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diff --git a/28424-8.txt b/28424-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d0fd2ce --- /dev/null +++ b/28424-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8322 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Tales From Scottish Ballads, by Elizabeth W. Grierson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Tales From Scottish Ballads + +Author: Elizabeth W. Grierson + +Illustrator: Allan Stewart + +Release Date: March 27, 2009 [EBook #28424] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES FROM SCOTTISH BALLADS *** + + + + +Produced by Stephane Charland, Juliet Sutherland and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +Black's Boys' and Girls' Library + +TALES FROM SCOTTISH BALLADS + + + + +IN THE SAME SERIES + + + TALES OF KING ARTHUR by DOROTHY SENIOR + MIKE (A Public School Story) by P. G. WODEHOUSE + THE CAVEMEN, A TALE OF + THE TIME OF by STANLEY WATERLOO + WONDER TALES OF THE + ANCIENT WORLD by JAMES BAIKIE, D.D., F.R.A.S. + THE STORY OF ROBIN HOOD by JOHN FINNEMORE + ROBINSON CRUSOE by DANIEL DEFOE + SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON Edited by G. E. MITTON + MOTHER GOOSE'S NURSERY RHYMES Edited by L. E. WALTER, M.B.E., B.Sc. + TOM BROWN'S SCHOOLDAYS by THOMAS HUGHES + IN THE YEAR OF WATERLOO } + FACE TO FACE WITH NAPOLEON } by O. V. CAINE + WITCH'S HOLLOW by A. W. BROOK + MUCKLE JOHN by FREDERICK WATSON + ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES + ĘSOP'S FABLES + THE ARABIAN NIGHTS + GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES + GRANNY'S WONDERFUL CHAIR by FRANCES BROWNE + BRITISH FAIRY AND FOLK TALES by W. J. GLOVER + THE ADVENTURES OF DON QUIXOTE by MIGUEL DE CERVANTES + COOK'S VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY + MR. MIDSHIPMAN EASY + TALES FROM HAKLUYT Selected by FRANK ELIAS + GREEK WONDER TALES } + OTTOMAN WONDER TALES } by LUCY M. GARNETT + GULLIVER'S TRAVELS + THE HEROES } + THE WATER BABIES } by CHARLES KINGSLEY + BOOK OF CELTIC STORIES by ELIZ. W. GRIERSON + + _FOR GIRLS_ + + A GIRL'S ADVENTURES IN KOREA by AGNES HERBERT + + _SIMILAR TO THE ABOVE_ + + CRANFORD. By Mrs. ELIZABETH GASKELL. + With 8 Illustrations in Colour + + + A. & C. BLACK, LTD., 4, 5 & 6 SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W. 1 + + + + +AGENTS + + +_New York_ THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + +_Melbourne_ THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS + +_Toronto_ THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA + +_Bombay Calcutta Madras_ MACMILLAN AND COMPANY, LTD. + + + + +[Illustration: "THIS VERY NIGHT WE WILL RIDE OVER INTO ETTRICK, AND LIFT +A WHEEN O' THEM." (P. 106)] + + + + +TALES FROM +SCOTTISH BALLADS + +BY + +ELIZABETH W. GRIERSON + +AUTHOR OF "THE BOOK OF CELTIC STORIES" +"THE BOOK OF EDINBURGH" ETC. + +WITH FOUR FULL-PAGE +ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR FROM DRAWINGS BY +ALLAN STEWART + +A. & C. BLACK, LTD. + +4, 5 & 6 SOHO SQUARE, LONDON, W. 1 + + + + +_Printed in Great Britain_ + +_First Edition ("Children's Tales from Scottish Ballads") +published in 1906._ + +_New Edition published in 1916._ + +_Reprinted and included in Boys' and Girls' Library in 1925._ + +_Reprinted in 1930._ + + + + +To + +MY TWO FIRESIDE CRITICS + +A. S. G. AND J. B. G. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +THE LOCHMABEN HARPER 1 + +THE LAIRD O' LOGIE 11 + +KINMONT WILLIE 32 + +THE GUDE WALLACE 63 + +THE WARLOCK O' OAKWOOD 81 + +MUCKLE-MOU'ED MEG 101 + +DICK O' THE COW 125 + +THE HEIR OF LINNE 143 + +BLACK AGNACE OF DUNBAR 161 + +THOMAS THE RHYMER 195 + +LORD SOULIS 214 + +THE BROWNIE OF BLEDNOCK 234 + +SIR PATRICK SPENS 244 + +YOUNG BEKIE 259 + +THE EARL OF MAR'S DAUGHTER 274 + +HYNDE HORN 291 + +THE GAY GOS-HAWK 310 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +IN COLOUR + +FROM DRAWINGS BY ALLAN STEWART + + "This very night we will ride over into + Ettrick, and lift a wheen o' them" _Frontispiece_ + + FACING PAGE + + "My father eyed them keenly, his face + growing grave as he did so" 36 + + "''Tis a God's-penny,' cried the guests in amazement" 158 + + "When she approached he pulled off his + bonnet and louted low" 198 + + + + +THE LOCHMABEN HARPER + + "Oh, heard ye of a silly harper, + Wha lang lived in Lochmaben town, + How he did gang to fair England, + To steal King Henry's wanton brown?" + + +Once upon a time, there was an old man in Lochmaben, who made his +livelihood by going round the country playing on his harp. He was very +old, and very blind, and there was such a simple air about him, that +people were inclined to think that he had not all his wits, and they +always called him "The silly Lochmaben Harper." + +Now Lochmaben is in Dumfriesshire, not very far from the English border, +and the old man sometimes took his harp and made long journeys into +England, playing at all the houses that he passed on the road. + +Once when he returned from one of these journeys, he told everyone how +he had seen the English King, King Henry, who happened to be living at +that time at a castle in the north of England, and although he thought +the King a very fine-looking man indeed, he thought far more of a frisky +brown horse which his Majesty had been riding, and he had made up his +mind that some day it should be his. + +All the people laughed loudly when they heard this, and looked at one +another and tapped their foreheads, and said, "Poor old man, his brain +is a little touched; he grows sillier, and sillier;" but the Harper only +smiled to himself, and went home to his cottage, where his wife was busy +making porridge for his supper. + +"Wife," he said, setting down his harp in the corner of the room, "I am +going to steal the King of England's brown horse." + +"Are you?" said his wife, and then she went on stirring the porridge. +She knew her husband better than the neighbours did, and she knew that +when he said a thing, he generally managed to do it. + +The old man sat looking into the fire for a long time, and at last he +said, "I will need a horse with a foal, to help me: if I can find that, +I can do it." + +"Tush!" said his wife, as she lifted the pan from the fire and poured +the boiling porridge carefully into two bowls; "if that is all that thou +needest, the brown horse is thine. Hast forgotten the old gray mare thou +left at home in the stable? Whilst thou wert gone, she bore a fine gray +foal." + +"Ah!" said the old Harper, his eyes kindling. "Is she fond of her foal?" + +"Fond of it, say you? I warrant bolts and bars would not keep her from +it. Ride thou away on the old mare, and I will keep the foal at home; +and I promise thee she will bring home the brown horse as straight as a +die, without thy aid, if thou desire it." + +"Thou art a clever woman, Janet: thou thinkest of everything," said her +husband proudly, as she handed him his bowlful of porridge, and then sat +down to sup her own at the other side of the fire, chuckling to herself, +partly at her husband's words of praise, and partly at the simplicity of +the neighbours, who called him a silly old harper. + +Next morning the old man went into the stable, and, taking a halter from +the wall, he hid it in his stocking; then he led out his old gray mare, +who neighed and whinnied in distress at having to leave her little foal +behind her. Indeed he had some difficulty in getting her to start, for +when he had mounted her, and turned her head along the Carlisle road, +she backed, and reared, and sidled, and made such a fuss, that quite a +crowd collected round her, crying, "Come and see the silly Harper of +Lochmaben start to bring home the King of England's brown horse." + +At last the Harper got the mare to start, and he rode, and he rode, +playing on his harp all the time, until he came to the castle where the +King of England was. And, as luck would have it, who should come to the +gate, just as he arrived, but King Henry himself. Now his Majesty loved +music, and the old man really played very well, so he asked him to come +into the great hall of the castle, and let all the company hear him +play. + +At this invitation the Harper jumped joyously down from his horse, as if +to make haste to go in, and then he hesitated. + +"Nay, but if it please your Majesty," he said humbly, "my old nag is +footsore and weary: mayhap there is a stall in your Majesty's stable +where she might rest the night." + +Now the King loved all animals, and it pleased him that the old man +should be so mindful of his beast; and seeing one of the stablemen in +the distance, he turned his head and cried carelessly, "Here, sirrah! +Take this old man's nag, and put it in a stall in the stable where my +own brown horse stands, and see to it that it has a good supper of oats +and a comfortable litter of hay." + +Then he led the Harper into the hall where all his nobles were, and I +need not tell you that the old man played his very best. He struck up +such a merry tune that before long everybody began to dance, and the +very servants came creeping to the door to listen. The cooks left their +pans, and the chambermaids their dusters, the butlers their pantries; +and, best of all, the stablemen came from the stables without +remembering to lock the doors. + +After a time, when they had all grown weary of dancing, the clever old +man began to play such soft, soothing, quiet music, that everyone began +to nod, and at last fell fast asleep. + +He played on for a time, till he was certain that no one was left awake, +then he laid down his harp, and slipped off his shoes, and stole +silently down the broad staircase, smiling to himself as he did so. + +With noiseless footsteps he crept to the stable door, which, as he +expected, he found unlocked, and entered, and for one moment he stood +looking about him in wonder, for it was the most splendid stable he had +ever seen, with thirty horses standing side by side, in one long row. +They were all beautiful horses, but the finest of all, was King Henry's +favourite brown horse, which he always rode himself. + +The old Harper knew it at once, and, quick as thought, he loosed it, +and, drawing the halter which he had brought with him out of his +stocking, he slipped it over its head. + +Then he loosed his own old gray mare, and tied the end of the halter to +her tail, so that, wherever she went, the brown horse was bound to +follow. He chuckled to himself as he led the two animals out of the +stable and across the courtyard, to the great wrought-iron gate, and +when he had opened this, he let the gray mare go, giving her a good +smack on the ribs as he did so. And the old gray mare, remembering her +little foal shut up in the stable at home, took off at the gallop, +straight across country, over hedges, and ditches, and walls, and +fences, pulling the King's brown horse after her at such a rate that he +had never even a chance to bite her tail, as he had thought of doing at +first, when he was angry at being tied to it. + +Although the mare was old, she was very fleet of foot, and before the +day broke she was standing with her companion before her master's +cottage at Lochmaben. Her stable door was locked, so she began to neigh +with all her might, and at last the noise awoke the Harper's wife. + +Now the old couple had a little servant girl who slept in the attic, and +the old woman called to her sharply, "Get up at once, thou lazy wench! +dost thou not hear thy master and his mare at the door?" + +The girl did as she was bid, and, dressing herself hastily, went to the +door and looked through the keyhole to see if it were really her master. +She saw no one there save the gray mare and a strange brown horse. + +"Oh mistress, mistress, get up," she cried in astonishment, running into +the kitchen. "What do you think has happened? The gray mare has gotten a +brown foal." + +"Hold thy clavers!" retorted the old woman; "methinks thou art blinded +by the moonlight, if thou knowest not the difference between a +full-grown horse and a two-months'-old foal. Go and look out again and +bring me word if 'tis not a brown horse which the mare has brought with +her." + +The girl ran to the door, and presently came back to say that she had +been mistaken, and that it was a brown horse, and that all the +neighbours were peeping out of their windows to see what the noise was +about. + +The old woman laughed as she rose and dressed herself, and went out with +the girl to help her to tie up the two horses. + +"'Tis the silly old Harper of Lochmaben they call him," she said to +herself, "but I wonder how many of them would have had the wit to gain a +new horse so easily?" + +Meanwhile at the English castle the Harper had stolen silently back to +the hall after he had let the horses loose, and, taking up his harp +again, he harped softly until the morning broke, and the sleeping men +round him began to awake. + +The King and his nobles called loudly for breakfast, and the servants +crept hastily away, afraid lest it might come to be known that they had +left their work the evening before to listen to the stranger's music. + +The cooks went back to their pans, and the chambermaids to their +dusters, and the stablemen and grooms trooped out of doors to look after +the horses; but presently they all came rushing back again, +helter-skelter, with pale faces, for the stable door had been left open, +and the King's favourite brown horse had been stolen, as well as the +Harper's old gray mare. For a long time no one dare tell the King, but +at last the head stableman ventured upstairs and broke the news to the +Master-of-the-Horse, and the Master-of-the-Horse told the Lord +Chamberlain, and the Lord Chamberlain told the King. + +At first his Majesty was very angry, and threatened to dismiss all the +grooms, but his attention was soon diverted by the cunning old Harper, +who threw down his harp, and pretended to be in great distress. + +"I am ruined, I am ruined!" he exclaimed, "for I lost the gray mare's +foal just before I left Scotland, and I looked to the price of it for +the rent, and now the old gray mare herself is gone, and how am I to +travel about and earn my daily bread without her?" + +Now the King was very kind-hearted, and he was sorry for the poor old +man, for he believed every word of his story, so he clapped him on the +back, and bade him play some more of his wonderful music, and promised +to make up to him for his losses. + +Then the wicked old Harper rejoiced, for he knew that his trick had +succeeded, and he picked up his harp again, and played so beautifully +that the King forgot all about the loss of his favourite horse. + +All that day the Harper played to him, and on the morrow, when he would +set out for home, in spite of all his entreaties that he would stay +longer, he made his treasurer give him three times the value of his old +gray mare, in solid gold, because he said that, if his servants had +locked the stable door, the mare would not have been stolen, and, +besides that, he gave him the price of the foal, which the wicked old +man had said that he had lost. "For," said the King, "'tis a pity that +such a marvellous harper should lack the money to pay his rent." + +Then the cunning old Harper went home in triumph to Lochmaben, and the +good King never knew till the end of his life how terribly he had been +cheated. + + + + +THE LAIRD O' LOGIE + + "I will sing if ye will hearken, + If ye will hearken unto me; + The king has ta'en a poor prisoner, + The wanton laird o' young Logie." + + +It was Twelfth-night, and in the royal Palace of Holyrood a great masked +ball was being held, for the King, James VI., and his young wife, Anne +of Denmark, had been keeping Christmas there, and the old walls rang +with gaiety such as had not been since the ill-fated days of Mary +Stuart. + +It was a merry scene; everyone was in fancy dress, and wore a mask, so +that even their dearest friends could not know them, and great was the +merriment caused by the efforts which some of the dancers made to guess +the names of their partners. + +One couple in the throng, however, appeared to know and recognise each +other, for, as a tall slim maiden dressed as a nun, who had been dancing +with a stout old monk, passed a young man in the splendid dress of a +French noble, she dropped her handkerchief, and, as the young Frenchman +picked it up and gave it to her, she managed to exchange a whisper with +him, unnoticed by her elderly partner. + +Ten minutes later she might have been seen, stealing cautiously down a +dark, narrow flight of stairs, that led to a little postern, which she +opened with a key which she drew from her girdle, and, closing it behind +her, stepped out on the stretch of short green turf, which ran along one +side of the quaint chapel. It was bright moonlight, but she stole behind +one of the buttresses that cast heavy shadows on the grass, and waited. + +Nearly a quarter of an hour passed before another figure issued from the +same little postern and joined her. This time it was the young French +noble, his finery hidden by a guard's long cloak. + +"Pardon me, sweetheart," he said, throwing aside his disguise and +putting his hand caressingly on her shoulder, "but 'tis not my fault +that thou art here before me. I had to dance a minuet with her Majesty +the Queen; she was anxious to show the court dames how 'tis done in +Denmark, and, as thou knowest, I have learned the Danish steps passably +well dancing it so often with thee. So I was called on, and Arthur +Seaton, and a mention was made of thee, but Gertrud Van Hollbell +volunteered to fill thy place." + +"Gertrud is a good-natured wench, and I will tell her so; but did her +Majesty not notice my absence?" + +"Nay, verily, she was so busy talking with me, and I gave her no time to +miss thee," said the young man, laughing, but his companion's face was +troubled. They had taken off their masks, and a stranger looking at them +would have taken them for what they seemed to be, a dark-haired, +black-eyed Frenchman, and a fair English nun. But Hugh Weymes of Logie +was a simple Scottish gentleman, in spite of his dress, and looks; and +the maiden, Mistress Margaret Twynlace, was a Dane, who had come over, +along with one or two others, as maid-in-waiting to the young Queen, who +had insisted on having some of her own countrywomen about her. + +Mistress Margaret's fair hair, and fairer skin, so different from that +of the young Scotch ladies, had quite captivated young Weymes, and the +two had been openly betrothed. + +They had plenty of chances of speaking to each other in the palace, +where Weymes was stationed in his capacity of gentleman of the King's +household, and the young man was somewhat at a loss to understand why +Margaret should have arranged a secret meeting which might bring them +both into trouble were it known, for Queen Anne was very strict, and +would have no lightsome maids about her, and were it to reach her ears +that Margaret had met a man in the dark, even although it was the man +she intended to marry, she would think nothing of packing her off to +Denmark at a day's notice. + +Now, as this was the very last thing that Hugh wanted to happen, his +voice had a touch of reproach in it, as he began to point out the +trouble that might ensue if any prying servant should chance to see +them, or if Margaret's absence were noticed by the Queen. + +But the girl hardly listened to him. + +"What doth it matter whether I am sent home or not?" she said +passionately. "Thou canst join me there and Denmark is as fair as +Scotland; but it boots not to joke and laugh, for I have heavy news to +tell thee. Thou must fly for thy life. 'Tis known that thou hast had +dealings with my Lord of Bothwell, that traitor to the King, and thy +life is in danger." + +The young man looked at her in surprise. "Nay, sweet Meg," he said, "but +methinks the Christmas junketing hath turned thy brain, for no man can +bring a word against me, and I stand high in his Majesty's favour. +Someone hath been filling thy ears with old wives' tales." + +"But I know thou art in danger," she persisted, wringing her hands in +despair when she saw how lightly he took the news. "I do not understand +all the court quarrels, for this land is not my land, but I know that my +Lord Bothwell hates the King, and that the King distrusts my Lord +Bothwell, and, knowing this, can I not see that there is danger in thy +having been seen talking to the Earl in a house in the Cowgate? and, +moreover, it is said that he gave thee a packet which thou art supposed +to have carried hither. Would that I could persuade thee to fly, to take +ship at Leith, and cross over to Denmark; my parents would harbour thee +till the storm blew past." + +Margaret was in deadly earnest, but her lover only laughed again, and +assured her that she had been listening to idle tales. To him it seemed +incredible that he could get into any trouble because he had lately held +some intercourse with his father's old friend, the Earl of Bothwell, and +had, at his request, carried back a sealed packet to give to one of the +officials at the palace, on his return from a trip to France. It was +true that Lord Bothwell was in disfavour with the King, who suspected +him of plotting against his person, but Hugh believed that his royal +master was mistaken, and, as he had only been about the court a couple +of months or so, he had not yet learned how dangerous it was to hold +intercourse with men who were counted the King's enemies. + +So he soothed Margaret's fears with playful words, promising to be more +discreet in the future, and keep aloof from the Earl, and in a short +time they were back in the ballroom, and he, at least, was dancing as +merrily as if there was no such word as treason. + +For two or three weeks after the Twelfth-night ball, life at Holyrood +went on so quietly that Margaret Twynlace was inclined to think that her +lover had been right, and that she had put more meaning into the rumours +which she had heard than they were intended to convey, and, as she saw +him going quietly about his duties, apparently in as high favour as +before with the King, she shook off her load of anxiety, and tried to +forget that she had ever heard the Earl of Bothwell's name. + +But without warning the blow fell. One morning, as she was seated in the +Queen's ante-chamber, busily engaged, along with the other maids, in +sewing a piece of tapestry which was to be hung, when finished, in the +Queen's bedroom, Lady Hamilton entered the room in haste, bearing dire +tidings. + +It had become known at the palace the evening before, that a plot had +been discovered, planned by the Earl of Bothwell, to seize the King and +keep him a prisoner, while the Earl was declared regent. As it was known +that young Hugh Weymes, one of the King's gentlemen, had been seen in +conversation with him some weeks before, he had been seized and his +boxes searched, and in them had been found a sealed packet, containing +letters to one of the King's councillors, who was now in France, asking +his assistance, and signed by Bothwell himself. + +The gentleman had not returned--probably word had been sent to him of +his danger--but young Weymes had been promptly arrested, although he +disclaimed all knowledge of the contents of the packet, and had been +placed under the care of Sir John Carmichael, keeper of the King's +guard, until he could be tried. + +"And there will only be one sentence for him," said the old lady grimly; +"it's beheaded he will be. 'Tis a pity, for he was a well-favoured +youth; but what else could he expect, meddling with such matters?" and +then she left the room, eager to find some fresh listeners to whom she +could tell her tale. + +As the door closed behind her a sudden stillness fell over the little +room. No one spoke, although some of the girls glanced pityingly at +Margaret, who sat, as if turned to stone, with a still, white face, and +staring eyes. Gertrud Van Hollbell, her countrywoman and bosom friend, +rose at last, and went and put her arms round her. + +"He is a favourite with the Queen, Margaret, and so art thou," she +whispered, "and after all it was not he who wrote the letter. If I were +in thy place, I would beg her Majesty, and she will beg the King, and he +will be pardoned." + +But Margaret shook her head with a wan smile. She knew too well the +terrible danger in which her lover stood, and she rightly guessed that +the Queen would have no power to avert it. + +At that moment the door opened, and the Queen herself entered, and all +the maidens stood up to receive her. She looked grave and sad, and her +eyes filled with tears as they fell on Margaret, who had been her +playmate when they were both children in far-away Denmark, and who was +her favourite maid-of-honour. + +Seeing this, kind-hearted Gertrud gave her friend a little push. "See," +she whispered, "she is sorry for thee; if thou go now and beg of her she +will grant thy request." + +Slowly, as if in a dream, the girl stepped forward, and knelt at her +royal Mistress's feet, but the Queen laid her hand gently on her +shoulder. + +"'Tis useless asking me, Margaret," she said. "God knows I would have +granted his pardon willingly. I do not believe that he meant treason to +his Grace, only he should not have carried the packet; but I have +besought the King already on his behalf and he will not hear me. Or his +lords will not," she added in an undertone. + +Then the girl found her voice. "Oh Madam, I will go to the King myself," +she cried, "if you think there is any chance. Perhaps if I found him +alone he might hear me. I shall tell him what I know is true, that Hugh +never dreamt that there was treason in the packet which he carried." + +"Thou canst try it, my child," said the Queen, "though I fear me 'twill +be but little use. At the same time, the King is fond of thee, and thy +betrothal to young Weymes pleased him well." + +So, with a faint hope rising in her heart, Margaret withdrew to her +little turret chamber, and there, with the help of the kind-hearted +Gertrud, she dressed herself as carefully as she could. + +She remembered how the King had praised a dull green dress which she had +once worn, saying that in it she looked like a lily, so she put it on, +and Gertrud curled her long yellow hair, and fastened it in two thick +plaits behind, and sent her away on her errand with strong encouraging +words; then she sat down and waited, wondering what the outcome of it +all would be. + +Alas! in little more than a quarter of an hour she heard steps coming +heavily up the stairs, and when Margaret entered, it needed no look at +her quivering face to know that she had failed. + +"It is no use, Gertrud," she moaned, "no use, I tell thee. His Majesty +might have let him off--I saw by his face that he was sorry--but who +should come into the hall but my Lords Hamilton and Lennox, and then I +knew all hope was gone. They are cruel, cruel men, and they would not +hear of a pardon." + +Gertrud did not speak; she knew that words of comfort would fall on deaf +ears, even if she could find any words of comfort to say, so she only +held out her arms, and gathered the poor heart-broken maiden into them, +and in silence they sat, until the light faded, and the stars came out +over Arthur's Seat. At last came a sound which made them both start. It +was the grating noise of a key being turned in a lock, and the clang of +bolts and bars, and then came the sound of marching feet, which passed +right under their little window. Gertrud rose and looked out, but +Margaret only shuddered. "They are taking him before the King," she +said. "They will question him, and he will speak the truth, and he will +lose his head for it." + +She was right. The prisoner was being conducted to the presence of the +King and the Lords of Council, to be questioned, and, as he openly +acknowledged having spoken to the Earl of Bothwell, and did not deny +having carried the packet, although he swore that he had no idea of its +contents, his guilt was considered proved, and he was taken back to +prison, there to await sentence, which everyone knew would be death. + +From the little window Gertrud watched the soldiers of the King's guard +lock and bar the great door, and give the key to Sir John Carmichael, +their captain, who crossed the square swinging it on his finger. + +"Would that I had that key for half an hour," she muttered to herself. +"I would let the bird out of his cage, and old Karl Sevgen would do the +rest." + +Margaret started up from the floor where she had been crouching in her +misery. "Old Karl Sevgen," she cried; "is he here?" + +The old man was the captain of a little schooner which plied between +Denmark and Leith, who often carried messages backwards and forwards +between the Queen's maids and their friends. + +"Ay," said Gertrud, glad to have succeeded in rousing her friend, and +feeling somehow that there was hope in the sound of the old man's +familiar name. "He sent up a message this evening--'twas when thou wert +with the King--and if we have anything to send with him it must be at +Leith by the darkening to-morrow. I could get leave to go, if thou hadst +any message," she added doubtfully, for she saw by Margaret's face that +an idea had suddenly come to her, for she sat up and gazed into the +twilight with bright eyes and flushed cheeks. + +"Gertrud," she said at last, "I see a way, a dangerous one, 'tis true, +but still it is a way. I dare not tell it thee. If it fails, the blame +must fall on me, and me alone; but if thou canst get leave to go down to +Leith and speak with old Karl alone, couldst thou tell him to look out +for two passengers in the small hours of Wednesday morning? And say that +when they are aboard the sooner he sails the better; and, Gertrud, tell +him from me, for the love of Heaven, to be silent on the matter." + +Gertrud nodded. "I'll do as thou sayest, dear heart," she said, "and +pray God that whatever plan thou hast in thy wise little head may be +successful; but now must thou go to the Queen. It is thy turn to-night +to sleep in the ante-room." + +"I know it," answered the girl, with a strange smile, and without saying +any more she kissed her friend, and, bidding her good-night, left the +room. + +Outside the Queen's bed-chamber was a little ante-chamber, opening into +a tiny passage, on the other side of which was a room occupied by the +members of the King's bodyguard, who happened to be on duty for the +week. + +It was the Queen's custom to have one of her maids sleeping in the +ante-room in case she needed her attendance through the night, and this +week the duty fell to Margaret. + +After her royal mistress had retired, the girl lay tossing on her narrow +bed, thinking how best she could rescue the man she loved, and by the +morning her plans were made. + +"Gertrud," she said next day, when the two were bending over their +needlework, somewhat apart from the other maids, "dost think that Karl +could get thee a length of rope? It must be strong, but not too thick, +so that I could conceal it about my person when I go to the Queen's +closet to-night. Thou couldst carry it home in a parcel, and the serving +man who goes with thee will think that it is something from Denmark." + +"That can I," said Gertrud emphatically; "and if I have not a chance to +see thee, I will leave it in the coffer in thy chamber." + +"Leave what?" asked the inquisitive old dowager who was supposed to +superintend the maids and their embroidery, who at that moment crossed +the room for another bundle of tapestry thread, and overheard the last +remark. + +"A packet for Mistress Margaret, which she expects by the Danish boat," +answered Gertrud promptly. "I have permission from her Majesty to go +this evening on my palfrey to Leith, to deliver some mails to Captain +Karl Sevgen, and to receive our packets in return." + +"Ah," said the old dame kindly, "'tis a treat for thee doubtless to see +one of thine own countrymen, even although he is but a common sailor," +and she shuffled back placidly to her seat. + +Margaret went on with her work in silence, blessing her friend in her +heart for her ready wit, but she dare not look her thanks, in case some +curious eye might note it. + +Gertrud was as good as her word. When Margaret went up to her little +room late in the evening, to get one or two things which she wanted +before repairing to the Queen's private apartments, she found a packet, +which would have disarmed all suspicions, lying on her coffer. For it +looked exactly like the bundles which found their way every month or two +to the Danish maids at Holyrood. It was sewn up in sailcloth, and was +addressed to herself in rude Danish characters; but she knew what was in +it, and in case the Queen might ask questions and laughingly desire to +see her latest present from home, she slit off the sailcloth, which she +hid in the coffer, and, unfolding the coil of rope, she wound it round +and round her body, under her satin petticoat. Luckily she was tall, and +very slender, and no one, unless they examined her very closely, would +notice the difference in her figure. Then, taking up a great duffle +cloak which she used when riding out in dirty weather, she made her way +to her post. + +It seemed long that night before Queen Anne dismissed her. The King +lingered in the supper chamber, and the gentle Queen, full of sympathy +for her favourite, sat in the little ante-room and talked to her of +Denmark, and the happy days they had spent there. At last she departed, +just as the clock on the tower of St Giles struck twelve, and Margaret +was at liberty to unwind the coil of rope, and hide it among the +bedclothes, and then, wrapping the warm cloak round her, she lay down +and tried to wait quietly until it was safe to do what she intended to +do. + +There were voices for awhile in the next room--the King and Queen were +talking--then they ceased entirely; but still she waited, until one +o'clock rang out, and she heard the guards pass on their rounds. + +Then she rose, and, taking off her shoes, crept gently across the tiny +room and stealthily opened the door of the Queen's bedroom, and +listened. All was quiet except for the regular breathing of the +sleepers. A little coloured lamp which hung from the ceiling was burning +softly, and by its light she could see the different objects in the +room. Stealing to the dressing-table, she looked about for any trinkets +that would answer her purpose. The King's comb lay there, carefully cut +from black ivory, with gold stars let in along the rim; and there, among +other dainty trifles, was the mother-of-pearl and silver knife, set with +emeralds, which his Majesty had given the Queen as a keepsake, about the +time of their marriage. Margaret picked up both of these, and then, +retracing her steps, she closed the door behind her, and flung herself +on her bed to listen in breathless silence in case anyone had heard her +movements, and should come to ask what was wrong. + +But all was quiet; not a soul had heard. + + * * * * * + +"The prisoner to be taken to the King now! Surely, fellow, thou art +dreaming." Sir John Carmichael, captain of the King's guard, sat up in +bed, and stared in astonishment at the soldier who had brought the +order. + +"Nay," said the man stolidly. "But 'twas one of the Queen's wenches who +came to the guard-room, and told us, and as a token that it is true, and +no joke, she brought these from his Majesty," and he held out the gilded +comb and the little jewelled knife. + +Sir John took them and turned them over in silence. He knew them well +enough, and, moreover, it was no uncommon thing for the King, when he +sent a messenger, as he often did, at an unaccustomed hour, to send also +some trinket which lay beside him at the moment, as a token; therefore +the honest gentleman suspected nothing, although he was loth to get out +of bed. + +There was no help for it, however; the message had come from the King, +and King's messages must be obeyed, even though they seemed ill-timed +and ridiculous. + +"What in the world has ta'en his Majesty now?" he grumbled, as he got up +reluctantly and began to hustle on his clothes. "Even though he wants to +question the lad alone, could he not have waited till the morning? 'Tis +the Queen's work, I warrant; she has a soft heart, and she will want his +Majesty to hear the young man's defence when none of the Lords of the +Council are by." + +So saying, he took down the great key which hung on a nail at the head +of his bed, and went off with the soldiers to arouse young Weymes, who +seemed quite as surprised as Sir John at the sudden summons. + +At the door of the Queen's ante-chamber they were met by the same +maid-of-honour who had taken the tokens to the guard, and she, modestly +shielding her face with a fold of her cloak, asked Sir John if he would +remain in the guard-room with the soldiers until she called for him +again, as the King wanted to question the prisoner alone in his chamber. + +At the sound of her voice Hugh Logie started, although Sir John did not +seem to recognise it, else his suspicions might have been aroused. He +only waited until his prisoner followed the girl into the little room, +then he locked the door behind them as a precaution, and withdrew with +the soldiers into the guard-room, where he knew a bright fire and a +tankard of ale were always to be found. + +Once in the ante-room, the young man spoke. "What means this, +Sweetheart?" he said. "What can the King want with me at this hour of +night?" + +"Hush!" answered the girl, laying a trembling finger on her lips, while +her eyes danced in spite of the danger. "'Tis I who would speak with +thee, but on board Karl Sevgen's boat at Leith, and not here. See," and +she drew the rope from its hiding-place, "tie this round thy waist, and +I will let thee down from the window; by God's mercy it looks out on a +deserted part of the garden, where the guards but rarely come, and thou +canst steal over the ditch, and down the garden, and round the Calton +Hill, and so down to the sea at Leith. Karl's boat is there; he will be +watching for thee. Thou wilt know her by her long black hull, and by a +red light he will burn in the stern. Nay, Hugh," for he would have taken +her in his arms. "The danger is not over yet, and we will have time to +talk when we are at sea, for I am coming too; I dare not stay here to +face the King alone. Only I can steal out by that little door in the +tapestry"--luckily Sir John did not know that there was another way +out--"and meet thee in the garden." + +The window was not very high, and the night was dark, and no one chanced +to pass that way as a figure slung itself down, and dropped lightly into +the ditch; and, when a guard did come round, Hugh lay flat among the mud +and nettles until he had passed, and by that time Margaret had stolen +out by the little postern, and was waiting for him at the foot of the +garden, and hand in hand they made their way over the rough uneven +fields which lay between them and Leith. + +Meanwhile, Sir John Carmichael drank ale, and talked with the guards, +and waited;--and waited, and talked with the guards, and drank ale, +until his patience was well-nigh gone. At last, just when the day was +breaking, he went to the door of the ante-room to listen, and hearing +nothing, he knocked, and receiving no answer, he unlocked the door and +peeped in, not wishing to disturb the maid-of-honour, but merely to +satisfy himself that all was right. The moment he saw the open window +and the rope, he shouted to the guards, and rushed across the floor, and +thundered at the door of the King's apartment, hoping against hope that +the prisoner was still there. + +But the King had been sleeping peacefully, and when he heard the story, +he was very angry at first, and talked of arresting Sir John, and sent +off horsemen, who rode furiously to Leith, in the hope of catching the +Danish boat. But they came back with the news that she had sailed with +the tide at three o'clock in the morning, after having taken two +passengers on board; and, after all, he could say little to Carmichael, +for had he not received the comb and the knife as tokens? + +"Thou shouldst not have lingered so long at supper," said the Queen +slyly, only too pleased at the turn events had taken. "Then hadst thou +slept lighter, and would have awaked when the wench stole in to take the +things." + +King James burst into a great laugh. "By my troth, thou art right," he +said, slapping his thigh. "The wench has been too clever for all of us, +for the Lords of the Council, and Carmichael, and me, and she deserves +her success. They must stay where they are for a time, for appearances' +sake, but, heark 'ee, Anne, when thou art writing to Denmark, thou canst +say that thou thinkest that my wrath will not last for ever." + +Nor did it, and before many months had passed Hugh Weymes of Logie came +home in triumph, bringing with him his young wife, who had dared so much +and acted so boldly for his sake. + + + + +KINMONT WILLIE + + "Oh, have ye na heard of the fause Sakelde? + Oh, have ye na heard of the keen Lord Scroope? + How they ha'e ta'en bauld Kinmont Willie, + On Haribee to hang him up?" + + +I well remember the dull April morning, in the year 1596, when my +father, William Armstrong of Kinmont, "Kinmont Willie," as he was called +by all the countryside, set out with me for a ride into Cumberland. + +As a rule, when he set his face that way, he rode armed, and with all +his men behind him, for these were the old reiving days, when we folk +who dwelt on the Scottish side of the Border thought we had a right to +go and steal what we could, sheep, or oxen, or even hay, from the +English loons, who, in their turn, would come slipping over from their +side to take like liberties with us, and mayhap burn down a house or two +in the by-going. + +My father was aye in the thick and throng of these raids, for he was +such a big powerful man that he was more than a match for three +Englishmen, did he chance to meet them. Men called him an outlaw, but we +thought little of that; most of the brave men on our side had been +outlawed at one time or another, and it did them little ill: indeed, it +was aye thought to be rather a feather in their cap. + +Well, as I say, my father was not riding on business, as it were, this +morning, for just then there was a truce for a day or two between the +countries, the two Wardens of the Marches, Sir Walter Scott of +Buccleuch, and My Lord Scroope, having sent their deputies to meet and +settle some affairs at the Dayholme of Kershope, where a burn divides +England from Scotland. My father and I had attended the Truce Muster, +and were riding homeward with but a handful of men, when I took a sudden +notion into my head, that I would like to cross the Border, and ride a +few miles on English ground. + +My birthday had fallen the week before (I was just eleven years old), +and my father, aye kind to his motherless bairns, had given me a new +pony, a little shaggy beast from Galloway, and, as I was keen to see how +it would run beside a big man's horse, I had pled hard for permission to +accompany him on it to the Muster. + +As a rule I never rode with him. "I was too young for the work," he +would say; but that day he gave his consent, only making the bargain +that there should be no crying out or grumbling if I were tired or +hungry long ere we got home again. I had laughed at the idea as I +saddled my shaggy little nag, and, to make matters sure, I had gone to +Janet, the kitchen wench, and begged her for a satchel of oatcakes and +cheese, which I fastened to my saddle strap, little dreaming what need I +would have of them before the day was out. + +The Truce Muster had broken up sooner than he expected, so my father saw +no reason why he should not grant my request, and let me have a canter +on English soil, for on a day of truce we could cross the Border if we +chose without the risk of being taken prisoners by Lord Scroope's men, +and marched off to Carlisle Castle, while the English had a like +privilege, and could ride down Liddesdale in open daylight, if they were +so minded. + +Scarce had we crossed the little burn, however, which runs between +low-growing hazel bushes, and separates us from England, when two of the +men rode right into a bog, and when, after some half-hour's work, we got +the horses out again, we found that both of them wanted a shoe, and my +father said at once that we must go straight home, in case they went +lame. + +At this I drew a long face. I had never been into England, and it was a +sore disappointment to be turned back just when we had reached it. + +"Well, well," said my father, laughing, ever soft-hearted where I was +concerned, "I suppose I must e'en take thee a ride into Bewcastle, lad, +since we have got this length. The men can go back with the horses; 'tis +safe enough to go alone to-day." + +So the men turned back, nothing loth, for Bewcastle Waste was no unknown +land to them, and my father and I rode on for eight miles or so, over +that most desolate country. Its bareness and loneliness disappointed me. +Somehow I had expected that England would be quite different from +Scotland, even although they were all one piece of land, with only a +burn running between. + +"Hast had enough?" said my father at last, noticing my downcast face, +and drawing rein. "Didst expect all the trees to be made of silver, and +all the houses to be built of gold? Never mind, lad, every place looks +much the same in the month of April, I trow, especially when it has been +a backward season; but if summer were once and here, I'll let thee ride +with the troop, and mayhap thou wilt get a glimpse of 'Merrie Carlisle,' +as they call it. It lies over there, twelve miles or more from where we +stand." + +As he pointed out the direction with his whip, we both became aware of a +large body of men, riding rapidly over the moor as if to meet us. My +father eyed them keenly, his face growing grave as he did so. + +"Who are they, father?" I asked with a sinking heart. I had lived long +enough at Kinmont to know that men did not generally ride together in +such numbers unless they were bent on mischief. + +"It's Sakelde, the English Warden's deputy, and no friend o' mine," he +answered with a frown, "and on any other day I would not have met him +alone like this for a hundred merks; but the truce holds for three days +yet, so we are quite safe; all the same, lad, we had better turn our +horses round, and slip in behind that little hill; they may not have +noticed us, and in that case 'tis no use rousing their curiosity." + +Alas! we had no sooner set our horses to the trot, than it became +apparent that not only were we observed, but that for some reason or +other the leader of the band of horsemen was desirous of barring our +way. + +He gave an order,--we could see him pointing with his hand,--and at once +his men spurred on their horses and began to spread out so as to +surround us. Then my father swore a big oath, and plunged his spurs into +his horse's sides. "Come on, Jock," he shouted, "sit tight and be a man; +if we can only get over the hill edge at Kershope, they'll pay for this +yet." + +[Illustration: "MY FATHER EYED THEM KEENLY, HIS FACE GROWING GRAVE AS HE +DID SO."] + +I will remember that race to my dying day. It appeared to last for +hours, but it could not have lasted many minutes, ten at the most, +during which time all the blood in my body seemed to be pounding and +surging in my head, and the green grass and the sky to be flying past +me, all mixed up together, and behind, and on all sides, came the +pit-pat of horses' feet, and then someone seized my pony's rein, and +brought him up with a jerk, and my father and I were sitting in the +midst of two hundred armed riders, whose leader, a tall man, with a thin +cunning face, regarded us with a triumphant smile. + +"Neatly caught, thou thieving rogue," he said; "by my troth, neatly +caught. Who would have thought that Kinmont Willie would have been such +a fool as to venture so far from home without an escort? But I can +supply the want, and thou shalt ride to Carlisle right well attended, +and shall never now lack a guard till thou partest with thy life at +Haribee." + +As the last word fell on my ear, I had much ado to keep my seat, for I +turned sick and faint, and all the crowd of men and horses seemed to +whirl round and round. Haribee! Right well I knew that fateful name, for +it was the place at Carlisle where they hanged prisoners. They could not +hang my father--they dare not--for although he had been declared an +outlaw, and might perhaps merit little love from the English, was not +this a day of truce, when all men could ride where they would in safety? + +"'Tis a day of truce," I gasped with dry lips; but the men around me +only laughed, and I could hear that my father's fierce remonstrance met +with no better answer. + +"Thou art well named, thou false Sakelde," I heard him say, and his +voice shook with fury, "for no man of honour would break the King's +truce in this way." + +But Sakelde only gave orders to his men to bind their prisoner, saying, +as he did so, "I warrant Lord Scroope will be too glad to see thee to +think much about the truce, and if thou art so scrupulous, thou needest +not be hanged for a couple of days; the walls of Carlisle Castle are +thick enough to guard thee till then. Be quick, my lads," he went on, +turning to his men; "we have a good fourteen miles to ride yet, and I +have no mind to be benighted ere we reach firmer ground." + +So they tied my father's feet together under his horse, and his hands +behind his back, and fastened his bridle rein to that of a trooper, and +the word was given for the men to form up, and they began to move +forward as sharply as the boggy nature of the ground would allow. + +I followed in the rear with a heavy heart. I could easily have escaped +had I wanted to do so, for no one paid any attention to me; but I felt +that, as long as I could, I must stay near my father, whose massive head +and proud set face I could see towering above the surrounding soldiers, +for he was many inches taller than any of them. + +The spring evening was fast drawing to a close as we came to the banks +of the Liddle, and splashed down a stony track to a place where there +was a ford. As we paused for a moment or two to give the horses a drink, +my father's voice rang out above the careless jesting of the troopers. + +"Let me say good-bye to my eldest son, Sakelde, and send him home; or do +the English war with bairns?" + +I saw the blood rise to the English leader's thin sallow face at the +taunt, but he answered quietly enough, "Let the boy speak to him and +then go back," and a way was opened up for me to where my father sat, a +bound and helpless prisoner, on his huge white horse. + +One trooper, kinder than the rest, took my pony's rein as I slid off its +back and ran to him. Many a time when I was little, had I had a ride on +White Charlie, and I needed no help to scramble up to my old place on +the big horse's neck. + +My father could not move, but he looked down at me with all the anger +and defiance gone out of his face, and a look on it which I had only +seen there once before, and that was when he lifted me up on his knee +after my mother died and told me that I must do my best to help him, and +try to look after the little ones. + +That look upset me altogether, and, forgetting the many eyes that +watched us, and the fact that I was eleven years old, and almost a man, +I threw my arms round his neck and kissed him again and again, sobbing +and greeting as any bairn might have done, all the time. + +"Ride home, laddie, and God be with ye. Remember if I fall that thou art +the head of the house, and see that thou do honour to the name," he said +aloud. Then he signed to me to go, and, just as I was clambering down, +resting a toe in his stirrup, he made a tremendous effort and bent down +over me. "If thou could'st but get word to the Lord of Buccleuch, +laddie, 'tis my only chance. They dare not touch me for two days yet. +Tell him I was ta'en by treachery at the time o' truce." + +The whisper was so low I could hardly hear it, and yet in a moment I +understood all it was meant to convey, and my heart beat until I thought +that the whole of Sakelde's troopers must read my secret in my face as I +passed through them to where my pony stood. + +With a word of thanks I took the rein from the kindly man who had held +it, and then stood watching the body of riders as they splashed through +the ford, and disappeared in the twilight, leaving me alone. + +But I felt there was work for me to do, and a ray of hope stole into my +heart. True, it was more than twenty miles, as the crow flies, to +Branksome Tower in Teviotdale, where my Lord of Buccleuch lived, and I +did not know the road, which lay over some of the wildest hills of the +Border country, but I knew that he was a great man, holding King James' +commission as Warden of the Scottish Marches, and at his bidding the +whole countryside would rise to a man. 