ROBERT'S MOTHER.
Early on the following morning, while Mrs. Falconer, Robert, and
Shargar were at breakfast, Mr. Lammie came. He had delayed
communicating the intelligence he had received till he should be
more certain of its truth. Older than Andrew, he had been a great
friend of his father, and likewise of some of Mrs. Falconer's own
family. Therefore he was received with a kindly welcome. But there
was a cloud on his brow which in a moment revealed that his errand
was not a pleasant one.
'I haena seen ye for a lang time, Mr. Lammie. Gae butt the hoose,
lads. Or I'm thinkin' it maun be schule-time. Sit ye doon, Mr.
Lammie, and lat's hear yer news.'
'I cam frae Aberdeen last nicht, Mistress Faukner,' he began.
'Ye haena been hame sin' syne?' she rejoined.
'Na. I sleepit at The Boar's Heid.'
'What for did ye that? What gart ye be at that expense, whan ye
kent I had a bed i' the ga'le-room?'
'Weel, ye see, they're auld frien's o' mine, and I like to gang to
them whan I'm i' the gait o' 't.'
'Weel, they're a fine faimily, the Miss Napers. And, I wat, sin'
they maun sell drink, they du 't wi' discretion. That's weel kent.'
Possibly Mr. Lammie, remembering what then occurred, may have
thought the discretion a little in excess of the drink, but he had
other matters to occupy him now. For a few moments both were
silent.
'There's been some ill news, they tell me, Mrs. Faukner,' he said at
length, when the silence had grown painful.
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