Sheriff of the county, that has been sae for some years past?"
"Na, he's got some other birth in Edinburgh, they say—but gudeday, gudewife, I maun ride."—She followed him to his horse, and, while he drew the girths of his saddle, adjusted the walise, and put on the bridle, still plied him with questions concerning Mr Bertram's death, and the fate of his daughter; on which, however, she could obtain little information from the honest farmer.
"Did ye ever see a place they ca' Derncleugh, about a mile frae the Place of Ellangowan?"
"I wot weel have I, gudewife,—a wild-looking den it is, wi' a whin auld wa's o' shealings yonder—I saw it when I gaed ower the ground wi' ane that wanted to take the farm."
"It was a blithe bit ance!" said Meg, speaking to hersell—"Did ye notice if there was an auld saugh tree that's maist blawn down, but yet its roots are in the earth, and it hangs ower the bit burn—
