life's reverses.
17
There the crack o' Miss Clara, which ser'd to explain
The puir lassie's errand, his heart filled wi' pain;
Weel she kenn'd wi' kind feeling it gushed to the brim,
Sae she played aff the amiable aye afore him;
She had gi'en, wi' his knowledge, much siller awa,
But if he o'erheard her just now 'twould spoil a'.
"What a storm!" she exclaimed, as a fierce rattlin' shower
O' hail struck the window wi' fury an' power.
"How thankfu' should those be," returned the young squire,
"Wha's hame's fu' o' comforts, wha's seat's by the fire."
"True," sighed out Miss Clara wi' sanctified air,
"I'm glad my donation is gane to the puir."
"I pity," quo he, "in that tempest an' snaw,
The pair things that waited sae lang in the ha';
Necessity must, in a desperate form,
Hae driven them here in that pitiless storm."
She then stammered out, wi' a hem an' a ha,
At sewing the girl was employed by -mamma.
The squire noo resolved, soon as morn had returned,
To mak' the hame glad where the needy ones mourned.
But that nicht's awfu' suff'rin', an' nameless distress,
Tae the wand'rin' an' weary, what words wad express,
As in silence, wi' bosoms pitch-black wi' despair,
They dolefully faced the wild tempest ance mair—
Nae strength to resist the fierce breath o' the gale,
Nae happin' to shield frae ilk volley o' hail;
The puir lassie's errand, his heart filled wi' pain;
Weel she kenn'd wi' kind feeling it gushed to the brim,
Sae she played aff the amiable aye afore him;
She had gi'en, wi' his knowledge, much siller awa,
But if he o'erheard her just now 'twould spoil a'.
"What a storm!" she exclaimed, as a fierce rattlin' shower
O' hail struck the window wi' fury an' power.
"How thankfu' should those be," returned the young squire,
"Wha's hame's fu' o' comforts, wha's seat's by the fire."
"True," sighed out Miss Clara wi' sanctified air,
"I'm glad my donation is gane to the puir."
"I pity," quo he, "in that tempest an' snaw,
The pair things that waited sae lang in the ha';
Necessity must, in a desperate form,
Hae driven them here in that pitiless storm."
She then stammered out, wi' a hem an' a ha,
At sewing the girl was employed by -mamma.
The squire noo resolved, soon as morn had returned,
To mak' the hame glad where the needy ones mourned.
But that nicht's awfu' suff'rin', an' nameless distress,
Tae the wand'rin' an' weary, what words wad express,
As in silence, wi' bosoms pitch-black wi' despair,
They dolefully faced the wild tempest ance mair—
Nae strength to resist the fierce breath o' the gale,
Nae happin' to shield frae ilk volley o' hail;
