ination each morning at least five minutes
before the advertised time;

(c) To refrain from lending money to, or otherwise countenancing the
advances of, persons of insinuating address who would doubtless
accost him in the streets of Edinburgh.

The Dominie had said--

"When in doubt, mind that practically everything in an examination
governs the subjunctive.

"If there is a _viva voce_, be sure and speak up and give your answers
as though you were sure of them. They may be wrong, but on the other
hand they may be right. Anyway, the one thing the examiners will not
thole is a body that dithers.

"Take a last keek at that Proposition--they _may_ call them Theorems,
though--about the Square on the Hypotenuse. It hasn't been set for four
years.

"If you are given a piece of Greek Testament to translate, for mercy's
sake do not be too glib. Dinna translate a thing until you are sure it
is there. They have an unholy habit of leaving out a couple of verses
some place in the middle, and you're just the one to tumble head-first
into the _lacuna_. (I ken ye, Robbie!)

"And whatever ye do, just bear in mind it's your only chance, and _grup_
on tae it! _Post est occasio calva_, laddie! And dinna disappoint an
auld man that has taught ye all he kens himsel'!"

Much of his mother's advice was of a kind that could not be expressed so
concisely, but two salient items remained fixed in Robert's mind:--

"If ye canna think o' the richt word, pit up a bit prayer.

"For ony sake see that your collar is speckless a' the time."

Robert's first impressions of Edinburgh were disappointing. Though
extensive enough, the city was not so great or so imposing as he had
expected. It was entirely roofed with glass,--a provision which, though
doubtless advantageous in wet weather, militated against an adequate
supply of sunlight and fresh air. The shops, of which Robin had heard so
much, were few in number; and the goods displayed therein (mainly food
and drink, newspapers and tobacco) compared unfavourably in point of
variety with those in the window of Malcolm M'Whiston, the "merchant" at
home. The inhabitants all appeared to be in a desperate hurry, and the
noise of the trains, which blocked every thoroughfare, was deafening.
Robert Chalmers was just beginning to feel thoroughly disappointed with
the Scottish capital, when it occurred to him to mount a flight of
stairs which presented itself to his view and gave promise of