CHAPTER XXX.
LORD MORVEN.
The winter came at last in good earnest--first black frost, then white snow, then sleet and wind and rain; then snow again, which fell steady and calm, and lay thick.

After that came hard frost, and brought plenty of skating, and to Davie the delight of teaching his master.

Donal had many falls, but was soon, partly in virtue of those same falls, a very decent skater.

Davie claimed all the merit of his successful training; and when his master did anything particularly well, would remark with pride, that he had taught him.

But the good thing in it for Davie was, that he noted the immediate faith with which Donal did or tried to do what he told him: this reacted in opening his mind to the beauty and dignity of obedience, and went a long way towards revealing the low moral condition of the man who seeks freedom through refusal to act at the will of another.