Mr. Girder's horn-hard palm. Upon this complete, and to Caleb most
satisfactory, information he did not, it may readily be believed,
hesitate to accept an invitation to a solemn feast, to which were
invited, not only all the NOTABLES of the village, but even his ancient
antagonist, Mr. Dingwall, himself. At this festivity he was, of course,
the most welcome and most honoured guest; and so well did he ply the
company with stories of what he could do with his master, his master
with the Lord Keeper, the Lord Keeper with the council, and the council
with the king [queen], that before the company dismissed (which was,
indeed, rather at an early hour than a late one), every man of note in
the village was ascending to the top-gallant of some ideal preferment by
the ladder of ropes which Caleb had presented to their imagination. Nay,
the cunning butler regained in that moment not only all the influence he
possessed formerly over the villagers, when the baronial family which
he served were at the proudest, but acquired even an accession of
importance. The writer--the very attorney himself, such is the thirst of
preferment--felt the force of the attraction, and taking an opportunity
to draw Caleb into a corner, spoke, with affectionate regret, of the
declining health of the sheriff-clerk of the county.

"An excellent man--a most valuable man, Mr. Caleb; but fat sall I say!
we are peer feckless bodies, here the day and awa' by cock-screech the
morn; and if he failyies, there maun be somebody in his place; and gif
that ye could airt it my way, I sall be thankful, man--a gluve stuffed
wi gowd nobles; an' hark ye, man something canny till yoursell, and the
Wolf's Hope carles to settle kindly wi' the Master of Ravenswood--that
is, Lord Ravenswood--God bless his lordship!"

A smile, and a hearty squeeze by the hand, was the suitable answer to
this overture; and Caleb made his escape from the jovial party, in order
to avoid committing himself by any special promises.

"The Lord be gude to me," said Caleb, when he found himself in the open
air, and at liberty to give vent to the self-exultation with which
he was, as it were, distended; "did ever ony man see sic a set of
green-gaislings? The very pickmaws and solan-geese out-bye yonder at
the Bass hae ten times their sense! God, an I had been the Lord High
Commissioner to the Estates o' Parliament, they couldna hae beflumm'd
me mair; and, to speak Heaven's truth, I could hardly hae befl