Their wordy war only made the writer and the weaver more thirsty; every argument was followed by a draught, which slaked at once both thirst and revenge. The more they drank the warmer they grew in defence of their respective towns, till they came to that condition of topers, when, by the mere operation of their potations, they become unable even to _dispute_. All confirmed drunkards have in their drunkenness some ruling principle, which; however far gone they may be, regulates their wayward movements. The writer's habit was to sit when he thought he could not stand--one which many sober men might do well to adopt. The weaver's, again, was to _walk_ when he wished not to stand the reckoning--a prudent maxim which never left him, even when all other ideas had been washed from his brain. It was now about one o'clock in the morning, and they had drank so much that neither of them could tell--for neither had any interest in a matter which did not seem to concern his pocket--how much would require to be paid; it was enough for Duncan Schulebred, that he knew that something, and not little, _must_ be paid--and now was the time for escape. "We were speakin o' the law," said Duncan Schulebred, winking with cunning and hiccuping with drink--"I fancy they never refuse siller at the _bar_ here, ony mair than they do in Dumfarlan. There is only this difference atween the twa--that the folk wha resort to _your_ bar pay when they enter, we (hiccup) pay as we gae oot. Rest yersel there till I cast up the bill, and if I hae ony _plea_ wi' the landlord, ye can come and plead it." "That's kind, Duncan," said the writer--"it will be the only plea I ever had from a Dunfermline weaver. If I gain it, we must have a--another gill." "Twa o' them," replied Duncan, trying to rise. "We maun, at ony rate, hae (hiccup) the stirrup-cup, ye ken"--laughing and twinkling again his reeling eyes. "O yes, but I--I fancy I must pay for _that_, seeing you are the traveller, and--and are besides to pay all this tremendous bill, that lies, doubtless, on the bar like a--a lawyer's memorial." "Ye're an example o' an honest, ay, a generous writer," said Duncan Schulebred--"wha could hae thocht ye wad hae offered to pay the stirrup-cup? I'll send yer wife a piece o' dornock for that, as weel as a screed o' huckaback and harn, to keep up a gratefu' recollection o' me after I'm awa. I'll no be a minute at the bar; for it's a place (hiccup) I dinna like." "Here," cried the writer, riping his pocket--"take with you and pay at the same time the price of the stirrup-gill--one settling will serve all." "Ye're richt, Mr. Gavin," replied Duncan Schulebred, receiving the money; "but that's a sma sum (hiccup) in comparison o' what I hae to pay; but it's pleasant to discharge the obligations o' honour."