ot believing trowsers essential to blessedness
either, but knowing the superiority of the old Roman costume of the
kilt.

No sooner had Mrs. Falconer cast her eyes upon him than she could not
but be convinced of the truth of Robert's averment.

'Here he is, grannie; and gin ye bena saitisfeed yet--'

'Haud yer tongue, laddie. Ye hae gi'en me nae cause to doobt yer word.'

Indeed, during Robert's absence, his grandmother had had leisure to
perceive of what an absurd folly she had been guilty. She had also had
time to make up her mind as to her duty with regard to Shargar; and
the more she thought about it, the more she admired the conduct of her
grandson, and the better she saw that it would be right to follow his
example. No doubt she was the more inclined to this benevolence that she
had as it were received her grandson back from the jaws of death.

When the two lads entered, from her arm-chair Mrs. Falconer examined
Shargar from head to foot with the eye of a queen on her throne, and
a countenance immovable in stern gentleness, till Shargar would gladly
have sunk into the shelter of the voluminous kilt from the gaze of those
quiet hazel eyes.

At length she spoke:

'Robert, tak him awa'.'

'Whaur'll I tak him till, grannie?'

'Tak him up to the garret. Betty 'ill ha' ta'en a tub o' het water up
there 'gen this time, and ye maun see that he washes himsel' frae heid
to fut, or he s' no bide an 'oor i' my hoose. Gang awa' an' see till 't
this minute.'

But she detained them yet awhile with various directions in regard of
cleansing, for the carrying out of which Robert was only too glad to
give his word. She dismissed them at last, and Shargar by and by found
himself in bed, clean, and, for the first time in his life, between a
pair of linen sheets--not altogether to his satisfaction, for mere order
and comfort were substituted for adventure and success.

But greater trials awaited him. In the morning he was visited by Brodie,
the tailor, and Elshender, the shoemaker, both of whom he held in awe as
his superiors in the social scale, and by them handled and measured from
head to feet, the latter included; after which he had to lie in bed
for three days, till his clothes came home; for Betty had carefully
committed every article of his former dress to the kitchen fire, not
without a sense of pollution to the bottom of her kettle. Nor would he
have got them for double the time, had not Robert haunted the tailor,