“I must get at the truth of it,” said my father. “You can go now.”
She left the room without another word, and my father turned to Turkey.
“I am surprised at you, Turkey, lending yourself to such silly pranks. Why did you not come and tell me.”
“I am very sorry, sir. I was afraid you would be troubled at finding how wicked she was, and I thought we might frighten her away somehow. But Ranald began his tricks without letting me know, and then I saw that mine could be of no use, for she would suspect them after his. Mine would have been better, sir.”
“I have no doubt of it, but equally unjustifiable. And you as well as he acted the part of a four-footed animal last night.”
“I confess I yielded to temptation then, for I knew it could do no good. It was all for the pleasure of frightening her. It was very foolish of me, and I beg your pardon, sir.”
“Well, Turkey, I confess you have vexed me, not by trying to find out the wrong she was doing me and the whole parish, but by taking the whole thing into your own hands. It is worse of you, inasmuch as you are older and far wiser than Ranald. It is worse of Ranald because I was his father. I will try to show you the wrong you have done.--Had you told me without doing anything yourselves, then I might have succeeded in bringing Mrs. Mitchell to repentance. I could have reasoned with her on the matter, and shown her that she was not merely a thief, but a thief of the worst kind, a Judas who robbed the poor, and so robbed God. I could have shown her how cruel she was--”
“Please, sir,” interrupted Turkey, “I don’t think after all she did it for herself. I do believe,” he went on, and my father listened, “that Wandering Willie is some relation of hers. He is the only poor person, almost the only person except Davie, I ever saw her behave kindly to. He was there last night, and also, I fancy, that other time, when Ranald got such a fright. She has poor relations somewhere, and sends the meal to them by Willie. You remember, sir, there were no old clothes of Allister’s to be found when you wanted them for Jamie Duff.”
“You may be right, Turkey--I dare say you are right. I hope you are, for though bad enough, that would not be quite so bad as doing it for herself.”