Mr. Parr. (to Mr. Havers, with reproach). Man, if ye'd hed the speerit o' your opeenions, I'd ha won sexpence aff ye by noo!
Mr. Havers. (obstinately). I canna thenk but that Macrae's kelt was too lang—prize or no prize. I'll be telling him when I see him that he looked like a lassie in it.
Mr. Parr. (with concern). I wouldna jist advise ye to say ony sic a thing to him. These Hielanders are awfu' prood; and he micht tak' it gey ill fro' ye!
Mr. Havers. I see nae hairrm mysel' in jist tellin' him, in a pleesant, daffin-like way, that he looked like a lassie in his kelt. But there's nae tellin' hoo ye may offend some fowk; an' I'm thenking it's no sae verra prawbable that I'll hae the oaportunity o' saying onything aboot the maitter to him.
MR. BRIEFLESS IS INTERVIEWED.
"A gentleman to see you, Sir," said my admirable and excellent clerk Portington, a few days since, as I was looking through the circulars that had accumulated on my table in Chambers during the earlier portion of the long vacation.
"A client?" I queried.
"No, Sir, I think not," was the reply, supplemented with a card placed on my desk. "At least, I do not remember the name in your fee-book."
"You do not believe he has called on any errand of an unpleasant character?"