Of late the number of his clients had decreased without his noticing it, so confident was he that they could not get on without him, but he received a shock at last from Andrew Dickie, who came one Saturday night with paper, envelope, a Queen's head, and a request for a letter for Bell Birse, now of Tilliedrum.
"You want me to speir in your name whether she'll have you, do you ?" asked Cathro, with a flourish of his pen.
"It's no just so simple as that," said Andrew, and then he seemed to be rather at a loss to say what it was.

"I dinna ken," he continued presently with a grave face, "whether you've noticed that I'm a gey queer deevil?
Losh, I think I'm the queerest deevil I ken." "We are all that," the Dominie assured him.

"But what do you want me to write ?" "Well, it's like this," said Andrew, "I'm willing to marry her if she's agreeable, but I want to make sure that she'll take me afore I speir her.

I'm a proud man, Dominie." "You're a sly one!" "Am I no!" said Andrew, well pleased.

"Well, could you put the letter in that wy ?" "I wouldna," replied Mr.Cathro, "though I could, and I couldna though I would.