236 THE LAIRD'S DISCOVERY 



a divining rod, he was early at his rhabdo- 

 mancy. Three days he consumed in diligent and 

 laborious search, keeping the secret of his wealth 

 with great care, until he should astonish the 

 world with its amount. In the course of his 

 labour he picked up many stones, but, as they 

 were all very rough and unpromising to look at, 

 he cast away as fast as he gathered, till the third 

 day and his patience were nearly at a close to- 

 gether. When he had nearly reached his home, 

 he took up one of those nodules, of which he had 

 previously taken up and thrown down so many, and 

 dashed it upon the rock with all his force, as if in 

 vengeance for the deception which he had practised 

 on himself. The stone broke in pieces, and in 

 the fractures he found the colours, but not the 

 lustre, of those discs which had so pleased him in 

 London. He soon began to reflect that his uncut 

 pebbles were not saleable trinkets, any more than 

 the soil of his farm was saleable quarters of wheat, 

 so he prudently resolved to follow his farming, 

 and leave the pebbles to the lapidary as before. 

 The purchase, too, retained its value, as the 

 pebbles that were collected from the fields as an 

 encumbrance, and used in paving the court and 

 filling drains, could not rival it; and he even 

 boasted that the trinkets were the produce of his 

 own estate, and spoke with admiration of the art 

 and skill of the Londoners, who could make a few 

 ounces of that, which was not worth sixpence a 

 ton where it was found, worth several pounds in 

 the market. 



That is a homely anecdote, but it is a useful 

 one, as it points out one of the reasons why those 

 whom we would, without reflection, think should 



