being made. If a Drumtochty farmer had allowed his potatoes to go to "Piggie" Walker at that simple-minded merchant's first offer, instead of keeping "Pig-gie" all day and screwing him up ten shillings an acre every second hour, we would have shaken our heads over him as if he had been drinking, and the well-known fact that Drumsheugh had worsted dealers from far and near at Muirtown market for a generation was not his least solid claim on our respect. When Mrs. Macfadyen allowed it to ooze out in the Kildrummie train that she had obtained a penny above the market price for her butter, she received a tribute of silent admiration, broken only by an emphatic "Sall" from Hillocks, while Drumsheugh expressed himself freely on the way up:

"Elspeth's an able wumman; there 's no a slack bit aboot her. She wud get her meat frae among ither fouks' feet."

There never lived a more modest or unassuming people, but the horse couper that tried to play upon their simplicity did not boast afterwards, and no one was known to grow rich on his dealings with Drumtochty.

This genius for bargaining was of course seen to most advantage in the affair of a lease; and a year ahead, long before lease had been mentioned, a "cannie" man like Hillocks would be preparing for the campaign. Broken panes of glass in the stable were stuffed with straw after a very generous fashion; cracks in a byre door were clouted over with large pieces of white wood; rickety palings were ostentatiously supported; and the interior of Hillocks' house suggested hard-working and cleanly poverty struggling to cover the defects of a hovel. Neighbours dropping in during those days found Hillocks wandering about with a hammer, putting in a nail here and a nail there, or on the top of the barn trying to make it water-tight before winter, with the air of one stopping leaks in the hope of keeping the ship afloat till she reaches port. But he made no complaint, and had an air of forced cheerfulness.

"Na, na, yir no interruptin' me; a 'm rael gled tae see ye; a' wes juist doin' what a' cud tae keep things thegither.

"An auld buildin's a sair trachle, an' yir feared tae meddle wi 't, for ye micht bring it doon aboot yir ears.

"But it's no reasonable tae expeck it tae last for ever; it's dune weel and served its time; a' mind it as snod a steadin' as ye wud wish tae see, when a' wes a laddie saxty year past.

"Come in tae the hoose, and we 'ill see what the gude wife hes in her cupboard. Come what may, the 'ill aye be a drop for a freend as lang as a'm leevin."

"Dinna put yir hat there, for the plaister's been failin', an' it micht white it; come ower here frae the window; it's no very fast, and the wind comes in at the holes. Man, it 's a pleesure tae see ye, an' here's yir gude health."

When Hillocks went abroad to kirk or market he made a brave endeavour to conceal his depression, but it was less than successful.

"Yon 's no a bad show o' aits ye hae in the wast park the year, Hillocks; a'm thinkin' the 'ill buke weel."

"Their lukes are the best o' them, Netherton; they 're thin on the grund an' sma' in the head, but a' cudna expeck better, for the land 's fair worn oot; it wes a gude fairm aince, wi' maybe thirty stacks in the yaird every hairst, and noo a'm no lookin' for mair than twenty the year."

"Weel, there's nae mistak aboot yir neeps, at ony rate; ye canna see a dreel noo."

"That wes guano, Netherton; a'hed tae dae something tae get an ootcome wi' ae crap, at ony rate; we maun get the rent some road, ye ken, and pay oor just debts."

Hillocks conveyed the impression that he was gaining a bare existence, but that he could not maintain the fight for more than a year, and the third became thoughtful.

"Div ye mind, Netherton," inquired Drumsheugh on his way from Muirtown station to the market, "hoo mony years Hillocks's 'tack' (lease) hes tae rin?"

"No abune twa or three at maist; a 'm no sure if he hes as muckle."

"It's oot Martinmas a year as sure yir stannin' there; he 's an auld farrant (far-seeing) lad, Hillocks."

It was known within a week that Hillocks was setting things in order for the battle.

The shrewdest people have some weak point, and Drumtochty was subject to the delusion that old Peter Robertson, the land steward, had an immense back-stairs influence with the factor and his lordship. No one could affirm that Peter had ever said as much, but he never denied it, not having been born in Drumtochty in vain. He had a habit of detaching himself from the fathers and looking in an abstracted way over the wall when they were discussing the factor or the prospects of a lease, which was more than words, and indeed was equal to a small annual income.

"Ye ken mair o' this than ony o' us, a 'm thinkin', Peter, if ye cud open yir mooth; they say naebody's word gaes farther wi' his lordship."

"There's some fouk say a lot of havers, Drumsheugh, an' it 's no a' true ye hear," and after a pause Peter would purse his lips and nod. "A 'm no at leeberty tae speak, an' ye maunna press me."

When he disappeared into the kirk his very gait was full of mystery, and the fathers seemed to see his lordship and Peter sitting in council for nights together.

"Didna a' tell ye, neeburs?" said Drumsheugh triumphantly; "ye 'ill no gae far wrang gin ye hae Peter on yir side."

Hillocks held this faith, and added works also, for he compassed Peter with observances all the critical year, although the word lease never passed between them.

"Ye wud be the better o' new seed, Peter," Hillocks remarked casually, as he came on the land steward busy in his potato patch. "A 've some kidneys a' dinna ken what tae dae wi'; a 'll send ye up a bag."

"It's rael kind of ye, Hillocks, but ye were aye neeburly."

"Dinna speak o't; that 's naething atween auld neeburs. Man, ye micht gie 's a look in when yir passin' on yir trokes. The gude wife hes some graund eggs for setting."

It was considered a happy device to get Peter to the spot, and Hillocks's management of the visit was a work of art.

"Maister Robertson wud maybe like tae see thae kebbocks (cheeses) yir sending aff tae Muirtown, gude wife, afore we hae oor tea.

"We canna get intae the granary the richt way, for the stair is no chancy noo, an' it wudna dae tae hae an accident wi' his lordship's land steward," and Hillocks exchanged boxes over the soothing words.

"We 'ill get through the corn-room, but Losh sake, tak care ye dinna trip in the holes o' the floor. A' canna mend mair at it, an' it's scandalous for wastin' the grain.

"It's no sae bad a granary if we hedna tae keep the horses' hay in it, for want o' a richt loft.

"Man, there's times in winter a 'm at ma wits' end wi' a' the cattle in aboot, an' naethin' for them but an open reed (court), an' the wife raging for a calves' byre; but that's no what we cam here for, tae haver aboot the steadin'."

"Ay, they're bonnie kebbocks, and when yir crops fail, ye 're gled eneuch tae get a pund or twa oot o' the milk."

And if his Lordship had ever dreamt of taking Peter's evidence, it would have gone to show that Hillocks's steading was a disgrace to the property.

If any one could inveigle Lord Kilspindie himself to visit a farm within sight of the new lease, he had some reason for congratulation, and his lordship, who was not ignorant of such devices, used to avoid farms at such times with carefulness. But he was sometimes off his guard, and when Mrs. Macfadyen met him by accident at the foot of her garden and invited him to rest, he was caught by the lure of her conversation, and turned aside with a friend to hear again the story of Mr. Pittendriegh's goat.

"Well, how have you been, Mrs. Macfadyen, as young as ever, I see, eh? And how many new stories have you got for me? But, bless my soul, what's this?" and his lordship might well be astonished at the sight.

Upon the gravel walk outside the door, Elspeth had placed in a row all her kitchen and parlour chairs, and on