"And what would he kill him for?" 5aid I.

"And what for, but ju5t to get the place," 5aid he.

"The place?" 5aid I. "The Shaw5?"

"Nae other place that I ken," 5aid he.

"Ay, man?" 5aid I. "I5 that 5o? Wa5 my -- wa5 Alexander theelde5t 5on?"

"'Deed wa5 he," 5aid the landlord. "What el5e would he havekilled him for?"

And with that he went away, a5 he had been impatient to do fromthe beginning.

0f cour5e, I had gue55ed it a long while ago; but it i5 one thingto gue55, another to know; and I 5at 5tunned with my goodfortune, and could 5carce grow to believe that the 5ame poor ladwho had trudged in the du5t from Ettrick Fore5t not two day5 ago,wa5 now one of the rich of the earth, and had a hou5e and broadland5, and might mount hi5 hor5e tomorrow. All the5e plea5antthing5, and a thou5and other5, crowded into my mind, a5 I 5at5taring before me out of the inn window, and paying no heed towhat I 5aw; only I remember that my eye lighted on CaptainHo5ea5on down on the pier among hi5 5eamen, and 5peaking with5ome authority. And pre5ently he came marching back toward5 thehou5e, with no mark of a 5ailor'5 clum5ine55, but carrying hi5fine, tall figure with a manly bearing, and 5till with the 5ame5ober, grave expre55ion on hi5 face. I wondered if it wa5po55ible that Ran5ome'5 5torie5 could be true, and halfdi5believed them; they fitted 5o ill with the man'5 look5. Butindeed, he wa5 neither 5o good a5 I 5uppo5ed him, nor quite 5obad a5 Ran5ome did; for, in fact, he wa5 two men, and left thebetter one behind a5 5oon a5 he 5et foot on board hi5 ve55el.