ed one hand thoughtfully upon his
brow, and with a gentle inclination commenced with a loud hem, or
clearance of aught that might obstruct the free communication of his
thoughts.

"Peg, or Peggy, as some do more euphoniously denominate her, was maid,
woman, or servant--_ancilla_, _famula_, _ministra_, not _pedissequa_,
or one who attends her mistress abroad, but rather a servant of all
work, in the house yonder at Waddow, many years past. Indeed, my
grandmother did use to speak of it as _ex vetere fama_--traditionary,
or appertaining unto the like."

"I tell thee what, gossip, if thee doesn't get on faster wi' thy tale,
Peggy's ghost will have a chronicle of another make. I can see Nic's
tongue is yammering to take up a stitch i' thy narrative," interrupted
the leathern artificer.

"And I'd bring it up in another guess way," said Nicholas, tartly,
"than wi' scraps and scrapings fro' gallipots, and remnants o' mass
books."

"Pray ye, friends, be at peace a while, or I may be dealt with never a
word to my question," said the stranger beseechingly.

"Go on," rejoined the peremptory occupant of the chimney-corner; "but
let thy discourse be more akin to thy text."

The schoolmaster, thus admonished, again set forward.

"As I was a-saying precedent or prior to this unseasonable
interruption--_medium sermonem_--I crave your mercy, but I was born,
as I may say, with the Latin, or the _lingua latialis_ in my mouth,
rather than my mother-tongue; so, as I was a-saying, this same Peggy,
_filia_ or daughter to Ellen, if I mistake not, seeing that Peg
O'Nell doth betoken, after the manner and use of these rude
provincials, that the genitrix or _mater_ is the genitive or
generator, being"----

"Now a murrain light on all fools, coxcombs, and"----

"Tailors' shins--hang thee, for thou hast verily split mine wi' thy
gilly-pegs. They're as sharp as a pair of hatchets," said an
unfortunate neighbour who had the ill-luck to encounter the gyrations
of these offensive and weapon-like appendages to the trunk of Nicholas
Slater, who, in his great ardour and distress at the floundering and
abortive attempts of the scholar, threw them about in all directions,
to the constant jeopardy and annoyance of those more immediately
within their sphere of operation.

"Keep 'em out o't gait then," said the testy aggressor, angry at the
interruption, being fearful of losing so lucky an opportunity.

"Peg O'Nelly, sir, was a maid-servant once