1 2 2 The Naturalist of Cwnbrac. 



is more roughly handled ; two or three more inquir- 

 ing glances, and down it goes, consigned in the most 

 unceremonious manner where chance may receive it. 

 Left to meditate on the cause of his disappointment, 

 he conjectures his communication may have been too 

 late, and, in justice, could only be inserted according 

 to precedence ; may be left over another week, to 

 adorn some seedy article that could not appear alone. 

 If another week removes these suppositions, the cause 

 must be an overlook, or the editor must be a very 

 dull fellow indeed, and too mechanical to discern 

 the merits of his piece ; is convinced ' kissing goes 

 by favour,' and wonders how some editors are 

 patronized ! " 



The editor of the Reformer was one Peter McKensie, 

 an able and honourable man, but his affairs did not 

 turn out prosperously, for he refused to admit into 

 his paper advertisements that savoured of quackery, 

 however well they would have been paid for, and 

 by his fearless exposure of frauds upon the com- 

 munity he became involved in disastrous legal ex- 

 penses. With these matters, however, the present 

 story has no concern. One night, as Robertson was 

 passing McKensie's office, he thought he would step 

 in with the contribution he had in his pocket. Upon 

 his mentioning that it was a Scotch piece, " Oh," said 

 Peter, "we don't care for Scotch pieces; our readers 

 don't like the trouble of them." Still, he took the 

 manuscript in hand, and, when his lips began to 

 widen and his eyes to twinkle, Robertson knew that 

 his effusion was accepted. If our present readers 

 " do not care for Scotch pieces," they can skip the 



