you'd dae this. I aye thocht that you'd be loyal as we hae been
tae you. We hae made oursel's the outcasts o' the district for you, an'
noo you wad turn on us like this. No, I never thocht it o' you at a'!"

"What are you ravin' at this morning?" he asked, in a quiet voice, as if
he meant to force her into being more definite. "I don't ken I'm sure
what you are drivin' at."

"Dae you no?" she broke in quickly, loosing hold of herself as she saw
that her method of attack was not going to succeed. "I hae been
suspectin' something for a while. You hinna been in owre my door for
three weeks an' that's no your ordinar. But I have seen you gaun in tae
Tam Granger's nearly every nicht in that time. An' I can put twa an' twa
together. Dae you think we dinna ken the reason that Sanny has lost his
contracts an' the reason why Tam Granger has stepped into them? Oh, ay,"
she cried, her voice rising as she continued. "I can see hoo things are
workin'! I ken a' aboot it. Wee Leebie, I suppose, will be afore some o'
us noo. The stuck-up limmer that she is. She gangs by folk as brazened
as you like, wi' her head in the air, as if she was somebody. You wad
think she never had heard o' Willie Broonclod, the packman, that she
sloped when she left doon the country. Nae wonder she has braw claes to
glaik aboot in; for they were gey easy paid. The dirty glaiket limmer
that she is. I wonder she disna think shame o' hersel'."

"What the hell's a' this to me?" asked Walker abruptly breaking in upon
her tirade.

"I suppose it'll no' mean onything to you," she returned. "But I just
wanted to tell you, that you're no her first, for Willie Broonclod gaed
to her lang afore she cam' here, an' she's left him wi' a guid penny
that he'll never get. But her man's a contractor noo, makin' big money,
an' Jock Walker ca's in to see her whenever he's needfu' an' there's
naething sae low as a packman noo for her. The brazen-faced stuck-up
baggage that she is. Does she think I dinna ken her? Her, with her hair
stuck up in a 'bun' an' her fancy blouses an' buckled shoon, an' a'!"
Mag was now very much enraged and she shouted and swore in her anger.

"Ach, gang to hell," he said with brutal callousness. "You're no' hauf a
woman like Leebie. She's a tippy wee lass, an' has a way wi' her. She
has some spirit, an' is aye snod and nate," and there was a tantalizing
smile about his lips that was plainly meant to irritate Mag.

"I was guid enough a gey lang while