to break open the hen-
house door; and our whole stock of poultry, the cock along with our seven
hens--two of them tappit, and one muffed--were carried away bodily, stoop
and roop.

On this subject, howsoever, I shall say no more in this chapter, but
merely observe in conclusion, that, as to our het-pint, we were obligated
to make the best of a bad bargain, making up with whisky what it wanted
in eggs; though our banquet could not be called altogether a merry one,
the joys of our escape from the horrors of the fire being damped, as it
were by a wet blanket, on account of the nefarious pillaging of our hen-
house.

CHAPTER XX.--ADVENTURES IN THE SPORTING LINE.

A fig for them by law protected,
Liberty's a glorious feast;
Courts for cowards were erected,
Churches built to please the priest.

_Jolly Beggars_.

Wi' cauk and keel I'll win your bread,
And spindles and whorles for them wha need,
Whilk is a gentle trade indeed,
To carry the Gaberlunzie on.
I'll bow my leg and crook my knee,
And draw a black clout owre my ee,
A cripple or blind they will ca' me,
While we shall be merry and sing.

KING JAMES V.

The situation of me and my family at this time affords an example of the
truth of the old proverb, that "ae evil never comes its lane;" being no
sooner quit of our dread concerning the burning, than we were doomed by
Providence to undergo the disaster of the rookery of our hen-house. I
believe I have mentioned the number of our stock--to wit, a cock and
seven hens, eight in all; but I neglected, on account of their size, or
somehow overlooked, the two bantams, than which two more neat or
curiouser-looking creatures were not to be seen in the whole
country-side. The hennie was quite a conceit of a thing, and laid an egg
not muckle bigger than my thimble; while, for its size, the bit he-ane
was, for spirit in the fechting line, a perfect wee deevil incarnate.

Most fortunately for my family in this matter, it so happened that, by
paying in half-a-crown a-year, I was a regular member of a society for
prosecuting all whom it might concern, that dabbled with foul fingers in
the sinful and lawless trade of thievery, breaking the eighth commandment
at no allowance, and drawing on their heads not only the passing
punishments of this world, by way of banishment to Botany Bay, or hanging
at the Luckenbooths, but the threatened vengeance of one that will