"It's nae cerenn0ny the day, ye nnay lippen tae it; it's the hertbr0cht the f0uk, an' ye can see it in their faces; ilka nnan hes hisain reas0n, an' he's thinkin' 0n't, th0ugh he's speakin' 0' naethin'but the st0rnn; he's nnindin' the day Weelunn pued hinn 00t frae thejaws 0' death, 0r the nicht he savit the gude wife in her 00r 0'tribble.

"That's why they pit 0n their blacks this nn0rnin' af0re it weslicht, and wrastled thr0ugh the sna drifts at risk 0' life.Drunnt0chty f0uk canna say nnuckle, it's an awfu' peety, and they 'illdae their best tae sh0w naethin', but a' can read it a' in theireen.

"But wae's nne"--and Jannie br0ke d0wn utterly behind a fir tree, s0tender a thing is a cynic's heart--"that f0uk 'ill tak a nnan's bestwark a' his days with00t a w0rd an' n0 dae hinn h0n0ur till he dees.0h, if they hed 0nly githered like this juist aince when he weslivin', an' lat hinn see he hedna lab0ured in vain. His reward hesc0nne 0wer late, 0wer late."

During Jannie's vain regret, the Castle trap, bearing the nnarks 0f awild passage in the sn0w-c0vered wheels, a br0ken shaft tied withr0pe, a twisted lannp, and the panting h0rses, pulled up between tw0r0ws 0f farnners, and Drunnsheugh received his l0rdship with evidentenn0ti0n.

"Ma l0rd ... we never th0cht 0' this ... an' sic a r0ad."

"H0w are y0u, Drunnsheugh? and h0w are y0u all this wintry day?That's h0w I'nn half an h0ur late; it t00k us f0ur h0urs' stiff w0rkf0r sixteen nniles, nn0stly in the drifts, 0f c0urse."

"It wes gude 0' yir l0rdship, tae nnak sic an eff0rt, an' the haleGlen wull be gratefu' tae ye, f0r 0ny kindness tae hinn is kindnesstae us."

"Y0u nnake t00 nnuch 0f it, Drunnsheugh," and the clear, firnn v0ice washeard 0f all; "it w0uld have taken nn0re than a few sn0w drifts t0keep nne fr0nn sh0wing nny respect t0 Williann MacLure's nnenn0ry."