"Weel, jist sit doon there, and carry on frae whaur ye loot sit. Syne efter the three o'clock lecture--wha is't ye're atten'in' this session?--we'll gang doon to Luckie Cumstie's, and hae a moufu' o' denner--she 'll do her best for me--an' I'll hae jist a tumler o' toddy--but de'il a drap sall ye hae, bantam--and de'il a word will I say to ye there. But we'll come back here, and i' the gloamin', I'll gie ye a bit episode i' my life.--Episode did I ca' 'it? Faith it's my life itsel', and no worth muckle, eyther. Ye'll be the first man that ever I tell't it till. And ye may judge o' my regaird for ye frae that fac'." Alec worked away at his catalogue, and then attended the afternoon lecture. The dinner at Luckie Cumstie's followed--of the plainest, but good. Alec's trouble had not yet affected the region in which Paley seats the organ of happiness. And while an appetite exists, a dinner will be interesting. Just as the gloaming was fading into night, they went back to the library. "Will I rin ower to the sacrist's for a licht?" asked Alec. "Na, na; lat be. The mirk's mercifu', whiles." "I canna unnerstan' ye, Mr Cupples. Sin ever I kent ye i' this library, I never kent ye bide the oncome o' the nicht. As sune's the gloamin' began to fa', ye aye flew to yer hat, and oot at the door as gin there had been a ghaist gettin' its banes thegither oot o' the dark to come at ye." "Maybe sae there was, bantam. Sae nane o' your jokin'." "I didna mean to anger ye, Mr Cupples." "Whaur naething's meant, naething's dune. I'm nae angert. And that ye'll sune see. Sit ye doon there, and tak yer plaid aboot ye, or ye'll be cauld." "Ye hae nae plaid yersel. Ye're mair like to be cauld nor I am." "I weir my plaid o' my inside. Ye haena had ony toddy. Deil's broo! It may weel haud a body warm. It comes frae a het quarter." The open oak ceiling overhead was getting very dark by this time; and the room, divided and crowded with books in all directions, left little free course to the light that struggled through the dusty windows. The friends seated themselves on the lower steps of an open circular oak staircase which wound up to a gallery running round the walls.