"The Auld Kirk!" But the priest was too quick for him. Raising his
glass, he responded promptly: "The Auld Kirk--the True Kirk!"

"No! No!" cried the entrapped Presbyterian.

"Then I'm sorry for _you_!" was the quiet retort.

One feature in Bell's recollections must not be passed over. The
priest was renowned as a peacemaker. Anything like family strife was
speedily put an end to by his tactful intervention. Even by
Protestants his services were not infrequently asked for in this
respect, and the result was a great popularity with all classes in the
district of Ardmuirland. There was much pathos about the old man's
last days; for he hastened his end by his self-denying charity in the
cause of peace.

A violent quarrel had taken place some years before between two
Protestant farmers, both living some distance away from the priest's
house. They had married two sisters, and a dispute had arisen on the
subject of a legacy left to one of these nieces by their father's
brother, while the other was passed over entirely. Suspicions and
insinuations of underhand dealing on the part of the successful legatee
had aroused strong feelings, with the result that all communication
between the two families had ceased.

At length the wife of one of the belligerents lay upon her deathbed,
and under the softening influence of that solemn hour she begged that
her sister should be asked to visit her, that they might part as
sisters should. The other woman was just as anxious for a
reconciliation, but their respective husbands could not be brought to