The patient next looked round him for a moment, and then said faintly,
in his broad northern language--"What sort of usage ca' ye this,
gentlemen, to a stranger a sojourner in your town? Ye hae broken my
head--ye hae riven my cloak, and now ye are for restraining my
personal liberty! They were wiser than me," he said, after a moment's
pause, "that counselled me to wear my warst claithing in the streets
of London; and, if I could have got ony things warse than these mean
garments,"--("which would have been very difficult," said Jin Vin, in
a whisper to his companion,)--"they would have been e'en ower gude for
the grips o' men sae little acquented with the laws of honest
civility."
"To say the truth," said Jenkin, unable to forbear any longer,
although the discipline of the times prescribed to those in his
situation a degree of respectful distance and humility in the presence
of parents, masters, or seniors, of which the present age has no idea--
"to say the truth, the good gentleman's clothes look as if they would
not brook much handling."
"Hold your peace, young man," said Master George, with a tone of
authority; "never mock the stranger or the poor--the black ox has not
trod on your foot yet--you know not what lands you may travel in, or
what clothes you may wear, before you die."
Vincent held down his head and stood rebuked, but the stranger did not
accept the apology which was made for him.
Pages:
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74