'Twas well known that he bore no +love to the English, and when he knew that my father had been taken in +time of truce...! The fierce anger rose in my heart at the thought, +and, burying my face in my pony's rough coat, I vowed a vow, boy as I +was, to be at Branksome by the morning, or die in the attempt. I knew +that it was no use going home to Kinmont for a man to ride with me, for +it was out of my way, and would only be a waste of time. + +It was almost dark now, but I knew that the moon would rise in three or +four hours, and then there would be light enough for me to try to thread +my way over the hills that lay between the valleys of the Teviot and +Liddle. In the meantime, there was no special need to hurry, so I +loosened my pony's rein, and let him nibble away at the short sweet +grass which was just beginning to spring, while I unbuckled the bag of +cakes which I had put up so gaily in the morning, and, taking one out, +along with a bit of cheese, did my best to make a hearty meal. But I was +not very successful, for when the heart is heavy, food goes down but +slowly, and Janet's oatcake and the good ewe cheese, which at other +times I found so toothsome, seemed fairly to stick in my throat, so at +last I gave it up, and, taking the pony by the head, I began to lead him +up the valley. + +Although I had been down the Liddle as far as the ford once or twice +before, it had always been in daylight, and my father had been with me; +but I knew that as long as I kept close to the river I was all right for +the first few miles, until the valley narrowed in, and then I must +strike off among the high hills on my left. + +It was slow work, for it was too dark to ride, and I dare not leave the +water in case I lost my way, and by the time we had gone mayhap four or +five miles, I had almost lost heart, for I was both tired and cold, and +it seemed to me that half the night at least must be gone, and at this +rate we would never reach Branksome at all. + +At last, just when the tears were getting very near my eyes--for I was +but a little chap to be set on such a desperate errand--I struck on a +narrow road which led up a brae to my left, and going along it for a +hundred yards or so, I saw a light which seemed to come from a cottage +window. I stopped and looked at it, wondering if I dare go boldly up and +knock. + +In those lawless days one had to be cautious about going up to strange +houses, for one never knew whether one would find a friend or an enemy +within, so I determined to tie my pony to a tree, and steal noiselessly +up to the building, and see what sort of place it was. + +I did so, and found that the light came from a tiny thatched cottage +standing by itself, sheltered by some fir trees. There appeared to be no +dogs about, so I crept quite close to the little window, and peered in +through a hole in the shutter. I could see the inside of the room quite +plainly; it was poorly furnished, but beautifully clean. In a corner +opposite the window stood a rough settle, while on a three-legged stool +by the peat fire sat an old woman knitting busily, a collie dog at her +feet. + +There could be nothing to fear from her, so I knocked boldly at the +door. The collie flew to the back of it barking furiously, but I heard +the old woman calling him back, and presently she peeped out, asking who +was there. + +"'Tis I, Jock Armstrong of Kinmont," I said, "and I fain would be guided +as to the quickest road to Branksome Tower." + +The old woman peered over my head into the darkness, evidently expecting +to see someone standing behind me. + +"I ken Willie o' Kinmont; but he's a grown man," she said suspiciously, +making as though she would shut the door. + +"He's my father," I cried, vainly endeavouring to keep my voice steady, +"and--and--I have a message to carry from him to the Lord of Buccleuch +at Branksome." I would fain have told the whole story, but I knew it was +better to be cautious. I was still no distance from the English Border, +and it would take away the last chance of saving my father's life, were +Sakelde to get to know that word of his doings were like to reach the +Scottish Warden's ears. + +"Loshsake, laddie!" exclaimed the old dame in astonishment, setting the +door wide open so that the light might fall full on me, "'tis full +twenty miles tae Branksome, an' it's a bad road ower the hills." + +"But I have a pony," I said. "'Tis tied up down the roadway there, and +the moon will rise." + +"That it will in an hour or two, but all the same I misdoubt me that +you'll lose your road. What's the matter wi' Kinmont Willie, that he has +tae send a bairn like you his messages? Ye needna' be feared to speak +out," she added as I hesitated; "Kinmont Willie is a friend of mine--at +least, he did my goodman and me a good turn once--and I would like to +pay it back again if I could." + +I needed no second bidding; it was such a relief to have someone to +share the burden, and I felt better as soon as I had told her, even +although the telling brought the tears to my eyes. + +The old woman listened attentively, and then shook her fist in the +direction which the English had taken. + +"He's a fause loon that Sakelde," she said, "and I'd walk to Carlisle +any day to see him hanged. 'Twas he who stole our sheep, two years past +at Martinmas, and 'twas your father brought them back again. But keep up +your heart, my man; if you can get to the Bold Buccleuch he'll put +things right, I'll warrant, and I'll do all I can for you. Go inbye, and +sit down by the fire, and I'll go down the road and fetch the nag. +You'll both be the better for a rest, and a bite o' something to eat, +and when the moon is risen I'll take you up the hill, and show you the +track. My goodman is away at Hawick market, or he would ha'e ridden a +bit of the road wi' ye." + +When I was a little fellow, before my mother died, she used to read me +lessons out of her great Bible with the silver clasps, and of all the +stories she read to me, I liked the lesson of the Good Samaritan best, +and, looking back, now that I am a grown man, it seems to me that I met +the Good Samaritan that night, only he was a woman. + +After Allison Elliot, for that was her name, had brought my pony into +her cow-house, and seen that he was supplied with both hay and water, +she returned to the cottage, and with her own hands took off my coarse +woollen hose and heavy shoon, and spread them on the hearth to dry, then +she made me lie down on the settle, and, covering me up with a plaid, +she bade me go to sleep, promising to wake me the moment the moon rose. + +It was nearly eleven o'clock when she shook me gently, bidding me get up +and put on my shoon, as it was time to be going, and, sitting up, I +found a supper of wheaten bread and hot milk on the table, which she +told me to eat, while she wrapped herself in a plaid and went out for +the nag. + +What with the sleep, and the dry clothes, and the warm food, I promise +you I felt twice the man I had done a few hours earlier, and I chattered +quite gaily to her as she led my pony up a steep hillside behind the +cottage, for the moon was only beginning to rise, and there was still +but little light. After we had gone some two miles, we struck a bridle +track, well trodden by horses' hoofs, which wound upwards between two +high hills. + +Here Allison paused and looked keenly at the ground. + +"This is the path," she said; "you can hardly lose it, for there have +been riders over it yesterday or the day before. Scott o' Haining and +his men, most likely, going home from their meeting at the Kershope +Burn. This will lead you over by Priesthaugh Swire, and down the Allan +into Teviotdale. Beware of a bog which you will pass some two miles on +this side of Priesthaugh. 'Tis the mire Queen Mary stuck in when she +rode to visit her lover when he lay sick at Hermitage. May the Lord be +good to you, laddie, and grant you a safe convoy, for ye carry a brave +heart in that little body o' yours!" + +I thanked her with all my might, promising to go back and see her if my +errand were successful; then I turned my pony's head to the hills, and +spurred him into a brisk canter. He was a willing little beast, and +mightily refreshed by Allison Elliot's hay, and, as the moon was now +shining clearly, we made steady progress; but it was a long lonely ride +for a boy of my age, and once or twice my courage nearly failed me: once +when my pony put his foot into a sheep drain, and stumbled, throwing me +clean over his head, and again when I missed the track, and rode +straight into the bog Allison had warned me about, and in which the +little beast was near sticking altogether, and I lost a good hour +getting him to firm land and finding the track again. + +The bright morning sun was showing above the Eastern horizon before I +left the weary hills behind me, but it was easy work to ride down the +sloping banks of the Allan, and soon I came to the wooded valley of the +Teviot. + +Urging on my tired pony, I cantered down the level haughs which lay by +the river side, and it was not long before Branksome came in sight, a +high square house, with many rows of windows, flanked by a massive +square tower at each corner. + +I rode up to the great doorway through an avenue of beeches and knocked +timidly on the wrought-iron knocker, for I had never been to such a big +house in my life before, and I felt that I made but a sorry figure, +splashed as I was with mud from head to foot. + +The old seneschal who came to the door seemed to think so too, for he +looked me up and down with a broad grin on his face before he asked who +I was, and on what business I had come. + +"To see my Lord of Buccleuch, and carry a message to him from William +Armstrong of Kinmont," I replied, with as much dignity as I could +muster, for the fellow's smile angered me, and I feared that he might +not think it worth his while to tell the Warden of my arrival. + +"Then thou shalt see Sir Walter at once, young sir, if thou wilt walk +this way," said the man, mimicking my voice good-naturedly, and, +hitching my pony's bridle to an iron ring in the door-post, he led me +along a stone passage, straight into a great vaulted hall, in the centre +of which stood a long wooden table, with a smaller one standing +crossways on a dais at its head. + +A crowd of squires and men-at-arms stood round the lower table, laughing +and jesting as they helped themselves with their hunting knives to +slices from the huge joints, or quaffed great tankards of ale, while up +at the top sat my Lord of Buccleuch himself, surrounded by his knights, +and waited on by smart pages in livery, boys about my own age. + +As the old seneschal appeared in the doorway there was a sudden silence, +while he announced in a loud voice that a messenger had arrived from +William Armstrong of Kinmont; but when he stepped aside, and everyone +saw that the messenger was only a little eleven-years-old lad, a loud +laugh went round the hall, and the smart pages whispered together and +pointed to my muddy clothes. + +When the old seneschal saw this, he gave me a kindly nudge. + +"Yonder is my Lord of Buccleuch at the top of the table," he whispered; +"go right up to him, and speak out thy message boldly." + +I did as I was bid, though I felt my cheeks burn as I walked up the +great hall, among staring men and whispering pages, and when I reached +the dais where the Warden sat, I knelt at his feet, cap in hand, as my +father had taught me to do before my betters. + +Sir Walter Scott, Lord of Buccleuch, of whom I had heard so much, was a +young, stern-looking man, with curly brown hair and keen blue eyes. His +word was law on the Borders, and people said that even the King, in +far-off Edinburgh, stood in awe of him; but he leant forward and spoke +kindly enough to me. + +"So thou comest from Armstrong of Kinmont, boy; and had Kinmont Willie +no better messenger at hand, that he had to fall back on a smatchet like +thee?" + +"There were plenty of men at Kinmont, an' it please your lordship," I +answered, "had I had time to seek them; but a man called Sakelde hath +ta'en my father prisoner, and carried him to Carlisle, and I have ridden +all night to tell thee of it, for he is like to be hanged the day after +to-morrow, if thou canst not save him." + +Here my voice gave way, and I could only cling to the great man's knee, +for my quivering lips refused to say any more. + +Buccleuch put his arm round me, and spoke slowly, as one would speak to +a bairn. + +"And who is thy father, little man?" + +"Kinmont Willie," I gasped, "and he was ta'en last night, in truce +time." + +I felt the arm that was round me stiffen, and there was silence for a +moment, then my lord swore a great oath, and let his clenched fist fall +so heavily on the table, that the red French wine which stood before him +splashed right out of the beaker, a foot or two in the air. + +"My Lord of Scroope shall answer for this," he cried. "Hath he forgotten +that men name me the Bold Buccleuch, and that I am Keeper o' the +Scottish Marches, to see that justice is done to high and low, gentle +and simple?" + +Then he gave some quick, sharp orders, and ten or twelve men left the +room, and a minute later I saw them, through a casement, throw +themselves astride their horses, and gallop out of the courtyard. At the +sight my heart lightened, for I knew that whatever could be done for my +father would be done, for these men had gone to "warn the waters," or, +in other words, to carry the tidings far and wide, and bid all the men +of the Western Border be ready to meet their chief at some given +trysting-place, and ride with him to the rescue. + +Meanwhile the Warden lifted me on his knee, and began asking me +questions, while the pages gathered round, no longer jeering, but with +wide-open eyes. + +"Thou art a brave lad," he said at last, after I had told him the whole +story, "and, with thy father's permission, I would fain have thee for +one of my pages. We must tell him how well thou hast carried the +message, and ask him if he can spare thee for a year or two." + +At any other time my heart would have leapt at this unheard-of good +fortune, for to be a page in the Warden's household was the ambition of +every well-born lad on the Border; but at that moment I felt as if +Buccleuch hardly realised my father's danger. + +"But he is lodged in Carlisle Castle, and men say the walls are thick," +I said anxiously, "and it is garrisoned by my Lord Scroope's soldiers." + +The Warden laughed. + +"We will teach my Lord Scroope that there is no bird's nest that the +Bold Buccleuch dare not harry," he said, and, seeing the look on his +face, I was content. + +Then, noticing how weary I was, he called one of the older pages, and +bade him see that I had food and rest, and the boy, who had been one of +the first to laugh before, but who now treated me with great respect, +took me away to a little turret room which he shared with some of his +fellows, and brought me a piece of venison pie, and then left me to go +to sleep on his low pallet, promising to wake me when there were signs +of the Warden and his men setting out. + +I must have slept the whole day, for the little room was almost dark +again, and the rain was beating wildly on the casement, when the boy +came back. "My lord hath given orders for the horses to be saddled," he +said, "and the trysting-place is Woodhouselee. I heard one squire tell +another in the hall, for as a rule we pages know nothing, and are only +expected to do as we are bid. I know not if my lord means thee to ride +with him, but I was sent up to fetch thee." + +It did not take me long to spring up and fasten my doublet, and follow +my guide down to the great hall. Here all was bustle and confusion; men +were standing about ready armed, making a hasty meal at the long table, +which never seemed to be empty of its load of food, while outside in the +courtyard some fifty or sixty horses were standing, ready saddled, with +bags of fodder thrown over their necks. + +Every few minutes a handful of men would ride up in the dusk, and, +leaving their rough mountain ponies outside, would stride into the hall, +and begin to eat as hard as they could, exchanging greetings between the +mouthfuls. These were men from the neighbourhood, my friend informed me, +mostly kinsmen of Buccleuch, and lairds in their own right, who had +ridden to Branksome with their men to start with their chief. + +There was Scott of Harden, and Scott of Goldilands, Scott of Commonside, +and Scott of Allanhaugh, and many more whom I do not now remember, and +they drank their ale, and laughed and joked, as if they were riding to a +wedding, instead of on an errand which might cost them their lives. + +Buccleuch himself was in the midst of them, booted and spurred, and +presently his eye fell on me. + +"Ha! my young cocksparrow," he cried. "Wilt ride with us to greet thy +father, or are thy bones too weary? Small shame 'twould be to thee if +they were." + +"Oh, if it please thee, sire, let me ride," I said; "I am not too weary, +if my pony is not," at which reply everyone laughed. + +"I hear thy pony can scarce hirple on three legs," answered my lord, +clapping me on my shoulder, "but I like a lad of spirit, and go thou +shalt. Here, Red Rowan, take him up in front of thee, and see that a +horse be led for Kinmont to ride home on." + +I was about to protest that I was not a bairn to ride in front of any +man, but Buccleuch turned away as if the matter were settled, and the +big trooper who came up and took me in charge persuaded me to do as I +was bid. "'Tis a dark night, laddie, and we ride fast," he said, "and my +lord would be angered didst thou lose thy way, or fall behind," and +although my pride was nettled at first, I was soon fain to confess that +he was right, for the horses swung out into the wind and rain, and took +to the hills at a steady trot, keeping together in the darkness in a way +that astonished me. Red Rowan had a plaid on his shoulders which he +twisted round me, and which sheltered me a little from the driving rain, +and I think I must have dozed at intervals, for it seemed no time until +we were over the hills, and down at Woodhouselee in Canonbie, where a +great band of men were waiting for us, who had gathered from Liddesdale +and Hermitage Water. + +With scarcely a word they joined our ranks, and we rode silently and +swiftly on, across the Esk, and the Graeme's country, until we reached +the banks of the Eden. + +Here we came to a standstill, for the river was so swollen with the +recent rains that it seemed madness for any man to venture into the +rushing torrent; but men who had ridden so far, and on such an errand, +were not to be easily daunted. + +"This way, lads, and keep your horses' heads to the stream," shouted a +voice, and with a scramble we were down the bank, and the nags were +swimming for dear life. I confess now, that at that moment I thought my +last hour had come, for the swirling water was within an inch of my +toes, and I clung to Red Rowan's coat with all the strength I had, and +shut my eyes, and tried to think of my prayers. But it was soon over, +and on the other side we waited a minute to see if any man were missing. +Everyone was safe, however, and on we went till we were close on +Carlisle, and could see the lights of the Castle rising up above the +city wall. + +Then Buccleuch called a halt, and everyone dismounted, and some forty +men, throwing their bridle reins to their comrades, stepped to the +front. Red Rowan was one of them, and I kept close to his side. + +Everything must have been arranged beforehand, for not a word was +spoken, but by the light of a single torch the little band arranged +themselves in order, while I watched with wide-open eyes. They were not +all armed, but they all had their hands full. + +In the very front were ten men carrying hunting-horns and bugles; then +came ten carrying three or four long ladders, which must have been +brought with us on ponies' backs. Then came other ten, armed with great +iron bars and forehammers; and only the last ten, among whom was the +Warden himself and Red Rowan, were prepared as if for fighting. + +At the word of command they set out, with long steady strides, and as no +one noticed me, I went too, running all the time in order to keep up +with them. + +The Castle stood to the north side of the little city, close to the city +wall, and the courtyard lay just below it. We stole up like cats in the +darkness, fearful lest someone might hear us and give the alarm. +Everyone seemed to be asleep, however, or else the roaring of the wind +deadened the noise of our footsteps. In any case we reached the wall in +safety, and as we stood at the bottom of it waiting till the men tied +the ladders together, we could hear the sentries in the courtyard +challenge as they went their rounds. + +At last the ladders were ready, and Buccleuch gave his whispered orders +before they were raised. + +No man was to be killed, he said, if it could possibly be helped, as the +two countries were at peace with each other, and he had no mind to stir +up strife. All he wanted was the rescue of my father. + +Then the ladders were raised, and bitter was the disappointment when it +was found that they were too short. For a moment it seemed as if we had +come all the weary way for nothing. + +"It matters not, lads," said the Warden cheerily; "there be more ways of +robbing a corbie's nest than one. Bide you here by the little postern, +and Wat Scott and Red Rowan and I will prowl round, and see what we can +see." + +Along with these two stalwart men he vanished, while we crouched at the +foot of the wall and waited; nor had we long to wait. + +In ten minutes we could hear the bolts and bars being withdrawn, and the +little door was opened by Buccleuch himself, who wore a triumphant +smile. He had found a loophole at the back of the Castle left entirely +unguarded, and without much difficulty he and his two companions had +forced out a stone or two, until the hole was large enough for them to +squeeze through, and had caught and bound the unsuspecting sentries as +they came round, stuffing their mouths full of old clouts to hinder them +from crying out and giving the alarm. + +Once we were inside the courtyard he ordered the men with the iron bars +and forehammers to be ready to beat open the doors, and then he gave the +word to the men with the bugles and hunting horns. + +Then began such a din as I had never heard before, and have never heard +since. The bugles screeched, and the iron bars rang, and above all +sounded the wild Border slogan, "Wha dare meddle wi' me?" which the men +shouted with all their might. One would have thought that the whole men +in Scotland were about the walls, instead of but forty. + +And in good faith the people of the Castle, cowards that they were, and +even my Lord Scroope himself, thought that they were beset by a whole +army, and after one or two frightened peeps from out of windows, and +behind doors, they shut themselves up as best they might in their own +quarters, and left us to work our will, and beat down door after door +until we came to the very innermost prison itself, where my father was +chained hand and foot to the wall like any dog. + +Just as the door was being burst open, my lord caught sight of me as I +squeezed along the passage, anxious to see all that could be seen. He +laid his hand on the men's shoulders and held them back. + +"Let the bairn go first," he said; "it is his right, for he has saved +him." + +Then I darted across the cell, and stood at my father's side. What he +said to me I never knew, only I saw that strange look once more on his +face, and his eyes were very bright. Had he been a bairn or a woman I +should have said he was like to weep. It was past in a moment, for there +was little time to lose. At any instant the garrison might find out how +few in numbers we were, and sally out to cut us off, so no time was +wasted in trying to strike his chains off him. + +With an iron bar Red Rowan wrenched the ring to which he was fastened, +out of the wall, and, raising him on his back, carried him bodily down +the narrow staircase, and out through the courtyard. + +As we passed under my Lord Scroope's casement, my father, putting all +his strength into his voice, called out a lusty "good night" to his +lordship, which was echoed by the men with peals of laughter. + +Then we hurried on to where the main body of troopers were waiting with +the horses, and I warrant the shout that they raised when they saw us +coming with my father in the midst of us, riding on Red Rowan's +shoulder, might almost have been heard at Branksome itself. + +When it died away we heard another sound which warned us that the +laggards at the Castle had gathered their feeble courage, and were +calling on the burghers of Carlisle to come to their aid, for every bell +in the city was ringing, and we could see the flash of torches here and +there. + +Scarcely had the smiths struck the last fetter from my father's limbs +than we heard the thunder of horses' hoofs behind us. + +"To horse, lads," cried Buccleuch, and in another moment we were +galloping towards the Eden, I in front of Red Rowan as before, and close +to my father's side. + +The English knew the lie of the land better than we did, for they were +at the river before us, well-nigh a thousand of them, with Lord Scroope +himself at their head. Apparently they never dreamed that we would +attempt to swim the torrent, and thought we would have to show fight, +for they were drawn up as if for a battle; but we dashed past them with +a yell of defiance, and plunged into the flooded river, and once more we +came safe to the other side. Once there we faced round, but the English +made no attempt to follow; they sat on their horses, glowering at us in +the dim light of the breaking day, but they said never a word. + +Then my Lord of Buccleuch raised himself in his stirrups, and, plucking +off his right glove, he flung it with all his might across the river, +and, the wind catching it, it was blown right into their leader's face. +"Take that, my Lord of Scroope," he cried; "mayhap 'twill cure thee of +thy treachery, for if Sakelde took him, 'twas thou who harboured him, +and if thou likest not my mode of visiting at thy Castle of Carlisle, +thou canst call and lodge thy complaint at Branksome at thy leisure." + +Then, with a laugh, he turned his horse's head and led us homewards, as +the sun was rising and the world was waking up to another day. + + + + +THE GUDE WALLACE + + "Would ye hear of William Wallace, + An' sek him as he goes, + Into the lan' of Lanark, + Amang his mortal foes? + + There were fyfteen English sojers, + Unto his ladye came, + Said, 'Gie us William Wallace, + That we may have him slain.'" + + +I will tell you a tale of the Good Wallace, that brave and noble patriot +who rose to deliver his country from the yoke of the English, and who +spent his strength, and at last laid down his life, for that one end. + +As all the world knows, the English King, Edward I., had defeated John +Baliol at Dunbar, and he had laid claim to the kingdom of Scotland, and +had poured his soldiers into that land. + +Some of these soldiers, hearing of the strength, and wisdom, and prowess +of the young champion who had arisen, like Gideon of old, for the +succour of his people, determined to try to take him by stealth, before +venturing to meet him in the open field. + +'Twas known that Wallace was in the habit of visiting a lady, a friend +of his, in the town of Lanark, so a band of these soldiers went to her +house, and surrounded it, while the captain knocked at the door. When +the lady opened it, and saw him, and saw also that her house was +surrounded by his men, she was very much alarmed, which perhaps was not +to be wondered at, for everyone was afraid of the English at that time. + +The officer spoke to her in quite a friendly manner, however, and began +to tell her about his own country, and how much richer and finer +everything was there than in Scotland, and at last, when she was +thoroughly interested, he hinted that it was in her power to marry an +English lord if she cared to do so, and go and live in England +altogether. + +Now I am afraid that the lady was both silly and discontented, and it +seemed to her that it would be a very fine thing indeed to be an English +nobleman's wife, so she blushed and bridled, and looked up and down, and +at last she asked how the thing could be managed. + +"Well," said the officer cautiously, "there is only one condition, and +that doth not seem to me to be a very hard one. It hath been told me +that there is a rough and turbulent fellow who visits this house. His +name is William Wallace, and because he is likely to stir up riots among +the common people, it seems good to His Majesty, King Edward, that he +should be taken prisoner. Would it be possible," and here his voice +became very soft and persuasive, "for thee to let us know what night he +intends to visit thee?" + +At first the lady started back, and was very indignant with him for +daring to suggest that she should do such a dishonourable thing. + +"I am no traitor," she said proudly, "nor am I like Jael of old, who +murdered the man who took shelter in her tent." + +But the captain's voice was low and sweet, and the lady's nature was +vain and fickle, and the prospect of marrying an English lord was very +enticing, and so it came about that at last she yielded, and she told +him how she was expecting young Wallace that very night at seven +o'clock, and she promised to put a light in the window when he arrived. + +Then the false woman went into her house and shut the door, and the +soldiers set themselves to watch for the coming of their enemy. + +How it happened I know not, but Wallace came, and walked boldly into the +house without one of them seeing him, and he ran upstairs and knocked at +the door of his friend's room. + +When she opened it, he stood still, and stared at her in astonishment, +for her face was pale and wild, and she looked at him with terror in her +eyes. I warrant she had been wrestling with her conscience ever since +she had spoken with the soldiers, and she had seen what an awful thing +it is to be guilty of the blood of an innocent man. + +"What ails thee?" cried Wallace, in his bluff, hearty way. "Thou lookest +all distraught, as if thou hadst seen a ghost." + +Then he held out his hand as if to greet her, but she stretched forth +hers and pushed him away. + +"Touch me not. I am like Judas,--Judas," she moaned, "who betrayed the +innocent blood, and whose fate is written in the Holy Book for a warning +to all poor recreants like to me." + +Sir William Wallace thought that she had gone mad. "Vex not thyself," he +said kindly. "Methinks thou hast been reading, and thinking, till thou +hast fevered thy poor brain. Thou art no Judas, but mine own true +friend, in whose house I find safe shelter when I need to visit Lanark." + +"Safe shelter!" she cried, with a bitter laugh, and she dragged him to +the window, and pointed out in the dusk the figures of four soldiers who +were leaning against the garden gate. "Safe shelter, say ye, when I have +betrayed thee to the English; for this house is watched by fifteen +soldiers; and I have but to put a lamp in the window, as a signal that +thou art within, and they will come and slay thee." + +"And what is thy reward for this deed of treachery?" asked Wallace, a +look of contempt coming over his open face. "What pay did the English +loons promise thee?" + +"They promised me an English lord for a husband," sobbed the wretched +woman, who now would have done anything in her power to undo the wrong +that she had done. "But oh, sir, I fear me I have wrought sore dule to +thee this day, and sore dule to Scotland. If thou canst get free from +this house, which I fear me thou wilt never do, thou canst denounce me +as a traitor. I care not if I die the death." + +"Now Heaven forfend!" said Wallace, whose kindly heart was touched by +her distress, although he despised her for her false deed; "it shall +never be said that William Wallace avenged himself on a woman, no matter +what her crime might be. I trusted thee, and thou hast proved false, and +so from henceforth we must go our different ways; but if thou art truly +sorry, thou mayest yet help me, and, as for me, if once I get clear away +from these Southron knaves outside. I will think no more of the matter." + +"But canst thou get clear away?" questioned the lady anxiously. "I fear +me, now that it is past seven o'clock, they will keep stricter watch +than they did when thou camest in. 'Twill be impossible for thee to pass +out in safety, and if thou remainest here, they will search the house +when they tire of waiting for my signal." + +Wallace laughed. + +"Impossible is not a word that I am well acquaint with, madam," he said, +"and if, for the sake of the friendship that was between us in the days +that are gone, thou wilt lend me some of thine attire, a gown and kirtle +maybe, and a decent petticoat of homespun, and a cap such as wenches +wear to shield their faces from the sun, I hope I may make good my +escape under the very noses of these fellows." + +Wondering to herself, the lady did as he asked her. She brought him a +dark-coloured gown and kirtle, and a stout winsey petticoat, such as +serving-maids wear, and after long search she found at the bottom of a +drawer a milk-maid's cap. + +Wallace proceeded to dress himself in these, and, when he had put them +all on, and had clasped a leather belt round his waist, and wound an +apron about his head, as lassies do to protect themselves from the rain +or sun, and put the milk-maid's bonnet on top of all, I warrant even his +own mother would not have known him. + +"Now fetch me a milk-can," he said, "for I am no longer a soldier, but a +modest maiden going to the well to draw water." + +When she had brought it he bent low over her hand and gave it one kiss +for the sake of old times; then he said farewell to her for ever, and +opened the door, and walked boldly down the garden. + +The four soldiers at the gate looked at one another in surprise when a +tall damsel with a milk-can stood still at the foot of the garden path, +and waited for them to open it. They had not known that the lady had a +serving-maid. + +"If it please thee, good sirs, to let me bye," broke in the maiden's +voice in the gloom. "My mistress hath a sharp temper, and this water +ought to have been fetched an hour ago." + +She spoke with a lisp, and her accent was so outlandish that the men +scarce understood what she said; but this they saw, that she wanted to +go and draw water from the well, and they opened the gate to let her +pass. + +"If I dare leave my post, I would fain come and draw for thee," said +one; "shame is it that such a pretty wench be left to go to the well +alone." + +The maiden paid no heed to the fellow's words, but tossed her head, and +went quickly down the path to the well, taking such gigantic strides +that the men gazed after her in wonder. + +"Marry, but she covers the ground," said one. + +"Certs, but I would rather walk one mile with her than two," said +another. + +"Methinks that we had better go after her and bring her back," cried a +third. "I have heard say that this William Wallace, whom we are in +search of, hath mighty long legs." + +Horrified at the thought that they might have let the very man they were +looking for escape, they hurried down the path after the serving-maid, +and when they overtook her they found out in good sooth that she was +William Wallace, for she drew a sword from under her kirtle, and killed +all four of them, before they could lay hands on her. + +When the four men lay dead before him, Wallace wasted no time over their +burial, but drawing their bodies under a bush, where they were somewhat +hidden from the passers-by, he hung the milk-can on a branch of a tree, +and walked quietly away in the gathering darkness. No one who met a +simple country girl walking out into the country ever dreamt of asking +her who she was, or where she was going, and ere morning came, I promise +you, her garments had been cast, and buried in a hole in the ground, and +Wallace was making his way northward as fast as ever he could. + +He had to be very careful which way he travelled, for there were +soldiers quartered in many of the towns, who knew that there was a price +set on his head, and who were only too anxious to catch him. + +So he dare not venture into the towns, or into the districts where there +were many houses, and it came to pass that, as he was nearing Perth, he +was like to famish for want of food. + +He had eaten almost nothing for three days, nor had he money wherewith +to buy it. + +Now, near to Perth there is a beautiful haugh or common, called the +North Inch, which stretches along the river Tay, and as he was crossing +that, he saw a pretty, rosy country girl washing clothes under a tree, +and spreading them out to bleach in the sun. She looked so kind and so +good-tempered that he thought he would speak to her, and mayhap, if he +found that she lived near, he would ask her to give him something to +eat. + +So he went up to her, and greeted her pleasantly, and asked her what +news there was in that part of the world. + +"News," said she, looking up at him with a roguish smile, for it was not +often that she had the opportunity of talking with such a gallant +knight. "Nay, by my troth, I have no news, for I am but a poor working +maiden, who toils hard for her living; but one thing I can tell thee, +an' if thou be a true Scot at heart, thou wilt do all in thy power to +shield him." + +"To shield whom?" asked Wallace in surprise. "I know not of whom thou +speakest." + +"Why! Sir William Wallace," answered the girl, "that gallant man who +will deliver this poor country of ours. 'Tis known that he is in these +parts; he hath been traced from Lanark, and 'tis thought that he is +making for the hills, where his followers are; and this very day a body +of these cursed English have marched into the town, in order to search +the country and take him. Look, seest thou that little hostelry yonder? +There hath a band of them gone in there not half an hour ago. Certs, had +I been a man, I would e'en have gone myself, and measured my strength +against theirs. I tell thee this, because thou seemest a gallant fellow, +and perchance thou canst do something to save the knight." + +Wallace smiled. "Had I but a penny in my pocket," he said, "I would +betake me to that little inn, just to see these English loons." + +The maiden hesitated. She was poor, as she had said, and had to work +hard for her living, but it chanced that that day she had half a crown +in her pocket, which she had intended to spend in the town on her way +home. But her kind heart was stirred with pity at the thought of such a +goodly young man having no money in his pocket, and at last she took out +the half-crown and gave it to him. + +"Take this," she said, "and go and buy meat and drink with it, and if +thou knowest where Wallace is, for the love of Heaven, betray him not to +these English knaves." + +"I will serve Wallace e'en as I serve myself," he said, "and more can no +man promise," and, thanking her heartily for the piece of silver, he +strode off in the direction of the little hostler-house, leaving her +wondering what he meant by his strange answer. + +Wallace had not gone very far on his way before he met a beggar man, +coming limping along, clad in an old patched cloak. This was the very +thing the knight wanted. + +"Hullo, old man," he said; "how goes the world with thee, and what news +is there abroad in Perth?" + +"News, master?" said the beggar. "No news that I know of, save that 'tis +said that Sir William Wallace is somewhere hereabouts, and a party of +English soldiers have come to hunt for him. As I craved a bite of bread +at the door of that hostler-house down yonder, I saw fifteen of them +within, eating and drinking." + +"Say ye so, old man?" said Wallace. "That is right good news to me, for +I have long had a desire to see an English soldier close at hand. See," +and he drew the bright silver half-crown, which he had just received +from the maiden, from his pocket, "here is a piece of white money for +thee, if thou wilt sell me that old cloak of thine, and thy wallet. +Faith, there be as many holes as patches in the cloak; it can scarce +serve thee for a covering, and 'twill answer my purpose right well." + +Joyfully the beggar agreed to the bargain, and Wallace was left with the +cloak, which he threw over his shoulders, and which covered him from +head to foot. Pulling his cap well over his eyes, and choosing a trusty +thorn cudgel from a neighbouring thicket, he went limping up to the door +of the little inn, and knocked. + +The captain who was with the English soldiers opened it. He looked the +lame beggar up and down. + +"What dost thou want, thou cruikit carle?" he asked haughtily. + +"An alms, master," answered the beggar humbly. "I am a poor lame man, +and unable to work, and I travel the country from end to end, begging my +daily bread." + +"Ah," thought the captain to himself, "this man must hear all the +country gossip. Likely enough he knows where Wallace is, or the +direction in which 'tis thought he will travel." + +He took a handful of gold from his pouch, and held it before the +beggar's eyes. + +"Did you ever hear of a man called William Wallace?" he asked slowly; +"the country folk hereabouts talk a great deal of him. They call him +'hero,' and such-like names. But he is a traitor to our rightful King, +King Edward, and I am here to take him, alive or dead. Hast ever heard +of the fellow?" + +"Ay," said the beggar, "I have both heard of him and seen him. +Moreover," and he looked at the gold, "I know where he is to be found." + +An eager look came into the English knight's face. "I will pay thee +fifty pounds down," he said, "fifty pounds of good red money, if thou +wilt lead me to Sir William Wallace." + +"Tell down the money on this bench," cried the beggar, "for it is in my +power to grant thy request, and verily, I will never have a better +offer, no, not if I wait till King Edward comes himself." + +The English captain counted down the money on the old worm-eaten wooden +bench that stood beside the door of the inn, and the beggar counted it +after him, and picked it up, and put it carefully away in his wallet. +Then he faced the Englishman with a strange gleam in his eyes. + +"Thou wouldst fain see William Wallace," he said. "Then see him thou +shalt, and feel the might of his arm too, which is more, belike, than +thou bargainedst for," and, before the astonished captain could grasp +his sword, he had let the beggar's cloak fall to the ground, and, +lifting his stout cudgel, he had given him such a clout over the head, +that his skull cracked like a nut, and he fell dead at his feet. + +Without waiting to take breath, Wallace drew his sword, and, running +lightly upstairs, he burst into the room where the soldiers were just +finishing their meal, and before they could rise from the table and +grasp their weapons, he had stabbed every one of them to the heart. + +The innkeeper's wife, who had just come from the kitchen, and was +serving the men rather unwillingly, for she had no love for the English, +stood still and stared in amazement. + +"God save us!" she said at last, as Wallace stopped and wiped his sword. +"But are ye a man, or do you come from the Evil One himself?" + +"I am William Wallace," said the stranger, "and I wish that all English +soldiers who are in Scotland were even as these men are." + +"Amen to that," said the old woman heartily, and then she dropped down +on her knees before the embarrassed knight. "Hech, sirs," she said +fervently, "to think that my eyes are looking on the Gude Wallace!" + +"The Hungry Wallace, ye mean," said the knight with a laugh. "If ye love +me, woman, get up from thy knees, and set on meat and drink, for I have +scarce tasted food these three days, and my strength is well-nigh gone." + +"That will I, right speedily," she cried, and, jumping up, she ran to +her husband and told him who the stranger was. + +With great goodwill they began to prepare a meal, but hardly had it been +dished up, and placed upon the table, before another band of soldiers +marched up and surrounded the house. The beggar man had gone into Perth, +and told people about the mysterious knight who had bought his old cloak +in order that he might go and see the English soldiers, and when the +rest of the soldiers in the town got to hear of it, they had suspected +at once who he really was, and had come to the help of their companions. + +Their suspicions proved true when they caught sight of Wallace through +one of the windows. + +"Come out, come out, thou false knight," they cried exultingly, "and +think not that thou canst escape out of our hands. The tod[1] is taken +in his hole this time, and right speedily shall he die." + + [Footnote 1: Fox.] + +With that they entered the house, and rushed upstairs, thinking that it +would be an easy matter to capture the Scottish leader, for they knew +that he had no follower with him. But the weak things of this world are +able sometimes to confound the mighty, and they had not reckoned that +the two old people to whom the inn belonged were prepared to shed the +last drop of their blood, rather than that Wallace should come to harm +in their house. + +So the old man had taken down his broad claymore from the wall, and the +old woman had seized a lance, and they stood one on each side of their +guest, grasping their weapons with fevered zeal. + +Then began a fierce and deadly onslaught in that little room, and many a +time it seemed as if the three brave defenders must go down; but +Wallace's arm had the strength of ten, and the old man laid on right +bravely, and the old woman gave many a deadly thrust with her lance from +behind, where she saw it was needed, and so it came to pass that at last +every Englishman was slain, and Wallace and his bold helpers were left +triumphant. + +"Now, surely, I can eat in peace," said he, sitting down to his sorely +needed meal, "and then must I begone. For, with thy help, I have done a +work here this day that will raise all the English 'twixt Perth and +Edinburgh. Mayhap, goodman, thou canst get help to throw these bodies +into the river. 