seen something of him before: he was a remarkable compound of good
nature and bad temper. People were generally afraid of him, because he
had a biting satire at his command, amounting even to wit, which found
vent in verse--not altogether despicable even from a literary point of
view. The only person he, on his part, was afraid of, was his own wife;
for upon her, from lack of apprehension, his keenest irony fell, as
he said, like water on a duck's back, and in respect of her he had,
therefore, no weapon of offence to strike terror withal. Her dulness was
her defence. He liked Robert. When he saw him, he wakened up, laid hold
of him by the button, and drew him in.

'Come in, lad,' he said, 'an' tak a pinch. I'm waitin' for Merson.' As
he spoke he took from his pocket his mull, made of the end of a ram's
horn, and presented it to Robert, who accepted the pledge of friendship.
While he was partaking, MacGregor drew himself with some effort upon the
counter, saying in a half-comical, half-admonitory tone,

'Weel, and hoo's the mathematics, Robert?'

'Thrivin',' answered Robert, falling into his humour.

'Weel, that's verra weel. Duv ye min', Robert, hoo, whan ye was aboot
the age o' aucht year aul', ye cam to me ance at my shop aboot something
yer gran'mither, honest woman, wantit, an' I, by way o' takin' my fun o'
ye, said to ye, "Robert, ye hae grown desperate; ye're a man clean;
ye hae gotten the breeks on." An' says ye, "Ay, Mr. MacGregor, I want
naething noo but a watch an' a wife"?'

'I doobt I've forgotten a' aboot it, Mr. MacGregor,' answered Robert.
'But I've made some progress, accordin' to your story, for Dr. Anderson,
afore I cam hame, gae me a watch. An' a fine crater it is, for it aye
does its best, an' sae I excuse its shortcomin's.'

'There's just ae thing, an' nae anither,' returned the manufacturer,
'that I cannot excuse in a watch. Gin a watch gangs ower fest, ye
fin' 't oot. Gin she gangs ower slow, ye fin' 't oot, an' ye can
aye calculate upo' 't correck eneuch for maitters sublunairy, as Mr.
Maccleary says. An' gin a watch stops a'thegither, ye ken it's failin',
an' ye ken whaur it sticks, an' a' 'at ye say 's "Tut, tut, de'il hae
't for a watch!" But there's ae thing that God nor man canna bide in a
watch, an' that's whan it stan's still for a bittock, an' syne gangs on
again. Ay, ay! tic, tic, tic! wi' a fair face and a leein' hert. It wad
gar ye believe it was a' richt, and time for anither tum