he stair, that he might
gang up to the kirk when they were at the divine service. The Laird
o' Monkbarns wad hae a hantle to say about it, as he has about maist
things, if he ken'd only about the place. But whether it was made for
man's devices or God's service, I have seen ower muckle sin done in it
in my day, and far ower muckle have I been partaker of--ay, even here in
this dark cove. Mony a gudewife's been wondering what for the red cock
didna craw her up in the morning, when he's been roasting, puir fallow,
in this dark hole--And, ohon! I wish that and the like o' that had been
the warst o't! Whiles they wad hae heard the din we were making in the
very bowels o' the earth, when Sanders Aikwood, that was forester in
thae days, the father o' Ringan that now is, was gaun daundering about
the wood at e'en, to see after the Laird's game and whiles he wad hae
seen a glance o' the light frae the door o' the cave, flaughtering
against the hazels on the other bank;--and then siccan stories as Sanders
had about the worricows and gyre-carlins that haunted about the auld
wa's at e'en, and the lights that he had seen, and the cries that he had
heard, when there was nae mortal e'e open but his ain; and eh! as he wad
thrum them ower and ower to the like o' me ayont the ingle at e'en, and
as I wad gie the auld silly carle grane for grane, and tale for tale,
though I ken'd muckle better about it than ever he did. Ay, ay--they were
daft days thae;--but they were a' vanity, and waur,--and it's fitting that
they wha hae led a light and evil life, and abused charity when they
were young, suld aiblins come to lack it when they are auld."

While Ochiltree was thus recounting the exploits and tricks of his
earlier life, with a tone in which glee and compunction alternately
predominated, his unfortunate auditor had sat down upon the hermit's
seat, hewn out of the solid rock, and abandoned himself to that
lassitude, both of mind and body, which generally follows a course of
events that have agitated both, The effect of his late indisposition,
which had much weakened his system, contributed to this lethargic
despondency. "The puir bairn!" said auld Edie, "an he sleeps in this
damp hole, he'll maybe wauken nae mair, or catch some sair disease. It's
no the same to him as to the like o' us, that can sleep ony gate an anes
our wames are fu'. Sit up, Maister Lovel, lad! After a's come and gane,
I dare say the captain-lad will do weel eneugh--and,