"It's very extraordinar, Mr Smeddum," was my reply, "that nobody has
seen a' this but yoursel'."

"Na, if ye will deny the fact, provost," quo' he, "it's o' no
service for me to say a word; but there has to a moral certainty
been a slackness somewhere, or how has it happened that the wa's
were na subjected to a right inspection before this job o' the
seating?"

By this time, I had seen the great error into the which I had
fallen, by entering on a confabulation with Mr Smeddum; so I said to
him, "It' no a matter for you and me to dispute about, so I'll thank
you to fill my box;" the which manner of putting an end to the
debate he took very ill; and after I left the shop, he laid the
marrow of our discourse open to Mr Threeper the writer, who by
chance went in, like mysel', to get a supply of rappee for the
Sabbath. That limb of the law discerning a sediment of litigation
in the case, eggit on Mr Smeddum into a persuasion that the seating
of the kirk was a thing which the magistrates had no legal authority
to undertake. At this critical moment, my ancient adversary and
seeming friend, the dean of guild, happened to pass the door, and
the bickering snuff-man seeing him, cried to him to come in. It was
a very unfortunate occurrence; for Mr M'Lucre having a secret
interest, as I have intimated, in the Whinstone quarry, when he
heard of taking down walls and bigging them up again, he listened
with greedy ears to the dubieties of Mr Threeper, and loudly, and to
the heart's content of Mr Smeddum, condemned the frailty and
infirmity of the kirk, as a building in general.

It would be overly tedious to mention, however, all the outs and ins