Page:Remarkable family adventure of Saunders Watson (1).pdf/17

Rh church-yard at full speed in the expectation of finding either Saunders Watson or some other person a corpse; even the pastor himself was among there crowd. The alarm of Saunders and his son may well be conceived, when they saw the church-yard gate thrown open, and so many people running pell-mell towards the spot where the tragedy had been acted. Neither of them had power to shut the door. Each leaned himself against the wall, more dead than alive, till they heard a well known voice exclaim, in a tone of agreeable, but somewhat mirthful surprise, “Preserve us, here’s the minister’s swine lyin’ cauld deed! I’ll ’ay my lug for’t, Saunders has taen’t for a ressurrection man, and shot it in that belief.”

Notwithstanding the sacredness of the place, and their feeling of sympathy for Saunders’s late misfortune, a general burst of laughter followed this announcement. The two heroes were sought for, and found, who both joyful at, and ashamed, of their mistake, scarcely knew what kind of a face to put upon the matter. They were the most afraid to face the minister; but he very good naturedly relieved them from their embarrassment, by observing that as the pig had broken loose, and strayed where it ought not to do, it in some measure deserved its punishment; and as for himself he set