good merchant," said she.

"_Ma chere_ leddy," replied he, "I will be there _a present_." And,
looking up to see that she had again disappeared--"Drink, my jolly
mates," he continued. "It is the grand matiere, the _bon_ stuff, the
excellent good liqueur. Aha! you will be so merry, and you know you have
the consent of Innerkepple."

"We'll be a' as drunk as bats," said he who spoke first, with a sly
leer.

"The Deil tak him wha has the beddin' o' us!" said another.

"So say I," added half-a-dozen of voices.

"Then I am the Deil's property," said the warder, "unless I am saved by
the power o' the wine; and, by my faith, I'll no spare't."

"Aha! very good! excellent joke!" cried the delighted merchant. "Drink,
and shame the Diable, as we say in France. Wine comes from the gods, and
is the grand poison of Beelzebub."

And, after enjoying deep potations, the merchant returned to the hall,
amidst the laughter and pretended applause of the men. The moment he had
disappeared, Katherine got carried to the spot a measure filled with
wine and water; and, having emptied in another vessel the contents of
the merchant's hamper, the thin and innocuous potation was poured in to
supply its place. The men assisted in the operation; and, all being
finished, they began to carouse with great glee and jollity.

"I said, my leddy, to the merchant, that we would be a' as drunk as
bats," said one of the humorists; "and sure this is a fair beginning;
for wha could stand drink o' this fearfu' strength?"

"The Deil tak him wha has the beddin' o' us!" said the other, laughing,
as he drank off a glass of the thin mixture.

"Then I am the Deil's property," said the warder, "unless I am saved by
the power o' this strong drink."

And thus the men, encouraged by the smiles of Kate, who was, with great
activity, conducting the ceremonies, seemed to be getting boisterous on
the strength of the merchant's wine. Their jokes raised real laughter;
and the noise of their mirth went up and entered into the hall, falling
like incense on the heart of the merchant. Katherine, meanwhile, again
betook herself to her station at the hall window, using assiduously both
her eyes and ears; the former being directed to a dark fir plantation
that stood to the left of the castle, and the latter occupied by the
conversations of her father and the merchant.

"My men," said Innerkepple, "seem to be following the example o' their
master. They are gettin' noisy. I