Lady Victoria Campbell

"REST AND BE THANKFUL" 333
into the buckboard with all her haps and arrange-
ments, the expeditionary force would be set in
motion. Visits to the sick, to the officials, and to the
people who must be " looked up " and organised.
Baiting took place in some friendly crofter's house.
There the coffee was made hot, the sandwich was
eaten, the hot bottle refilled, and the few minutes
taken of a deep slumber, and then John and the
carriage were once more in readiness. One day in
the week the class was held at " Sahara," a distant
district, white with the heaped and driven sands.
There the " mothers " were met, the affairs of the
clothing club discussed, and a talk held with every-
one present. No one was a stranger to her, after the
first hour of acquaintance : no one was forgotten
even after years of absence. Most of her friends had
a name given them. Where there are so many of
one or two clans distinctive titles are a help, and
Lady Victoria had a happy knack of suiting the title
to the individual.
If their peculiarities were successfully described,
with that instinct for character which she possessed,
there was no sting in the humour that nailed the
quality to a name. " The Rev. Laddie " remembers
that on hearing his title, " I had the audacity to
read the following Sunday, ' Let no man despise
thy youth/ for which I was duly and deservedly
whipped."
It was late afternoon before the buckboard was
seen coming home over the sands of Gott. " Many
a time," says one of those in Island House, " I