Violet Jacob > Flemington

PROLOGUE
i5
Madam Flemington could deal out punishment
thoroughly, but she was not one of those who
burn its raw wounds with sour words, and her
grandson had not that woeful sense of estrange¬
ment which is the lot of many children when
disciplined by those they love. Archie adored
his grandmother, and the gap of years between
them was bridged for him by his instinctive and
deep admiration. She was no companion to him,
but she was a deity, and he had never dreamed of
investing her with those dull attributes which the
young will tack on to those who are much their
seniors, whether they possess them or not. Mr.
Duthie, who had just reached middle life, seemed
a much older person to Archie.
He felt in his pocket for the dilapidated box
which held his chief treasures—those dirty lumps
of paint with which he could do such surprising
things. No, there was not very much black left,
and he must contrive to get some more, for the
adornment of the other manse gatepost was in his
mind. He would need a great deal of black,
because this time his subject would be the devil;
and there should be the same—or very nearly the
same—invitation to the minister.