I didna deny the fac. Wha could deny a fac? But I denied a'
the haill affair, i' the licht o' wickedness and thievin' that Mr Crann
was castin' upo' 't. _I_ saw that inscription and read it wi' my ain
een the verra day the lassie brocht the beuk, and kenned as weel's Mr
Crann that the siller wasna to be taen hame again. But I said to
mysel': "It'll turn the lassie's heid, and she'll jist fling't awa' in
murlocks (crumbs) upo' sweeties, and plunky, and sic like,' for she was
aye greedy, 'sae I'll jist pit it into the bank wi' my ain, and accoont
for't efterhin wi' the lave o' her bit siller whan I gie that up intil
her ain han's. Noo, Mr Crann!"
He sat down, and Mr Turnbull rose.
"My Christian brethren," he said, "it seems to me that this is not the
proper place to discuss such a question. It seems to me likewise
ill-judged of Mr Crann to make such an accusation in public against Mr
Bruce, who, I must say, has met it with a self-restraint and a
self-possession most creditable to him, and has answered it in a very
satisfactory manner. The hundredth psalm."
"Hooly and fairly, sir!" exclaimed Thomas, forgetting his manners in
his eagerness. "I haena dune yet.
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