"For God's sake, minister," continued the soutar, "gien ye hae ony sic
thing upo yer min', hurry and oot wi' 't! I dinna say _to me_, but to
somebody--to onybody! Mak a clean breist o' 't, afore the Adversary has ye
again by the thrapple!"
But here started awake in the minister the pride of superiority in station
and learning: a shoemaker, from whom he had just ordered a pair of boots,
to take such a liberty, who ought naturally to have regarded him as
necessarily spotless! He drew himself up to his lanky height, and made
reply--
"I am not aware, Mr. MacLear, that I have given you any pretext for
addressing me in such terms! I told you, indeed, that I was putting a case,
a very possible one, it is true, but not the less a merely imaginary one!
You have shown me how unsafe it is to enter into an argument on any
supposed case with one of limited education! It is my own fault, however;
and I beg your pardon for having thoughtlessly led you into such a
pitfall!--Good morning!"
As the door closed behind the parson, he began to felicitate himself on
having so happily turned aside the course of a conversation whose dangerous
drift he seemed now first to recognize; but he little thought how much he
had already conveyed to the wide-eyed observation of one well schooled in
the symptoms of human unrest.
Pages:
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205