The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-25


time; and he poked at a goodly sheep
with grunt of satisfaction. And see
yer re eFeing the dowgs he continued
alriiy. Fine animals, Man. are they no.
Just beauties. bath o. them? IL would
TAX lot to beat the black yin; and for
Meg-there's no her marrow in the eoun-
tryside amang sheep: she's gleg win. and
mony story ] could tell about her. Yell
ken that wild bit. ava at the head o. the
waiter. ca'ed the Craig Slap? weel. il
was ae dark Writer'S nicht-' And he
rambled into some story. not over credita-
Bile to himself
So he ratified on. from subject to subject.
story to story. entirely reckless of the fact
that the bailiff paid him not the least at
tention. That minister of the Law. albeit
at heart he felt somewhat sppreheusive
preserved outwardly disnifed and seorn-
full silence
/ The day was approaching the darkeniug.
and the nght-frost was tingling in the
! faces Of the two men when at last the
shepherd halted They had come TO place
I where the stream ran In pools and shall
/ lows. and as far as the turn In the valley
| there was no one in sight
! Meg. cried the shepherd watch thae
+. sheep" and he turned toward the stream.
'Whaur are we gaun?'' asked the baiiiff
suspieiously.
! ITO catch saumen. Are We Conin'?' said
| the shepherd eheerfuly. He peered eau
tiously over the edge of the bank. end
grand yin. Haze We gotten heuks. bailir?
No? Then III haze to lend We mine
What for?''
To catch that saumon."
"Whae?"
| You
| The baiIiff laughed sc5-nfully
Weel." said the shepherd. "Iil no pit
V1 ENx-ay, -.
saumon. But hats a fine deep pool
yOnder: and I'm :hinkin' it's gey cauld
moo that the suns doom. VIII we catch
that saumon?"
No
Then it Gamma be helpit:'' and. tucking
the small man under mis- arm, the shep-
herd carried him kicking and wrggline
to the edge OF the pool. In another mo-
ment the unhappy bailiff was standing
waist deep in water.
Moo. he continued, laying his watch
on the grass. TN s. We three minutes
to max up your mind; and If by that
time we're aye obstirate head over heels
We go into the deep bit
: For minute there was silence between
Of the stream and the tapping OF the wa
ter against the bailiffs body; then the
shepherd broke out again:
No. he said with the air OF one no
has been bordering a difficult question. Il
Gamma for the life o me max out what in
the world CARED ye venture sac far frae
hame. Ance sfore-it was lang syne-a
oailiff cam here, and what he got was
warnin' to them that came after him He
was a big man; but what CARED you, a
man o your size. daur ! Gamma think. Ye
wad dae weel eneuch. I've nae Gioot,
amang the shilpit bodies that bide where
you cam frae. But to come here-it'5
a perfect insult to the muirs. Just figure
you and muckle Jock Shetland at tho
imaginary picture The shepherd was con-
vulsed with silent laughter 900
Meanwhile-for he was a conscientious
mana struggle was in progress in the
bailih's heart. For the first minute his re-
solution stood firm by his duty. But
gradually the ice cold of the water seeped
through his clothes, through his skin into
his very bones. His legs achei and shivers
went through his whole body The cold
crept steadily upward. seeming to expel
all the blood from his legs; as it advanced
his resolution began proportlonately to
wane, and he to think that he had better
make the best of a bad business. The
struggle with his conscience was short
He looked at the dark. deep hole where
the stream FLASHED into the pool. and
shuddered. The struggle was over.
He had stood by his duty long enough
l.
So when the time had expired. and the
shepherd asked his decision, Il suppose
I'll haze to dae it, he said; but I'll pay
ye out yet.
Never fash yourself about that said
the shepherd. Come moo and well haze
a crack wi yon saumon."
With an i'll grace the bailif took the
hooks and addressed himself 10 his unpleas-
ant task AT first he made little attempt
To afct no fGh He had
that in time relief would come from some
quarter. and he put off the evil moment.
Meanwhile the shepherd tainted Tim from
behind
Eth. man. We haze little skill. The sau-
mons playing wi We. Div We no see he's
fair lunchin' at We? And. by the way.
bailid. about that visit of ours to the court
- will it be sune, div We think. or will We
pit it aft indefinitely? Personally, would
recommend the last way-but ony way We
like
But taunts were of no avail. The bailif
did not in the least feel his honor offended.
and his efforts were still languid. At last
the shepherd grew impatient.
"see here" he said. its nae use de-
IN we've got 10 catch that saumon.
aud if we dinna be smart I'll pit We in the
water again. By the way he added cas-
ually, here's Jock Shiel himself comm.
III We're you, q hurry up ana eaten lnal
flush afore onybody saw me-
The bailiff glanced around and there.
sure enough the six feet of stalwart shep-
herd came in leisurely fashion down the
road. His last hope fed. There was moth
ing to be expected from the newcomer
" HON he knew as notorious poacher. Be
sides il was better that there should be no
witness to his deed. So he doggedly re
called his ancient skill and set himself to
catch the salmon with all speed. With
much art, he gradually drew the fish up
ward onto the shadows.
Fine. mani" said the shepherd APPROX
ingly- Il kenned ye were just shammin
It's no i'll to see we've been at the bust
ness afore. Set a thief to catch a thief.
and max poacher into a bailiff Ye ha e
skill after a. Great. man-great, Just be
-cautiOus-canny-and there
We haze him
And Just as Jock came up the gliitering
back was landed at his feet.
Man. jock. said the shepherd. we're
over later. We've been hahn grand sport,
me and the bailin He could gle points in
saumon- catchin even TO you.
The bailiif turned TO Jock. II TAX you
10 witness that haze been forced TO this
Il ken nocht about that. said Jock
smiling. "A ken is that l saw a bailiff
landin' saumOn.'
''Ay." quoted the shepherd irreverently:
he digit pit for ithers and fell Until Z
himself
The balm glared savagely at the two
men with impotent hatred in his face. Rage
and a helpless longing for vengeance filed
his heart and checked his utterance Then
be hlurted out an oath and flung him
self of
stop minute. my bonny man" said the
shepherd; ven surely never leae this fine