Sandersy marched through the east town end at the head of his following, and climbed the steep, straight brae that leads to the cemetery. There he came upon the stone-breaker and the bellman strolling from grave to grave. Silva McQuhatty and Sam'l Todd were also in the burying-ground for pleasure, and they hobbled toward Tammas when they saw the telegram in his hand.
'"Thomas Haggart,"' the stone-breaker murmured, reading out his own name on the envelope, '"Tenements, Thrums."' Then he stared thoughtfully at his neighbours to see whether that could be looked upon as news. It was his first telegram.
'Ay, ay, deary me,' said Silva mournfully.
'She's no very expliceet, do ye think?' asked Sam'l Todd.
Snecky Hobart, however, as an official himself, had a general notion of how affairs of state are conducted.
'Rip her open, Tammas,' he suggested. 'That's but the shell, I'm thinkin'.'
'Does she open?' asked Tammas, with a grin.
He opened the telegram gingerly, and sat down on a prostrate tombstone to consider it. Snecky's fingers tingled to get at it.
'It begins in the same wy,' the stone-breaker said deliberately; '"Thomas Haggart, Tenements, Thrums."'
'Ay, ay, deary me,' repeated Silva.