'Gin I had him doon, faith gin I wadna lat him lie! I'll jist tell ye ae thing, gentlemen, that cam' to my knowledge no a hunner year ago. An' it's a' as true 's gospel, though I hae aye held my tongue aboot it till this verra nicht. Ay! ye'll a' hearken noo; but it's no lauchin', though there was sculduddery eneuch, nae doobt, afore it cam' that len'th. And mony a het drap did the puir lassie greet, I can tell ye. Faith! it was no lauchin' to her. She was a servan' o' oors, an' a ticht bonnie lass she was. They ca'd her the weyver's bonny Mary--that's the name she gaed by. Weel, ye see--' MacGregor was interrupted by a sound from the further end of the room. The stranger, whom most of them had by this time forgotten, had risen, and was approaching the table where they sat. 'Guid guide us!' interrupted several under their breaths, as all rose, 'it's Lord Sandy himsel'!' 'I thank you, gentleman,' he said, with a mixture of irony and contempt, 'for the interest you take in my private history. I should have thought it had been as little to the taste as it is to the honour of some of you to listen to such a farrago of lies.' 'Lees! my lord,' said MacGregor, starting to his feet. Mr. Cocker looked dismayed, and Mr. Lammie sheepish--all of them dazed and dumbfoundered, except the old weaver, who, as his lordship turned to leave the room, added: 'Lang lugs (ears) suld be made o' leather, my lord, for fear they grow het wi' what they hear.' Lord Rothie turned in a rage. He too had been drinking. 'Kick that toad into the street, or, by heaven! it's the last drop any of you drink in this house!' he cried. 'The taed may tell the poddock (frog) what the rottan (rat) did i' the taed's hole, my lord,' said MacGregor, whom independence, honesty, bile, and drink combined to render fearless. Lord Sandy left the room without another word. His factor took his hat and followed him. The rest dropped into their seats in silence. Mr. Lammie was the first to speak. 'There's a pliskie!' he said. 'I cud jist say the word efter auld Simeon,' said MacGregor. 'I never thocht to be sae favoured! Eh! but I hae langed, and noo I hae spoken!' with which words he sat down, contented. When Mr. Cocker overtook his master, as MacGregor had not unfitly styled him, he only got a damning for his pains, and went home considerably crestfallen. Lord Rothie returned to the landlady in her parlour. 'What's the maitter wi' ye, my lord? What's vexed ye?' asked Miss Napier, with a twinkle in her eyes, for she thought, from the baron's mortification, he must have received some rebuff, and now that the bonnie leddy was safe at Captain Forsyth's, enjoyed the idea of it. 'Ye keep an ill-tongued hoose, Miss Naper,' answered his lordship. Miss Napier guessed at the truth at once--that he had overheard some free remarks on his well-known licence of behaviour.