The minister looked after him with surprise;
but although he knew the inhabitant of the hovel,
the character of Elspat had not invited him to open
any communication with her, because she was
generally reputed a Papist, or rather one indifferent
to all religion, except some superstitious observances
which had been handed down from her
parents. On Hamish the Reverend Mr Tyrie had
bestowed instructions when he was occasionally
thrown in his way, and if the seed fell among the
brambles and thorns of a wild and uncultivated
disposition, it had not yet been entirely checked
or destroyed. There was something so ghastly in
the present expression of the youth's features, that
the good man was tempted to go down to the hovel,
and enquire whether any distress had befallen the
inhabitants, in which his presence might be consoling,
and his ministry useful. Unhappily he did
not persevere in this resolution, which might have
saved a great misfortune, as he would have probably
become a mediator for the unfortunate young
man; but a recollection of the wild moods of such
Highlanders as had been educated after the old
fashion of the country, prevented his interesting
himself in the widow and son of the far-dreaded
robber MacTavish Mhor; and he thus missed an
opportunity, which he afterwards sorely repented,
of doing much good.
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