Page:Dreams and apparitions (2).pdf/15

15 about him, Tibby was 'struck dumb with amazement, and almost bereaved of sense. She at once recognised them, all and severally, as the birds that she saw, in her dream, devouring her master, and picking the flesh from his bones; while the great lawyer from Edinburgh was, in feature, eye and beak, the identical raven which at last devoured his vitals and heart.

This singular concidence brought reminiscencies of such a nature over her spirit, that, on the first questions being put, she could not answer a word. She knew from thenceforward that her master was a ruined man, and her heart failed, on thinking of her kind mistress and his family. The council then went, and whispering Mr Forret inquired what sort of a woman she was, and if her evidence was likely to be of any avail. As the cooper had behaved so well, and had likewise answered for Tibby, the farmer was intent on not loosing her evidence, and answered his council that she is a worthy honest woman, who would not swear to a lie for the king's dominions, and that he must not lose her evidence. It is intelligence the lawyer announced to the bench with great consequence and pomposity, and the witness was allowed a