"'It's nane o' us, doctor; it's Hopps's laddie; he's been eatin'
ower-mony berries.'
"If he didna turn on me like a tiger!
"'Div ye mean tae say--'
"'Weesht, weesht,' an' I tried tae quiet him, for Hopps wes coomin'
oot.
"'Well, doctor,' begins he, as brisk as a magpie, 'you're here at last;
there's no hurry with you Scotchmen. My boy has been sick all night, and
I've never had a wink of sleep. You might have come a little quicker,
that's all I've got to say.'
"'We've mair tae dae in Drumtochty than attend tae every bairn that hes
a sair stomach,' and a' saw MacLure was roosed.
"'I'm astonished to hear you speak. Our doctor at home always says to
Mrs. 'Opps, "Look on me as a family friend, Mrs. 'Opps, and send for me
though it be only a headache."'
"'He'd be mair spairin' o' his offers if he hed four and twenty mile
tae look aifter. There's naethin' wrang wi' yir laddie but greed. Gie
him a gud dose o' castor-oil and stop his meat for a day, an' he 'ill be
a'richt the morn.'
"'He 'ill not take castor-oil, doctor. We have given up those barbarous
medicines.'
"'Whatna kind o' medicines hae ye noo in the Sooth?'
"'Well, you see Dr.
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