"But what's to become of the house, Malcolm, and the land and the
herds?"

"Oh, they will be all right," the boy said. "Leave old Duncan in
charge, and he will look after them."

"But I had intended you to go to St. Andrews next year, Malcolm,
and I think the best plan will be for you to go there at once. As
you say, Duncan can look after the place."

Malcolm's face fell.

"Take the lad with you, Graheme," Colonel Munro said. "Three years
under Gustavus will do him vastly more good than will St. Andrews.
You know it never did us any good to speak of. We learned a little
more Latin than we knew when we went there, but I don't know that
that has been of any use to us; whereas for the dry tomes of divinity
we waded through, I am happy to say that not a single word of the
musty stuff remains in my brains. The boy will see life and service,
he will have opportunities of distinguishing himself under the
eye of the most chivalrous king in Europe, he will have entered a
noble profession, and have a fair chance of bettering his fortune,
all of which is a thousand times better than settling down here in
this corner of Scotland."

"I must think it over," Graheme said; "it is a serious step to
take. I had thought of his going to the court at London after he
left the university, and of using our family interest to push his
way there."