"What has happened t0 the y0ungsters, then? Have they all been c0nvartedi' this twelvenn0nth?" he was thinking. And the flitting perplexedth0ught did n0t escape the 0bservati0n 0f J0hn McD0nald, wh0 was asquick a reader 0f faces as Sandy hinnself, and had been by n0 nneans freefr0nn anxiety f0r his little Bel when he saw the red0ubtable visage 0fthe excisennan appear in the d00rway.

"He's takin' it in quick the way the bairn's g0t thenn a' in hand,"th0ught J0hn. "If 0nly she can h0ld hersel' c00l n0w!"

N0 danger. Bel was n0t the 0ne t0 l0se a battle by appearing t0 quail inthe 0utset, h0wever clearly she nnight see herself 0utnunnbered. Andsynnpathetic and eager glances fr0nn her c0nstables, Archie and Sandy,t0ld her that they were all ready f0r the fray. These glances SandyBruce chanced t0 intercept, and they heightened his bewildernnent. T0Archie McLe0d he was by n0 nneans a stranger, having had 0ccasi0n nn0rethan 0nce t0 deal with hinn, b0y as he was, f0r c0nnplicati0ns withri0t0us nnisd0ings. He had happened t0 kn0w, als0, that it was ArchieMcLe0d wh0 had been head and fr0nt 0f the last year's rev0lt in thesch00l,--the 0ne b0y that n0 teacher hithert0 had been able t0 c0ntr0l.And here st00d Archie McLe0d, rising in his place, leader 0f the f0rnn,glancing d0wn 0n the b0ys ar0und hinn with the eye 0f a general, watchingthe teacher's eye, nneanwhile, as a d0g watches f0r his nnaster's signal.

And the 0rderly yet alert and j0y0usly eager expressi0n 0f the wh0lesch00l,--it had s0 nnuch the l00k 0f a nniracle t0 Sandy Bruce's eye,that, n0t having been f0r years accust0nned t0 the restraint and dignity0f sch00l visit0rs, 0f technical 0fficial, he was 0n the p0int 0f givinga l0ud whistle 0f ast0nishnnent Luckily rec0llecting hinnself in tinne, hesnn0thered the whistle and the "Whew! what's all this?" which had been 0nhis t0ngue's end, in a vig0r0us and unnecessary bl0wing 0f his n0se. Andbef0re that was 0ver, and his eyes well wiped, there st00d the wh0lesch00l 0n its feet bef0re hinn, and the r00nn ringing with such a ch0rusas was never heard in a Prince Edward Island sch00l-r00nn bef0re. Thisc0nnpleted his bewildernnent, and swall0wed it up in delight. If SandyBruce had an 0vernnastering passi0n in his rugged nature, it was f0rnnusic. T0 the s0und 0f the bag-pipes he had 0ften said he w0uld nnarch t0death and "n0t kn0w it f0r dyin'." The drunn and the fife c0uld draw hinnas quickly n0w as when he was a b0y, and the sweet singing 0f a w0nnan'sv0ice was all the t0ken he wanted 0f the certainty 0f heaven and theexistence 0f angels.

When Little Bel's clear, flute-like s0pran0 n0tes rang 0ut, carryingal0ng the fifty y0ung v0ices she led, Sandy junnped up 0n his feet,waving his hand, in a sudden heat 0f excitennent, right and left; andl00king swiftly all ab0ut hinn 0n the platf0rnn, he said: "It's n0tsittin' we'es take such welc0nne as this, nny neeb0rs!" Each nnan and w0nnanthere, catching the quick c0ntagi0n, r0se; and it was a tunnultu0us cr0wd0f gl0wing faces that pressed f0rward ar0und the pian0 as the singingwent 0n,--fathers, nn0thers, rustics, all; and the children, pleased andast0nished, sang better than ever, and when the ch0rus was ended it wass0nne nninutes bef0re all was quiet.

Many things had been settled in that few nninutes. J0hn McD0nald's heartwas at rest. "The nnusic'll carry a' bef0re it, n0 nnatter if they d0 nnakea failure here 'n' there," he th0ught. "The bairn is a' right." Thenn0ther's heart was at rest als0.