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"Fegs, to tell you the truth, I'm gaye an' yaup, too,” replied Matthew. "What an' we should stop a bit here, an' tak' a morsel o' what the guidwife can gie us-it'll a' gang intill the count, ye ken ?"

"Ay," said the other; "an' ye mind that his honour bade us treat the man?"

"Ay," said Matthew; "his honour's very words were-an' ken I like to be parteeclar about words; for our clerk says fowk should aye be parteeclar about words, for they dinna ken whan they may be speered at anent them-his honour's very words, I say, were, treat him as kindly as circumstances will permit, an' let the puir vratch want for nothing."

"That's just what his honour said," replied Murdieson, dismounting as he spoke. "I can swear to his very words."

"Wou, but he's a feelin'-hearted Christian!" said Matthew. "Sae as we ha'e plenty o' time to get to Perth lang or it's dark, I dinna see what can hinder us frae takin' as gude a dinner here as the circumstances o' Lucky's hoose will alloo. Fowk maun eat, ye ken, as lang as they hae teeth i' their chafts."

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"Od, that's true eneuch," said Murdieson; sae jump ye doon, auld man, and let's into the hoose. Laddie, tak' a haud o' thae naigs; put them into the stable for a gliff; but, d'ye hear, dinna tak' aff the saidles."

"Come awa', Lucky," cried Matthew to the woman of the house. "Ye used to be a bit fendy body; let's see what gie us till our dinner."

ye can

"Ye can ha'e broth, gentlemen, an' beef, an' twa brandered chuckies, an' some ham an' eggs," said the landlady.

"That'll do fine," said both constables at once. "Come awa' wi' them, woman, as fast as ye can, for we maun be aff again afore ye can say Jack Robison."

You may easily imagine that Donald, though a perfectly passive party in their arrangements, was by no means the less delighted with them on that account; nor did he do less ample justice to this entertainment than either of his companions; for, while they talked, he went silently on cramming himself, as if he had economically resolved to eat now gratis what should last him till he should reach Braemar. A respectable, though not intoxicating, allowance of brandy-punch followed the feast. The bill was discharged by the constables, and the trio again mounted, and rode on as formerly for some miles, till they approached the turnpike gate at the Brig of Earn.

"Wad ye no like a drink, auld carl?" said Matthew the constable, behind whom Donald was seated.

"Ugh, ugh, sore drouthy," replied he.

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Od, Í dinna wonder at that," replied Matthew, "after yon

ham an' eggs. For my pairt, I'm chokin'; and I'm sure ye sho'elled twice as muckle o't o'er your craig as I did; for I maun do ye the justice to say, that ye ate as if had had a Heriot's-wark laddie in your weame."

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66 Saunders, bring out a bottle o' porter to this puir man." Out came the turnpike man with a creaming pot of brown stout. Donald took it from the constable who handed it to him, and turning away his head from the eye of the tollman, he drained off the liquor to the very bottom.

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Faigs," said he, when afterwards telling this part of his story, "ta chield tat cam' after her was na' muckle ta better or ta waur o' her leavin's."

"Weel, Saunders," said Matthew to the turnpike man," didna I tell ye we'd catch him? It's no often that I misses my man." "Catch wha?" said the tollman. "Ye dinna mean to say that's the rubber?'

"Yes, but we do though," said the other constable. "When Mr Matthew an' me hunt in couples, we never misses our gemme, though it should be an auld fox himsel'."

"Od, I'm thinkin' ye're mista'en this time, though," said the tollman. "Ha'e we no

"Pooh! nonsense, man," replied the officer. got the chield's pickter in our pouch?"

"Ay," said the other officer, "an' d'ye think we didna try him weel by his likeness?"

"I canna help that," said the tollman; "I'm positive that's no the man."

66 Ha, ha, ha! that's a good ane, Saunders," shouted Matthew. "Did ye no tell us, nae langer than twa or three hours syne, as we gaed by the toll, that ye kent naething o' sic a chap as we describit the rubber to be; and hoo can ye set up your face noo to be sae positive ae way or anither?"

