CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL
OF
POPULAR
LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.
CONTENTS
THE HIDDEN BOX.
FIRES AND THEIR CAUSES.
A CAST OF THE NET.
SEA-LIONS.
ANCIENT STREETS AND HOMESTEADS OF ENGLAND.
JAPANESE FANS.
THE PIXIES.
| No. 728. | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1877. | Price 1½d. |
THE HIDDEN BOX.
A TALE OF THE COVENANTERS.
Something like two centuries ago, while the persecutionagainst the Covenanters was raging inScotland, many were forced, for conscience' sake,to give up all and retire to out-of-the-way places,to be out of the reach of their enemies. Amongothers, a well-to-do farmer of the name of MacWilliam,reduced to penury by the fines imposedupon him and the confiscation of his lands, withdrewfrom the home of his youth; and havingrented a moorland farm in a remote parish of aneighbouring county, he settled down there withhis wife and family. Hillfoot—for such was thename of the farm—lay in a hollow between twohills of moderate elevation, which rose with agentle slope on each side. A burn ran throughthe farm, and about two miles farther on, joineda river of some importance. Almost at the confluenceof the two the glen took a sharp turn tothe left, and thus rendered Hillfoot invisible fromthe main road, which followed the course of thelarger stream.
Though the farm was of considerable extent,little more than a living for the family could bemade about it, for heather was more abundanton the hills than grass; and good arable landwas out of the question, for the district was solate that cereals could barely ripen, and even themeadows along the holms by the burn-side yieldedbut scanty crops. It was in this place, however,that James MacWilliam had elected to spendhis latter days. All around the house the outlookwas no doubt bleak and bare and far fromencouraging; but all that he loved most dearlywere with him, and if he had not the comfort andluxury of former days, he had what he prizedmore than all earthly things—freedom to worshipGod in the way it seemed best to himself. Atthe time of his removal to Hillfoot he was aboutforty years of age, and his wife two or three yearshis junior. They had been married some fifteenyears, and two children—a son and daughter—hadblessed their union. John, a lad of fourteen,assisted his father in the tending of their flocksand in the working of the farm; while theirdaughter Barbara, two years younger, helped hermother in the house; and although she was notstrong enough yet to do the heavy work, by the