"He hed better been quiet, for he wes nae match for yon Hielandman.
"Mactavish glowered at him for maybe a meenut till the puir cratur fell back intae his seat.
"'Man,' says Mactavish, 'I do not know who you are, and I do not know what you are, and I shall not be asking who you are, and I am not caring though you be MacCallummore himsel'. You are just a Parable, oh yes, just a Parable.
"'But if ye be convicted of secret sin ye may go out, and if there be anybody else whose sins have been laid bare he may go out too, and if nobody wants to go out, then I will be going on with the sermon, oh yes, for it will not do to be spending all our time on Parables.'
"As sure as a'm stannin' here ye cudna see Hopps inside his claithes when Mactavish wes dune wi' him."
When the train started Hillocks received the compliments of the third with much modesty, and added piquant details regarding the utter confusion of our sermon taster.
"'Did ye follow?' a' speirit o' Elspeth afore a' went tae pit Hopps thegither.
"'Cud a' follow a bumbee?' was the only word a' got frae her; a' saw she was beaten for aince and wes rael mad."
"I'st true Elspeth scuffled wi' her feet at the laist head and gar'd him close?"
"A'll neither deny nor affirm, Drumsheugh; but there's nae doot when the mune began tae shine aboot nine, and Mactavish started aff on the Devil, somebody scrapit aside me. It wesna Jeems; he daurna for his life; and it wesna me. A'll no say but it micht be Elspeth, but she wes sair provokit. Aifter haddin' her ain twenty years tae be maistered by a Hielandman."