He had a habit when annoyed of seeking the sea-beach.

The chafing, complaining waves suited his fretful mood, and leaving the young men, he turned to the sea, taking the hillside with such mighty strides that Selwyn watched him with admiration and astonishment.
"Four miles of that walking will bring him home in the most amiable of moods," said Colin.

And perhaps it would, if he had been left to the sole companionship of nature.

But when he was half way home he met Dominie Tallisker, a man of as lofty a spirit as any Crawford who ever lived.

The two men were close friends, though they seldom met without disagreeing on some point.
"Weel met, dominie! Are you going to the Keep ?" "Just so, I am for an hour's talk wi' that fine young English clergyman you hae staying wi' you." "Tallisker, let me tell you, man, you hae been seen o'er much wi' him lately.