208 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SALMON FISHING 



ing a chapter o' the gude book, if no a leaf or twae 

 o' ' the Fourfold State ' ; sae I took the stilts and 

 came through again by the rack, and wan hame 

 just a wee thought afore the master and the mistress, 

 honest woman ! came hame thrae the kirk. I 

 haflins wist I had been there too ; but yet I was 

 only lookin' at the warks o' the creation, and 

 couldna say I had done ony great wrang ; an' if I 

 hadna seen Peggy come out o' the byre at Caber- 

 ston, I ablins hadna stillit the water after a'. But I 

 fand I could na read a styme ; for, do as I might, 

 I could na get the appearance that I had seen 

 out o' my mind ; and yet whan I consider 'd about 

 the mickle rowaner, that I was sure eneugh was a 

 yeithly thing, I could na help believing that it was, 

 after a', a fish I had seen ; but I never saw sic 

 another. 



' Weel, a' the time the master was at the readin', 

 I could na keep the glisk o' the awsome mickle fish 

 out o' my head, and whan we raise thrae the prayers, 

 I popit the shouther o' the nowtherd callant, and 

 said quietly, ' Sandy, if I raise ye about twal o'clock 

 ye needna wonder ; sleep as fast as ye can till than, 

 and tak' nae notice to Jamie when ye rise.' I had 

 aft ta'en this lad wi' me afore to haud the light ; 

 for he was a stout loon o' his age, and could haud 

 a light weel enough ; having a natural cast rather 

 bye common for a kin-kind o' mischief and ploys, 

 and, I believe, was sound asleep in five minutes. 



" As for mysel', I need hardly say I never steekit 

 an e'e. I kend fu' weel that if we war na at Queed- 

 side by the first o' the Monanday morning, the 



