66 "I am glad to hear it," said Robin. "I was sure it was the only thing that would do." Ye shall hear a' about it," said Patie. "After parting wi' ye I trudged hame to Birgham, and when I got to my house, before I had the sneck of the door weel out o' hand, 'What's stopped ye to this time o' night, ye fitless, feckless cratur ye?' cried Tibby. 'Whar hae ye been? Gie an account o' yoursel'.' "An account o' mysel'!' says I; and I gied the door a drive ahint me as if I wad driven it off the hinges. For what should I gie an account o' mysel'? or wha should I gie it to? I suppose this house is my ain, and I can come in and gang out when I like.' Yours!' cried she; is the body drunk?' No,' says I, 'I'm no drunk, but I wad you to be decent. Where is my supper? hae 666 666 It is time that I had it.' "Ye micht hae come in in time to get it, then,' said she; folk canna keep suppers waitin' on you.' 666 Stop yer breath,' cried she. Gie me the siller, every farthin', or woe betide ye.' "It was needless for her to say 'every farthin',' for, had I dune as I used to do, I kenned she wad search through every pocket o' my claes the moment she thocht me asleep -through every hole and corner o' themto see if I had cheated her out o' a single penny; ay, and tak' them up and shake them and shake them after a' was dune. But I was determined to stand fast by your advice. "Do as ye like,' says I. 'I'll bring ye to your senses: I've stopped the supplies.' "She saw that I wasna drunk, and my manner rather dumfounded her a little. The bairns-wha, as I have tauld ye, she aye encouraged to mock me-began to giggle at me and to mak' game o' me, as usual. I banged out o' the house and into the shop, and I took down the belt o' the bit turninglathe, and into the house I goes again wi' it my hand. in But I'll gang whar I can get it,' said I; screamed and anither screamed, and even and I offered to leave the house. their mither got clouts in trying to run betwixt them and me; and it was wha to squeal loudest. Sae, after I had brocht them a' to ken wha I was, I awa yont to my mither's, and I gied her five shillings, puir body! and after stoppin' an hour wi' her, I gaed back to the house again. The bairns were abed and some o' them were still sobbin', and † Beat. Tibby was sittin' by the fire; but she didna | the siller frae this time henceforth do wi' it venture to say a word—I had completely as- what ye like.' tonished her—and as little said I. Faither, I want siller for tea and sugar.' Gae back to them that sent ye,' says I, and tell them to fare as I do, and they'll save the tea and sugar.' 66 But it is of nae use dwellin' upon the subject. I did stop the supplies most effectually. I very soon brocht Tibby to ken wha was her bread-winner. An' when I saw that my object was accomplished, I showed mair kindness and affection to her than ever I had dune. The bairns became as obedient as lambs, and she soon came to say, 'Peter, should I do this thing?' or 'Peter, should I do that thing? So, when I had brocht her that far, Tibby,' says I, we hae a butt and a ben,* and it's grievin' me to see my auld mither starvin' and left by hersel' wi' naebody to look after her. I think I'll bring her hame the morn. She'll aye be of use about the house she'll can knit the bairns' stockin's or darn them when they are out o' the heels.' 6 Weel, Peter,' said Tibby, 'I'm sure it's as little as a son can do, and I'm perfectly agreeable.' "I banged up; I flung my arms round Tibby's neck. Tibby grat. My mother cam hame to my house the next day. Tibby did everything to mak' her comfortable, a' the bairns ran at her biddin', and frae that day to this there isna a happier man on this wide world than Patie Crichton, the bicker-maker o' Birgham." JOHN MACKAY WILSON. bless Its "Oh, bless ye, my dear!' says I; ye for that! There's the key o' the kist and * An inner apartment and a kitchen. music's just the same, dear Tom, 'twas twenty years ago. † Agreed. H 76 THE WORLD'S MINISTRY. The boys were playing some old game be- | I visited the old churchyard and took some neath that same old tree: flowers to strow I have forgot the name just now; you've Upon the graves of those we loved some played the same with me, On that same spot; 'twas played with knives, by throwing so and so The loser had a task to do-there twenty years ago. twenty years ago. Some are in the churchyard laid, some sleep But few are left of our old class excepting The river's running just as still; the willows And when our time shall come, Tom, and we Are larger than they were, Tom; the stream I hope they'll lay us where we played just But the grape-vine swing is ruined now where once we played the beau And swung our sweethearts-pretty girlsjust twenty years ago. The spring that bubbled 'neath the hill, close by the spreading beech, Is very low: 'twas then so high that we could And, kneeling down to get a drink, dear Tom, To see how sadly I am changed since twenty years ago. Near by that spring, upon an elm, you know I cut your name— Your sweetheart's just beneath it, Tom-and you did mine the same; Some heartless wretch has peeled the bark : 'twas dying sure but slow, Just as she died whose name you cut some twenty years ago. My lids have long been dry, Tom, but tears came to my eyes; I thought of her I loved so well, those early broken ties; twenty years ago. THE WORLD'S MINISTRY. No soul can be quite separate However cold or dull or shy ANON. Or shrinking from the public eye. Let every such brief contact be SUSAN COOLIDGE. DISCOVERY OF ROAST PIG. ANKIND, says a Chinese manuscript, which my friend M- was obliging enough to read and explain to me, for the first seventy thousand ages ate their meat raw, clawing or biting it from the