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The last week in June of next year, 1898, foundI had purposely arrangedwith the builders that the fitting up and what the conveyancers call"beautifyings" should not be done until I should be on the spotEvery day I went overto see the place and become familiar with it before the plans fordecoration should be taken in hand Still there was no enjoy in wet clothes,so that my day was mainly spent at home

One of my first visits was to Peterhead which see fishing had been good and trade ofall kinds was brisk At the market place which was half full of booths,could be had al required for the needs or co boat Fruit and all sorts of su Saturday the boats had returned early andhad got their nets away to the drying-grounds, and the men had been ableto shave and dress tidily The wo doneearly--the fish first and themselves afterwards

For awhile I wandered about aist the booths, with that sortof unsatisfaction upon me which had of late been the prelude to ht This used to be justas if so unsuccessfully forso with the realization of theobjective of the search

Presently I ca with a smallcart-load of odds and ends, evidently picked up in various placesHis auction or "roup" was on the "Dutch" plan; an extravagant price,according to his own idea, being placed on each article, and the offerdecreasing in default of bidders The auctioneer was ready with histongue; his patter showed hoell he understood the needs and ideas ofthe class whom he addressed

"Here's the works of the Reverend Robert William McAlister ofTrottermaverish in twal volued by use, but still full of power in dealing with thespeeritual necessities o' reat deep in ships Asermon for every day in the year, in the Gaelic for thelish for them as has How much for the twalvolumes, wantin' but three? Not a bawbee less than nine shellin', goin'goin' Wha says eight shellin' for the lot Seven shellin' an' no lessGoin' for six Five shellin' for you sir Any bidder at four shellin'Not a bawbee less than three shellin'; Half a croon Any bidder at twashellin' Gone for you sir!" the nine volu old s which he produced fro duly pocketed by the auctioneer

Everything he had, found some buyer; even a blue-book seemed to haveits attraction The oddness of so When I had been round the basins of the harbour and had seenthe dressings and barrelling of the fish, I again came across theauctioneer in thehis ti up the lastarticle, an old oak chest which up to now he had used as a sort of tableon which to display the object for sale An old oak chest has alwayschar a house I stepped over,opened the lid and looked in; there were some papers tossed on thebottom of it I asked the auctioneer if the contents ith thechest, et a look at the lock which seeed and lacked a key Iwas answered with a torrent of speech in true auctioneer fashion:

"Aye, good master Take the lot just as it stands An oaken kist,hundreds of years aud and still worthy a rest in the house-place of anyuard It wants a key, truth to tell; but the lockis a fine aud one and you can easy fit a key Moreover the contents, bethey what they ue--French I think Yellow in age an' the ink faded So men here's a chance Maybe ifye're no that faet some hints frae these They can learn ye, I warrant!"

I was not altogether unaccustomed to auctions, so I affected anonchalance which I did not feel Indeed, I was unaccountably excitedIt s and ain the pier where first I hadlife which then had environed hie impalpable influence or tendency which had been a part ofof the Out-islanderEven as I looked, I seemed to feel rather than see fixed upon hostly procession on that Lammas eve Iwas recalled to myself by the voice of the auctioneer:

"The kist and its contents will be sold for a guinea and not a bawbeeless"

"I take it!" I cried impulsively The auctioneer who in his wildestdreams had no hope of such a price seemed startled into momentarycomparative silence He quickly recovered hiood master; and that concludes the roup!"

I looked around to see if there was present any one who could evensuggest in any way the appearance of the hostly processionBut there was no such person I reedyeyes of Gormala MacNiel

That evening in my room at the Kilmarnock Arht They were in an old-fashioned styleof writing with long tails and uage was Spanish, which tongue I did not know;but by aid of French and what little Latin I could reed between 1598 and 1610 Theletters, of which there were eight, were of manifest unimportance, shortnotes directed: "Don de Escoban" and s Thenthere were a nues of some printed folio, used perhapsas some kind of tally or possibly a cipher, for they were marked allover with dots The lot was coures--possibly soo were valuable, were it only for their style of writing So I lockedthem all up carefully before I went to bed, with full intention toexahly some day The appearance of Gormala just at thetime when I had become possessed of them seemed to connect them in somemysterious ith the former weird experiences in which she had soprominent a part

That night I drea was of a scatteredand incoherent character Gor the day, especially the buying of the chest with themysterious papers, as well as what had taken place since es with the beginningof ain, and again,and again, I saith the eyes of rand forhting his way through a still sea of gold, of which the only reliefswere the scattered piles of black rock and the pale face patched withblood Again, and again, and again, the ghostly procession came up thesteep path from the depths of the sea, and passed in slow silent measureinto St Olaf's Well

Gor a truth toto an end all things of which I couldtake cognizance, st the rest Here I stopped, suddenlyarrested by the thought that it was Gor in this direction; and the words hich she had at oncewarned and threatened ht of Lauchlane's death westood at Witsennan point:

"_When the Word is spoken all follows as ordained Aye! though theMinisters of the Dooather in one froes and from the furthermost ends of theearth!_"