my cairpets, like a puddock among
gowan-leaves, and I listened wi' a' my ears. A' was still again noo,
except for the dull tickin' o' the distant clock.

Suddenly the soond cam again, as clear, as shrill, as shairp as ever,
and this time the general heard it, for I heard him gie a kind o' groan,
as a tired man might wha has been roosed oot o' his sleep.

He got up frae his bed, and I could make oot a rustling noise, as though
he were dressin' himsel', and presently his footfa' as he began tae walk
up and doon in his room.

Mysakes! it didna tak lang for me tae drap doon amang the cairpets again
and cover mysel' ower. There I lay tremblin' in every limb, and sayin'
as mony prayers as I could mind, wi' my e'e still peepin' through the
keek-hole, and' fixed upon the door o' the general's room.

I heard the rattle o' the handle presently, and the door swung slowly
open. There was a licht burnin' in the room beyond, an' I could just
catch a glimpse o' what seemed tae me like a row o' swords stuck alang
the side o' the wa', when the general stepped oot and shut the door
behind him. He was dressed in a dressin' goon, wi' a red smokin'-cap
on his heid, and a pair o' slippers wi' the heels cut off and the taes
turned up.

For a moment it cam into my held that maybe he was walkin' in his sleep,
but as he cam towards me I could see the glint o' the licht in his e'en,
and his face was a' twistin', like a man that's in sair distress o'
mind. On my conscience, it gies me the shakes noo when I think o' his
tall figure and his yelley face comin' sae solemn and silent doon the
lang, lone passage.

I haud my breath and lay close watchin' him, but just as he cam tae
where I was my vera hairt stood still in my breast, for "ting!"--loud
and clear, within a yaird o' me cam the ringin', clangin' soond that I
had a'ready hairkened tae.

Where it cam frae is mair than I can tell or what was the cause o't. It
might ha' been that the general made it, but I was sair puzzled tae tell
hoo, for his honds were baith doon by his side as he passed me. It cam
frae his direction, certainly, but it appeared tae me tae come frae ower
his heid, but it was siccan a thin, eerie, high-pitched, uncanny kind o'
soond that it wasna easy tae say just exactly where it did come frae.

The general tuk nae heed o't, but walked on and was soon oot o' sicht,
and I didna lose a minute in creepin' oot frae my hidin' place and
scamperin' awa' back tae my room, and