the violin to Robert,
saying, with unsteady voice:

'Hae, tak her awa'. I dinna deserve to hae sic a thing i' my hoose. But
hear me, Robert, and lat hearin' be believin'. I never was sae drunk but
I cud tune my fiddle. Mair by token, ance they fand me lyin' o' my back
i' the Corrie, an' the watter, they say, was ower a' but the mou' o'
me; but I was haudin' my fiddle up abune my heid, and de'il a spark o'
watter was upo' her.'

'It's a pity yer wife wasna yer fiddle, than, Sanny,' said Robert, with
more presumption than wit.

''Deed ye're i' the richt, there, Robert. Hae, tak' yer fiddle.'

''Deed no,' returned Robert. 'I maun jist lippen (trust) to ye, Sanders.
I canna bide langer the nicht; but maybe ye'll tell me hoo to haud her
the neist time 'at I come--will ye?'

'That I wull, Robert, come whan ye like. An' gin ye come o' ane 'at
cud play this fiddle as this fiddle deserves to be playt, ye'll do me
credit.'

'Ye min' what that sumph Lumley said to me the ither nicht, Sanders,
aboot my grandfather?'

'Ay, weel eneuch. A dish o' drucken havers!'

'It was true eneuch aboot my great-grandfather, though.'

'No! Was't railly?'

'Ay. He was the best piper in 's regiment at Culloden. Gin they had a'
fouchten as he pipit, there wad hae been anither tale to tell. And he
was toon-piper forby, jist like you, Sanders, efter they took frae him
a' 'at he had.'

'Na! heard ye ever the like o' that! Weel, wha wad hae thocht it? Faith!
we maun hae you fiddle as weel as yer lucky-daiddy pipit.--But here's
the King o' Bashan comin' efter his butes, an' them no half dune yet!'
exclaimed Dooble Sanny, settling in haste to his awl and his lingel (Fr.
ligneul). 'He'll be roarin' mair like a bull o' the country than the
king o' 't.'

As Robert departed, Peter Ogg came in, and as he passed the window, he
heard the shoemaker averring:

'I haena risen frae my stule sin' ane o'clock; but there's a sicht to be
dune to them, Mr. Ogg.'

Indeed, Alexander ab Alexandro, as Mr. Innes facetiously styled him, was
in more ways than one worthy of the name of Dooble. There seemed to be
two natures in the man, which all his music had not yet been able to
blend.

CHAPTER X. ANOTHER DISCOVERY IN THE GARRET.

Little did Robert dream of the reception that awaited him at home.
Almost as soon as he had left the house, the following events began to
take place.

The mistress's bell rang, and Betty 'gaed benn the hoose to see what sh