Wee Macgreegor Enlists

by J. J. Bell

  XIX

  A SERIOUS REVERSE

  The fact that Christina had not written was a paralyzing blow toMacgregor's self-confidence and left him altogether uncertain ofhis ground. For the time being his sense of guilt as well as thatof injury was almost swamped by the awful dread that she had simplygrown tired of him. He entered the shop with foreboding--andreceived another blow.

  A smartly dressed young man was lounging at the counter, apparentlybasking in Christina's smiles. As a matter of fact, the young manwas merely choosing a notebook, and until the moment of Macgregor'sentrance had been treated with the slightly haughty politenesswhich Christina made a point of administering to males under fifty.But with amazing abruptness she became so charming that the youngman, a sensitive, susceptible creature, decided that an ordinarypenny note-book would not do.

  'Well,' said Christina sweetly, 'here are some at twopence,threepence and sixpence. The sixpenny ones are extremely reliable.'

  After some desultory conversation in low tones, during whichMacgregor writhed with frequently averted gaze, the young man chosea sixpenny one and put down a florin, regretfully remarking that hehad to catch a confounded train.

  With a delicious smile Christina handed him his change, and with agraceful salute he fled without counting it. Immediately the doorhad closed Christina realized that she had given him one andninepence. A small matter at such a time, yet it may have been thelast straw. She had no word for Macgregor as he came to thecounter, his uncertainty increased by that delicious smile given toanother.

  'Weel, ye've got back,' was all he could utter, and her attitudestopped him in the first movement of offering his hand.

  'Yesterday afternoon,' she returned coldly.

  'Ay, I ken. I wish ye had sent me word,' he managed to say after aslight pause.

  'It did not seem necessary. I suppose your mother told you.'

  'I heard it first frae Aunt Purdie. I missed ye by less nor an'oor. It was gey hard lines.'

  Christina stared.

  'I got leave yesterday mornin' an' catched the first train toAberdeen----'

  'Oh! . . . What on earth took you to Aberdeen?'

  'Christina,' he exclaimed, 'dinna speak like that! I gaed toAberdeen because I couldna thole it ony mair.'

  'Thole what?'

  'Oh, ye ken! . . . Maybe I had nae business to be vexed at ye forgaun wi' Aunt Purdie, but oh, Christina dear, I wisht ye hadnagaed.'

  He dropped his gaze and continued: 'I'm tellin' ye I gaed toAberdeen because something seemed to ha'e come betwixt us, becauseI----' He stuck. Confession in the face of stern virtue is not soeasy, after all.

  'Pity you had the long journey,' she said airily, 'but you ought tohave stopped for a day or two when you were there. Aberdeen is adelightful city.' She turned and surveyed the shelves above her.

  His look then would have melted the heart of any girl, except thisone who loved him.

  'Christina,' he said piteously, 'it wasna a' ma fau't.'

  Leisurely she faced him.

  'May I ask what you are referring to?'

  'Ye never said ye was sorry to leave me; yer letters wasna like ye,an' I didna ken what to think. An' then the cocoa-nut fairly putthe lid on. I tell ye, a chap has to dae _something_ when a girltreats him like that.'

  'Has he?'

  He winced. 'But I forgive ye----'

  'Thanks!'

  '--because I'm gaun to tell ye a' aboot it, Christina, an' ask yekindly to forgive me. Ay, I'm gaun to tell yeeverything--everything! But I canna think,' he blundered on, 'I'msayin', I canna think hoo I happened to get yer monkey up to beginwi'----'

  'Excuse me!' she cried, indignant. 'My monkey up, indeed!'

  'Weel, maybe it wasna exac'ly yer monkey up; but I want to ken whatway ye didna write a nicer letter afore ye gaed awa'. Nae doobt yewas in a hurry, but it jist seemed as if ye didna care a button forme. Maybe ma letter to you wasna the thing, either, but I was thathurt when I wrote it, an' ye might ha'e understood hoo I wasfeelin'. Christina, tell me what was wrang that ye gaed awa' likeyon. Was ye--was ye fed up wi' me?'