"That's a' very true," said Saunders, edging round the horse to get a look at Donald, who still did all he could to keep his face away from his observation; "but I'm positive that's nae mair the rubber than I'm the rubber."

"Weel, ye're the maist positeevest guse I ever forgathered wi'," said Murdieson. "Did we no show the chield to the justice himsel'?"

"Ay," said Matthew; "an' did he no tell me to treat him as kindly as circumstances wad permit, an' to let the puir vratch want for naething? An' wasna that the very reason that I gied him the drap porter ye noo?"

"Ay," said Murdieson; "an' did his honour no gie the poor deevil the best end o' a half-hour's sermon, that might ha'e edified even a publican an' a sinner like you?"

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"Will ye no be convinced noo, ye dour brute?" added Matthew.

"No," said the tollman, not a little nettled, "I'll no be convinced by you; an' yet I'm nae mair a guse or a brute than yoursel', Maister Matthew."

"I'll tell you what it is, Maister Murdieson," said Matthew, turning to his companion, "naething will ever stop the empty gab o' this fool chield but a gude bet; sae, gin ye like to gae me haulves, we's wager him a siller crown that we ha'e gotten the right soo by the lug."

"Done, gentlemen!" exclaimed the tollman, eagerly wetting his thumb in his mouth, and rubbing it against those of the two officers, which, after undergoing a similar preparation, were successively held out to meet it. "Ye may bid guid e’en to your half-crowns apiece, an' ye may comfort yersel's for the loss o' them wi' the bit auld byword, that fules and their money are soon pairted.' I ken this auld man weel; mony's the time he has stoppit at my door to get a drink, as he gaed by wi' droves o' wathers; for he has been driving sheep to Sir John Inglis o' Cramond for near forty years bygane. Mony's the crack I ha'e had wi' him: and I'll be bailed there's no an honester body between the Earn there and the Dee, whaur he comes frae. It's but the other day that he gaed by wi' his sheep, an' I tak' it that he's noo on his way north; so he couldna ha'e been in Perth for near this week by past. Hoo's a' wi' ye, Donald, my cock? What are ye hiding your head that gate for?"

Seeing concealment to be no longer practicable, Donald lifted his head with a good-humoured grin of recognition to the tollman. "Troth, she's no wonders nor she hauds down her head, when she be ca'ed a fiefs an' a rubbers," said he, waggishly.

Mr Matthew turned in his saddle; and Mr Murdieson pushed his horse up to Donald, to eye him more attentively. Dismay fell on the lofty countenances of both of them, and overshadowed them as the mist does the mountain-tops.

"As I'm a sinner, he wants the muckle scaur on his broo,” exclaimed Matthew.

"'Od, what gar'd us no think o' that afore?" said Murdieson. "Get doon aff the beast, ye auld deevil, or I'll ketch ye into the midden," said Matthew.

"Hoyts, toots! no," said Donald, roguishly; "surely she'll be mindin' tat his honour bade her treat her as kindly as circumstances wad pairment. Wad she no tak' her on to Perth?"

"Get doon this moment, I tell ye, or I'll be the death o' ye," said Matthew, grinning so furiously with rage that poor Donald lost no more time, but slid very nimbly over the tail of the horse, and took post behind the tollman.

"Aweel, aweel," said Donald, so soon as he felt secure of the protection of his old friend, who was chuckling heartily at the defeat and mortification of the constables" aweel, aweel, shentlemans, sin' ye wunna gie her mair rides, she's mockle obliged for ta mony gude miles ye ha'e brocht her—ay, an' for ta gude kail, an' flesh, an' fouls, an' ham, an' eggs, an' brandies; ay, an' porters an' a-sae, she be wushin' ye baith a verra gude nicht: for, sin' ye wunna carry her farder, she maun just e'en be trot ta wee bit gate to Perth on her nain ten taes."

