the tale-books! But whisht, I
hear the keeper coming.'

Mac-Guffog accordingly interrupted their discourse by the harsh harmony
of the bolts and bars, and showed his bloated visage at the opening door.
'Come, Mr. Dinmont, we have put off locking up for an hour to oblige ye;
ye must go to your quarters.'

'Quarters, man? I intend to sleep here the night. There's a spare bed in
the Captain's room.'

'It's impossible!' answered the keeper.

'But I say it IS possible, and that I winna stir; and there's a dram t'
ye.'

Mac-Guffog drank off the spirits and resumed his objection. 'But it's
against rule, sir; ye have committed nae malefaction.'

'I'll break your head,' said the sturdy Liddesdale man, 'if ye say ony
mair about it, and that will be malefaction eneugh to entitle me to ae
night's lodging wi' you, ony way.'

'But I tell ye, Mr. Dinmont,' reiterated the keeper, 'it's against rule,
and I behoved to lose my post.'

'Weel, Mac-Guffog,' said Dandie, 'I hae just twa things to say. Ye ken
wha I am weel eneugh, and that I wadna loose a prisoner.'

'And how do I ken that?' answered the jailor.

'Weel, if ye dinna ken that,' said the resolute farmer, 'ye ken this: ye
ken ye're whiles obliged to be up our water in the way o' your business.
Now, if ye let me stay quietly here the night wi' the Captain, I'se pay
ye double fees for the room; and if ye say no, ye shall hae the best
sark-fu' o' sair banes that ever ye had in your life the first time ye
set a foot by Liddel Moat!'

'Aweel, aweel, gudeman,' said Mac-Guffog, 'a wilfu' man maun hae his way;
but if I am challenged for it by the justices, I ken wha sall bear the
wyte,' and, having sealed this observation with a deep oath or two, he
retired to bed, after carefully securing all the doors of the bridewell.
The bell from the town steeple tolled nine just as the ceremony was
concluded.

'Although it's but early hours,' said the farmer, who had observed that
his friend looked somewhat pale and fatigued, 'I think we had better lie
down, Captain, if ye're no agreeable to another cheerer. But troth, ye're
nae glass-breaker; and neither am I, unless it be a screed wi' the
neighbours, or when I'm on a ramble.'

Bertram readily assented to the motion of his faithful friend, but, on
looking at the bed, felt repugnance to trust himself undressed to Mrs.
Mac-Guffog's clean sheets.

'I'm muckle o' your opinion, Captain,' said Dandie. 'Od, this bed looks
as if a' the c