But, when he found himself launched once more upon the familiar
refrain, he rallied his powers and sang out loudly and joyfully:
"Then bring me the lilies and bring me the roses,
And bring me the daisies that grow in the dale,
And bring me the dew of the mild summer evening,
And bring me the breath of the sweet-scented gale;
And bring me the sigh of a fond lover's bosom,
And bring me the tear of a fond lover's e'e,
And I'll pour them a' doon on thy grave, Highland Mary,
For the sake o' thy Burns who sae dearly loved thee!"
It did not seem the kind of song exactly suited to a hymeneal feast,
but everyone listened respectfully until the old man had wavered
through to the end and called, for the last time, for the lilies, the
roses and the daisies; and before he had time to start another Fiddlin'
Archie struck up "Scots Wha Hae," and the whole company joined.
When everyone, even to the last waiter in the old shanty, had been fed
and the tables were all cleared away, Scotty deserted Monteith, and
once more took up his station on the window sill where he could catch
glimpses of Isabel's golden head through the crowd. He could see she
was the object of many admiring glances; the MacDonald girls stood
apart whispering wondering remarks concerning the beauty of her velvet
gown, and even Betty Lauchie seemed shy of her old playmate.
Nevertheless, when, upon spying him in his corner, Isabel came again
and seated herself beside him, Scotty forgot all differences between
them and blossomed out into friendliness under the light of her eyes.
For she had clear, honest eyes that looked beneath the rough exterior
of her country friends and recognised the true, leal hearts beneath.
Yes, she was the same old Isabel, Scotty declared to himself, and
something more, something he hardly dared think of yet.
He sat and chatted freely with her of all that had happened since they
had last met, her life in a ladies' boarding school and his progress
under Monteith's instruction, and he found that with all her schooling
he was far ahead of her in book knowledge. Then there were past
experiences to recall; the playhouse they had built beneath the Silver
Maple, the mud pies they had made down by the edge of the swamp, the
excursions down the Birch Creek, and the part they had played in poor
Callum's sad romance.
"And what are you going to be, Scotty?" she asked. "Don't you remember
it was always either an Indian or a soldier, a 'Black Watcher' you used
to call it? You ought to go to college, you must be more than prepared
for it since you've learned so much from Mr. Monteith."
Scotty's eyes glowed. A college course was the dream of his life,
sleeping or waking. But he shook his head.
"I'd like it," he said, trying to keep the gloom out of his voice, "but
there's not much chance."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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