him or not. He had many rivals. But he knew that if she would
not come to be the mistress of his new house no one else ever
should. So he sat there that afternoon and dreamed of her, as he
played sweet old songs and rollicking jigs on his fiddle.

"While he was playing a sleigh drove up to the door, and Neil
Campbell came in. Donald was not overly glad to see him, for he
suspected where he was going. Neil Campbell, who was Highland
Scotch and lived down at Berwick, was courting Nancy Sherman,
too; and, what was far worse, Nancy's father favoured him,
because he was a richer man than Donald Fraser. But Donald was
not going to show all he thought--Scotch people never do--and he
pretended to be very glad to see Neil and made him heartily
welcome.

"Neil sat down by the roaring fire, looking quite well satisfied
with himself. It was ten miles from Berwick to the bay shore,
and a call at a half way house was just the thing. Then Donald
brought out the whisky. They always did that eighty years ago,
you know. If you were a woman, you could give your visitors a
dish of tea; but if you were a man and did not offer them a
'taste' of whisky, you were thought either very mean or very
ignorant.

"'You look cold,' said Donald, in his great, hearty voice. 'Sit
nearer the fire, man, and put a bit of warmth in your veins.
It's bitter cold the day. And now tell me the Berwick news. Has
Jean McLean made up with her man yet? And is it true that Sandy
McQuarrie is to marry Kate Ferguson? 'Twill be a match now!
Sure, with her red hair, Sandy will not be like to lose his bride