"If you knew, you wouldn't have to think," Jean retorted, and
then she made him take the book and sit down on the stool by the
window and learn both answers while she finished the dishes.

It was ten miles to the village and back, and there was no way to
get there except by walking, but the Campbells would sooner have
thought of going without their food than of staying away from the
Kirk, and so by eight o'clock they were all dressed in their best
clothes and ready to start. They left True Tammas sitting on the
doorstep with his ears drooped and his eyes looking very
sorrowful. He wanted to go with them, but he knew well that he
must stay at home to guard the sheep from stray dogs.

It was springtime, and the world was so lovely that the troubles
the little family had faced the evening before seemed far away
and impossible in the morning light. It was as if they had
awakened from a bad dream. Who could help being happy on such a
morning? The birds were flying about with straw and bits of wool
in their bills to weave into their nests, and singing as if they
would split their little throats. The river splashed and gurgled
and sang as it dashed over its rocky bed on its way to the sea.
From the village came the distant music of the church bells. The
hawthorn was in bloom, and the river-banks and roadsides were gay
with dandelions and violets, daisies and buttercups. Far away the
mountains lifted their blue summits to the sky, and on a nearer
hill they could see the gray towers of the castle of the Laird of
Glen Cairn.

The bell was ringing its final summons and all the people were
pouring into the little vestibule as the Campbells reached the