Suppose him even to hit on the right close, people dwelt
so thronged in these tall houses, he might very well seek a day
before he chanced on the right door. The ordinary course was to
hire a lad they called a caddie, who was like a guide or pilot, led
you where you had occasion, and (your errands being done) brought
you again where you were lodging. But these caddies, being always
employed in the same sort of services, and having it for obligation
to be well informed of every house and person in the city, had
grown to form a brotherhood of spies; and I knew from tales of Mr.
Campbell's how they communicated one with another, what a rage of
curiosity they conceived as to their employer's business, and how
they were like eyes and fingers to the police. It would be a piece
of little wisdom, the way I was now placed, to take such a ferret
to my tails. I had three visits to make, all immediately needful:
to my kinsman Mr. Balfour of Pilrig, to Stewart the Writer that was
Appin's agent, and to William Grant Esquire of Prestongrange, Lord
Advocate of Scotland. Mr. Balfour's was a non-committal visit; and
besides (Pilrig being in the country) I made bold to find the way
to it myself, with the help of my two legs and a Scots tongue.
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