And as, from time to time, at the Great Games
he began to win glory for the Glen with his feats of skill and strength,
and upon the pipes, and in the dances, their pride in him grew until
it passed all limits. Had he not, the very year before he went to the
college, cut the comb of the "Cock of the North" from Glen Urquhart,
in running and jumping; and the very same year had he not wrested
from Callum Bheg, the pride of Athole, the coveted badge of Special
Distinction in Highland Dancing? Then later, when the schoolmaster would
read from the Inverness Courier to one group after another at the post
office and at the "smiddy" (it was only fear of the elder MacPherson,
that kept the master from reading it aloud at the kirk door before the
service) accounts of the "remarkable playing" of Cameron, the brilliant
young "half-back" of the Academy in Edinburgh, the Glen settled down
into an assured conviction that it had reached the pinnacle of vicarious
glory, and that in all Scotland there was none to compare with their
young "chieftain" as, quite ignoring the Captain, they loved to call
him.
And there was more than pride in him, for on his holidays he came back
to the Glen unspoiled by all his honours and achievements, and went
about among them "jist like ain o' their ain sels," accepting their
homage as his right, but giving them in return, according to their
various stations, due respect and honour, and their love grew greater
than their pride.
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