led to an attempt on the part of the laird to instruct him in the
whole state of the affairs of the property. He showed him where all
the papers were kept, and directed him to whom to go for any
requisite legal advise. Weary then of business, of which he had all
his life had more than enough, he turned to pleasanter matters, and
began to tell him anecdotes of the family.

"What in mercy can hae come o' the laird, think ye, my leddy?" said
Grizzie to her mistress. "It's the yoong laird's birthday, ye see,
an' they aye haud a colloguin' thegither upo' that same, an' I
kenna whaur to gang to cry them till their denner."

"Run an' ring the great bell," said the grandmother, mindful of old
glories.

"'Deed, Is' du naething o' the kin'," said Grizzie to herself;
"it's eneuch to raise a regiment--gien it camna doon upo' my heid."

But she had her suspicion, and finding the great door open,
ascended the stair.

The two were sitting at a table, with the genealogical tree of the
family spread out before them, the father telling tale after tale,
the son listening in delight. I must confess, however--let it tell
against the laird's honesty as it may--that, his design being
neither to glorify his family, nor to teach records, but to impress
all he could find of ancestral nobility upon his boy, he made a
choice, and both communicated and withheld. So absorbed were they,
that Grizzie's knock startled them both a good deal.