"From that hour she never breathed his name to ony of us; but we all
ken'd that it was her love for him that was preying upon her life.
The grief that has nae voice, like the canker-worm, always lies
ne'est to the heart. Puir Jeanie! she held out during the simmer,
but when the fall came, she just withered awa' like a flower, nipped
by the early frost, and this day we laid her in the earth.
"After the funeral was ower, and the mourners were all gone, I stood
beside her grave, thinking ower the days of my boyhood, when she and
I were happy weans, an' used to pu' the gowans together on the
heathery hills o' dear auld Scotland. An' I tried in vain to
understan' the mysterious providence o' God, who had stricken her,
who seemed sae gude and pure, an' spared the like o' me, who was mair
deservin' o' his wrath, when I heard a deep groan, an' I saw Willie
Robertson standing near me beside the grave.
"'Ye may as weel spare your grief noo,' said I, for I felt hard
towards him, 'an' rejoice that the weary is at rest.'
"'It was I murdered her,' said he, 'an' the thought will haunt me to
my last day. Did she remember me on her death bed?'
"'Her thoughts were only ken'd by Him who reads the secrets of a'
hearts, Willie. Her end was peace, an' her Saviour's blessed name
was the last sound upon her lips. But if ever woman died fra' a
broken heart, there she lies.'
"'Oh, Jeanie!' he cried, 'mine ain darling Jeanie! my blessed
lammie! I was na' worthy o' yer love - my heart, too, is breaking.
To bring ye back aince mair, I wad lay me down an' dee.'
"An' he flung himsel' upon the grave and embraced the fresh clods,
and greeted like a child.
"When he grew more calm, we had a long conversation about the past,
and truly I believe that the man was not in his right senses when he
married yon wife; at ony rate, he is not lang for this warld; he has
fretted the flesh aff his banes, an' before many months are ower,
his heid will lie as low as puir Jeanie Burns's."
While I was pondering this sad story in my mind, Mrs. H - - came in.
"You have heard the news, Mrs. M - -?"
I looked inquiringly.
"One of Clark's little boys that were lost last Wednesday in the
woods has been found."
"This is the first I have heard about it. How were they lost?"
"Oh, 'tis a thing of very common occurrence here.
