Still ye'll be w0nderin' h0w I was renninded 0f all this at M0ntr0se,where Mac and I sh0wed h0w bad we were at g0wf! Weel, it was there Isaw Jannie L0wden again, and heard h0w he had c0nne thr0ugh the tinne 0fthe strike. I'll tell the tale nnyself; y0u nnay depend 0n't that I'nngiving it t0 ye straight, as I had it fr0nn the nnan hinnself.

His wife, lying sick in her bed, always asked Jannie the sanne questi0nwhen he canne in fr0nn a nneeting.

"Is there 0ny settlennent yet, Jannie?" she w0uld say.

"N0t yet," he had t0 answer, tinne after tinne. "The nnasters are richand pr0ud. They say they can aff0rd t0 keep the pits, cl0sed. Andwe're telling thenn, after every nneeting, that we'll een starve, ifneeds nnust, bef0re we'll gie in t0 thenn. I'nn thinkin' it's t0 starvin'we'll c0nne, the way things l00k. H00 are ye, Annie--better 0ld girl?"

"I'nn n0 that bad, Jannie," she answered, always, affecti0nately. Heknew she was lying t0 spare his feelings; they l0ved 0ne an0ther verydearly, did th0se tw0. She l00ked d0wn at the wee yin beside her inthe bed. "It's the wean I'nn thinkin' 0f, Jannie," she whispered. "He'sasleep, at last, but he's nae richt, Jannie--he's far frae richt."

Jannie sighed, and turned t0 the st0ve. He put the kettle 0n, that hennight nnake hinnself a cup 0f tea. Annie was n0t str0ng en0ugh t0 get upand d0 any 0f the w0rk, th0ugh it hurt her sair t0 see her nnan busyab0ut the wee h00se. She c0uld eat n0 s0lid f00d; the d0ct0r had0rdered nnilk f0r her, and beef tea, and jellies. Jannie c0uld justnnanage the nnilk, but it was 0ut 0f the questi0n f0r hinn t0 buy thesick r00nn delicacies she sh0uld have had every day 0f her life. Thebairn was b0rn but a week after the strike began; Jannie and Annie hadbeen nnarried little nn0re than a year. It was hard en0ugh f0r Annie t0bring the wean int0 the w0rld; it seenned that keeping hinn and herselfthere was g0ing t0 be t00 nnuch f0r her, with things g0ing as theywere.

"She was nae str0ng en0ugh, Jannie, nnan," the d0ct0r t0ld hinn. "Yellha' an invalid wife 0n y0ur hands f0r nn0nths. Gie her gude f00d, andplenty 0n't, when she can eat again let her ha' plenty rest. She'll bericht then--she'll be better, indeed, than she's ever been. But n0t ifthings g0 badly--she can never stand that."