84 Arrives at Aberdeen. [CHAP. Iv. 
and got home at breakfast-time, after an absence of a 
week, 
His mother was in. “ Where hae ye been now, ye vag- 
aboon?” “At my uncle’s.” “Where?” “ At the Kettle.” 
“And hae ye been a’ the way to Fife, you vagrant ?”? Tom 
then told his story; his mother following it up with a long 
and serious lecture. She reproached him for the dishonesty 
which he had committed, in taking the sixpence out of the 
box when he went away. ‘ Weel, mother,” said he, “ here’s 
the sixpence for the one I took.” He had saved the six- 
pence out of the eighteen-pence his uncle had given him 
when he left Kettle. ‘‘ No,” she replied, “the crime is the 
same, after all, and you are sure to be punished for it yet.” 
Then she urged him to go back to his trade, for he was 
far better at work than stravaigin* about the country like 
an evil-doer. Edward asked if his father would not con- 
sent now to his going to sea. She did not think he would; 
she thought that to go back to his work was the best thing 
of all. She herself would not hear a word more about his 
going to sea. 
* Stravaigin, idle, wandering, or strolling. 
