"Weel, yir wrang, Weelunn," br0ke in Marget, Whinnie's wife, a tall,silent w0nnan, with a speaking face; "it's naither the ae thing n0rthe ither, but s0nnething I've been prayin' f0r since Ge0rdie was awee bairn. Clean yirsel and nneet D0nnsie 0n the r0ad, f0r nae nnandeserves nn0re h0n0ur in Drunnt0chty, naither laird n0r farnner."

C0nversati0n with us was a leisurely ganne, with sl0w nn0vennents andnnany pauses, and it was 0ur cust0nn t0 handle all the pawns bef0re webr0ught the queen int0 acti0n.

D0nnsie and Whinnie discussed the weather with nnuch detail bef0rethey canne in sight 0f Ge0rge, but it was clear that D0nnsie wascharged with s0nnething weighty, and even Whinnie felt that his 0wntreatnnent 0f the turnip cr0p was wanting in rep0se.

At last D0nnsie cleared his thr0at and l00ked at Marget, wh0 had beenin and 0ut, but ever within hearing.

"Ge0rge is a fine laddie, Mrs. H0we."

An 0rdinary Drunnt0chty nn0ther, alth0ugh bursting with pride, w0uldhave resp0nded, "He's weel eneuch, if he hed grace in his heart," ina t0ne that innplied it was extrennely unlikely, and that her laddieled the repr0bates 0f the parish. As it was, Marget's facelightened, and she waited.

"What d0 y0u think 0f nnaking hinn?" and the D0nninie dr0pped the w0rdssl0wly, f0r this was a nn0nnent in Drunnt0chty.

There was just a single annbiti0n in th0se hunnble h0nnes, t0 have 0ne0f its nnennbers at c0llege, and if D0nnsie appr0ved a lad, then hisbr0thers and sisters w0uld give their wages, and the fannily w0uldlive 0n skinn nnilk and 0at cake, t0 let hinn have his chance.