The Scotch Twins | Page 9

exactly as Jean said and as quickly as
possible. He reached the door in two jumps with Tam leaping after him
and nipping his heels at each jump, and in another instant found
himself on the doorstep with the door shut behind him.
Angus considered himself a very important man. He wasn't used to
being treated in this way, and it's no wonder he was angry. He swelled
up like a pouter pigeon; and shook his fist at the door.
"You just mind who I am," he shouted. "If ever I catch you poaching
again, I'll have you up before the bailie as sure as eggs is eggs!"
But the door didn't say a word, and it seemed beneath his dignity to
scold a door that wouldn't even answer back, so he stamped away
growling. The children watched him until he disappeared in the woods,
and when at last they turned from the window, the scone on the girdle
was burned to a cinder and had to be given to the chickens!
You might have thought that by this time Jean had done enough work
even for Saturday, but there was still the broth to make for supper and
for the Sabbath, and the kitchen floor to be scrubbed, and, last of all,
the family baths! When the little kitchen was as clean as clean could be,
Jean got the wash-tub and set it on the hearth. Jock knew the signs and
decided he'd go out behind the byre and look for eggs, but Jean had her
eye on him.
"Jock Campbell," said she, "you go at once and get the water."
In vain Jock assured her he was cleaner than anything and didn't need a
bath. Jean was firm. She made him fill the kettles, and when the water
was hot, she shut him up in the kitchen with soap and a towel while she
took all the shoes to the front steps to polish for Kirk on the morrow.
When at last Jock appeared before her he was so shiny clean that Jean
said it dazzled her eyes to look at him, so she sent him for the cow
while she took her turn at the tub.

By four o'clock, Tam, who had spent an anxious afternoon by the hole
in the garden wall watching for the rabbit, suddenly remembered his
duties and started away over the moors to meet the Shepherd and round
up any sheep that might have strayed from the flock, and at five Jock,
returning from the byre, met his father coming home with Tam at his
heels.
The regular evening tasks were finished just as the sun sank out of sight
behind the western hills, and the birds were singing their evening songs,
and when they went into the kitchen a bright fire was blazing on the
hearth, the broth was simmering in the kettle, and Jean had three bowls
of it ready for them on the table.
While they ate their supper Jock told their father all about the rabbit
and Angus Niel and his ducking in the burn, and when Jock told about
Jean's ordering him out of the kitchen, and of his jumping to the door
with Tam nipping at his heels, the Shepherd slapped his knee and
laughed till he cried. Tam, sitting on the hearth with his tongue lolling
out, looked as if he were laughing, too.
"Havers!" cried the Shepherd, "I wish I'd been here to see that sight!
Angus is that swollen up with pride of position, he's like to burst
himself. He needed a bit of a fall to ease him of it, but I'd never have
picked out Jean Campbell to trip him up! You're a spirited tid, my
dawtie, and I'm proud of you."
"But, Father," said Jock, "whatever shall we do about the rabbits? The
woods are full of them, and there'll not be a sprig of green left in the
garden. They can hop right over the wall, even if we do stop up the
hole."
"Aye," answered his father solemnly, "and that's a serious question, my
lad. They get worse every year, and syne we'll have no tatties for the
winter, let alone other vegetables. A deer came into Andrew Crumpet's
garden one night last week and left not a green sprout in it by the
morning. The creatures must live that idle gentlemen may shoot them
for pleasure, even though they eat our food and leave us to go hungry."
His brow darkened and a long-smouldering wrath burst forth into
words. "There's no justice in it," he declared, thumping the table with
his fist till the spoons danced, "Lairds or no Lairds, Anguses or no
Anguses."
The Twins had never before heard their father speak like that, and they

were a