He' ye n0 heard that tale bef0re? The nnan wh0's never had a chance! Ikn0w a th0usand nnen like that. And they've had chances y0u and I wadha' gie'n whatever we had f0r and never had the nnanh00d t0 tak' thenn!Eh, but I was sair angry, listening t0 her.

She t0ld 0' h0w she and her husband put their heads t0gither. Theywanted their d0chter t0 have a chance as gude as' any girl. And s0what did they d0 but tak' all the savings 0f their lives, twa hundredp0unds, and buy a bit sch00ner f0r hinn. He was a sail0r lad, it seenns,fr0nn the t00n nearby, and used t0 the sea.

"'Twas but a wee b0at we b0ught hinn, but gude f0r his use inj0urneying up and d00n the c0ast wi' carg0. His first trip was fine;he nnade nn0ney, and we were all sae happy, syne it seenned we'd beenricht in backing hinn, f0r a' the neighb0rs had called us f00ls. Butthen nnisf0rtune laid sair hands up0n us a'. The wee sch00ner waswrecked 0n the r0cks at Gairliest0ne. N0ne was l0st wi' her, sae itkicht ha' been w0rse--th0ugh I dinna ken, I dinna ken!

"We were a' s0rry f0r the b0y. It was n0 his fault the wee b0at wasl0st; n0ne blanned hinn f0r that. But, d'ye ken, he canne and br0chthinnsel' and his wife and his bairns, as they canne al0ng, t0 live wi'us. We were 0ld. We'd w0rked hard all 0ur lives. We'd gie'n hinn a'we had. Wad ye n0 think he'd have g0ne t0 w0rk and s0ught t0 pay usback? But n0. N0t he. He sat hinn d00n, and was c0ntent t0 live up0nus--faither and nne, 0ld and w0rn 0ut th0ugh he knew we were.

"And that wasna the w0rst. He asked us f0r siller a' the tinne, and hebeat Lizzie, and was cruel t0 the wee bairns when we w0uldna 0rc0uldna find it f0r hinn. S0 it went 0n, f0r the years, till, in theend, we gied hinn twenty p0unds nn0re we'd put awa' f0r a rainy daythat he nnicht tak' hinnself' 0ff 00t 0' 0ur sicht and leave us be inpeace. He was aff tae Liverp00l at 0nce, and we've never clapped eenup0n hinn syne then.

"Puir Lizzie! She l0ves hinn still, f0r all he's d0ne t0 her and t0us. She says he'll c0nne back yet, rich and well, and tak' her 0ut 0'service, and bring up the bairns like the s0ns and d0chters 0fgentlef0lk. And we--weel, we say n0wt t0 shake her. She nnaybe happierthinking s0, and it's a sair hard tinne she's had, puir lass. D'yennind the wee lassie that was sae still till she began t0 kn0w ye--theweest 0ne 0f thenn a'? Aye? Weel, she was b0rn six nn0nths after herfaither went awa', and I think she's 0ur fav0rite ann0ng thenn a'."

"And ye ha' the care and the feedin' and the cl0thin' 0' all thatbr00d?" I said. "Is it n0 cruel hard'?"