If I am, let this answer
for me. I was unhappy, more unhappy than you can think. Let
no one be blamed. It was one far from here and you will not
know his name. Do not think of me as wicked nor as a
murderess. The unhappy should have pardon and rest. Good-by
to all--good-by!
In the upper corner was written, "For White Farm." That was all.
Glenfernie put this letter into the bosom of his shirt. He then got on
again the clothing he had discarded, and, stooping, put his arms
beneath the lifeless form. He lifted it and bore it from the Kelpie's
Pool and up the moor. He was a man much stronger than the ordinary; he
carried it as though he felt no weight. The icy water of the pool upon
him was as nothing, and as he walked his face was still as a stone
face in a desert. So he came with Elspeth's body back to the glen, and
Mother Binning saw him coming.
"Hech, sirs! Hech, sirs! Will it hae been that way--will it hae been
that way?"
He stopped for a moment. He laid his burden down upon the boards just
within the door and smoothed back the streaming hair. "Even the shell
flung out by the ocean is beautiful!"
"Eh, man! Eh, man! It's wae sometimes to be a woman!"
"Give me," he said, "a plaid, dry and warm, to hap her in."
"Will ye na leave her here? Put her in my bed and gae tell White
Farm!"
"No, I will carry her home.
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