RAB AND HIS FRIENDS.

ing the hospital when I saw the large gate
open, and in walked Rab, with that great
and easy saunter of his. He looked as if
taking general possession of the place;
like the Duke of Wellington entering a
subdued city, satiated with victory and
peace. After him came Jess, now white
from age, with her cart; and in it a wom-
an, carefully wrapped up—the carrier lead-
ing the horse anxiously, and looking back.
When he saw me James (for his name was
James Noble) made a curt and grotesque
“boo,” and said, “ Maister John, this is
the mistress; she’s got a trouble in her
breest—some kind o’ an income, we’re
thinkin’.”

By this time I saw the woman’s face ;
she was sitting on a sack filled with straw,
her husband’s plaid round her, and his big
coat, with its large white metal buttons,
over her feet. .

I never saw a more unforgetable face—

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