292 MEMOIR OF GEORGE WILSON. CHAP. VI. 



engaged apparently in making trigonometrical surveys of the 

 pavement, and occasionally knocking up against lampposts, as 

 if to make certain that his base lines were properly measured, 

 they followed, nothing doubting, in his steps, keeping, however, 

 at a wary distance, as they did not wish to be detected playing 

 the spy. The road- surveyor resides somewhere near Lochrin 

 Distillery, so that they had a good long journey, greatly length- 

 ened, doubtless, by their friend's eccentric mode of progression. 

 At last, however, he reached his own door, and they halted, ex- 

 pecting to see him ring the bell. Not so, however; on he 

 stumbled, and as they saw no apparent limit to his journey, and 

 the probability of themselves finding, like Milton's metaphy- 

 sical devils, ' no end in wandering mazes lost,' Y hid himself 

 in a corner, and N proceeded forward to come to close quar- 

 ters with the straggler. After winding and turning about the 

 drunk man for nearly half-an-hour, at last he pushed close to 

 him, and behold, when he looked in his face, he found they had 

 been following the wrong man ! ! 



" I asked Y if he was quite sure he did not need a fol- 

 lower himself; but of course he did not. N" thinks they 

 must have passed the fellow on their own staircase ; but when 

 I see N I intend to ask him if he is quite sure of the direc- 

 tion he took, and that he really went to Lochrin. 



" C - dined here the other day, and we had a splendid 

 discourse on various high topics ; on yourself among the rest. 

 It would have done you good to hear the generous, kindly way 

 in which he speaks of you, and augurs great things from you. 

 I was not behindhand in prophecy either. And we consoled 

 ourselves for our overflowing goodness, and counteracted the too 

 Christian mood into which we were falling, by judiciously point- 

 ing out to each other such spots as we had seen in the sun of 

 your genius. A list of your faults will be forwarded by either 

 of us on a receipt of 500 queen's heads (for the parcel is rather 

 bulky), and a letter post-paid." 



