"
"But whar are ye gaun, then?" said Ailie, once more. "Saw e'er mortal een
the like o' you, just to come ae moment, and flee awa like an arrow out
of a bow the neist?"
"I must go down," replied Morton, "to Niel Blane the Piper's Howff; he
can give me a bed, I suppose?"
"A bed? I'se warrant can he," replied Ailie, "and gar ye pay weel for 't
into the bargain. Laddie, I daresay ye hae lost your wits in thae foreign
parts, to gang and gie siller for a supper and a bed, and might hae baith
for naething, and thanks t' ye for accepting them."
"I assure you, Ailie," said Morton, desirous to silence her
remonstrances, "that this is a business of great importance, in which I
may be a great gainer, and cannot possibly be a loser."
"I dinna see how that can be, if ye begin by gieing maybe the feck o'
twal shillings Scots for your supper; but young folks are aye
venturesome, and think to get siller that way. My puir auld master took
a surer gate, and never parted wi' it when he had anes gotten 't."
Persevering in his desperate resolution, Morton took leave of Ailie, and
mounted his horse to proceed to the little town, after exacting a solemn
promise that she would conceal his return until she again saw or heard
from him.
"I am not very extravagant," was his natural reflection, as he trotted
slowly towards the town; "but were Ailie and I to set up house together,
as she proposes, I think my profusion would break the good old creature's
heart before a week were out.
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