living animal, just as they do in Abyssinia to this day. This period is not obscurely hinted at by their great Confucius in the second chapter of his Mundane Mutations, where he designates a kind of golden age by the term Cho-fang, literally" The Cooks' Holiday." The manuscript goes on to say that the art of roasting, or rather broiling (which I take to be the elder brother), was accidentally discovered in the manner following. The swineherd Ho-ti, having gone out into the woods one morning, as his manner was, to collect mast for his hogs, left his cottage in the care of his eldest son, Bo-bo, a great lubberly boy, who, being fond of playing with fire, as younkers of his age commonly are, let some sparks escape into a bundle of straw, which, kindling quickly, spread the conflagration over every part of their poor mansion, till it was reduced to ashes. Together with the cottage (a sorry antediluvian makeshift of a building you may think it), what was of much more importance, a fine litter of new-farrowed pigs-no less than nine in number-perished. China pigs have been esteemed a luxury all over the East from the Bo-bo remotest periods that we read of. was in the utmost consternation, as you may think-not so much for the sake of the tenement, which his father and he could easily build up again with a few dry branches and the labor of an hour or two at any time, as for the loss of the pigs. While he was thinking what he should say to his father, and wringing his hands over the smoking remnants of one of those untimely sufferers, an odor assailed his nostrils unlike any scent which he had before experienced. What could it proceed from? Not from the burnt. cottage: he had smelt that smell before; indeed, this was by no means the first accident of the kind which had occurred through the negligence of this unlucky young firebrand. Much less did it resemble that of any known herb, weed or flower. A premonitory moistening at the same time overflowed his nether lip. flowed his nether lip. He knew not what to think. He next stooped down to feel the pig, if there were any signs of life in it. He burnt his fingers, and to cool them he applied them in his booby fashion to his mouth. Some of the crumbs of the scorched skin had come away with his fingers, and for the first time in his life (in the world's life, indeed, for before him no man had known it) he tasted crackling. Again he felt and fumbled at the pig. It did not burn him so much now; still, he licked his fingers from a sort of habit. The truth at length broke into his slow understanding that it was the pig that smelt so, and the pig that tasted so delicious; and, surrendering himself up to the new-born pleasure, he fell to tearing up whole handfuls of the scorched skin with the flesh next it, and was cramming it down his throat in his beastly fashion, when his sire entered amid the smoking rafters armed with retributory cudgel, and, finding how affairs stood, began to rain blows upon the young rogue's shoulders as thick as hailstones, which Bo-bo heeded not any more than if they had been flies. The tickling pleasure which he experienced in his lower regions had rendered him quite callous to any inconveniences he might feel in those remote quarters. His father might lay on, but he could not beat him from his pig till he had fairly made an end of it, when, becoming a little more sensible of his situation, something like the following dialogue ensued: 'Oh, father, the pig, the pig! Do come and taste how nice the burnt pig eats." The ears of Ho-ti tingled with horror. He cursed his son, and he cursed himself that ever he should beget a son that should. eat burnt pig. Bo-bo, whose scent was wonderfully sharpened since morning, soon raked out another pig, and, fairly rending it asunder, thrust the lesser half by main force into the fists of Ho-ti, still shouting out, "Eat, eat! Eat the burnt pig, father! Only taste! O Lord!" with such-like barbarous ejaculations, cramming all the while as if he would choke. Ho-ti trembled every joint while he grasped the abominable thing, wavering whether he should not put his son to death for an unnatural young monster, when the crackling scorching his fingers, as it had done his son's, and applying the same remedy to them, he in his turn tasted some of its flavor, which, make what sour mouths he would for a pretence, proved not altogether displeasing to him. In conclusion (for the manuscript here is a little tedious), both father and son fairly sat down to the mess, and never left off till they had despatched all that remained of the litter. Bo-bo was strictly enjoined not to let the secret escape, for the neighbors would certainly have stoned them for a couple of abominable wretches who could think of improving upon the good meat which God had sent them. Nevertheless, strange stories. got about. It was observed that Ho-ti's cottage was burnt down now more frequently than ever. Nothing but fires from this time forward. Some would break out in broad day, others in the night-time. As often as the sow farrowed, so sure was the house of Ho-ti to be in a blaze; and Ho-ti himself, which was the more remarkable, instead of chastising his son, seemed to grow more indulgent to him than ever. At length they were watched, the terrible mystery discovered, and father and son summoned to take their trial at Pekin, then an inconsiderable assize town. Evidence was given, the obnoxious food itself produced in court and verdict about to be pronounced, when the foreman of the jury begged that some of the burnt pig of which the culprits stood accused might be handed into the box. He handled it, and they all handled it; and burning their fingers, as Bo-bo and his father had done be |