Audrey

The girl's quiet face flushed to the pink of a seashell, and her eyes grew

eager.

"Then does thee not see the error of thy ways, Angus MacLean? If it should

be given me to pluck thee as a brand from the burning! Thee will not again

brag of war and revenge, nor sing vain and ruthless songs, nor use dice or

cards, nor will thee swear any more?"

The voice was persuasion's own. "May I be set overtide on the Lady's Rock,

or spare a false Campbell when I meet him, or throw up my cap for the

damned Hogan Mogan that sits in Jamie's place, if I am not entirely

convert!" cried the neophyte. "Oh, the devil! what have I said? Mistress

Truelove--Truelove"-But Truelove was gone,--not in anger or in haste, for that would have been

unseemly, but quietly and steadily, with no looking back. The storekeeper,

leaping over a keg of nails that stood in the way, made for the door, and

together with Haward, who was already there, watched her go. The path to

the landing and the boat was short; she had taken her seat, and the boy

had bent to the oars, while the unlucky Scot was yet alternately calling

out protestations of amendment and muttering maledictions upon his

unguarded tongue. The canoe slipped from the rosy, unshadowed water into

the darkness beneath the overhanging trees, reached the mouth of the

creek, and in a moment disappeared from sight.