'Twill be better for thee that the English find them not +in thy house, for I must up and away." + +"That can I," said the old man, "for the good folk of Perth think much +of thee, and very little of the English, therefore will they give me a +hand."[2] + + [Footnote 2: Help me.] + +So once more Wallace took the road to the North, and as he retraced his +steps across the North Inch, he passed the rosy-cheeked maiden again, +busy at her work. She was laying the clothes out to bleach now, and she +gave him a friendly nod as he approached. + +"I hope, fair sir, that thou hast seen the English," she said, "and that +thou hast come by food at the same time?" + +"That have I," said Wallace; "thanks to thy gentle charity, I have eaten +and drunk to my heart's content. I have seen the English soldiers too, +and, by my troth, the English soldiers have also seen me. The day that I +visited that little hostler-house is not likely to be forgotten by the +English army." + +Then he put his hand in his pocket, and drew out twenty pounds in good +red gold. + +"Take that," he said to the astonished damsel, pressing the money into +her hand as he spoke. "Thy half-crown brought me luck, and this is but +thy rightful share of it." + +So saying, he took his way quickly towards the hills, leaving the girl +so bewildered, that, had it not been for the money in her hand, she +would have been inclined to think that it was all a dream. + +As it was, she never quite believed that it was a human being who had +taken away her silver half-crown, and brought her back twenty gold +pieces, but talked of ghosts, and visions; and some people, when they +heard of the thirty English soldiers who lay dead in the little +hostler-house, were inclined to be of her opinion. + + + + +THE WARLOCK O' OAKWOOD + + "Ae gloamin' as the sinking sun + Gaed owre the wastlin' braes, + And shed on Oakwood's haunted towers + His bright but fading rays, + + Auld Michael sat his leafu' lane + Down by the streamlet's side, + Beneath a spreading hazel bush, + And watched the passing tide." + + +The bright rays of the setting sun were shining over the valley of +Ettrick, and lighting up the stone turrets on the old tower of Oakwood. + +For many a long year the old tower had stood empty, while its owner, Sir +Michael Scott, one of the most learned men who ever lived, wandered in +distant lands, far across the sea. + +He had been a mere boy when he left it, to study at Durham and Oxford: +then the love of learning had carried him first of all to Paris, where +he had been famed for his skill in mathematics; then to Italy, and +finally to Spain, where he had studied alchemy under the Moors, and had +learned from them, so 'twas said, much of the magic of the East, so that +he had power over spirits, and could command them to come and go at his +bidding, and could read the stars, and cure the sick, and do many other +wonderful things, which made all men regard him as a wizard. + +And now that he had come back to his old home once more, the country +folk avoided him, and gazed with awe at the great square tower where, +they said, he spent most of his time, practising his magic art, and +holding converse with the powers of darkness. + +The King, on the other hand, thought much of this most learned knight, +and would fain have seen more of him at his court in Edinburgh, but Sir +Michael loved the country best, and spent most of his time there, +writing, or reading, or making experiments. + +This evening, however, he was not in his tower, but was sitting by the +side of the Ettrick, studying with deepest interest all the sights and +sounds of nature which were going on around him. For he loved nature, +this studious, quiet, middle-aged man, and the sight of the little +minnows darting about in the water, and the trouts hiding under the +stones, and the partridges coming whirring across the cornfields, gave +him as much pleasure as all the wonderful sights which he had seen in +far-off lands. + +Suddenly he raised his head and listened. Far away in the distance he +seemed to hear the sound of trumpets, and the "thud," "thud" of horses' +hoofs, as if a body of men were riding quickly towards him. + +"Some strangers are approaching," he said to himself, "and if I am not +mistaken they are soldiers. I will hasten home and learn their errand. +Mayhap it is a message from his Majesty the King." + +He rose to his feet slowly, for his limbs were somewhat cramped with +sitting, and walked with stately dignity to the tower. + +The riders had just arrived, and, as he expected, they bore a message +from the King. As he approached, a knight clad in full armour rode +forward, preceded by a man-at-arms, and, bending low over his horse's +neck, presented to him a parchment packet, sealed with the Royal Seal. + +"The King of Scotland, whom God preserve, sends greetings to his loyal +cousin Sir Michael Scott," he said, "and whereas various French sailors +have committed acts of piracy on the high seas, and have attacked and +robbed divers Scottish vessels, he lays on him his Royal commands that +he will betake himself to France with all speed, and deliver this packet +into the hands of the French King. And, further, that he will demand +that an answer to the writing contained therein be given him at once, +and that he hasten back with all dispatch, and draw not rein, nor tarry, +till he deliver the answer to the King in Edinburgh." + +Sir Michael took the packet from the messenger's hand and bowed gravely. +He was accustomed to receive such orders, and everyone wondered at the +marvellously quick way in which he obeyed them. + +"Carry my humblest greetings to his Majesty," he answered, "and assure +him that I will lose no time, but will at once set about making my +preparations. By dawn of day I will be gone, mounted on the swiftest +steed that ever the eye of mortal man gazed upon." + +"Is it swifter than the horse which his Majesty keeps for his own use at +Dunfermline?" asked the soldier curiously. "For if it is, it must indeed +be a noble animal, and 'twould fetch a good price among the barons of +the court. Ever since his Majesty has turned his mind so much to horses, +his courtiers have vied with each other to see which of them could +become the possessor of the swiftest animal." + +"My horse is not for sale," said Sir Michael shortly, "not though men +offered me his weight in gold." + +The young officer bowed again. There was something in Sir Michael's tone +which forbade him asking to see the horse, much as he should have liked +to do so; so, giving a signal to his men, he turned his horse's head in +the direction of Edinburgh, and rode off, leaving Sir Michael standing +on the doorstep gazing after them, a strange smile on his face. + +"A good price," he repeated; "by my troth, 'twould need to be a very +good price which would buy my good Diabolus from me. But I must go and +summon him." + +Muttering strangely to himself, he turned and entered the tower. + +He went up the narrow, winding, stone stairs until he reached a little +iron-studded door. This door was locked, but he opened it with a key +which hung from his girdle, and, entering the low-roofed attic-room to +which it led, he locked it again carefully behind him. The attic was at +the top of the tower, and through the narrow windows which pierced three +of its walls, a glorious view was to be had over the surrounding +country. + +But Sir Michael had not come up there to admire the view; he had other +work to do--work which seemed to need mysterious preparations. + +First of all, he proceeded to dress himself in a curiously shaped black +cloak, and a hunting cap made of hair, which he took down from a nail in +the wall. The cloak was very long, and completely enveloped his figure, +and, when he had pulled the hairy cap well down over his eyes, no one +would have taken him, I warrant, for the quiet, middle-aged, master of +Oakwood. + +When he was dressed he took down a leaden platter from a shelf by the +door, and, opening a cupboard, he took out a little glass bottle full of +a clear amber-coloured liquid, which glowed like melted fire. Setting +down the platter on a little round table in the middle of the room, he +dropped one or two drops of this liquid on it, and in an instant they +broke into tongues of flame which curled up high above his head. + +It was a strange and weird fire, enough to frighten any man, but the +still, dark-robed figure standing beside it never moved, not even when a +number of tiny little imps appeared, clad in scarlet, and green, and +blue, and purple, and danced round and round it on the table, tossing +their tiny arms, and twisting their queer little faces, as if they had +gone mad. + +He waited patiently until the little creatures had finished their dance +and disappeared, then he seized the platter, and, going to one of the +narrow windows, he flung it open, and, pushing the platter through it, +he threw it, with its burning load, far out into the gathering twilight. + +He watched the fire as it fell, in glowing fragments, among the oak +trees which surrounded the tower, then he opened a small, black, +leathern-bound book, which lay chained to a monk's desk which stood in a +corner. Opening it he read a few words in an unknown tongue, then he +turned to the window again and waved a little silver wand over his head +three times. + +"Come, Diabolus. Come, Diabolus," he muttered, and then he knelt on the +floor and waited eagerly, his eyes fixed on the Western horizon. + +The sun had sunk, but the sky was clear, and one or two stars had +appeared, and were shining out peacefully, like little candles set in a +golden haze. + +Presently, however, big black clouds began to appear, and pile up, one +against another, till the little stars were blotted out, and the whole +sky became as black as night. + +In a little time the dull muttering of thunder could be heard far away +over the woods. It came nearer and nearer--crash upon crash, and roar +upon roar--while the lightning flashed, and a perfect tempest of wind +arose and lashed the branches of the tall trees into fury. Truly it was +an awful storm. + +The wizard felt the solid masonry of the tower rock beneath him, but he +was as calm as if only a little gust of wind had been passing on a +summer's day. + +Still he knelt on, peering eagerly into the darkness. At last his eyes +grew bright and keen, for he saw a shadowy form come floating through +the air, driven by the wind. He knew now that his charm had worked, and +that this was his familiar spirit--the spirit over whom he had most +control--who had come in the form of a great black horse, with flaming +eyes, and flowing mane, to carry him over the sea to France. + +With one bound he flew through the window, and alighted on its back. + +"Now woe betide thee, Diabolus," he said, "if thou fliest not swiftly. +For I must be in Paris by daylight to-morrow." + +The huge black horse shook its mane, and snorted fiercely, as if it +understood, and without more ado it flew on its way, its uncanny +black-cloaked rider seated on its back. + +As soon as they had disappeared, the storm died away, and the moon rose, +and the little stars shone out over Oakwood Tower as clearly and quietly +as if there had never been a cloud in the sky. Meanwhile Sir Michael +Scott and his huge black charger were flying over hills, and valleys, +and rivers, in the darkness. They even flew over the sea itself, and +never halted until the day broke, and there, far below, lay the city of +Paris, dimly seen in the gray morning light. + +In the King's Palace the lackeys were hardly awake. They gazed at one +another in astonishment when the heavy iron knocker on the great gate +fell with a knock that echoed through the courtyard. + +"Who dares to knock so loudly at this early hour?" asked the fat old +porter in great indignation. "Whoever it be, I trow he may e'en wait +outside till I have broken my fast." + +But before he had done speaking the knocker fell once more, and there +was something so commanding in the sound that the little man hurried +off, grumbling to himself, to get the key. + +"Beshrew me if it doth not sound like a messenger from some great king," +said a man-at-arms who was standing by, and the porter's heart misgave +him at the thought that perhaps by his tardiness he had got himself into +trouble. + +But when he opened the great door, instead of the company of armed men +whom he dreaded to see, there was only a solitary rider, muffled in a +great black cloak, and wearing a hairy cap drawn down over his face, +seated on an enormous black horse. The stranger's dress was so +outlandish, and his horse so big, that the porter crossed himself. + +"Surely 'tis the Evil One himself," he muttered; and when the lackeys +heard his words, they crowded round the doorway. They, too, were puzzled +at Sir Michael's appearance, and began to laugh and jeer at him. + +"He is like a hooded crow," cried one. + +"Nay, 'tis an old wife in her husband's clothes," shouted another. + +"Surely the cloak belonged to Noah," cried a third. + +But they started back in dismay when the muffled figure pushed up his +cap, and demanded an audience of the King. + +"I come from the King of Scotland," he said haughtily, "and his business +brooks no delay." + +A shout of laughter greeted his demand. + +"Thou a messenger from the King of Scotland!" they cried. "A likely +story, forsooth! The King of Scotland sends not beggars, in old rusty +suits, as his ambassadors. No, no, my good fellow, thou askest us to +believe too much. Whatever thou art, thou art not a king's messenger." + +"What!" cried Sir Michael. "Ye refuse to do my bidding! and all because +I am not decked out in crimson and gold, and ridest alone without a +retinue. Well, ye shall see that it is not always wise to judge of a man +by his outward appearance. Make way there." And without wasting any more +words, he leaped from his horse, and, throwing its bridle over a pillar, +he strode right through the middle of them, and made his way to the +King's private apartment, without even waiting to be announced. + +Now the King of France was accustomed to be treated with great ceremony, +and when this dark-robed man strode into his bed-chamber, and held out +the parchment packet to him, demanding an instant answer, he was very +indignant, and refused to open it. + +"Thou sayest that thou comest from the King of Scots," he said. "Well, I +believe thee not. If thou wert Sir Michael Scott, as thou sayest thou +art, thou wouldst have come with an armed escort, as befitted thy rank +and station. Therefore begone, Sirrah, and count thyself happy that I +have not had thee thrown into one of the palace dungeons, as a +punishment for thy insolence." + +"By my troth," cried Sir Michael angrily, "if this is the way thou +wouldst answer my master's demands, I trow I can soon bring thee to a +better frame of mind." + +Without waiting for an answer, he flung down the parchment packet on the +floor, and strode out of the room in the same way that he had entered, +leaving the angry King gazing after him in astonishment. + +"The fellow is mad," he cried to the nobles who stood round. "See to it +that he is shut up until he comes to his senses." + +But Sir Michael had already reached the courtyard, and passed through +the great door to where his horse was waiting outside. He lowered his +voice and spoke gently to the mighty beast. + +"Stamp, my steed, and show the varlets that we are better than we seem +to be," he said. And at his bidding the gigantic creature lifted one of +its forefeet, and brought it down with all its might on the pavement. + +In an instant it was as though an earthquake were passing over the city. +The great towers of the Palace which frowned overhead rocked and swayed, +and all the bells on a hundred church steeples chimed and jangled, until +the air was thick with the sound of them. + +The King and his courtiers were very much alarmed at these strange +events, but they did not like to own that it was the mysterious stranger +who was the cause of them. All the same, the King called a hurried +council, and when the nobles were assembled, and seated in their places +in the great hall, he opened the parchment packet, and took out the +papers which it contained. When he had read them his face flushed with +anger. The King of Scotland's demands were very urgent, and moreover +they were stated in no uncertain language, and as he considered that he +was a much more powerful monarch than King Alexander, he did not like to +be dictated to. + +"Ah," he said, "so my Lord of Scotland lays down his own terms with a +high hand. Methinks he must learn that this is not the way to obtain +favours from France." + +"Ay, so in good sooth he must learn," repeated the nobles in one breath. +"And in order that the lesson be made plain, we advise that his +messenger be cast into prison, and that no notice be taken of his +requests." + +"Your advice pleases me well," said the King. "Command that the officers +seize the fellow at once. Certs, he may think himself lucky that We +permit his head to remain on his shoulders." + +The command was given, but Sir Michael had been growing more and more +impatient that no more notice seemed to be taken of his errand, and when +the officers of the guard appeared, and, instead of handing him the +French King's answer, as he had expected, laid their hands on him to +drag him off to prison, his anger knew no bounds. + +"What," he cried, "doth the King still refuse to listen? By my troth, he +shall rue the delay," and once more he whispered in the black horse's +ear, and once more the mighty creature lifted its great forefoot and +brought it down with a crash on the pavement. + +The effect was even more terrible than it had been before. + +In an instant great thunder clouds rolled up from the horizon, and a +fearful storm broke over the city. The thunder rolled and the lightning +flashed, and strange and weird figures were seen floating in the air. +The great bells which hung in the steeple of the great Cathedral of +Notre Dame gave one awful crash, and then burst in two, while the towers +and pinnacles of the splendid church came tumbling down in the darkness. +The very foundations of the Palace were shaken, and rocked to and fro, +till everyone within it was thrown to the ground. The King himself was +hurled from his throne of state, and was so badly hurt that he cried +aloud with pain and fear. + +As for the courtiers, they lay about the floor in all directions, +paralysed with terror, crossing themselves, and calling on the Saints to +help them. They were so terrified that not one of them thought of going +to their Royal Master's aid. + +The King was the first to recover himself. "Alack! alack!" he groaned, +rising to his feet. "Woe betide the day that brought this fellow to our +land! Warlock or wizard, I know not which, but one of them he must be, +for no mere mortal man could have had the power to work this harm to our +city." + +While he was speaking a loud trampling of feet was heard outside the +great hall, and all the lackeys came tumbling in, pell-mell, without +waiting to do their reverence, just as if the King had been any common +man. + +"O Sire," they cried, "grant the fellow anything and everything he asks, +and let him be gone. He threatens that he will cause this awful beast to +stamp yet once again, and, if he does, the whole land of France will be +ruined. If your Majesty but knew what harm hath been wrought in the city +already!" + +"Yes, let him begone," wailed the courtiers, slowly beginning to pick +themselves up from the floor, and feeling their bones to see if any of +them were broken. + +And, indeed, the King was nothing loth to grant their request, for he +felt that if the mysterious stranger were allowed to stand at the door +much longer his whole kingdom would be tumbling to pieces about his +ears. Better far that the King of Scotland should be satisfied, even +although it was sorely against his inclinations. + +With trembling fingers he picked up the papers and once more read them. +Then he wrote an answer promising to fulfil all the Scotch King's +demands and he sealed up the packet, and flung it to the nearest lackey. + +"Give it to him and bid him begone," he cried, and a sigh of relief went +round the hall, as a minute later the man returned with the tidings that +the great black horse and its outlandish rider had vanished. + +"Heaven grant that when next my Cousin of Scotland sends an ambassador, +he choose another man," said the King, and there was not a soul in all +the palace who did not breathe a fervent "Amen." + +Meanwhile, Sir Michael and his wonderful steed were speeding along on +their homeward way. They had crossed the north of France, and were +flying over the Straits of Dover, when the creature began to think that +it might work a little mischief on its own account. + +It had taken a sudden fancy to remain in France for a while, and it +thought how nice it would be if it could pitch its master, whom it +rather feared than loved, over its head into the water, and so be rid of +him for ever. + +It knew that as long as it was under his spell, it had to do his +bidding, but it knew also that there were certain words which could +break the spell even of a wizard, and it began to wonder if it would be +possible to make Sir Michael pronounce one of these. + +"Master," it said at last slyly, for when it wanted it had the power of +speech, "I know little about Scottish ways, but I have oft-times been +told that the old wives and children there mutter some words to +themselves ere they go to bed. 'Tis some spell, I warrant, and I would +fain know it. Canst tell me the words?" + +Now the wily animal knew perfectly well what words the children of +Scotland were taught to repeat as they knelt at night at their mother's +knee, but it hoped that its master would answer without thinking. + +But Sir Michael had not studied magic for long years for nothing, and he +knew that if he answered that the women and children in Scotland bowed +their knees and said their Pater Noster ere they went to bed, the holy +words would break the spell, and he would be at the mercy of the fiend, +who, when he needed him, was obliged to take the form of a horse, or +serve him in any other way which he required. + +So he shook the creature's bridle and answered sharply, "What is that to +thee, Diabolus? Attend to the business thou hast in hand, and vex not +thy soul with silly questions. If thou truly desirest to know what the +bairns are taught to say at bed-time, then I would advise thee, when +thou art in Scotland, and hast time to spare from thy wicked devices, to +go and stand by a cottage window, and learn for thyself. Mayhap the +knowledge will do thee good. In the meantime think no more of the +matter, unless thou wouldst feel the weight of my wand on thy flanks." + +Now, if there was one thing which the great horse feared, it was the +wizard's magic wand, so he put his mind to his work, and flew with all +the swiftness he possessed northwards over England, and across the +Cheviots, until at last they came in sight of Edinburgh, and the Royal +Palace of Holyrood. + +Here Sir Michael slid from his back, and dismissed him with a little +wave of his wand. "Avaunt, Diabolus," he said, and at the words the +magic horse vanished into thin air, and, strange to say, the black cloak +and hairy cap which the wizard had worn on the journey seemed to fall +from him and vanish also, and he was left standing, a middle-aged, +dignified gentleman, clad in a suit of sober brown. + +He hurried down to the Palace, and sought an instant audience of the +King. The lackeys bowed low, and the doors flew open before him, as he +was led into his Majesty's presence, for at the Court of Holyrood Sir +Michael Scott was a very great person indeed. + +But for once a frown gathered on King Alexander's face when he saw him. +Kings expect to be obeyed, and he was not prepared to see the man appear +whom he had ordered off to France with all speed the day before. + +"What ho! Sir Michael," he said coldly. "Is this the way that thou +carriest out our royal orders. In good sooth I wish I had chosen a more +zealous messenger." + +Sir Michael smiled gravely. "Wilt please my Sovereign Lord to receive +this packet from the hand of the King of France?" he said with a stately +bow. "Methinks that he will find that in it all his demands are granted, +and that I have obeyed his behests to the best of my power." + +The King was utterly taken aback. He wondered if Sir Michael were +playing some trick on him, for it was absolutely impossible that he +could have gone and come from France in twenty-four hours. + +When he opened the packet, however, he saw that it was no trick. In +utter amazement he called for his courtiers, and they crowded round him +to examine the papers. They were all in order, and all the requests had +been granted without more ado. Reparation was to be made for the damage +that had been done to the Scottish ships, and in future all acts of +piracy would be severely punished. It was evident that the papers had +been taken to Paris, for there was the French King's own seal, and there +was his name signed in his own handwriting, though how they had been +carried thither so quickly, nobody ventured to say. + +"'Tis safer not to ask, your Majesty," whispered one old knight, making +the sign of the Cross as he spoke, "for there are strange tales afloat, +which say that the Lord of Oakwood keeps a familiar spirit in that +ancient tower of his, who is ready to do his bidding at all times; and, +by my soul, this goes far to prove it." + +The King looked round uneasily, in case Sir Michael had heard this last +sentence. He felt that if this were true, and he were a wizard, as men +hinted, it was best not to incur his displeasure; but he need not have +been afraid. The Lord of Oakwood loved not courts, and now that he had +done his errand, and the papers were safe in the King's hand, he had +taken advantage of the astonishment of the courtiers to slip unobserved +through the crowd, and, having borrowed a horse from the royal stables, +he was now riding leisurely out of the city, on his way home to his old +tower on the banks of the Ettrick. + + + + +MUCKLE-MOU'ED MEG + + "O wha hasna heard o' the bauld Juden Murray, + The Lord o' the Elibank Castle sae high? + An' wha hasna heard o' that notable foray, + Whan Willie o' Harden was catched wi' the kye?" + + +Of all the towers and castles which belonged to the old Border reivers, +there was none which was better suited to its purpose than the ancient +house of Harden. It stood, as the house which succeeded it stands to +this day, at the head of a deep and narrow glen, looking down on the +Borthwick Water, not far from where it joins the Teviot. + +It belonged to Walter Scott, "Wat o' Harden," as he was called, a near +kinsman and faithful ally of the "Bold Buccleuch," who lived just over +the hill, at Branksome. + +Wat was a noted freebooter. Never was raid or foray but he was well to +the front, and when, as generally happened, the raid or foray resulted +in a drove of English cattle finding their way over the Liddesdale +hills, and down into Teviotdale, the Master of Harden had no difficulty +in guarding his share of the spoil. The entrance to his glen was so +narrow, and its sides so steep and rocky, that he had only to drive the +tired beasts into it, and set a strong guard at the lower end, and then +he and his retainers could take things easily for a time, and live in +plenty, till some fine day the beef would be done, and his wife, Dame +Mary, whom folk named the "Flower of Yarrow" in her youth, would serve +him up a pair of spurs underneath the great silver cover, as a hint that +the larder was empty, and that it was full time that he should mount and +ride for more. + +'Twas little wonder that his five sons grew up to love this free roving +life, to which they had always been accustomed, and that they took ill +with the change when, in 1603, at the Union of the Crowns, Scotland and +England became one country, and King James determined to put down +raiding and reiving with a high hand. + +It was difficult at first, but gradually a change came about. Courts of +justice were established in the Border towns, where law-breakers were +tried, and promptly punished, and the heads of the most powerful clans +banded themselves together to put down bloodshed and robbery, and a time +of quietness bade fair to settle down on the distressed district. + +To the old folk, tired of incessant fighting, this change was welcome; +but the younger men found their occupation gone, while as yet they had +no thought of turning to some more peaceable pursuit. The young Scotts +of Harden were no exceptions to this rule, and William, the eldest, +found matters, after a time, quite unbearable. Moreover, his father's +retainers were growing discontented with their quiet life, and scanty +fare, for beef was not so plentiful at Harden now that Border law +forbade its being stolen from England; so, without telling either his +father or his brothers of his intention, he took a band of chosen men, +and rode over, in the gray light of an early spring morning, to the +house of William Hogg of Fauldshope, one of the chief retainers of the +family. + +William was a man of great bravery, and so fierce and strong that he had +earned for himself the name of the "Wild Boar of Fauldshope." + +He was still in bed when the party from Harden arrived, but rose hastily +when they knocked. Great was his astonishment when he saw his young +master with a band of armed men behind him. + +"What cheer, Master?" he said, "and what doest thou out at this time of +day? Faith, it minds me of the good old times, when some rider would +come in haste to my door, to tell me that Auld Buccleuch had given +orders to warn the water."[3] + + [Footnote 3: To call the countrymen to arms.] + +"Heaven send that those times come back again," said young Harden +piously, "else shall we soon be turned into a pack of old wives. The +changes that have come to Harden be more than I can stand, Willie. Not +so many years past we were aye as busy as a swarm of bees. When we had a +mind, and had nought else to do, we leaped on our horses and headed +towards Cumberland. There were ever some kine to be driven, or a house +or two to be burned, or some poor widow to be avenged, or some prisoner +to be released. So things went right merrily, and the larder was always +full. But now that this cursed peace hath come, and King Jamie reigns in +London--plague on the man for leaving this bonnie land!--the place is as +quiet as the grave, and the horses grow fat, and our men grow lean, and +they quarrel and fight among themselves all day, an' all because they +have nought else to do. Moreover, the pastures round Harden grow rough +for want of eating. We need a drove of cattle to keep them down. So I +have e'en come over to take counsel with thee, Will, for thou art a man +after mine own heart, and I have brought a few of the knaves at my back. +What think ye, man, is there no one we could rob? Fain would I ride over +the Border to harry the men of Cumberland, but thou knowest how it is. +My kinsman of Buccleuch is Warden of the Marches, and responsible for +keeping the peace, and sore dule and woe would come to my father's house +were I to stir up strife now that we are supposed to be all one land." + +"Ay, by my troth," said Will of Fauldshope, "the fat would be in the +fire if we were to ride into Cumberland nowadays; but, Master, the +Warden hath no right to interfere with lawful quarrels. There is the +Laird o' Elibank, for instance, old Sir Juden. Deil take me if anyone +could blame us if we paid him a visit. For all the world knows how often +some cows, or a calf or two, have vanished on a dark night from the +hillsides at Harden, and though a Murray hath never yet been ta'en +red-handed, it is easy to know where the larders o' Elibank get their +plenishing. Turn about is fair play, say I, and now that the pastures at +Harden are empty, 'tis time that we thought of taking our revenge. Sir +Juden was a wily man in his youth, and sly as a pole-cat, but men say +that nowadays he hath grown doited,[4] and does nought but sit with his +wife and his three ugly daughters from morning till night. All the same, +he hath managed to feather his nest right well. 'Twas told me at +Candlemas that he hath no less than three hundred fat cattle grazing in +the meadows that lie around Elibank." + + [Footnote 4: In his dotage.] + +Willie o' Harden slapped his thigh. + +"That settles the matter," he cried, with a ring in his voice at the +thought of the adventure that lay before him. "Three hundred kye are far +too many for one old man to herd. Let him turn his mind to his three +ill-faured[5] daughters, whom no man will wed because of their looks. +This very night we will ride over into Ettrick, and lift a wheen[6] o' +them. My father's Tower of Oakwood lies not far from Elibank, and when +once we have driven the beasts into the Oakwood byres, 'twill take old +Sir Juden all his time to prove that they ever belonged to him." + + [Footnote 5: Plain-looking.] + + [Footnote 6: Few.] + +Late that afternoon Sir Juden Murray was having a daunder[7] in the +low-lying haughs which lay along the banks of the Tweed, close to his +old tower. His hands were clasped behind his back, under his coat tails, +and his head was sunk low on his breast. He appeared to be deep in +meditation, and so indeed he was. There was a matter which had been +pressing heavily on his mind for some time, and it troubled him more +every day. + + [Footnote 7: Gentle walk.] + +The fact was, that it was a sore anxiety to him how he was going to +provide for his three daughters, for Providence had endowed them with +such very plain features that it seemed extremely unlikely that any gay +wooer would ever stop before the door of Elibank. Meg, the eldest, was +especially plain-looking. She was pale and thin, with colourless eyes, +and a long pointed nose, and, to make matters worse, she had such a very +wide mouth that she was known throughout the length and breadth of four +counties as "Muckle-Mou'ed Meg o' Elibank." + +No wonder her father sighed as he thought of her, for, in spite of his +greed and his slyness, Sir Juden was an affectionate father, as fathers +went in those days, and the lot of unmarried ladies of the upper class, +at that time, was a hard one. + +He was roused from his thoughts by someone shouting to him from the top +of the neighbouring hill. It was one of his men-at-arms, and the old man +stood for a moment with his hand at his ear, to listen to the fellow's +words. They came faintly down the wind. + +"I fear evil betakes us, Sir Juden, for far in the distance I hear +bugles sounding at Oakwood Tower. I would have said that the Scotts of +Harden were riding, were it not for Buccleuch and his new laws." + +Sir Juden shook his grizzled head. "Little cares Auld Wat o' Harden, or +any o' his kind, either for Warden or laws, notwithstanding that the +Warden is his own kith and kin. As like as not they have heard tell o' +my bonnie drove of cattle, and would fain have some of them. Run, +sirrah, and warn our friends; no one can find fault with us if we fight +in self-defence." + +No sooner had the first man disappeared to do his master's bidding, than +another approached, running down the hillside as fast as he could. He +was quite out of breath when he came up to the Laird, and no wonder, for +he had run all the way from Philip-Cairn, one of the highest hills in +the neighbourhood. + +"Oh, Sir Juden," he gasped, "lose no time, but arm well, and warn well, +if thou wouldst keep thine own. From the top of the hill I saw armed men +in the distance, and it was not long ere I knew the knaves. 'Tis a band +of reivers led by the young Knight of Harden, and, besides his own men, +he hath with him the Wild Boar of Fauldshope, and all the Hoggs and the +Brydons." + +"By my troth, but thou bringest serious tidings," said Sir Juden, +thoroughly alarmed, for he knew what deadly fighters Willie o' Harden +and the Boar of Fauldshope were, and, without wasting words, he hurried +away to his tower to make the best preparations he could for the coming +fray. + +He knew that even with all the friends who would muster round him, the +men of Plora, and Traquair, and Ashiestiel, and Hollowlee, Harden's +force would far outnumber his, and his only hope lay in outwitting the +enemy, who were better known for their bravery than for their guile. + +So when all his friends were assembled, instead of stationing them near +the castle, he led them out to a steep hill-side, some miles away, where +he knew the Scotts must pass with the cattle, on their way to Oakwood. +As the night was dark, he bade each of them fasten a white feather in +his cap, so that, when they were fighting, they would know who were +their friends and who their foes, and he would not allow them to stand +about on the hill-side, but made them lie down hidden in the heather +until he gave them the signal to rise. + +He knew well what he was doing, for he was as cunning as a fox, and +neither the Knight of Harden nor the Wild Boar of Fauldshope, brave +though they were, were a match for him. + +They, on their part, thought things were going splendidly, for when they +rode up in the darkness of midnight to the Elibank haughs, all was +quiet; not so much as a dog barked. It was not difficult to collect a +goodly drove of fat cattle, and, as long as the animals were driven +along a familiar path, all went well. But all the world knows the saying +about "a cow in an unca loaning,"[8] and it held good in this case. The +moment the animals' heads were turned to the hills that lay between +Elibank and Oakwood the trouble began. They broke in confusion, and ran +hither and thither in the darkness, lowing and crying in great +bewilderment. + + [Footnote 8: A cow in a strange lane or milking-place.] + +"Faith, but this will never do," exclaimed Will of Fauldshope; "if the +beasts bellow at this rate, they will awaken old Sir Juden and his sons, +and they will set on in pursuit. Not that that would matter much, but we +may as well do the job with as little bloodshed as possible. See, I and +my men will take a dozen or so, and push on over the hill. If once the +way be trodden the rest will follow." + +So Will of Fauldshope and his men went their way cheerily up the hill, +and over its crest, and down the other side, on their way to Oakwood, +with a handful of cattle before them, little recking that Sir Juden and +his sons, whom they thought to be sleeping peacefully at Elibank, were +crouching among the heather with their friends and retainers, or that +they had ridden over a few of them on their way, and that, as soon as +they were past, and out of earshot, and young Harden came on with the +main body of the stolen cattle, the Murrays would rise and set on him +with sudden fierceness, and after a sharp and bloody conflict would take +him prisoner, and kill many a brave man. + +Nor would Will have heard of the fight at all, until he had arrived at +Oakwood, and his suspicions had been aroused by the fact that young +Harden did not follow him, had it not been for a trusty fellow called +Andrew o' Langhope, who was knocked down in the fight, and who thought +that he could serve his master best by lying still. So he pretended to +be dead, and lay motionless until the fray was over, and poor young +Scott bound hand and foot, and carried off in triumph by the Murrays; +then he sprang to his feet, and ran off in pursuit of Will of Fauldshope +as fast as his legs could carry him. + +Now, if there was one man on earth whom the Wild Boar of Fauldshope and +his men loved, it was the young Knight of Harden. He was so handsome, +and brave, and debonair, a very leader among men, that I ween there was +dire confusion among them when they heard Andrew o' Langhope's tale. A +great oath fell from Will's lips as he threw off his jerkin and helmet, +to ease his horse, and turned and galloped over the hill again, followed +by all his company. + +But in spite of their haste they were too late. The dawn was breaking as +they reined up on the green in front of Elibank, and the gray morning +light showed them that the stout oak door was closed, and the great iron +gates made fast. By now young Harden was safe in the lowest dungeon, and +right well they knew that only once again would he breathe the fresh air +of heaven, and that would be when he was led out to die under the great +dule-tree on the green. + +Bitter tears of grief and rage filled the Boar of Fauldshope's eyes at +the thought, but no more could be done, except to ride over to Harden, +and tell old Sir Walter Scott of the fate that had befallen his eldest +son. + + * * * * * + +"Juden, Juden." It was the Lady of Elibank's voice, and it woke her +husband out of the only sound sleep he had had, for he had been terribly +troubled with bad dreams all night: dreams not, as one would have +imagined, of the fight which he had passed through, but of his eldest +daughter Meg, and her sad lack of wooers. + +"What is it?" he asked drowsily, as he looked across the room to where +his worthy spouse, Dame Margaret Murray, already up and dressed, stood +looking out of the narrow casement. + +"I was just wondering," she said slowly, "what thou intendest to do with +that poor young man?" + +"Do," cried Sir Juden, wide awake now, and starting up in astonishment +at the question, for his wife was not wont to be so pitiful towards any +of his prisoners. "By'r Lady, but there is only one thing that I shall +do. Hang the rogue, of course, and that right speedily." + +"What," said the Lady of Elibank, and she turned and looked at her angry +husband with an expression which seemed to say that at that moment he +had taken leave of his senses; "hang the young Knight of Harden, when I +have three ill-favoured daughters to marry off my hands! I wonder at ye, +Juden! I aye thought ye had a modicum of common sense, and could look a +long way in front of ye, but at this moment I am sorely inclined to +doubt it. Mark my words, ye'll never again have such a chance as this. +For, besides Harden, he is heir to some of the finest lands in Ettrick +Forest.