But
there was anither at han' to tak 'im wi' 'im. Only, gien he tuik
'im that same nicht, he cudna hae carried him far.'Deed, maybe, the
auld sinner was ower muckle aven for HIM.
"They brocht him hame, an' laid the corp o' him upo' his ain bed,
whaur, I reckon, up til this nicht, he had tried mair nor he had
sleepit. An' that verra nicht, wha sud I see--but I'm jist gaein'
to tell ye a' aboot it, an' hoo it was, an' syne ye can say
yersel's. Sin' my ain auld mither dee'd, I haena opent my moo' to
mortal upo' the subjec'."
The eyes of the two listeners were fixed upon the narrator in the
acme of expectation. A real ghost-story, from the lips of one they
knew, and must believe in, was a thing of dread delight. Like
ghosts themselves, they were all-unconscious of body, rapt in
listening.
"Ye may weel believe," resumed the old woman after a short pause,
"at nane o' 's was ower wullin' to sit wi' the corp oor lane, for,
as I say, he wasna a comely corp to be a body's lane wi'. Sae auld
auntie Jean an' mysel', we agreed 'at we wad tak the thing upo'
oorsel's, for, huz twa, we cud lippen til ane anither no to be ower
feart to min' 'at there was twa o' 's. There hadna been time yet
for the corp to be laid intil the coffin, though, i' the quaiet o'
the mirk, we thoucht, as we sat, we cud hear the tap-tappin' as
they cawed the braiss nails intil't, awa' ower in Geordie Lumsden's
chop, at the Muir o' Warlock, a twa mile, it wad be.
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