for the woman had a vast o' money, only she was--a
mulatto. That, sir, is a' I ken concerning William Armstrong, or, as
ye ca'ed him, Glaikit Willie; for he was a callant that was so
thochtless when under my care, that he never interested me a great
deal. And noo, sir, I shall gie ye a' the particulars I know
concerning the fate o'

VENTURESOME JAMIE.

Ye will remember him best o' ony o' them, I reckon; for even when ye
were baith bits o' callants, there was a sort o' rivalship between ye
for the affections o' bonny Katie Alison, the loveliest lassie that
ever I had at my school. I hae frequently observed the looks o'
jealousy that used to pass between ye when she seemed to show mair
kindness to ane than anither; and, when ye little thocht I saw ye, I
hae noticed ane o' ye pushing oranges into her hand, and anither
sweeties. When she got a bit comb, too, to fasten up her gowden hair,
I weel divined whose pennies had purchased it--for they were yours,
doctor. I remember, also, hoo ye was aye a greater favourite wi' her
than Jamie, and hoo he challenged ye to fecht him for her affections,
and o'ercam' ye in the battle, and sent ye to the school next day wi'
yer face a' disfigured--and I, as in duty bound, gied each o' ye a
heartier thrashin than ye had gien ane anither. Katie hung her head a'
the time, and when she looked up, a tear was rowin in her bonny blue
een. But ye left the school and the country-side when ye was little
mair than seventeen; and the next thing that we heard o' ye was that
ye had gane oot to India about three years afterwards. Yer departure
evidently removed a load from Jamie's breast. He followed Katie like
her shadow, though with but little success, as far as I could
perceive, and as it was generally given out.

But, ye must remember, in his case the name o' Venturesome Jamie was
well applied. Never in my born days did I know such a callant. He
would have climbed the highest trees as though he had been speeling
owre a common yett, and swung himsel by the heels frae their topmost
branches. Oh, he was a terrible laddie! When I hae seen ye a' bathing
in the river, sometimes I used to tremble for him. He was a perfect
amphibious animal. I have seen him dive from a height of twenty or
thirty feet, and remain under the water till I almost lost my breath
wi' anxiety for his uprising; and then he would have risen at as many
yards distant from the place where he had dived. I recollect o'
hearing o' h