comes hame, after a' - for I wadna like to be
responsible in trusting the letter to sic a callant as Jock - our Davie belangs
in a manner to the office.«
    »Aweel, aweel, Mrs. Mailsetter, I see what ye wad be at - but an ye like to
risk the bairn, I'll risk the beast.«
    Orders were accordingly given. The unwilling pony was brought out of his bed
of straw, and again equipped for service - Davie (a leathern post-bag strapped
across his shoulders) was perched upon the saddle, with a tear in his eye, and a
switch in his hand. Jock good-naturedly led the animal out of town, and, by the
crack of his whip, and the whoop and halloo of his too well-known voice,
compelled it to take the road towards Monkbarns.
    Meanwhile the gossips, like the sibyls after consulting their leaves,
arranged and combined the information of the evening, which flew next morning
through a hundred channels, and in a hundred varieties, through the world of
Fairport. Many, strange, and inconsistent, were the rumours to which their
communications and conjectures gave rise. Some said Tennant and Co. were broken,
and that all their bills had come back protested - others that they had got a
great contract from Government, and letters from the principal merchants at
Glasgow, desiring to have shares upon a premium. One report stated, that
Lieutenant Taffril had acknowledged a private marriage with Jenny Caxon -
another, that he had sent her a letter upbraiding her with the lowness of her
birth and education, and bidding her an eternal adieu. It was generally rumoured
that Sir Arthur Wardour's affairs had fallen into irretrievable confusion, and
this report was only doubted by the wise, because it was traced to Mrs.
Mailsetter's shop, - a source more famous for the circulation of news than for
their accuracy. But all agreed that a packet from the Secretary of State's
office had arrived, directed for Mr. Lovel, and that it had been forwarded by an
orderly dragoon, despatched from the head-quarters at Edinburgh, who had
galloped through Fairport without stopping, except just to inquire the way to
Monkbarns. The reason of such an extraordinary mission to a very peaceful and
retired individual, was variously explained. Some said Lovel was an emigrant
noble, summoned to head an insurrection that had broken out in La Vendée -
others that he was a spy - others that he was a general officer, who was
visiting the coast privately - others that he was a prince