Probably, during the interval between his wife's death and his own, Sandy suffered severely from the effects of strong nervous shock, coupled with a certain growth of religious melancholy, the conditions for which are rarely wanting in the true Calvinist blood.

Owing to the privations and exposure of his early manhood, too, it is possible that he was never in reality the strong man he looked.

At any rate, his fight for his life when it came was a singularly weak one.

The second winter after Louise's death was bitterly cold; he was overworked, and often without sleep.

One bleak east-wind day struck home.