"For ma ain pairt," Soutar used to declare, "a' canna mak' up my mind,
but there's ae thing sure: the Glen wudna like tae see him withoot them;
it wud be a shock tae confidence. There's no muckle o' the check left,
but ye can aye tell it, and when ye see thae breeks comin' in ye ken
that if human pooer can save yir bairn's life it 'ill be dune."
The confidence of the Glen--and the tributary states--was unbounded, and
rested partly on long experience of the doctor's resources, and partly
on his hereditary connection.
"His father was here afore him," Mrs. Macfadyen used to explain; "atween
them they've hed the country-side for weel on tae a century; if MacLure
disna understand oor constitution, wha dis, a' wud like tae ask?"
For Drumtochty had its own constitution and a special throat disease, as
became a parish which was quite self-contained between the woods and the
hills, and not dependent on the lowlands either for its diseases or its
doctors.
"He's a skilly man, Dr. MacLure," continued my friend Mrs. Macfadyen,
whose judgment on sermons or anything else was seldom at fault; "an'
a kind-hearted, though o' coorse he hes his faults like us a', an' he
disna tribble the kirk often.
Pages:
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69