A HERO OF THE CLYDE. 269 



When Mr. Reade had provided the poor old man with a little refreshment, he told 

 the following episode in his life. 



" Aweel, sirr, ye've heerd o' the callant they wadna let me save Hech, sirr, yon 

 was a wean wastit * noo, I'll make ye the joodge whether I could na hae saved that 

 ane, and twarree mair. There's a beck they ca' 'the Plumb' rins doon fra' the horse- 

 brae into the Clyde near Stockwell Brigg. The bairns were aye for sporting in the beck, 

 because it was shallow by ordinar, and ye'll see them the color o' vilets, and no' hauf 

 sae sweet, wi' the dye that rins to the beck. Aweel, ae day there was a band o' them 

 there; and a high spatef had come doon and catched them, and the reesolt was I saw 

 ane o' th' assembly in the Clyde. I had warned the neer-do-weels, ye ken, mony's the 

 time. By good luck I was na far away, and went in for him and took him by the ear. 

 'C'way, ye little deevil,' says I. I had na made three strokes when I am catched round 

 the neck wi' another callan." 



" Where on earth did he spring from ? " 



" I dinna ken. I was attending to number ane, when number twa poppit up, just 

 to tak' leave o' Glasgee. I tell't them to stick into me, and carried the pair ashore. 

 Directly there's a skirl on the bank, and up comes number three, far ahint me in the 

 Clyde, and sinks before I can win j' to him. Dives for this one, and has a wark to find 

 him at the bottom. Brings him ashore in a kind o' a dwam; but I had na fear for his 

 life; he hadna been doon lang; my lord had a deal more mischief to do, ye ken. By 

 the same token he came to vara sune, and d'ye ken the first word he said to me? he 

 said : ' Dinna tell my fey ther. Lord's sake, man, dinna tell my feyther ! ' ' 



" I never," remarks Mr. Reade, " saw a man more tickled by a straw, than James 

 Lambert was at this. By contemplating him I was enabled in the . course of time to 

 lose my own gravity, for his whole face was puckered with mirth, and every inch of it 

 seemed to laugh." 



" But," said he, " wad ye believe it, some officious pairson tell't his feyther, in spite 

 o' us baith. He was just a labouring man. He called on me, and thank't me vara hairtily, 

 and gied me a refreshment. And I thoucht mair o't than I hae thoucht o' a hantle siller on 

 the like occasions." 



After one or two other savings, that entitled him to a medal or two, Lambert 

 admitted that, " By this time, sirr, I was aye prowling about day and night for vectims ! " 

 Mr. Reade suggested that he had the pride of an artist, and wanted them to fall in, that 

 he might pull them out and show his dexterity. Lambert answered that in those days 

 swimming was not an accomplishment so common as now ; and if such a thing as drowning 

 was to be, he would like to be there and save them. " Eeh," said he, " the sweetness o't ! 

 the sweetness o't ! " 



He next told a funny story of rescuing a boy, and running up to the house to have 

 him properly cared for. " Then," said he, " I'm going oot, when a' of a sooden I find I 

 haena a steek on me, and twa hundred folk about the doore. Wad ye believe it, wi' the 

 great excitement I never knew I wa 3 nakit till I saw the folk and bethought me." At the 



* A. wean wastit a child thrown away. t Flood. 



J Tense of the old verb "wend" to go. 



