as the true cause of her celibacy. And when they heard that she was
engaged to go to Howdycraigs at Martinmas, and that Jock Jervis was
engaged to go there also, they said that, "if it hadna been for the
witch's ill _wisses_, they were sure Nelly would mak baith a better
sweetheart and a better wife to Jock, than that licht-headed limmer,
Lizzy Gimmerton."

From this the reader will perceive that Jock and Nelly were to be
fellow-servants; he was the only man, and she was the only woman--the
master and mistress excepted--about the place; and much of their time
was necessarily spent together. During the stormy days of winter, when
he was thrashing in the barn, she was employed in _shakin the strae_
and _riddlin the corn_, which he had separated from the husks; and in
the long evenings, while she was washing the dishes, or engaged in
spinning, he sat by the fire telling stories about lads and lasses,
markets and tent-preachings, and sometimes he even sung a verse or two
of a song, to keep her from wearying. On these occasions, she would
tuck up the sleeves of her short-gown an inch or two beyond the
ordinary extent, or allow her neckerchief to sink a little lower than
usual, for the purpose, as is supposed, of showing him that she was
not destitute of charms, and that her arms and neck, where not exposed
to the weather, were as white as those of any lady in the land. In
such circumstances, Jock, who was really a lad of some spirit, could
not refrain from throwing his arms about her waist, and toozling her
for a kiss. This was, no doubt, the very reverse of what she had
anticipated; and to these unmannerly efforts on the part of the youth,
she never failed to offer a becoming resistance, by turning away her
head, to have the place threatened as far from the danger as
possible--raising her hand, and holding it between their faces, so as
to retard the progress of the enemy, at least for a time; and, lest
these defensive operations should be misunderstood, uttering some such
deprecatory sentence as the following:--"Hoot! haud awa, Jock! If ye
want a kiss, gang and kiss Lizzy Gimmerton, and let me mind my wark."
But it has been ascertained by the ablest engineers that the most
skilfully-constructed and most bravely-defended fortifications must
ultimately fall into the hands of a besieging army, if it be only
properly provided, and persevere in the attack. This theory is no
longer disputed, and the present case is one among a nu