rned terrible
blue-like, isn't it? I can compare it to naething but the syndins o'
my mither's sye-dish."

"Hoot! never mind the milk," rejoined Nelly; "but sup ye up yer supper
as fast as ye're able, and rin owre to yer mither, and tell her the
mistress sent ye to see if she could gie ye a len o' ane o' her
milk-cogs, for a fortnicht or sae, till the _first flush_ gang aff
Hawky. Ye can stay a' nicht at Gairyburn," she added; "and ye'll be
back in braw time next morning to gang _out_."

The boy seemed glad of an opportunity to spend a night in his paternal
home. His supper was soon despatched, and away he went.

The shortsightedness of mortals has been a theme for the moralists of
all ages to descant upon; and Nelly, had her history been sooner
known, might have afforded them as good a subject as any which they
have hitherto discussed. Attached as she evidently was to Jock, had
her foresight extended so far as to show her what was to follow, she
would certainly have strained every nerve to prevent him from being
left alone on that momentous night. Alone, however, he was left;
and--as he lay dreaming of Lizzy Gimmerton, and the happiness he
should experience from finding himself again reinstated in her
favour--exactly at the solitary hour of midnight a most terrible
apparition entered his apartment. How it entered was never known; for
the _outer_ door was securely locked; and the good people of the house
being, one and all, fast asleep, saw it not; but, as doors, windows,
walls, and roofs, afford no obstruction to an immaterial essence, its
entrance need not be matter of surprise. It was, in all respects save
one, a most legitimate ghost. A winding-sheet was wrapped round what
appeared to be its body; its head was tied up in a white handkerchief;
and its face and hands, where they were visible, were as white as the
drapery in which it was attired; but, then, in its right hand it
carried _a candle_--a thing which ghosts are not accustomed to do.
But, as there are exigencies among mortals which sometimes oblige
them to deviate from the common rules of conduct, the same things may,
perhaps, occur among ghosts. In the present instance, indeed,
something of the kind seemed to be indispensable; for, without such
aid, more than half its terrors would have been invisible. The candle,
moreover, was evidently the candle of a ghost; for it showed only a
small point of white flame in the middle, while around the edges it
burned