They consisted of some letters written at home but brought to the school for private reading, and the Dominie got a nasty jar when he saw that they were all signed "Betsy Grieve." Miss Betsy Grieve, servant to Mr.Duthie, was about to marry, and these letters were acknowledgments of wedding presents.

Now, Mr.Cathro had written similar letters for Betsy only a few days before.
"Did she ask you to write these for her ?" he demanded, fuming, and Tommy replied demurely that she had.

He could not help adding, though he felt the unwisdom of it, "She got some other body to do them first, but his letters didna satisfy her." "Oh!" said Mr.Cathro, and it was such a vicious oh that Tommy squeaked tremblingly, "I dinna know who he was." Keeping his mouth shut by gripping his underlip with his teeth, the Dominie read the letters, and Tommy gazed eagerly at him, all fear forgotten, soul conquering body.

The others stood or sat waiting, perplexed as to the cause, confident of the issue.

The letters were much finer productions than Cathro's, he had to admit it to himself as he read.