eemed as old as the
carriage he drew, was in the exclusive charge of an old fellow in a
postilion's jacket, whose grey hairs escaped on each side of an
old-fashioned velvet jockey-cap, and whose left shoulder was so
considerably elevated above his head, that it seemed, as if, with little
effort, his neck might have been tucked under his arm, like that of a
roasted grouse-cock. This gallant equerry was mounted on a steed as old
as that which toiled betwixt the shafts of the carriage, and which he
guided by a leading rein. Goading one animal with his single spur, and
stimulating the other with his whip, he effected a reasonable trot upon
the causeway, which only terminated when the whiskey stopped at Mr.
Bindloose's door--an event of importance enough to excite the curiosity
of the inhabitants of that and the neighbouring houses. Wheels were laid
aside, needles left sticking in the half-finished seams, and many a
nose, spectacled and unspectacled, was popped out of the adjoining
windows, which had the good fortune to command a view of Mr. Bindloose's
front door. The faces of two or three giggling clerks were visible at
the barred casements of which we have spoken, much amused at the descent
of an old lady from this respectable carriage, whose dress and
appearance might possibly have been fashionable at the time when her
equipage was new. A satin cardinal, lined with grey squirrels' skin, and
a black silk bonnet, trimmed with crape, were garments which did not now
excite the respect, which in their fresher days they had doubtless
commanded. But there was that in the features of the wearer, which would
have commanded Mr. Bindloose's best regard, though it had appeared in
far worse attire; for he beheld the face of an ancient customer, who had
always paid her law expenses with the ready penny, and whose accompt
with the bank was balanced by a very respectable sum at her credit. It
was, indeed, no other than our respected friend, Mrs. Dods of the
Cleikum Inn, St. Ronan's, Aultoun.

Now her arrival intimated matter of deep import. Meg was a person of all
others most averse to leave her home, where, in her own opinion at
least, nothing went on well without her immediate superintendence.
Limited, therefore, as was her sphere, she remained fixed in the centre
thereof; and few as were her satellites, they were under the necessity
of performing their revolutions around her, while she herself continued
stationary. Saturn, in fact, w