[9] There is Kirkhope, and Oakwood, and Bowhill. Think of our +Meg; would ye not like to see the lassie mistress of these? And well I +wot ye might, for the youth is a spritely young fellow, though given to +adventure, as what brave young man is not? And I trow that he would put +up with an ill-featured wife, rather than lose his life on our +hanging-tree." + + [Footnote 9: These lands were sold to the Scotts of Buccleuch sometime + afterwards, and the Duke of Buccleuch is the present owner.] + +Sir Juden looked at his wife for full three minutes in silence, and then +he broke into a loud laugh. "By my soul, thou art right, Margaret," he +said. "Thou wert born with the wisdom of Solomon, though men would +scarce think it to look at thee." And he began to dress himself, without +more ado. + +Less than two hours afterwards, the door of the dungeon where young +Scott was confined was thrown open with a loud and grating noise, and +three men-at-arms appeared, and requested the prisoner, all bound as he +was, to follow them. + +Willie obeyed without a word. He had dared, and had been defeated, and +now he must pay the penalty that the times required, and like a brave +man he would pay it uncomplainingly, but I warrant that, as he followed +the men up the steep stone steps, his heart was heavy within him, and +his thoughts were dwelling on the bonnie braes that lay around Harden, +where he had so often played when he was a bairn, with his mother, the +gentle "Flower of Yarrow," watching over him, and which he knew he would +never see again. + +But, to his astonishment, instead of being led straight out to the +"dule-tree," as he had expected, he was taken into the great hall, and +stationed close to one of the narrow windows. A strange sight met his +eyes. + +The hall was full of armed men, who were looking about them with broad +smiles of amusement, while, on a dais at the far end of the hall, were +seated, in two large armchairs, his captor of the night before, Sir +Juden Murray, and a severe-looking lady, in a wondrous head-dress, and a +stiff silken gown, whom he took to be his wife. + +Between them, blushing and hanging her head as if the ordeal was too +much for her, was the plainest-looking maiden he had ever seen in his +life. She was thin and ill-thriven-looking, very different from the +buxom lassies he was accustomed to see: her eyes were colourless; her +nose was long and pointed, and the size of her mouth would alone have +proclaimed her to be the worthy couple's eldest daughter, Muckle-Mou'ed +Meg. + +Near the dais stood her two younger sisters. They were plain-looking +girls also, but hardly so plain-looking as Meg, and they were laughing +and whispering to one another, as if much amused by what was going on. + +Sir Juden cleared his throat and crossed one thin leg slowly over the +other, while he looked keenly at his prisoner from under his bushy +eyebrows. + +"Good morrow, young sir," he said at last; "so you and your friends +thought that ye would like a score or two o' the Elibank kye. By whose +warrant, may I ask, did ye ride, seeing that in those days peace is +declared on the Border, and anyone who breaks it, breaks it at his own +risk?" + +"I rode at my own peril," answered the young man haughtily, for he did +not like to be questioned in this manner, "and it is on mine own head +that the blame must fall. Thou knowest that right well, Sir Juden, so it +seems to me but waste of words to parley here." + +"So thou knowest the fate that thy rash deed brings on thee," said Sir +Juden hastily, his temper, never of the sweetest, rising rapidly at the +young man's coolness. He would fain have hanged him without more ado, +did prudence permit; and it was hard to sit still and bargain with him. + +"So thou knowest that I have the right to hang thee, without further +words," he continued; "and, by my faith, many a man would do it, too, +without delay. But thou art young, William, and young blood must aye be +roving, that I would fain remember, and so I offer thee another chance." + +Here the Lord of Elibank paused and glanced at his wife, to see if he +had said the right thing, for it was she who had arranged the scene +beforehand, and had schooled her husband in the part he was to play. + +Meanwhile young Harden, happening to meet Meg Murray's eyes, and puzzled +by the look, half wistful, half imploring, which he saw there, glanced +hastily out of the little casement beside which he was standing, and +received a rude shock, in spite of all his courage, when he saw a strong +rope, with a noose at the end of it, dangling from a stout branch of the +dule-tree on the green, while a man-at-arms stood kicking the ground +idly beside it, apparently waiting till he should be called on to act as +executioner. + +"So the old rascal is going to hang me after all," he said to himself; +"then what, in Our Lady's name, means this strange mummery, and how +comes that ill-favoured maiden to look at me as if her life depended on +mine?" + +At that moment, old Sir Juden, reassured by a nod from Dame Margaret, +went on with his speech. + +"I will therefore offer thee another chance, I say, and, moreover, I +will throw a herd of the cattle which thou wert so anxious to steal into +the bargain, if thou wilt promise, on thy part, to wed my daughter Meg +within the space of four days." + +Here the wily old man stopped, and the Lady of Elibank nodded her head +again, while, as for young Harden, for the moment he was too astonished +to speak. + +So this was the meaning of it all. He was to be forced to marry the +ugliest maiden in the south of Scotland in order to save his life. The +vision of his mother's beauty rose before him, and the contrast between +the Flower of Yarrow and Muckle-Mou'ed Meg o' Elibank struck him so +sharply that he cried out in anger, "By my troth, but this thing shall +never be. So do thy worst, Sir Juden." + +"Think well before ye choose," said that knight, more disappointed than +he would have cared to own at his prisoner's words, "for there are +better things in this world than beauty, young man. Many a beautiful +woman hath been but a thorn in her husband's side, and forbye[10] that, +hast thou not learned in the Good Book--if ever ye find time to read it, +which I fear me will be but seldom--that a prudent wife is more to be +sought after than a bonnie one? And though my Meg here is mayhap no' sae +well-favoured as the lassies over in Borthwick Water, or Teviotdale, I +warrant there is not one of them who hath proved such a good daughter, +or whose nature is so kind and generous." + + [Footnote 10: Besides.] + +Still young Harden hesitated, and glanced from the lady, who, poor +thing, had hidden her face in her hands, to the gallows, and from the +gallows back again to the lady. + +Was ever mortal man in such a plight? Here he was, young, handsome, +rich, and little more than four-and-twenty, and he must either lose his +life on the green yonder, or marry a damsel whom everyone mocked at for +her looks. + +"If only I could be alone with her for five minutes," he thought to +himself, "to see what she looks like, when there is no one to peep and +peer at her. The maiden hath not a chance in the midst of this +mannerless crowd, and methought her eyes were open and honest, as they +looked into mine a little while ago." + +At that moment Meg Murray lifted her head once more, and gazed round her +like a stag at bay. Poor lassie, it had been bad enough to be jeered at +by her father, and flouted and scolded by her mother, because of the +unfortunately large mouth with which Providence had endowed her, without +being put up for sale, as it were, in the presence of all her father's +retainers, and find that the young man to whom she had been offered +chose to suffer death rather than have her for a bride. + +It was the bitterest moment of all her life, and, had she known it, it +was the moment that fixed her destiny. + +For young Willie of Harden saw that look, and something in it stirred +his pity. Besides, he noticed that her pale face was sweet and +innerly,[11] and her gray eyes clear and true. + + [Footnote 11: Confiding.] + +"Hold," he cried, just as Sir Juden, whose patience was quite exhausted, +gave a signal to his men-at-arms to seize the prisoner, and hurry him +off to the gallows, "I have changed my mind, and I accept the +conditions. But I call all men to witness that I accept not the hand of +this noble maiden of necessity, or against my will. I am a Scott, and, +had I been minded to, I could have faced death. But I crave the honour +of her hand from her father with all humility, and here I vow, before ye +all, to do my best to be to her a loyal and a true man." + +Loud cheers, and much jesting, followed this speech, and men would have +crowded round the young Knight and made much of him, but he pushed his +way in grim silence up the hall to where Meg o' Elibank stood trembling +by her delighted parents. + +She greeted him with a look which set him thinking of a bird which sees +its cage flung open, and I wot that, though he did not know it, at that +moment he began to love her. + +Be that as it may, his words to Sir Juden were short and gruff. "Sir," +he asked, "hast thou a priest in thy company? For, if so, let him come +hither and finish what we have begun. I would fain spend this night in +my own Tower of Oakwood." + +Sir Juden and his lady were not a little taken aback at this sudden +demand, for, now that the matter was settled to their satisfaction, they +would have liked to have married their eldest daughter with more state +and ceremony. + +"There's no need of such haste," began Dame Margaret, with a look at her +lord, "if your word is given, and the Laird satisfied. The morn, or even +the next day might do. The lassie's providing[12] must be gathered +together, for I would not like it said that a bride went out of Elibank +with nothing but the clothes she stood in." + + [Footnote 12: Trousseau.] + +But young Harden interrupted her with small courtesy. "Let her be +married now, or not at all," he said, and as the heir of Harden as a +prospective son-in-law was very different from the heir of Harden as a +prisoner, she feared to say him nay, lest he went back on his word. + +So a priest was sent for, and in great haste William Scott of Harden was +wedded to Margaret Murray of Elibank, and then they two set off alone, +over the hills to the old Tower of Oakwood--he, with high thoughts of +anger and revenge in his heart for the trick that had been played +him;--she, poor thing, wondering wistfully what the future held in store +for her. + +The day was cold and wet, and halfway over the Hangingshaw Height he +heard a stifled sob behind him, and, looking over his shoulder, he saw +his little woebegone bride trying in vain with her numbed fingers to +guide her palfrey, which was floundering in a moss-hole, to firmer +footing. + +The sight would have touched a harder heart than Willie of Harden's, for +he was a true son of his mother, and the Flower of Yarrow was aye +kind-hearted; and suddenly all his anger vanished. + +"God save us, lassie, but there's nothing to greet[13] about," he said, +turning his horse and taking her reins from her poor stiff fingers, and, +though the words were rough, his voice was strangely gentle. "'Tis not +thy fault that things have fallen out thus, and if I be a trifle +angered, in good faith it is not with thee. Come," and, as he spoke, he +stooped down and lifted her bodily from her saddle, and swung her up in +front of him on his great black horse. "Leave that stupid beast of thine +alone; 'twill find its way back to Elibank soon enough, I warrant. We +will go over the hill quicker in this fashion, and thou wilt have more +shelter from the rain. There is many a good nag on the hills at Harden, +and, when she hears of our wedding, I doubt not but that my mother will +have one trained for thee." + + [Footnote 13: Cry.] + +Poor Meg caught her breath. She did not feel so much afraid of her +husband now that she was close to him, and his arm was round her; +besides, the shelter from the rain was very pleasant; but still her +heart misgave her. + +"Thy Lady Mother, she is very beautiful," she faltered, "and doubtless +she looked for beauty in her sons' wives." + +Then, for ever and a day, all resentment went out of Willie of Harden's +heart, and pure love and pity entered into it. + +"If her sons' wives are but good women, my mother will be well content," +he said, and with that he kissed her. + +And I trow that that kiss marked the beginning of Meg Scott's happiness. + +For happy she always was. She was aye plain-looking--nothing on earth +could alter her features--but with great happiness comes a look of +marvellous contentment, which can beautify the most homely face, and she +was such a clever housekeeper (no one could salt beef as she could), and +so modest and gentle, that her handsome husband grew to love her more +and more, and I wot that her face became to him the bonniest and the +sweetest face in the whole world. + +Sons and daughters were born to them, strapping lads and fair-faced +lassies, and, in after years, when old Wat o' Harden died, and Sir +William reigned in his stead, in the old house at the head of the glen, +he was wont to declare that for prudence, and virtue, and honour, there +was no woman on earth to be compared with his own good wife Meg. + + + + +DICK O' THE COW + + "Now Liddesdale has layen lang in, + There is na ryding there at a'; + The horses are a' grown sae lither fat, + They downa stir out o' the sta'. + + Fair Johnie Armstrong to Willie did say-- + 'Billy, a riding we will gae; + England and us have lang been at feid; + Ablins we'll light on some bootie.'" + + +It was somewhere about the year 1592, and Thomas, Lord Scroope, sat at +ease in his own apartment in Carlisle Castle. He had finished supper, +and was now resting in a great oak chair before a roaring fire. A +tankard of ale stood on a stool by his side (for my Lord of Scroope +loved good cheer above all things), and his favourite hound lay +stretched on the floor at his feet. + +To judge by the look on his face, he was thinking pleasant thoughts just +then. He held the office of Warden of the English Marches, as well as +that of Governor of Carlisle Castle, and in those lawless days the post +was not an easy one. There was generally some raid or foray which had to +be investigated, some turbulent Scot pursued, or mayhap some noted +freebooter hung; but just at present the country-side was at peace, and +the Scotts, and Elliots, and Armstrongs, seemed to be content to stay +quietly at home on their own side of the Border. + +So that very day he had sent off a good report to his royal mistress, +Queen Elizabeth, then holding her court in far-off London, and now he +was dreaming of paying a long deferred visit to his Castle of Bolton in +Lancashire. + +A sharp knock at the door came as a sudden interruption to these dreams. +"Enter," he cried hastily, wondering to himself what message could have +arrived at the castle at that hour of night. + +It was his own poor fool who entered, for in Carlisle Castle high state +was kept, and Lord Scroope had his jester, like any king. + +The man was known to everyone as "Dick o' the Cow," the reason probably +being that his wife helped to eke out his scanty wages by keeping three +cows, and selling their milk to the honest burghers of Carlisle. He was +a harmless, light-hearted fellow, whom some men called half-witted, but +who was much cleverer than he appeared at first sight to be. + +As a rule he was always laughing and making jokes, but to-night his face +was long and doleful. + +"What ails thee, man?" cried Lord Scroope impatiently. "Methinks thou +hast forgot thine office, else why comest thou here with a face that +would make a merry man sad?" + +"Alack, Master," answered the fool, "up till now I have been an honest +man, but at last I must turn my hand to thieving, and for that reason I +would crave thy leave to go over the Border into Liddesdale." + +"Tush!" said the Warden impatiently, "I love not such jesting. I hear +enough about thieving and reiving, and such-like business, without my +very fool dinning it into my ears. Leave such matters for my Lord of +Buccleuch and me to settle, Sirrah, and bethink thee of thy duty. 'Tis +easier to crack jokes and sing songs in the safe shelter of Carlisle +Castle than to ride out armed against these Scottish knaves." + +But Dick knelt at his master's feet. + +"This is no jest, my lord," he said. "For once in his life this poor +fool is in earnest. For I am like to be ruined if I cannot have revenge. +Thou knowest how my wife and I live in a little cottage just outside the +city walls, and how, with my small earnings, I bought three milch cows. +My wife is a steady woman and industrious, and she sells the milk which +these three cows give, to the people in the city, and so she earns an +honest penny." + +"In good sooth, a very honest penny," repeated Lord Scroope, laughing, +for 'twas well known in Carlisle that the milk which was sold by Dick o' +the Cow's wife was thinner and dearer than any other milk sold in the +town. + +"Last night," went on the fool, "these Scottish thieves, the Armstrongs +of Liddesdale, rode past the house, and, of course, they must needs +drive these cows off, and, not content with that, they broke open the +door, and stole the very coverlets off my bed. My wife bought these +coverlets at the Michaelmas fair, and, I trow, what with the loss of +them, and the loss of the cows, she is like to lose her reason. So, to +comfort her, I have promised to bring them back. Therefore, my lord, I +crave leave of thee to go over into Liddesdale, and see what I can lay +my hands on there." + +The blood rose to the Warden's face. "By my troth, but thou art not +frightened to speak, Sirrah," he cried. "Am I not set here to preserve +law and order, and thou wouldst have me give thee permission to steal?" + +"Nay, not to steal," said the fool slyly; "I only crave leave to get +back my own, or, at least, the money's worth for what was my own." + +Lord Scroope pondered the request for a minute or two. + +"After all," he thought to himself, "what can this one poor man do +against such a powerful clan as the Armstrongs? He will be killed, most +likely, and that will be the end of it. So there can be no great harm in +letting him go." + +"If I give thee leave, wilt thou swear that thou wilt steal from no one +but those who stole from thee?" he asked at last. + +"That I will," said Dick readily. "I give thee my troth, and there is my +right hand upon it. Thou canst hang me for a thief myself, if I take as +much as a bannock of bread from the house of any man who hath done me no +harm." + +So my Lord of Scroope let him go. + +A blithe man was Dick o' the Cow as he went down the streets of Carlisle +next morning, for he had money in his pocket, and a big scheme floating +in his brain. It mattered little to him that men smiled to each other as +they passed him, and whispered, "There goes my Lord of Scroope's poor +jester." + +"He laughs the longest who laughs the last," he thought to himself, "and +mayhap all men will envy me before long." + +First of all, he went and bought a pair of spurs, and a new bridle, +which he carefully hid in his breeches pocket, then he turned his back +on Carlisle and set out to walk over Bewcastle Waste into Liddesdale. It +was a long walk, but he footed it bravely, and at last he arrived at +Pudding-burn House, a strongly fortified place, held by John Armstrong, +"The Laird's Jock," as he was called, son of the Laird of Mangerton, and +a man of importance in the clan. He was known to be both just and +generous, and the poor fool thought that he would go to him, and tell +him his story, in the hope that he would force the rest of the +Armstrongs to give him back his three cows. But when he came near the +Pudding-burn House, he found to his dismay that the two Armstrongs who +had stolen his cows, Johnie and Willie, had stopped there, on their way +home, with all their men-at-arms, and, from the sounds of feasting and +mirth which he heard as he approached, he suspected that one, at least, +of his three cows had been killed to provide the supper. + +"Ah well," thought he to himself, "I am but a poor fool, and there are +three-and-thirty armed men against me. To fight is impossible, so I must +e'en set my wits to work against their strength of arms." + +So he walked boldly up to the house, and demanded to see the Laird's +Jock. There was much laughter among the men-at-arms as he was led into +the great hall, for everyone had heard of my Lord of Scroope's jester, +and, when they knew that it was he, they all crowded round to see what +he was like. + +He knew his manners, and bowed right low before the master of the house. +"God save thee, my good Laird's Jock," he said, "although I fear me I +cannot wish so well to all thy company. For I come here to bring a +complaint against two of these men--against Johnie and Willie Armstrong, +who, with their followers, broke into my house near Carlisle these two +nights past, and drove away my three good milk cows, forbye stealing +three coverlets from my bed. And I crave that I get my own again, and +that justice may be meted out to the dishonest varlets." + +These words were greeted by a shout of laughter, for these were rough +and lawless times, when might was right, and the strong tyrannised over +the weak, and it seemed ridiculous to see this poor fool standing in the +middle of all these armed moss-troopers, and expecting to be heard. + +"He deserves to be hanged for his insolence," said Johnie Armstrong, who +had been the leader of the company. + +"Run him through with a sword," said Willie, laughing; "'tis less +trouble, and 'twill serve the same end." + +"No," cried another. "'Tis not worth while to kill him. He is but a fool +at the best. Let us give him a good beating, and then let him go." + +But the Laird's Jock heard them, and his voice rang out high above the +rest. "Why harm the poor man?" he said. "After all, he hath but come to +seek his own, and he must be both hungry and footsore." Then, turning to +the fool, he added kindly, "Sit thyself down, my man, and rest thee a +little. I am sorry that we cannot exactly give thee thy cattle back +again, but at least we can give thee a slice from the leg of one of +them. Beshrew me if I have tasted finer beef for many a long day." + +Amid roars of laughter a slice of beef was cut from the enormous leg +which lay roasted on the great table, and placed before Dick. But he +could not eat it, he could only think what a fine cow it had been when +it was alive. At last he slipped away unobserved out of the house, and, +looking about for somewhere to sleep, he found an old tumble-down house +filled with peats. + +He crept into it, and lay there, wondering and scheming how he could +avenge himself. + +Now it had always been the custom at Mangerton Hall, where the Laird's +Jock had been brought up, that whoever was not in time for one meal had +to wait till the next, and he made the same rule hold good at +Pudding-burn House. + +As the poor fool lay among the peats, he could see what was going on +through a crack in the door, and he noticed that, as the Armstrongs' men +were both tired and hungry, they did not take time to put the key away +safely after attending to their horses and locking the stable door, but +flung it hastily up on the roof, where it could easily be found if it +were wanted, and hurried off in case they were late for their supper. + +"Here is my chance," he thought to himself, and, as soon as they were +all gone into the house, he crept out, and took down the key, and +entered the stable. Then he did a very cruel thing. He cut every horse, +except three, on one of its hind legs, "tied it with St Mary's knot," as +it was called; so that he made them all lame. Then he hastily drew the +spurs and the new bridle out of his breeches pocket. He buckled on the +spurs, and began to examine the three horses which he had not lamed. He +knew to whom they belonged. Two of them, which were standing together, +belonged to Johnie and Willie Armstrong, and were the very horses they +had ridden when they stole the cows. The third, a splendid animal, which +had a stall to itself, plainly belonged to the Laird's Jock. + +"I will leave the Laird's Jock's," thought Dick to himself, "for I +cannot take three, and he is a kind man; but Johnie's and Willie's must +go. 'Twill perhaps teach them what comes of dishonest ways." + +So saying, he slipped the bridle over the head of one horse, and tied a +rope round the neck of the other, and, opening the stable door, he led +them out quietly, and then, mounting one of them, he galloped away as +fast as he could. + +The next morning, when the men went to the stable to see after their +horses, there were shouts of anger and consternation. And no wonder. For +it was easy to be seen that thirty of the horses would never put foot to +the ground again; other two were stolen; and there was only one, the +beautiful bay mare which belonged to the Laird's Jock, which was of any +use at all. + +"Now who hath done this cruel thing?" cried the master of the house in +great anger. "Let me know his name, and by my soul, he shall be +punished." + +"'Twas the varlet whom we all took to be such a fool," cried Johnie; +"the rascal who came here last night whining for his precious cows. A +thousand pities but we had done as I said, and hanged him on the nearest +tree." + +"Hold thy tongue and take blame to thyself," said the Laird's Jock +sharply. "Did I not tell thee, ere thou rode to Carlisle, thou and +Willie and thy thieving band, that the two countries were at peace, and +if thou began this work once more, 'twas hard to say where it would end? +Truly the tables are indeed turned. For this poor fool, as thou callest +him, hath befooled us all, for the men's horses are maimed and useless, +thine own and thy brother's are stolen, and there but remains this good +bay mare of mine. Beshrew me, but it seems as if the fellow had some +gratitude left that he did not touch her, for I love her as I never +loved a horse before." + +"Give her to me," cried Johnie Armstrong quickly, stung by this +well-earned reproof, "and I will bring the two horses back, and the +cunning fool with them, either alive or dead. 'Tis a far cry from here +to Carlisle, and I trow he could ride but slowly in the darkness." + +"A likely story," said the Laird's Jock. "The fool, as thou callest him, +hath already stolen two good horses, and to send another after him would +but be sending good siller after bad." + +"An' dost thou think that he could take the horse from me?" asked Johnie +indignantly, and he pleaded so hard to be allowed to pursue Dick, that +at last the Laird's Jock gave him leave. + +He wasted no time in seeking his armour, but, snatching up hastily his +kinsman's doublet, sword, and helmet, he leaped on the bay mare and +galloped away. + +He rode so furiously that by midday he overtook Dick on Canonbie Lee, +not far from Longtown. + +The poor fool had had to ride slowly, for he was not very much +accustomed to horses, and it was not easy for him to manage two. He +looked round in alarm when he heard the thunder of hoofs behind him, but +his face cleared when he saw that Johnie Armstrong was alone. + +"I have outwitted a whole household," he thought to himself; "beshrew me +if I cannot tackle one man, even although it be Johnie Armstrong." + +All the same he put his horses to the gallop, and went on as fast as he +could. + +"Now hold, thou traitor thief, and stand for thy life," shouted Johnie +in a passion. + +Dick glanced hastily over his shoulder, and then he pulled his horses +round suddenly. He could fight better than most men thought, when he was +put to it. + +"Art thou alone, Johnie?" he said tauntingly. "Then must I tell thee a +little story. I am an unlettered man, being but a poor fool, as thou +knowest, but I try to do my duty, and every Sunday I go to church in +Carlisle city with my betters. And at our church we have a right good +preacher, though his sermons run through my poor brain as if it were a +sieve; but there are three words which I aye remember. The first two of +these are 'faith' and 'conscience,' and it seems to me that ye lacked +both of them when ye came stealing in the dark to my humble cottage, +knowing full well that I could not defend myself, and stole my cows, and +took my wife's coverlets. What the third word is, I cannot at this +moment remember, but it means that when a man lacks faith and conscience +he deserves to be punished, and therefore have I punished thee." + +Johnie Armstrong felt that he was being laughed at, and, blind with +fury, he took his lance and flung it at the fool, thinking to kill him. +But he missed his aim, and it only glanced against Dick's doublet, and +fell harmless to the ground. + +Dick saw his advantage, and rode his horse straight at his enemy, and, +taking his cudgel by the wrong end, he struck Johnie such a blow on the +head that he fell senseless to the ground. + +Then was the fool a proud man. "Lord Scroope shall hear of this, +Johnie," he said to himself, with a chuckle of delight, as he +dismounted, and stripped the unconscious man of his coat-of-mail, his +steel helmet, and his two-handed sword. He knew that if he went home +empty-handed, and told his master that he had fought with Johnie +Armstrong and defeated him, Lord Scroope would laugh him to scorn, for +Johnie was known to be one of the best fighters on the Borders; but +these would serve as proofs that his story was true. + +Then, taking the bay mare by the bridle, he mounted his horse once more, +and rode on to Carlisle in triumph. + +When Johnie Armstrong came to his senses, he cursed the English and all +belonging to them with right goodwill. "Now verily," he said to himself, +as he turned his face ruefully towards Liddesdale, "'twill be a hundred +years and more ere anyone finds me fighting with a man who is called a +fool again." + +When Dick o' the Cow rode into the courtyard of Carlisle Castle with his +three horses, the first man he met was My Lord of Scroope. Now the +Warden knew the Laird's Jock's bay mare at once, and at the sight of her +he flew into a violent passion. For he knew well enough that if Dick had +stolen three horses from the Armstrongs, that powerful clan would soon +ride over into Cumberland to avenge themselves, and had he not written +to Queen Elizabeth, not three days before, of the peace which prevailed +on the Borders? + +"By my troth, fellow," he said in deep vexation, "I'll have thee hanged +for this." + +Poor Dick was much taken aback at this unlooked-for welcome. He had +expected to be greeted as a hero, instead of being threatened with +death. + +"'Twas thyself gave me leave to go, my Lord," he said sullenly. + +"Ay, I gave thee leave to go and steal from those who stole from thee, +an thou couldst," said Lord Scroope in reply; "but beshrew me if I ever +gave thee leave to steal from the good Laird's Jock. He is a peaceful +man, and a true, and meddles not the Border folk. 'Twas not he who stole +thy cows." + +Then Dick held up the coat-of-mail, and the helmet, and the two-handed +sword. "On my honour, I won them all in fair and open fight," he cried. +"Johnie Armstrong stole my cows, and 'twas he who followed me on the +Laird's Jock's mare, and clad in the Laird's Jock's armour. He would +fain have slain me with his lance, but by God's grace it glanced from my +doublet, and I felled him to the ground with my cudgel." + +"Well done!" cried the Warden, slapping his thigh in his delight. "By my +soul, but it was well done. My poor fool is more of a man than I thought +he was. If the horse be the fair spoil of war, then will I buy her of +thee. See, I will give thee fifteen pounds for her, and throw a milk cow +into the bargain. 'Twill please thy wife to have milk again." + +But Dick was not satisfied with this offer. "May the mother of all the +witches fly away with me," he said, "if the horse is not worth more than +fifteen pounds. No, no, my Lord, twenty pounds is her price, an if thou +wilt not pay that for her, she goes with me to-morrow to be sold at +Morton Fair." + +Now Lord Scroope happened to know the worth of the mare, so he paid the +money down without more ado, and he kept his word about the milk cow. + +As Dick pocketed the money, and took possession of the cow, he thought +what a very clever fellow he was, and he held his head high as he rode +out of the courtyard, and down the streets of Carlisle, still leading +one horse, and driving the cow in front of him. + +He had not gone very far before he met Lord Scroope's brother. + +"Well met, fool," he cried, laying his hand on Dick's bridle rein. +"Where in all the world didst get Johnie Armstrong's horse? I know 'tis +his by the white feet and white forelock. Has my brother been having a +fray with Scotland?" + +"No," said the fool proudly, "but I have. The horse is mine by right of +arms." + +"Wilt sell him me?" asked the Warden's brother, who loved a good horse +if only he could get him cheaply. "I will give thee ten pounds for him, +and a milk cow into the bargain." + +"Say twenty pounds," said Dick contemptuously, "and keep thy word about +the milk cow, else the horse goes with me to Morton Fair." + +Now the Warden's brother needed the horse, and, besides, it was not dear +even at twenty pounds, so he paid down the money, and told the fool +where to go for the milk cow. + +An hour later Dick appeared at his own cottage door, and shouted for his +wife. She rubbed her eyes and blinked with astonishment when she saw her +husband mounted on a good black horse, and driving two fat milk cows +before him. + +Like everyone else, she had always counted him a fool, and had never +looked for much help from him. So the loss of the three cows had been a +serious matter to her, for the money which their milk brought had done +much towards keeping up the house, and clothing the children. + +"Here, woman," he cried joyously, leaping from his horse, and emptying +the gold out of his pockets into her apron. "Thou madest a great to-do +over thy coverlets, but I trow that forty pounds of good red money will +pay for them fully, and the three cows which we lost were but thin, +starved creatures, compared with these two that I have brought back, and +here is a good horse into the bargain." + +It all seemed too good to be true, and Dick's wife rubbed her eyes once +more. "Take care that they be not taken from thee," she said. "Methinks +the Armstrongs will demand vengeance." + +"They will not get it from My Lord of Scroope," answered Dick, "for +'twas he who gave me leave to go and steal from them. But mayhap we live +too near the Borders for our own comfort, now that we are so rich. When +a man hath made his fortune by his wits, as I have, he deserves a little +peace in his old age. What wouldst thou think of going further South +into Westmoreland, and taking up house near thy mother's kinsfolk?" + +"I would think 'twas the wisest plan that ever entered that silly pate +of thine," answered his wife, who had never liked to live in such an +unsettled region. + +So they packed up their belongings, and, getting leave from Lord +Scroope, they went to live at Burghunder-Stanmuir, where they passed for +quite rich and clever people. + + + + +THE HEIR OF LINNE + + "Lithe and listen, gentlemen, + To sing a song I will beginne; + It is of a lord of faire Scotland, + Which was the unthrifty heire of Linne." + + +There was trouble in the ancient Castle of Linne. Upstairs in his +low-roofed, oak-panelled chamber the old lord lay dying, and the +servants whispered to one another, that, when all was over, and he was +gone, there would be many changes at the old place. For he had been a +good master, kind and thoughtful to his servants, and generous to the +poor. But his only son was a different kind of man, who thought only of +his own enjoyment; and John o' the Scales, the steward on the estate, +was a hard task-master, and was sure to oppress the poor and helpless +when the old lord was no longer there to keep an eye on him. + +By the sick man's bedside sat an old nurse, the tears running down her +wrinkled face. She had come to the castle long years before, with the +fair young mistress who had died when her boy was born. She had taken +the child from his dying mother's arms, and had brought him up as if he +had been her own, and many a time since he became a man she had mourned, +along with his father, over his reckless and sinful ways. + +Now she saw nothing before him but ruin, and she shook her head sadly, +and muttered to herself as she sat in the darkened room. + +"Janet," said the old lord suddenly, "go and tell the lad to speak to +me. He loves not to be chided, and of late years I have said but little +to him. It did no good, and only angered him. But there are things which +must be said, and something warns me that I must make haste to say +them." + +Noiselessly the old woman left the room, and went to do his bidding, and +presently slow, unwilling footsteps sounded on the staircase, and the +Lord of Linne's only son entered. + +His father's eye rested on him with a fondness which nothing could +conceal. For, as is the way with fathers, he loved him still, in spite +of all the trouble and sorrow and heartache which he had caused him. + +He was a fine-looking young fellow, tall and strong, and debonair, but +his face was already beginning to show traces of the wild and reckless +life which he was leading. + +"I am dying, my son," said his father, "and I have sent for thee to ask +thee to make me one promise." + +A shadow came over the young man's careless face. He feared that his +father might ask him to give up some of his boon companions, or never to +touch cards or wine again, and he knew that his will was so weak, that, +even if he made the promise, he would break it within a month. + +But his father knew this as well as he did, and it was none of these +things that he was about to ask, for he knew that to ask them would be +useless. + +"'Tis but a little promise, lad," he went on, "and one that thou wilt +find easy to keep. I am leaving thee a large estate, and plenty of gold, +but I know too well that in the days to come thou wilt spend the gold +and sell the land. Thou canst not do otherwise, if thou continuest to +lead the life thou art leading now. But think not that I sent for thee +to chide thee, lad; the day is past for that. Promise only, that when +the time I speak of hath come, and thou must needs sell the land, that +thou wilt refuse to part with one corner of it. 'Tis the little lodge +which stands in the narrow glen far up on the moor. 'Tis a tumble-down +old place, and no man would think it worth his while to pay thee a price +for it. It would go for an old song wert thou to sell it. Therefore I +pray thee to give me thy solemn promise that when thou partest with all +the rest, thou wilt still remain master of that. For remember this, +lad," and in his eagerness the old man raised himself in his bed, "when +all else is lost, and the friends whom thou hast trusted turn their +backs and frown on thee, then go to that old lodge, for in it, though +thou mayest not think so now, there will always be a trusty friend +waiting for thee. Say, wilt thou promise?" + +"Of course I will, father," said the young man, much moved; "but I never +mean to sell any of the land. I am not so bad as all that. But if it +makes thee happier, I swear now in thy presence that I will never part +with the old lodge." + +With a sigh of satisfaction the old lord fell back on his pillow, and +before his son could call for help he was dead. + +For the first few weeks after his father's death, the Heir of Linne +seemed sobered, and as if he intended to lead a better life; but after a +little while he forgot all about it, and began to riot and drink and +gamble as hard as ever. He filled the old house with his friends, and +wild revelry went on in it from morning till night. + +He had always been wild and reckless; he was worse than ever now. + +His father's friends shook their heads when they heard of his wild +doings. "It cannot go on," they said. "He is doing no work, and he is +throwing away his money right and left. Had he all the gold of the +Indies, it would soon come to an end at this rate." + +And they were right. It could not go on. + +One day the young man found that not one penny remained of all the money +which his father had left him, and there seemed nothing for it but to +sell some of his land. Money must be got somehow, for he was deeply in +debt. Besides, he had to live, and he had never been taught to work, +and, even if he had, he was too lazy and idle to do it. + +So away he went, and told his dilemma to his father's steward, John o' +the Scales, who, as I have said, was a hard man, and a rogue into the +bargain. He knew far more about money matters than his master's son, and +when he heard the story which he had to tell him, his wicked heart gave +a throb of joy. + +Here, at last, was the very opportunity which he had been looking for: +for, while the heir had been wasting his time, and spending his money, +instead of looking after his estates, the dishonest steward had been +filling his own pockets; and now he would fain turn a country gentleman. + +So, with many fair words, and a great show of sympathy, he offered to +buy the land for himself. + +"Young men would be young men," he said, "and 'twas no wonder that a +dashing young fellow, like the Heir of Linne, should wish to see the +world, rather than stay quietly at home and look after his land. That +was only fit for old men when they were past their prime. So, if he +desired to part with the land, he would give him a fair price for it, +and then there would be no need for him to trouble any more about money +matters." + +The foolish young man was quite ready to agree to this. All that he +cared about was how to get money to pay his debts, and to enable him to +go on gambling and drinking with his companions. + +So when John o' the Scales named a price for the land, and drew up an +agreement, he signed it readily, never dreaming that the cunning steward +was cheating him, and that the land was worth at least three times as +much as he was paying for it. There was only one corner of the estate +which he refused to sell, and that was the narrow glen, far out on the +hillside, where the old tumble-down lodge stood. + +For the Heir of Linne was not wholly bad, and he had enough manliness +left in him to remember the promise which he had made to his dying +father. + +So John o' the Scales became Lord of Linne, and a mighty big man he +thought himself. He went to live, with his wife Joan, in the old castle, +and he turned his back on his former friends, and tried to make everyone +forget that up till now he had only been a steward. + +Meanwhile the Heir of Linne, as people still called him--though, like +Esau, he had sold his birthright--went away quite happily now that his +pockets were once more filled with gold, and went on in his old ways, +drinking, and gambling, and rioting, with his boon companions, as if he +thought that this money would last for ever. + +But of course it did not, and one fine day, nearly a year after he had +sold his land, he found that his purse was quite empty again, except for +a few small coins. + +He had no more land to sell, and for the first time in his life he grew +thoughtful, and began to wonder what he should do. But he never took the +trouble to worry about anything, and he trusted that in the end it would +all come right. + +"I have no lack of friends," he thought to himself, "and in the past I +have entertained them right royally; surely now it is their turn to +entertain me, and by and by I shall look for work." + +So with a light heart he travelled to Edinburgh, where most of his fine +friends lived, never thinking but that they would be ready to receive +him with open arms. Alas! he had yet to learn that the people who are +most eager to share our prosperity are not always those who are readiest +to share our adversity. With all his faults he had ever been open-handed +and generous, and had lent his money freely, and he went boldly to their +doors, intending to ask them to lend him money in return, now that he +was in need of it. + +But, to his surprise, instead of being glad to see him, one and all gave +him the cold shoulder. + +At the first house the servant came to the door with the message that +his master was not at home, though the heir could have sworn that a +moment before he had seen him peeping through the window. + +The master of the next house was at home, but he began to make excuses, +and to say how sorry he was, but he had just paid all his bills, and he +had no more money by him; while at the third house his friend spoke to +him quite sharply, just as if he had been a stranger, and told him that +he ought to be ashamed of the way he had wasted his father's money, and +sold his land, and that certainly he could not think of lending gold to +him, as he would never expect to see it back again. + +The poor young man went out into the street, feeling quite dazed with +surprise. + +"Ah, lack-a-day!" he said to himself bitterly. "So these are the men who +called themselves my friends. As long as I was Heir of Linne, and master +of my father's lands, they seemed to love me right well. Many a meal +have they eaten at my table, and many a pound of mine hath gone into +their pockets; and this is how they repay me." + +After this things went from bad to worse. He tried to get work, but no +one would hire him, and it was not very long before the Heir of Linne, +who had been so proud and reckless in his brighter days, was going about +in ragged clothes, begging his bread from door to door. No one who saw +him now would have known him to be the bright-faced, handsome lad of +whom the old lord had been so proud a few years before. + +At last, one day when his courage was almost gone, the words which his +father had spoken on his death-bed, and which he had forgotten up till +now, flashed into his mind. + +"He said that I would find a faithful friend in the little lodge up in +the glen, when all my other friends had forsaken me," he said to +himself. "I cannot think what he meant, but surely now is the time to +test his words, for surely no man could be more forsaken than I am." + +So he turned his face from the city, and wended his way over hill and +dale, moor and river, till he came to the little lodge, standing in the +lonely glen, high up on the moors near the Castle of Linne. + +He had hardly seen the tumble-down old place since he was a boy, and +somehow, from his father's words, he expected to find someone living in +it--his good old nurse, perhaps. He was so worn out and miserable that +the tears came into his eyes at the mere thought of seeing her kindly +face. But the old building was quite deserted, and, when he forced open +the rusty lock, and entered, he found nothing but a low, dark, +comfortless room. The walls were bare and damp, and the little window +was so overgrown with ivy that scarcely any light could get in. There +was not even a chair or a table in it, nothing but a long rope with a +noose at the end of it, which hung dangling down from the ceiling. + +As his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, he noticed that on the +rafter above the rope there was written in large letters-- + +"_Ah, graceless wretch, I knew that thou wouldst soon spoil all, and +bring thyself to poverty. So, to hide thy shame, and bring thy sorrows +to an end, I left this rope, which will prove thy best friend._" + +"So my father knew the straits which my foolishness would bring me to, +and he thought of this way of ending my life," said the poor young man +to himself, and he felt so heart-broken, and so hopeless, that he put +his head in the noose and tried to hang himself. + +But this was not the end of which his father had been thinking when he +wrote the words; he had only meant to give his son a lesson, which he +hoped would be a warning to him. So, when he put his head in the noose, +and took hold of the rope, the beam that it was fastened to gave way, +and the whole ceiling came tumbling down on top of him. + +For a long time he lay stunned on the floor, and when at last he came to +himself, he could hardly remember what had happened. At last his eye +fell on a packet, which had fallen down with the wood and the mortar, +and was lying quite close to him. + +He picked it up and opened it. + +Inside there was a golden key, and a letter, which told him, that, if he +would climb up through the hole in the ceiling, he would find a hidden +room under the roof, and there, built into the wall, he would see three +great chests standing together. + +Wondering greatly to himself, he climbed up among the broken rafters, +and he found that what the letter said was true. Sure enough there was a +little dark room hidden under the roof, which no one had known of +before, and there, standing side by side in the wall, were three +iron-bound chests. + +There was something written above them, as there had been something +written above the rope, but this time the words filled him with hope. +They ran thus:-- + + "_Once more, my son, I set thee free; + Amend thy Life and follies past: + For if thou dost not amend thy life, + This rope will be thy end at last._" + +With trembling hands the Heir of Linne fitted the golden key into the +lock of one of the chests. It opened it easily, and when he raised the +lid, what was his joy to find that the chest was full of bags of good +red gold. There was enough of it to buy back his father's land, and when +he saw it he hid his face in his hands, and sobbed for very +thankfulness. + +The key opened the other two chests as well, and he found that one of +them was also full of gold, while the other was full of silver. + +It was plain that his father had known how recklessly he would spend his +money, and had stored up these chests for him here in this hidden place, +where no one was likely to find them, so that when he was penniless, and +had learned how wicked and stupid he had been, he might get another +chance if he liked to take it. + +He had indeed learned a lesson. + +With outstretched hands he vowed a vow that he would follow his father's +advice and mend his ways, and that from henceforth he would try to be a +better man, and lead a worthier life, and use this money in a better +way. + +Then he lifted out three bags of gold, and hid them in his ragged cloak, +and locked up the chests again, and took his way down the hill to his +father's castle. + +When he arrived, he peeped in at one of the windows, and there he saw +John o' the Scales, fat and prosperous-looking, sitting with his wife +Joan at the head of the table, and beside them three gentlemen who lived +in the neighbourhood. They were laughing, and feasting, and pledging +each other in glasses of wine, and, as he looked at them, he wondered +how he had ever allowed the sleek, cunning-looking steward to become +Lord of Linne in his father's place. + +With something of his old pride he knocked at the door, and demanded +haughtily to speak with the master of the castle. He was taken straight +to the dining-hall, and when John o' the Scales saw him standing in his +rags he broke into a rude laugh. + +"Well, Spendthrift," he cried, "and what may thine errand be?" + +The heir wondered if this man, who, in the old days had flattered and +fawned upon him, had any pity left, and he determined to try him. + +"Good John o' the Scales," he said, "I have come hither to crave thy +help. I pray thee to lend me forty pence." + +It was not a large sum. John o' the Scales had often had twice as much +from him, but the churlish fellow started up in a rage. + +"Begone, thou thriftless loon," he cried; "thou needst not come hither +to beg. I swear that not one penny wilt thou get from me. I know too +well how thou squandered thy father's gold." + +Then the heir turned to John o' the Scales' wife Joan. She was a woman; +perhaps she would be more merciful. + +"Sweet madam," he said, "for the sake of blessed charity, bestow some +alms on a poor wayfarer." + +But Joan o' the Scales was a hard woman, and she had never loved her +master's son, so she answered rudely, "Nay, by my troth, but thou shalt +get no alms from me. Thou art little better than a vagabond; if we had a +law to punish such, right gladly would I see thee get thy deserts." + +Now one of the guests who sat at the board with this rich and prosperous +couple was a knight called Sir Ned Agnew. He was not rich, but he was a +gentleman, and he had been a friend of the old lord, and had known the +Heir when he was a boy, and now, when he saw him standing, ragged and +hungry, in the hall that had once been his own, he could not bear that +he should be driven away with hard and cruel words. Besides, he felt +very indignant with John o' the Scales, for he knew that he had bought +the land far too cheaply. He had not much money to lend, but he could +always spare a little. + +"Come back, come back," he cried hastily, as he saw the Heir turn as if +to leave the house. "Whatever thou art now, thou wert once a right good +fellow, and thou wert always ready to part with thy money to anyone who +needed it. I am a poor man myself, but I can lend thee forty pence at +least; in fact I think that I could lend thee eighty, if thou art in +sore want." Then, turning to his host, he added, "The Heir of Linne is a +friend of mine, and I will count it a favour if thou wilt let him have a +seat at thy table. I think it is as little as thou canst do, seeing that +thou hadst the best of the bargain about his land." + +John o' the Scales was very angry, but he dare not say much, for he knew +in his heart that what the knight said was true, and, moreover, he did +not want to quarrel with him, for he liked to be able to go to market, +where people were apt to think of him still as the castle steward, and +boast about "my friend, Sir Ned." + +"Nay, thou knowest 'tis false," he blustered, "and I'll take my vow +that, far from making a good bargain, I lost money over that matter, +and, to prove what I say, I am willing to offer this young man, in the +presence of you all, his lands back again, for a hundred merks less than +I gave for them." + +"'Tis done," cried the Heir of Linne, and before the astonished John o' +the Scales could speak, he had thrown down a piece of money on the table +before him. + +"'Tis a God's-penny," cried the guests in amazement, for when anyone +threw down a piece of money in that way, it meant that they had accepted +the bargain, and that the other man could not draw back. + +[Illustration: "'TIS A GOD'S-PENNY,' CRIED THE GUESTS IN AMAZEMENT."] + +Then the Heir pulled out the three bags of gold from under his cloak, +and threw them down on the table before John o' the Scales, who began to +look very grave. He had never dreamt, when he offered to let the young +man buy back the land, that he would ever be able to do it. He had meant +it as a joke, and the joke was very much like turning into a reality. +His face grew longer and longer as the Heir emptied out the good red +gold in a heap. + +"Count it," he cried triumphantly. "It is all there, and honest money. +It is thine, and the land is mine, and once more I am the Lord of +Linne." + +Both John o' the Scales and his wife were very much taken aback; but +there was nothing to be done but to count the money and to gather it up. +John would fain have asked to be taken back as steward again, but the +young lord knew now how dishonest he had been, and would not hear of +such a thing. + +"No, no," he said, "it is honest men whom I want now, and men who will +be my friends when I am poor, as well as when I am rich. I think I have +found such a man here," and he turned to Sir Ned Agnew. "If thou wilt +accept the post, I shall be glad to have thee for my steward, and for +the keeper of my forests, and my deer, as well. And for everyone of the +pence which thou wert willing to lend me, I will pay thee a full pound." + +So once more the rightful lord reigned in the Castle of Linne, and to +everyone's surprise he settled down, and grew so like his father, that +strangers who came to the neighbourhood would not believe the stories +which people told them of the wild things which he had done in his +youth. + + + + +BLACK AGNACE OF DUNBAR + + "Some sing o' lords, and some o' knichts, + An' some o' michty men o' war, + But I sing o' a leddy bricht, + The Black Agnace o' Dunnebar." + + +It was in the year 1338, when Bruce's son was but a bairn, and Scotland +was guided by a Regent, that we were left, a household of women, as it +were, to guard my lord's strong Castle of Dunbar. + +My lord himself, Cospatrick, Earl of Dunbar and March, had ridden off to +join the Regent, Sir Andrew Moray, and help him to drive the English out +of the land. For the English King, Edward III., thought it no shame to +war with bairns, and