And there on the cliff stood the father,
Last of the dwarfish men.

"True as the word I told you:
Only my son I feared;
For I doubt the sapling courage
That goes without the beard.
But now in vain is the torture,
Fire shall never avail:
Here dies in my bosom
The secret of Heather Ale."

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.


* * * * *




THE EXECUTION OF MONTROSE.


[James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, was executed in Edinburgh, May 21,
1650, for an attempt to overthrow the Commonwealth and restore Charles
II.]

Come hither, Evan Cameron!
Come, stand behind my knee--
I hear the river roaring down