Page:Martha Spreull by Zachary Fleming.pdf/62

50 gaed on. Wab efter wab o’ flannel, wincey, and silk were turned ower on the coonter, but she had aye some faut to find. It wisna guid enough, or it wis ower dear—then, efter she had gi’en trouble enough to break ony ordinar’ shopman’s temper— no; she wudna mind wi’ onything the day.

“ Mrs. Drummond,” says I, efter we had got ootside the third shop, “ What div ye want ? ”

“ Want ? ” quoth she. “ I want bargains. I could buy thae things cheaper and better in oor ain store.”

“ O,” says I, “ these are a’ respectable shops, an’ what ye get in them can be depended on, but they’re no’ used to priggin’. Hooever, ye sometimes get bargains i’ the Polytechnick—maybe ye’ll step along there.”

“O,” says she, “ that is a place I wud like fine to see, for I hae read aboot it i’ the newspapers.”

So we gaed along to the Polytechnick; na, but she wis uncommon pleased wi’ the show, especially wi’ the Magic Cave, which, in truth, wis a great sight to see. Weel, as she gaed frae gallery to gallery, an’ frae coonter to coonter, speerin’ the yaird o’ this, an’ the price o’ that, I wis nearly trailed aff my feet. At lang an’ length she got her e’e on the end o’ a wab o’ navy-blue silk, an’ I wis thankfu’ to get sittin’ doon on a seat while she bargained for’t.

It wis clearly a thing she had a weakness for, but when she had gotten it at her ain price I had the best laugh at her expense I’ve had for mony a day, though I wis real thankfu’ the incident hadna happened in ony shop whaur I wis kent. The wumman had put doon a five-pound note on the coonter while the shopman wis makin’ up the parcel, an’, just as we were sittin’ crackin’, a cash laddie cam’ by an’ snappit up the siller, an’ bein’ licht on his fit, he wis makin’ aff gey brisk wi t to the cash-desk, when she lap to her feet, an’ knockin’ ower