since he had been joined by that false loon, Edward +Baliol, he had succeeded in taking many of our Scottish fortresses, +including Edinburgh Castle, and in planting an English army in our +midst. + +Now the Castle of Dunbar, as all folk know, is a strong Castle, standing +as it doth well out to sea, on a mass of solid rock, and connected with +the mainland only by one narrow strip of land, which is defended by a +drawbridge and portcullis, and walls of solid masonry. Its other sides +need no defence, for the wild waters of the Northern Sea beat about them +with such fury that it is only at certain times of the tide that even +peaceful boatmen can find a safe landing. Indeed, 'tis one of the +strongest fortresses in the country, and because of its position, lying +not so far from the East Border, and being guard as it were to the +Lothians, and Edinburgh, it is often called "The Key of Scotland." + +My lord deemed it impregnable, as long as it was well supplied with +food, so he had little scruple in leaving his young wife and her two +little daughters alone there, with a handful of men-at-arms, too old, +most of them, to be of any further service in the field, to guard them. + +She, on her part, was very well content to stay, for was she not a +daughter of the famous Randolph, and did she not claim kinship with +Bruce himself? So fear to her was a thing unknown. + +I, who was a woman of fifty then, and am well-nigh ninety now, can truly +say that in all the course of a long life, I never saw courage like to +hers. + +I remember, as though it were yesterday, that cold January morning when +my lord set off to the Burgh Muir, where he was to meet with the Regent. +When all was ready, and his men were mounted and drawn up, waiting for +their master, my lady stepped forth joyously, in the sight of them all, +and buckled on her husband's armour. + +"Ride forth and do battle for thy country and thine infant King, poor +babe," she said, "and vex not thy heart for us who are left behind. We +deserve not the name we bear, if we cannot hold the Castle till thy +return, even though it were against King Edward himself. Thinkest thou +not so, Marian?" and she turned round to where I was standing, a few +paces back, with little Mistress Marjory clinging to my skirts, and +little Mistress Jean in my arms. + +For though I was but her bower-woman, I was of the same clan as my lady, +and had served in her family all my life. I had carried her in my arms +as I now carried her little daughter, and, at her marriage, I had come +with her to her husband's home. + +"Indeed, Madam, I trow we can, God and the Saints helping us," I +answered, and at her brave words the soldiers raised a great cheer, and +my lord, who was usually a stern man, and slow to show his feelings, put +his arm round her and kissed her on the lips. + +"Spoken like my own true wife," he said. "But in good troth, Sweetheart, +methinks there is nothing to fear. For very shame neither King Edward +nor his Captains will war against a woman, and, e'en if they do, if thou +but keep the gates locked, and the portcullis down, I defy any one of +them to gain admittance. And, look ye, the well in the courtyard will +never run dry--'tis sunk in the solid rock--and besides the beeves that +were salted down at Martinmas, and the meal that was laid in at the end +of harvest, there are bags of grain hidden down in the dungeons, enough +to feed a score of men for three months at least." + +So saying, he leaped into his saddle, and rode out of the gateway, a +gallant figure at the head of his troop of armed men, while we climbed +to the top of the tower, and stood beside old Andrew, the watchman, and +gazed after them until the last glint of their armour disappeared behind +a rising hill. + +After their departure all went well for a time. Indeed, it was as though +the years had flown back, and my lady was once more a girl, so +light-hearted and joyous was she, pleased with the novelty of being left +governor of that great Castle. It seemed but a bit of play when, after +ordering the house and setting the maidens to their tasks, she went +round the walls with Walter Brand, a lame archer, who was gently born, +and whom she had put in charge of our little fighting force, to see that +all the men were at their posts. + +And mere play it seemed to her still, when, some two weeks after my +lord's departure, as she was sitting sewing in her little chamber, whose +windows looked straight out over the sea, and I was rocking Mistress +Jean's cradle, and humming a lullaby, little Mistress Marjory, who was +five years old, and stirring for her age, came running down from the +watch-tower, where she had been with old Andrew, and cried out that a +great host of men on horseback were coming, and that old Andrew said +that it was the English. + +We were laughing at the bairn's story, and wondering who the strangers +could be, when old Andrew himself appeared, a look of concern on his +usually jocund face. + +"Oh, my lady," he cried, "there be a body of armed men moving towards +the Castle, led by a knight in splendid armour. A squire rides in front +of him, carrying his banner; but the device is unknown to me, and I fear +me it was never wrought by Scottish hands." + +"Ah ha," laughed the Countess, rising and throwing away her tapestry. +"Thou scentest an Englishman, dost thou, Andrew? Mayhap thy thoughts +have run on them so much of late, that the habit hath dimmed thine +eyes." + +"Nay, nay, my lady," stammered old Andrew, half hurt by her gentle +raillery, "mine een are keen enough as yet, although my limbs be old." + +"'Tis but my sport, Andrew," she answered kindly. "I have always loved a +jest, and I have no wish to grow old and grave before my time, even if I +have the care of a whole Castle on my shoulders. But hark, there be the +stranger's trumpets sounding before the gate. See to it that Walter +Brand listens to his message, and answers it as befits the dignity of +our house: and thou, do thou mount to thy watch-tower, and keep a good +lookout on all that passes." + +We waited in silence for some little space; we could hear the sound of +voices, but no distinct words reached us. + +At last Walter Brand came halting to the door and knocked. Like old +Andrew, he wore an anxious look. He was devoted to the Countess, and was +aye wont to be timorous where she was concerned. + +"'Tis the English Earl of Salisbury," he said, "who desires to speak +with your Grace. I asked him to entrust his message to me, and I would +deliver it, but he gave answer haughtily, that he would speak with no +one but the Countess." + +"Then speak with me he shall," said my lady, with a flash of her eye, +"but he must e'en bring himself to catch my words as they drop like +pearls from the top of the tower. Summon the archers, Walter, and let +them stand behind me for a bodyguard: no man need know how old and frail +they be, if they are high enough up, and keep somewhat in the +background. And thou, Marian, attend me, for 'tis not fitting that the +Countess of Dunbar and March should speak with a strange knight in her +husband's absence, without a bower-woman standing by." + +Casting her wimple round her, she ascended the steep stone stairs, and, +as we followed, Walter Brand put his head close to mine. "I like it +not," he said in his sober way, "for this Earl of Salisbury is a bold, +brazen-faced fellow, and to my ears his voice rings not true. I fear me, +he wishes no good to our lady. They say, moreover, that he is one of the +best Captains that the King of England hath, and he hath at least two +hundred men with him." + +"Trust my lady to look after her own, and her husband's honour," I said +sharply, for, good man though he was, Walter Brand aye angered me; he +seemed ever over-anxious, a character I love not in a man. + +All the same my heart sank, as we stepped out on the flat roof of the +tower, and glanced down over the battlements. + +I saw at once that Walter had spoken truly. Montague, Earl of Salisbury, +had a bold, bad face, and his words, though honeyed and low, had a false +ring in them. + +"My humblest greetings, fair lady," he cried; "my life is at thy +service, for I heard but yesterday that thy lord, caitiff that he be, +hath left thee alone among rough men, in this lonely wind-swept Castle. +Methinks thou art accustomed to kinder treatment and therefore am I come +to beg thee to open thy gates, and allow me to enter. By my soul, if +thou wilt, I shall be thy servant to the death. Such beauty as thine was +never meant to be wasted in the desert. Let me enter, and be thy friend, +and I will deck thee with such jewels,--with gold and with pearls, that +thou shalt be envied of all the ladies in Christendom." + +My lady drew herself up proudly; but even yet she thought it was some +sport, albeit not the sport that should have been offered to a noble +dame in her husband's absence. + +"Little care I for gold, or yet for pearls, my Lord of Salisbury," she +said in grave displeasure. "I have jewels enough and to spare, and need +not that a stranger should give them to me. As for the gates, I am a +loyal wife, and I open them to no one until my good lord return." + +Now, had my Lord of Salisbury been a true knight, or even a plain, +honest, leal soldier, this answer of my lady's would have sufficed, and +he would have parleyed no more, but would have departed, taking his men +with him. But, villain that he was, his honeyed words rose up once more +in answer. + +"Oh, lady bright, oh, lady fair," he cried, "I pray thee have mercy on +thy humble servant, and open thy gates and speak with him. Thou art far +too beautiful to live in these cold Northern climes, among rough and +brutal men. Come with me, and I will dress thee in cloth-of-gold, and +take thee along with me to London. King Edward will welcome thee, for +thy beauty will add lustre to his court, and we shall be married with +all speed. I warrant the Countess of Salisbury will be a person of +importance at the English court, and thou shalt have a retinue such as +in this barren country ye little dream of. Thou shalt have both lords +and knights to ride in thy train, and twenty little page boys to serve +thee on bended knee; and hawks, and hounds, and horses galore, so thou +wouldst join in the chase. Think of it, lady, and consider not thy rough +and unkind lord. If he had loved thee in the least, would he have left +thee in my power?" + +Now the English lord's words were sweet, and he spoke in the soft +Southern tongue, such as might wile a bird from the lift,[14] if the +bird chanced to have little sense, and when he ceased I glanced at my +lady in alarm, lest for a moment she were tempted. + + [Footnote 14: Sky.] + +Heaven forgive me for the thought. + +She had drawn herself up to her full height, and her face of righteous +anger might have frightened the Evil One himself; and, by my Faith, I am +not so very sure that it was not the Evil One who spoke by the mouth of +my Lord of Salisbury. + +The Countess was very stately, and of wondrous beauty. "Black Agnace," +the common folk were wont to call her, because of her raven hair and jet +black eyes. Verily at that moment these eyes of hers burned like stars +of fire. + +"Now shame upon thee, Montague, Earl of Salisbury," she cried, and +because of her indignation her voice rang out clear as a trumpet. "Open +my gates to _thee_, forsooth! go to London with _thee_, and be married +to _thee_ there, and bear thy name, and ride in the chase with thy +horses and hounds, as if I were thy lawful Countess. Shame on thee, I +say. I trow thou callest thyself a belted Earl, and a Christian Knight, +and thou comest to me, the wife of a belted Earl--who, thank God, is +also a Christian Knight, and a good man and true, moreover, which is +more than thou art--with words like these. Yea," and she drew a dainty +little glove from her girdle, and threw it down at the Earl's feet, "I +cry thrice shame on thee, and here I fling defiance in thy face. Keep +thy cloth-of-gold for thine own knights' backs; and as for thy squires +and pages, if thou hast so many of them, give them each a sword, and set +them on a horse, and bring them here to swell thy company. Bring them +here, I say, and let them try to batter down these walls, for in no +other way wilt thou ever set foot in Dunbar Castle." + +A subdued murmur, as if of applause, ran through the ranks of the armed +men, who stood drawn up in a body behind the English Earl. For men love +bravery wherever they chance to meet it, and I trow we must have seemed +to them but a feeble company to take upon us the defence of the Castle, +and to throw defiance in the teeth of their lord. + +But the bravery of the Countess did not seem to strike their leader; +possibly he was not accustomed to receive such answers from the lips of +women. His face flushed an angry red as his squire picked up my lady's +little white glove and handed it to him. + +"Now, by my soul, Madam," he cried, "thou shalt find that it is no light +matter to jeer at armed men. I have come to thee with all courtesy, +asking thee to open thy Castle gates, and thou hast flouted me to my +face. Well, so be it. When next I come, 'twill be with other words, and +other weapons. Mayhap thou wilt be more eager to treat with me then." + +"Bring what thou wilt, and come when thou wilt," answered my lady +passionately, "thou shalt ever find the same answer waiting thee. These +gates of mine open to no one save my own true lord." + +With a low mocking bow the Earl turned his horse's head to the South, +and galloped away, followed by his men. + +We stood on the top of the tower and watched them, I, with a heart full +of anxious thoughts for the time that was coming, my lady with her head +held high, and her eyes flaming, while the men stood apart and whispered +among themselves. For we all knew that, although the English had taken +themselves off, it was only for a time, and that they would return +without fail. + +When the last horseman had disappeared among the belt of trees which lay +between us and the Lammermuirs, my lady turned round, her bonnie face +all soft and quivering. + +"Will ye stand by me, my men?" she asked. + +"That will we, till the death, my lady," answered they, and one after +another they knelt at her feet and kissed her hand, while, as for me, I +could but take her in my arms, as I had done oft-times when she was a +little child, and pray God to strengthen her noble heart. + +Her emotion passed as quickly as it had come, however, and in a moment +she was herself again, laughing and merry as if it had all been a game +of play. + +"Come down, Walter; come down, my men," she cried; "we must e'en hold a +council of war, and lay our plans; while old Andrew will keep watch for +us, and tell us when the black-faced knave is like to return." + +And when we went downstairs into the great hall, and found that the +silly wenches had heard all that had passed, and were bemoaning +themselves for lost, and frightening little Mistress Marjory and +Mistress Jean well-nigh out of their senses, I warrant she did not spare +them, but called them a pack of chicken-hearted, thin-blooded baggages, +and threatened that if they did not hold their tongues, and turn to +their duties at once, she would send them packing, and then they would +be at the mercy of the English in good earnest. + +After that we set to work and made such preparations as we could. We set +the wenches to draw water from the well, and to bake a good store of +bannocks to be ready in time of need, for the men must not be hungry +when they fought. Walter Brand and two of the strongest men-at-arms set +to work to strengthen the gates, by laying ponderous billets of wood +against them, and clasping these in their places by strong iron bars; +while the rest, led by old Andrew, went round the Castle, looking to the +loopholes, and the battlements, and examining the cross-bows and other +weapons. + +Upstairs and downstairs went my lady, overlooking everything, thinking +of everything, as became a daughter of the great Randolph, while I sat +and kept the bairns, who, poor little lassies, were puzzled to know what +all the stir and din was about. + +And indeed it was none too soon to look to all these things, for +although the country seemed quiet enough through the hours of that short +afternoon, when night fell, and I was putting the bairns to bed, my lady +helping me--for, when one bears a troubled heart (and her heart must +have been troubled, in spite of her cheerful face), it aye seems lighter +when the hands are full--a little page came running in to tell us that +there were lights flickering to Southward among the trees. + +"Now hold thy silly tongue, laddie," said I, for I was anxious that we +should at least get one good night's rest before the storm and stress of +war came upon us. + +My lady looked up with a smile from where she was kneeling beside +Mistress Jean's cradle. "Let him be, Marian," she said; "the lad meant +it well, and 'tis good to know how the danger threatens. Come, we will +go up and watch with old Andrew." + +So, as soon as the bairns were asleep, we threw plaids over our heads, +and crept up the narrow stairs to where old Andrew was watching in his +own little tower, which stood out from the great tower like a +corbie's[15] nest, and, crouching down behind the battlements to gain +some shelter from the cruel wind, we watched the flickering lights +coming nearer and nearer from the Southward, and listened to the +shouting of men, and the tramp of horses' hoofs, which we could hear at +times coming faintly through the storm. + + [Footnote 15: Crow's.] + +For two long hours we waited, and then, as we could only guess what was +taking place, it being far too dark to see, we crept down the narrow +stairs again, stiff and chilled, and threw ourselves, all dressed as we +were, on our beds. + +The gray winter dawn of next morning showed us that the English Earl +meant to do his best to reduce our fortress in good earnest, for a small +army of men had been brought up in the night, from Berwick most likely, +and they were encamped on a strip of greensward facing the Castle. They +must have spent a busy night, for already the tents had been pitched, +and fires lit, and the men were now engaged in cooking their breakfast, +and attending to their horses. At the sight my heart grew heavier and +heavier; but my lady's spirits seemed to rise. + +"'Tis a brave sight, is it not, Marian?" she said. "In good troth, my +Lord of Salisbury does us too much honour, in setting a camp down at our +gates, to amuse us in our loneliness. Methinks that is his own tent, +there on the right, with the pennon floating in front of it; and there +are the mangonells behind," and she pointed to a row of strange-looking +machines, which were drawn up on a hill a little way to the rear. "Well, +'tis a stony coast; his lordship will have no trouble in finding stones +to load them with." + +"What be they, madam?" I asked, for in all my life I had never seen such +things before. + +My lady laughed as she turned her head to greet Walter Brand, who came +up the stairs at that moment. + +"Welcome, Walter," she said merrily. "We are just taking the measure of +our foes, and here is Marian, who has never seen mangonells before, +wondering what they are. They are engines for shooting stones with, +Marian; for well the knaves know that arrows are but poor weapons with +which to batter stone walls. But see, the fray begins, for yonder are +the archers approaching, and yonder go the men down to the sea-shore to +gather stones for the mangonells. Thou and I must e'en go down and leave +the men to brave the storm. See to it, Walter, that they do not expose +themselves unduly; we could ill afford to lose one of them." + +Then began the weary onslaught which lasted for so many weeks. In good +faith it seems to me that, had we known, when that first rush of arrows +sounded through the air, how long it would be ere we were quiet again, +we scarce would have had the courage to go on. And when those infernal +engines were set off, and their volleys of stones and jagged pieces of +iron sounded round our ears, the poor silly wenches lost their heads, +and screamed aloud, while the bairns clung to my skirts, and hid their +chubby faces in the folds. + +But even then my lady was not daunted. Snatching up a napkin, she ran +lightly up the stairs, and before anyone could stop her, she stepped +forward to the battlements, and there, all unheeding of the danger in +which she stood from the arrows of the enemy, she wiped the fragments of +stone, and bits of loose mortar daintily from the walls, as if to show +my Lord of Salisbury how little our Castle could be harmed by all the +stones he liked to hurl against it. + +It was bravely done, and again a murmur of admiration went through the +English ranks; and--for I was peeping through a loophole--I trow that +even the haughty Earl's face softened at the sight of her. + +The story of that first day is but the story of many more days that +followed. Showers of arrows flew from the cross-bows, volleys of stones +fell from the mangonells, until we got so used to the sound of them, +that by the third week the veriest coward among the maidens would go +boldly up and wipe the dust away where a stone had been chipped, or +another displaced, as calmly as our lady herself had done on that first +terrible morning. + +Their archers did little harm, for our men were so few, and our places +of shelter so many, that they ran small risk of being hurt, and although +one or two poor fellows were killed, and half a dozen more had wounds, +it was nothing to be compared with the loss which the English suffered, +for our archers had the whole army to take aim at, and I wot their +shafts flew sure. + +In vain they brought battering-rams and tried to batter down the doors. +Our portcullis had resisted many an onslaught, and the gates behind it +were made of oak a foot thick, and studded all over with iron nails, and +they might as well have thought to batter down the Bass Rock itself. + +So, in spite of all, as the weeks went by, we began to feel fairly safe +and comfortable, although my lady never relaxed her vigilance, and went +her round of the walls, early and late. At Walter's request she began to +wear a morion on her head, and a breast-plate of fine steel, to protect +her against any stray arrow, and in them, to my mind, she looked bonnier +than ever. In good sooth, I think the very English soldiers loved her, +not to speak of our own men; for whenever she appeared they would raise +their caps as if in homage, and hum a couplet which ran in some wise +thus-- + + "Come I early, come I late, + I find Annot at the gate," + +as if they would praise her for her tireless watchfulness. One day, Earl +Montague himself, moved to admiration by the manner in which Walter +Brand had sent his shaft through the heart of an English knight, cried +out in the hearing of all his army, "There comes one of my lady's +tire-pins; Agnace's love-shafts go straight to the heart." At which +words all our men broke into a mighty shout, and cheered, and cheered +again, till the walls rang, and the echoes floated back from far out +over the sea. + +In spite of their admiration at our lady's bravery, however, the English +were determined to conquer the Castle, and after a time, when they saw +that their battering-rams and mangonells availed little, they bethought +them of a more dangerous weapon of warfare. + +It was somewhere towards the end of February, when one fine day a mighty +sound of hammering arose from the midst of their camp. + +"What are they doing now, think ye, Walter?" asked my lady lightly. "Is +it possible that they look for so long a siege that they are beginning +to build houses for themselves? Truly they are wise, for if my Lord of +Salisbury means to stay there until I open my gates to him, he will grow +weary of braving these harsh East winds in no better shelter than a +tent." + +But for once Walter Brand had no answering smile to give her. + +"I fear me 'tis a sow that they are making," he said, "and if that be so +we had need to look to our arms." + +"A sow," repeated the Countess in graver tones. "I have oft heard of +such machines, but I never saw one. Thy words hint of danger, Walter. Is +a sow then so deadly that our walls cannot resist its onslaught?" + +"It is deadly because it brings the enemy nearer us, my lady," answered +Walter. "Hitherto our walls have been our shelter; without them we could +not stand a moment, for we are outnumbered by the English a score of +times over. These sows, as men name them, are great wooden buildings, +which can hold at least forty men inside, and with a platform above +where other thirty can stand. They be mounted on two great wheels, and +can be run close up to the walls, and as they are oft as high as a +house, 'twill be an easy matter for the men who stand on the platform to +set up ladders and scale our walls, and after that what chance will +there be for our poor handful of men? 'Tis not for myself I fear," he +went on, "nor yet for the men. We are soldiers and we can face death; +but if thou wouldst not fall into the hands of this English Earl, my +lady, I would advise that thou, and Marian, and little Mistress Marjory +and Mistress Jean, should set out in the boat the first dark night, when +it is calm. 'Tis but ten miles to the Bass, and thou couldst aye find +shelter there." + +Thus spake honest Walter, who was, as I have said, ever timorous where +my lady was concerned; but at his words she shook her head. + +"And leave the Castle, Walter?" she said. "That will I never do till I +open its doors to my own true lord. As for this English Earl and his +sows--tush! I care not for them. If they have wood we have rock, my lad, +and I warrant 'twill be a right strong sow that will stand upright after +a lump of Dunbar rock comes crashing down on its back; so keep up thy +courage, and get out the picks and crowbars. If they build sows by day, +we can quarry stones by night." + +So saying, my lady shook her little white fist, by way of defiance, in +the direction of the tents which studded the greensward opposite, while +Walter went off to do her bidding, muttering to himself that the famous +Randolph himself was not better than she, for she had been born with the +courage of Bruce, and the wisdom of Solomon. + +So it came about, that, while the English gave over wasting arrows for a +time, and turned their attention to the building of two great clumsy +wooden structures, we would steal down in a body on dark nights to the +little postern that opened on the shore, when the waves were dashing +against the rocks, and making enough noise to deaden the sound of the +picks, and while we women held a lanthorn or two, the men worked with +might and main, hewing at the solid rock which stretched out to seaward +for a few yards at the foot of the Castle wall. Then, when some huge +block was loosened, ropes would be lowered, and with much ado, for our +numbers were small, the unwieldy mass would be hoisted up, and placed in +position on the top of the Castle, hidden, it is true, behind the +battlements, but with the stones in front of it displaced, so that it +could be rolled over with ease at a given signal. + +We all took a turn at the ropes, and our hands were often raw and frayed +with the work. 'Twas my lady who suffered most, for her skin was fine, +and up till now she had never known what such labour meant. + +At last the day came when the English mounted their great white sows on +wheels, and filled them with armed men, and loaded the roofs of them +with broad-shouldered, strapping fellows, who carried ladders and irons +with which to scale our walls. When all was ready the mighty machines +began to move forward, pushed by scores of willing arms, while we +watched them in silence. + +My lady and I were hidden in old Andrew's tower, for no word that Walter +Brand could say could persuade her to go down beside Mistress Marjory, +and Mistress Jean, and the serving wenches. + +Instead of shooting, our archers stood motionless, stationed in groups +behind the great boulders of rock, ready for Walter's signal. + +On came the sows, until we could look down and see the men they carried, +with upturned faces, and hands busy with the ladders they were raising +to place against the walls. They were trundled over the narrow strip of +land which connected us with the mainland, and stood still at last, +close to our very gates. + +"Now, lads," shouted Walter, and before a single ladder could be placed, +our great blocks of rock went crashing down on them, hurling the top men +in all directions, and driving in the wooden roofs on those who were +inside. + +Woe's me! Although they were our enemies, our hearts melted at the +sight. The timbers of the sows cracked and fell in, and we could see +nought but a mass of mangled, bleeding wretches. Had it not been that my +lady feared treachery, and that she had sworn not to open the gates +except to her husband, I ween she would fain have taken us all out to +succour them. + +As it was, we could only watch and pity, and keep the bairns in the +chambers that looked on the sea, so that their young eyes should not +gaze on so ghastly a scene. + +And when night fell, and there was no light to guide our archers to +shoot, though I trust that, in any case, mercy would have kept them from +it, the English stole across the causeway, and pulled away the broken +beams, and carried off the dead and wounded, and burned what remained of +the sows. + +After that day we had no more trouble from any attempts to storm the +Castle. + +But what force cannot do, hunger may. So my Lord of Salisbury, still +sitting in front of our gates with his army, in order to prevent help +reaching us from the land, set about starving us into submission. As yet +we had had no need to trouble about food, for, as I have said, we had a +store of grain, enough to last for some weeks yet, in the dungeon, and, +long ere it was done, we looked for help reaching us by the sea, if it +could not reach us by land. + +It was soon made plain to us, however, that not only my Lord of +Salisbury, but his royal master, King Edward, was determined that the +"Key of Scotland" should fall into his hand, for one fine March morning +a great fleet of ships came sailing round St Abb's Head, and took up +their station betwixt us and the Bass Rock, and then we were left, +without hope of succour, until our stock of provisions should be eaten +up, and starvation forced us to give in. + +Ah me! but it was weary work, living through the ever-lengthening days +of that cold bleak springtime, waiting for the help which never came, +which never could come, so it seemed to us, with that army watching us +from the land, and that fleet of ships girding us in on the sea. + +And all the time our store of food sank lower and lower, and the +wenches' faces grew white, and the men pulled their belts tighter round +their middles, and poor little Mistress Jean would turn wearily away +from the water gruel which was all we had to give her, and moan and cry +for the white bread and the milk to which she was accustomed. Mistress +Marjory, on the other hand, being five years old, and wise for her +years, never complained, though oft-times she would let the spoon fall +into her porringer at supper-time, and, laying her head against my +sleeve, would say in a wistful little voice that went to my very heart, +"I cannot eat it, Marian; I am not hungry to-night." + +As for my lady, she went about in those days in silence, with a stern, +set face. It must have seemed to her that when the meal was all gone she +must needs give in, for she could not see her children die before her +eyes. + +But Providence is aye ready to help those who help themselves, and, late +one evening, towards the latter end of May, when we had held the castle +for five long months, I chanced to be sitting alone in my chamber, when +the Countess entered, looking very pale and wan. + +"Wrap a plaid round thee, and come to the top of the tower, Marian," she +said. "I cannot sleep, and I long for a breath of fresh air. It doth me +no good to go up there by day, for I can see nothing but these English +soldiers in front, and these English ships behind. But by night it is +different. It is dark then, and I forget for a time how closely beset we +are, and how few handfuls of meal there are in the girnels.[16] I will +tell thee, Marian," and here her voice sank to a whisper, "what as yet +only myself and Walter Brand know, that if help doth not come within a +week, we must either open our gates, or starve like rats in a hole." + + [Footnote 16: Meal-barrels.] + +"But a week is aye a week," I said soothingly, for I was frightened at +the wildness of her look, "and help may come before it passes." + +All the same my heart was heavy within me as I threw a wrap round my +head, and followed her up the narrow stone stairs, and out on to the +flat roof of the tower. + +The footing was bad in the darkness, for although the battlements had +been built up again since the day that we destroyed the sows, there were +stones and pieces of rock lying about in all directions, and not being +so young and light of foot as I once had been, I stumbled and fell. + +"Do not stir till I get a light," cried my lady; "it is dangerous up +here in the dark, and a twisted ankle would not mend matters." + +She felt her way over to Andrew's watch-tower, and the old man lighted +his lanthorn for her, and she came quickly back again, holding it low in +case the enemy should see it, and send a few arrows in our direction. By +its light I raised myself, and we went across to the northern turret, +which looked straight over to the Bass Rock, and stood there, resting +our arms on the wall. + +Suddenly a speck of light shone out far ahead in the darkness. It +flickered for a second and then disappeared. In a moment or two it +appeared again, and then disappeared in the same way. I drew my lady's +attention to it. + +"'Tis a light from the Bass," she said in an excited whisper. "Someone +is signalling. It can hardly be to the English, for the Rock is held by +friends. Is it possible they can have seen our lanthorn? Let us try +again. The English loons are likely to be asleep by now; they have had +little to disturb their rest for some weeks back, and may well have +grown lazy." + +Cautiously she raised the lanthorn, and flashed its rays, once, twice, +thrice over the waves. It was only for a second, but it was enough. The +spark of light appeared three times in answer, and then all was dark +again. + +"Run and tell Walter," whispered my lady, and her very voice had +changed. It was once more full of life and hope. The Bass Rock was but +ten miles off, and if there were friends there watching us, and +doubtless making plans to help us, was not that enough? + +When Walter came we tried our test for the fourth time, and the answer +came back as before. + +"We must watch the sea, my lady," he said, when we were safely down in +the great hall again. "Help will only come that way, and it will come in +the dark. Heaven send that the English sailors have not seen what we +have, and keep a double watch in consequence." + +After that, we hardly slept. Night after night, we strained our eyes +through the darkness in the direction of the Bass, and for five nights +our watching was in vain. + +But on the sixth, a Sunday, just on the stroke of twelve, the silence +which had lasted so long was broken by the sound of shouting, and lights +sprang up all round us, first on the ships and then on the land. + +With anxious hearts we crowded round the loopholes, for we knew that +somewhere, out among the lights, brave men were making a dash for our +rescue, and we women, who could do nothing else, lifted up our hearts, +and prayed that Heaven and the Holy St Michael would aid their efforts. + +Meanwhile, the men manned the walls, ready to shoot if the English ships +came within bow-shot, which they were scarce likely to do, as the coast +was wild and rocky, and fraught with danger to those who were +unacquainted with it. + +Presently Walter called for wood to make a fire outside the little +postern which opened on the rocks, and we ceased our prayers, and fell +to work with a will, with the kitchen-wenches' choppers, on the empty +barrels which were piled up in a corner of a cellar. We even drained our +last flagon of oil to pour over them, and soon a fire was blazing on the +rudely-cut-out landing-stage, and throwing its beams far out over the +sea. + +And there, dim and shadowy at first, but aye coming nearer and nearer, +guided by its light, we saw a boat, not cut in any foreign fashion, but +built and rigged near St Margaret's Hope. It was full of men; we could +hear them cheering and shouting in our own good Scots tongue, which fell +kindly on our ears after the soft mincing English which had been thrown +at our heads for so many months. + +They were safe now, for, as I have said, the ships through which they +had slipped dare not follow them too near the coast, in case they ran +upon the rocks, and the Castle sheltered them from any arrows which +might be sent from the land. It sheltered us too, and we crowded down to +the little landing-stage, and watched with breathless interest the boat +which was bringing safety and succour to us. + +"Bring down the bairns, Marian," said my lady. "Marjory at least is of +an age to remember this." + +I hastened to do her bidding, and, calling one of the wenches, we ran up +and roused the sleeping lambs, telling them stories of the wonderful +boat which was coming over the sea, bringing them nice things to eat +once more; for, poor babes, the lack of dainty fare had been the hardest +part of all the siege for them. + +We had hardly got downstairs again, when the boat ran close up to our +roughly constructed landing-stage, which was little more than a ledge of +rock, and willing hands seized the ropes which were flung out to them. + +Then amidst such cheering as I shall never forget, her crew jumped out. +Forty men of them there were, strong, stalwart, strapping fellows, +looking very different from our own poor lads, who were pinched and thin +from long watching, and meagre fare. Their leader was Sir Alexander +Ramsay of Dalhousie, one of the bravest of Scottish knights, and most +chivalrous of men, who had risked his life, and the lives of his men, in +order to bring us help. + +"Now Heaven and all the Saints be thanked, we are in time," he cried, as +his eyes rested on my lady, who was standing at the head of the steps +which led up to the little postern, with one babe in her arms, and the +other clinging to her gown, "for dire tales have reached us of +pestilence and starvation which were working their will within these +walls." + +Then he doffed his helmet, and ran up to where she was standing, and I +wot there was not a dry eye in the crowd as he knelt and kissed her +hand. + +"Here greet I one of the bravest ladies in Christendom," he said, "for, +by my troth, as long as the Scots tongue lasts, the story of how thou +kept thy lord's castle in his absence will be handed down from father to +son." + +"Nay, noble sir," she answered, and there was a little catch in her +voice as she spoke, "it hath not been so very hard after all. My men +have been brave and leal, my walls are thick, and although the wolf hath +come very near the door, he hath not as yet entered." + +"Nor shall he," said Sir Alexander cheerily, as he picked up Mistress +Marjory and kissed her, "for we have brought enough provisions with us +to victual your Castle twice over." + +And in good sooth they had. It took more than half an hour to unload the +boat, and to carry its contents into the great hall. There had been kind +hands and thoughtful hearts at the loading of it. There was milk for the +bairns, and capons, and eggs. There was meat and ale for the men, and +red French wine and white bread for my lady, and bags of grain and meal, +and many other things which I scarce remember, but which were right +toothsome, I can tell you, after the scanty fare on which we had been +living. + +And so ended the famous siege of Dunbar Castle, for on the morrow, the +English, knowing that now it was hopeless to think of taking it, struck +their camp, and by nightfall they were marching southwards, worsted by a +woman. + +And ere another day had passed, another band of armed men came riding +through the woods that lie thickly o'er the valley in which lies the +Lamp of Lothian;[17] but this time we knew right well the device which +was emblazoned on the banners, and the horses neighed, as horses are +wont to do when they scent their own stables, and the riders tossed +their caps in the air at the sight of us. + + [Footnote 17: The Abbey of Haddington (an old name for it).] + +And I trow that if my lady had wished for reward for all the weary +months of anxiety which she had passed through, she had it in full +measure when at long last she opened the Castle gates, and saw the look +on her husband's face, as he took her in his arms, and kissed her, not +once, but many times, there, in the courtyard, in the sight of us all. + + + + +THOMAS THE RHYMER + + "True Thomas lay on Huntly bank; + A ferlie he spied with his e'e; + And there he saw a ladye bright, + Came riding down by the Eildon tree." + + +More than six hundred years ago, there lived in the south of Scotland a +very wonderful man named Thomas of Ercildoune, or Thomas the Rhymer. + +He lived in an old tower which stood on the banks of a little river +called the Leader, which runs into the Tweed, and he had the marvellous +gift, not only of writing beautiful verses, but of forecasting the +future:--that is, he could tell of events long before they happened. + +People also gave him the name of True Thomas, for they said that he was +not able to tell a lie, no matter how much he wished to do so, and this +gift he had received, along with his gift of prophecy, from the Queen of +the Fairies, who stole him away when he was young, and kept him in +fairyland for seven years and then let him come back to this world for a +time, and at last took him away to live with her in fairyland +altogether. + +I do not say that this is true; I can only say again that Thomas the +Rhymer was a very wonderful man; and this is the story which the old +country folk in Scotland tell about him. + +One St Andrew's Day, as he was lying on a bank by a stream called the +Huntly Burn, he heard the tinkling of little bells, just like fairy +music, and he turned his head quickly to see where it was coming from. + +A short distance away, riding over the moor, was the most beautiful lady +he had ever seen. She was mounted on a dapple-gray palfrey, and there +was a halo of light shining all around her. Her saddle was made of pure +ivory, set with precious stones, and padded with crimson satin. Her +saddle girths were of silk, and on each buckle was a beryl stone. Her +stirrups were cut out of clear crystal, and they were all set with +pearls. Her crupper was made of fine embroidery, and for a bridle she +used a gold chain. + +She wore a riding-skirt of grass-green silk, and a mantle of green +velvet, and from each little tress of hair in her horse's mane hung nine +and fifty tiny silver bells. No wonder that, as the spirited animal +tossed its dainty head, and fretted against its golden rein, the music +of these bells sounded far and near. + +She appeared to be riding to the chase, for she led seven greyhounds in +a leash, and seven otter hounds ran along the path beside her, while +round her neck was slung a hunting-horn, and from her girdle hung a +sheaf of arrows. + +As she rode along she sang snatches of songs to herself, or blew her +horn gaily to call her dogs together. + +"By my faith," thought Thomas to himself, "it is not every day that I +have the chance of meeting such a beauteous being. Methinks she must be +the Virgin Mother herself, for she is too fair to belong to this poor +earth of ours. Now will I hasten over the hill, and meet her under the +Eildon Tree; perchance she may give me her blessing." + +So Thomas hasted, and ran, and came to the Eildon Tree, which grew on +the slope of the Eildon Hills, under which, 'tis said, King Arthur and +his Knights lie sleeping, and there he waited for the lovely lady. + +When she approached he pulled off his bonnet and louted[18] low, so that +his face well-nigh touched the ground, for, as I have said, he thought +she was the Blessed Virgin, and he hoped to hear some words of benison. + + [Footnote 18: Bowed.] + +But the lady quickly undeceived him. "Do not do homage to me," she said, +"for I am not she whom thou takest me for, and cannot claim such +reverence. I am but the Queen of Fairyland, and I ride to the chase with +my horn and my hounds." + +Then Thomas, fascinated by her loveliness, and loth to lose sight of +her, began to make love to her; but she warned him that, if he did so, +her beauty would vanish in a moment, and, worse still, she would have +the power to throw a spell over him, and to carry him away to her own +country. But I wot that her spell had fallen on Thomas already, for it +seemed to him that there was nothing on earth to be compared to her +favour. + +"Here pledge I my troth with thee," he cried recklessly, "and little +care I where I am carried, so long as thou art beside me," and as he +said this, he gave her a kiss. + +What was his horror, as soon as he had done so, to see an awful change +come over the lady. Her beautiful clothes crumbled away, and she was +left standing in a long ash-coloured gown. All the brightness round her +vanished; her face grew pale and colourless; her eyes turned dim, and +sank in her head; and, most terrible of all, one-half of her beautiful +black hair went gray before his eyes, so that she looked worn and old. + +[Illustration: "WHEN SHE APPROACHED, HE PULLED OFF HIS BONNET, AND +LOUTED LOW."] + +A cruel smile came on her haggard face as she cried triumphantly, "Ah, +Thomas, now thou must go with me, and thou must serve me, come weal, +come woe, for seven long years." + +Then she signed to him to get up behind her on her gray palfrey, and +poor Thomas had no power to refuse. He glanced round in despair, taking +a last look at the pleasant country-side he loved so well, and the next +moment it vanished from his eyes, for the Eildon Hills opened beneath +them, and they sank in gloomy caverns, leaving no trace behind. + +For three days Thomas and the lady travelled on, in the dreadful gloom. +It was like riding through the darkness of the darkest midnight. He +could feel the palfrey moving beneath him; he could hear, close at hand, +the roaring of the sea; and, ever as they rode, it seemed to him that +they crossed many rivers, for, as the palfrey struggled through them, he +could feel the cold rushing water creeping up to his knees, but never a +ray of light came to cheer him. + +He grew sick and faint with hunger and terror, and at last he could bear +it no longer. + +"Woe is me," he cried feebly, "for methinks I die for lack of food." + +As he spoke these words, the lady turned her horse's head in the +darkness, and, little by little, it began to grow lighter, until at last +they emerged in open daylight, and found themselves in a beautiful +garden. + +It was full of fruit trees, and Thomas feasted his eyes on their cool +green leaves and luscious burden; for, after the terrible darkness he +had passed through, this garden seemed to him like the Garden of +Paradise. + +There were pear trees in it, covered with pears, and apple trees laden +with great juicy apples; there were dates, and damsons, and figs, and +grapes. Brightly coloured parrots were flitting about among the +branches, and everywhere the thrushes were singing. + +The lady drew rein under an apple tree, and, reaching up her hand, she +plucked an apple, and handed it to him. "Take this for thine arles,"[19] +she said; "it will confer a great gift on thee, for it will give thee a +tongue that cannot lie, and from henceforth men shall call thee 'True +Thomas.'" + + [Footnote 19: Money paid at the engagement of a servant.] + +Now, I am sorry to say that Thomas was not very particular about always +being truthful, and this did not seem to him to be a very enviable gift. +He wondered to himself what he would do if ever he got back to earth, +and was always obliged to tell the truth, whether it were convenient or +not. + +"A bonnie gift, forsooth!" he said scornfully. "My tongue is my own, and +I would prefer that no one meddled with it. If I am obliged always to +tell the truth, how shall I fare when I once more go back to the wicked +world? When I take a cow to market, have I always to point out the horn +it hath lost, or the piece of skin that is torn? And when I talk to my +betters, and would crave a boon of them, must I always tell them my real +thoughts, instead of giving them the flattery which, let me tell you, +Madam, goes a long way in obtaining a favour?" + +"Now hold thy peace," said the lady sharply, "and think thyself favoured +to see food at all. Many miles of our journey lie yet before us, and +already thou criest out for hunger. Certs, if thou wilt not eat when +thou canst, thou shalt have no more opportunity." + +Poor Thomas was so hungry, and the apple looked so tempting, that at +last he took it and ate it, and the Grace of Truth settled down on his +lips for ever: that is why men called him "True Thomas," when in after +years he returned to earth. + +Then the lady shook her bridle rein, and the palfrey darted forward so +quickly that it appeared to be almost flying. On and on they flew, until +they came to the World's End, and a great desert stretched before them. +Here the lady bade Thomas dismount and lean his head against her knee. +"I have three wonders to show thee, Thomas," she said, "and it is thus +that thou canst see them best." + +Thomas did as he was bid, and when he laid his head against the Fairy +Queen's knee, he saw three roads stretching away before him through the +sand. + +One of them was a rough and narrow road, with thick hedges of thorn on +either side, and branches of tangled briar hanging down from them, and +lying across the path. Any traveller who travelled by that road would +find it beset with many difficulties. + +The next road was smooth and broad, and it ran straight and level across +the plain. It looked so easy a way that Thomas wondered that anyone ever +wanted to go along the narrow path at all. + +The third road wound along a hillside, and the banks above it and below +it were covered with beautiful brackens, and their delicate fronds rose +high on either side, so high, indeed, that they would shelter the +wayfarer from the burning heat of the noonday sun. + +"That is the best road of all," thought Thomas to himself; "it looks so +fresh and cool, I should like to travel along it." + +Then the lady's voice sounded in his ears. "Seest thou that narrow +path," she asked, "all set about with thorns and briars? That is the +Path of Righteousness, and there be but few, oh, so few! who ever ask +where it leads to, or who try to travel by it. And seest thou that +broad, broad road, that runs so smoothly across the desert? That is the +Path of Wickedness, and I trow it is a pleasant way, and easy to travel +by. Men think it so, at least, and, poor fools, they do not trouble to +ask where it leads to. Some would fain persuade themselves that it leads +to Heaven, but Heaven was never reached by an easy road. 