iper.'

'And what said ye?'

'I daured him to say 'at he didna pipe weel.'

'Weel dune, laddie! And ye micht say 't wi' a gude conscience, for he
wadna hae been piper till 's regiment at the battle o' Culloden gin he
hadna pipit weel. Yon's his kilt hingin' up i' the press i' the garret.
Ye'll hae to grow, Robert, my man, afore ye fill that.'

'And whase was that blue coat wi' the bonny gowd buttons upo' 't?' asked
Robert, who thought he had discovered a new approach to an impregnable
hold, which he would gladly storm if he could.

'Lat the coat sit. What has that to do wi' the kilt? A blue coat and a
tartan kilt gang na weel thegither.'

'Excep' in an auld press whaur naebody sees them. Ye wadna care,
grannie, wad ye, gin I was to cut aff the bonnie buttons?'

'Dinna lay a finger upo' them. Ye wad be gaein' playin' at pitch and
toss or ither sic ploys wi' them. Na, na, lat them sit.'

'I wad only niffer them for bools (exchange them for marbles).'

'I daur ye to touch the coat or onything 'ither that's i' that press.'

'Weel, weel, grannie. I s' gang and get my lessons for the morn.'

'It's time, laddie. Ye hae been jabberin' ower muckle. Tell Betty to
come and tak' awa' the tay-things.'

Robert went to the kitchen, got a couple of hot potatoes and a candle,
and carried them up-stairs to Shargar, who was fast asleep. But the
moment the light shone upon his face, he started up, with his eyes, if
not his senses, wide awake.

'It wasna me, mither! I tell ye it wasna me!'

And he covered his head with both arms, as if to defend it from a shower
of blows.

'Haud yer tongue, Shargar. It's me.'

But before Shargar could come to his senses, the light of the candle
falling upon the blue coat made the buttons flash confused suspicions
into his mind.

'Mither, mither,' he said, 'ye hae gane ower far this time. There's ower
mony o' them, and they're no the safe colour. We'll be baith hangt, as
sure's there's a deevil in hell.'

As he said thus, he went on trying to pick the buttons from the coat,
taking them for sovereigns, though how he could have seen a sovereign
at that time in Scotland I can only conjecture. But Robert caught him by
the shoulders, and shook him awake with no gentle hands, upon which he
began to rub his eyes, and mutter sleepily:

'Is that you, Bob? I hae been dreamin', I doobt.'

'Gin ye dinna learn to dream quaieter, ye'll get you and me tu into mair
trouble nor I care to hae aboot ye