t was here before ye were born, and will be here after ye are
hanged."

"Hanged or drowned, alive or dead," said Edie, sticking to his guns, "I
mind the biggin' o't!"

"You--you--you," stammered the Antiquary, between confusion and anger,
"you strolling old vagabond, what ken ye about it?"

"Oh, I ken just this about it, Monkbarns," he answered, "and what profit
have I in telling ye a lie? It was just some mason-lads and me, with
maybe two or three herds, that set to work and built this bit thing here
that ye call the praetorian, to be a shelter for us in a sore time
of rain, at auld Aiken Drum's bridal. And look ye, Monkbarns, dig down,
and ye will find a stone (if ye have not found it already) with the
shape of a spoon and the letters A.D.L.L. on it--that is to say Aiken
Drum's Lang Ladle."

The Antiquary blushed crimson with anger and mortification. For indoors
he had just been showing that identical stone to Lovel as his chiefest
treasure, and had interpreted the ladle as a Roman sacrificing vessel,
and the letters upon it as a grave Latin inscription, carved by Agrippa
himself to celebrate his victory.

Lovel was inclined to be amused by the old beggar's demolishing of all
the Antiquary's learned theories, but he was speedily brought to himself
by Edie Ochiltree's next words.

"That young gentleman, too, I can see, thinks little o' an auld carle
like me, yet I'll wager I could tell him where he was last night in the
gloaming, only maybe he would not like to have it spoken of in company!"

It was now Lovel's turn to blush, which he did with the vivid crimson of
two-and-twenty.

"Never mind the old rogue," said Mr. Oldbuck, "and don't think that I
think any the worse of you for your profession. They are only prejudiced
fools and coxcombs who do that."

For, in spite of Lovel's interest in ancient history, it still remained
in the Antiquary's mind that his young friend must be an actor by
profession.

But to this Lovel paid no attention. He was engaged in making sure of
Edie's silence by the simple method of passing a crown-piece out of his
own pocket into the Blue-Gown's hand; while Monkbarns, equally willing
to bridle his tongue as to the building of the praetorian, was
sending him down to the mansion house for something to eat and a bottle
of ale thereto.

* * * * *

II. THE NIGHT OF STORM

The Antiquary continued to hear good reports of his young friend, and,
as i