186 EEMINISCENCES OF THE LEWS. 



(after having their feet well washed in good 

 pot-liquor and salfc) they eat in my dressing- 

 room. After dinner we retire to our snuggery. 

 Doggums lay themselves on the rug before the 

 fire, and I don't tell you but that Tom some- 

 times ensconces himself in an arm-chair, out of 

 which it is impossible to turn him, as he says, 

 " I did as much towards the bag as you, and 

 why shouldn't I be as comfortable ? " I enjoy 

 my glass of Ramsay's Islay whisky and water, 

 cold and without, and my pipe. Now and then 

 little Jock makes quaint noises about snipes 

 and woodcocks, and old Tom talks to himself 

 about old cock grouse ; and so the evening 

 passes on. I finish the end of a good novel, 

 and about eleven turn in, with fervent gratitude 

 to the Giver of a day of such innocent enjoy- 

 ment, even though it were the last — and yet 

 with a fond hope of a few more of the same 

 sort ; and I dream of kilhng a mixed bag to 

 old Tom, of everything from a jack-snipe to an 

 elephant, and of suddenly finding a third eye 

 in the back of my head, and consequently kill- 

 ing no end of woodcock in the Carloway glens. 



