“You’re ane o’ them,” he said.

“Let me go. Ane o’ what?”

“Ane o’ thae limmers called women.”

“Sal,” retorted Jean with spirit, “you’re ane o’ thae brutes called men. You’re drunk, Rob Dow.”

“In the legs maybe, but no higher. I haud a heap.”

“Drunk again, after all your promises to the minister! And you said yoursel’ that he had pulled you out o’ hell by the root.”

“It’s himsel’ that has flung me back again,” Rob said, wildly. “Jean Baxter, what does it mean when a minister carries flowers in his pouch; ay, and takes them out to look at them ilka minute?”

“How do you ken about the holly?” asked Jean, off her guard.

153

“You limmer,” said Dow, “you’ve been in his pouches.”