. TWO MEN AND A MAID. A RICH MAN'S RELATIVES. BY R. CLELAND, AUTHOR OF "INCHBRACKEN." _IN THREE VOLUMES_. VOL. III. LONDON: F. V. WHITE AND CO., 31, SOUTHAMPTON STREET, STRAND, W.C. 1885. PRINTED BY KELLY AND CO., GATE STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS; AND MIDDLE MILL KINGSTON-ON-THAMES. CONTENTS * * * CHAP. I.--Banks and Brays. II.--A Confidante. III.--Friends in Council.