'I'm your man at onything ye like, and for whatever ye
like. I'll run ye--or, I'll jump ye--I'll putt the stone wi' ye--or,
_I'll fight ye_--and, if ye like it better, I'll wrestle ye--or try ye
at the cudgels--and dinna be cutting your capers there ower a wheen
callants.' Weel, up he got, and a ring was made aback o' the tent. He
had an oak stick as thick as your wrist, and I had naething but the bit
half switch that I hae in my hand the now, for driving up the Galloway.
Mine was a mere bog-reed to his, independent o' its being fully six
inches shorter--and, if ye ken onything about cudgelling, that was a
material point. 'Od, sir, I found I couldna cope wi' him. My stick, or
rather switch, was nae better than half a dozen o' rashes plaited
together. 'Will ony o' ye lend me a stick, gentlemen?' cried I to the
bystanders, while I keepit guarding him off the best way I could. Aboon
a dozen were offered in an instant. I gript at the nearest. Now 'Heaven
hae mercy on ye!' said I, and gied him a whissel beneath the elbow, and,
before ye could say Jock Robison! cam clink across his knee. I declare
to ye, sir, he cam spinning down like a totum. He talked nae mair o'
wrestling, or cudgelling, or onything else that day. I settled him for
four-and-twenty hours at ony rate. Weel, sir, I was perfectly delighted
when I saw you lay him on the broad o' his back yesterday; and I had nae
mair words wi' him, frae the day that I humbled him, until about four
hours syne, when I met in wi' him on the Moor, amang three or four o'
his cronies, at his auld trade o' boasting again. I had nae patience wi'
him. But he had a drop ower meikle, and, at ony rate, I thought there
could be nae honour in beating the same man twice. But, says I to him
'Ye needna craw sae loud, for, independent o' me bringing ye to the
ground at cudgelling, and making ye no worth a doit, I saw a youngster
that wrestled wi' ye yesterday, twist ye like a barley-strae.' And, to
do him justice, sir, he didna attempt to deny it, but said that ye wud
do the same by me, if I would try ye, and offered to back ye against ony
man in the twa kingdoms. Now, sir, I looked about all the day in the
crowd, just to see if I could clap my een on ye, and to ask ye, in a
friendly way, if ye would let me try what sort o' stuff ye are made o',
but I couldna fall in wi' ye; and now I'm really glad that I hae met wi'
ye--and as this is a gay level place here, and the ground is not very
hard, what