rae the cupboard as a'
opened the door.

"'There 's juist ae wy oot o' the room, an' it's by the door ye cam in
at,' a' said; 'maybe ye wud like tae come an' sit in the dinin'-room;
ye 'll be less distrackit.'" And Rebecca charged John that no
probationer should in future be allowed to enter the Doctor's sanctum
on any consideration.

John's excuse for his solitary fault was that the lad thought that he
could study his sermon better with books round him, and so Rebecca
found the young gentleman seated in the Doctor's own chair and working
with the Doctor's own pen, unblushing and shameless.

"Gin ye want Cruden's _Concordance_"--this was when Rebecca had led him
out a chastened man--"or Matthew Henry tae fill up yir sermon, the
books 'll be brocht by the church officer."

Rebecca's intrusion, in turn, into John's sphere was quite without
excuse, and she could only explain her conduct by a general reference
to the foolishness of the human heart. It came out through the
ingenuousness of the probationer, who mentioned casually that he was
told Drumtochty liked four heads in the sermon.

"May I ask the name of yir adviser?" said the beadle, with awful
severity. "The hoosekeeper? A' thocht so, an' a' wud juist gie ye due
intimation that the only person qualified an' entitled tae gie ye
information on sic subjects is masel', an' ony ither is unjustified an'
unwarranted.

"Fower heads? Three an' an application is the Doctor's invariable
rule, an' gin a probationer gied oot a fourth, a' winna undertake tae
say what michtna happen. Drumtochty is no a pairish tae trifle wi',
an' it disna like new-fangled wys. Power!" and the scorn for this
unorthodox division was withering.

Rebecca realised the gravity of the situation in the kitchen, and
humbled herself greatly.

"It wes as a hearer that he askit ma opinion, an' no as an authority.
He said that the new wy wes tae leave oot heads, an' a' saw a' the hay
spread oot across the field, so a' told him tae gither it up intae
'coles' (hay-cocks), an' it wud be easier lifted. Maybe a' mentioned
fower--a 'll no deny it; but it's the first time a' ever touched on
heads, an' it 'll be the laist."

Upon those terms of penitence, John granted pardon, but it was noticed
on Sabbath that when Becca got in the way of the retiring procession to
the manse, the beadle was heard in the kirkyard, "Oot o' ma road,
wumman," in a tone that was full of judgment, and that Rebecca withdr