agoons. She therefore glanced at a table-cloth not quite clean, and
conned over her proposed supper a minute or two, before, patting her
husband on the shoulder, she bade him sit down for 'a hard-headed loon,
that was aye bringing himsell and other folk into collie-shangies.'

When Dandie Dinmont, after executing two or three caprioles, and cutting
the Highland fling, by way of ridicule of his wife's anxiety, at last
deigned to sit down and commit his round, black, shaggy bullet of a head
to her inspection, Brown thought he had seen the regimental surgeon look
grave upon a more trifling case. The gudewife, however, showed some
knowledge of chirurgery; she cut away with her scissors the gory locks
whose stiffened and coagulated clusters interfered with her operations,
and clapped on the wound some lint besmeared with a vulnerary salve,
esteemed sovereign by the whole dale (which afforded upon fair nights
considerable experience of such cases); she then fixed her plaster with a
bandage, and, spite of her patient's resistance, pulled over all a
night-cap, to keep everything in its right place. Some contusions on the
brow and shoulders she fomented with brandy, which the patient did not
permit till the medicine had paid a heavy toll to his mouth. Mrs. Dinmont
then simply, but kindly, offered her assistance to Brown.

He assured her he had no occasion for anything but the accommodation of a
basin and towel.

'And that's what I should have thought of sooner,' she said; 'and I did
think o't, but I durst na open the door, for there's a' the bairns, poor
things, sae keen to see their father.'

This explained a great drumming and whining at the door of the little
parlour, which had somewhat surprised Brown, though his kind landlady had
only noticed it by fastening the bolt as soon as she heard it begin. But
on her opening the door to seek the basin and towel (for she never
thought of showing the guest to a separate room), a whole tide of
white-headed urchins streamed in, some from the stable, where they had
been seeing Dumple, and giving him a welcome home with part of their
four-hours scones; others from the kitchen, where they had been listening
to old Elspeth's tales and ballads; and the youngest, half-naked, out of
bed, all roaring to see daddy, and to inquire what he had brought home
for them from the various fairs he had visited in his peregrinations. Our
knight of the broken head first kissed and hugged them all round, t