"'I've got ye,' a' said tae masel, and settled doon to hear him on the first head, for fear he micht hae pints; but wull ye believe me, he barely mentioned leeteral till he was aff tae speeritual, and then back tae heestorical, an' in five meenuts he had the hale fower trumpets blawing thegither. "It wes maist exasperatin', and a' saw Jeems watchin' me--but that's naethin'. "'There be many trumpets,' says he, 'oh yes, an' it wes a good trumpet Zaccheus heard,' and afore a' knew where a' wes he hed startit again wi' fower new heads, as if he had never said trumpet. "'A big tree' he cries, 'an' a little man, oh yes, an' this is what we will be doin'. "'First. We shall go up the tree wi' Zaccheus. "'Second. We shall sit in the branches wi' Zaccheus. "'Third. We shall come down from the tree wi' Zaccheus; and if time permits, "'Fourth. We shall be going home wi' the publican.'" It seemed only just to pay a tribute at this point to the wonderful presence of mind Mrs. Macfadyen had shown amid unparalleled difficulties. "Hoot awa," she responded; the meenut ony heads cam a' knew ma grund: but the times atween I wes fairly lost. "A'll no deny," and our critic turned aside to general reflections, "that Mactavish said mony bonnie and affeckin' things frae time tae time, like the glimpses o' the hills ye get when the mist rolls awa, and he cam nearer the hert than the feck o' oor preachers; but certes yon confusion is mair than us low country fouk cud stand. "Juist when he wes speakin' aboot Zaccheus as nice as ye please--though whether he was up the tree or doon the tree a' cudna for the life o' me tell--he stops sudden and looks at us ower the top o' his spectacles, which is terrible impressive, and near dis instead o' speakin.' "We will now come to the third head of this discoorse. "'The trumpet shall be blown, for,' says he, in a kin' o' whisper, 'there's a hint o' oppeesition here,' an' a' tell ye honestly a' lost hert a'thegither, for here he wes back again amang the trumpets, and a'll gie ma aith he never sae much as mentioned that head afore. "It's an awfu' peety that some men dinna ken when tae stop; they micht see frae the poopit; if a' saw the tears comin' tae the women's een, or the men glowering like wild cats for fear they sud brak doon, a'd say Amen as quick as Pittendreigh aifter his goat. "What possessed Maister Dugald, as Lachlan ca'd him, a'd dinna ken, but aboot half nine--an' he begood at six--he sat oot upon the trumpets again, an' when he cudna get a haud o' them, he says: "'It will be getting dark' (the mune was fairly oot), 'an' it is time we were considering our last head. "'We will now study Satan in all his offices and characteristics.'" "A' see they've been telling ye what happened," and confusion covered Mrs. Macfadyen's ingenuous countenance.