"Where's Rab?"
He, getting confused and red, and intermeddling with his hair, said,
"'Deed sir, Rab's died."
"Dead! what did he die of?"
"Well, sir," said he, getting redder, "he didna exactly dee; he was
killed. I had to brain him wi' a rack-pin; there was nae doing wi' him.
He lay in the treviss wi' the mear, and wadna come oot. I tempit him wi'
the kail and meat, but he wad tak naething, and keepit me frae feedin'
the beast, and he was aye gur gurrin', and grup gruppin' me by the legs.
I was laith to make awa wi' the old dowg, his like wasne atween this and
Thornhill--but, 'deed, sir, I could do naething else."
I believed him. Fit end for Rab, quick and complete. His teeth and his
friends gone, why should he keep the peace and be civil?