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"Daur ye to speyk that gait aboot yer ain son ay, and mine the mair gien ye disown him, Peter Bletherwick! and the Lord's ain ordeent minister forbye!" cried Marion, driven almost to her wits' end, but more by the persistent haunting of her own suspicion, which she could not repress, than the terror of her husband's threat.
Ye know they call him the Blind Deevil, forbye he onythin' but blind, an' no deevil in his dealin's wi' me McRimmon o' the Black Bird Line. "'What's here, Mister McPhee? said he. "I was past prayin' for by then. 'A Chief Engineer sacked after twenty years' service because he'll not risk the Breslau on the new timin', an' be damned to ye, McRimmon, I said.
I dinna care for ony o' thae aeryated waters. Forbye, it's awfu' dear, an' we can hae far mair o' the ither," he concluded, smiling tenderly at Andrew. "The other" was produced; and it justified the trust reposed in it. Well it knew its duty, and well it played its part; for it burnished memory bright, stirred emotion from its hiding place, and even led tears out by long deserted paths.
It wouldnae be greatly to my taste; and forbye that, I see reasons against it. First, it's now unco dark, and it's just humanly possible we might give them the clean slip. If we keep together, we make but the ae line of it; if we gang separate, we make twae of them: the more likelihood to stave in upon some of these gentry of yours.
Forbye, pictur's are pairfectly ridic'lus," he continued; "what for, will you want the image o' a thing, when you hae the thing itsel'? John Knox kent weel what he was doing when he dinged doon a' the pictur's and images in thae auld kirks. He kent men were aye mair pleased to worship their ain handywark, than the Creator's."
Now if your gentry kens the place, they ken the time forbye. Do ye see me coming, Davie? Thanks to Johnnie Cope and other red-coat gomerals, I should ken this country like the back of my hand; and if ye're ready for another bit run with Alan Breck, we'll can cast back inshore, and come down to the seaside again by Dirleton. If the ship's there, we'll try and get on board of her.
'Wait till he has gone for his walk, said my mother; 'and, forbye that, I'm ower old to dance with you. 'How old are you? he inquired. 'You're gey an' pert! cried my mother. 'Are you seventy? 'Off and on, she admitted. 'Pooh, he said, 'a mere girl!
"An' sae a prence he was! an', forbye that, jist a man by himsel' to luik at! i' the prime o' life, maybe, but no freely i' the first o' 't, for he had the luik as gien he had had a hard time o' 't, an' had a white streak an' a craw's fit here and there the liklier to please my leddy, wha lookit doon upo' a'body yoonger nor hersel'. He hae a commandin', maybe some owerbeirin' luik ane at a man micht hae birstled up at, but a leddy like my leddy wad welcome as worth bringin' doon.
Forbye, he was seeck, seeck unto death, and I saw mair in his een than I likit to think. "Come in-by and get some meat, man," I said. "Ye're famishin' wi' cauld and hunger." "I canna eat," he says, and his voice never changed. "It's lang since I had a bite, for I'm no hungry. But I'm awfu' thirsty. I cam here yestreen, and I can get nae water to drink like the water in the hills.
As I approached he rose, and came to meet me with the brogues in his hand. "Man, Peter," said he, "I maun juist be gangin'." "Going!" I repeated; "going where?" "Back tae Glenure the year is a'most up, ye ken, an' I wadna' hae ma brither Alan afore me wi' the lassie, forbye he's an unco braw an' sonsy man, ye ken, an' a lassie's mind is aye a kittle thing."
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