The minister thought that a mere earthly reward, at least to the extent of his travelling expenses, would likewise be desirable; but he merely answered: ‘I’m sorry to find you going down the hill, Mr. Lindsay.’ ‘Ay, it’s a road we maun a’ travel, Doctor. They tell me I’m near the end o’t.’ ‘And I trust you are at peace in your mind?’ ‘Not as I would like--not as I would like to be, Dr. Mackenzie.’ ‘Ye should rest on the promises, my friend,’ said the minister, and he repeated various texts of the Bible bearing upon the forgiveness of sins. The old man listened almost impatiently. ‘I ken a’ that,’ he said, as the minister ended. ‘I havena been an elder of the Free Kirk thirty years for nothing. But how am I to ken they apply to me?’ ‘They are for all men,’ answered the minister. ‘Just so; but all men are not saved.’ ‘Because they do not believe.’ ‘If I believe I’m saved, I _am_ saved? That’s about it, it seems to me.’ ‘I wouldn’t put it in that way. There is such a thing as false assurance.’ ‘Then how am I to know that mine is not a false assurance?’ and the old man looked anxiously in the minister’s face. ‘You have only to accept forgiveness as a free gift, and it is yours,’ said the other, falling back on his formula. ‘But surely I must repent of my sins?’ ‘Of course.’ ‘But I don’t know that I do repent--that is, not as I should. And after all, Doctor, it’s not what I have done that troubles me, so much as what I have not done. You don’t remember any texts, now, bearing on that?’ Dr. Mackenzie frowned, and took a pinch of snuff. ‘I can’t just say that I do--not at this moment,’ he said at last. ‘But I don’t think you have any cause to reproach yourself on that score, Mr. Lindsay; you have always subscribed liberally to the Sustentation Fund, the Aged Ministers’ Scheme, and the Missionary Society. I don’t think you have any special cause for alarm.’ But the sick man looked dissatisfied. ‘I’ve been thinking, Doctor, what I should do wi’ my siller,’ he said. Dr. Mackenzie was all attention. ‘I’ve none nearer me than Lindsay o’ the Castle Farm; and he’s a man of nearly my own age. He doesna want a great heap o’ siller. If I leave him enough to free his land, and maybe buy back one o’ the auld farms, it will be plenty. Then there’s my nephews. What would be the use o’ making these young men rich all on a sudden? They would only waste the money. Better to let them work for it.’ ‘I quite agree with you,’ said Dr. Mackenzie heartily. ‘I’m not so rich as folk say,’ went on Mr. Lindsay; ‘but after providing for my relations in a small way, I have a good deal left. Doctor, do you think it would mak’ up for things a bit, if I was to leave five hundred thousand to the Free Kirk?’ The minister was more than astonished. He started and drew a long breath. ‘What do you think?’ asked the old man anxiously.