-rinnin' here an' rinnin' there, cairryin' boxes till an'
frae the smacks, an' doin' a'thing whether they bade me or no. Yesterday
mornin' I got thrippence by hingin' aboot the Royal afore the coches
startit. I luikit a' up and doon the street till I saw somebody hine awa
wi' a porkmanty. Till 'im I ran, an' he was an auld man, an' maist at
the last gasp wi' the weicht o' 't, an' gae me 't to carry. An' wha duv
ye think gae me a shillin' the verra first nicht?--Wha but my brither
Sandy?'

'Lord Rothie?'

'Ay, faith. I kent him weel eneuch, but little he kent me. There he was
upo' Black Geordie. He's turnin' auld noo.'

'Yer brither?'

'Na. He's young eneuch for ony mischeef; but Black Geordie. What on
earth gars him gang stravaguin' aboot upo' that deevil? I doobt he's a
kelpie, or a hell-horse, or something no canny o' that kin'; for faith!
brither Sandy's no ower canny himsel', I'm thinkin'. But Geordie--the
aulder the waur set (inclined). An' sae I'm thinkin' wi' his maister.'

'Did ye iver see yer father, Shargar?'

'Na. Nor I dinna want to see 'im. I'm upo' my mither's side. But that's
naething to the pint. A' that I want o' you 's to lat me come hame at
nicht, an' lie upo' the flure here. I sweir I'll lie i' the street gin
ye dinna lat me. I'll sleep as soun' 's Peter MacInnes whan Maccleary's
preachin'. An' I winna ate muckle--I hae a dreidfu' pooer o' aitin'--an'
a' 'at I gether I'll fess hame to you, to du wi' 't as ye like.--Man, I
cairriet a heap o' things the day till the skipper o' that boat 'at
ye gaed intil wi' Maister Ericson the nicht. He's a fine chiel' that
skipper!'

Robert was astonished at the change that had passed upon Shargar.
His departure had cast him upon his own resources, and allowed the
individuality repressed by every event of his history, even by his
worship of Robert, to begin to develop itself. Miserable for a few
weeks, he had revived in the fancy that to work hard at school would
give him some chance of rejoining Robert. Thence, too, he had watched to
please Mrs. Falconer, and had indeed begun to buy golden opinions from
all sorts of people. He had a hope in prospect. But into the midst fell
the whisper of the apprenticeship like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky.
He fled at once.

'Weel, ye can hae my bed the nicht,' said Robert, 'for I maun sit up wi'
Mr. Ericson.'

''Deed I'll hae naething o' the kin'. I'll sleep upo' the flure, or else
upo' the door-stane. Man, I'm no