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CHAPTER XII.

BEN PHEE INN-THE DUAL GHU.

66 He stood a little forebye,
For there he heard a fou fause knight
Tempting his gay ladye."

"Come doun, come doun, my bonny bird,
An' sit upon my hand,

An' thou shall hae a cage o' gowd
Where thou hast but the wand.
Oh! there's a bird within this bour
That sings baith sad an' sweet;
I'll tak' the bird within this bour,

For it keeps me frae my night's sleep."

Ir was arranged that the whole party should drive over to breakfast at Phee next morning, the ponies being in waiting to carry them on to the Dual Ghu, as the journey was too fatiguing to be performed on horseback all the way. Glenbenrough had that day sent a messenger to Miss Christy Macpherson, announcing the intended inroad on her hospitality; and Ishbel was telling the Dreumah gentlemen that they ought to reserve their appetites during dinner, for Mr. Macpherson and his niece would make many appeals to them next morning, when a violent noise at the hall door interrupted conversation. "Parlons d'un loup!" Harold exclaimed to Norah, as the dining-room door was thrown open and in rushed Miss Christy, her old straw bonnet crushed over her face and her best tartan gown a good deal crumpled. She flew to Glenbenrough, who rose with his usual kindly words of welcome, and that highbred form of politeness which is ever ready for all within its reach. Sinking into the seat which he placed beside his own, and without greeting any one, Miss Christy burst forth,

"Colonel Sternbotham! Hech, hech-he's nearly finished me!"

Every one looked surprised, and the Englishmen with difficulty repressed smiles. Miss Christy soon gained breath to proceed, and informed Glenbenrough that the colonel was in the drawing-room, and that they had performed the latter part of the journey from Strathshielie in one of her own vehicles—a cart from Phee-which was also to be in waiting next morning

to take her and the colonel on to the inn of Ben Phee, whence he could easily make his way to the point of meeting with the mail.

"Ye see, I promised Lady Mac Neil to keep a had o' him, till I got him safely to Ben Phee Inn; and I'm near worn out wi' him already. He's a real helpless bodach o' a man, and sae pernicity, he wad na let me put a finger on him; though he was like to tumble out o' the cart. I dared na offer to take hold o' him; an' I was near telling him he was as doited wi' modesty as the Rev. Mr. Mac Gil," said Miss Christy, turning to Auber, who was her nearest neighbour.

"Who was Mr. Mac Gil, Miss Macpherson? A man of guileless heart, I suppose."

"He was an evil-minded old gowk, Mr. Auber, begging his pardon; for when he was upwards o' eighty, he went to pay a visit to my aunt Maggie, who was over seventy-five years old. She, puir body, was delighted to see her old acquaintance.

"Come ben, come ben, Mr. Mac Gil,' says she; 'Oh, but I'm glad to see ye. Shut to the door, shut ye close the door, and sit in to the fire wi' me here, till we hae a crack.'

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Nae, mem,' says he, I'll no do that,' and he opened the door as wide as the hinges would let it; I'll no shut the door: ye ken the world's unco' censorious.'

"Did you ever hear the like o' that, Mr. Auber, an' he eighty, an' she seventy-five?"

Great was Miss Christy's disappointment on hearing of the plan that had been formed for breakfasting at the Inn of Ben Phee next morning, as it deprived her of the opportunity of dispensing the hospitality of Phee, and sore was the conflict 'twixt duty and inclination; however, she determined unflinchingly to abide by the former: she had promised Lady Mac Neil to escort the colonel, and it must be done: her Highland honour was pledged. It was now arranged that the Glenbenrough party should also breakfast at the inn, which took them but a mile or so out of their route, as it lay not far from the house of Phee; and the ponies should be sent on there. Glenbenrough left the room the moment he was aware of the arrival of Colonel Sternbotham, whom he found seated in the drawingroom in a sadly fatigued state.

By eight o'clock next morning the house rang with sounds of departure, and various vehicles stood drawn up at the hall door, the Phee cart ignominiously bringing up the rear: it was half filled with straw, and a tartan plaid thrown over it. In

this Colonel Sternbotham thought politeness made it imperative on him to travel, it being the conveyance expressly sent for his convenience from the farm-yard at Phee; and Glenbenrough, finding all contrary argument unavailing, resigned him to his fate. Miss Christy, who stood waiting with a huge plaid ready to fall upon him and hoist him in, set to work to bind him down, "weel happed," as she said, but in a way that literally deprived him of the use of hands and feet; and she succeeded, despite all his endeavours at independent action. Florh Mackenzie was there to accompany the young ladies; and in the confusion of starting, she whispered to Esmé,

"Will nae my bairn sit by her old nurse for an hour?"

"Certainly, dear Florh," Esmé exclaimed with alacrity; and she and Florh, in the dog-cart driven by Normal, took the lead in the cavalcade. Norah, with her usual right feeling, approached the Phee cart, as she felt bound to share the colonel's company so far; but just as she prepared to get in, he exclaimed in an appalled tone,

"Miss Mac Neil, I, as an old soldier, may bear strange modes of conveyance, but I cannot see you, a young lady, enter so barbarous a vehicle: it is quite unsuitable!"

