"I shall be delighted to
know it."
"Ye see, mem, this young rascal here made a fule o' 'msel' last session
and didna pass; and???-"
"Let bygones be bygones, if you please, Mr Cupples, said Mrs Forbes
pleasantly.
"'Deed no, mem. What's the use o' byganes but to learn frae them hoo to
meet the bycomes? Ye'll please to hear me oot; and gin Alec doesna like
to hear me, he maun jist sit _and_ hear me."
"Fire away, Mr Cupples," said Alec.
"I will.???-For them that didna pass i' the en' o' the last session,
there's an examination i' the beginnin' o' the neist???-gin they like to
stan' 't. Gin they dinna, they maun gang throu the same classes ower
again, and stan' the examination at the end???-that is, gin they want a
degree; and that's a terrible loss o' time for the start. Noo, gin
Alec'll set to wark like a man, I'll help him a' that I can; and by the
gatherin' again, he'll be up wi' the lave o' the fleet. Faith! I'll sit
like Deith i' the spectre-bark, and blaw intil his sails a' that I can
blaw. Maybe ye dinna ken that verse i' _The Rhyme o' the Ancient
Mariner_? It was left oot o' the later editions:
'A gust of wind sterte up behind,
And whistled through his bones;
Through the holes of his eyes and the hole of his mouth,
Half-whistles and half-groans.
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