matter was settled, he went.

He had not sat down, and so every one else had remained standing; but at
the open door he caught Maggie's eyes once more, and with a slight
movement of adieu to her, he disappeared. She trembled, and turned hot and
cold, and felt as if she must cry. It was with difficulty she hid her
emotion from her brother, who looked queerly at her as he said, "I ne'er
saw any man look like that man."

"He had a bonnie braidcloth cloak on."

"Sae handsome and sae stately; and if kings hae any grander way, there's
nae wonder folks bow down to them. I aye thocht that Dr. Balmuto had the
maist compelling look wi' him; but I think yonder man wouldna fear him,
e'en though the doctor had on his Geneva bands and his silk gown."

"What's his name, Davie?"

"I dinna ken. I never thocht to ask him."

Then a singular sadness, one quite distinct from the shadow of their known
sorrow, settled upon both brother and sister. Was it a sorrow of
apprehension? one of those divinations which we call presentiments.
Neither David nor Maggie questioned it; they were not given to analyzing
Their feelings, indeed they were totally unacquainted with this most
useless of mental processes.

But nevertheless, the stranger had left an influence, and for half an hour
they sat silently musing. Maggie was the first to break its spell. In a
low voice, as she bent lower to the dying fire, she began to talk of the