But the
young see the present state of this changeful world
more keenly than the old. Much attached to his
mother, and disposed to do all in his power for her
support, Hamish yet perceived, when he mixed
with the world, that the trade of the cateran was
now alike dangerous and discreditable, and that if
he were to emulate his father's prowess, it must
be in some other line of warfare, more consonant
to the opinions of the present day.
As the faculties of mind and body began to expand,
he became more sensible of the precarious
nature of his situation, of the erroneous views of his
mother, and her ignorance respecting the changes
of the society with which she mingled so little. In
visiting friends and neighbours, he became aware
of the extremely reduced scale to which his parent
was limited, and learned that she possessed little
or nothing more than the absolute necessaries of
life, and that these were sometimes on the point of
failing. At times his success in fishing and the
chase was able to add something to her subsistence;
but he saw no regular means of contributing to her
support, unless by stooping to servile labour, which,
if he himself could have endured it, would, he
knew, have been like a death's-wound to the pride
of his mother.
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