, my lady--in a pairt o' the country
like that, gey an' lanely, it was not the nicht to turn a fallow cratur
oot in! 'The butler was, at the same time, an old and trusty servan','
said Mr. Heywood, 'an' his master was greatly concernt aboot the thing.
It is impossible at this time o' day,' he said, 'to un'erstan' hoo such
a thing could be--i' the total absence o' direc' evidence, but the
short an' the weary lang o' 't was, that the man was hangt, an' hung in
irons for the deed.

"'An' noo ye may be thinkin' the ghaist o' the puir pedlar began to
haunt the hoose; but naething o' the kin'! There was nae disturbance o'
that, or ony ither sort. The man was deid an' buried, whaever did or
didna kill him, an' the body o' him that was said to hae killed him,
hung danglin' i' the win', an' naither o' them said a word for or again
the thing.

"'But the hert o' the man's maister was sair. He couldna help aye
thinkin' that maybe he was to blame, an' micht hae done something mair
nor he thoucht o' at the time to get the puir man aff; for he was
absolutely certain that, hooever rouch he micht hae been; an' hooever
he micht hae been the cause o' deith to the troublesome pedlar, he
hadna meant to kill him; it was, in pairt at least, an accident, an' he
thoucht the hangin' o' 'im for 't was hard lines. The maister was an
auld man, nearhan' auchty, an' tuik things the mair seriously, I
daursay, that he wasna that far frae the grave they had sent the puir
butler til afore his time--gien that could be said o' ane whause grave
was wi' the weather-cock! An' aye he tuik himsel' to task as to whether
he ouchtna to hae dune something mair--gane to the king maybe--for he
couldna bide the thoucht o' the puir man that had waitit upon him sae
lang an' faithfu', hingin' an' swingin' up there, an' the flesh
drappin' aff the banes o' 'im, an' still the banes hingin' there, an'
swingin' an' creakin' an' cryin'! The thoucht, I say, was sair upo' the
auld man. But the time passed, an' I kenna hoo lang or hoo short it may
tak for a body in sic a position to come asun'er, but at last the banes
began to drap, an' as they drappit, there they lay--at the fut o' the
gallows, for naebody caret to meddle wi' them. An' whan that cam to the
knowledge o' the auld gentleman, he sent his fowk to gether them up an'
bury them oot o' sicht. An' what was left o' the body, the upper pairt,
hauden thegither wi' the irons, maybe--I kenna weel hoo, hung an' swung
there st