"Ha! ha! It was far ower guid o' ye, Jock, tae patroneese him," said Mrs. Craigie. "Ye'll no pay him, I houp? But he's sic a greedy fallow, that he micht expec' even a puir sowl like you tae pay."
"Me pay him!" said Jock, with a laugh, "maybe--when I hae paid the debt o' natur'; no till then."
"But, Jock," asked Mrs. Craigie, almost in a whisper, "did ye see Mary, the wee slut?"
"I did that," replied Jock, "an' it wad hae broken yer feelin' heart, Luckie, had ye seen her!--no lying as a puir orphan paid for by the Session ocht to lie, on a shake-doon, wi' a blanket ower her,--my certes, guid eneuch for the like o' her, and for the bawbees paid for her----"
"Guid?--ower guid!" interpolated Mrs. Craigie.
"But," continued Hall, with a leer, "she was mair like a leddy, wi' a bed till hersel', an' curtains on't; and sitting in a chair, wi' stockin's and shoon, afore the fire--learning her lesson, too, and coddled and coddled by Adam and his wife. What say ye to that, Luckie? what say ye to that?"
"Dinna mak' me daft!" exclaimed Mrs. Craigie; "it's eneuch to mak' a bodie swear e'en on the Sabbath day!"
"Swear awa'!" said Hall; "the day maks nae difference to me. Sae ca' awa', woman, if it wull dae ye ony guid, or gie ye ony comfort."
Mrs. Craigie, instead of accepting the advice of her "ne'er-do-weel" lodger, fell into a meditative mood. What could she be thinking about? Her Sabbath thoughts came to this, in their practical results--a proposal to Jock Hall to seize Mary as she was returning from church, and to bring her again under the protection of her dear old motherly friend. She could not, indeed, as yet take her from under the Sergeant's roof by force, but could the Sergeant retake her if by any means she were brought back under her roof?
Jock, after some consideration, entertained the proposal, discussed it, and then came to terms. "What wull ye gie me?" he at last asked.