"Na, na, Donald, lad," said the tollman, laughing as if he would have split himself; "we shanna pairt that gate. It's wearing late, and ye's no gang farther this nicht, I promise ye; sae come in by. An' do ye hear, gentlemen, we'll ha'e your crown oot here in gude punch, an' sae we'll souther a' sairness."

"We're muckle obliged to ye, Saunders," said Matthew, tossing down his half-crown in a huff, an action which was quickly followed by a similar tribute, as sulkily paid, by his companion; “but we ha’e mair important matters to mind than to be sittin' teuchin' a' nicht in a tipplin' hoos;" and both of them, digging their spurs into the sides of their garrons, galloped off towards Perth in a whirlwind of dust, whilst the turnpike man, with his sides shaking with laughter, led Donald into his house that he might have his share of their spoil.

Donald Lamont continued to take these annual journeys to Cramond, until his advanced age had rendered him so infirm that he became altogether unfit to attempt them, when the charge of Sir John Inglis's ewes was intrusted to some one else. But such was the affecting nature of Donald's recollections, that he never saw the drove leave the glen without crawling after them for some distance, and when he parted with them he kissed the creatures-looked with a longing eye after them for some time; and, when they were out of sight, he burst into tears, and returned home crying like a child. The good Sir John Inglis never allowed the shepherd who drove them to return to Braemar without sending Donald some substantial token that he had not forgotten him.-Lloyd's Weekly Volume of Amusing and Instructive Literature. No. 111.

A cold, rainy, cheerless night overtook Donald in one of his journeys through the Mearns, and no hospitable roof would receive him-bad luck to them. At length he determined to go no farther, and, entering the first farmhouse he came on, preferred the usual request for a night's lodgings, and was answered with the usual refusal. But a man is not to die from starvation and exposure in a Christian country, oh! ye Low

land churls. So Donald sat down. The family and the farmservants formed a complete semicircle round the fire, and none of them stirred; and Donald, though wet and cold, sat behind them all, the rain water running down his back and legs"most pitiful was to behold." But Donald sat unheeded. Byand-by the time for cow-milking arrived, and some lasses left their seats to go to the byres, and Donald cannily occupied one of their vacant places, and dried and warmed himself as well as might be. But nobody spoke to Donald, By-and-by the supper was laid down, and all were bid sit round to the table, save the intruder; but he was nowise put out, and sat round uninvited. There was a spoon there for every one, but none for Donald. However, the gudeman, at whose elbow he sat, held up his hands for a blessing-his eyes likewise, and Donald cannily drew away his spoon, and held it below the table. The gudeman called for a spoon, and, to the astonishment of the waiter, who averred she had put a spoon before him, none could be seen there, and another was provided. With a farmer's appetite, the gudeman fell to his brose; and with a famished traveller's prowess, Donald went in for the second spoonful.

The host stared. 66 Haith, man!" quoth he, "ye're no blate." "I wadna need," returned Donald, helping himself to a second supply.

Supper passed without further comment, and bedtime duly arrived, and one after another crawled off to roost; but no one spoke of bed to Donald. All at length disappeared, except the buxom gudewife and two handmaidens. The lady took out her cutty-pipe to indulge in "a draw" ere she passed behind the curtains; but sad mishap, the cutty was empty, and her tobacco done. Hereupon, like an experienced tactician, Donald brought forth his spleuchan, and gave the dame some inches of twist from its folds.. Like oil upon the troublous waves, this made her face become serene, and she wondered whether a bed could be made up in the barn. Nobody spoke, and she whiffed away. "There were beds in the house," said she, thinking aloud; "but a'body said thae Hielan' folks were na verie clean."

"May be," returned the drover; "but I am clean, and clean aneugh; and ye may look," returned Donald; and he tirred off coat, and waistcoat, and shirt, and various other toggery, and tradition recordeth that, after a strict examination, he was pronounced free of a certain malady.

"Ow ay!" delivered the dame; "puir body; ye're clean eneugh."

And tradition further sayeth that Donald slept in a nice bed

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