  | Duror is in Lendrick. He has visited the doctor after fainting at the deer drive, and is now walking to the hotel bar for a drink.
… as he walked slowly but steadily along the pier road back into the village he felt in a mood for murder, rape or suicide.
At the edge of the harbour he halted and stared down at the water, which he could hear slapping gently against the
slimy wall.
Another step, and down he'd fall,
enveloped in the bag
of his own wish for
death: perhaps, like the she-cat he'd once drowned, he'd struggle a little, cowardly at the end; but
he was no strong swimmer and would soon enough sink,
to raise again bloated to sicken the godly tomorrow on their way to the kirk with their Bibles in their hands.
Then, taking himself by surprise, he began to laugh, louder and louder, more and more harshly, as it occurred to him that perhaps
the tide was going out, there was only a foot or so of water, and all that would happen to him would be a leg broken.
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