"Surely, sir, there can be no harm in mentioning the----"
"No under that name, Mr Dunshunner--no under that name, and no here. I wadna ca" them that on the tap of Ben-Nevis without a grue. Ay--and sae THEY are wi" ye, are they? Weel, they are a queer set!"
"You know the parties, then, Mr Binkie?"
"I ken nae mair aboot them than I ken whaur to find the caverns o" the east wind. Whether they are three, or thretty, or a hunder, surpa.s.ses my knowledge; but they hae got the secret o" the fern seed, and walk about invisible. It is a"thegether a great mystery, but doubtless ye will obtain a glimpse. In the mean time, since ye come from that quarter, I am bound to obey."
"You are very kind, I am sure, Mr Binkie. May I ask, then, your opinion of matters as they stand at present?"
"Our present member, Mr Whistlerigg, will no stand again. He"s got some place or ither up in London; and, my certie, he"s worked weel for it!
There"s naebody else stannin" forbye that man Pozzlethwaite, and he disna verra weel ken what he is himsel". If it"s a" richt yonder,"
continued the Provost, jerking his thumb over his left shoulder, "ye"re as gude as elected."
As it would have been extremely impolitic for me under present circ.u.mstances to have disclaimed all connection with a body which exercised an influence so marked and decided, I allowed Provost Binkie to remain under the illusion that I was the chosen candidate of the Clique. In fact, I had made up my mind that I should become so at any cost, so soon as it vouchsafed to disclose itself and appear before my longing eyes. I therefore launched at once into practical details, in the discussion of which the Provost exhibited both shrewdness and goodwill. He professed his readiness at once to become chairman of my committee, drew out a list of the most influential persons in the burgh to whom I ought immediately to apply, and gave me much information regarding the politics of the other places. From what he said, I gathered that, with the aid of the Clique, I was sure of Dreepdaily and Drouthielaw--as to the electors of Kittleweem, they were, in his opinion, "a wheen dirt," whom it would be useless to consult, and hopeless to conciliate. I certainly had no previous idea that the bulk of the electors had so little to say in the choice of their own representative. When I ventured to hint at the remote possibility of a revolt, the Provost indignantly exclaimed--
"They daurna, sir--they daurna for the lives of them do it! Set them up indeed! Let me see ony man that wad venture to vote against the Town Council and the--and _them_, and I"ll make a clean sweep of him out of Dreepdaily!"
Nothing, in short, could have been more satisfactory than this statement.
Whilst we were conversing together, I heard of a sudden a jingling in the next apartment, as if some very aged and decrepid harpsichord were being exorcised into the unusual effort of a tune. I glanced inquiringly to the door, but the Provost took no notice of my look. In a little time, however, there was a short preliminary cough, and a female voice of considerable compa.s.s took up the following strain. I remember the words not more from their singularity, than from the introduction to which they were the prelude:--
"I heard a wee bird singing clear, In the tight, tight month o" June-- "What garr"d ye buy when stocks were high, And sell when shares were doun?
"Gin ye hae play"d me fause, my luve, In simmer "mang the rain; When siller"s scant and scarce at Yule, I"ll pay ye back again!
"O bonny were the Midland Halves, When credit was sae free!-- But wae betide the Southron loon That sold they Halves to me!""
I declare, upon the word of a Railway Director, that I was never more taken aback in my life. Attached as I have been from youth to the Scottish ballad poetry, I never yet had heard a ditty of this peculiar stamp, which struck me as a happy combination of tender fancy with the sterner realities of the Exchange. Provost Binkie smiled as he remarked my amazement.
"It"s only my daughter Maggie, Mr Dunshunner," he said. "Puir thing!
It"s little she has here to amuse her, and sae she whiles writes thae kind o" sangs hersel". She"s weel up to the railroads; for ye ken I was an auld Glenmutchkin holder."
"Indeed! Was that song Miss Binkie"s own composition?" asked I, with considerable interest.
"Atweel it is that, and mair too. Maggie, haud your skirling!--ye"re interrupting me and the gentleman."
"I beg, on no account, Mr Binkie, that I may be allowed to interfere with your daughter"s amus.e.m.e.nt. Indeed, it is full time that I were betaking myself to the hotel, unless you will honour me so far as to introduce me to Miss Binkie."
"Deil a bit o" you gangs to the hotel to-night!" replied the hospitable Provost. "You bide where you are to denner and bed, and we"ll hae a comfortable crack over matters in the evening. Maggie! come ben, la.s.s, and speak to Mr Dunshunner."
Miss Binkie, who I am strongly of opinion was all the while conscious of the presence of a stranger, now entered from the adjoining room. She was really a pretty girl--tall, with lively sparkling eyes, and a profusion of dark hair, which she wore in the somewhat exploded shape of ringlets.
I was not prepared for such an apparition, and I daresay stammered as I paid my compliments.
Margaret Binkie, however, had no sort of _mauvaise honte_ about her. She had received her final polish in a Glasgow boarding-school, and did decided credit to the seminary in which the operation had been performed. At all events, she was the reverse of shy; for in less than a quarter of an hour we were rattling away as though we had been acquainted from childhood; and, to say the truth, I found myself getting into something like a strong flirtation. Old Binkie grinned a delighted smile, and went out to superintend the decanting of a bottle of port.
I need not, I think, expatiate upon the dinner which followed. The hotch-potch was unexceptionable, the salmon curdy, and the lamb roasted without a fault; and if the red-armed Hebe who attended was somewhat awkward in her motions, she was at least zealous to a degree. The Provost got into high feather, and kept plying me perpetually with wine.
