The right reverend gentleman heaped so many blessings upon the Karpathy family and all its members, male and female, _in ascendenti et descendenti_, both in this world and the next, that, whether they lived or died, no very serious misfortune could possibly befall any of them.
All the guests were present at this pious ceremony, for Master Jock made it a point to speak to nobody on his birthday till he had first lifted up his soul to God, and on such occasions there was not a trace on his countenance of any of the feelings that moved him so strongly on ordinary days.

When he knelt down to pray, a deep, unaffected devotion was legible in every feature; and when he heard the recapitulation of his merits, he cast down his eyes as if he considered all that he had done in his life so far but a small matter compared with what he might and must do in the future.

"God grant me but one more year over and above the many He has already bestowed upon me," he sighed, "and I will make up for my neglect of the rest." But could he reckon upon another year being granted him?
Was he sure of another month, or another day, or even of the morrow?
Deeply affected, he quitted the chapel, and it was only the congratulations of his friends that restored him to his usual self.
Master Jock's unusual emotion did not interfere one jot with the good humour of the waggish company, who laughed and joked all the way from the church to the castle, some repairing thither on horseback, and some on foot.

Ordinarily, Master Jock would have been much diverted by their practical jokes, but now he only shook his head at them.

Mike Horhi devised every conceivable sort of joke capable of making him roar with laughter.