“Gas will do,” said the student; “it is equally conducive to study, and more popular in all great congeries of thought.”
“When dae ye rise in the mornin’, Mr Tod?” asked Jinnet. “I wad like to ken when I should hae your breakfast ready.”
“Rise!” said Tod. “Oh, any time! ‘When the morn, with russet mantle clad, walks o’er the dew on yon high eastern hill.’”
[Original]
“Is’t Garnethill or Gilshochill?” said Erchie, anxiously. “I wad rise, mysel’, early in the mornin’, and gang oot to whichever o’ them it is to see the first meenute the dew comes, so that ye wadna lose ony time in gettin’ up and started wi’ your wark.”
The lodger for the first time looked at his landlord with a suspicious eye. He had a faint fear that the old man might be chaffing him, but the innocence of Erchie’s face restored his perkiness.
“I was only quoting the bard,” he explained, as he left the kitchen. “Strictly speaking, the morn with russet mantle clad can go to the deuce for me, for I have an alarm clock. Do not be startled if you hear it in the morning. It goes off with incredible animation.”
“Oh, Erchie’ isn’t he nice?” said Jinnet, when the lodger had withdrawn. “That smert, and aye talks that jovial, wi’ a lot o’ words I canna mak’ heid nor tail o’.”