“’Div ye mean tae say—’
“’Weesht, weesht,’ an’ I tried tae quiet him, for Hopps wes comin’ oot.
“’Well, doctor,’ begins he, as brisk as a magpie, ‘you’re here at last; there’s no hurry with you Scotch-men. My boy has been sick all night, and I’ve never had one wink of sleep. You might have come a little quicker, that’s all I’ve got to say.’
“’We’ve mair tae dae in Drumtochty than attend tae every bairn that hes a sair stomach,’ and a’ saw MacLure was roosed.
“’I’m astonished to hear you speak. Our doctor at home always says to Mrs. ‘Opps, ‘Look on me as a family friend, Mrs. ‘Opps, and send for me though it be only a headache.’”
“’He’d be mair sparin’ o’ his offers if he hed four an’ twenty mile tae look aifter. There’s naething wrang wi’ yir laddie but greed. Gie him a gude dose o’ castor oil and stop his meat for a day, an’ he ‘ill be a’ richt the morn.’
“’He’ll not take castor oil, doctor. We have given up those barbarous medicines.’
“’Whatna kind o’ medicines hae ye noo in the Sooth?’
“’Well, you see, Dr. MacLure, we’re homœopathists, and I’ve my little chest here,’ and oot Hopps comes wi’ his boxy.
“’Let’s see ‘t,’ an’ MacLure sits doon and taks oot the bit bottles, and he reads the names wi’ a lauch every time.