sewed his pocket-handkerchief fast to the pocket of his
toga, so that he could not pull it out when his nose required its help;
they made him believe that the gipsy Vidra was the cantor; and finally
contrived to substitute a book on veterinary surgery for his
prayer-book.

The poor _supplikans_, when he perceived that he had carried a
cattle-book into the pulpit, was so dumfounded that he could not even
remember with what words the "Our Father" began, so he descended from
the preaching-stool again without uttering a word. They had, therefore,
to fall back upon the dean, after all; but they bound him down not to
preach, but only to pray; and pray he did--for an hour and a half at
least. The right reverend gentleman heaped so many blessings upon the
Karpathy family and all its members, male and female, _in ascendenti et
descendenti_, both in this world and the next, that, whether they lived
or died, no very serious misfortune could possibly befall any of them.

All the guests were present at this pious ceremony, for Master Jock made
it a point to speak to nobody on his birthday till he had first lifted
up his soul to God, and on such occasions there was not a trace on his
countenance of any of the feelings that moved him so strongly on
ordinary days. When he knelt down to pray, a deep, unaffected devotion
was legible in every feature; and when he heard the recapitulation of
his merits, he cast down his eyes as if he considered all that he had
done in his life so far but a small matter compared with what he might
and must do in the future. "God grant me but one more year over and
above the many He has already bestowed upon me," he sighed, "and I will
make up for my neglect of the rest." But could he reckon upon another
year being granted him? Was he sure of another month, or another day, or
even of the morrow?

Deeply affected, he quitted the chapel, and it was only the
congratulations of his friends that restored him to his usual self.

Master Jock's unusual emotion did not interfere one jot with the good
humour of the waggish company, who laughed and joked all the way from
the church to the castle, some repairing thither on horseback, and some
on foot. Ordinarily, Master Jock would have been much diverted by their
practical jokes, but now he only shook his head at them. Mike Horhi
devised every conceivable sort of joke capable of making him roar with
laughter. He filched the clergyman's book; he rubbed pitch on the
c