.
[Illustration: "COSMO CONDUCTED HER TO THE STABLE."] The lad stared with open mouth, and pointed to one of the stalls.
There stood an utterly wretched horse, swathed in a cloth, with his head hanging down, heedless of the food before him.

It was clear no hope lay there.

She turned and looked at Cosmo.
"The better for us, my lady!" replied Cosmo to her look; "we shall have your beautiful eyes the longer! They were lost in the dark last night, because they are made out of it, but now we see them, we don't want to part with them." She looked at him and smiled, saying to herself the boy would be dangerous by and by, and together they went back to the kitchen, where since they left not a word had been spoken.

Grizzie was removing the breakfast things; Lord Mergwain was seated by the fire, staring into it; and the laird had got his Journal of George Fox, and was reading diligently: when nothing was to be done, the deeper mind of the laird grew immediately active.
When Lady Joan entered, her father sat up straight in his chair: he expected opposition! "One of the horses, my lord, is quite unfit," she said.
"Then, by my soul! we'll start with the other," he replied, in a tone that sounded defiance to heaven or earth or whatever said him nay.
"As your lordship pleases," returned Joan.
"My lord," said the laird, lowering his book to his knee, "if I thought four cart-horses would pull you through to Howglen to-night, you should have them; but you would simply stick fast, horses and all, in the snow-wreaths." The old man uttered an exclamation with an awful solemnity, and said no more, but collapsed, and sat huddled up, staring into the fire.
"You must just make the best of your quarters here; they are entirely at your service, my lord," said the laird.

"We shall not starve.