  Christina took up a pencil and began to spoil it with a patentsharpener. 'Really, it is not worth while discussing,' she said.

  'What? No worth while? Oh, hoo can ye say a thing likethat! . . . But maybe I best tell ye ma ain story first.'

  'Many thanks. But I'm afraid I'm not deeply interested in anystory of yours.' She was almost sorry the next moment. It was justas if she had struck him.

  Presently he recovered a little. 'Christina,' he said quietly,'that's no true.'

  'Hoo daur ye!' she cried, forgetting her 'fine English' as well asher haughty pose.

  'If it was true, it wud mean that ye've been judgin' me unfair,kennin' it was unfair, an' I'll never believe ye wud daethat. . . . So, Christina dear, listen to me an' gi'e me a chance.'

  'Oh, what's the use,' she sighed with sudden weariness, 'what's theuse o' pretendin', Macgreegor?'

  'Wha's pretendin'?'

  'You! What's the use o' pretendin' ye're hurt? Fine ye ken I'm nothe--the only girl in the world.'

  'There's no anither like ye!'

  'Weel,' she said drily, 'that means variety, does it no?' She drewa long breath and moved back from the counter. 'I want to be asfair as I can, so perhaps I'd best ask ye a straight question.'

  'Ask it!' he said eagerly.

  'Wha's Maggie?'

  He was taken aback, but less so than she had expected, and possiblythat increased her bitterness.

  'She's a girl,' he began.

  'I could ha'e guessed that much. What sort o' girl?' she demanded,and wished she had held her tongue.

  'She--she's kin' o' fat----'

  'Fat!' Christina uttered the word with as much disgust as shewould have evinced had she been handed a pound of streaky baconwithout the paper. 'How delightful! Anything else in the way ofcharms?'

  'Christina, gi'e me a chance, an' I'll tell ye a' aboot it.'

  'Not another word! How long have you enjoyed the young lady'sacquaintance?'

  'Only a couple o' evenin's, but----'

  'Case of love at first sight, I suppose!'

  He flared up. 'If ye hadna left me I wud never ha'e met her. Ifye had wrote me a dacent letter----'

  'Whisht, man!' she said in momentary pity. 'Ye're talkin' like awean.'

  'I canna help it. I'm that fond o' ye. An' it's no as if I haddone a black crime. It was a pure accident----'

  'Jist like a penny novel,' she interrupted merciless again. 'Weel,I'm sure ye're welcome to ha'e as mony girls as ye like--only,ye'll ha'e to leave me oot. That's a'!' She took out her purseand from it something small which, stepping forward, she laid onthe counter near him. Her engagement ring!

  After a moment of strained silence--'Christina!' he gasped;'Christina! ye canna mean it serious!'

  'Good-bye,' she said stiffly, stepping back.

  'But--but ye ha'ena heard ma story. It's no fair----'

  'Oh,' she cried harshly, 'dinna keep on at that tune!'

  All at once he drew himself up. 'Noo I see what ye mean,' he saidin an almost even voice. 'Ye had made up yer mind to be quit o'me. Still, it wud ha'e been honester to say ye was fed up to maface. Weel, I'm no blamin' ye, an' I canna force ye to listen toma story, no that it wud be worth ma while noo to shame masel' wi'the tellin'. I'll no even ask ye hoo ye cam' to hear aboot Maggie.Maggie's jist an or'nar' girl, an' I'm jist an or'nar' chap thatdone a stupid thing because he couldna think what else to dae.Weel, ye'll sune forget me, an' maybe I'll sune forget you--wi' thehelp o' a bullet----'

  'Oh, dinna!' she whispered.

  'An' as for this'--he picked up the ring and let it drop on thefloor--'to hell wi' sich nonsense!'--and ground it under his heel.'So long!' he said, and went out quickly.