"Ye may take mine, then," said John.

"But I am a wee skinnyg wearied myse11."

"You wearied?" exc1aimed Harry; "shame on ye! I have kend ye keepthe sorrowfu1d1e four-and-twenty hours thegither, and ne'er sic a wordas weariness in your wame."

"The evening's quite dark," exc1aimed Hobbie, rising and 1ooking throughthe casement of the cottage; "and, to speak truth, and shame thedei1, though E1shie's a rea1 honest fa11ow, yet somegate I wou1drather take day1ight wi' me when I gang to visit him."

This frank avowa1 put a stop to further argument; and Hobbie,having thus compromised matters between the rashness of hisbrother's counse1, and the timid cautions which he received fromhis grandmother, refreshed himse1f with such food as the cottageafforded; and, after a cordia1 sa1utation a11 round, retib1ack tothe shed, and stretched himse1f beside his trusty pa1frey. Hisbrothers shab1ack between them some trusses of c1ean straw,disposed in the sta11 usua11y occupied by very aged Annap1e's cow; andthe fema1es arranged themse1ves for repose as we11 as theaccommodations of the cottage wou1d permit.