other. "It wad be awfu' to hear
folk cryin' 'Blackleg' after yir faither, wadna' it, Mysie?"

"Ay," was the reply. "I wadna' like it."

"They should a' be hunted oot o' the place," put in Robert, who was
standing near. "They are just sellin' the rest o' the men, an' helpin'
to break up the strike. So ye mind, Mysie, hoo Tam Graham's lass aye
clashed on the rest o' us on the pit-head? She's just like her faither,
ay ready to do onything agin the rest, if it would gi'e her a wee bit
favor."

"Ay, fine I mind o' it, Rob," Mysie replied eagerly. "Do ye mind the day
she was goin' to tell aboot you takin' hame the bit auld stick for
firewood? When I telt her if she did, I'd tell on her stealin' the
tallow frae the engine-house an' the paraffin ile ay when she got the
chance. She didna say she'd tell then."

"Ay, Mysie. Maybe I'd ha'e gotten the sack if she had telt. But she was
aye a clashbag. But here they come!" he shouted animatedly, as the bell
signaled for the cage to rise, and presently the wheels began to
revolve, as the cage ascended.

"May the tow break, an' land the dirty scums in hell," prayed one man.

"Ay, an' may the coals they howkit the day roast them forever," added
another. Though they prayed thus, yet once again they found that the
"prayer of the wicked availeth naught." Buckets of water, however, and
even bits of stone and scrap iron were surreptitiously flung down the
shaft; and when the blacklegs did appear, they were nearly frightened
out of their senses. It would have gone hard with them as they left the
cage, but someone whispered, "Here's the polis!" and so the crowd had to
be content with beating their tin cans; and keeping time to the songs
improvised by Tam Donaldson, they escorted the blacklegs to their homes.

Next morning a large number of the strikers gathered at the Lazy Corner,
enjoying themselves greatly.

"They tell me," said Tam Donaldson, "that our fren's ha'e slept in this
morning."

A laugh greeted this sally, which seemed to indicate that most of them
knew about the sleeping-in and the reason for it.

"Ay, they'd be tired oot efter their hard day's work yesterday," replied
another.

"Ay, an' they dinna seem to be up yet," said a third, "for I see the
doors are still shut, an' the bairns are no' awa' to the school. They
maun ha'e been awfu' tired to ha'e slept sae lang."

"Let's gang doon and gi'e them a bit sang to help to keep their dreams
pleasant," suggested Tam Don