The Bow of Orange Ribbon | Page 5

if they
were more than common words. They were followed by a marked
silence, a silence which in no way disturbed Semple. He knew his
friends well, and therefore he expected it. He puffed his pipe slowly,
and glanced at Joris and Lysbet Van Heemskirk. The father's face had
not moved a muscle; the mother's was like a handsome closed book.
She went on with her knitting, and only showed that she had heard the
proposal by a small pretence of finding it necessary to count the
stitches in the heel she was turning. Still, there had been some faint,
evanescent flicker on her face, some droop or lift of the eyelids, which
Joris understood; for, after a glance at her, he said slowly, "For
Katherine the marriage would be good, and Lysbet and I would like it.
However, we will think a little about it; there is time, and to spare. One
should not run on a new road. The first step is what I like to be sure of;
as you know, Elder, to the second step it often binds you.--Say what
you think, Lysbet."
"Neil is to my mind, when the time comes. But yet the child knows not
perfectly her Heidelberg. And there is more: she must learn to help her
mother about the house before she can manage a house of her own. So
in time, I say, it would be a good thing. We have been long good
friends."
[Illustration: Knitting]
"We hae been friends for four generations, and we may safely tie the
knot tighter now. There are wise folk that say the Dutch and the
Lowland Scotch are of the same stock, and a vera gude stock it is,--the
women o' baith being fair as lilies and thrifty as bees, and the men just
a wonder o' every thing wise and weel-spoken o'. For-bye, baith o'
us--Scotch and Dutch--are strict Protestors. The Lady o' Rome never
threw dust in our een, and neither o' us would put our noses to the
ground for either powers spiritual or powers temporal. When I think o'
our John Knox"--
"First came Erasmus, Elder."
"Surely. Well, well, it was about wedding and housekeeping I came to

speak, and we'll hae it oot. The land between this place and my place,
on the river-side, is your land, Joris. Give it to Katherine, and I will
build the young things a house; and the furnishing and plenishing we'll
share between us."
"There is more to a wedding than house and land, Elder."
"Vera true, madam. There's the income to meet the outgo. Neil has a
good practice now, and is like to have better. They'll be comfortable
and respectable, madam; but I think well o' you for speering after the
daily bread."
"Well, look now, it was not the bread-making I was thinking about. It
was the love-making. A young girl should be wooed before she is
married. You know how it is; and Katherine, the little one, she thinks
not of such a thing as love and marriage."
"Wha kens what thoughts are under curly locks at seventeen? You'll
hae noticed, madam, that Katherine has come mair often than ordinar'
to Semple House lately?"
"That is so. It was because of Colonel Gordon's wife, who likes
Katherine. She is teaching her a new stitch in her crewel-work."
"Hum-m-m! Mistress Gordon has likewise a nephew, a vera handsome
lad. I hae seen that he takes a deal o' interest in the crewel-stitch
likewise. And Neil has seen it too,--for Neil has set his heart on
Katherine,--and this afternoon there was a look passed between the
young men I dinna like. We'll be haeing a challenge, and twa fools
playing at murder, next."
"I am glad you spoke, Elder. Thank you. I'll turn your words over in my
heart." But Van Heemskirk was under a certain constraint: he was
beginning to understand the situation, to see in what danger his darling
might be. He was apparently calm; but an angry fire was gathering in
his eyes, and stern lines settling about the lower part of his face.
"You ken," answered Semple, who felt a trifle uneasy in the sudden

constraint, "I hae little skill in the ordering o' girl bairns. The Almighty
thought them beyond my guiding, and I must say they are a great
charge, a great charge; and, wi' all my infirmities and simplicity,--anent
women,--one that would hae been mair than I could hae kept. But I hae
brought up my lads in a vera creditable way. They know how to
manage their business, and they hae the true religion. I am sure Neil
would make a good husband, and I would be glad to hae him settled
near by. My three eldest lads hae gone far off, Joris,