Dominie Tallisker, a man of as lofty a spirit as any Crawford who ever
lived. The two men were close friends, though they seldom met without
disagreeing on some point.

"Weel met, dominie! Are you going to the Keep?"

"Just so, I am for an hour's talk wi' that fine young English
clergyman you hae staying wi' you."

"Tallisker, let me tell you, man, you hae been seen o'er much wi' him
lately. Why, dominie! he is an Episcopal, and an Arminian o' the vera
warst kind."

"Hout, laird! Arminianism isna a contagious disease. I'll no mair tak
Arminianism from the Rev. George Selwyn than I'll tak Toryism fra
Laird Alexander Crawford. My theology and my politics are far beyond
inoculation. Let me tell you that, laird."

"Hae ye gotten an argument up wi' him, Tallisker? I would like weel to
hear ye twa at it."

"Na, na; he isna one o' them that argues. He maks downright
assertions; every one o' them hits a body's conscience like a
sledge-hammer. He said that to me as we walked the moor last night
that didna let me sleep a wink."

"He is a vera disagreeable young man. What could he say to you? You
have aye done your duty."

"I thought sae once, Crawford. I taught the bairns their catechism; I