After the death
o' Mrs. Stuart, Geordie an' his father bided a' their lane. Their house
was on the ither side o' the burn which crossed the high-road, a wee bit
out o' the village. Time gie'd on for some time wi' them in this way.
Davy continued sober and industrious, an' the neebors began to hae hopes
that he had gotten the better o' his evil habit; he had n'er been kenned
to taste strong drink o' ony kin' sin' the death o' his wife. One
evening after he an' Geordie had ta'en their suppers, he made himsel'
ready to gang out, saying to Geordie that he was gaun' doon to the
village for a wee while, and that he was to bide i' the house an' he
would'na be lang awa'. The hours wore awa' till ten o'clock, an' he
had'na cam' hame. It was aye supposed that the boy, becoming uneasy at
his father's lang stay, had set out to look for him, when by some
mishap, it will n'er be kenned what way, he lost his footin', an' fell
frae the end o' the narrow brig which crossed the burn. The burn was'na
large, but a heavy rain had lately fa'n, an' there was aye a deep bit at
one end o' the brig. He had fa'n head first into the water in sic a way
that he could'na possibly won 'oot. It was a clear moonlicht night, an'
when Davy reached the brig, the first thing he saw was his ain son lyin'
i' the water.
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