'And if he were a shrewd fellow, he'd soon tumble to that?'

'Ay.'
'Then if he still stayed on here he would be after bigger game -
something really dangerous and damnable?'

Amos drew down his brows and looked me in the face. 'I see
what ye're ettlin' at. Ay! That would be my conclusion. I came to it
weeks syne about the man ye'll maybe meet the morn's night.'

Then from below the bed he pulled a box from which he drew a
handsome flute. 'Ye'll forgive me, Mr Brand, but I aye like a tune
before I go to my bed. Macnab says his prayers, and I have a tune
on the flute, and the principle is just the same.'

So that singular evening closed with music - very sweet and true
renderings of old Border melodies like 'My Peggy is a young
thing', and 'When the kye come hame'. I fell asleep with a vision of
Amos, his face all puckered up at the mouth and a wandering
sentiment in his eye, recapturing in his dingy world the emotions of
a boy.


The widow-woman from next door, who acted as house-keeper,
cook, and general factotum to the establishment, brought me shaving
water next morning, but I had to go without a bath. When I
entered the kitchen I found no one there, but while I consumed the
inevitable ham and egg, Amos arrived back for breakfast. He
brought with him the morning's paper.
'The _Herald says there's been a big battle at Eepers,'