The minister put his lips to the keyhole.
"Andrew Clark,—that door is not going to be opened for some time to come."
"Toots! What are ye bletherin' aboot? What kind o' a schoolboy trick is this you're up to? Open the door and none o' your nonsense."
I chuckled with delight, as I ran off for some boards and nails which I hammered up against the small window for extra security.
When I finished the job, the Rev. William Auld was getting through his lecture to Andrew.
"—And you won't step a foot out of this place, neither shall you eat, till you renounce your devilish vow and speak to the wife of your bosom, as a God-fearing man should."
Sonorously from behind the door came Clark's voice.
"Willum Auld!—are ye a meenister o' the gospel?"
"Yes!"
"And ye would try to force a man to break a vow made before the Lord?"