"Unsuitable ? An' what could come unsuitable to a daughter o' the house o' Glenbenrough ?" cried Miss Christy in a shrill key, almost into the ear of the colonel, beside whom she was perched. "Miss Mac Neil no go in a cart! Set up them that says it, indeed! Miss Mac Neil might drive through London toun in a cart, and who would daur to think it unsuitable? Get ye up, Miss Norah; what does he ken?"

The early keenness of the morning air tempered the warmth of the sun, which shone out brilliantly as the cavalcade moved

on.

The road led winding along the base of the hills at the back of the house, and through woods of birch and pine; the sunshine bringing out the varied hues of the foliage,—the bright red wild cherry-leaf, the fading green of the birch, and the many-tinted herbage of heather, grass, and fern; the warmth also drawing out the perfume of the larch and pine. About an hour's drive brought the party down on the inn, so called; a wretched thatched house of one story, but standing on a site of exquisite natural beauty, suited for a castle. herd of ponies were feeding on the grass before the door, and as many men lounged or stood near them, while the ground was strewn with baggage sufficient for a regiment, part of it contributed from the stores of Dreumah; Mr. Marchmoram

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having ordered additional hampers of wine and luxurious edibles, which made the Highland fare of Glenbenrough seem meagre. The landlady of the inn of Ben Phee came forward to receive her guests with unbounded pride and pleasure; the glow of a huge turf fire within being reflected on her ruddy, sun-burnt face. The breakfast was already being laid out in style in the best bed-room of the house, there being no sittingroom in the inn of Ben Phee: the kitchen would have been the only alternative, and it was already fully occupied. However, the bedroom, with its sanded floor, painted kists (chests of drawers), and clean spread table, was welcomed to the whole party, whose genial humour and good appetites made them unfastidious. Colonel Sternbotham, who was in high spirits at the approaching dissolution of his connection with Miss Christy, entered the room last, feeling almost reconciled to a barbaric breakfast as a closing scene in the Highlands; but just as he was taking his seat, his eye caught sight of the bluechecked curtains that screened two modest sleeping-places in the wall; and he turned and fled precipitately.

Will ye

"Vouve! he's taken the jaundice!" shrieked Miss Christy. "Did ever any one see such a disjaskit expression? no go an' see what ails him, laird? What will Lady Mac Neil say to me?"

Glenbenrough followed the retreating guest, and an almost fiery altercation ensued: even his polite forbearance to a stranger could endure no longer, and his quick temper rose at the absurd squeamishness of the English colonel, who was obstinate.

An amusing scene now presented itself: the whole party in the bedroom sat down to a smoking repast, waited on with assiduous attention by the landlady, and the Dreumah valets; while the colonel sat in solitary state in the Phee cart drawn up in front of the house, having a wooden stool for a table, upon which relays of breakfast were served forth to him from the merry board within. He sat there sipping his tea as if it were vinegar, his lurid complexion quite apoplectic in the morning But he was not allowed even the consolation of peace his solitude; for Miss Christy made constant rushes from her seat to the open window of the bedroom, when she poured forth vehement appeals and addresses to him.

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"Come in, come in! What scunner have ye to the decent bed, man? Mony's the time I hae slept in it! It's a' lined wi' the Inverness Courier;' and mony's the morn I

wakened, and read wi' pride before my eyes o' the Phee butter carrying the first prize at Martinmass Market. What evil is in the body's head no to tak his meat in here!"

Then she would return to her seat, and resume breakfast, eating vigorously as she spoke.

"Ye suld tell him, Glenbenrough, o' the old house o' Kingoll, in your father's lifetime, where the laird's bed was in the dining-room wa'. Mony's the time ye hae seen it; an' when the laird an' his compeers were over their toddy belate, Lady Kingoll would just gae behind the press door, and put on her night gear, an' get into her bed afore them a'; an' wha thought the worse o' her, yon times? Wad he compare the bluid in his veins to the old bluid o' the Kingolls? I trow it's not likely.

The colonel at last turned his back to the open window, and to all Miss Christy's appeals preserved a strict silence. This aggravated her more and more, and Normal Mac Alastair, skilfully stirring the fires of her wrath, she at last became, to use her own words, "Neither to hold, nor to bind," and she prepared to sally out upon him; and it was only by Norah and Esmé's joint entreaties that she was restrained.

"Had! had! Miss Esmé, till I be at him! It'll no do to put up wi' it. He's bringing a scandal on all of us here!" "Nonsense, Miss Christy, he only punishes himself, so pray be quiet."

"Well, gie me your hand, Esmé," she exclaimed with excited expression; "promise me ye 'll be upsides wi' him: noo; promise me an' I'll leave him quiet."

"I will try," Esmé said; and, breakfast now being over, she went out to the colonel, and whispered, sotto voce, "We think you should make haste; for if you don't start soon, you will lose the mail, and Miss Christy would then insist on accompanying you back to Strathshielie, or on remaining with you here until to-morrow."

The effect was magical. The colonel's complexion turned a pale green colour, and, clambering out of the cart, he ordered a dog-cart to be got ready instantly, to take him on to the stage where the mail was expected. He seemed altogether in such a wretched state of trepidation, that Miss Christy (who was watching from the window) felt her triumph of vindictiveness complete. She saw that he had been made most uncomfortable; and, though ignorant of the means used, was fully satisfied. She cried aloud to the company,

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