My Man Sandy | Page 3

he's gotten a richt horse for Donal', noo."
Sandy didna come up frae the stable till near-hand eleven o'clock, an' I
didna say ony mair aboot his braw horse. I've heard the minister say,
it's the unexpectit that happens. That's aye the way wi' Sandy, I can tell
you. I aye expect that something will happen wi' him that I'm no'
expectin'; so I find it best juist to lat him aleen.
Next mornin' he gaed awa' gey early to get yokit, an' he took Bandy
Wobster wi' him to gi'e him a hand. It was twa strucken 'oors afore he
got to the shop door wi' the cairt, an' baith him an' the horse were
sweitin' afore they startit on his roonds. Sandy was lookin' gey raised
like, so I lut him get on a' his tatties an' said naething.

Stumpie Mertin cam' by, an', lookin' at Princie, gae his heid a claw.
"What are ye stanin' glowerin' at?" says Sandy till him, gey snappit
like.
"Whaur did ye get that hunger'd-lookin' radger, Sandy?" says he. "That
beast's no' fit for gaen aboot. The Cruelty to Animals 'ill nip you, as
shure's you're a livin' man."
"Tak' care 'at they dinna nip you, for haein' a wid leg," says Sandy, as
raised as a wasp. "Awa' oot o' that, an' mind your ain bisness."
"That's been stealt oot ahent some menagerie caravan," says Stumpie;
an' awa' he gaed dilpin' like's he'd made a grand joke.
The policeman cam' doon an' settled himsel' aboot ten yairds awa' frae
Princie, put his hands ahent his back, set forrit his heid like's he was
gaen awa' to putt somebody, an' took a lang look at him. "That's a
clinker, Sandy," says he. "That billie 'ill cover the grund."
I didna ken whether the bobbie meant rinnin' ower the grund, or
coverin't efter he was turned into gooana or bane-dust; but I saw the
lauch in his sleeve a' the same.
Gairner Winton cam' doon the street at the same time, an' the bobby an'
him startit to remark aboot Sandy's horse.
"A gude beast, nae doot," says the Gairner; "but Sandy's been gey lang
o' buyin' him.'
"He's bocht him gey sune, I'm thinking," says the policeman. "Gin he'd
waited a fortnicht, he'd gotten him at twintypence the hunderwecht."
Sandy never lut dab 'at he heard them. The cairt was a' ready an' Sandy
got up on the front and startit. A' gaed richt till he got to the Loan,
when Princie startit to trot. The rattlin' o' the scales at the back o' the
cairt fleggit him, an' aff he set at full tear, the lang skranky legs o' him
wallopin' about like torn cloots atween him an' the grund. A gude curn

wives were oot waitin' their tatties, an' they roared to Sandy to stop; but
Sandy cudna. The tatties were fleein' ower the back door o' the cairt, an'
the scales were rattlin' an' reeshlin' like an earthquake; an' there was
Sandy, bare-heided, up to the knees amon' his tatties, ruggin' an' roarin',
like the skipper o' some schooner that was rinnin' on the rocks. I'll
swear, Sandy got roond his roonds an' a' his tatties delivered in less
than half the time Donal' took! The wives an' laddies were gaitherin' up
the tatties a' the wey to Tutties Nook; and gin Sandy got to the
milestane his cairt was tume. By this time Princie was fair puffed out,
an' he drappit i' the middle o' the road, Sandy gaen catma ower the tap
o' him.
Donal's back till his auld job! Sandy lost thirty shillin's an' a cairt-load
o' tatties ower the heid o' Princie; an' as for the he tortyshall kitlin', I've
never heard nor seen hint nor hair o't.

II.
SANDY STARTS TO STUDY GEOMETRY.
"Man, Bawbie, I think I'll see an' get into the Toon Cooncil some o'
thae days," says Sandy to me the ither forenicht. "Me an' some o' the
rest o' the chaps have been haein' a bit o' an argeyment i' the
washin'-house this nicht or twa back, an' I tell you, I can gabble awa'
aboot public questions as weel's some o' them i' the Cooncil. I ga'e
them a bit screed on the watter question on Setarday nicht that garred
them a' gape; an' Dauvit Kenawee said there an' then that I shud see an'
get a haud o' the Ward Committee an' get a chance o' pettin' my views
afore them. They a' said I was a born spowter, an' that wi' a little
practice I cud speechify the half o' the Cooncil oot at the door."
I hit Sandy blether awa' for a whilie, an' syne I strikes in, "Ay, juist that,
Sandy; but you'll mibby g'wa' an'