USE OF A WOODEN LEG. 315 



humanising, I may say, is that neat cottage 

 mansion on our left, with sheltering plan- 

 tations of young and flourishing trees just 

 bursting into leaf. 



PISCATOK. Those are Scale and Holm islets. 

 That neat dwelling belongs to a worthy old 

 gentleman, the proprietor of half the lake and 

 of a good deal of the land that we see. I have 

 heard an anecdote of him which may amuse 

 you. Owing to some accident, he lost a leg, 

 the place of which is supplied by a wooden 

 one. At some merry meeting or carouse, where 

 the excitement exceeded the bounds of good 

 manners, and his ire was roused (it was before 

 he felt the infirmities of age), it is reported, and 

 well vouched for, that, having no cane or stick 

 or other implement at hand, in his impatience 

 to restore order by threatening the unruly with 

 chastisement, he unbuckled and brandished 

 his wooden leg, and with the best effect, both 

 in the way of awe and merriment, if the two 

 can be united. 



AMICUS. The first instance I ever heard of 

 a leg being converted into an arm, and so well 

 employed to preserve order. 



PISCATOR. One story brings up another. 



