n' awa' some nonsense o' that kind," says I;
an', as fac's ocht, I cud hardly haud frae lauchin' at the droll look
on Sandy's face.

"Weel," he gaed on, "that was the first exyem; the henmist is that the
whole is greater than its pairt. That means, d'ye see, for instance,
that my cairt's bigger gin the trams."

"Hoo d'ye mak' that oot?" says I. "Michty me, man, if the trams were
nae bigger gin the cairt, hoo wud Donal' get in atween them? The
thing's ridic'lous."

"You're no' seein't," says Sandy. "Tak' the back door o' the cairt,
for instance. The back door's only a bit o' the cairt, isn't? Weel,
than, shurely the cairt's bigger than the back door."

"You're haiverin' perfeck buff," says I. "The back door's juist exakly
the same size as the cairt, or you wud never get it fessend on. Ony
bairn kens that, gomitry or no gomitry."

"Bliss my hert, Bawbie," says Sandy, gettin' akinda peppery, "shurely
to peace a scone's bigger than a bit o' a scone."

"There's nae doot aboot that," says I, "if the scone that you have a
bit o' is nae bigger gin the scone that's bigger gin the bit o' the
ither ane."

"That's teen for grantit, of coorse," says Sandy.

"But I dinna see hoo that mak's ony difference to the back door o' the
cairt," says I, I says.

Sandy took a gey wild-like bite at his row, an gae twa-three o' his
chuck-chucks, an' then he says, "Man, Bawbie, you weemin fowk have nae
rizzenin' faculty. Naebody wi' ony logic wud need twa looks to see
brawly that onything's bigger than a bit o't, or, as the book says,
that the whole's greater than its pairt. That's self-evident. Tak'
the Toon Cooncil, say. It's shurely bigger than ony ane o' the
Cooncillers."

"Is't na?" I brook in gey quick. "Juist you speer at Bailie
Thingymabob, an' you'll shune find oot whuther he thinks the Toon
Cooncil or him the biggest o' the twa."

"Auch, Bawbie; you're no wirth argeyin' wi'," says Sandy. "You've aye
sic a desjeskit wey o' lookin' at things. What's the sense o'
bletherin' aboot Bailie Thingymabob? Preserve me! if he's only an
echteent pairt o' the Toon Cooncil, shurely common sense 'ill lat you
see that the Toon Cooncil's bigger than he is. Ony bit loonie in the
tower-penny cud see that in a blink."

"Very weel," says I; "juist speer at Bailie Thingymabob himsel'. I'll
swag, if you tell him he's only an echteent pairt o' the Toon Cooncil,
he'll be dealin' wi' anither tattie man gin neist mornin'. Sandy,