th ae excuse, and anither wi'
anither. Some were to ca' and pay me on the Saturday, and others when they
killed their pig. But those Saturdays seldom came; and, in my belief, the
pigs are living yet. It used to put me in terror to meet my poor starving
family. The consequence generally was, that Nancy had to go to where I had
come frae and request payment hersel'; and, at last, she wadna trust me wi'
the taking hame o' the webs.

"We suffered more than I'm willing to tell aboot, at the period I mention,
and a' arose oot o' my simpleness. But I was confined to my bed for ten
weeks, wi' a dreadfu' attack o' rheumatism--it was what was ca'ed a
rheumatic fever--it reduced me to a perfect anatomy. I was as feckless as a
half-burned thread. Through fatigue, anxiety, and want o' support
thegither, Nancy also took very ill; and there did we lie to a' appearance
hastening to the grave. What we suffered, and what our family suffered upon
this occasion, no person in a Christian country could believe. But for the
kindness o' the minister, and some o' oor neebors, we must a' hae perished.
As a matter of course we fell sadly back; and when the house rent became
due, we had not wherewith to pay it. The landlord distrained us for it. A
second time the few things I had left were put under the hammer o' the
auctioneer. 'Oh!' said I, 'surely misery and I were born thegither!' For we
had twa dochters, the auldest only gaun six, baith lying ill o' the scarlet
fever in the same bed, and I had to suffer the agony o' beholding the bed
sold out from under them. It was more than human nature could endure. The
poor, dear lammies cried--'Faither! mither! dinna let them touch us!' I
took the auldest up in my arms, and begged that I micht be allowed a
blanket to row her in. Nancy took up the youngest one, and while the sale
went on, with our dying bairns in our arms, we sat down in the street
before the door, as twa beggars--but we were not begging.

"Our case excited universal commiseration. A number o' respectable people
began to take an interest in our weelfare; and business came so thick upon
me that I had to get twa other looms, and found constant employment, not
only for my auldest laddie, whom I was bringing up to the business, but
also for a journeyman.

"Just as I was beginning to prosper, hooever, and to get my head aboon the
water, there was ane o' my auld creditors to whom I had paid the
composition of seventeen and sixpence halfpenny i