My head aches , and I 'm hot . Oh , would n't I like to go for a pull in the ` Stormy Petrel ! '' ' and poor Mac tossed about as if he did not know what to do with himself . `` Let me sing , and perhaps you 'll drop off ; then the day will seem shorter , '' said Rose , taking up a fan and sitting down beside him . `` Perhaps I shall ; I did n't sleep much last night , and when I did I dreamed like fun . See here , you tell the people that I know , and it 's all right , and I do n't want them to talk about it or howl over me . That 's all ; now drone away , and I 'll try to sleep . Wish I could for a year , and wake up cured . '' `` Oh , I wish , I wish you could ! '' Rose said it so fervently that Mac was moved to grope for her apron and hold on to a corner of it , as if it was comfortable to feel her near him . But all he said was , `` You are a good little soul , Rosy . Give us ` The Birks ' ; that is a drowsy one that always sends me off . '' Quite contented with this small return for all her sympathy , Rose waved her fan and sang , in a dreamy tone , the pretty Scotch air , the burden of which is , `` Bonny lassie , will ye gang , will ye gang To the Birks of Aberfeldie ? '' Whether the lassie went or not I can not say , but the laddie was off to the land of Nod , in about ten minutes , quite worn out with hearing the bad tidings and the effort to bear them manfully . Chapter 12 -- `` The Other Fellows '' Rose did tell `` the people '' what had passed , and no one `` howled '' over Mac , or said a word to trouble him . He had his talk with the doctor , and got very little comfort out of it , for he found that `` just what he might do '' was nothing at all ; though the prospect of some study by and by , if all went well , gave him courage to bear the woes of the present . Having made up his mind to this , he behaved so well that everyone was astonished , never having suspected so much manliness in the quiet Worm . The boys were much impressed , both by the greatness of the affliction which hung over him and by his way of bearing it . They were very good to him , but not always particularly wise in their attempts to cheer and amuse ; and Rose often found him much downcast after a visit of condolence from the Clan . She still kept her place as head-nurse and chief-reader , though the boys did their best in an irregular sort of way .
They were rather taken aback sometimes at finding Rose 's services preferred to their 's , and privately confided to one another that `` Old XXXXX was getting fond of being molly-coddled . ''
Aberfeldie Birks Mac Petrel Rose Scotch lassie right woes year