Perthshire in bygone days

106 PEBTHSHIEE IN BYGONE DAYS.
These gentlemen have sought no receipt — made no terms ;
as they have treated me, I shall treat them." So, handing
over his card, he made a profound bow, and left. Three
months after, he ran up the old stair, three steps at a time,
and handed the gentlemen their pictures amidst mutual
congratulations.
In the occasional absence of Sheriff Husband on Court
days, Mr. Patton was in the habit of sitting on the bench
as a Sheriff Substitute ; and if, as a judge, he did not
trouble himself to unravel the tangled skein of Small-debt
law, he had the merit of giving equitable and popular
decisions. On one of these occasions a ploughman appeared
to answer the summons of a Perth watchmaker, from whom
he had purchased a four-pound watch, and refused or
delayed payment. Mr. Patton disliked a multiplicity of
pleadings, and. proceeded thus to examine the defender: —
Q. " Did you get a watch from the pursuer ? "
Ans. (reluctantly,) "Yes."
Q. " What was the price ? "
Ans. " About four pound."
Q. "No equivocation, now; was it not four pounds
exactly?"
Ans. " Yes, thereabout."
Q. " Have you paid for it ? "
Ans. " No."
Q. " Any portion of it."
Ans. (hesitatingly) " No."
Q. " Are you prepared to do it now?"
Ans. "No."
Q. " What do you propose doing?"
Ans. " I '11 pay a shilling every month."
Q. "A shilling a month! it would take seven years to
discharge the claim. Do you not think that a man who
cannot pay a watch in less than seven years should try to
do without one?"
Ans. " He wid na ken whan to yoke or whan to lowse."
Q. " And do you think the pursuer is obliged to supply
you with that necessity of your business?"
Ans. "No; but he advertises 'Price of watches taken
by instalments.' "
Q. "Possibly; but there is a limit to everything. How
long have you had the watch?"
Ans. " About twa year."
Q. " And paid nothing ? "