'Na,' said the handmaiden, 'an he see the gentleman, he'll see the
simple body too; but, Lord's sake, dinna say it was me sent ye
there!'

'Atweel, I am a simple body, that's true, hinny, but I am no come
to steal ony o' his skeel for naething,' said the farmer in his
honest pride, and strutted away downstairs, followed by Mannering
and the cadie. Mannering could not help admiring the determined
stride with which the stranger who preceded them divided the
press, shouldering from him, by the mere weight and impetus of his
motion, both drunk and sober passengers. 'He'll be a Teviotdale
tup tat ane,' said the chairman, 'tat's for keeping ta crown o' ta
causeway tat gate; he'll no gang far or he'll get somebody to
bell ta cat wi' him.'

His shrewd augury, however, was not fulfilled. Those who recoiled
from the colossal weight of Dinmont, on looking up at his size and
strength, apparently judged him too heavy metal to be rashly
encountered, and suffered him to pursue his course unchallenged.
Following in the wake of this first-rate, Mannering proceeded till
the farmer made a pause, and, looking back to the chairman, said,
'I'm thinking this will be the close, friend.'

'Ay, ay,' replied Donald, 'tat's ta close.'

Dinmont descended confidently, then turned into a dark alley, then
up a dark stair, and then into an open door. While he was
whistling shrilly for the waiter, as if he had been one of his
collie dogs, Mannering looked round him, and could hardly conceive
how a gentleman of a liberal profession and good society should