 gin ye be Edie Ochiltree o' Carrick's company in the
Forty-twa, or gin ye be the deil in his likeness!«
    »And what makes ye speak in that gait?« demanded the astonished mendicant.
    »Because my lord has been in sic a distress and surpreese as I ne'er saw a
man in my life. But he'll see you - I got that job cookit. He was like a man awa
frae himsell for mony minutes, and I thought he wad hae swarv't a'thegither, -
and fan he cam to himsell, he asked fae brought the packet - and fat trow ye I
said?«
    »An auld soger,« says Edie - »that does likeliest at a gentle's door; at a
farmer's it's best to say ye're an auld tinkler, if ye need ony quarters, for
maybe the gudewife will hae something to souther.«
    »But I said ne'er ane o' the twa,« answered Francie; »my lord cares as
little about the tane as the tother - for he's best to them that can souther up
our sins. Sae I e'en said the bit paper was brought by an auld man wi' a long
fite beard - he might be a capeechin freer for fat I ken'd, for he was dressed
like an auld palmer. Sae ye'll be sent up for fanever he can find mettle to face
ye.«
    »I wish I was weel through this business,« thought Edie to himself; »mony
folk surmise that the Earl's no very right in the judgment, and wha can say how
far he may be offended wi' me for taking upon me sae muckle?«
    But there was now no room for retreat - a bell sounded from a distant part
of the mansion, and Macraw said, with a smothered accent, as if already in his
master's presence, »That's my lord's bell! - follow me, and step lightly and
cannily, Edie.«
    Edie followed his guide, who seemed to tread as if afraid of being
overheard, through a long passage, and up a back stair, which admitted them into
the family apartments. They were ample and extensive, furnished at such cost as
showed the ancient importance and splendour of the family. But all the ornaments
were in the taste of a former and distant period, and one would have almost
supposed himself traversing the halls of a Scottish nobleman before the union of
the crowns. The late Countess
