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Kay's Originals Vol. 2

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 429 booty. “DO ye no see what I’m about 1’’ answered the fellow with the utmost assurance : “ nae doubt ye’ll be some o1 the understrappers frae the big house!” Amused at the surpassing nonchalance of the rustic, “What if Maule were to come upon you 1” said his lordship, with difficulty maintaining a sufficient gravity of countenance. “Hout, man, he ,wadna say a wordthere’s no a bet,ter hearted gentleman in a’ the country ; but as I’m in a hurry, I wish you would lend me a hand, man.” To this Panmure good-humouredly agreed ; and when the tree had been securely placed on the cart, the jolly peasant proposed rewarding his assistant with a dram in a neighbouring alehouse. To this his lordship would not accede, but invited the youth to call next day at the Castle, where, by asking for Jamie the footman, he would be sure to find him, and be treated to a glass out of his own bottle. The countryman called according to promise ; but his confusion and astonishment may be guessed, when, instead of meeting Jamie the footman, he was ushered, with great ceremony, into the presence of Lord Panmure and a company of gentlemen. “My man,” said his lordship, walking up to him, “next time you go to cut wood, I would advise you first to ask Illaule’s permission.” With this gentle reprimand he dismissed the terrified depredator, though not without having given instructions that he should be well entertained in the hall. In imitation of some of our Scottish Kings, Maule occasionally amused himself by visiting his tenantry in the character of a mendicant, so disguised that it was impossible they could recognise him. He thus became minutely acquainted with the character and habits of a class of people in whom he was deeply interested. Entering a hamlet, in the course of his excursions, on the borders of Forfarshire, one very cold and wet evening, he sought shelter in the house of an old woman, who was busy at her wheel, for the spinning-jenny had not then entirely expelled that useful instrument of industry from the cottage ingle. With the accustomed hospitality of our rural population, the “ Gaberlunzie- man” was welcomed to a share of the hearth; but he was no sooner seated than he began to grumble at the small fire that burned slowly in the halfempty grate. The woman assured him there was no more fuel in the house ; and as she marvelled at the impertinent manner of the sturdy-looking beggar, her terror and amazement may be conceived, when starting to his feet, and exclaiming--“ I’ll’soon make a fire,” he laid hold of the wheel ; and, in spite of threats, remonstrances, and the personal opposition which a sense of wrong inspired her with strength and courage to offer, first the rock, with the ‘‘wee pickle tow ”-next the wheel-and lastly, the whole body of the frame-at once her pride and her means of livelihood-were crackling in the flames, and spreading a light and a warmth unknown to the cottage. Having thoroughly warmed himself, and when the rage and imprecations of the old woman were nearly spent with their own violence, Maule took his departure, but not without leaving a benison, in the shape of a well-filled purse, which amply reconciled her to the destruction of her property. The liberality of his disposition frequently relieved the “ Generous Sports
Volume 9 Page 574
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