282 HENNIE'S LAST W011KS 



with some Ayrshire farmers and one or two rather im- 

 portant " Paisley boddies." ] When travelling over ;i 

 very bad piece of the road, the jolting was such as to 

 break the axletree of the coach, and it came to a stand 

 on a solitary moor, with not a house in sight. Mr. Rennie 

 asked the coachman if there was any blacksmith near at 

 hand, and was told there was one a mile or two oil'. 

 " Well, then, help me to carry the parts of the axle there, 

 and I'll see to its being mended." The blacksmith, how- 

 ever, was not at home ; but Mr. Rennie forthwith lit the 

 forge fire, blew the bellows, and with the rather clumsy 

 assistance of one of his fellow-passengers, he very soon 

 welded the axle in a workmanlike manner, helped to 

 carry it back to the coach, and after the lapse of a few 

 hours the vehicle was again wheeling along the road 

 towards its journey's end. Mr. Rennie' s fellow-pas- 

 sengers, who had been communicative and friendly during 

 the earlier part of the journey, now became very reserved, 

 and the " boddies " especially held themselves aloof from 

 " the blacksmith," who had so clearly revealed his calling 

 by the manner in which he had mended the broken axle. 

 Arrived at their journey's end for the day, the travellers 

 separated ; Mr. Rennie proceeding onwards to Eglinton 

 Castle. Next morning, when sitting at breakfast with his 

 noble host, a servant entered to say that a person outside 

 desired to have a word with the Earl. " Show him in." 

 The person entered. He proved to be one of Mr. Rennie's 

 fellow-travellers ; and great indeed were his surprise and 

 confusion at finding the identical " blacksmith " of the 

 preceding day breakfasting with my Lord ! The Earl 

 was much amused when Mr. Rennie afterwards described 

 to him the incident of the mending of the broken axle. 



One of his few hobbies was for old books ; and if he 

 could secure a few minutes' leisure at any time, he would 

 wander amongst the old book-stalls in search of rare 



1 Paisley Boddie a name applied in the West of Scotland to a person 

 belonging to Paisley. 



