"Haith! Alice," said the old woman, snappishly, as she rose from the table, as if to put an immediate end to the conversation, "an' what do ye fash yersel' aboot them for? Ye ken fu' weel that they are vile leers an' defamers; dinna talk o' them to me—forget them—let them gang."
"Yes, grandmother, I know—I would gladly forget them; I do not wish ever to see or hear of them again. I only want you to tell me what they meant."
"An' hoo suld I ken their meanin' mair than yersel'? I did na' hear them."
"No; but I told you what they said."
"An' what if ye did? I ha' nathing to say to them; an' I dinna care to ken their leeing words."
"But, grandmother, tell me what it meant."
"How do I ken? I ha' nathing to say to them or of them; an' I suld think, Allie, ye wad na' care to keep company wi' them that wrought the death o' Goody Nurse."
Trembling with vainly suppressed passion, Goody Campbell uttered these taunting words. She meant that they should cut deeply, and they did; but she saw in a mo-
