castle horse-coupers—wow, man, a married man, wi' a bonny family like yours, should ken better what a father's life's worth in the warld."—The tears stood in the good woman's eyes as she spoke.
"Whisht! whisht! gudewife," said her husband, with a smack that had much more affection than ceremony in it, "Never mind—never mind—there's a gentleman that will tell you, that just when I had ga'en up to Lourie Lowther's, and had biddin the drinking of twa cheerers, and gotten just in again upon the moss, and was whigging cannily awa hame, twa landloupers jumpit out of a peat-hag on me or I was aware, and got me down, and knevelled me sair aneuch, or I could gar my whip walk about their lugs—and troth, gudewife, if this honest gentleman had na come up, I would have gotten mair licks than I like, and lost mair siller than I could weel spare; so you maun be thankful to him for it, under God." With that he drew from his side-pocket a large greasy
