Aweel, in this strait, he bethought him of the twa or three words o' Latin that he used in making out the town's deeds, and he had nae sooner tried the spirit wi' that, than out cam sic a blatter o' Latin about his lugs, that poor Rab Tull, wha was nae great scholar, was clean overwhelmed.

Od, but he was a bauld body, and he minded the Latin name for the deed that he was wanting.

It was something about a cart, I fancy, for the ghaist cried aye, Carter, carter--" "Carta, you transformer of languages!" cried Oldbuck;--"if my ancestor had learned no other language in the other world, at least he would not forget the Latinity for which he was so famous while in this." "Weel, weel, carta be it then, but they ca'd it carter that tell'd me the story.

It cried aye carta, if sae be that it was carta, and made a sign to Rab to follow it.

Rab Tull keepit a Highland heart, and banged out o' bed, and till some of his readiest claes--and he did follow the thing up stairs and down stairs to the place we ca' the high dow-cot--( a sort of a little tower in the corner of the auld house, where there was a Rickle o' useless boxes and trunks)--and there the ghaist gae Rab a kick wi' the tae foot, and a kick wi' the tother, to that very auld east-country tabernacle of a cabinet that my brother has standing beside his library table, and then disappeared like a fuff o' tobacco, leaving Rab in a very pitiful condition." "Tenues secessit in auras," quoth Oldbuck.