Nigg, he added, only to be buried. Jock, however, was
not to be dislodged so; and Angus, professing sudden friendship for him,
gave expression to the magnanimous resolution, that he would not only
tolerate Jock, but also be very kind to him, and show him the place
where he kept all his money. He had lots of money, he said, which he had
hidden in a dike; but he would show the place to Jock Gordon--to poor
cripple Jock Gordon: he would show him the very hole, and Jock would get
it all. And so he brought Jock to the hole--a cavity in a turf-wall in
the neighbouring wood--and, taking care that his own way of retreat was
clear, he bade him insinuate his hand. No sooner had he done so,
however, than there issued forth from between his fingers a cloud of
wasps, of the variety so abundant in the north country, that build their
nests in earthy banks and old mole-hills; and poor Jock, ill fitted for
retreat in any sudden emergency, was stung within an inch of his life.
Angus returned in high glee, preaching about "wicked Jock Gordon, whom
the very wasps wouldn't let alone;" but though he pretended no further
friendship for a few days after, he again drew to him in apparent
kindness; and on the following Saturday, on Jock being despatched to a
neighbouring smithy with a sheep's head to singe, Angus volunteered his
services to show him the way.

Angus went trotting before; Jock came limping behind: the fields were
open and bare; the dwellings few and far between; and after having
passed, in about an hour's walking, half-a-dozen little hamlets, Jock
began to marvel exceedingly that there should be no sign of the smith's
shop. "Poor foolish Jock Gordon!" ejaculated Angus, quickening his trot
into a canter; "what does he know about carrying sheep's heads to the
smithy?" Jock laboured hard to keep up with his guide; quavering and
semi-quavering, as his breath served--for Jock always began to sing,
when in solitary places, after nightfall, as a protection against
ghosts. At length the daylight died entirely away, and he could only
learn from Angus that the smithy was further off than ever; and, to add
to his trouble and perplexity, the roughness of the ground showed him
that they were wandering from the road. First they went toiling athwart
what seemed an endless range of fields, separated from one another by
deep ditches and fences of stone; then they crossed over a dreary moor,
bristling with furze and sloe-thorn; then over a waste of