d to show the dress and appearance of a
gentleman, these cross interrogatories were usually put in the form of a
case supposed, as, 'Ye'll hae been at the auld abbey o' Halycross, sir?
there's mony English gentlemen gang to see that.'--Or, 'Your honour will
become frae the house o' Pouderloupat?' But when the voice of the querist
alone was distinguishable, the response usually was, 'Where are ye coming
frae at sic a time o' night as the like o' this?'--or, 'Ye'll no be o'
this country, freend?' The answers, when obtained, were neither very
reconcilable to each other nor accurate in the information which they
afforded. Kippletringan was distant at first 'a gey bit'; then the 'gey
bit' was more accurately described as 'ablins three mile'; then the
'three mile' diminished into 'like a mile and a bittock'; then extended
themselves into 'four mile or thereawa'; and, lastly, a female voice,
having hushed a wailing infant which the spokeswoman carried in her arms,
assured Guy Mannering, 'It was a weary lang gate yet to Kippletringan,
and unco heavy road for foot passengers.' The poor hack upon which
Mannering was mounted was probably of opinion that it suited him as ill
as the female respondent; for he began to flag very much, answered each
application of the spur with a groan, and stumbled at every stone (and
they were not few) which lay in his road.

Mannering now grew impatient. He was occasionally betrayed into a
deceitful hope that the end of his journey was near by the apparition of
a twinkling light or two; but, as he came up, he was disappointed to find
that the gleams proceeded from some of those farm-houses which
occasionally ornamented the surface of the extensive bog. At length, to
complete his perplexity, he arrived at a place where the road divided
into two. If there had been light to consult the relics of a finger-post
which stood there, it would have been of little avail, as, according to
the good custom of North Britain, the inscription had been defaced
shortly after its erection. Our adventurer was therefore compelled, like
a knight-errant of old, to trust to the sagacity of his horse, which,
without any demur, chose the left-hand path, and seemed to proceed at a
somewhat livelier pace than before, affording thereby a hope that he knew
he was drawing near to his quarters for the evening. This hope, however,
was not speedily accomplished, and Mannering, whose impatience made every
furlong seem three, began to t