scheming ways had somewhat sapped his manhood, and the unfortunate land-steward, whose position was suddenly invested with associations of treachery. "We 'ill pay oor rent and dae oor duty by the land like honest men, but we 'ill no tak oor releegion, no, nor oor politics, frae ony livin' man, naither lord nor factor.

"We 're a' sorry for Burnbrae, for the brunt o' the battle 'ill fa' on him, an' he's been a gude neebur ta a' body, but there's nae fear o' him buying his lease wi' his kirk. Ma certes, the factor chose the worst man in the Glen for an aff go. Burnbrae wud raither see his hale plenishing gae doon the Tochty than play Judas to his kirk.

"It's an awfu' peety that oor auld Scotch kirk wes split, and it wud be a heartsome sicht tae see the Glen a' aneath ae roof aince a week. But ae thing we maun grant, the Disruption lat the warld ken there wes some spunk in Scotland.

"There 's nae man a' wud raither welcome tae oor kirk than Burnbrae, gin he cam o' his ain free will, but it wud be better that the kirk sud stand empty than be filled wi' a factor's hirelings."

Domsie took Drumsheugh by the hand, and said something in Latin that escaped the fathers, and then they went into kirk in single file with the air of a regiment of soldiers.

Drumsheugh set in the "briest o' the laft," as became a ruling elder, and had such confidence in the minister's orthodoxy that he was accustomed to meditate during the sermon, but on this memorable day he sat upright and glared at the pulpit with a ferocious expression. The doctor was disturbed by this unusual attention, and during his mid-sermon snuff sought in vain for a reason, since the sermon, "On the Certainty of Harvest, proved by the Laws of Nature and the Promises of Revelation," was an annual event, and Drumsheugh, walking by faith, had often given it his warm approval. He had only once before seen the same look—after the great potato calamity; and when the elder came to the manse, and they had agreed as to the filling quality of the weather, the doctor inquired anxiously how Drumsheygh had done with his potatoes.

"Weel eneuch," with quite unaffected indifference. "Weel eneuch, as prices are gaein', auchteen pund, 'Piggie' liftin' an' me cairtin'; but hevye heard aboot Burnbrae?" and Drumsheugh announced that the factor, being left unto the freedom of his own will, had opened a religious war in Drumtochty.

His voice vibrated with a new note as he stated the alternative offered to Burnbrae, and the doctor, a man well fed and richly coloured, as became a beneficed clergyman, turned purple.

"I told Kilspindie, the day before he left," burst out the doctor, "that he had made a mistake in bringing a stranger in John Leslie's place, who was a cautious, sensible man, and never made a drop of bad blood all the time he was factor.

"'Tomkyns is a very agreeable fellow, Davidson,' his lordship said to me, 'and a first-rate shot in the cover; besides, he has seen a good deal of life, and knows how to manage men.'

"It's all bad life he's seen,' I said, 'and it's not dining and shooting make a factor. That man 'ill stir up mischief on the estate before you come back, as sure 's your name's Kilspin-die,' but I never expected it would take this turn.

"Fool of a man," and the doctor raged through the study, "does he not know that it would be safer for him to turn the rotation of crops upside down and to double every rent than to meddle with a man's religion in Drum-tochty?

"Drumsheugh," said the doctor, coming to a stand, "I've been minister of this parish when there was only one church, and I've been minister since the Free Church began. I saw half my people leave me, and there were hot words going in '43; but nothing so base as this has been done during the forty years of my office, and I call God to witness I have lived at peace with all men.

"I would rather cut off my right hand than do an injury to Burnbrae or any man for his faith, and it would break my heart if the Free Kirk supposed I had anything to do with this deed.

"The factor is to be at the inn on Tuesday; I 'll go to him there and then, and let him know that he cannot touch Burnbrae without rousing the whole parish of Drumtochty."

"Ye 'ill tak me wi' ye, sir, no tae speak, but juist tae let him see hoo the Auld Kirk feels."

"That I will, Drumsheugh; there's grit in the Glen; and look you, if you meet Burnbrae coming from his kirk ye might just——"

"It wes in ma ain mind, doctor, tae sae a word for's a', an' noo a 'll speak wi' authority. The Auld and the Frees shoother tae shoother for the first time since '43—it 'ill be graund.

"Sall," said Drumsheugh, as this new aspect of the situation opened, "the factor hes stirred a wasp's byke when he meddled wi' Drumtochty." The council of the Frees had been somewhat divided that morning—most holding stoutly that Doctor Davidson knew nothing of the factor's action, a few in their bitterness being tempted to suspect every one, but Burnbrae was full of charity.

"Dinna speak that wy, Netherton, for it's no Christian; Doctor Davidson may be a Moderate, but he's a straicht-forward an' honourable gentleman, as his father wes afore him, and hes never said 'kirk' to ane o' us save in the wy o' freendliness a' his days.

"It 's no his blame nor Lord Kilspindie's, ye may lippen (trust) to that; this trial is the wull o' God, an' we maun juist seek grace tae be faithfu'."

Every Sabbath a company of the Auld Kirk going west met a company of the Frees going east, and nothing passed except a no'd or "a wee saft," in the case of drenching rain, not through any want of neighbourliness, but because this was the nature God had been pleased to give Drumtochty.

For the first time, the Auld Kirk insisted on a halt and conversation. It did not sound much, being mainly a comparison of crops among the men, and a brief review of the butter market by the women—Jamie Soutar only going the length of saying that he was coming next Sabbath to hear the last of Cunningham's "course"—but it was understood to be a demonstration, and had its due effect.

"A' wes wrang," said Netherton to Donald Menzies; "they 've hed naething tae dae wi 't; a' kent that the meenute a' saw Jamie Soutar. Yon 's the first time a' ever mind them stop-pin'," and a mile further on Netherton added, "That's ae gude thing, at ony rate."

Burnbrae and Drumsheugh met later, and alone, and there were no preliminaries.

"Jamie Soutar told us this mornin', Burnbrae, in the kirkyaird, and a 've come straicht the noo frae the doctor's study, and ye never saw a man mair concerned.

"He chairged me tae say, withoot delay, that he wud raither hae cut aff his richt hand than dae ye an ill, an' he 's gaein' this verra week tae gie his mind tae the factor.

"Man, it wud hae dune your hert gude gin ye hed heard Jamie this mornin' in the kirkyaird; he fair set the heather on fire—a'm no settled yet—we 're a' wi' ye, every man o's.

"Na, na, Burnbrae, we 're no tae lose ye yet; ye 'ill hae yir kirk and yir fairm in spite o' a' the factors in Perthshire, but a'm expeckin' a fecht."

"Thank ye, Drumsheugh, thank ye kindly; and wull ye tell Doctor Davidson that he hesna lived forty years in the Glen for naethin"?

"We said this mornin' that he wud scorn tae fill his kirk with renegades, and sae wud ye a', but a' wesna prepared for sic feelin".

"There's ae thing maks me prood o' the Glen: nae man, Auld or Free, hes bidden me pit ma fairm afore ma kirk, but a 'body expecks me tae obey ma conscience.

"A 've got till Monday week tae consider ma poseetion, and it 'ill depend on the factor whether a 'll be allowed tae close ma days in the place where ma people hae lived for sax generations, or gae forth tae dee in a strange land."

"Dinna speak like that, Burnbrae; the doctor hesna hed his say yet; the 'll be somethin' worth hearin' when he faces the factor," and Drumsheugh waited for the battle between Church and State with a pleasurable anticipation