'Tis the narrow +road through the briars and thorns that leads us thither, and wise are +the men who follow it. And seest thou that bonnie, bonnie road, that +winds up round the ferny brae? That is the way to Fairyland, and that is +the road which lies before us." + +Here Thomas was about to speak, and to remonstrate with her for carrying +him away, but she interrupted him. + +"Hush," she said, "thou must be silent now, Thomas; the time for speech +is past. Thou art on the borders of Elfland, and if ever mortal man +speak a word in Elfland, he can nevermore go back to his own country." + +So Thomas held his peace, and climbed sadly on the palfrey's back, and +once more they started on their awful journey. On and on they went. The +beautiful road through the ferns was soon left behind, and great +mountains had to be crossed, and steep, narrow valleys, until at last, +far away in the distance, a splendid castle appeared, standing on the +top of a high hill. + +It was built of pure white marble, with massive towers, and lovely +gardens stretched in front of it. + +"That castle is mine," said the lady proudly. "It belongs to me, and to +my husband, who is the King of this country. He is a jealous man, and +one greatly to be feared, and, if he knew how friendly thou and I have +been, he would kill thee in his rage. Remember, therefore, what I told +thee about keeping silence. Thou canst talk to me, an thou wilt, if an +opportunity offers, but see to it that thou answerest no one else. There +are knights and squires in abundance at my husband's court, and +doubtless they would fain question thee about the country from whence +thou art come, but thou must pay no heed to them, and I shall pretend +that thou talkest in an unknown tongue, and that I learned to understand +it in thine own country." + +While she was speaking, Thomas was amazed to see that a great change had +passed over her again. Her face grew bright, and her gray gown vanished, +and the green mantle took its place, and once more she became the +beauteous being who had charmed his eyes at the Huntly Burn. And he was +still more amazed when, on looking down, he found that his own raiment +was changed too, and that he was now dressed in a suit of soft, fine +cloth, and that on his feet he wore velvet shoon. + +The lady lifted the golden horn which hung from a cord round her neck, +and blew a loud blast. At the sound of it all the squires, and knights, +and great court ladies came hurrying out to meet their Queen, and Thomas +slid from the palfrey's back, and walked humbly at her elbow. + +As she had foretold, the pages and squires crowded round him, and would +fain have learned his name, and the name of the country to which he +belonged, but he pretended not to understand what they said, and so they +all came into the great hall of the castle. + +At the end of this hall there was a dais, and on it were two thrones. +The King of Fairyland was sitting on one, and when he saw the Queen, he +rose, and stretched out his hand, and led her to the other, and then a +rich banquet was served by thirty knights, who offered the dishes on +their bended knees. After that all the court ladies went up and did +homage to their Royal Mistress, while Thomas stood, and gazed, and +wondered at all the strange things which he saw. + +At one side of the hall there was a group of minstrels, playing on all +manner of strange instruments. There were harps, and fiddles, and +gitterns, and psalteries, and lutes and rebecks, and many more that he +could not name. And when these minstrels played, the knights and the gay +court ladies danced or played games, or made merry jokes amongst +themselves; while at the other side of the hall a very different scene +went on. There were thirty dead harts lying on the stone floor, and +stable varlets carried in dead deer until there were thirty of them +stretched beside the harts, and the dogs lay and licked their blood, and +the cooks came in with their long knives and cut up the animals, in the +sight of all the court. + +It was all so weird and horrible that Thomas wondered what manner of +folk he had come to dwell among, and if he would ever get back to his +own country. + +For three days things went on in the same manner, and still he looked +and wondered, and still he spoke to no one, not even to the Queen. + +At last she spoke to him. "Dress thee, and get thee gone, Thomas," she +said, "for thou mayest not linger here any longer. Myself will convey +thee on thy journey, and take thee back safe and sound to thine own +country again." + +Thomas looked at her in amazement. "I have only been here three days," +he said, "and methought thou spakest of seven years." + +The lady smiled. + +"Time passes quickly in this country, Thomas," she replied. "It may not +appear so long to thee, but it is seven long years and more, since thou +camest into Fairyland. I would fain have kept thee longer; but it may +not be, and I will show to thee the reason. Every seven years an evil +spirit comes, and chooses someone out of our court, and carries him away +to unknown regions, and, as thou art a stranger, and a goodly fellow +withal, I fear me his choice would fall on thee; and although I brought +thee here, and have kept thee here for seven years, 'twill never be said +that I betrayed thee to an evil spirit. Therefore this very night we +must be gone." + +So once more the gray palfrey was brought, and Thomas and the lady +mounted it, and they went back by the road by which they had come, and +once more they came to the Eildon Tree. + +The sun was shining when they arrived, and the birds singing, and the +Huntly Burn tinkling just as it had always done, and it seemed to Thomas +more impossible than ever that he had been away from it all for more +than seven years. + +He felt strangely sorry to say farewell to the beautiful lady, and he +asked her to give him some token that would prove to people that he had +really been in Fairyland. + +"Thou hast already the Gift of Truth," she replied, "and I will add to +that the Gift of Prophecy, and of writing wondrous verses; and here is a +harp that was fashioned in Fairyland. With its music, set to thine own +words, no minstrel on earth shall be to thee a rival. So shall all the +world know for certain that thou learnedst the art from no earthly +teacher; and some day, perchance, I will return." + +Then the lady vanished, and Thomas was left all alone. + +After this, he lived at his Castle of Ercildoune for many a long year, +and well he deserved the names of Thomas the Rhymer, and True Thomas, +which the country people gave him; for the verses which he wrote were +the sweetest that they had ever heard, while all the things which he +prophesied came most surely to pass. + +It is remembered still how he met Cospatrick, Earl of March, one sunny +day, and foretold that, ere the next noon passed, a terrible tempest +would devastate Scotland. The stout Earl laughed, but his laughter was +short, for by next day at noon the tidings came that Alexander III., +that much loved King, was lying stiff and stark on the sands of +Kinghorn. He also foretold the battles of Flodden and Pinkie, and the +dule and woe which would follow the defeat of the Scottish arms; but he +also foretold Bannockburn, where + + "The burn of breid + Shall run fow reid," + +and the English be repulsed with great loss. He spoke of the Union of +the Crowns of England and Scotland, under a prince who was the son of a +French Queen, and who yet had the blood of Bruce in his veins. Which +thing came true in 1603, when King James, son of the ill-fated Mary, who +had been Queen of France as well as Queen of Scots, began to rule over +both countries. + +In view of these things, it was no wonder that the fame of Thomas of +Ercildoune spread through the length and breadth of Scotland, or that +men came from far and near to listen to his wonderful words. + + * * * * * + +Twice seven years came and went, and Scotland was plunged in war. The +English King, Edward I., after defeating John Baliol at Dunbar, had +taken possession of the country, and the doughty William Wallace had +arisen to try to wrest it from his hand. The tide of war ebbed and +flowed, now on this side of the Border, now on that, and it chanced that +one day the Scottish army rested not far from the Tower of Ercildoune. + +Beacons blazed red on Ruberslaw, tents were pitched at Coldingknowe, and +the Tweed, as it rolled down to the sea, carried with it the echoes of +the neighing of steeds, and of trumpet calls. + +Then True Thomas determined to give a feast to the gallant squires and +knights who were camped in the neighbourhood--such a feast as had never +been held before in the old Tower of Ercildoune. It was spread in the +great hall, and nobles were there in their coats of mail, and high-born +ladies in robes of shimmering silk. There was wine in abundance, and +wooden cups filled with homebrewed ale. + +There were musicians who played sweet music, and wonderful stories of +war and adventure went round. + +And, best of all, when the feast was over, True Thomas, the host, called +for the magic harp which he had received from the hands of the Elfin +Queen. When it was brought to him a great silence fell on all the +company, and everyone sat listening breathlessly while he sang to them +song after song of long ago. + +He sang of King Arthur and his Table, and his Knights, and told how they +lay sleeping under the Eildon Hills, waiting to be awakened at the Crack +of Doom. He sang of Gawaine, and Merlin, Tristrem and Isolde; and those +who listened to the wondrous story felt somehow that they would never +hear such minstrelsy again. + +Nor did they. For that very night, when all the guests had departed, and +the evening mists had settled down over the river, a soldier, in the +camp on the hillside, was awakened by a strange pattering of little feet +on the dry bent[20] of the moorland. + + [Footnote 20: Withered grass.] + +Looking out of his tent, he saw a strange sight. + +There, in the bright August moonlight, a snow-white hart and hind were +pacing along side by side. They moved in slow and stately measure, +paying little heed to the ever-increasing crowd who gathered round their +path. + +"Let us send for Thomas of Ercildoune," said someone at last; "mayhap he +can tell us what this strange sight bodes." + +"Yea, verily, let us send for True Thomas," cried everyone at once, and +a little page was hastily despatched to the old tower. + +Its master started from his bed when he heard the message, and dressed +himself in haste. His face was pale, and his hands shook. + +"This sign concerns me," he said to the wondering lad. "It shows me that +I have spun my thread of life, and finished my race here." + +So saying, he slung his magic harp on his shoulder, and went forth in +the moonlight. The men who were waiting for him saw him at a distance, +and 'twas noted how often he turned and looked back at his old tower, +whose gray stones were touched by the soft autumn moonbeams, as though +he were bidding it a long farewell. + +He walked along the moor until he met the snow-white hart and hind; +then, to everyone's terror and amazement, he turned with them, and all +three went down the steep bank, which at that place borders the Leader, +and plunged into the river, which was running at high flood. + +"He is bewitched! To the rescue! To the rescue, ere it be too late!" +cried the crowd with one voice. + +But although a knight leaped on his horse in haste, and spurred him at +once through the raging torrent, he could see nothing of the Rhymer or +his strange companions. They had vanished, leaving neither sign nor +trace behind them; and to this day it is believed that the hart and the +hind were messengers from the Queen of the Fairies, and that True Thomas +went back with them to dwell in her country for ever. + + + + +LORD SOULIS + + "Lord Soulis he sat in Hermitage Castle, + And beside him Old Redcap sly;-- + 'Now, tell me, thou sprite, who art meikle of might, + The death that I must die.' + + They roll'd him in a sheet of lead, + A sheet of lead for a funeral pall; + They plunged him in the cauldron red, + And melted him, lead, and bones, and all." + + +And so thou hast seen the great cauldron at Skelf-hill, little Annie, +standing high up on the hillside, and thou wouldst fain hear its story. + +'Tis a weird tale, Sweetheart, and one to make the blood run cold, for +'tis the story of a cruel and a wicked man, and how he came by a violent +and a fearsome death. But Grannie will tell it thee, and when thou +thinkest of it, thou must always try to remember how true it is what the +Good Book says, that "all they that take the sword, shall perish with +the sword," which means, I take it, that they who show no mercy need +expect none at the hands of others. + +'Tis a tale of spirits and of witchcraft, child, things that in our days +we do not believe in; but I had it from my grandfather, who had heard it +when he was a laddie from the old shepherds out on the hills, and they +believed it all and feared to pass that way in the dark. + +But to come to the story itself. Long, long ago, in far bygone days, +William de Soulis, Lord of Liddesdale, kept high state in his Castle of +Hermitage. The royal blood of Scotland flowed in his veins, for he was +sixth in descent from Alexander II., and could an ancestress of his have +proved her right, he might have sat on the throne of Scotland. + +Besides owning Liddesdale, he had lands in Dumfriesshire, and in the +Lothians, and he might have been like the "Bold Buccleuch," a succourer +of widows, and a defender of the oppressed and the destitute. + +But instead of this he worked all manner of wickedness, till his very +name was dreaded far and near. He oppressed his vassals; he troubled his +neighbours; he was even at enmity with the King himself. And because he +feared that his Majesty might come against him with an army, he had +fortified his castle with much care. In order to do this thoroughly, he +forced his vassals to work like beasts of burden, putting bores[21] on +their shoulders, and yoking them to sledges, on which they drew all +kinds of building material to the castle. + + [Footnote 21: Yokes.] + +No wonder, then, that he was hated by rich and poor alike, and no wonder +that his heart would quail at times, reckless and hardened though he +was, for it is an ill thing not to have a friend in this world. Servants +may be hired for money, but 'tis love, and love only, that can buy true +friendship. Aye remember that, little Annie, aye remember that. + +I say that he had no friends, but I am mistaken. 'Twas said he had one, +and mayhap he would have been as well without him. For men would have it +that Hermitage Castle was haunted by a familiar spirit. + +As a rule he dwelt in a wooden chest, bound with rusty bars of iron; but +occasionally, when Lord Soulis was alone, he would come out and talk +with him. "Old Redcap," the country folk used to call him, and they said +that he was a wee, wee man, with a red pirnie[22] and twisted legs; but +whether that be true or no, 'tis not for me to say. + + [Footnote 22: Nightcap.] + +'Twas also said that, one day, when Soulis and his uncanny friend were +alone, Soulis asked him what his end would be; if he would die at home +in his bed, or out on the hillside in fair fight with his foes? And +Redcap made answer that he would throw his spell over him, and that that +spell would keep him from all common dangers, from all weapons of war, +and from all devices of peace; from arrows, and lances, and knives; from +chains, and even from hempen ropes. He would be safe from all these, but +there was one thing, and one thing alone, which the charm could not do, +and that was to save him if ever men could take him and bind him with +ropes of sifted sand. + +Methinks I can hear Lord Soulis' laugh as Redcap told him this. "Ropes +of sand, forsooth!" he would say. "Did ever man hear of ropes of sand?" + +But he had forgotten that the Wizard of the North, Sir Michael Scott of +Balwearie--the same who studied the wisdom of the East under the Moors +at Toledo, in Spain, who could read the stars, and command familiar +spirits to come and go at his bidding--had found out the way to forge +ropes out of sand, and that, though Michael was dead, his Spae-book yet +remained, in which he had written down all his magic. + +"Moreover," added Redcap, "if ever danger threatens thee, knock thrice +on this old chest, and the lid will rise, and I will speak; but beware +lest thou lookest into it. When the lid begins to rise, turn thine eyes +away, or the spell will be broken." + +Now it chanced soon after this, that one morning, just as the day was +breaking, Lord Soulis, as was his wont, sent one of his little pages up +to the top of the tower, to look out over the country far and near, to +see if there were any travellers who took the road to Hermitage. At +first the boy saw nothing, but, as it grew lighter, the figure of a +horseman, clad in the royal livery, appeared, riding down the hillside. + +"Now what may thine errand be?" cried the page. + +"I carry a message to Soulis of Hermitage from the King of Scotland," +replied the stranger; "and he bids me tell that cruel Knight, that the +report of his ill deeds has come to his Majesty's ears at Holyrood +House, and that if ever again such stories reach him, he will send his +soldiers to burn the castle, and put its lord to death." + +Then the page hasted, and ran, and delivered this message to his master, +whose face grew white with rage when he heard it. For he was an awful +man, little Annie, an awful man, who in general feared neither God nor +the King, and who could not brook to be reproved. + +Under the castle there was a deep dungeon, cut out of the solid rock, +and the entrance to it was by a hole in the courtyard, which was covered +by a great flat stone. The stone rested on beams of oak, and Lord Soulis +gave orders that the guards were to keep the King's messenger waiting +outside the gate, and pretend to be very kind to him, giving him a +tankard of ale, and a hunch of bread, until some of the men inside the +castle had cut away those great oak beams. + +Then they opened the gate, and told the poor man that Lord Soulis would +speak with him if he would ride into the courtyard; and he rode in, and +as soon as his horse stepped on the big flat stone that covered the +mouth of the dungeon, it gave way beneath its weight, and both man and +horse fell down, and were crushed to pieces on the hard stone floor, +full thirty feet below. + +The King was right wroth when he heard how his messenger had been +treated, but before he could set off for Liddesdale to punish Lord +Soulis, the punishment came from nearer home. + +It chanced that the young Lord of Buccleuch wooed a lovely lady called +May o' Gorranberry. 'Twas said that she was the bonniest lass in all +Teviotdale, and in all Liddesdale, and the wedding day was fixed. But +the wicked Lord Soulis, puffed up with pride at the way in which he had +got rid of the King's messenger, and relying, doubtless, on Redcap's +charm to protect him from danger, took it into his sinful head that he +would like May o' Gorranberry for his wife. + +And he sent, and took her, as she was walking on the hillside above her +father's house, and brought her to his grim old Castle of Hermitage. + +The poor lassie was almost mad with terror, and tore her hair, and cried +continually for her lover, until the cruel man threatened that if she +did not hold her tongue he would send men to burn down Branksome Tower, +and kill all its inmates. + +And next morning, because she would not stop weeping, he called his +chief man-at-arms, a brave, fearless fellow called Red Ringan, and told +him to gather a band of spearmen, and ride over the hills to Teviotdale, +and attack the old castle which was the home of the Lords of Buccleuch. + +Now it chanced that that very morning, young Buccleuch set out alone to +hunt the roe-buck and the dun deer which roamed in the woods that +surrounded his castle. He had fine sport, and he went on, and on, and +never noticed how far up among the hills he was getting, or how fast the +day was passing, until it began to get dark. + +Suddenly he looked up, and, to his astonishment, he saw, riding down the +glen to meet him, a company of spearmen. He thought they were his own +retainers, and walked boldly up to them, and never knew his mistake +until he was seized, and bound hand and foot. They were really Lord +Soulis' men, with Red Ringan at their head, and Red Ringan had thrown a +glamour over his eyes, so that he could not distinguish between friends +and foes. Of course Red Ringan was delighted at this piece of good luck, +and he set the poor young man on a horse, and sent him over the hills to +Hermitage, guarded by a handful of spearmen, while he rode on with the +rest of his troop to Branksome, to see what mischief he could work +there. + +Thou canst think with what triumph my Lord Soulis would greet his +prisoner, and with what bitter tears May o' Gorranberry would see him +brought in, for she would know about the dungeon, and shudder to think +what his fate would be. + +'Twas said that the cruel lord mocked at young Buccleuch as he rode +under the archway, and cried out to him, as if in jest-- + +"Thrice welcome, Buccleuch, thrice welcome to my castle. Nathless 'tis +as a wedding guest thou comest. Certs, my bonnie May well deserves such +a gallant groomsman." + +Next morning the sun rose blood red, and just as its rays touched the +gray stones of the grim old keep, the page came running to say that Red +Ringan was riding down the hillside all alone. Methinks the wicked +lord's heart gave a throb of fear, as he hurried out to the gate to meet +his henchman. + +"Where have ye stabled my gallant steeds?" he cried, "and wherefore do +thy comrades tarry, whilst thou ridest home all alone?" + +Red Ringan shook his head mournfully. "I bring thee heavy tidings, +Master," he said. "The steeds are stabled, sure enough, but 'tis in a +stable where they will rest till the Crack of Doom, and their riders lie +beside them. Thou knowest Tarras Moss, and how fair and pleasant it +lies, and how deep and cruel it is? My men mistook the path in the dark, +and rode right into it, and, had it not been for my good brown mare, not +one of us had been left to tell the tale. She struggled to firm footing +right nobly, and brought me out alive on her back; but when I looked +around me, I was all alone, Master, I was all alone." + +Lord Soulis made no reply. With heavy steps he sought the low dark room +where the great chest stood, with its iron bands, and its three rusty +locks. + +He shut the door behind him, and then, with clenched fist, he knocked +thrice on the heavy lid. The first time he knocked, and the second time, +such a groan came from the chest that his very blood ran cold; but at +the third knock the locks opened, and the lid began to rise. + +Lord Soulis turned away his head as Redcap had told him to do, and stood +listening with all his might. A strange sullen muttering came from the +chest, of which he could only distinguish these mysterious words, +"Beware of a coming tree," and then the lid shut as slowly as it had +opened, and the locks were locked with a jerk, as if by unseen hands. + +Meanwhile, over the hills in Teviotdale there had been confusion and +dismay when the young Lord of Buccleuch failed to return, and when news +came by the country folk that he had been seen, bound hand and foot, +being taken to Hermitage by Lord Soulis' men, the anger of the whole +clan knew no bounds. For, as it is to-day, little Annie, so it was then. +The Scotts of Buccleuch were strong and powerful, and held in honour far +and near. + +The young lord had one brother, Bold Walter by name. He was a mighty +fighter and a right strong man, who carried a bow that no other man +could bend, and who loved nothing better than to ride on a foray with +all his father's moss-troopers at his back. Methinks Lord Soulis had +forgotten Bold Walter when he meddled with his brother and his bride. + +It did not take this brave knight long, when he heard the news, to send +his riders out to North, and South, and East, and West, to call on his +friends and clansmen to ride with him to the fray. And because he had +heard of Old Redcap, and knew that Lord Soulis would be protected by his +charms, he sent all the way to the Tower of Ercildoune for True Thomas, +that wondrous Rhymer, who had been for seven years in Fairyland, and +who, on his return to earth, had gone to the Abbey Church of St Mary, at +Melrose, and had taken Sir Michael Scott's Spae-book from its dread +hiding-place, for its writer had been buried with it in his arms. + +So, before the next sun had set, Bold Walter had raised as fair an army +as that which the King in Edinburgh had thought to send to Hermitage. +The news of this army spread like wildfire over the country, ay, and +over the hills to Hermitage, and I ween Lord Soulis' heart sank still +lower when he heard of it, and once more he went for counsel to the +magic chest. Again he knocked, and again the hollow groan rang out; but +as the lid lifted, he forgot in his haste to turn his eyes away, and in +a moment the charm was broken. The spirit spoke indeed, but it spoke +sullenly and angrily. + +"Alas," it said, "thou art undone. Thou hast forgotten my warning, and, +instead of turning away thy head, thou hast raised thine eyes to look on +me. Therefore thou must lock the door of this chamber, and give the key +into my keeping, and for seven long years thou must not return, and I +must remain silent." + +The wicked may flourish like the green bay tree, little Annie, but +vengeance will always overtake them at last; and I trow that Lord Soulis +felt that vengeance was close on his heels, as he left that mysterious +chamber, and locked the door, and drew the key from the lock, where it +had always rested, in his life-time at least, and threw it over his left +shoulder, which is, men say, the right way to give things to wizards and +witches, and such-like beings. + +The key sank in the ground, and there it remains for aught I know, and +'tis said that even to this day, at the end of every seven years, if +anyone cares to listen, they may hear strange and awful sounds coming +from that long-locked chamber.[23] + + [Footnote 23: "Somewhere about the autumn of 1806, the Earl of + Dalkeith, being encamped near the Hermitage Castle, for the + amusement of shooting, directed some workmen to clear away the + rubbish from the door of the dungeon in order to ascertain its + ancient dimensions and architecture. To the great astonishment of + the labourers, a rusty iron key of considerable size was found among + the ruins a little way from the dungeon door. The well-known + tradition passed from one to another, and it was generally agreed + that the malevolent demon who had so long retained possession of the + key of the castle dungeon now found himself obliged to resign it to + the heir-apparent of the domain."--Note on "Lord Soulis" in _Leyden's + Life and Works_.] + +Yet Lord Soulis' heart was not humbled, and he made up his mind, that, +come what might, young Buccleuch should die. And in the wickedness and +cruelty of his heart he determined that he himself should choose the +manner of it. + +So he had him brought before him. "What wouldst thou do, young Scott, if +thou hadst me as I have thee?" he asked, in his cruel mocking voice. + +"I would take thee to the good greenwood," answered Buccleuch haughtily, +"and I would hang thee there, and I would make thine own hand wale[24] +the tree." + + [Footnote 24: Choose.] + +"Good," answered Lord Soulis; "then thou shalt do as thou hast said, and +if bonnie May refuse to marry me, then she shall hang on a bush beside +thee." + +So they led him out to a wood full of tall trees, far up on whose upper +branches sat hooded crows, looking down on them in solemn silence. + +The first tree that Lord Soulis made his men halt under was a fir. + +"Say, wilt thou hang on a fir tree, and let the hooded crows pick thy +bones?" he asked roughly. + +Young Buccleuch shook his head. "Nay, not so, my Lord of Soulis," he +answered in mock humility, "for on windy nights at Branksome, the fir +trees rock by the old towers, and the fir cones come pattering to the +ground like rain. I heard them when I was a bairn, as I lay awake at +night in my cot. Thou surely wouldst not have the heart to hang me on a +tree which I have loved all my life." + +Then Soulis told his men to pass on, and as they went through the wood +their prisoner kept peeping and peering from side to side, and muttering +to himself, as if he were looking for something. The men-at-arms could +not hear what he was saying, and methinks they would have been much +astonished if they had. For he knew the spirit that his brother was of, +and he knew that he would not let him hang without an attempt at rescue, +and he was saying over and over again to himself, "This death is no' for +me, this death is no' for me." + +At last they halted again under an aspen tree, whose leaves were +quivering mournfully in the wind. Lord Soulis was growing impatient. + +"Choose, and choose quickly," he cried, "or methinks I must choose for +thee." + +But again Buccleuch shook his head. "Not on an aspen tree, my lord, not +on an aspen tree. I love its gray leaves better than any other, for it +was under their shade that May o' Gorranberry and I first plighted our +troth." + +So on they went, and still the young man peered and looked, first in +this direction, then in that, until at last he saw what seemed to be a +bank of hazel branches pressing through the trees towards them. Then he +gave a great shout, and leaped high in the air. "Methinks I spy a coming +tree," he cried, and at the words Lord Soulis' face grew pale, for they +recalled to him Redcap's warning, and he feared that his hour had come. + +Everyone soon saw what the strange thing was which was coming towards +them. It was Bold Walter of Buccleuch and his men, and each of them had +stuck a branch of witch's hazel in his basnet, for 'tis said that a twig +of hazel protects its wearer from the arts of magic, and they had no +mind to be bewitched by the Lord of Hermitage. + +So this was the coming tree that Redcap had warned Lord Soulis to beware +of, and it had come in right earnest. + +But Soulis remembered the charmed life that he bore, and he tried to +shake fear from his heart. + +"Ay, many may come, but few shall go back," he cried defiantly; +"besides, ye come on a bootless errand. There is not a man in broad +Scotland who hath the power to wound me." + +"By my troth," replied Bold Walter, "but we shall soon prove that," and, +drawing his bow, he sent an arrow straight in Lord Soulis' face. + +Sure enough it fell harmless to the ground, and there was not even a +scratch on the wicked lord's skin, and for a moment Buccleuch was +baffled. + +But Thomas of Ercildoune stepped forward. "He is bewitched, Sire," he +said, "and protected by the charms of Redcap. No steel can break that +charm, but mayhap if thy men bore him down with their lances, he might +be taken." + +In vain the spearmen crowded round, and struck him to the earth. The +lances glanced harmlessly off his body, and never left so much as a mark +on him. + +Then they bound him hand and foot with hempen ropes, but, to their +amazement, he burst them as if they had been threads of wool. Then +someone brought chains of forged steel, and they bound those round his +limbs, thinking that now they surely had him in their power; but he +burst them as easily as if they had been made of tow. + +At this everyone was daunted, and would have let him go, but Thomas of +Ercildoune cried cheerily, "We'll bind him yet, lads, whatever betide." + +As he spoke, he drew out from his bosom a little black leather-covered +book, and at the sight of it all the spearmen fell back in awe. For it +was Sir Michael Scott's "Book of Might," and, as I have said, Sir +Michael was a wizard himself, and knew all about warlocks and witches, +with their charms and spells, and he could undo everyone of them, and he +had written all this knowledge down in his black Spae-book. When he +died, the book had been buried deep in his grave in the Abbey at +Melrose, and True Thomas had gone there, and recovered it, and he had +brought it with him to aid Bold Walter of Buccleuch in rescuing his +brother. + +He turned over the leaves, and at last he found the place where Sir +Michael had told how it was possible to bind a charmed man. + +"Ye cannot bind a wizard with ropes," he read, "unless they be ropes of +sifted sand." + +"Where can we get some sifted sand?" he asked, and everyone looked round +in dismay, for there was no sand there, under the trees. + +"Come to the Nine-stane Rig," cried a man; "there is a burn[25] runs +past the bottom of it, and we will find plenty of sand there." + + [Footnote 25: Stream.] + +Thou knowest the Nine-stane Rig, little Annie, the hill that slopes down +to Hermitage Water, with the circle of great stones standing on it, +which, 'tis said, were placed there by wild and heathen men, hundreds of +years ago. Well, they carried Lord Soulis there, and hurried him down to +the burn, and they shaped ropes out of the sand that lies smooth and +clean by the water-side. + +But, shape the ropes as they might, they would neither twist nor twine; +the dry sand just ran through their fingers, and once again they were +baffled. Once more True Thomas turned to the spae-book, and this time he +found that the sand would twist more easily if it were mixed with barley +chaff, and the men of Teviotdale ran down the valley until they came to +a field of growing barley. They pulled the ripe grain and beat it in +their hands, and it was not long ere they returned with a napkin full of +chaff. They mixed nine handfuls of it with the sand, for it was thus the +"Book of Might" directed, and once more they tried to twist the ropes, +but once more they failed. + +"This is some of the wee man's work," muttered the country folk, who +were standing looking on; and they were right. Old Redcap had not +deserted his master, although the spell which caused the magic chest to +open was broken, and he was at hand, doing his utmost to save him, +though unseen by mortal eyes. + +Again True Thomas turned over the leaves of Sir Michael's book, in the +hope of finding something which would break even the most powerful +spell, and at last he came to a page where it told how, if all else +failed, the wizard must be boiled in lead. + +Ay, thou mayst well shudder, little Annie, and hide thy face in my gown. + +'Twas a terrible thing to do, but they did it. + +They kindled a fire on the Nine-stane Rig, in the middle of the old +Druid stones, and there they placed the great brass cauldron. They +heated it red hot, and some of them hasted to Hermitage Castle, and +stripped a sheet of lead from the roof, and they wrapped the wicked lord +in it, and plunged him in, and stood round in solemn silence till the +contents of that awful pot melted--lead, and bones, and all--and nought +remained but a seething sea of molten metal. + +So came the sinful man by his end, and to this day the cauldron remains, +as thou knowest, child. It was brought over to the Skelf-hill, and there +it stands, a fearful warning to evil-doers, while, on the spot where it +was boiled, within the circle of stones on the Nine-stane Rig, the +ground lies bare and fallow, for the very grass refuses to grow where +such a terrible deed was done. + + + + +THE BROWNIE OF BLEDNOCK + + "There came a strange wight to our town en', + An' the fient a body did him ken; + He twirled na' lang, but he glided ben, + Wi' a weary, dreary hum. + + His face did glow like the glow o' the West, + When the drumly cloud had it half o'ercast; + Or the struggling moon when she's sair distrest. + O, Sirs! it was Aiken-Drum." + + +Did you ever hear how a Brownie came to our village of Blednock, and was +frightened away again by a silly young wife, who thought she was +cleverer than anyone else, but who did us the worst turn that she ever +did anybody in her life, when she made the queer, funny, useful little +man disappear? + +Well, it was one November evening, in the gloaming, just when the +milking was done, and before the bairns were put to bed, and everyone +was standing on their doorsteps, having a crack about the bad harvest, +and the turnips, and what chances there were of good prices for the +stirks[26] at the Martinmas Fair, when the queerest humming noise +started down by the river. + + [Footnote 26: Bullocks.] + +It came nearer and nearer, and everyone stopped their clavers[27] and +began to look down the road. And, 'deed, it was no wonder that they +stared, for there, coming up the middle of the highway, was the +strangest, most frightsome-looking creature that human eyes had ever +seen. + + [Footnote 27: Idle talk.] + +He looked like a little wee, wee man, and yet he looked almost like a +beast, for he was covered with hair from head to foot, and he wore no +clothing except a little kilt of green rashes which hung round his +waist. His hair was matted, and his head hung forward on his breast, and +he had a long blue beard, which almost touched the ground. + +His legs were twisted, and knocked together as he walked, and his arms +were so long that his hands trailed in the mud. + +He seemed to be humming something over and over again, and, as he came +near us we could just make out the words, "Hae ye wark for Aiken-Drum?" + +Eh, but I can tell you the folk were scared. If it had been the Evil One +himself who had come to our quiet little village, I doubt if he would +have caused more stir.[28] The bairns screamed, and hid their faces in +their mothers' gown-tails; while the lassies, idle huzzies that they +were, threw down the pails of milk, which should have been in the +milkhouse long ago, if they had not been so busy gossiping; and the very +dogs crept in behind their masters, whining, and hiding their tails +between their legs. The grown men, who should have known better, and who +were not frightened to look the wee man in the face, laughed and hooted +at him. + + [Footnote 28: Excitement.] + +"Did ye ever see such eyes?" cried one. + +"His mouth is so big, he could swallow the moon," said another. + +"Hech, sirs, but did ye ever see such a creature?" cried a third. + +And still the poor little man went slowly up the street, crying +wistfully, "Hae ye wark for Aiken-Drum? Any wark for Aiken-Drum?" + +Some of us tried to speak to him, but our tongues seemed to be tied, and +the words died away on our lips, and we could only stand and watch him +with frightened glances, as if we were bewitched. + +Old Grannie Duncan, the oldest, and the kindest woman in the village, +was the first to come to her senses. "He may be a ghost, or a bogle, or +a wraith," she said; "or he may only be a harmless Brownie. It is beyond +me to say; but this I know, that if he be an evil spirit, he will not +dare to look on the Holy Book." And with that she ran into her cottage, +and brought out the great leather-bound Bible which aye lay on her +little table by the window. + +She stood on the road, and held it out, right in front of the creature, +but he took no more heed of it than if it had been an old song-book, and +went slowly on, with his weary cry for work. + +"He's just a Brownie," cried Grannie Duncan in triumph, "a simple, +kindly Brownie. I've heard tell of such folk before, and many a long +day's work will they do for the people who treat them well." + +Gathering courage from her words, we all crowded round the wee man, and +now that we were close to him, we saw that his hairy face was kind and +gentle, and his tiny eyes had a merry twinkle in them. + +"Save us, and help us, creature!" said an old man reprovingly, "but can +ye no speak, and tell us what ye want, and where ye come from?" + +For answer the Brownie looked all round him, and gave such a groan, that +we scattered and ran in all directions, and it was full five minutes +before we could pluck up our courage and go close to him again. + +But Grannie Duncan stood her ground, like a brave old woman that she +was, and it was to her that the creature spoke. + +"I cannot tell thee from whence I come," he said. "'Tis a nameless land, +and 'tis very different from this land of thine. For there we all learn +to serve, while here everyone wishes to be served. And when there is no +work for us to do at home, then we sometimes set out to visit thy land, +to see if there is any work which we may do there. I must seem strange +to human eyes, that I know; but if thou wilt, I will stay in this place +awhile. I need not that any should wait on me, for I seek neither wages, +nor clothes, nor bedding. All I ask for is the corner of a barn to sleep +in, and a cogful of brose set down on the floor at bedtime; and if no +one meddles with me, I will be ready to help anyone who needs me. I'll +gather your sheep betimes on the hill; I'll take in your harvest by +moonlight. I'll sing the bairns to sleep in their cradles, and, though I +doubt you'll not believe it, you'll find that the babes will love me. +I'll kirn your kirns[29] for you, goodwives, and I'll bake your bread on +a busy day; while, as for the men folk, they may find me useful when +there is corn to thrash, or untamed colts in the stables, or when the +waters are out in flood." + + [Footnote 29: A churn.] + +No one quite knew what to say in answer to the creature's strange +request. It was an unheard-of thing for anyone to come and offer their +services for nothing, and the men began to whisper among themselves, and +to say that it was not canny, and 'twere better to have nothing to do +with him. + +But up spoke old Grannie Duncan again. "'Tis but a Brownie, I tell you," +she repeated, "a poor, harmless Brownie, and many a story have I heard +in my young days about the work that a Brownie can do, if he be well +treated and let alone. Have we not been complaining all summer about bad +times, and scant wages, and a lack of workmen to work the work? And now, +when a workman comes ready to your hand, ye will have none of him, just +because he is not bonnie to look on." + +Still the men hesitated, and the silly young wenches screwed their +faces, and pulled their mouths. "But, Grannie," cried they, "that is all +very well, but if we keep such a creature in our village, no one will +come near it, and then what shall we do for sweethearts?" + +"Shame on ye," cried Grannie impatiently, "and on all you men for +encouraging the silly things in their whimsies. It's time that ye were +thinking o' other things than bonnie faces and sweethearts. 'Handsome is +that handsome does,' is a good old saying; and what about the corn that +stands rotting in the fields, an' it past Hallowe'en already? I've heard +that a Brownie can stack a whole ten-acre field in a single night." + +That settled the matter. The miller offered the creature the corner of +his barn to sleep in, and Grannie promised to boil the cogful of brose, +and send her grandchild, wee Jeannie, down with it every evening, and +then we all said good-night, and went into our houses, looking over our +shoulders as we did so, for fear that the strange little man was +following us. + +But if we were afraid of him that night, we had a very different song to +sing before a week was over. Whatever he was, or wherever he came from, +he was the most wonderful worker that men had ever known. And the +strange thing was that he did most of it at night. He had the corn safe +into the stackyards, and the stacks thatched, in the clap of a hand, as +the old folk say. + +The village became the talk of the countryside, and folk came from all +parts to see if they could catch a glimpse of our queer, hairy little +visitor; but they were always unsuccessful, for he was never to be seen +when one looked for him. One might go into the miller's barn twenty +times a day, and twenty times a day find nothing but a heap of straw; +and although the cog of brose was aye empty in the morning, no one knew +when he came home, or when he supped it. + +But wherever there was work to be done, whether it was a sickly bairn to +be sung to, or a house to be tidied up; a kirn that would not kirn, or a +batch of bread that would not rise; a flock of sheep to be gathered +together on a stormy night, or a bundle to be carried home by some weary +labourer; Aiken-Drum, as we learned to call him, always got to know of +it, and appeared in the nick of time. It looked as if we had all got +wishing-caps, for we had just to wish, and the work was done. + +Many a time, some poor mother, who had been up with a crying babe all +night, would sit down with it in her lap, in front of the fire, in the +morning, and fall fast asleep, and when she awoke, she would find that +Aiken-Drum had paid her a visit, for the floor would be washed, and the +dishes too, and the fire made up, and the kettle put on to boil; but the +little man would have slipped away, as if he were frightened of being +thanked. + +The bairns were the only ones who ever saw him idle, and oh, how they +loved him! In the gloaming, or when the school was out, one could see +them away down in some corner by the burn[30]-side, crowding round the +little dark brown figure, with its kilt of rushes, and one would hear +the sound of wondrous low sweet singing, for he knew all the songs that +the little ones loved. + + [Footnote 30: Stream.] + +So by and by the name of Aiken-Drum came to be a household word amongst +us, and although we so seldom saw him near at hand, we loved him like +one of our ain folk. + +And he might have been here still, had it not been for a silly, +senseless young wife who thought she knew better than everyone else, and +who took some idle notion into her empty head that it was not right to +make the little man work, and give him no wage. + +She dinned[31] this into our heads, morning, noon, and night, and she +would not believe us when we told her that Aiken-Drum worked for love, +and love only. + + [Footnote 31: Impressed this upon us.] + +Poor thing, she could not understand anyone doing that, so she made up +her mind that she, at least, would do what was right, and set us all an +example. + +"She did not mean any harm," she said afterwards, when the miller took +her to task for it; but although she might not mean to do any harm, she +did plenty, as senseless folk are apt to do when they cannot bear to +take other people's advice, for she took a pair of her husband's old, +mouldy, worn-out breeches, and laid them down one night beside the +cogful of brose. + +By my faith, if the village folk had not remembered so well what +Aiken-Drum had said about wanting no wages, they would have found +something better to give him than a pair of worn-out breeks. + +Be that as it may, the long and the short of it was, that the dear wee +man's feelings were hurt because we would not take his services for +nothing, and he vanished in the night, as Brownies are apt to do, so +Grannie Duncan says, if anyone tries to pay them, and we have never seen +him from that day to this, although the bairns declare that they +sometimes hear him singing down by the mill, as they pass it in the +gloaming, on their way home from school. + + + + +SIR PATRICK SPENS + + "The king sits in Dunfermline town, + Drinking the blude-red wine; + 'O whare will I get a skeely skipper, + To sail this new ship o' mine?' + + * * * * * + + Half owre, half owre to Aberdour, + 'Tis fifty fathoms deep, + And there lies gude Sir Patrick Spens, + Wi' the Scots lords at his feet." + + +Now hearken to me, all ye who love old stories, and I will tell you how +one of the bravest and most gallant of Scottish seamen came by his +death. + +'Tis the story of an event which brought mourning and dule to many a +fair lady's heart, in the far-off days of long ago. + +Now all the world knows that his Majesty, King Alexander the Third, who +afterwards came by his death on the rocks at Kinghorn, had one only +daughter, named Margaret, after her ancestress, the wife of Malcolm +Canmore, whose life was so holy, and her example so blessed, that, to +this day, men call her Saint Margaret of Scotland. + +King Alexander had had much trouble in his life, for he had already +buried his wife, and his youngest son David, and 'twas no wonder that, +as he sat in the great hall of his Palace at Dunfermline, close to the +Abbey Church, where he loved best to hold his Court, that his heart was +sore at the thought of parting with his motherless daughter. + +She had lately been betrothed to Eric, the young King of Norway, and it +was now full time that she went to her new home. So a stately ship had +been prepared to convey her across the sea; the amount of her dowry had +been settled; her attendants chosen; and it only remained to appoint a +captain to the charge of the vessel. + +But here King Alexander was at a loss. It was now past midsummer, and in +autumn the Northern Sea was wont to be wild and stormy, and on the +skilful steering of the Royal bark many precious lives depended. + +He thought first of one man skilled in the art of seamanship, and then +he thought of another, and at last he turned in his perplexity to his +nobles who were sitting around him. + +"Canst tell me," he said, fingering a glass of red French wine as he +spoke, "of a man well skilled in the knowledge of winds and tides, yet +of gentle birth withal, who can be trusted to pilot this goodly ship of +mine, with her precious burden, safely over the sea to Norway?" + +The nobles looked at one another in silence for a moment, and then one +of them, an old gray-haired baron, rose from his seat by Alexander's +side. + +"Scotland lacks not seamen, both gentle and simple, my Liege," he said, +"who could be trusted with this precious charge. But there is one man of +my acquaintance, who, above all others, is worthy of such a trust. I +speak of young Sir Patrick Spens, who lives not far from here. Not so +many years have passed over his head, but from a boy he has loved the +sea, and already he knows more about it, and its moods, than +white-haired men who have sailed on it all their lives. 