She sprang up
joyfully--not without a little pang at the thought of leaving her father
alone, although she knew him quite equal to anything that could be required
in the house before her return--and set about preparing their dinner, while
Andrew went to execute a few commissions that the mistress at Stonecross
and his mother at Bogsheuch had given him. By the time he returned, Maggie
was in her Sunday gown, with her week-day wrapper and winsey petticoat in a
bundle--for she reckoned on being of some use to Eppie during her visit
When they had eaten their humble dinner, Andrew brought the cart to the
door, and Maggie scrambled into it.
"Tak a piece wi' ye," said her father, following her to the cart: "ye hadna
muckle to yer denner, and ye may be hungry again or ye hae the lang road
ahint ye!"
He put several pieces of oatcake in her hand, which she received with a
loving smile; and they set out at a walking pace, which Andrew made no
attempt to quicken.
It was far from a comfortable carriage, neither was her wisp of straw in
the bottom of it altogether comfortable to sit upon; but the change from
her stool and the close attention her work required, to the open air and
the free rush of the thoughts that came crowding to her out of the
wilderness, put her at once in a blissful mood.
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