Oor ain folk times

256 CHILDREN OF THE MANSE IN EDINBURGH
inside of the bedclothes before twelve at night ; but he
must have been plucky, persevering, and hardy, because
he won the good-will and esteem of his employers, and
the hearty liking of all his fellow-employees. After his
long, hard apprenticeship he took a leading position in
the counting-house, and the arduous training he had
passed through stood him in good stead in after years.
His was indeed a noble character. One of the first
uses he made of his increased emoluments was to help
his struggling parents ; and the welcome additions to
the common purse sent by him and my brother David
enabled our parents to give the rest of the boys better
educational advantages. After many anxious prayerful
plannings and schemings, it was decided that Robert
and myself should be sent up to Edinburgh under the
charge of our only sister, to attend some of the schools
there.
A house was accordingly taken in the top flat of one
of the common - stair tenements for which Scottish
towns are famous. Our street led down directly to the
Queen's Park. The home was plainly furnished ; and
here for some years Alick and Jeannie played the part
of a vicarious father and mother to Robert and myself,
and eventually Tom and John, the next two on the
long list, were added to this swarm from the parent
hive.
Dear me ! how memories throng upon me as I write.
A. goodly volume could be written of my student life in
Edinburgh, but I must reserve that, as Rudyard Kipling
might say, for 'another story.'
Suffice it to say that Alick became chief bookkeeper
in the Free Church Offices, was offered a post of great