shion of their old Gothic ancestors; but men who had no
grandfathers never dreamt of such folly--And here the folk denounce a
trumpery dauber of canvass, for such I understand to be this hero's
occupation, as if he were a field-officer, who made valour his
profession; and who, if you deprived him of his honour, was like to be
deprived of his bread at the same time.--Ha, ha, ha! it reminds one of
Don Quixote, who took his neighbour, Samson Carrasco, for a
knight-errant."

The perusal of this paper, which contained the notes formerly laid
before the reader, containing the statement of Sir Bingo, and the
censure which the company at the Well had thought fit to pass upon his
affair with Mr. Tyrrel, induced Mr. Bindloose to say to Mrs. Dods, with
as little exultation on the superiority of his own judgment as human
nature would permit,--

"Ye see now that I was right, Mrs. Dods, and that there was nae earthly
use in your fashing yoursell wi' this lang journey--The lad had just
ta'en the bent rather than face Sir Bingo; and troth, I think him the
wiser of the twa for sae doing--There ye hae print for it."

Meg answered somewhat sullenly, "Ye may be mista'en, for a' that, your
ainsell, for as wise as ye are, Mr. Bindloose; I shall hae that matter
mair strictly enquired into."

This led to a renewal of the altercation concerning the probable fate of
Tyrrel, in the course of which the stranger was induced to take some
interest in the subject.

At length Mrs. Dods, receiving no countenance from the experienced
lawyer for the hypothesis she had formed, rose, in something like
displeasure, to order her whiskey to be prepared. But hostess as she was
herself, when in her own dominions, she reckoned without her host in the
present instance; for the humpbacked postilion, as absolute in his
department as Mrs. Dods herself, declared that the cattle would not be
fit for the road these two hours yet. The good lady was therefore
obliged to wait his pleasure, bitterly lamenting all the while the loss
which a house of public entertainment was sure to sustain by the absence
of the landlord or landlady, and anticipating a long list of broken
dishes, miscalculated reckonings, unarranged chambers, and other
disasters, which she was to expect at her return. Mr. Bindloose, zealous
to recover the regard of his good friend and client, which he had in
some degree forfeited by contradicting her on a favourite subject, did
not choose to offer the u