QUICK TO ACT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22729, 15 May 1937, Page 8 (Supplement)

QUICK TO ACT

A WAY in a glen in the Highlands of Scotland beyond Inverness stood the square, stone-built house of Alec and Mary Fraser, a shepherd and his wife, It would be hard to imagine a greater loneliness, no neighbouring house save the Lodge, which was occupied only six or eight weeks in the year in the fishing season. From the small window of his attic bedroom Angus Fraser looked out. He was the only child of his parents, and in him all their ambitions rested, for in' Scotland more than in any other country a man can rise by good character and hard work. The universities do not close their doors to the lowly-born. But Angus was wondering if he had the courage to tell his father and mother that after all he was stilly too poor to be able to afford the college feesv For many years the old shepherd had put by his spare monev toward his son's education. Angus himself had earned what he could by hiring himself out to a ghillie in the busy season. But yesterday he had heard from the authorities, and the fees were more than the Frasers could pay. Angus watched the sheep grazing in the fields outside, and felt his paths were to go little further than theirs. Suddenly he heard the sounds of life downstairs, and, pulling himself together, he dressed and went down to help with the work of the house. "Angus, my boy," said Mary Fraser, "slip down the glen and see if MacGregor has left us the oatmeal. Angus was only too glad to delay telling his news. Picking up a stick and calling the sheep-dog, he strode down the glen toward the little wooden box at the end of it, where the family's letters and provisions were left twice a week, to save MacGregor the long tramp down the glen. The foxgloves grew high on the banks beside him, the hillsides were daubed with great patches of purple heather, and,beside him ran the brown sparkling burn, busy and anxious to get on its way. Angus' mind was far away as he strode down the road. Suddenly his day dreams were interrupted. He stopued abruptly and listened, for he heard a muffled crying. Had some dog been caught in a trap. At sounded more like a child. He jumped the ditch, and forced his way through the bracken, the dog following close on his heels. To his astonishment he came across a small, bare-legged boy, hugging his knees, crying bitterly. "Well bairn, what's the matter? he asked. "And where have you come from? Folks are rare in these parts. The boy stopped crying.

*'Something has bitten me," he said. "Look!" and he pointed to a long, coiled xip snake, with arched head and all the characteristic markings of the only poisonous reptile to be found in the British Isles. Involuntarily Angus recoiled. » "An adder!" lie cried. Acting quickly, he stooped down and sucked tho bite to withdraw the poison. "You must return to my house,' he said Hurriedly. In time the two reached home. Mary Fraser received them with all the calm and resource of someone who had learned to rely only on herself in every emergency. She put the boy to bod, and Angus was sent to tho nearest village for a doctor. It appeared tho boy had been staying at/ the Lodge with friends, and having woken early he had decided to go for a walk before breakfast. Me had seen nothing of the adder till he felt bite. For some days the boy, delicate at the best of times, was feverish, but the care and prompt action of Mary and her son prevented a serious illness. The ''boy's father, a widower, and Patrick, his only child, could not thank thorn enough. In the days that followed it reached his ears that Angus had been disappointed in his desire to go lo tho university, and to the lad's joy he showed his gratitude by making this j possible.