THE WOOING OF A SERIOUS MAN. THE story I am about to there was no reason why Duntell is true in the main facts of can should not go to college, it. One day, in looking over provided he was able to supsome portraits of departed port himself there, which, inworthies, I lingered over that deed, he was not backward to of an old Highland minister, attempt. The minister who who may be written of as Mr was then in Rhu Rannoch gave Duncan M'Coll; and as I him great encouragement, and studied the grave careworn told his mother that, if he were face, furrowed by many not greatly mistaken, her son wrinkles, the story of his life would come to be a namely was told to me by one who man. Now, of serious and knew it. I was struck by a namely men there was at the certain incongruity between time great need, for the Church the romantic nature of the tale was distracted by enemies withand the oft-repeated assertion out and within, and there were that the character of its hero few in her that kept the lamp was singularly and notably of the truth burning-most "serious." Perhaps one is apt being sunk in a dreary Moderto forget that the flowers of atism, overcome by the love of romance grow not always in ease and the sunshine of prossmooth gardens, but sometimes perity. There was no likeli-like rare plants-in rocky hood that Mr M'Coll should ground, and at a high altitude. ever be of this party. When As the story concerns one of the right time came he left the Gaelic people, and was and was Rhu Rannoch for college, settold to me in the Gaelic way, ting out one good dry autumn I have not attempted to strip morning, his clothes tied in a it of the Gaelic flavour. bundle on his back, and his brother Rory keeping company with him for the first few miles of the way. He was tall and powerful, even at that time, and on the first day made such good speed that before dusk he had put near seventy miles between himself and his native place, and he slept that night in the hollow of a hill above Glenmoira, with no more for a pillow than the bundle he took from his back. was Mr Duncan M'Coll from his boyhood of a notably serious disposition. When others were at play, he would be at work. There was in him neither foolishness nor idleness, and when it began to be said in his native place that he had set his heart on the ministry, the people of Rhu Rannoch agreed that he had been like no less than that from his young childhood. His mother, Elspet M'Coll, was a widow; but as she had another son, At college Mr M'Coll showed himself as powerful in mind as in body, so that he soon made himself a reputation. He was the most serious student of his time, giving himself to no such follies or distractions as did the other youths, and when he won honours in the different classes he took them very modestly, seeming to set no undue store by them, and never so much as mentioning them in Rhu Rannoch. During the summer he was in the habit of working at the fishing with his brother Rory, and each winter he returned again to college, and every year he seemed to grow wiser and more thoughtful, and there was always something about him that seemed to set him apart from others as one who had a high calling. As he grew more able in mind, so he seemed each year to become more powerful in body, until there was not a man in all Rhu Rannoch to equal him for strength, or one who had so remarkable an appearance. He was greatly thought of in the place, yet such was his disposition that when the young lassies smiled kindly upon him, he did not so much as observe it, his mind being continually set on more important matters. Time went on until Mr M'Coll had been eight years at his studies, and just as his course in Divinity was about to come to an end, M'Kenzie of Aranmore came one day to the Principal of the college and asked whether he knew of any one among the students who would make a likely tutor for his two young sons. "Have you," said he, "a man who has some weight and authority as well as learning? I should wish a sound orthodox sensible time in He sent for Duncan, and when he came it passed through the Principal's mind that he had never before seen two men together of so fine an appearance. The notable looks of Aranmore were well known, for it was a sight to see him every year at the Assembly, sitting not far from the Moderator; his large frame bent forward a little, his hair white and thick, his eyes glowering or gleaming from under his brows, according as he was pleased or displeased. Mr M'Coll was at this the prime of his youth; his hair was of a ruddy brown, his brow massive, his eyes changeful in expression as а woman's, and yet full of a fire and sternness that were most manly. The Principal marked that the height of the two men was equal, and that the eyes of the one were on a level with the eyes of the other. "It was not my intention to teach," Duncan said, after Aranmore had spoken; "it is my wish to begin my work in the ministry with as little delay as possible, and yet," he continued, looking at Mr M'Kenzie with a hesitation that was saw- He unusual with him, "I am and he thought of the thing much drawn to your proposal." Aranmore bent his grey brows upon him. "St Paul," he said, in his harsh voice, that was like the grating of a "St Paul went for three years into Arabia before he began to preach. It might not be unbecoming for you to hold back for а few months." Mr M'Coll stood still, considering. "I will come," he he said in few moments, and they shook hands, and there was never a word of terms or anything else between them at that time. When Aranmore had gone the Principal looked after him musingly. "Duncan," he said to the young man, for whom he had particular regard, "that is a great man, and a great churchman, and a great tyrant, and I will give you one piece of advice about him, for he will be either a powerful friend or a bad enemy to you. Don't oppose him, Duncan, if you can help it. 