lang as am livin'
to tak chairge o' 'im, Davit Lunan gangs to nae burals 'at he's no
bidden to. An' I tell ye,' I says to the minister, 'if there was one
body 'at had a richt to be at the bural o' Pete Lownie, it was Davit
Lunan, him bein' my man an' Marget my ain sister. Yes,' says I, though
am no o' the boastin' kind, 'Davit had maist richt to be there next to
Pete 'imsel'.' Ou, Jess. . . .

"This is no a maiter I like to speak aboot; na, I dinna care to mention
it, but the neighbours is nat'rally ta'en up aboot it, and Chirsty Tosh
was sayin' what I would wager 'at Marget hadna sent the minister to
hint 'at Davit's bein' overlookit in the invitations was juist an
accident? Losh, losh, Jess, to think 'at a woman could hae the michty
assurance to mak a tool o' the very minister! But, sal, as far as that
gangs, Marget would do it, an' gae twice to the kirk next Sabbath, too;
but if she thinks she's to get ower me like that, she taks me for a
bigger fule than I tak her for. Na, na, Marget, ye dinna draw my leg
(deceive me). Ou, no. . . .

"Mind ye, Jess, I hae no desire to be friends wi' Marget. Naething
could be farrer frae my wish than to hae helpit in the layin' oot o'
Pete Lownie, an', I assure ye, Davit wasna keen to gang to the bural.
'If they dinna want me to their burals,' Davit says, 'they hae nae mair
to do than to say sae. But I warn ye, Tibbie,' he says, 'if there's a
bural frae this hoose, be it your bural, or be it my bural, not one o'
the family o' Lownies casts their shadows upon the corp.' Thae was the
very words Davit said to me as we watched the hearse frae the
sky-licht. Ay, he bore up wonderfu', but he felt it, Jess--he felt it,
as I could tell by his takkin' to drink again that very nicht. Jess,
Jess. . . .

"Marget's getting waur an' waur? Ay, ye may say so, though I'll say
naething agin her mysel. Of coorse am no on equalty wi' her,
especially since she had the bell put up in her hoose. Ou, I hinna
seen it mysel, na, I never gang near the hoose, an', as mony a body can
tell ye, when I do hae to gang that wy I mak my feet my friend. Ay,
but as I was sayin', Marget's sae grand noo 'at she has a bell in the
house. As I understan', there's a rope in the wast room, an' when ye
pu' it a bell rings in the east room. Weel, when Marget has company at
their tea in the wast room, an' they need mair watter or scones or
onything, she rises an' rings the bell. Syne Jean, the auldest lassi