She coloured a little, as if she had said more than she meant. "I was going where the ground was a little soft, and he warned me of it," she said. "Ah! it must have been dear old Jim," said I. "He should have been a doctor years back, if his brains had been as strong as his arm. Why, heart alive, here is the very man himself!" I had seen him through the kitchen window, and now I rushed out with my half-eaten bannock in my hand to greet him. He ran forward too, with his great hand out and his eyes shining. "Ah! Jock," he cried, "it's good to see you again. There are no friends like the old ones." Then suddenly he stuck in his speech, and stared with his mouth open over my shoulder. I turned, and there was Edie, with such a merry, roguish smile, standing in the door. How proud I felt of her, and of myself too, as I looked at her! "This is my cousin, Miss Edie Calder, Jim," said I. "Do you often take walks before breakfast, Mr. Horscroft?" she asked, still with that roguish smile. "Yes," said he, staring at her with all his eyes. "So do I, and generally over yonder," said she. "But you are not very hospitable to your friend, Jack. If you do not do the honours, I shall have to take your place for the credit of West Inch." Well, in another minute we were in with the old folk, and Jim had his plate of porridge ladled out for him; but hardly a word would he speak, but sat with his spoon in his hand staring at Cousin Edie. She shot little twinkling glances across at him all the time, and it seemed to me that she was amused at his backwardness, and that she tried by what she said to give him heart. "Jack was telling me that you were studying to be a doctor," said she. "But oh, how hard it must be, and how long it must take before one can gather so much learning as that!" "It takes me long enough," Jim answered ruefully; "but I'll beat it yet." "Ah! but you are brave. You are resolute. You fix your eyes on a point and you move on towards it, and nothing can stop you." "Indeed, I've little to boast of," said he. "Many a one who began with me has put up his plate years ago, and here am I but a student still." "That is your modesty, Mr. Horscroft. They say that the bravest are always humble. But then, when you have gained your end, what a glorious career--to carry healing in your hands, to raise up the suffering, to have for one's sole end the good of humanity!" Honest Jim wriggled in his chair at this. "I'm afraid I have no such very high motives, Miss Calder," said he. "It's to earn a living, and to take over my father's business, that I do it. If I carry healing in one hand, I have the other out for a crown-piece."