im
oot, an' haena seen 'im aboot ony main" He offered, however, to show the
new-made mound on which he had found the dog. Leading the way past the
church, he went on down the terraced slope, prolonging the walk with
conversation, for the guardianship of an old churchyard offers very
little such lively company as John Traill's.

"I mind, noo, it was some puir body frae the Coogate, wi' no' ony
mourners but the sma' terrier aneath the coffin. I let 'im pass, no'
to mak' a disturbance at a buryin'. The deal box was fetched up by the
police, an' carried by sic a crew o' gaol-birds as wad mak' ye turn ower
in yer ain God's hole. But he paid for his buryin' wi' his ain siller,
an' noo lies as canny as the nobeelity. Nae boot here's the place,
Maister Traill; an' ye can see for yer ainsel' there's no' any dog."

"Ay, that would be Auld Jock and Bobby would no' be leaving him,"
insisted the landlord, stubbornly. He stood looking down at the rough
mound of frozen clods heaped in a little space of trampled snow.

"Jeemes Brown," Mr. Trail said, at last, "the man wha lies here was a
decent, pious auld country body, and I drove him to his meeserable death
in the Cowgate."

"Man, ye dinna ken what ye're sayin'!" was the shocked response.

"Do I no'? I'm canny, by the ordinar', but my fule tongue will get me
into trouble with the magistrates one of these days. It aye wags at both
ends, and is no' tied in the middle."

Then, stanch Calvinist that he was, and never dreaming that he was
indulging in the sinful pleasure of confession, Mr. Traill poured out
the story of Auld Jock's plight and of his own shortcomings. It was a
bitter, upbraiding thing that he, an uncommonly capable man, had meant
so well by a humble old body, and done so ill. And he had failed again
when he tried to undo the mischief. The very next morning he had gone
down into the perilous Cowgate, and inquired in every place where it
might be possible for such a timid old shepherd to be known. But there!
As well look for a burr thistle in a bin of oats, as look for a human
atom in the Cowgate and the wynds "juist aff."

"Weel, noo, ye couldna hae dune aething wi' the auld body, ava, gin he
wouldna gang to the infairmary." The caretaker was trying to console the
self-accusing man.

"Could I no'? Ye dinna ken me as weel as ye micht." The disgusted
landlord tumbled into broad Scotch. "Gie me to do it ance mair, an' I'd
chairge Auld Jock wi' thievin' ma siller, wi'