When the cloth was removed, he drank with all formality to my success; and as Margaret Binkie, with a laugh, did due honour to the toast, I could not do less than indulge in a little flight of fancy as I proposed the ladies, and, in connection with them, the Flower of Dreepdaily--a sentiment which was acknowledged with a blush.
After Miss Binkie retired, the Provost grew more and more convivial. He would not enter into business, but regaled me with numerous anecdotes of his past exploits, and of the lives and conversation of his compatriots in the Town Council--some of whom appeared, from his description, to be very facetious individuals indeed. More particularly, he dwelt upon the good qualities and importance of a certain Mr Thomas Gills, better known to his friends and kinsfolk by the sobriquet of Toddy Tam, and recommended me by all means to cultivate the acquaintance of that personage. But, however otherwise loquacious, nothing would persuade the Provost to launch out upon the subject of the Clique. He really seemed to entertain as profound a terror of that body as ever Huguenot did of the Inquisition, and he cut me short at last by ejaculating--
"Sae nae mair on"t, Mr Dunshunner--sae nae mair on"t! It"s ill talking on thae things. Ye dinna ken what the Clique is, nor whaur it is. But this I ken, that they are everywhere, and a" aboot us; they hear everything that pa.s.ses in this house, and I whiles suspect that Mysie, the servant la.s.s, is naething else than are o" them in petticoats!"
More than this I could not elicit. After we had finished a considerable quantum of port, we adjourned to the drawing-room, and, tea over, Miss Binkie sang to me several of her own songs, whilst the Provost snored upon the sofa. Both the songs and the singer were clever, the situation was interesting, and, somehow or other, I found my fingers more than once in contact with Maggie"s, as I turned over the leaves of the music.
At last the Provost rose, with a stertoracious grunt. I thought this might be the signal for retiring to rest; but such were not the habits of Dreepdaily. Salt herrings and finnan-haddocks were produced along with the hot water and accompaniments; and I presume it was rather late before my host conducted me to my chamber. If I dreamed at all that night, it must have been of Margaret Binkie.
CHAPTER III.
The next morning, whilst dressing, I heard a blithe voice carolling on the stair. It was the orison of Margaret Binkie as she descended to the breakfast-room. I listened and caught the following verses:--
"O haud away frae me," she said, "I pray you let me be!
Hae you the shares ye held, my lord, What time ye courted me?
""Tis woman"s weird to luve and pine, And man"s is to forget: Hold you the shares, Lord James," she said, "Or hae ye sold them yet?"
"My York Extensions, bought at par, I sold at seven pund prem.-- And, O my heart is sair to think I had nae mair of them!"
"That is really a remarkable girl!" thought I, as I stropped my razor.
"Such genius, such animation, and such a thorough knowledge of the market! She would make a splendid wife for a railway director."
"Come away, Mr Dunshunner," said the Provost, as I entered the parlour.
"I hope ye are yaup, for ye have a lang day"s wark before ye."
"I am sure it would be an agreeable one, sir, if accompanied with such sweet music as I heard this morning. Pardon me, Miss Binkie, but you really are a perfect Sappho."
"You are too good, I am sure, Mr Dunshunner. Will you take tea or coffee?"
"Maggie," said the Provost, "I maun put a stop to that skirling--it"s well eneuch for the night, but the morning is the time for business. Mr Dunshunner, I"ve been thinking over this job of ours, and here is a bit listie of the maist influential persons in Dreepdaily, that you maun positeevely see this day. They wad be affronted if they kenned ye were here without calling on them. Noo, mark me,--I dinna just say that ony o" them is the folk ye ken o", but it"s no ava unlikely; sae ye maun even use yer ain discretion. Tak an auld man"s word for it, and aye put your best fit foremost."
I acquiesced in the justice of the suggestion, although I was really unconscious which foot deserved the precedence. The Provost continued--
"Just ae word mair. Promising is a cheap thing, and ye needna be very sparing of it. If onybody speaks to ye about a gaugership, or a place in the Customs or the Post-office, just gie ye a bit wink, tak out your note-book, and make a mark wi" the keelavine pen. It aye looks weel, and gangs as far as a downright promise. Deny or refuse naebody. Let them think that ye can do everything wi" the Ministry; and if there should happen to be a whaup in the rape, let them even find it out theirsells.
Tell them that ye stand up for Dreepdaily, and its auld charter, and the Whig const.i.tution, and liberal principles. Maist f.e.c.k o" them disna ken what liberal principles is, but they like the word. I whiles think that liberal principles means saying muckle and doing naething, but you needna tell them that. The Whigs are lang-headed chiells, and they hae had the sense to claim a" the liberality for themsells, ever since the days o" the Reform Bill."
Such and suchlike were the valuable maxims which Provost Binkie instilled into my mind during the progress of breakfast. I must say they made a strong impression upon me; and any candidate who may hereafter come forward for the representation of a Scottish burgh, on principles similar to my own, would do well to peruse and remember them.
At length I rose to go.
"Do I carry your good wishes along with me, Miss Binkie, on my canva.s.s?"
"Most cordially, Mr Dunshunner; I shall be perfectly miserable until I learn your success. I can a.s.sure you of my support, and earnestly wish I was an elector."
"Enviable would be the Member of Parliament who could represent so charming a const.i.tuency!"
"Oh, Mr Dunshunner!"
Directed by the Provost"s list, I set forth in search of my const.i.tuency. The first elector whose shop I entered was a draper of the name M"Auslan. I found him in the midst of his tartans.