I thocht she maun ha'e got wind o' his intentions aforehand, for she juist replies, quiet-like, 'Hoo do ye want aff, Gavin ?' "'Because,' says he, like a book, 'my affections has undergone a change.' "'Ye mean Jean Luke,' says Mag.
"'That is wha I mean,' says Gavin, very strait-forrard." "But she didna let him aff, did she ?" "Na, she wasna the kind.

Says she, 'I wonder to hear ye, Gavin, but 'am no goin' to agree to naething o' that sort.' "'Think it ower,' says Gavin.
"'Na, my mind's made up,' said she.
"'Ye would sune get anither man,' he says, earnestly.
"'Hoo do I ken that ?' she speirs, rale sensibly, I thocht, for men's no sae easy to get.
"''Am sure o' 't,' Gavin says, wi' michty conviction in his voice, 'for ye're bonny to look at, an' weel-kent for bein' a guid body.' "'Ay,' says Mag, 'I'm glad ye like me, Gavin, for ye have to tak me.'" "That put a clincher on him," interrupted Hendry.
"He was loth to gie in," replied Tammas, "so he says, 'Ye think 'am a fine character, Marget Lownie, but ye're very far mista'en.

I wouldna wonder but what I was lossin' my place some o' thae days, an' syne whaur would ye be ?--Marget Lownie,' he goes on, ''am nat'rally lazy an' fond o' the drink.

As sure as ye stand there, 'am a reglar deevil!'" "That was strong language," said Hendry, "but he would be wantin' to fleg (frighten) her ?" "Juist so, but he didna manage 't, for Mag says, 'We a' ha'e oor faults, Gavin, an' deevil or no deevil, ye're the man for me!' "Gavin thocht a bit," continued Tammas, "an' syne he tries her on a new tack.

'Marget Lownie,' he says, 'yer father's an auld man noo, an' he has naebody but yersel to look after him.