'Bow to the log,' as the old saying has it. In anything that does not touch the conscience, 'Bow to the log.' When he came to reflect on the thing, Mr M'Coll could hardly understand how he had consented to go to Isle Aranmore. He had made all his arrangements differently, and he had now to alter them and make others, and he had no desire for teaching, but was eager to begin the work on which his heart had been so long set. He seemed to have been suddenly moved by an impulse, as he never remembered to have been before, a good deal, for it struck him going to Isle Aranmore," he answered her. "What are you going to do there?" said the young girl, looking at him very straight, and speaking as though she had the right to put any questions she pleased. "I am going to teach Aranmore's two sons," said Duncan. “Then how did I hear you say that you did not know why you came?" said the young gentlewoman. It was not usual that a stranger should put such questions, but it did not seem strange to Mr M'Coll at the time; and neither did he feel it so, when he began to speak to her more easily than he had ever spoken to a woman before, telling her how he had not wished for such a thing, and how he seemed to himself to have consented to it against his will. 66 Perhaps you were afraid of Aranmore," said the girl; "many people are afraid of him." "I am not afraid of Aranmore," Duncan answered to that; "why should I be afraid of any one except my Maker?" The girl looked at him for a moment, and then out on the sea. "I do not think," she said, as if musing to herself, "that I am afraid of God." After a little she turned and held out a small white hand in a friendly way. "I am Aranmore's daughter, Mr M'Coll," she said. Mr M'Coll had not been long in Isle Aranmore before he discovered the truth of what the Principal had said to him. Aranmore was without doubt а great man and a great churchman, but above all he was a great tyrant. In all the island his word must be law . and his will must be obeyed, and there was not a man that dared to oppose him. If he once said a thing, it was of no use to appeal to him or to expect that he might be moved. It would be as well to appeal to the hard rock, and many a man found that out to his cost. Had he not been on the whole a good and just landlord, the people of Isle Aranmore would have been badly off indeed. In his Own household Mr M'Kenzie's rule was no less complete. His wife had been dead many years, so that there was no one to share it with him or to soften it. His two young sons were afraid of him, and in their hearts at war with him, and as they could get none of their own way openly, were minded to take it secretly. Mr M'Coll got cold looks and forced courtesy from them at the first; but before long things were changed, and there was not a hero in the world they would compare with him. Such feats of strength he could do as they had never seen before, and he had such fearlessness on sea or land as they had never known the equal of. They were young foolish boys, and being so strictly brought up had no liking for serious things; but Mr M'Coll might be as serious as he pleased, and they thought none the worse of him. And in this respect he was the same in Isle Aranmore as he had been in college, working early and late at his books, and on Sabbath evenings preaching to the people with extraordinary power and acceptance. There was no minister in this part of the island at the time, for Aranmore and the session could not agree on one that would please them. Aranmore was against the Patronage Act, which gave to the landlord the power of choosing the minister, and this being so, he would never use his own right as heritor, but sat in the session and voted with the other elders. Yet often the people could not but wish that he had kept to the old way, bad as it was, for in the session everything must be done according to his will, and no one dared to go against him. The people had the appearance of freedom in their choice without the reality, for as soon as they were satisfied with a minister and wished to call him, Aranmore would come down from Edinburgh or London or wherever he would be, and there would be a session meeting, and he would overturn the whole thing, and the elders would be full of bitterness, and one would blame the other for something done wrongly, and yet none of them had the courage to defy Aranmore. So it came about that the church was vacant during this summer, and, as I said, Duncan preached; and although Aranmore said little, he was highly pleased, and did not interfere with the tutor in any way, which was the method he had of showing his regard. There was one, however, in the Great House who did not seem pleased with Mr Duncan M'Coll, and that was Margaret -Aranmore's daughter. Although she had spoken to him with so much kindness on the ship, she showed him no more favour, but from that day be haved herself towards him with great coldness and pride. And if she was cold to Mr Duncan, Mr Duncan was no less cold to her, for he found to his concern that her fair proud face came between him and everything he did, disturbing all his thoughts and studies, and even his sleep. This troubled him greatly, and he set himself to prevent it, giving himself little time for rest and thought, and working early and late, so that he might fill his mind with more profitable images. At last things were so strained between them that it seemed as though the young gentlewoman put herself to pains to show how small was her estimation of Mr M'Coll, whom all else in the island honoured so highly, and Mr Duncan, being of a very proud nature, and conscious of the distance there was between them, and knowing it was of no use for him to think of her, showed a coldness and stiffness towards her which, to say the least of it, matched her own. And even the servants noticed how matters were, and wondered that a gentlewoman, who was like an angel of kindness to the poorest in the island, should treat Mr M'Coll in such fashion, for, whatever the family he was of, his ways were the ways of a gentleman, and there was not a grander-looking man to be seen in the whole country, unless it were Aranmore himself. Matters went on in this way till the time drew near at which Duncan was to leave Isle Aranmore; and as that time came there were great lamentations among the people |