And Dudley did actually find himself alighting at the familiar little station on a bright August morning. Never before had his home seemed so attractive to him. The strong east wind was like wine, fleecy clouds chased each other across a brilliant blue sky, and the first mellow glow was just beginning to tinge the billowy acres of corn. The tall trees at the foot of his aunt's garden threw broken shadows across the quiet lawn. The beds were bright with old-fashioned flowers, and the house, with its pillared portico, rose, white and stately, beyond the sweep of the carriage-drive. "Welcome home, doctor!" said the gatekeeper's wife, curtseying low as Ralph passed the lodge. "You're gey late this year. Jeames cam' through frae Edinbury a fortnight syne." "I suppose so," said Ralph, smiling pleasantly; "how is he getting on?" "Vera weel, I thank ye, sir! He's brocht a prize buik wi' him this time;" and the good woman's face beamed with triumph. To the great pride of his family, the gatekeeper's son was studying "to be a meenister." Mrs Hamilton came out to the door to meet her nephew, and a pang shot through Ralph's heart as he saw how frail she looked. "Why, I declare," he said, putting his arm round her affectionately, "my old lady has been missing her scapegrace." "Conceited as ever," she said, returning his caress, but the rare tears stole into her eyes as she spoke. "You dear old thing! why didn't you send for me? And Burns, too, promised to let me know." "Nonsense, laddie! There's nothing wrong. I have never been ill. I am getting to be an old woman, that's all; and I'm not so fond of east winds as I once was. Run up-stairs while Dobson infuses the tea, and then come and tell me all about the examination." The breakfast parlour was bright with flowers, and the table was laden with good things. The window stood open, and the bees hummed in and out in a flood of sunshine. "Grouse already!" exclaimed Ralph. "Yes; Lord Kirkhope and Sir Roderick have each sent a brace." "What it is to live with the belle of the country-side, as they say in the story-books!" "What it is to live with a spoilt and impertinent nephew! Very well done, Ralph! I have no patience with a man who does not know how to carve." "Carving ought to come easy to the Gold Medallist in Anatomy, oughtn't it?" he said mischievously. "Are you really that?" "At your service." "And you have not shown it to me yet!" "Bless the old darling! I shall not see it myself till May. The object of the medal is to remind a man of the mountain of learning he has contrived to--forget!" Mrs Hamilton laughed. "How long a holiday can you take, Ralph?" she asked presently. "A month. I ought to get back to hospital then, if you are--sick of my company." "Oh, I'll be that, never fear! and I suppose you would have no objection to spending a few weeks with me up in the Highlands, when you get a little rested. It's not like me, but I've a great longing for a change."