But we
discomforted our neighbours by prospering mightily, so that there was
talk of Uncle Andrew for the Provost's chair at the next vacancy.
They were happy years, the four I spent in Glasgow, for I was young and
ardent, and had not yet suffered the grave miscarriage of hope which is
our human lot. My uncle was a busy merchant, but he was also something
of a scholar, and was never happier than when disputing some learned
point with a college professor over a bowl of punch. He was a great
fisherman, too, and many a salmon I have seen him kill between the town
and Rutherglen in the autumn afternoons. He treated me like a son, and
by his aid I completed my education by much reading of books and a
frequent attendance at college lectures. Such leisure as I had I spent
by the river-side talking with the ship captains and getting news of
far lands. In this way I learned something of the handling of a ship,
and especially how to sail a sloop alone in rough weather, I have
ventured, myself the only crew, far down the river to the beginning of
the sealocks, and more than once escaped drowning by a miracle. Of a
Saturday I would sometimes ride out to Auchencairn to see my mother and
assist with my advice the work of Robin Gilfillan.
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