'Tis his bride, +he says, an' I trow he speaks the truth, for, although he is as fair a +gallant as ever the eye of lady rested on, and although many tender +hearts, both within the Court, and without, beat a quicker measure when +his name is spoken, he is as yet free of love fancies, and aye bides +true to this changeful mistress of his. Truly he may well count it an +honour to have the keeping of so fair a flower entrusted to him." + +"Now bring me paper and pen," cried the King, "and I will write to him +this instant with mine own hand." + +Slowly and laboriously King Alexander penned the lines, for in these +days kings were readier with the sword than with the pen; then, folding +the letter and sealing it with the great signet ring which he wore on +the third finger of his right hand, he gave it to the old baron, and +commanded him to seek Sir Patrick Spens without loss of time. + +Now Sir Patrick dwelt near the sea, and when the baron arrived he found +him pacing up and down on the hard white sand by the sea-shore, watching +the waves, and studying the course of the tides. He was quite a young +man, and 'twas little wonder if the story which the old baron had told +was true, and if all the ladies' hearts in Fife ached for love of him, +for I trow never did goodlier youth walk the earth, and men said of him +that he was as gentle and courteous as he was handsome. + +At first when he began to read the King's letter, his face flushed with +pride, for who would not have felt proud to be chosen before all others +in Scotland, to be the captain of the King's Royal bark? But the smile +passed away almost as soon as it appeared, and a look of great sadness +took its place. In silence he gazed out over the sea. Did something warn +him at that moment that this would prove his last voyage;--that never +again would he set foot in his beloved land? + +It may be so; who can tell? Certain it is--the old baron recalled it to +his mind in the sad days that were to come--that, when the young sailor +handed back the King's letter to him, his eyes were full of tears. + +"'Tis certainly a great honour," he said, "and I thank his Majesty for +granting it to me, but methinks it was no one who loved my life, or the +lives of those who sail with me, who suggested our setting out for +Norway at this time of year." + +Then, anxious lest the baron thought that he said this out of fear, or +cowardice, he changed his tone, and hurried him up to his house to +partake of some refreshment after his ride, while he gave orders to his +seamen to get everything ready. + +"Make haste, my men," he shouted in a cheerful, lusty voice, "for a +great honour hath fallen to our lot. His Majesty hath deigned to entrust +to us his much loved daughter, the Princess Margaret, that we may convey +her, in the stately ship which he hath prepared, to her husband's court +in Norway. Wherefore, let every man look to himself, and let him meet me +at Aberdour, where the ship lies, on Sunday by nightfall, for we sail +next day with the tide." + +So on the Monday morning early, ere it struck eight of the clock, a +great procession wound down from the King's Palace at Dunfermline to the +little landing-stage at Aberdour, where the stately ship was lying, with +her white sails set, like a gigantic swan. + +Between the King and his son, the Prince of Scotland, rode the Princess +Margaret, her eyes red with weeping, for in those days it was no light +thing to set out for another land, and she felt that the parting might +be for ever. And so, in good sooth, it proved to be, in this world at +least, for before many years had passed all three were in their graves; +but that belongs not to my tale. + +Next rode the high and mighty persons who were to accompany the Princess +to her husband's land, and be witnesses of the fulfilment of the +marriage contract. These were their Graces the Earl and Countess of +Menteith, his Reverence the Abbot of Balmerino, the good Lord Bernard of +Monte-Alto, and many others, including a crowd of young nobles, five and +fifty in all, who had been asked to swell the Princess's retinue, and +who were only too glad to have a chance of getting a glimpse of other +lands. + +Next came a long train of sumpter mules, with the Princess's baggage, +and that of her attendants. And last of all, guarded well by +men-at-arms, came the huge iron-bound chests which contained her dowry: +seven thousand merks in good white money; and there were other seven +thousand merks laid out for her in land in Scotland. + +Sir Patrick Spens was waiting to receive the Princess on board the ship. +Right courteously, I ween, he handed her to her cabin, and saw that my +Lady of Menteith, in whose special care she was, was well lodged also, +as befitted her rank and station. But I trow that his lip curled with +scorn when he saw that the five and fifty young nobles had provided +themselves with five and fifty feather beds to sleep on. + +He himself was a hardy man, as a sailor ought to be, and he loved not to +see men so careful of their comfort. + +At last the baggage, and the dowry, and even the feather beds were +stowed away; and the last farewells having been said, the great ship +weighed anchor, and sailed slowly out of the Firth of Forth. + +Ah me, how many eyes there were, which watched it sail away, with +husband, or brother, or sweetheart on board, which would wait in vain +for many a long day for its return! + +Sir Patrick made a good voyage. The sea was calm, the wind was in his +favour, and by the evening of the third day he brought his ship with her +precious burden safe to the shores of Norway. + +"Now the Saints be praised," he said to himself as he cast anchor, "for +the Princess is safe, let happen what may on our return voyage." + +In great state, and with much magnificence, Margaret of Scotland was +wedded to Eric of Norway, and great feasting and merry-making marked the +event. For a whole month the rejoicing went on. The Norwegian nobles +vied with each other who could pay most attention to the Scottish +strangers. From morning to night their halls rang with music, and +gaiety, and dancing. No wonder that the young nobles;--nay, no wonder +that even Sir Patrick Spens himself, careful seaman though he was, +forgot to think of the homeward journey, or to remember how soon the +storms of winter would be upon them. + +In good sooth they might have remained where they were till the spring, +and then this tale need never have been told, had not a thoughtless +taunt touched their Scottish pride to the quick. + +The people of Norway are a frugal race, and to the older nobles all this +feasting and junketing seemed like wild, needless extravagance. + +"Our young men have gone mad," they said to each other; "if this goes +on, the country will be ruined. 'Tis those strangers who have done it. +It would be a good day for Norway if they would bethink themselves, and +sail for home." + +That very night there was a great banquet, an' I warrant that there was +dire confusion in the hall when a fierce old noble of Royal blood, an +uncle of the King, spoke aloud to Sir Patrick Spens in the hearing of +all the company. + +"Now little good will the young Queen's dowry do either to our King or +to our country," he said, "if it has all to be eaten up, feasting a +crowd of idle youngsters who ought to be at home attending to their own +business." + +Sir Patrick turned red, and then he turned white. What the old man said +was very untrue; and he knew it. For, besides the young Queen's dowry, a +large sum of money had been taken over in the ship, to pay for the +expenses of her attendants, and of the nobles in her train. + +"'Tis false. Ye lie," he said bluntly; "for I wot I brought as much +white money with me as would more than pay for all that hath been spent +on our behalf. If these be the ways of Norway, then beshrew me, but I +like them not." + +With these words he turned and left the hall followed by all the +Scottish nobles. Without speaking a word to any of them, he strode down +to the harbour, where his ship was lying, and ordered the sailors to +begin to make ready at once, for he would sail for home in the morning. + +The night was cold and dreary; there was plainly a storm brewing. It was +safe and snug in the harbour, and the sailors were loth to face the +dangers of the voyage. But their captain looked so pale and stern, that +everyone feared to speak. + +"Master," said an old man at last--he was the oldest man on board, and +had seen nigh seventy years--"I have never refused to do thy bidding, +and I will not begin to-night. We will go, if go we must; but, if it be +so, then may God's mercy rest on us. For late yestreen I saw the old +moon in the sky, and she was nursing the new moon in her arms. It needs +not me to tell thee, for thou art as weather-wise as I am, what that +sign bodes." + +"Say ye so?" said Sir Patrick, startled in spite of his anger; "then, by +my troth, we may prepare for a storm. But tide what may, come snow or +sleet, come cold or wet, we head for Scotland in the morning." + +So the stately ship set her sails once more, and for a time all went +well. But when they had sailed for nigh three days, and were thinking +that they must be near Scotland, the sky grew black and the wind arose, +and all signs pointed to a coming storm. + +Sir Patrick took the helm himself, and did his best to steer the ship +through the tempest which soon broke over them, and which grew worse and +worse every moment. The sailors worked with a will at the ropes, and +even the foolish young nobles, awed by the danger which threatened them, +offered their assistance. But they were of little use, and certs, one +would have laughed to have seen them, had the peril not been so great, +with their fine satin cloaks wrapped round them, and carrying their +feathered hats under their arms, trying to step daintily across the +deck, between the rushes of the water, in order that they might not wet +their tiny, cork-heeled, pointed-toed shoes. + +Alack, alack, neither feathered hats, nor pointed shoon, availed to save +them! Darker and darker grew the sea, and every moment the huge waves +threatened to engulf the goodly vessel. + +Sir Patrick Spens had sailed on many a stormy sea, but never in his life +had he faced a tempest like this. He knew that he and all his gallant +company were doomed men unless the land were near. That was their only +hope, to find some harbour and run into it for shelter. + +Soon the huge waves were breaking over the deck, and the bulwarks began +to give way. Truly their case was desperate, and even the gay young +nobles grew grave, and many hearts were turned towards the homes which +they would never see again. + +"Send me a man to take the helm," shouted Sir Patrick hoarsely, "while I +climb to the top of the mast, and try if I can see land." + +Instantly the old sailor who had warned him of the coming storm, the +night before, was at his side. + +"I will guide the ship, captain," he said, "if thou art bent on going +aloft; but I fear me thou wilt see no land. Sailors who are out on their +last voyage need not look for port." + +Now Sir Patrick was a brave man, and he meant to fight for life; so he +climbed up to the mast head, and clung on there, despite the driving +spray and roaring wind, which were like to drive him from his foothold. +In vain he peered through the darkness, looking to the right hand and to +the left; there was no land to be seen, nothing but the great green +waves, crested with foam, which came springing up like angry wolves, +eager to swallow the gallant ship and her luckless crew. + +Suddenly his cheek grew pale, and his eyes dark with fear. "We are dead +men now," he muttered; for, not many feet below him, seated on the crest +of a massive wave, he saw the form of a beautiful woman, with a cruel +face and long fair hair, which floated like a veil on the top of the +water. 'Twas a mermaid, and he knew what the sight portended. + +She held up a silver bowl to him, with a little mocking laugh on her +lips. "Sail on, sail on, my guid Scots lords," she cried, and her sweet, +false voice rose clear and shrill above the tumult of the waves, "for I +warrant ye'll soon touch dry land." + +"We may touch the land, but 'twill be the land that lies fathoms deep +below the sea," replied Sir Patrick grimly, and then the weird creature +laughed again, and floated away in the darkness. + +When she had passed Sir Patrick glanced down at the deck, and the sight +that met him there only deepened his gloom. + +Worn with the beating of the waves, a bolt had sprung in the good ship's +side, and a plank had given way, and the cruel green water was pouring +in through the hole. + +Verily, they were facing death itself now; yet the strong man's heart +did not quail. + +He had quailed at the sight of the mermaid's mocking eyes, but he looked +on the face of death calmly, as befitted a brave and a good man. Perhaps +the thought came to him, as it came to another famous seaman long years +afterwards, that heaven is as near by sea as by land, and in the thought +there was great comfort. + +There was but one more thing to be done; after that they were helpless. + +"Now, my good Scots lords," he cried, and I trow a look of amusement +played round his lips even at that solemn hour, "now is the time for +those featherbeds of thine. There are five and fifty of them; odds take +it, if they be not enough to stop up one little hole." + +At the words the poor young nobles set to work right manfully, +forgetting in their fear, that their white hands were bruised and +bleeding, and their dainty clothes all wet with sea-water. + +Alack! alack! ere half the work was done, the good ship shivered from +bow to stern, and went slowly down under the waves; and Sir Patrick +Spens and his whole company met death, as, in their turn, all men must +meet him, and passed to where he had no more power over them. + +So there, under the waters of the gray Northern Sea he rested, lying in +state, as it were, with the Scottish lords and his own faithful sailors +round him; while there was dule and woe throughout the length and +breadth of Scotland, and fair women wept as they looked in vain for the +husbands, and the brothers, and the lovers who would return to them no +more. + +And, while the long centuries come and go, he is resting there still, +with the Scots lords and his faithful sailors by him, waiting for a Day, +whose coming may be long, but whose coming will be sure, when the sea +shall give up its dead. + + + + +YOUNG BEKIE + + "Young Bekie was as brave a knight + As ever sailed the sea; + And he's done him to the Court of France + To serve for meat and fee. + + He hadna been in the Court of France + A twelvemonth, nor sae lang, + Till he fell in love with the King's daughter, + And was thrown in prison strang." + + +It was the Court of France: the gayest, and the brightest, and the +merriest court in the whole world. For there the sun seemed always to be +shining, and the nobles, and the fair Court ladies did not know what +care meant. + +In all the palace there was only one maiden who wore a sad and troubled +look, and that was Burd Isbel, the King's only daughter. + +A year before she had been the lightest-hearted maiden in France. Her +face had been like sunshine, and her voice like rippling music; but now +all was changed. She crept about in silence, with pale cheeks, and +clouded eyes, and the King, her father, was in deep distress. + +He summoned all the great doctors, and offered them all manner of +rewards if only they would give him back, once more, his light-hearted +little daughter. But they shook their heads gravely; for although +doctors can do many things, they have not yet found out the way to make +heavy hearts light again. + +All the same these doctors knew what ailed the Princess, but they dare +not say so. That would have been to mention a subject which nearly threw +the King into a fit whenever he thought of it. + +For just a year before, a brave young Scottish Knight had come over to +France to take service at the King's Court. His name was Young Bekie, +and he was so strong and so noble that at first the King had loved him +like a son. But before long the young man had fallen in love with Burd +Isbel, and of course Burd Isbel had fallen in love with him, and he had +gone straight to the King, and asked him if he might marry her;--and +then the fat was in the fire. + +For although the stranger seemed to be brave, and noble, and good, and +far superior to any Frenchman, he was not of royal birth, and the King +declared that it was a piece of gross impertinence on his part ever to +think of marrying a king's daughter. + +It was in vain that the older nobles, who had known Burd Isbel since she +was a child, begged for pity for the young man, and pointed out his good +qualities; the King would not listen to them, but stamped, and stormed, +and raged with anger. He gave orders that the poor young Knight should +be shut up in prison at once, and threatened to take his life; and he +told his daughter sharply that she was to think no more about him. + +But Burd Isbel could not do that, and she used to creep to the back of +the prison door, when no one was near, and listen wistfully, in the hope +that she might hear her lover's voice. For a long time she was +unsuccessful, but one day she heard him bemoaning his hard fate--to be +kept a prisoner in a foreign land, with no chance of sending a message +to Scotland of the straits that he was in. + +"Oh," he murmured piteously to himself, "if only I could send word home +to Scotland to my father, he would not leave me long in this vile +prison. He is rich, and he would spare nothing for my ransom. He would +send a trusty servant with a bag of good red gold, and another of bonnie +white silver, to soften the cruel heart of the King of France." + +Then she heard him laugh bitterly to himself. + +"There is little chance that I will escape," he muttered, "for who is +likely to carry a message to Scotland for me? No, no, my bones will rot +here; that is clear enough. And yet how willingly I would be a slave, if +I could escape. If only some great lady needed a servant, I would gladly +run at her horse's bridle if she could gain me my liberty. If only a +widow needed a man to help her, I would promise to be a son to her, if +she could obtain my freedom. Nay, if only some poor maiden would promise +to wed me, and crave my pardon at the King's hand, I would in return +carry her to Scotland, and dower her with all my wealth; and that is not +little, for am I not master of the forests, and the lands, and the +Castle of Linnhe?" + +Many a maiden would have been angry had she heard her lover speak these +words; but Burd Isbel loved him too much to be offended at anything +which he said, so she crept away to her chamber with a determined look +on her girlish face. + +"'Tis not for thy lands or thy Castle," she whispered, "but for pure +love of thee. Love hath made maidens brave ere now, and it will make +them brave again." + +That night, when all the palace was quiet, Burd Isbel wrapped herself in +a long gray cloak, and crept noiselessly from her room. She might have +been taken for a dark shadow, had it not been for her long plait of +lint-white hair and her little bare feet, which peeped out and in +beneath the folds of her cloak, as she stole down the great polished +staircase. + +Silently she crept across the hall, and peeped into the guard-room. + +All the guards were asleep, and, on the wall above their heads hung the +keys of the palace, and beside them a great iron key. That was the key +of the prison. She stole across the floor on tip-toe, making no more +noise than a mouse, and, stretching up her hand, she took down the heavy +key, and hid it under her cloak. Then she sped quickly out of the +guard-room, and through a turret door, into a dark courtyard where the +prison was. She fitted the key in the lock. It took all her strength to +turn it, but she managed it at last, and, shutting the door behind her, +she went into the little cell where Young Bekie was imprisoned. + +A candle flickered in its socket on the wall, and by its light she saw +him lying asleep on the cold stone floor. She could not help giving a +little scream when she saw him, for there were three mice and two great +rats sitting on the straw at his head, and they had nibbled away nearly +all his long yellow hair, which she had admired so much when first he +came to Court. His beard had grown long and rough too, for he had had no +razors to shave with, and altogether he looked so strange that she +hardly knew him. + +At the sound of her voice he woke and started up, and the mice and the +rats scampered away to their holes. He knew her at once, and in a moment +he forgot his dreams of slaves, and widows, and poor maidens. He sprang +across the floor, and knelt at her feet, and kissed her little white +hands. + +"Ah," he said, "now would I stay here for ever, if I might always have +thee for a companion." + +But Burd Isbel was a sensible maiden, and she knew that if her lover +meant to escape, he must make haste, and not waste time in making pretty +speeches. She knew also that if he went out of prison looking like a +beggar or a vagabond, he would soon be taken captive again, so she +hurried back to the palace, and went hither and thither noiselessly with +her little bare feet, and presently she returned with her hands full of +parcels. + +She had brought a comb to comb the hair which the rats had left on his +head, and a razor for him to shave himself with, and she had brought +five hundred pounds of good red money, so that he might travel like a +real Knight. + +Then, while he was making his toilet, she went into her father's stable, +and led out a splendid horse, strong of limb, and fleet of foot, and on +it she put a saddle and a bridle which had been made for the King's own +charger. + +Finally, she went to the kennels, and, stooping down, she called softly, +"Hector, Hector." + +A magnificent black hound answered her call and came and crouched at her +feet, fawning on them and licking them. After him came three companions, +all the same size, and all of them big enough to kill a man. + +These dogs belonged to Burd Isbel, and they were her special pets. A +tear rolled down her face as she stooped and kissed their heads. + +"I am giving you to a new master, darlings," she said. "See and guard +him well." + +Then she led them to where the horse was standing, saddled and bridled; +and there, beside him, stood Young Bekie. Now that his beard was +trimmed, and his hair arranged, he looked as gallant, and brave, and +noble as ever. + +When Burd Isbel told him that the money, and the hounds, and the horse +with its harness, were all his, he caught her in his arms, and swore +that there had never been such a brave and generous maiden born before, +and that he would serve her in life and death. + +Then, as time was pressing, and the dawn was beginning to break, they +had to say farewell; but before they did so, they vowed a solemn vow +that they would be married to each other within three years. After this +Burd Isbel opened the great gate, and her lover rode away, with money in +his pocket, and hounds by his side, like the well-born Knight that he +was; and nobody who met him ever imagined that he was an escaped +prisoner, set free by the courage of the King's daughter. + + * * * * * + +Alas, alas, for the faithfulness of men! Young Bekie was brave, and +gentle, and courteous, but his will was not very strong, and he liked to +be comfortable. And it came about that, after he had been back in +Scotland for a year, the Scotch King had a daughter for whom he wanted +to find a husband, and he made up his mind that Young Bekie would be the +very man for her. + +So he proposed that he should marry her, and was quite surprised and +angry when the young man declined. + +"It is an insult to my daughter," he said, and he determined to force +Bekie to do as he wanted, by using threats. So he told the Knight, that, +if he agreed to marry his daughter, he would grow richer and richer, +but, if he refused, he would lose all his lands, and the Castle of +Linnhe. + +Poor Young Bekie! I am afraid he was not a hero, for he chose to marry +the Princess and keep his lands, and he tried to put the thought of Burd +Isbel and what she had done for him, and the solemn vow that he had made +to her, out of his head. + +Meanwhile Burd Isbel lived on at her father's court, and because her +heart was full of faith and love, it grew light and merry again, and she +began to dance and to sing as gaily as ever. + +But early one morning she woke up with a start, and there, at the foot +of her bed, stood the queerest little manikin that she had ever seen. He +was only about a foot high, and he was dressed all in russet brown, and +his face was just like a wrinkled apple. + +"Who art thou?" she cried, starting up, "and what dost thou want?" + +"My name is Billy Blin," said the funny old man. "I am a Brownie, and I +come from Scotland. My family all live there, and we are all very +kind-hearted, and we like to help people. But it is no time to be +talking of my affairs, for I have come to help thee. I have just been +wondering how thou couldst lie there and sleep so peacefully when this +is Young Bekie's wedding day. He is to be married at noon." + +"Oh, what shall I do? what shall I do?" cried poor Burd Isbel in deep +distress. "It is a long way from France to Scotland, and I can never be +there in time." + +Billie Blin waved his little hand. "I will manage it for thee," he said, +"if thou wilt only do what I tell thee. Go into thy mother's chamber as +fast as thou canst, and get two of thy mother's maids-of-honour. And, +remember, thou must be careful to see that they are both called Mary. +Then thou must dress thyself in thy most beautiful dress. Thou hast a +scarlet dress, I know, which becomes thee well, for I have seen thee +wear it. Nay, be not surprised; we Brownies can see people when they do +not see us. Put that dress on, and let thy Maries be dressed all in +green. And in thy father's treasury there are three jewelled belts, each +of them worth an earl's ransom. These thou must get, and clasp them +round thy waists, and steal down to the sea-shore, and there, on the +water, thou wilt see a beautiful Dutch boat. It will come to the shore +for thee, and thou must step in, and greet the crew with a Mystic +Greeting. Then thy part is done. I will do the rest." + +The Brownie vanished, and Burd Isbel made haste to do exactly what he +had told her to do. + +She ran to her mother's room, and called to two maids called Mary to +come and help her to dress. Then she put on her lovely scarlet robe, and +bade them attire themselves in green, and she took the jewelled girdles +out of the treasury, and gave one to each of them to put on; and when +they were dressed they all went down to the sea-shore. + +There, on the sea, as the Brownie had promised, was a beautiful Dutch +boat, with its sails spread. It came dancing over the water to them, and +when Burd Isbel stepped on board, and greeted the sailors with a Mystic +Greeting, they turned its prow towards Scotland, and Billy Blin appeared +himself, and took the helm. + +Away, away, sailed the ship, until it reached the Firth of Tay, and +there, high up among the hills, stood the Castle of Linnhe. + +When Burd Isbel and her maidens went to the gate they heard beautiful +music coming from within, and their hearts sank. They rang the bell, and +the old porter appeared. + +"What news, what news, old man?" cried Burd Isbel. "We have heard +rumours of a wedding here, and would fain know if they be true or no?" + +"Certs, Madam, they are true," he answered; "for this very day, at noon, +the Master of this place, Young Bekie, will be married to the King of +Scotland's daughter." + +Then Burd Isbel felt in her jewelled pouch, and drew out three merks. +"Take these, old man," she said, "and bid thy master speak to me at +once." + +The porter did as he was bid, and went upstairs to the great hall, where +all the wedding guests were assembled. He bent low before the King, and +before the Queen, and then he knelt before his young lord. + +"I have served thee these thirty and three years, Sire," he said, "but +never have I seen ladies come to the gate so richly attired as the three +who wait without at this moment. There is one of them clad in scarlet, +such scarlet as I have never seen, and two are clad in green, and they +have girdles round their waists which might well pay an earl's ransom." + +When the Scottish Princess heard these words, she tossed her head +haughtily. She was tall and buxom, and she was dressed entirely in cloth +of gold. + +"Lack-a-day," she said, "what a to-do about three strangers! This old +fool may think them finely dressed, but I warrant some of us here are +every whit as fine as they." + +But Young Bekie sprang to his feet. He knew who it was, and the thought +of his ingratitude brought the tears to his eyes. + +"I'll wager my life 'tis Burd Isbel," he cried, "who has come over the +sea to seek me." + +Then he ran downstairs, and sure enough it was Burd Isbel. + +He clasped her in his arms, and kissed her, and now that he had her +beside him, it seemed to him as if he had never loved anyone else. + +But the wedding guests came trooping out, and when they heard the story +they shook their heads. + +"A likely tale," they cried. "Who is to believe it? If she be really the +King of France's daughter, how came she here alone, save for those two +maidens?" + +But some of them looked at the jewelled girdles, and held their peace. + +Then Burd Isbel spoke out clearly and simply. "I rescued my love out of +prison," she said, "and gave him horse and hounds. And if the hounds +know me not, then am I proved false." So saying she raised her voice. +"Hector, Hector," she cried, and lo! the great black hound came bounding +out of its kennel, followed by its companions, and lay down fawning at +her feet, and licked them. + +Then the wedding guests knew that she had told the truth, and they +turned their eyes on Young Bekie, to see what he would do. He, on his +part, was determined that he would marry Burd Isbel, let happen what +might. + +"Take home your daughter again," he cried impatiently to the King, "and +my blessing go with her; for she sought me ere I sought her. This is my +own true love; I can wed no other." + +"Nay," answered the King, in angry astonishment, "but this thing cannot +be. Whoever heard of a maiden being sent home unwed, when the very +wedding guests were assembled? I tell thee it cannot be." + +In despair Young Bekie turned to the lady herself. "Good lack, Madam," +he cried, "is there no one else whom thou canst marry? There is many a +better and manlier man than I, who goes seeking a wife. There, for +instance, stands my cousin John. He is taller and stronger than I, a +better fighter, and a right good man. Couldst thou not accept him for a +husband? If thou couldst, I would pay him down five hundred pounds of +good red gold on his wedding day." + +A murmur of displeasure ran through the crowd of wedding guests at this +bold proposal, and the King grasped his sword in a rage. But, to +everyone's amazement, the Princess seemed neither displeased nor +daunted. She blushed rosy red, and smiled softly. + +"Keep thy money to thyself, Bekie," she answered. "Thy cousin John and I +have no need of it. Neither doth he require a bribe to make him willing +to take me for his wife. To speak truth, we loved each other long ere I +set eyes on thee, and 'twas but the King, my father, who would have none +of him. Perchance by now he hath changed his mind." + +So there were two weddings in the Castle of Linnhe instead of one. Young +Bekie married Burd Isbel, and his cousin John married the King's +daughter, and they "lived happy, happy, ever after." + + + + +THE EARL OF MAR'S DAUGHTER + + "It was intil a pleasant time, + Upon a simmer's day, + The noble Earl of Mar's daughter + Went forth to sport and play." + + +Long, long ago, in a country far away over the sea, there lived a Queen +who had an only son. She was very rich, and very great, and the only +thing that troubled her was that her son did not want to get married in +the very least. + +In vain his mother gave grand receptions and court balls, to which she +asked all the young countesses and baronesses, in the hope that the +Prince would take a fancy to one of them. He would talk to them, and +dance with them, and be very polite, but, when his mother hinted that it +was time that he looked for a wife, he only shrugged his shoulders and +said that there was not a pretty girl amongst them. + +And perhaps there was some truth in his answer, for the maidens of that +country were all fat, and little, and squat, and everyone of them +waddled like a duck when she walked. + +"If thou canst not find a wife to thy liking at home," the Queen would +say, "go to other countries and see the maidens there; surely somewhere +thou wouldst find one whom thou couldst love." + +But Prince Florentine, for that was his name, only shook his head and +laughed. + +"And marry a shrew," he would say mockingly; "for when the maidens heard +my name, and knew for what purpose I had come, they would straightway +smile their sweetest, and look their loveliest, and I would have no +chance of knowing what manner of maidens they really were." + +Now the Queen had a very wonderful gift. She could change a man's shape, +so that he would appear to be a hare, or a cat, or a bird; and at last +she proposed to the Prince that she should turn him into a dove, and +then he could fly away to foreign countries, and go up and down until he +saw some maiden whom he thought he could really love, and then he could +go back to his real shape, and get to know her in the usual way. + +This proposal pleased Prince Florentine very much. "He would take good +care not to fall in love with anyone," he told himself; but, as he hated +the stiffness and ceremony of court life, it seemed to him that it would +be good fun to be free to go about as he liked and to see a great many +different countries. + +So he agreed to his mother's wishes; and one day she waved a little +golden wand over his head, and gave him a very nasty draught to drink, +made from black beetles' wings, and wormwood, and snails' ears, and +hedgehogs' spikes, and before he knew where he was, he was changed into +a beautiful gray dove, with a white ring round its neck. + +At first when he saw himself in this changed guise he was frightened; +but his mother quickly tied a tiny charm round his neck, and hid it +under his soft gray feathers, and taught him how to press it against his +heart until a fragrant odour came from it, and as soon as he did this, +he became once more a handsome young man. + +Then he was very pleased, and kissed her, and said farewell, promising +to return some day with a beautiful young bride; and after that he +spread his wings, and flew away in search of adventure. + +For a year and a day he wandered about, now visiting this country, now +that, and he was so amused and interested in all the strange and +wonderful things that he saw, that he never once wanted to turn himself +into a man, and he completely forgot that his mother expected that he +was looking out for a wife. + +At last, one lovely summer's day, he found himself flying over broad +Scotland, and, as the sun was very hot, he looked round for somewhere to +shelter from its rays. Just below him was a stately castle, surrounded +by magnificent trees. + +"This is just what I want," he said to himself; "I will rest here until +the sun goes down." + +So he folded his wings, and sank gently down into the very heart of a +wide-spreading oak tree, near which, as good fortune would have it, +there was a field of ripening grain, which provided him with a hearty +supper. Here, for many days, the Prince took up his abode, partly +because he was getting rather tired of flying about continually, and +partly because he began to feel interested in a lovely young girl who +came out of the castle every day at noon, and amused herself with +playing at ball under the spreading branches of the great tree. +Generally she was quite alone, but once or twice an old lady, evidently +her governess, came with her, and sat on a root, which formed a +comfortable seat, and worked at some fine embroidery, while her pupil +amused herself with her ball. + +Prince Florentine soon found out that the maiden's name was Grizel, and +that she was the only child of the Earl of Mar, a nobleman of great +riches and renown. She was very beautiful, so beautiful, indeed, that +the Prince sat and feasted his eyes upon her all the time that she was +at play, and then, when she had gone home, he could not sleep, but, sat +with wide-open eyes, staring into the warm twilight, and wondering how +he could get to know her. He could not quite make up his mind whether he +should use his mother's charm, and take his natural shape, and walk +boldly up to the castle and crave her father's permission to woo her, or +fly away home, and send an ambassador with a train of nobles, and all +the pomp that belonged to his rank, to ask for her hand. + +The question was settled for him one day, however, and everything +happened quite differently from what he expected. + +On a very hot afternoon, Lady Grizel came out, accompanied by her +governess, and, as usual, the old lady sat down to her embroidery, and +the girl began to toss her ball. But the sun was so very hot that by and +by the governess laid down her needle and fell fast asleep, while her +pupil grew tired of running backwards and forwards, and, sitting down, +began to toss her ball right up among the branches. All at once it +caught in a leafy bough, and when she was gazing up, trying to see where +it was, she caught sight of a beautiful gray dove, sitting watching her. +Now, as I have said, Lady Grizel was an only child, and she had had few +playmates, and all her life she had been passionately fond of animals, +and when she saw the bird, she stood up and called gently, "Oh +Coo-me-doo, come down to me, come down." Then she whistled so softly and +sweetly, and stretched out her white hands above her head so +entreatingly, that Prince Florentine left his branch, and flew down and +alighted gently on her shoulder. + +The delight of the maiden knew no bounds. She kissed and fondled her new +pet, which perched quite familiarly on her arm, and promised him a +latticed silver cage, with bars of solid gold. + +The bird allowed the girl to carry him home, and soon the beautiful cage +was made, and hung up on the wall of her chamber, just inside the +window, and Coo-me-doo, as the dove was named, placed inside. + +He seemed perfectly happy, and grew so tame that soon he went with his +mistress wherever she went, and all the people who lived near the castle +grew quite accustomed to seeing the Earl's daughter driving or riding +with her tame dove on her shoulder. + +When she went out to play at ball, Coo-me-doo would go with her, and +perch up in his old place, and watch her with his bright dark eyes. One +day when she was tossing the ball among the branches it rolled away, and +for a long time she could not find it, and at last a voice behind her +said, "Here it is," and, turning round, she saw to her astonishment a +handsome young man dressed all in dove-gray satin, who handed her the +ball with a stately bow. + +Lady Grizel was frightened, for no strangers were allowed inside her +father's park, and she could not think where he had come from; but just +as she was about to call out for help, the young man smiled and said, +"Lady, dost thou not know thine own Coo-me-doo?" + +Then she glanced up into the branches, but the bird was gone, and as she +hesitated (for the stranger spoke so kindly and courteously she did not +feel very much alarmed), he took her hand in his. + +"'Tis true, my own love," he said; "but if thou canst not recognise thy +favourite when his gray plumage is changed into gray samite, mayhap thou +wilt know him when the gray samite is once more changed into softest +feathers; and, pressing a tiny gold locket which he wore, to his heart, +he vanished, and in his stead was her own gray dove, hovering down to +his resting-place on her shoulder. + +"Oh, I cannot understand it, I cannot understand it," she cried, putting +up her hand to stroke her pet; but the feathers seemed to slip from +between her fingers, and once more the gallant stranger stood before +her. + +"Sit thee down and rest, Sweetheart," he said, leading her to the root +where her governess was wont to sit, while he stretched himself on the +turf at her feet, "and I will explain the mystery to thee." + +Then he told her all. How his mother was a great Queen away in a far +country, and how he was her only son. Lady Grizel's fears were all gone +now, and she laughed merrily as he described the girls who lived in his +own country, and told her how little and fat they were, and how they +waddled when they walked; but when he told her how his mother had used +her magic and turned him into a dove, in order that he might bring home +a wife, her face grew grave and pale. + +"My father hath sworn a great oath," she said, "that I shall never wed +with anyone who lives out of Scotland; so I fear we must part, and thou +must go elsewhere in search of a bride." + +But Prince Florentine shook his head. + +"Nay," he said, "but rather than part from thee, I will live all my life +as a dove in a cage, if I may only be near thee, and talk to thee when +we are alone." + +"But what if my father should want me to wed with some Scottish lord?" +asked the maiden anxiously; "couldst thou bear to sit in thy cage and +sing my wedding song?" + +"That could I not," answered Prince Florentine, drawing her closer to +him; "and in order to prevent such a terrible thing happening, +Sweetheart, we must find ways and means to be married at once, and then, +come what may, no one can take thee from me. This very evening I must go +and speak to thy father." + +Now the Earl of Mar was a violent man, and his fear lay on all the +country-side--even his only child was afraid of him--and when her lover +made this suggestion she clung to him and begged him with tears in her +eyes not to do this. She told him what a fiery temper the Earl had, and +how she feared that when he heard his story he would simply order him to +be hanged on the nearest tree, or thrown into the dungeon to starve to +death. So for a long time they sat and talked, now thinking of one plan, +now of another, but none of them seemed of any use, and it seemed as +though Prince Florentine must either remain in the shape of her pet +dove, or go away altogether. + +All at once Lady Grizel clapped her hands. "I have it, I have it," she +cried; "why cannot we be married secretly? Old Father John out at the +chapel on the moor could marry us; he is so old and so blind, he would +never recognise me if I went bare-headed and bare-footed like a gipsy +girl; and thou must go dressed as a woodman, with muddy shoes, and an +axe over thine arm. Then we can dwell together as we are doing now, and +no one will suspect that the Earl of Mar's daughter is married to her +tame pet dove, which sits on her shoulder, and goes with her wherever +she goes. And if the worst comes to the worst, and some gallant Scotch +wooer appears, why, then we must confess what we have done, and bear the +consequences together." + +A few days later, in the early morning, when old Father John, the priest +who served the little chapel which stood on the heather-covered moor, +was preparing to say Mass, he saw a gipsy girl, bare-headed and +bare-footed, steal into the chapel, followed by a stalwart young +woodman, clad all in sober gray, with a bright wood-axe gleaming on his +shoulder. + +In a few words they told him the purpose for which they had come, and +after he had said Mass the kindly old priest married them, and gave them +his blessing, never doubting but that they were a couple of simple +country lovers who would go home to some tiny cottage in the woods near +by. Little did he think that only half a mile away a page boy, wearing +the livery of the Earl of Mar, was patiently waiting with a white +palfrey until his young mistress should return, accompanied by her gray +dove, from visiting an old nurse, "who," she told her governess, "was +teaching her how to spin." + +And little did her father, or her governess, or any of the servants at +the castle, think that Lady Grizel was leading a double life, and that +the gray dove which was always with her, and which she seemed to love +more than any other of her pets, was a gray dove only when anyone else +was by, but turned into a gallant young Prince, who ate, and laughed, +and talked with her the moment they were alone. + +Strange to say, their secret was never found out for seven long years, +even although every year a little son was born to them, and carried away +under the gray dove's wing to the country far over the sea. At these +times Lady Grizel used to cry and be very sad, for she dare not keep her +babies beside her, but had to kiss them, and let them go, to be brought +up by their Grandmother whom she had never seen. + +Every time Prince Florentine carried home a new baby, he brought back +tidings to his wife how tall, and strong, and brave her other sons were +growing, and tender messages from the Queen, his mother, telling her how +she hoped that one day she would be able to come home with her husband, +and then they would be all together. + +But year after year went by, and still the fierce old Earl lived on, and +there seemed little hope that poor Lady Grizel would ever be able to go +and live in her husband's land, and she grew pale and thin. And year +after year her father grew more and more angry with her, because he +wanted her to marry one of the many wooers who came to crave her hand; +but she would not. + +"I love to dwell alone with my sweet Coo-me-doo," she used to say, and +the old Earl would stamp his foot, and go out of her chamber muttering +angry words in his vexation. + +At last, one day, a very great and powerful nobleman arrived with his +train to ask the Earl's daughter to marry him. He was very rich, and +owned four beautiful castles, and the Earl said, "Now, surely, my +daughter will consent." + +But she only gave her old answer, "I love best to live alone with my +sweet Coo-me-doo." + +Then her father slammed the door in a rage, and went into the great +hall, where all his men-at-arms were, and swore a mighty oath, that on +the morrow, before he broke his fast, he would wring the neck of the +wretched bird, which seemed to have bewitched his daughter. + +Now just above his head, in the gallery, hung Coo-me-doo's cage with the +golden bars, and he happened to be sitting in it, and when he heard this +threat he flew away in haste to his wife's room and told her. + +"I must fly home and crave help of my mother," he said; "mayhap she may +be able to aid us, for I shall certainly be no help to thee here, if my +neck be wrung to-morrow. Do thou fall in with thy father's wishes, and +promise to marry this nobleman; only see to it that the wedding doth not +take place until three clear days be past." + +Then Lady Grizel opened the window, and he flew away, leaving her to act +her part as best she might. + +Now it chanced that next evening, in