CHAPTER VIII

THREE A. M.— MONSTROUS AUDACITY OF THE
WOMAN

OT till the stroke of three did Gavin turn

homeward, with the legs of a ploughman,
and eyes rebelling against overwork. Seeking
to comfort his dejected people, whose courage
lay spilt on the brae, he had been in as many
houses as the policemen. The soldiers march-
ing through the wynds came frequently upon
him, and found it hard to believe that he was
always the same one. They told afterwards that
Thrums was remarkable for the ferocity of its
women, and the number of its little ministers.
The morning was nipping cold, and the streets
were deserted, for the people had been ordered
within doors. As he crossed the Roods, Gavin
saw a gleam of redcoats. In the back wynd he
heard a bugle blown. A stir in the Banker’s
close spoke of another seizure. At the top of
the school wynd two policemen, of whom one
was Wearyworld, stopped the minister with the
flash of a lantern.

“We dauredna let you pass, sir,” the Tillie-
drum man said, “without a good look at you.
That’s the orders.”

“J hereby swear,” said Wearyworld, authori-
tatively, “that this is no the Egyptian. Signed,

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