Next morning being Sunday morning, they all went to church. In going down through the village they could perceive no sign of excitement, anticipatory of the next day: on the contrary, all was decorous quiet. Shutters were shut; in some cases the blinds were drawn down; the few people they saw were dressed in black, and were certainly not breaking the Lord’s day by idle or frivolous conversation. But here was John the policeman. "Well, John," said Mary, to the plump and placid Iain, who smiled good-naturedly when she addressed him, "are we to have civil war to-morrow?" "Mem?" said John—not understanding. "Is there going to be a riot to-morrow?" she repeated. "Aw, no, mem," said John, in a mildly deprecating way. "I am not thinking that. The meeting it will be in the church, and there is the Minister." "And what are you going to do?" said she. "I suppose you know they threaten to drive the sheep off Meall-na-Fearn, and there is a proposal to go into Glen Orme forest. Well, what are you going to do?" "I am not sure," said Iain, with a vague, propitiatory grin. "You have taken no steps to preserve the peace, then?" she demanded—but, indeed, she was well aware of John’s comfortable, easy-going optimism. "Aw, well," said the round-cheeked representative of the law, "mebbe the lads will no do anything at ahl; and if they go into the forest, mebbe they will no do mich harm." "But I suppose you have heard that Colonel Tomlins’s keepers and foresters mean to stop them, if they should attempt any such thing; and it isn’t at all likely that Mr. Watson’s shepherds will let them drive the sheep off Meall-na-Fearn without some kind of resistance. What then? What are you going to do?" "Aw, well," said John—letting his eyes rove aimlessly away towards Heimra Island, and then to the little white Free Church beyond the bay, and then back to the ground in front of Miss Stanley’s feet, "mebbe there will be no mich harm; and the Minister will be in charge whatever——" "Look here, John," Fred Stanley broke in, peremptorily, "it is quite clear to me that you mean to stand by and let anything happen that is likely to happen. Very well, I wish to give you notice—and I wish the people about here to understand—that if there’s any demonstration made against Lochgarra House, we’ve got a gun or two there—half a dozen of them—and we don’t mean to stand any nonsense." "Fred!" said she, and she drew her head up: he was put to silence in a moment. Then she turned to the phlegmatic Iain. "You must do what you can to give good advice to any of the young men you may hear talking. These strangers that are coming—what do they know about Lochgarra? They only wish to stir up strife, for their own purposes. And it would be a very bad thing for any of the men about here to be sent for trial to Edinburgh, merely because these strangers were bent on making mischief. "Yes, mem," answered Iain, obediently—but in a vague way: perhaps he did not quite comprehend.