the far distant land over the sea, +the Queen was walking up and down in front of her palace, watching her +grandsons playing at tennis, and thinking sadly of her only son and his +beautiful wife whom she had never seen. She was so deep in thought, that +she never noticed that a gray dove had come sailing over the trees, and +perched itself on a turret of the palace, until it fluttered down, and +her son, Prince Florentine, stood beside her. + +She threw herself into his arms joyfully, and kissed him again and +again; then she would have called for a feast to be set, and for her +minstrels to play, as she always did on the rare occasions when he came +home, but he held up his hand to stop her. + +"I need neither feasting nor music, Mother," he said, "but I need thy +help sorely. If thy magic cannot help me, then my wife and I are undone, +and in two days she will be forced to marry a man whom she hates," and +he told the whole story. + +"And what wouldst thou that I should do?" asked the Queen in great +distress. + +"Give me a score of men-at-arms to fly over the sea with me," answered +the Prince, "and my sons to help me in the fray." + +But the Queen shook her head sadly. + +"'Tis beyond my power," she said; "but mayhap Astora, the old dame who +lives by the sea-shore, might help me, for in good sooth thy need is +great. She hath more skill in magic than I have." + +So she hurried away to a little hut near the sea-shore where the wise +old woman lived, while her son waited anxiously for her return. + +At last she appeared again, and her face was radiant. + +"Dame Astora hath given me a charm," she said, "which will turn +four-and-twenty of my stout men-at-arms into storks, and thy seven sons +into white swans, and thou thyself into a gay gos-hawk, the proudest of +all birds." + +Now the Earl of Mar, full of joy at the disappearance of the gray dove, +which seemed to have bewitched his daughter, had bade all the nobles +throughout the length and breadth of fair Scotland to come and witness +her wedding with the lover whom he had chosen for her, and there was +feasting, and dancing, and great revelry at the castle. There had not +been such doings since the marriage of the Earl's great-grandfather a +hundred years before. There were huge tables, covered with rich food, +standing constantly in the hall, and even the common people went in and +out as they pleased, while outside on the green there was music, and +dancing, and games. + +Suddenly, when the revelry was at its height, a flock of strange birds +appeared on the horizon, and everyone stopped to look at them. On they +came, flying all together in regular order, first a gay gos-hawk, then +behind him seven snow-white swans, and behind the swans four-and-twenty +large gray storks. When they drew near, they settled down among the +trees which surrounded the castle green, and sat there, each on his own +branch, like sentinels, watching the sport. + +At first some of the people were frightened, and wondered what this +strange sight might mean, but the Earl of Mar only laughed. + +"They come to do honour to my daughter," he said; "'tis well that there +is not a gray dove among them, else had he found an arrow in his heart, +and that right speedily," and he ordered the musicians to strike up a +measure. + +The Lady Grizel was amongst the throng, dressed in her bridal gown, but +no one noticed how anxiously she glanced at the great birds which sat so +still on the branches. + +Then a strange thing happened. No sooner had the musicians begun to +play, and the dancers begun to dance, than the twenty-four gray storks +flew down, and each of them seized a nobleman, and tore him from his +partner, and whirled him round and round as fast as he could, holding +him so tightly with his great gray wings that he could neither draw his +sword nor struggle. Then the seven white swans flew down and seized the +bridegroom, and tied him fast to a great oak tree. Then they flew to +where the gay gos-hawk was hovering over Lady Grizel, and they pressed +their bodies so closely to his that they formed a soft feathery couch, +on which the lady sat down, and in a moment the birds soared into the +air, bearing their precious burden on their backs, while the storks, +letting the nobles go, circled round them to form an escort; and so the +strange army of birds flew slowly out of sight, leaving the wedding +guests staring at one another in astonishment, while the Earl of Mar +swore so terribly that no one dare go near him. + + * * * * * + +And although the story of this strange wedding is told in Scotland to +this day, no one has ever been able to guess where the birds came from, +or to what land they carried the beautiful Lady Grizel. + + + + +HYNDE HORN + + "'Oh, it's Hynde Horn fair, and it's Hynde Horn free; + Oh, where were you born, and in what countrie?' + 'In a far distant countrie I was born; + But of home and friends I am quite forlorn.'" + + +Once upon a time there was a King of Scotland, called King Aylmer, who +had one little daughter, whose name was Jean. She was his only daughter, +and, as her mother was dead, he adored her. He gave her whatever she +liked to ask for, and her nursery was so full of toys and games of all +kinds, that it was a wonder that any little girl, even although she was +a Princess, could possibly find time to play with them all. + +She had a beautiful white palfrey to ride on, and two piebald ponies to +draw her little carriage when she wanted to drive; but she had no one of +her own age to play with, and often she felt very lonely, and she was +always asking her father to bring her someone to play with. + +"By my troth," he would reply, "but that were no easy matter, for thou +art a royal Princess, and it befits not that such as thou shouldst play +with children of less noble blood." + +Then little Princess Jean would go back to her splendid nurseries with +the tears rolling down her cheeks, wishing with all her heart that she +had been born just an ordinary little girl. + +King Aylmer had gone away on a hunting expedition one day, and Princess +Jean was playing alone as usual, in her nursery, when she heard the +sound of her father's horn outside the castle walls, and the old porter +hurried across the courtyard to open the gate. A moment later the King's +voice rang through the hall, calling loudly for old Elspeth, the nurse. + +The old dame hurried down the broad staircase, followed by the little +Princess, who was surprised that her father had returned so early from +his hunting, and what was her astonishment to see him standing, with all +his nobles round him, holding a fair-haired boy in his arms. + +The boy's face was very white, and his eyes were shut, and the little +Princess thought that he was dead, and ran up to a gray-haired baron, +whose name was Athelbras, and hid her face against his rough hunting +coat. + +But old Elspeth ran forward and took the boy's hand in hers, and laid +her ear against his heart, and then she asked that he might be carried +up into her own chamber, and that the housekeeper might be sent after +them with plenty of blankets, and hot water, and red wine. + +When all this had been done, King Aylmer noticed his little daughter, +and when he saw how pale her cheeks were, he patted her head and said, +"Cheer up, child, the young cock-sparrow is not dead; 'tis but a swoon +caused by the cold and wet, and methinks when old Elspeth hath put a +little life into him, thou wilt mayhap have found a playfellow." + +Then he called for his horse and rode away to hunt again, and Princess +Jean was once more left alone. But this time she did not feel lonely. + +Her father's wonderful words, "Thou wilt mayhap have found a +playfellow," rang in her ears, and she was so busy thinking about them, +sitting by herself in the dark by the nursery fire, that she started +when old Elspeth opened the door of her room and called out, "Come, +Princess, the young gentleman hath had a sweet sleep, and would fain +talk with thee." + +The little Princess went into the room on tip-toe, and there, lying on +the great oak settle by the fire, was the boy whom she had seen in her +father's arms. He seemed about four years older than she was, and he was +very handsome, with long yellow hair, which hung in curls round his +shoulders, and merry blue eyes, and rosy cheeks. + +He smiled at her as she stood shyly in the doorway, and held out his +hand. "I am thy humble servant, Princess," he said. "If it had not been +for thy father's kindness, and for this old dame's skill, I would have +been dead ere now." + +Princess Jean did not know what to say; she had often wished for someone +who was young enough to play with her, but now that she had found a real +playmate, she felt as if someone had tied her tongue. + +"What is thy name, and where dost thou come from?" she asked at last. + +The boy laughed, and pointed to a little stool which stood beside the +settle. "Sit down there," he said, "and I will tell thee. I have often +wished to have a little sister of my own, and now I will pretend that +thou art my little sister." + +Princess Jean did as she was bid, and went and sat down on the stool, +and the stranger began his tale. + +"My name is Hynde Horn," he said, "and I am a King's son." + +"And I am a King's daughter," said the little Princess, and then they +both laughed. + +Then the boy's face grew grave again. + +"They called my father King Allof," he said, "and my mother's name was +Queen Godyet, and they reigned over a beautiful country far away in the +East. I was their only son, and we were all as happy as the day was +long, until a wicked king, called Mury, came with his soldiers, and +fought against my father, and killed him, and took his kingdom. My +mother and I tried to escape, but the fright killed my mother--she died +in a hut in the forest where we had hidden ourselves, and some soldiers +found me weeping beside her body, and took me prisoner, and carried me +to the wicked King. + +"He was too cruel to kill me outright--he wanted me to die a harder +death--so he bade his men tie my hands and my feet, and carry me down to +the sea-shore, and put me in a boat, and push it out into the sea; and +there they left me to die of hunger and thirst. + +"At first the sun beat down on my face, and burned my skin, but by and +by it grew dark, and a great storm arose, and the boat drifted on and +on, and I grew so hungry, and then so thirsty--oh! I thought I would die +of thirst--and at last I became unconscious, for I remember nothing more +until I woke up to find yonder kind old dame bending over me." + +"The boat was washed up on our shore, just as his Highness the King rode +past," explained old Elspeth, who was stirring some posset over the +fire, and listening to the story. + +"And what did you say your name was?" demanded the little Princess, who +had listened with eager attention to the story. + +"Hynde Horn," repeated the boy, whose eyes were wet with tears at the +thought of all that he had gone through. + +"Prince Hynde Horn," corrected Princess Jean, who liked always to have +her title given to her, and expected that other people liked the same. + +"Well, I suppose I ought to be King Horn now, were it not for that +wicked King who hath taken my Kingdom, as well as my father's life; but +the people in my own land always called me Hynde Horn, and I like the +old name best." + +"But what doth it mean?" persisted the little Princess. + +The boy blushed and looked down modestly. "It is an old word which in +our language means 'kind' or 'courteous,' but I am afraid that they +flattered me, for I did not always deserve it." + +The little Princess clapped her hands. "We will call thee by it," she +said, "until thou provest thyself unworthy of it." + +After this a new life opened up for the little girl. + +King Aylmer, finding that the young Prince who had been so unexpectedly +thrown on his protection was both modest and manly, determined to +befriend him, and to give him a home at his Court until he was old +enough to go and try to recover his kingdom, and avenge his parents' +death, so he gave orders that a suite of rooms in the castle should be +given to him, and arranged that Baron Athelbras, his steward, should +train him in all knightly accomplishments, such as hawking and tilting +at the ring. He soon found out too that Hynde Horn had a glorious voice, +and sang like a bird, so he gave orders that old Thamile, the minstrel, +should teach him to play the harp; and soon he could play it so well, +that the whole Court would sit round him in the long winter evenings, +and listen to his music. + +He was so sweet-tempered, and lovable, that everyone liked him, and +would say to one another that the people in his own land had done well +to name him Hynde Horn. + +To the little Princess he was the most delightful companion, for he was +never too busy or too tired to play with her. He taught her to ride as +she had never ridden before, not merely to jog along the road on her fat +palfrey, but to gallop alongside of him under the trees in the forest, +and they used to be out all day, hunting and hawking, for he trained two +dear little white falcons and gave them to her, and taught her to carry +them on her wrist; and she grew so fat and rosy that everyone said it +was a joyful day when Hynde Horn was washed up on the sea-shore in the +boat. + +But alas! people do not remain children for ever, and, as years went on, +Hynde Horn grew into as goodly a young man as anyone need wish to see, +and of course he fell in love with Princess Jean, and of course she fell +in love with him. Everyone was quite delighted, and said, "What is to +hinder them from being married at once, and then when Princess Jean +comes to be Queen, we will be quite content to have Hynde Horn for our +King?" + +But wise King Aylmer would not agree to this. He knew that it is not +good for any man to have no difficulties to overcome, and to get +everything that he wants without any trouble. + +"Nay," he said, "but the lad hath to win his spurs first, and to show us +of what stuff he is made. Besides, his father's Kingdom lies desolate, +ruled over by an alien. He shall be betrothed to my daughter, and we +will have a great feast to celebrate the event, and then I will give him +a ship, manned by thirty sailors, and he shall go away to his own land +in search of adventure, and when he hath done great deeds of daring, and +avenged his father's death, he shall come again, and my daughter will be +waiting for him." + +So there was a splendid feast held at the castle, and all the great +lords and barons came to it, and Princess Jean and Hynde Horn were +betrothed amidst great rejoicing, for everyone was glad to think that +their Princess would wed someone whom they knew, and not a stranger. + +But the hearts of the two lovers were heavy, and when the feast was +over, and all the guests had gone away, they went out on a little +balcony in front of the castle, which overlooked the sea. It was a +lovely evening, the moon was full, and by its light they could see the +white sails of the ship lying ready in the little bay, waiting to carry +Hynde Horn far away to other lands. The roses were nodding their heads +over the balcony railings and the honeysuckle was falling in clusters +from the castle walls, but it might have been December for all that poor +Princess Jean cared, and the tears rolled fast down her face as she +thought of the parting. + +"Alack, alack, Hynde Horn," she said, "could I but go with thee! How +shall I live all these years, with no one to talk to, or to ride with?" + +Then he tried to comfort her with promises of how brave he would be, and +how soon he would conquer his father's enemies and come back to her; but +they both knew in their hearts that this was the last time that they +would be together for long years to come. + +At last Hynde Horn drew a long case from his pocket, out of which he +took a beautifully wrought silver wand, with three little silver +laverocks[32] sitting on the end of it. "This," he said, "dear love, is +for thee; the sceptre is a token that thou rulest in my heart, as well +as over broad Scotland, and the three singing laverocks are to remind +thee of me, for thou hast oft-times told me that my poor singing reminds +thee of a lark." + + [Footnote 32: Larks.] + +Then Princess Jean drew from her finger a gold ring, set with three +priceless diamonds. It was so small it would only go on the little +finger of her lover's left hand. "This is a token of my love," she said +gravely, "therefore guard it well. When the diamonds are bright and +shining, thou shalt know that my love for thee will be burning clear and +true; but if ever they lose their lustre and grow pale and dim, then +know thou that some evil hath befallen me. Either I am dead, or else +someone tempts me to be untrue." + +Next morning the fair white ship spread her sails, and carried Hynde +Horn far away over the sea. Princess Jean stood on the little balcony +until the tallest mast had disappeared below the horizon, and then she +threw herself on her bed, and wept as though her heart would break. + +After this, for many a long day, there was nothing heard of Hynde Horn, +not even a message came from him, and people began to say that he must +be dead, and that it was high time that their Princess forgot him, and +listened to the suit of one of the many noble princes who came to pay +court to her from over the sea. She would not listen to them, however, +and year after year went by. + +Now it happened, that, when seven years had passed, a poor beggar went +up one day to the castle in the hope that one of the servants would see +him, and give him some of the broken bread and meat that was always left +from the hall table. The porter knew him by sight and let him pass into +the courtyard, but although he loitered about for a whole hour, no one +appeared to have time to speak to him. It seemed as if something unusual +were going on, for there were horses standing about in the courtyard, +held by grooms in strange liveries, and servants were hurrying along, as +if they were so busy they hardly knew what to do first. The old beggar +man spoke to one or two of them as they passed, but they did not pay any +attention to him, so at last he thought it was no use waiting any +longer, and was about to turn away, when a little scullery-maid came out +of the kitchen, and began to wash some pots under a running tap. He went +up to her, and asked if she could spare him any broken victuals. + +She looked at him crossly. "A pretty day to come for broken victuals," +she cried, "when we all have so much to do that we would need twenty +fingers on every hand, and four pairs of hands at the very least. Knowst +thou not that an embassage has come from over the sea, seeking the hand +of our Princess Jean for the young Prince of Eastnesse, he that is so +rich that he could dine off diamonds every day, an' it suited him, and +they are all in the great hall now, talking it over with King Aylmer? +Only 'tis said that the Princess doth not favour the thought; she is all +for an old lover called Hynde Horn, whom everyone else holds to be dead +this many a year. Be it as it may, I have no time to talk to the like of +thee, for we have a banquet to cook for fifty guests, not counting the +King and all his nobles. The like of it hath not been seen since the day +when Princess Jean and that Hynde Horn plighted their troth these seven +years ago. But hark'ee, old man, it might be well worth thy while to +come back to-morrow; there will be plenty of picking then." And, flapping +her dish-clout in the wind, she ran into the kitchen again. + +The old beggar went away, intending to take her advice and return on the +morrow; but as he was walking along the sands to a little cottage where +he sometimes got a night's lodging, he met a gallant Knight on +horseback, who was very finely dressed, and wore a lovely scarlet cloak. + +The beggar thought that he must be one of the King's guests, who had +come out for a gallop on the smooth yellow sands, and he stood aside and +pulled off his cap; but the Knight drew rein, and spoke to him. + +"God shield thee, old man," he said, "and what may the news be in this +country? I used to live here, but I have been in far-off lands these +seven years, and I know not how things go on." + +"Sire," answered the beggar, "things have gone on much as usual for +these few years back, but it seems as if changes were in the air. I was +but this moment at the castle, and 'twas told me that the young Prince +Eitel, heir to the great Kingdom of Eastnesse, hath sent to crave the +hand of our Princess; and although the young lady favours not his suit +(she being true to an old love, one Hynde Horn, who is thought to be +dead), the King her father is like to urge her to it, for the King of +Eastnesse is a valuable ally, and fabulously rich." + +Then a strange light came into the stranger's eyes, and, to the beggar's +astonishment, he sprang from his horse, and held out the rein to him. +"Wilt do me a favour, friend?" he said. "Wilt give me thy beggar's +wallet, and staff, and cloak, if I give thee my horse, and this cloak of +crimson sarsenet? I have a mind to turn beggar." + +The beggar scratched his head, and looked at him in surprise. "He hath +been in the East, methinks," he muttered, "and the sun hath touched his +brain, but anyhow 'tis a fair exchange; that crimson cloak will sell for +ten merks any day, and for the horse I can get twenty pounds," and +presently he cantered off, well pleased with the bargain, while the +other,--the beggar's wallet in his hand, his hat drawn down over his +eyes, and leaning on his staff,--began to ascend the steep hill leading +to the castle. + +When he reached the great gate, he knocked boldly on the iron knocker, +and the knock was so imperious that the porter hastened to open it at +once. He expected to see some lordly knight waiting there, and when he +saw no one but a weary-looking beggar man, he uttered an angry +exclamation, and was about to shut the great gate in his face, but the +beggar's voice was wondrously sweet and low, and he could not help +listening to it. + +"Good porter, for the sake of St Peter and St Paul, and for the sake of +Him who died on the Holy Rood, give a cup of wine, and a little piece of +bread, to a poor wayfarer." + +As the porter hesitated between pity and impatience, the pleading voice +went on, "And one more boon would I crave, kind man. Carry a message +from me to the fair bride who is to be betrothed this day, and ask her +if she will herself hand the bite and the sup to one who hath come from +far?" + +"Ask the Bride! ask the Princess Jean to come and feed thee with her own +hands!" cried the man in astonishment. "Nay, thou art mad. Away with +thee; we want no madmen here," and he would have thrust the beggar +aside; but the stranger laid his hand on his shoulder, and said calmly, +as if he were giving an order to a servant, "Go, tell her it is for the +sake of Hynde Horn." And the old porter turned and went without a word. + +Meanwhile all the guests in the castle were gathered at the banquet in +the great banqueting hall. On a raised dais at the end of the room sat +King Aylmer and the great Ambassador who had come from Prince Eitel of +Eastnesse, and between them sat Princess Jean, dressed in a lovely white +satin dress, with a little circlet of gold on her head. The King and the +Ambassador were in high spirits, for they had persuaded the Princess to +marry Prince Eitel in a month and a day from that time; but poor +Princess Jean looked pale and sad. + +As all the lords and nobles who were feasting in the hall below stood up +and filled their glasses, and drank to the health of Prince Eitel of +Eastnesse and his fair bride, she had much ado to keep the tears from +falling, as she thought of the old days when Hynde Horn and she went out +hunting and hawking together. + +Just at that moment the door opened, and the porter entered, and, +without looking to the right hand or to the left, marched straight up +the hall and along the dais, until he came to where Princess Jean sat; +then he stooped down and whispered something to her. + +In a moment the Princess' pale face was like a damask rose, and, taking +a glass full of ruby-red wine in one hand, and a farl of cake in the +other, she rose, and walked straight out of the hall. + +"By my faith," said King Aylmer, who was startled by the look on his +daughter's face, "something hath fallen out, I ween, which may change +the whole course of events," and he rose and followed her, accompanied +by the Ambassador and all the great nobles. + +At the head of the staircase they stopped and watched the Princess as +she went down the stairs and across the courtyard, her long white robe +trailing behind her, with the cup of ruby-red wine in one hand, and the +farl of cake in the other. + +When she came to the gateway, there was no one there but a poor old +beggar man, and all the foreign noblemen looked at each other and shook +their heads, and said, "Certs, but it misdoubts us if this bride will +please our young Prince, if she is wont to disturb a court banquet +because she must needs serve beggars with her own hands." + +But Princess Jean heard none of this. With trembling hands she held out +the food to the beggar. He raised the wine to his lips, and pledged the +fair bride before he drank it, and when he handed the glass back to her, +lo! in the bottom of it lay the gold ring which she had given to her +lover Hynde Horn, seven long years before. + +"Oh," she cried breathlessly, snatching it out of the glass, "tell me +quickly, I pray thee, where thou didst find this? Was't on the sea, or +in a far-off land, and was the hand that it was taken from alive or +dead?" + +"Nay, noble lady," answered the beggar, and at the sound of his voice +Princess Jean grew pale again, "I did not get it on the sea, or in a +far-off land, but in this country, and from the hand of a fair lady. It +was a pledge of love, noble Princess, which I had given to me seven long +years ago, and the diamonds were to be tokens of the brightness and +constancy of that love. For seven long years they have gleamed and +sparkled clearly, but now they are dim, and losing their brightness, so +I fear me that my lady's love is waning and growing cold." + +Then Princess Jean knew all, and she tore the circlet of gold from her +head and knelt on the cold stones at his feet, and cried, "Hynde Horn, +my own Hynde Horn, my love is not cold, neither is it dim; but thou wert +so long in coming, and they said it was my duty to marry someone else. +But now, even if thou art a beggar, I will be a beggar's wife, and +follow thee from place to place, and we can harp and sing for our +bread." + +Hynde Horn laughed a laugh that was pleasant to hear, and he threw off +the beggar's cloak, and, behold, he was dressed as gaily as any gallant +in the throng. + +"There is no need of that, Sweetheart," he said. "I did it but to try +thee. I have not been idle these seven years; I have killed the wicked +King, and come into my own again, and I have fought and conquered the +Saracens in the East, and I have gold enough and to spare." + +Then he drew her arm within his, and they crossed the courtyard together +and began to ascend the stairs. Suddenly old Athelbras, the steward, +raised his cap and shouted, "It is Hynde Horn, our own Hynde Horn," and +then there was such a tumult of shouting and cheering that everyone was +nearly deafened. Even the Ambassador from Eastnesse and all his train +joined in it, although they knew that now Princess Jean would never +marry their Prince; but they could not help shouting, for everyone +looked so happy. + +And the next day there was another great banquet prepared, and riders +were sent all over the country to tell the people everywhere to rejoice, +for their Princess was being married, not to any stranger, but to her +old lover, Hynde Horn, who had come back in time after all. + + + + +THE GAY GOS-HAWK + + "'Oh weel is me, my gay gos-hawk, + If your feathering be sheen!' + 'Oh waly, waly, my master dear, + But ye look pale and lean!'" + + +It was the beautiful month of June, and among the bevy of fair maidens +who acted as maids-of-honour to Queen Margaret at Windsor, there was +none so fair as the Lady Katherine, the youngest of them all. + +As she joined in a game of bowls in one of the long alleys under the elm +trees, or rode out, hawk on wrist, in the great park near the castle, +her merry face, with its rosy cheeks and sparkling blue eyes, was a +pleasure to see. She had gay words for everyone, even for the +sharp-tongued, grave-faced old Baroness who acted as governess to the +Queen's maids, and kept a sharp lookout lest any of the young ladies +under her charge should steal too shy glances at the pages and +gentlemen-at-arms who waited on the King. + +The old lady loved her in return, and pretended to be blind when she +noticed, what every maid-of-honour had noticed for a fortnight, that +there was one Knight in particular who was always at hand to pick up +Lady Katherine's balls for her, or to hold her palfrey's rein if she +wanted to alight, when she was riding in the forest. + +This gallant Knight was not one of the King's gentlemen, but the son of +a Scottish earl, who had been sent to Windsor with a message from the +King of Scotland. + +Lord William, for that was his name, was so tall, and strong, and brave, +and manly, it was no wonder that little Lady Katherine fell in love with +him, and preferred him to all the young English lords who were longing +to lay their hearts at her feet. + +So things went merrily on, in the pleasant June weather, until one sunny +afternoon, when Lady Katherine was riding slowly through the park, under +the shady beech trees, with Lord William, as usual, by her side. He was +telling her how much he loved her, a story which he had told her very +often before, and describing the old ivy-covered gray castle, far away +in the North, where he would take her to live some day, when a little +page, clad all in Lincoln green, ran across the park and bowed as he +stopped at the palfrey's side. "Pardon, my lady," he said breathlessly, +"but the Baroness Anne sent me to carry tidings to thee that thy Duchess +mother hath arrived, and would speak with thee at once." + +Then the bright red roses faded from the poor little lady's cheeks, for +she knew well that the Duchess, who was not her real mother, but only +her step-mother, wished her no good. Sorrowfully she rode up to the +castle, Lord William at her side, and it seemed to both of them as if +the little birds had stopped singing, and the sun had suddenly grown +dim. + +And it was indeed terrible tidings that the little maiden heard when she +reached the room where her stern-faced step-mother awaited her. An old +Marquis, a friend of her father's, who was quite old enough to be her +grandfather, had announced his wish to marry her, and, as she had five +sisters at home, all waiting to get a chance to become maids-of-honour, +and see a little of the world, her step-mother thought it was too good +an opportunity to let slip, and she had come to fetch her home. + +In vain poor Lady Katherine threw herself at the Duchess's feet, and +besought her to let her marry the gallant Scottish knight. Her ladyship +only curled her lip and laughed. "Marry a beggarly Scot!" she said. "Not +as long as I have any power in thy father's house. No, no, wench, thou +knowest not what is for thy good. Where is thy waiting-maid? Let her +pack up thy things at once; thou hast tarried here long enough, I trow." + +So Lady Katherine was carted off, bag and baggage, to the great turreted +mansion on the borders of Wales, where her five sisters and her +grandfatherly old lover were waiting for her, without ever having a +chance of bidding Lord William farewell. + +As for that noble youth, he mounted his horse, and called his +men-at-arms together, and straightway rode away to Scotland, and never +halted till he reached the old gray castle, three days' ride over the +Border. When he arrived there he shut himself up in the great square +tower where his own apartments were, and frightened his family by +growing so pale and thin that they declared he must have caught some +fever in England, and had come home to die. In vain the Earl, his +father, tried to persuade him to ride out with him to the chase; he +cared for nothing but to be left alone to sit in the dim light of his +own room, and dream of his lost love. + +Now Lord William was fond of all living things, horses, and dogs, and +birds; but one pet he had, which he loved above all the others, and that +was a gay gos-hawk which he had found caught in a snare, one day, and +had set free, and tamed, and which always sat on a perch by his window. + +One evening, when he was sitting dreaming sadly of the days at Windsor, +stroking his favourite's plumage meanwhile, he was startled to hear the +bird begin to speak. "What mischance hath befallen thee, my master?" it +said, "that thou lookest so pale and unhappy. Hast been defeated in a +tourney by some Southron loon, or dost still mourn for that fair maiden, +the lovely Lady Katherine? Can I not help thee?" + +Then a strange light shone in Lord William's eye, and he looked at the +bird thoughtfully as it nestled closer to his heart. + +"Thou shalt help me, my gay gos-hawk," he whispered, "for, for this +reason, methinks, thou hast received the gift of speech. Thy wings are +strong, and thou canst go where I cannot, and bring no harm to my love. +Thou shalt carry a letter to my dear one, and bring back an answer," and +in delight at the thought, the young man rose and walked up and down the +room, the gos-hawk preening its wings on his shoulder, and crooning +softly to itself. + +"But how shall I know thy love?" it said at last. + +"Ah, that is easy," answered Lord William. "Thou must fly up and down +merrie England, especially where any great mansion is, and thou canst +not mistake her. She is the fairest flower of all the fair flowers that +that fair land contains. Her skin is white as milk, and the roses on her +cheeks are red as blood. And, outside her chamber, by a little postern, +there grows a nodding birch tree, the leaves of which dance in the +slightest breeze, and thou must perch thereon, and sing thy sweetest, +when she goes with her sisters and maids to hear Mass in the little +chapel." + +That night, when all the country folk were asleep, a gay gos-hawk flew +out from a window in the square tower, and sped swiftly through the +quiet air, on and on, above lonely houses, and sleeping towns, and when +the sun rose it was still flying, hovering now and then over some great +castle, or lordly manor house, but never resting long, never satisfied. +Day and night it travelled, up and down the country, till at last it +came one evening to a great mansion on the borders of Wales, in one side +of which was a tiny postern, with a high latticed window near it, and by +the door grew a birch tree, whose branches nodded up and down against +the panes. + +"Ah," said the gos-hawk to itself, "I will rest here." And it perched on +a branch, and put its head under its wing, and slept till morning, for +it was very tired. As soon as the sun rose, however, it was awake, with +its bright eyes ready to see whatever was to be seen. + +Nor had it long to wait. + +Presently the bell at the tiny chapel down by the lake began to ring, +and immediately the postern opened, and a bevy of fair maidens came +laughing out, books in hand, on their way to the morning Mass. They were +all beautiful, but the gay gos-hawk had no difficulty in telling which +was his master's love, for the Lady Katherine was the fairest of them +all, and, as soon as he saw her, he began to sing as though his little +throat would burst, and all the maidens stood still for a moment and +listened to his song. + +When they returned from the little chapel he was still singing, and when +Lady Katherine went up into her chamber the song sounded more beautiful +than ever. It was a strange song too, quite unlike the song of any other +bird, for first there came a long soft note, and then a clear distinct +one, and then some other notes which were always the same, "Your love +cannot come here; your love cannot come here." So they sounded over and +over again, in Lady Katherine's ears, until the roses on her cheeks +disappeared, and she was white and trembling. + +"To the dining-hall, maidens; tarry not for me," she said suddenly. "I +would fain be alone to enjoy this lovely song." And, as the fresh +morning air had made them all hungry, they obeyed her without a moment's +thought. + +As soon as she was alone she ran to the window and opened it, and there, +just outside, sat a gay gos-hawk, with the most beautiful plumage that +she had ever seen. + +"Oh," she cried faintly, "I cannot understand it; but something in my +heart tells me that you have seen my own dear love." + +Then the gay gos-hawk put his head on one side, and whistled a merry +tune; then he looked straight into her eyes and sang a low sweet one; +then he pecked and pecked at one of his wings until the tender-hearted +little lady took hold of him gently to see if he were hurt, and who can +describe her delight and astonishment when she found a tiny letter from +Lord William tied in a little roll under his wing. + +The letter was very sad, and the tears came into her eyes as she read +it. It told her how he had already sent her three letters which had +never reached her, and how he felt as if he must soon die, he was so +sick with longing for her. + +When she had read it she sat for a long time thinking, with her face +buried in her hands, while the gay gos-hawk preened his feathers, and +crooned to himself on the window sill. At last she sprang to her feet, +her eyes flashing and her mouth set determinedly. Taking a beautiful +ring from her hand, she tied it with trembling fingers under the bird's +wing where the letter had been. + +"Tell him that with the ring I send him my heart," she whispered +passionately, and the gay gos-hawk just gave one little nod with his +head, and then sat quite still to hear the rest of her message. "Tell +him to set his bakers and his brewers to work," she went on firmly, "to +bake rich bridal cake, and brew the wedding ale, and while they are yet +fresh I will meet him at the Kirk o' St Mary, the Kirk he hath so often +told me of." + +At these words the gay gos-hawk opened his eyes a shade wider. "Beshrew +me, lady," he said to himself, "but thou talkest as if thou hadst +wings"; but he knew his duty was to act and not to talk, so with one +merry whistle he spread his wings, and flew away to the North. + +That night, when all the people in the great house were asleep, the +little postern opened very gently, and a gray-cloaked figure crept +softly out. It went slowly in the shadow of the trees until it came to +the little chapel by the lake; then it ran softly and lightly through +the long grass until it reached a tiny little cottage under a spreading +oak tree. It tapped three times on the window, and presently a quavering +old voice asked who was there. + +"'Tis I, Dame Ursula; 'tis thy nursling Katherine. Open to me, I pray +thee; I am in sore need of thy help." + +A moment later the door was opened by a little old woman, with a white +cap, and a rosy face like a wrinkled apple. + +"And what need drives my little lady to me at this time of night?" she +asked. + +Then the maiden told her story, and made her request. + +The old woman listened, shaking her head, and laughing to herself +meanwhile. "I can do it, I can do it," she cried, "and 'twere worth a +year's wages to see thy proud stepdame's face when thy brothers return +to tell the tale." Then she drew Lady Katherine into her tiny room, and +set her down on a three-legged stool by the smouldering fire, while she +pottered about, and made up a draught, taking a few drops of liquid from +one bottle, and a few drops from another; for this curious old woman +seemed to keep quite a number of bottles, as well as various bunches of +herbs, on a high shelf at one end of her kitchen. + +At last she was finished, and, turning to the maiden, she handed her a +little phial containing a deep red-coloured mixture. + +"Swallow it all at once," she chuckled, "when thou requirest the spell +to work. 'Twill last three days, and then thou wilt wake up as fresh as +a lark." + +Next morning the Duke and his seven sons were going a-hunting, and the +courtyard rang with merry laughter as one after another came out to +mount the horses which the pages held ready for them. The ladies were on +the terrace waiting to wave them good-bye, when, just as the Duke was +about to mount his horse, his eldest daughter, whom he loved dearly, ran +into the courtyard and knelt at his feet. + +"A boon, a boon, dear father," she cried, and she looked so lovely with +her golden hair waving in the wind, and her bright eyes looking up into +his, that he felt that he could not refuse her anything. + +"Ask what thou wilt, my daughter," he said kindly, laying his hand on +her head, "and I will grant it thee. Except permission to marry that +Scottish squire," he added, laughing. + +"That will I never ask, Sire," she said submissively; "but though thou +forbiddest me to think of him, my heart yearns for Scotland, the country +that he told me of, and if 'tis thy will that I marry and live in +England, I would fain be buried in the North. And as I have always had +due reverence for Holy Church, I pray thee that when that day comes, as +come it must some day, that thou wilt cause a Mass to be sung at the +first Scotch kirk we come to, and that the bells may toll for me at the +second kirk, and that at the third, at the Kirk o' St Mary, thou wilt +deal out gold, and cause my body to rest there." + +Then the Duke raised her to her feet. + +"Talk not so, my little Katherine," he said kindly. "My Lord Marquis is +a goodly man, albeit not too young, and thou wilt be a happy wife and +mother yet; but if 'twill ease thy heart, child, I will remember thy +fancy." Then the kind old man rode away, and Katherine went back to her +sisters. + +"What wert thou asking, girl?" asked her jealous step-mother with a +frown as she passed. + +"That I may be buried in Scotland when my time comes to die," said +Katherine, bowing low, with downcast eyes, for in those days maidens had +to order themselves lowly to their elders, even although they were +Duke's daughters. + +"And did he grant thy strange request?" went on the Duchess, looking +suspiciously at the girl's burning cheeks. + +"Yes, an' it please thee, Madam," answered her step-daughter meekly, and +then with another low curtsey she hurried off to her own room, not +waiting to hear the lady's angry words: "I wish, proud maiden, that I +had had the giving of the answer, for, by my troth, I would have turned +a deaf ear to thy request. Buried in Scotland, forsooth! Thou hast a +lover in Scotland, and it is he thou art hankering after, and not a +grave." + +Two hours afterwards, when the Duke and his sons came back from hunting, +they found the castle in an uproar. All the servants were running about, +wringing their hands, and crying; and indeed it was little wonder, for +had not Lady Katherine's waiting-woman, when she went into her young +lady's room at noon, found her lying cold and white on her couch, and no +one had been able to rouse her? When the poor old Duke heard this, he +rushed up to her chamber, followed by all his seven sons; and when he +saw her lying there, so white, and still, he covered his face with his +hands, and cried out that his little Katherine, his dearly loved +daughter, was dead. + +But the cruel step-mother shook her head and said nothing. Somehow she +did not believe that Lady Katherine was really dead, and she determined +to do a very cruel thing to find out the truth. When everyone had left +the room she ordered her waiting-maid, a woman who was as wicked as +herself, to melt some lead, and bring it to her in an iron spoon, and +when it was brought she dropped a drop on the young girl's breast; but +she neither started nor screamed, so the cruel Duchess had at last to +pretend to be satisfied that she was really dead, and she gave orders +that she should be buried at once in the little chapel by the lake. + +But the old Duke remembered his promise, and vowed that it should be +performed. + +So Lady Katherine's seven brothers went into the great park, and cut +down a giant oak tree, and out of the trunk of it they hewed a bier, and +they overlaid it with silver; while her sisters sat in the turret room +and sewed a beautiful gown of white satin, which they put on Lady +Katherine, and laid her on the silver bier; and then eight of her +father's men-at-arms took it on their shoulders, and her seven brothers +followed behind, and so the procession set out for Scotland. + +And it all fell out as the old Duke had promised. At the first Scotch +kirk which the procession came to, the priests sang a solemn Mass, and +at the second, they caused the bells to toll mournfully, and at the +third kirk, the Kirk o' St Mary, they thought to lay the maiden to rest. + +But, as they came slowly up to it, what was their astonishment to find +that it was surrounded by a row of spearmen, whose captain, a tall, +handsome young man, stepped up to them as they were about to enter the +kirk, and requested them to lay down the bier. At first Lady Katherine's +seven brothers objected to this being done. "What business of the +stranger's was it?" they asked, and they haughtily ordered the +men-at-arms to proceed. But the young soldier gave a sign to his men, +and in an instant they had crossed their spears across the doorway, and +the rest surrounded the men who carried the bier, and compelled them to +do as they were bid. + +Then the young captain stepped forward to where Lady Katherine was lying +in her satin gown, and knelt down and took hold of her hand. + +Immediately the rosy colour began to come back to her cheeks, and she +opened her eyes; and when they fell on Lord William--for it was he who +had come to meet her at the Kirk o' St Mary, as she had bidden him--she +smiled faintly and said, "I pray thee, my lord, give me one morsel of +bread and a mouthful of thy good red wine, for I have fasted for three +days, ever since the draught which my old nurse Ursula gave me, began to +do its work." + +When she had drunk the wine her strength came back, and she sprang up +lightly, and a murmur of delight went round among Lord William's +spearmen when they saw how lovely she was in the white satin gown which +her sisters had made, and which would do beautifully for her wedding. + +But her seven brothers were very angry at the trick which had been +played on them, and if they had dared, they would have carried her back +to England by force; but they dare not, because of all the spearmen who +stood round. + +"Thou wilt rue this yet, proud girl," said her eldest brother; "thou +mightest have been a Marchioness in England, with land, and castles, and +gold enough and to spare, instead of coming to this beggarly land, and +breaking thy father's, and thy mother's heart." + +Then the little lady put her hand in that of her lover, and answered +quietly, "Nay, but I had no mind to wed with one who was already in his +dotage; little good the lands, and castles, and gold would have done me, +had I been obliged to spend my time in nursing an old man; and, as for +my father, I know he will secretly rejoice when he hears, that, after +all, I shall wed my own true love, who, I would have him know, is an +Earl's son, although he may not be so rich as is my lord the Marquis; +and, as for my cruel step-mother, 'tis no matter what she thinks." + +Her brother stamped his foot in useless anger. "Then," said he, pointing +to the silver bier lying forgotten on the grass, "I swear that that bier +on which thou camest hither shall be the only wedding portion that thy +husband will ever see of thine; mayhap poverty will bring thee to thy +senses." + +But his sister only laughed as she pressed closer to her bridegroom and +said bravely, "Happiness is more than gold, brother, and the contented +heart better than the restless one which is ever seeking riches." + +So the seven brothers went back to England in a rage, while Lord William +married his brave little bride in the old Kirk o' St Mary; and then they +rode home to the gray ivy-covered castle, where the gay gos-hawk was +waiting on the square tower to sing his very sweetest song to greet +them. + + + + +THE END + +PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY NEILL AND CO., LTD., EDINBURGH. + + + + +OTHER VOLUMES BY ELIZABETH GRIERSON + + +TALES OF + +~SCOTTISH KEEPS & CASTLES~ + +FOR YOUNG PEOPLE + +_With eight full-page illustrations in colour by_ ALLAN STEWART + +_Small sq. demy 8vo._ PRICE 6/-NET (_By post 6/6_) + +"... Told with an excellent blend of legitimate excitement and +circumstantial narrative."--_The Times Literary Supplement._ + + +~THE BOOK OF EDINBURGH~ + +FOR YOUNG PEOPLE + +_Containing twelve full-page illustrations in colour by_ Allan Stewart + +_Sq. cr. 8vo._ PRICE 5/-NET (_By post 5/6_) + +"Rarely have we come across such a delightful description of any town +and its history, ancient and modern."--_British Weekly._ + + +_UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_ + +~THE BOOK OF CELTIC STORIES~ + +FOR YOUNG PEOPLE + +_Containing four full-page illustrations in colour by_ ALLAN STEWART + +_Sq. cr. 8vo._ PRICE 3/6 NET (_By post 4/-_) + +"I shall read this book again and again."--_Daily Chronicle._ + + +Published by A. & C. 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