Page:History of Duncan Campbell, and his dog, Oscar (2).pdf/15



15 delights; but other cares and other pleasures await- ed us. As we advanced in years and strength, we quitted the herding, and bore a hand in the labours of the farm. Mary, too, was often our assistant She and Duncan were nearly of an age--he was tall, comely, and affable; and if Mary was not the prettiest girl in the parish, at least Duncan and I believed her to be so, which with us, amounted to the same thing. We often compared the other girls in the parish with one another as to their beauty and accomplishments, but to think of com- paring any of them with Mary, was entirely out of the question. She was, indeed, the emblem of truth, simplicity, and innocence, and if there were few more beautiful, there were still fewer so good and amiable; but still as she advanced in years, she grew fonder and fonder of being near Duncan; and by the time she was nineteen, was so deeply in love, that it affected her manner, her spirits, and her health. At one time she was gay and frisky as a kitten; she would dance, sing, and laugh violently at the most trivial incidents. At other times she was silent and sad, while a languishing softness overspread her features, and added greatly to her charms: The passion was undoubtedly mu- tual between them; but Duncan either from a sense of honour, or some other cause, never declared himself farther on the subject, than by the most respectful attention, and tender assiduities. About forty years ago the flocks of southern sheep which have since that period mundated the Highlands, had not found their way over the Grampian mountains, and the native flocks of that sequestrated country were so scanty, that it was found necessary to transport small quantities of