第33章

"Would it be ony kin'ness no to punish sin？ No to us a' means to pit awa' the ae ill thing frae us？ Whatever may be meant by the place o' meesery， depen' upo't， Mr. Sutherlan'， it's only anither form o' love， love shinin' through the fogs o' ill， an' sae gart leuk something verra different thereby. Man， raither nor see my Maggy--an' ye'll no doot 'at I lo'e her--raither nor see my Maggy do an ill thing， I'd see her lyin' deid at my feet. But supposin' the ill thing ance dune， it's no at my feet I wad lay her， but upo' my heart， wi' my auld arms aboot her， to hand the further ill aff o' her. An' shall mortal man be more just than God？ Shall a man be more pure than his Maker？ O my God！ my God！"The entrance of Margaret would have prevented the prosecution of this conversation， even if it had not already drawn to a natural close. Not that David would not have talked thus before his daughter， but simply that minds， like instruments， need to be brought up to the same pitch， before they can "atone together，" and that one feels this instinctively on the entrance of another who has not gone through the same immediate process of gradual elevation of tone.

Their books and slates were got out， and they sat down to their work； but Hugh could not help observing that David， in the midst of his lines and angles and algebraic computations， would， every now and then， glance up at Margaret， with a look of tenderness in his face yet deeper and more delicate in its expression than ordinary.

Margaret was， however， quite unconscious of it， pursuing her work with her ordinary even diligence. But Janet observed it.

"What ails the bairn， Dawvid， 'at ye leuk at her that get？ said she.

"Naething ails her， woman. Do ye never leuk at a body but when something ails them？""Ow， ay--but no that get."

"Weel， maybe I was thinkin' hoo I wad leuk at her gin onything did ail her.""Hoot！ hoot！ dinna further the ill hither by makin' a bien doonsittin' an' a bed for't."All David's answer to this was one of his own smiles.

At supper， for it happened to be Saturday， Hugh said：

"I've been busy， between whiles， inventing， or perhaps discovering， an etymological pedigree for you， David！""Weel， lat's hear't，" said David.

"First--do you know that that volume with your ancestor's name on it， was written by an old German shoemaker， perhaps only a cobbler， for anything I know？""I know nothing aboot it， more or less，" answered David.

"He was a wonderful man. Some people think he was almost inspired.""Maybe， maybe，" was all David's doubtful response.

"At all events， though I know nothing about it myself， he must have written wonderfully for a cobbler.""For my pairt，" replied David， "if I see no wonder in the man， I can see but little in the cobbler. What for shouldna a cobbler write wonnerfully， as weel as anither？ It's a trade 'at furthers meditation. My grandfather was a cobbler， as ye ca't； an' they say he was no fule in his ain way either.""Then it does go in the family！" cried Hugh， triumphantly.

"I was in doubt at first whether your name referred to the breadth of your shoulders， David， as transmitted from some ancient sire， whose back was an Ellwand-broad； for the g might come from a w or v， for anything I know to the contrary. But it would have been braid in that case. And， now， I am quite convinced that that Martin or his father was a German， a friend of old Jacob B渉men， who gave him the book himself， and was besides of the same craft； and he coming to this country with a name hard to be pronounced， they found a resemblance in the sound of it to his occupation； and so gradually corrupted his name， to them uncouth， into Elsynbrod， Elshinbrod， thence Elginbrod， with a soft g， and lastly Elginbrod， as you pronounce it now， with a hard g. This name， turned from Scotch into English， would then be simply Martin Awlbore. The cobbler is in the family， David， descended from Jacob B渉men himself， by the mother's side."This heraldic blazon amused them all very much， and David expressed his entire concurrence with it， declaring it to be incontrovertible.

Margaret laughed heartily.

Besides its own beauty， two things made Margaret's laugh of some consequence； one was， that it was very rare； and the other， that it revealed her two regular rows of dainty white teeth， suiting well to the whole build of the maiden. She was graceful and rather tall， with a head which， but for its smallness， might have seemed too heavy for the neck that supported it， so ready it always was to droop like a snowdrop. The only parts about her which Hugh disliked， were her hands and feet. The former certainly had been reddened and roughened by household work： but they were well formed notwithstanding. The latter he had never seen， notwithstanding the bare-foot habits of Scotch maidens； for he saw Margaret rarely except in the evenings， and then she was dressed to receive him.

Certainly， however， they were very far from following the shape of the clumsy country shoes， by which he misjudged their proportions.

Had he seen them， as he might have seen them some part of any day during the summer， their form at least would have satisfied him.