
remember also, if I were you, that you still stand on a very boggy foundation.«
    »Not now, my lord, I think,« said I; »and if your lordship will but glance
an eye along this, you will perhaps think as I do.«
    He read it sedulously through, frowning heavily; then turned back to one
part and another which he seemed to weigh and compare the effect of. His face a
little lightened.
    »This is not so bad but what it might be worse,« said he; »though I am still
likely to pay dear for my acquaintance with Mr. David Balfour.«
    »Rather for your indulgence to that unlucky young man, my lord,« said I.
    He still skimmed the paper, and all the while his spirits seemed to mend.
    »And to whom am I indebted for this?« he asked presently. »Other counsels
must have been discussed, I think. Who was it proposed this private method? Was
it Miller?«
    »My lord, it was myself,« said I. »These gentlemen have shown me no such
consideration, as that I should deny myself any credit I can fairly claim, or
spare them any responsibility they should properly bear. And the mere truth is,
that they were all in favour of a process which should have remarkable
consequences in the Parliament House, and prove for them (in one of their own
expressions) a dripping roast. Before I intervened, I think they were on the
point of sharing out the different law appointments. Our friend Mr. Simon was to
be taken in upon some composition.«
    Prestongrange smiled. »These are our friends!« said he. »And what were your
reasons for dissenting, Mr. David?«
    I told them without concealment, expressing, however, with more force and
volume those which regarded Prestongrange himself.
    »You do me no more than justice,« said he. »I have fought as hard in your
interest as you have fought against mine. And how came you here to-day?« he
asked. »As the case drew out, I began to grow uneasy that I had clipped the
period so fine, and I was even expecting you to-morrow. But to-day - I never
dreamed of it.«
    I was not, of course, going to betray Andie.
    »I suspect there is some very weary cattle by the road,« said I.
    »If I had known you were such a moss-trooper you should have tasted longer
of the Bass
