Scotland -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Short stories
“Hoo are ye a' the day?” said the great man, fresh from a victory over
a horse-dealer, in which he had wrested a price beyond the highest
expectation of Drumtochty; “can ye gie me a hand wi' twa or three bit
trokes, Elspeth?” and the two disappeared into the recesses of the shop.
“A' heard ye were here, an' a' wes wonderin' hoo the siller wes haudin'
oot; naebody daur offer half-a-croon tae Mary; but she michtna mind Lily
gettin' a bit present frae a neebur, juist tae hansel her new kist, ye
ken,” and Drumsheugh pressed two notes into Elspeth's hands, and escaped
from the strange place by a side door. When the parcel was opened that
evening, for the joy of going over its contents, Mary turned on Elspeth
in fierce wrath.
“What did ye dae this for, Elspeth Macfadyen? an' behind ma back. Ye
ken a' didna pay for thae twa, and that a 'll no tak an ounce o' tea let
alane twa goons withoot payment. Pit the goons up, Lily, an' a 'll gie
them back the mornin', though a' hae tae walk the hale twal mile tae
Muirtown.”
“Dinna be sae hysty, Mary.” Elspeth was provokingly calm. “Ye needna be
feared that Drumsheugh didna pay for his order, and if he wanted tae gie
the lassie a fairin', a' see nae use in flinging it back in his face;
but ye maunna lat on tae himsel for the warld, or tell a livin' soul.”
When Lily's box was packed on Thursday evening, her grandmother would
have slipped in all the household treasures that could be introduced
between layers of soft goods, and sent the eight-day clock had it been a
suitable equipment for a young woman entering service in London. The
box was taken down to Kildrummie station in one of Drumsheugh's carts,
padded round with straw lest the paint be scratched, but Hillocks came
with his dog-cart and drove Lily down in state, carrying in her right
hand a bunch of flowers from Jamie Sou-tar's garden, and in the other a
basket containing a comb of honey left by Posty, without remark, a dozen
eggs from Burnbrae, and two pounds of perfect butter from Mary's hand.
These were intended as a friendly offering from the Glen to Lily's new
household that she might not appear empty-handed, but the peppermints
that filled her pocket were for herself, and the white milk scones on
the top of the bag, with a bottle of milk, were to sustain Lily on the
long journey. Mary shook hands with Lily twice, once at the cottage door
and again after she had taken her place beside Hillocks, but Mary did
not kiss Lily, for whom she would have died, and whom she did not expect
to see again in this life; nor were their farewell words affecting.
“See that ye hae yir box richt libelled, Lily, an' ye 'ill need tae
watch it at the junctions; keep the basket wi' the eggs in yir hands,
for fear somebody sits on't; an', Lily, wumman, for ony sake haud yir
goon aff the wheel when ye 're gettin' doon at Kildrummie. Is't comin'
tae a shoor, Hillocks?”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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