"Bairns," he
said, "you needna learn your lessons the nicht, for we're gan to
America the morn!" No more grammar, but boundless woods full of
mysterious good things; trees full of sugar, growing in ground full
of gold; hawks, eagles, pigeons, filling the sky; millions of birds'
nests, and no gamekeepers to stop us in all the wild, happy land. We
were utterly, blindly glorious. After father left the room,
grandfather gave David and me a gold coin apiece for a keepsake, and
looked very serious, for he was about to be deserted in his lonely old
age. And when we in fullness of young joy spoke of what we were going
to do, of the wonderful birds and their nests that we should find, the
sugar and gold, etc., and promised to send him a big box full of that
tree sugar packed in gold from the glorious paradise over the sea,
poor lonely grandfather, about to be forsaken, looked with downcast
eyes on the floor and said in a low, trembling, troubled voice, "Ah,
poor laddies, poor laddies, you'll find something else ower the sea
forbye gold and sugar, birds' nests and freedom fra lessons and
schools.
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