--By common understanding they made no allusion to the
matter, thus postponing it for the present.
"Ay! ay! Alec," said Thomas; "sae yer boat's bigget at last!"
He stood contemplating it for a moment, not without some hardly
perceptible signs of admiration, and then said:
"Gin ye had her out upon a muckle water, do ye think ye wad jump oot
ower the side o' her, gin the Saviour tauld ye, Alec Forbes?"
"Ay wad I, gin I war richt sure he wantit me."
"Ye wad stan' an' parley wi' him, nae doot?"
"I bude (behoved) to be richt sure it was his ain sel', ye ken, an'
that he did call me."
"Ow ay, laddie! That's a' richt. Weel, I houp ye wad. I aye had guid
houps o' ye, Alec, my man. But there may be sic a thing as loupin' into
the sea o' life oot o' the ark o' salvation; an' gin ye loup in whan he
doesna call ye, or gin ye getna a grip o' his han', whan he does, ye're
sure to droon, as sure's ane o' the swine that ran heedlong in and
perished i' the water."
Alec had only a dim sense of his meaning, but he had faith that it was
good, and so listened in respectful silence. Surely enough of sacred as
well as lovely sound had been uttered over the boat to make her
faithful and fortunate!
The hour arrived at length when _The Bonnie Annie_ was to be launched.
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