"It is an old maxim that delay in affairs of law is a candle that burns in the daytime; when the night comes it is burned to the socket."
Old Allan took little heed of the sentiment.
"Ey," he said, "but there's mair nor common 'casion for it in my case."
Mr. Bonnithorne was instantly on the alert.
"And what is your especial reason?" he asked.
Allan's mind seemed to wander. He stood silent for a moment, and then said slowly, as if laboring with thought and phrase:
"Weel, tha must know ... I scarce know how to tell thee ... Weel, my eldest son, Paul, as they call him—"
The old man stopped, and his manner grew sullen. Mr. Bonnithorne came to his help.
"Yes, I am all attention—your eldest son—"
"He is—he is—"