"Oh, nocht but having twa bit tethers in my hand, my lord," said Willie.
But: "Weel, I wadna say but there micht mebbes hae been twa cowt at the
tae end o' the tethers," he admitted, on being pressed by the Earl.

Now, it happened that Willie was well known to Lord Traquair--had, in
fact, more than once been of considerable service to his lordship; and
it was no failing of the Earl to desert a friend in trouble, if help
might be given quietly and judiciously. So it came about that the prison
gates swung back for Christie's Will, the halter no longer threatened
his neck, and Lord Traquair acquired a follower who to repay his debt of
gratitude would stick at nothing.

Some little time later it chanced that a great lawsuit fell to be
decided in the Court of Session. In this lawsuit Lord Traquair was
deeply concerned. A verdict in his favour was of vital importance to
him, but he very well knew that the opinion of the presiding judge was
likely to be unfavourable to his claim, and that should Lord Durie
preside, the case in that event would almost certainly go against him.
Could that judge, however, by any means be quietly spirited away from
Edinburgh before the date fixed for the trial, with almost equal
certainty he might count on a favourable verdict. In this predicament
Lord Traquair turned his thoughts to Christie's Will; if anyone could
aid him it must be the bold Borderer.

"'Bethink how ye sware, by the salt and the bread,
By the lightning, the wind, and the rain,
That if ever of Christie's Will I had need,
He would pay me my service again.'"