auner i' the caller air wad do me no ill; sae I jist cam' efter
ye."

Then changing his tone, he added,

"Alec, man, haud a grip o' yersel'. Dinna tyne that Lowse onything
afore ye lowse haud o' yersel'."

"What do you mean, Mr Cupples?" asked Alec, not altogether willing to
understand him.

"Ye ken weel eneuch what I mean. There's a trouble upo' ye. I'm no
speirin' ony questons. But jist haud a grip o' yersel'. Rainbows!
Rainbows!--We'll jist hae a walk thegither, an' I'll instruck ye i' the
first prenciples o' naiteral philosophy.--First, ye see, there's the
attraction o' graivitation, and syne there's the attraction o'
cohesion, and syne there's the attraction o' adhesion; though I'm
thinkin', i' the lang run, they'll be a' fun' to be ane and the same.
And syne there's the attraction o' affeenity, whilk differs mair nor a
tae's length frae the lave. In hit, ye see, ae thing taks till anither
for a whilie, and hauds gey and sicker till 't, till anither comes 'at
it likes better, whaurupon there's a proceedin' i' the Chancery o'
Natur--only it disna aye haud lang, and there's nae lawyers' fees--and
the tane's straughtways divorced frae the tither."

And so he went on, giving a kind of humorous travesty of a lecture on
physics, which, Alec could not help perceiving, glanced every now and
then at his mental condition, especially when it came to treat of the
mechanical powers. It was evident that the strange being had some
perception of the real condition of Alec's feelings. After walking a
couple of miles into the open country, they retraced their footsteps.
As they approached the college, Mr Cupples said:

"Noo, Alec, ye maun gang hame to yer denner. I'll be hame afore nicht.
And gin ye like, ye can come wi' me to the library the morn, and I'll
gie ye something to do."

Glad of anything to occupy his thoughts, Alec went to the library the
next day; and as Mr Cupples was making a catalogue, and at the same
time a thorough change in the arrangement of the books--both to be
after his own heart--he found plenty for him to do.

Alec soon found his part in the catalogue-work becoming agreeable. But
although there was much to be done as well in mending old covers,
mounting worn title-pages, and such like, in this department Mr Cupples
would accept no assistance. Indeed if Alec ventured to take up a book
destined for repair, he would dart at him an anxious, almost angry
glance, and keep watching him at uneasy interval